Greetings, my name is Cary McLaughlin, I am a hidden away blogger known as CM1 that Cristy offered the chance to ‘Go less amateur’. So I’ll shed the handle and open up a bit. Very exciting! As a writer, or more an enthusiast who writes, I look at very specific details of game play. I think like the player and I love to see them make adjustments, change technique, execute. I sometimes describe things uniquely and often make suggestions.
I work at the airport in employee training, and with the excellent employment rate we are experiencing in Minnesota, (You’ll notice job opening signs everywhere right now) I am extremely busy trying to fill positions. I did get to see the cheerleaders and staff returning from the trip to Canton, though. Dancing all day long definitely keeps you in shape, my goodness. Not talking to the staff.
Although, it couldn’t hurt.
Immediate programming note: I have to be honest; I’m working 70+ hours right now, so the likelihood that I’m going to be able to write up anything the day of a game or even the day after is pretty low. Ok, I finally got to watch the HOF game. THANK YOU NFL.COM! What an awesome set up, NFL game pass offers replays of all of the games, plus they do the cut ups, which for me is significantly more ideal. I don’t really need the All-22 right now, also available, because I don’t actually work for the Vikings at this time, and thus I am not privy to their alignments, or the calls that would better inform me as to the specifics of assignments. Or in other words, I find amateur critics comically misrepresent their opinions of what is happening as fact, when they actually may be utterly clueless. Same goes for grading systems.
But that’s not really what I am all about. The following is all fact, if you want my opinion.
So.. The HOF game:
I was most impressed by Justin Tratou, Mychole Pruitt, Jabari Price, Adam Theilen, the backup offensive tackles (the first line was fine, but didn’t play enough), the way the team has bought in to special teams, the speed that everyone played at, pursuit – especially by the linebackers, tackling, a general sense of fire, or hunger out of everybody. Tratou is a tactician. He puts his pads exactly where you want them, he executes his assignments, holds the edge like crazy, folds the pocket. I don’t care who it’s against, the hands and the pads, the right decisions for leveraging. It popped immediately, and because I can now watch plays more than once, I was consistently pleased even when he wasn’t directly involved with the flow of the play.
I was impressed by the defense as a whole, but my favorite play was the BEAUTIFUL execution of a scrape stunt between Tom Johnson and Eric Kendricks. They knew they executed it perfectly, and nothing else needs to be said except.. MORE. PLEASE! Obviously Zim and .. Edy? What do we got guys,
Edwards needs a nickname so people know who he is. Anyways, they knew I’d like that one. Manufacturing pressure. The ends were good too. But, the stunt! I’d say it was more Eric, but it takes 2 to Tango.
Pruitt particularly impressed me by controlling his man on the edge, if not sealing it off. It gave running backs an opportunity more than once. I do like how he looks in the open field as well. He is just tall enough for his body type and resulting mechanics to fit in the league.
Jabari was decent in coverage, I liked how he managed at the catch point. I really liked how he stuck his nose up in there. Nice closing speed, little bit of a stick. People in the local media gush about Winfield, and those were his traits. Jabari is not Winfield. But those are the traits.
I wrote a while ago about Theilen being above the NFL cut line, whether he is a Viking in 2015 or not.
This game demonstrated that clearly. He is a pro football player.
Like I’ve said before, right now this Vikings roster is stacked, and dialed in with the program the organization has procured, and it is worth watching a game that doesn’t register in the final standings right now. I wouldn’t call it meaningless because there were clearly some negatives that need to be evaluated and learned from. But even for Waynes, I liked his footwork, I liked his closing speed, he just had a bad night and some weaknesses were exposed. The specialists weren’t great, and to an extent I do feel these guys are wound too tight right now. For Hunter, who was too upright out of the blocks early, I still felt closed the pocket and finished some interior stuffs. Most of the issues were clean-up and rep oriented. Not many glaring physical issues.
Overall, a solid A- on the grounds of overall talent, preparation and competitiveness.
More on me, and what I anticipate writing here this season:
I am honest, and I prefer to treat people the way I would want to be treated, which is forthcoming, and with high expectations. I believe strongly in hard work paying dividends, and I believe that almost unconditionally what is best for the individual is also what is best for the sum of parts. For some people in the organization, I’ve written genuinely and not always in a flattering manner. Please understand that
I respect you all as people, and I hold you to what I consider regular standards. You are just people with a very select set of skills and an incredible burden as public figures. If I can inspire greatness, I will.
Personally I am not driven by fame, and could even be convinced I fear it. So above all, I appreciate that you all accept and thrive in the limelight.
I can’t wait to watch the next game.. Welcome to the league.. Rook!
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