Defense:
- Celestin looked great. He has a chance to have a terrific season. I could say more, but he was just all around the field, and played a very good game.
-Really impressed with Kiondre Thomas. Very good coverage all night long. Even the big throw that was completed on him was very good coverage. Dropped pick off the tip from Winfield was just nerves. First time he has a chance at a sure interception and he didn't look it in all the way.
- Shenault impressed me also. Would have liked to see less of a cushion at times though. Decent coverage on the touchdown that was caught on him, just a terrific throw.
- Duke McGhee didn't get a chance to do too much, but you can already tell he has improved his coverage ability. When he's on the field instead of Ayinde, the secondary is much better in pass and run protection.
- Pass rush didn't do much, but I think that's more of a credit to Buffalo's play calling than their offensive line. They would do a lot of quick release passes and get the ball off right before the pass rusher was able to get there.
-Winfield is a stud. All over the field, he has the potential to be a Jabril Peppers type player defensively by the time he's a senior. Only thing stopping that from happening, I believe, is the talent around him needs to improve to give him that freedom.
- Ayinde still gets picked on. He's not great in coverage by any means. He's a serviceable backup safety but as long as he is back in coverage he's going to have a target on his back.
- Huff interception was a great read created by pressure from the pass rush. When they tried to throw downfield, they often had trouble getting a clean pass off. Huff also had a chance to intercept another pass towards the start of the second quarter. He jumped into Winfield and neither could hang on.
-Run defense was excellent. 22 carries for 51 yards.
- Got lucky on the reverse pass. Everyone got beat, and the throw was luckily underthrown. Good recovery by Winfield, however.
- Winston not great in the pass rush. He's all they really have at defensive end right now, so he's going to have to play a bigger role than he would at other places. Nice deflection on a pass that Barber almost picked off.
- Defense created plenty of, but didn't covert, turnover chances. Three dropped picks I counted by Thomas, Huff, and I'll count Barber as well.
- Defensive line did a good job of getting their hands up and disrupting passes at the line.
- Anthony Johnson was a problem. Need to improve one-on-one coverage, and improve on press coverage to take away the 7-yard pre-snap cushion.
Offense:
- YAC! Look at the numbers for yards after catch from last season, compared to this game... scary.
- Offense threw the ball 32 times, and ran the ball 51 times. That's just about 60-40 in favor of the run.
- O-line was decent. They haven't been playing together long, so the chemistry is still needing to develop... hopefully sooner rather than later. Some of the holes they created were just slightly not big enough to get the backs to the next level.
- Tyler Johnson had a terrific first half. His foot speed looks to be much improved, and his routes are more crisp. Had he not been a quarterback in high school, he would have been a four-star receiver in my eyes. The transformation from athlete to receiver is cool to watch.
- Receivers aren't there yet. It looks like the best receivers will be Johnson, Douglas, and CAB when he returns. Simon has done a great job with Johnson, could be very special.
-Not huge games for Brooks or Smith. They both played well but didn't have too many large holes to explode through.
- Despite his big throw to Johnson, which you can't take away, because it happened, Rhoda didn't get the offense going. The run game, and read option looks just weren't a threat while he was in the game. He had a few solid throws, like the one to Lingen to start the game, the one to Douglas on the outside, and of course the one to Johnson. He didn't impress me going through progressions. Interception in the red zone was just inexcusable. No more detail on that, but it just can't happen.
-Offense seems to flow better through Croft. He has some things to work on, but his threat in the running game really opens things up for Smith and Brooks as well. Also, it wasn't a completion, but I loved the throw he made downfield to Tyler Johnson. He put it right in a spot that he could catch it, and after some contact and bobbling it a bit, he couldn't hang on. Also a nice throw was the one to Eric Carter on the sideline. A little more air on it could have gained more yards, but not upset with a 20+ yard completion. He also made two great completions by getting out of the pocket, extending the play, and finding a receiver on the sideline. Of his four incompletions, at least two could be credited to drops by receivers.
- Would like to see more offense with Demry at QB before making a decision, but right now I would say he gives the team the best chance to win. Fits in better with what the offense is trying to do.
- Agree with a lot of you that I would have liked to see a lot more use of the tight ends. The receivers are so young, and those two could be some of the best pass catching options Minnesota has right now.
Special Teams:
-Not worried about Carpenter. He'll be more than fine.
- Santoso had a good day punting. Really responded from a disappointing year last season.
- Really like Brooks as a kick returner
- Shenault could be a good punt returner, but I am not sure about having anyone in the secondary at that spot due to depth concerns.
-Winfield blocked FG was a terrific play.
Conclusion:
- I'm not worried about the Gophers as much as I was the first time I saw the game. They controlled the ball, played good defense, and were almost mistake free with four penalties for 35 yards. Didn't think Martin should have been called for roughing the passer either. Final score was 17-7, but it could have just as easily been 30-7. I will stick with my prediction of 7-5, but do think they could change my mind in either direction depending on next weeks performance. Croft gives the team the best chance to win tough games, in my opinion.
Would love to hear your guys thoughts after watching the game over again!
- Celestin looked great. He has a chance to have a terrific season. I could say more, but he was just all around the field, and played a very good game.
-Really impressed with Kiondre Thomas. Very good coverage all night long. Even the big throw that was completed on him was very good coverage. Dropped pick off the tip from Winfield was just nerves. First time he has a chance at a sure interception and he didn't look it in all the way.
- Shenault impressed me also. Would have liked to see less of a cushion at times though. Decent coverage on the touchdown that was caught on him, just a terrific throw.
- Duke McGhee didn't get a chance to do too much, but you can already tell he has improved his coverage ability. When he's on the field instead of Ayinde, the secondary is much better in pass and run protection.
- Pass rush didn't do much, but I think that's more of a credit to Buffalo's play calling than their offensive line. They would do a lot of quick release passes and get the ball off right before the pass rusher was able to get there.
-Winfield is a stud. All over the field, he has the potential to be a Jabril Peppers type player defensively by the time he's a senior. Only thing stopping that from happening, I believe, is the talent around him needs to improve to give him that freedom.
- Ayinde still gets picked on. He's not great in coverage by any means. He's a serviceable backup safety but as long as he is back in coverage he's going to have a target on his back.
- Huff interception was a great read created by pressure from the pass rush. When they tried to throw downfield, they often had trouble getting a clean pass off. Huff also had a chance to intercept another pass towards the start of the second quarter. He jumped into Winfield and neither could hang on.
-Run defense was excellent. 22 carries for 51 yards.
- Got lucky on the reverse pass. Everyone got beat, and the throw was luckily underthrown. Good recovery by Winfield, however.
- Winston not great in the pass rush. He's all they really have at defensive end right now, so he's going to have to play a bigger role than he would at other places. Nice deflection on a pass that Barber almost picked off.
- Defense created plenty of, but didn't covert, turnover chances. Three dropped picks I counted by Thomas, Huff, and I'll count Barber as well.
- Defensive line did a good job of getting their hands up and disrupting passes at the line.
- Anthony Johnson was a problem. Need to improve one-on-one coverage, and improve on press coverage to take away the 7-yard pre-snap cushion.
Offense:
- YAC! Look at the numbers for yards after catch from last season, compared to this game... scary.
- Offense threw the ball 32 times, and ran the ball 51 times. That's just about 60-40 in favor of the run.
- O-line was decent. They haven't been playing together long, so the chemistry is still needing to develop... hopefully sooner rather than later. Some of the holes they created were just slightly not big enough to get the backs to the next level.
- Tyler Johnson had a terrific first half. His foot speed looks to be much improved, and his routes are more crisp. Had he not been a quarterback in high school, he would have been a four-star receiver in my eyes. The transformation from athlete to receiver is cool to watch.
- Receivers aren't there yet. It looks like the best receivers will be Johnson, Douglas, and CAB when he returns. Simon has done a great job with Johnson, could be very special.
-Not huge games for Brooks or Smith. They both played well but didn't have too many large holes to explode through.
- Despite his big throw to Johnson, which you can't take away, because it happened, Rhoda didn't get the offense going. The run game, and read option looks just weren't a threat while he was in the game. He had a few solid throws, like the one to Lingen to start the game, the one to Douglas on the outside, and of course the one to Johnson. He didn't impress me going through progressions. Interception in the red zone was just inexcusable. No more detail on that, but it just can't happen.
-Offense seems to flow better through Croft. He has some things to work on, but his threat in the running game really opens things up for Smith and Brooks as well. Also, it wasn't a completion, but I loved the throw he made downfield to Tyler Johnson. He put it right in a spot that he could catch it, and after some contact and bobbling it a bit, he couldn't hang on. Also a nice throw was the one to Eric Carter on the sideline. A little more air on it could have gained more yards, but not upset with a 20+ yard completion. He also made two great completions by getting out of the pocket, extending the play, and finding a receiver on the sideline. Of his four incompletions, at least two could be credited to drops by receivers.
- Would like to see more offense with Demry at QB before making a decision, but right now I would say he gives the team the best chance to win. Fits in better with what the offense is trying to do.
- Agree with a lot of you that I would have liked to see a lot more use of the tight ends. The receivers are so young, and those two could be some of the best pass catching options Minnesota has right now.
Special Teams:
-Not worried about Carpenter. He'll be more than fine.
- Santoso had a good day punting. Really responded from a disappointing year last season.
- Really like Brooks as a kick returner
- Shenault could be a good punt returner, but I am not sure about having anyone in the secondary at that spot due to depth concerns.
-Winfield blocked FG was a terrific play.
Conclusion:
- I'm not worried about the Gophers as much as I was the first time I saw the game. They controlled the ball, played good defense, and were almost mistake free with four penalties for 35 yards. Didn't think Martin should have been called for roughing the passer either. Final score was 17-7, but it could have just as easily been 30-7. I will stick with my prediction of 7-5, but do think they could change my mind in either direction depending on next weeks performance. Croft gives the team the best chance to win tough games, in my opinion.
Would love to hear your guys thoughts after watching the game over again!
