Monday Open Thread: November 20, 2017

Merry post-win Monday, everyone!

Heck of a game, wasn’t it? Man, that Vikings defense (which is elite, IMO) gets plumb nasty once they get a lead. They’re like 11 hungry lions & the offense just became a fresh porterhouse (rare, of course). Add to that an actual functioning offense, and you have the makings of a very fun year for Vikings fans.

Let’s start with the defense, since they are the foundation upon which this team is built. They only held a very hot offense (best in the league, in the opinion of some, I disagree) to 7 points. Those points, and over a third of their non-garbage-time yards, came on the first possession of the game. After that, NO POINTS FOR YOU, and very few yards, and not a lot of time on the field. Time of possession: Rams-22:38, Vikings 37:22. Wow.

The offense sputtered at times coming out of the gate, and they kinda got in their own way a few times early on with some penalties (some legit, others not) and some mental errors, but they eventually got rollin’ in the second half and helped secure the team’s 8th victory. Adam Thielen has been really fun to watch as he’s become a top WR in this league, I love how he can make a move as he’s catching the ball to get around the CB, Greg Jennings was great at this, and Thielen does something very similar. Also, the two headed attack of Murray and McKinnon have been doing a heck of a job of giving the team a legitimate ground attack. None of this is possible without the O line, and what Shurmur/Sparano have done with that group is nothing short of miraculous. We’ve got the makings of a fun season, folks.

Keep in mind that yesterday’s offensive performance was against a very formidable defense. There is a lot of talent on the Ram’s defense, and they have a very good defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips (probably the best in the game since Zim doesn’t qualify). There’s a strong possibility that we meet the Rams again in January.

Keenum is going to remain the QB as long as they keep winning, and like I’ve said before, having two capable QBs is not a bad problem to have. If you want to complain about that, I urge you to go watch re-runs of all our games from 2011-2013, and if you have time, go back & enjoy seasons 06-08, then we can talk.........if watching that didn’t prompt a case of alcohol poisoning. Teddy is waiting in the wings, and I expect we’ll see him at some point. Until then, I hope Keenum keeps lighting ‘em up.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Get the best buy-sell advice available with Ted’s Stock Market Report: Rams.

Chris has your post-game wrap-up.

Wludford takes a post-game look as well.

Saxyprince posted Climbing the Podcast Episode 50: Rams Preview.

Well, we expected this to be the case, but it still sucks to hear, the team does not expect Sharrif Floyd to resume his NFL career. A botched surgery is said to be the reason for this unfortunate news. That guy played really well when healthy, and it has to be maddening for him to have his career cut short by something like this. All the best to the Sharrif as he transfers into his non-NFL life.

Case Keenum won the FedEx Air Player of the Week award for his week 10 performance against the Redskins.

Vikings news from other sources:

From the USA Today, Everson Griffen says that composure is what defines this Vikings team and makes them who they are.

Over at Vikings.com, watch Coach Zimmer’s post-game locker room speech, see his post-game press conference as well as Keenum’s press conference, watch all the highlights, and browse through lots more in the media vault.

News from around the rest of the league:

Scores and highlights from all of this week’s games are at NFL.com.

ESPN has a rundown of the week’s biggest injuries around the league.

Our rivals to the east, who have the most complete roster in the NFL, took on the Ravens yesterday. Here’s a recap from SI.com. The offense, who are doing fine because of how complete their roster is, somehow didn’t manage to score any points and really didn’t accumulate many yards. The defense held the powerful Ravens offense (who average 279.8 yards per game this year, good for 31st in the league) to 20, but that stellar effort wasn’t enough to secure the W and they fall to 5-5. Speaking of 5, I can taste those Ashtons. The team lost their star linebacker, and notorious cheap shot artist, Clay Matthews to injury. They’ll be fine though, they have the most complete roster in the NFL.

We come to today’s media selection.

It gives me great pleasure to once again ask the boys & girls to strike up the band!

We all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-This isn't a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
-Keep vulgar language to a minimum, using spoiler tags if you must
-No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
-If you can't disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it's sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on. Don't forget to tip your waitress, & try the head cheese.