Battle Red Blog
It is that time of year again and it is time to look at the basic numbers from the football game. The Houston Texans didn’t play hardly any of their starters. They didn’t run any of their best plays on offense and defense. The Vikings did run some regulars. So, the 20-10 result is not necessarily indicative of the relative quality of these two teams. After all, the Vikings were breaking in a new quarterback. C.J. Stroud is established.
We run these numbers every week for one main reason. The more data we get the more we begin to understand what actually contributes to winning and losing. Afterwards, we will go with our customary good, bad, and ugly from the game. In some weeks, we will go with great, good, and bad. Obviously, we can’t do that in a loss. So, let’s get started.
Obviously, there isn’t a ton to hang your hat on with these numbers. The Vikings dominated this game statistically. They gained more yards, they held the ball longer, they committed fewer turnovers, and they committed fewer penalties. Other than that how was the play Ms. Lincoln? Obviously, coaches and analysts alike can dive into the results and find nuggets of gold in what looks like a pile of excrement.
We also have to contend with the idea that they weren’t playing their best players or running their best plays. When a second string guy is going against a first string guy, he is going to struggle. The same is true for third string guy going against the twos. This game was a lot of third string guys. Many of these guys will be bagging groceries or selling insurance in September. We have to keep that in perspective.
The second team played only one series and what a series it was. Davis Mills went five for six with a touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios. Dare Ogunbowale had some nice runs. We certainly have had our fair share of fun with Davis Mills over the years. He has been a favorite punching bag in the Hair of the Dog series. However, he has developed into a good backup quarterback. No, I don’t think any good team wants him under center for 17 games. However, if you had to have him for three or four games you could conceivably get out with a .500 record while he’s holding down the fort.
It becomes important to keep things in perspective. Mills was selected in the third round. If you are able to find a good backup quarterback in the third round you have done something good. This becomes important when we get to the bad and ugly...
