Newton and Ron vs Minnesota - 1-3

[Snake]

3 hours ago, Fox007 said:

Imagine when Zimmer gets a QB....he's the guy me and Mr. Scot wanted as HC but we got PussyBoat Rivera and the Witless Wonder.

Hell Zimmer is the type of DC as HC you actually want.

I honestly don't like him as a coach. He is very Riveraish. For the love of God once I would love to see a offensive minded coach with Newton. I can only imagine what someone like Jay Gruden would have done with Newton. 

[gtanaka]

I remember that game so well.. Frickin Mare missing a 30 some yard field goal to tie the game. Its crazy how many choking FG kickers this franchise has had/ recently.

[GusLevy]

The Minn-Car game this weekend is huge for both teams and the NFL playoff picture in general. Minn currently leads the NFC with the tiebreakers but arguably has the tougher remaining sched with Car and GB with Rodgers remaining, as opposed to Philly having only a tough Rams game this Sunday. The Rams could feasibly win the NFC by winning out but their remaining sched is brutal - they also lose the tiebreaker to Minn.

Carolina has a tough sched remaining with Minn, GB with Rodgers and ATL remaining. The ATL game at Week 17 could become easier if ATL loses both NO games and is left out of the playoff picture.

The opening line was Car -1 but all the money has been going to Minn which now stands at -3. This game thus got a lot trickier for money players because Car is the best performing team this year as the underdog - an incredible 4-1 straight up and ATS.

Zimmer and Rivera are two of the best Head Coaches in the NFL - I would only take Belichick and Carroll over those two - and both coaches have very similar philosophies which have always proven to be the winning recipe in the NFL: Strong defenses with ball control offenses that win the field position and game clock battles. 

Zimmer has the foundational base with a DLine that includes Griffen, Hunter and Joseph who stop the run and attack the QB. Behind this DLine is an incredibly versatile LB unit with Barr and Kendricks who are able to run stop and pass defend while mixing in the famous Double A-Gap blitz package. Zimmer spent a lifetime coaching DBs so his back line unit includes Rhodes and Harrison who are prob First Team All-NFL players. In the past 3 weeks, they have completely shut down the Rams at home, the Lions away and the Falcons away - 3 of the hotter teams in the NFL at the time.

Zimmer does not want his offense to lose games - that is a core philosophy that he has. This philosophy has made Bradford, Keenum and Bridgewater all look very good and capable as NFL QBs in the past two years alone by not allowing them to make mistakes. Keenum is the latest to benefit from Zimmer's conservative style as he will look to win his 9th straight start against Car. Shurmur is the OC and he has not allowed Keenum to win games by airing it deep: The offense will look to short and intm routes with Thielen, Diggs and the TE Rudolph. Thielen is having an All-Pro year with 74 catches and +1000yds receiving. Minn also uses McKinnon out of the backfield with screens and wheel routes very successfully.

The Minn offense and team prob aren't as successful this year unless McKinnon and Murray don't produce the way that they have after Cook's injury. Between the two, they are at 1000yds rushing and just under 4ypc: Minn is not able to pass as well as they do if the current run game doesn't exist. Keenum (and Bradford and Bridgewater) are not built as QBs to successfully convert many 3rd and long situations. They will be and are very successful converting 3rd and 5s given the receiving skillsets of Thielen, Diggs, Rudolph and McKinnon.

Minn converts 45% of their 3rd downs while limiting opponents to 33% on 3rd downs...that formula will win football games from here to eternity.

Rivera's Panthers have a very similar feel to the Zimmer's Vikings. Defense as the core with the offense philosophy to control the clock and win the field position battle. Minn has the ball 32:14 on avg while Car has the ball 32:58 on avg.

The Carolina DLine is anchored by Lotulelei to clog the middle which frees up Short, Addison and Peppers to attack the QB. As Zimmer's background is with DBs, Rivera's background with LBs makes the LB unit the heart of the defense. Kuechly is All-World in his ability to stop the run and the pass, Davis is about 60yrs old but is still able to make productive plays in the middle line. 

Minn defense currently ranks #6 against the run..the team at #5 is Car.

The Achilles heel in the Car defense is the back line. Car ranks 25th against the Pass. Gettleman, the previous GM, had many confusing and bizarre decisions in his first and only GM job but what he did to that secondary by releasing Norman which left the team with young CBs Bradberry and Worley is befuddling. The fact that the GM used many of his draft picks for trade bait on questionable projects such as Benwikere, Williams and Funchess not only hurt the current team but for the future with little home-grown talent. In the drafts between 2013 and 2016, Car had only 21 draft picks!

Rivera has had his shoes tied together by the previous GM. Unfortunately, his hands are a bit tied with Cam Newton as his QB. Newton is a career 58% completion QB with 152 TD Pass and 89 Int. Those are not numbers that are going to naturally fit a ball control and turnover averse offense. Cam is a physical specimen with room-brightening charisma...but he simply is not an accurate thrower of the football. His ability to run has helped Car to convert 43% of 3rd downs but his INTs and inaccuracy have hurt the team in losses. 

As bad as Gettleman was with the Car secondary, however, he arguably did a worse job with the Car receiving unit. Benjamin was a bust after a promising rookie season so was traded midseason leaving the team with Funchess and (fill in the blank) as the wideouts. Losing Olsen for much of the year has obviously had a tremendous impact on the offense. Olsen is a great route runner with great hands - he was Newton's security blanket in critical situations. Newton is not an accurate passer but his final production is certainly limited by the receiving corps at his disposal.

The Minn-Car matchup in the past 3 meetings tell a bizarre story - despite being statistically dominated in simple measures, Minn won 2 out of 3 games:

Minn: 75 Yds Rushing, 162 Yds Passing

Car: 138 Yds Rushing, 202 Yds Passing

The difference turns out in turnovers (Minn 2, Car 4) and pass completion rate (MInn: 70% completion, Car: 62% completion).

Typical Zimmer and Rivera games, the team that wins the field position and turnover battles will likely win the war.

 

 

 

 

[davos]

Zimmer is known for making good halftime adjustments and their DL is damn good.  I'm nervous about how our offense matches up but we can win this.  

[luke nukem]

0-2 vs the zim zam.

[Verge]

Everson Griffin is going to end Matt Kalil's career my dudes