At the end of his rookie and 2nd season, Kamara was, without a doubt, the steal of the 2017 draft; outscoring McCaffrey, Fournette, Dalvin Cook and Kareem Hunt. A year later, Boston Scott, the 4th RB on the depth chart a year ago, is making more headlines than Kamara. Injury or not, he was not the dynamic player/backfield safety net this team needed in that RB/Scat back role. Call it couch QBing, but it has been a recurring cry from the fan base that Payton commit to more emphasis on the power run game. We all thought the Brees injury was a blessing in disguise; shedding the light on new ways this team can take over their opponent. Its been stated a million times, but again, we went 5-0 with a power run and ball control offense. A lot of factors there, most notably the health of some positions. Despite that, as soon as Brees returned, all of that, ALL of it, went out the window. Despite sup-par defenses falling victim to the precision of a Drew and Payton attack, they never kept that ground and pound knowledge in their back pocket. Instead, down the stretch, they kept feeding Kamara the same stretch runs and passes in the flat. Giving Murray enough carries to keep him satisfied, but not enough for him to start punishing defenses. Everyone was high on Kamara's 4TDs in the last 2 games, but to me, those were gimmes. Those weren't Kamara TDs like we know them to be.
I think Payton often out coaches himself. He's rarely the coach to call a play until the opposing defense learns to stop it, yet he's always quick to go back to what historically has worked whether or not it's working in the actual game. It was clear the Vikings defense put all their chips in on stopping Thomas, Kamara and rushing up the middle like Atlanta did. Despite having success with Murray, Taysom and Cook, drives were stalled by forcing the ball to Thomas and Kamara. Kamara just wasn't the same at this point in the season, yet he was relied on to be a difference maker while Murray sat on the sideline.
Maybe this is more of a referendum on Payton than Kamara. Either way, the opportunities given to Kamara compared to the production did not make logical sense to me in the latter part of this season.
I think Payton often out coaches himself. He's rarely the coach to call a play until the opposing defense learns to stop it, yet he's always quick to go back to what historically has worked whether or not it's working in the actual game. It was clear the Vikings defense put all their chips in on stopping Thomas, Kamara and rushing up the middle like Atlanta did. Despite having success with Murray, Taysom and Cook, drives were stalled by forcing the ball to Thomas and Kamara. Kamara just wasn't the same at this point in the season, yet he was relied on to be a difference maker while Murray sat on the sideline.
Maybe this is more of a referendum on Payton than Kamara. Either way, the opportunities given to Kamara compared to the production did not make logical sense to me in the latter part of this season.