Norse Code Podcast Episode 361: Establishing the Offseason (with guest Seth Galina)
Norse Code is back to talk about the rough day for the Vikings defense as they lost to the Chicago Bears. We break down where the Bears exploited the Vikings several weaknesses, the point at which it stops being an actual Vikings defensive line, and the pros/cons of playing for the Hail Mary. We also brought on PFF’s Seth Galina to preview the Christmas matchup with the Saints. We will be doing another Zoom call watch-along during the Lions game on January 3rd, 2021 at 12:00 PM Central US time. This is exclusive to our Patreon subscribers.
Eagles News: Jalen Hurts still has “plenty of room for growth”
Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/16/20.
Let’s get to the
Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to an upset victory last week, but there is still plenty of room for growth. A win against the Saints one of the better teams in the NFL carries weight regardless of Hurts’ individual performance as a passer. But to be clear, there is significant room for improvement for him as a passer after a 40.9 passing grade in his first career start. A throw that very well could have been a pick-six slipped through the arms of a defender, and several of his bigger plays through the air came on busted coverages. However, you can’t discount the fact that Hurts did add significant value on the ground (106 rushing yards), and the Eagles’ offense as a whole functioned more smoothly with him at the head. As PFF’s Seth Galina wrote, Hurts’ supporting cast had its best collective performance of the season. That should have Ph
Ravens News 12/14: Crunch Time and more
The Ravens won’t make a quarterback’s day a nightmare, but they will cause him to be consistently frustrated. Baltimore ranks eighth in yards per game, and is even better at limiting the opponent in the most important category: scoring. The Ravens are the third-best unit in points allowed per game and excellent at getting off the field, also standing as the league’s third-best unit on third down.
The yardage totals are what lift the Ravens to this standing, because they aren’t jumping off the page in many Next Gen metrics. But frustrating the opposing quarterback has been working for them, as evidenced by their ninth-best opposing passer rating allowed (89.3) and completion percentage over expectation of -0.5 percent.