All or Nothing
Pass or Fail
Right or Wrong
Good or Bad
Pass or Punt
Get it?
Good.
The defense was so bad against New Orleans that even that coach had to admit it. But even now it wasn't all bad.
Eric Wilson wasn't able to close on either of his near-INTs but after a downturn in his production recently it was a welcome change. It was his first strong outing without Kendricks so the team can feel that much better about any offer that they'll make to him.
The other positive on that side of the ball was Harrison Hand getting the third pick by a corner in the last four weeks. In only his twelfth game he made a veteran play on the ball to take it away. Then, not long after, he also put NOLA in a tough starting position with a solo-tackle as the gunner.
The core-three lead the way on offense yet again, but it was Swerve that was the beneficiary of their impacts. He turned the second-most targets into 6 catches with the two scores. Add on what Tyler Conklin contributed and the future of the position in MN becomes more clear. Rudolph has been an all-time great member of the team with what he's done off the field but hard, business decisions have to be made.
Similar story, different day.
It's similar and not the same because the defense did something new by giving up a historic rushing day to Alvin Kamara. I can't get over that they did so in a way that seems mathematically impossible. How a guy turns 22 carries into six scores is a question that no one may ever be able to answer but is an outing the likes of which we will probably never see again. I guess we can be appreciative that Kamara was subbed-out for Hill's rushing score or Minnesota would be attached to another repulsive record...
The other part that was much the same as the other worst times of the season was the offensive-line's ineffectiveness, to put it mildly. We should continue to be optimistic about O'Neill, Bradbury & Cleveland but even those three have plenty of room for improvement. Cousins somehow was only sacked twice while being hit several times that, with even more pressures that didn't get to the QB but still affected the play. That equation doesn't add up to anything good for that group.
Even as much I didn't want an 8-8 finish, this was a tough one to stomach. Only days beyond the 10-year anniversary of the roof collapse, the season finally came crashing down. It's hard to believe that it took this long after the 1-5 start but the guys who stepped in to the vacancies showed the sort of resiliency that it'll take to succeed to the highest level in the future. Much of that progress was absent this time, so we were left with the particular sting that comes with losing to that team. Which leaves one game and the prospect of the Purple's greatest putting up another dazzling game on the field with the team that he'll one day be in the ring of honor, fun times.
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