The classical definition for Slobberknocker is a literal hard hit. I'm going to play off that somewhat in a more figurative manner. While in contrast, and maybe more obviously, the Naw's are things that shouldn't have happened and/or need to change.
Alert Alert
Skol Nation, we might have a problem on defense. They can get after the quarterback from all levels, as displayed late in the game today but in the three of the last four games there has been a sieve-ish quality to the destruction crew. The only game over that stretch that they held the opponent under 370 yards was against Washington, in a game which Keenum played more than adequately before exiting. In the three non-Washington games they also gave up at least 20 points, which is uncharacteristic. It's on the small side but four games is a trend and very well could extend to a fifth with Dallas next on the docket. I'm not about to make any grand pronouncements but it was a major factor in the L and as such needs to be addressed.
Spartan Down
Kirk Cousins didn't make any game wrecking mistakes today. And a regression from an October for the ages is reasonable. But when the game was on the line, with plenty of time to score & walk-off as the winner, he wasn't able to put together a set of plays to get even one first down. That failure had as direct of an impact on the loss as anything that happened in KC today. It's no reason to panic but was a troubling performance.
Double-Take
Despite some of the sloppiness and the loss by Minnesota, I would have 00.00 issue with a rematch of these two teams in the biggest game of the year. If not a much more beatable team to face the Purple then KC, with all the talent they have, would be great!
Big Hitter
I remain skeptical of his long term viability on the roster but Laquon Treadwell had his best day in Minnesota's colors since he was drafted. Granted, his numbers and catches are inflated by the inability of every other pass-catcher to make an impact play today but even if Diggs & Thielen had done what they're capable of, Quon's performance still would remain noteworthy.
Resurgence
While the overall defense was troubled today there were some players that didn't disappoint. Harrison Smith is still a top Safety in the league but he hadn't made many of the game-changing plays this season that he has in the past. With consecutive pressures late in the game today, after some clutch plays when in pass coverage, maybe this was the proof that the all-pro player is still in that jersey.
Power Line
The other most dominant part of the defense today was the line. Hunter was bottled to a .5 sack but Odenigbo & Weatherly made up for that with some key plays to cover up some of the deficiencies. It wasn't enough to get the win but if the defensive line had not shown up when and how it did, the final margin may have been much greater than three points.
It's not an all-encompassing wrap of the pros and cons to extract from today's game but I think these are the main takeaways!
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