All or Nothing
Pass or Fail
Right or Wrong
Good or Bad
Pass or Punt
Get it?
Good.
The usual suspects continued their MV3 run this year. Cook didn't score but Jefferson & Thielen both moved closer to surpassing Moss' records. Pursuit of history will always be the main takeaway whether positive or negative. Fortunately this time it was on the plus side!
I'll talk more about the defense on the other side, but Harrison Smith showed once again that he is still the all-pro caliber safety that we've known for so many years now. He came within a step of adding to his half sack and then got the clinching pick when it was needed most. And to think, he was on some people's trade lists not too long ago.
Earlier in the game, Dantzler made his presence felt with the first interception by a corner this year. Hopefully it's the first of many hauled in by him but it helped turn the tide of the game before things got too out of hand.
There will also be more special teams talk below, but the undrafted, speedster from Penn St had the most impactful play of his career so far. Smith's interception may not have happened if not for Dan Chisena's solo-tackle of Keelan Cole.
And last, but actually not least, Kirk Cousins. He wasn't great today but I would categorize him as mostly unflappable. That's not a characteristic that many or any people would have said about him like a month ago. Even as the pressure continued to get in his face he managed to make non-damaging decisions with the football. As was said this morning, there needs to be immense progress made by him, specifically during the second season, but today did turnout to be a step in the right direction!
On the other end of the spectrum, the way that the defense started the game was reminiscent of the most important wood piece getting pulled out of the tower. There's been no bashfulness here about the perspective regarding Eric Kendricks but if the whole unit is that fragile then the issues run even deeper than previously thought. They turned it around as the quarters ticked by but that start against any other team would have doomed their chances so it can't be excused.
Special teams continue to be as much of an anchor around this franchises neck as the lack of a championship in the Bowl era. Dan Bailey has been a good option more often than not but Zimmer's impatience lead to Dan Carlson thriving out West. Maybe if they hadn't cut him during the first training camp the Purple wouldn't have had to play overtime today.
Yeah, you read that right, I'm blaming the coach for the missed kicks today.
And then there's the development that set the whole day off. If Kendricks isn't able to go against Tampa next Sunday then the GOTT will get us much worse than Glennon was every going to. He started the day without an injury designation so there's nothing wrong with trotting him out the way that they did, except that now it could spell more disaster for the team. No amount of coaching can overcome the continual loss of the best players. So whatever it takes get him ready for next Sunday, Sugarman needs to do it. But the outcome this morning is a major screw-up.