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Lazuli  1mo ago (text post)   544 thread views

Weekly NFL Thread: Week 5

Let's chat about the National Football League. This week's schedule (all times Eastern):

Sun 2024-10-06 9:30AM New York Jets @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Cleveland Browns @ Washington Commanders
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots
Sun 2024-10-06 1:00PM Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals
Sun 2024-10-06 4:05PM Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers
Sun 2024-10-06 4:05PM Las Vegas Raiders @ Denver Broncos
Sun 2024-10-06 4:25PM Green Bay Packers @ Los Angeles Rams
Sun 2024-10-06 4:25PM New York Giants @ Seattle Seahawks
Sun 2024-10-06 8:20PM Dallas Cowboys @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Mon 2024-10-07 8:15PM New Orleans Saints @ Kansas City Chiefs
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The Vikings have yet to trail this season and are 5-0 largely on the strength of their first-half performances. In the opening two quarters they’ve outscored opponents 69-24 and haven’t conceded more than 7 points to any team.

They’ve only outscored two of five opponents in the second halves of games, and are only +1 (53-52) in the closing two quarters on the young season.

I suspect there is something going on, outside of a team being conservative while protecting a lead, with O’Connell and Flores outscripting opposing coaches over each week of preparation and dominating opponents out of the gate, but then being a bit slow to make counter-adjustments after their opponents make changes at halftime.

Flores mentioned to the NFL Network crew in their production-prep interview with him that he is deliberately holding back certain aspects of play calling until high-leverage drives in the fourth quarter. Perhaps a valid defensive strategy, but the offense could hasten how soon the opposing team is facing high-leverage drives by scoring more than 10 points in the second half (only accomplished once this season, against Houston). This has led to back-to-back games in which Green Bay and the Jets kept the game alive until their last offensive possession, respectively.

Hopefully, their bye week upon them, O’Connell can address the need to counter halftime adjustments by opposing defenses.

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