Editor’s note: this will be a weekly feature, but Stude was kind of enough to do the grading this week to try to keep my honest (though I may chime in if I disagree)
In this week’s preview column, Bruce made his predictions for the week 2 game against the Vikings. This week, Stude will grade his results. Here’s how we did:
Dalvin Cook averages less than 4 yards per carry
The prediction to shut down Dalvin Cook did not happen. He had a career day and his long TD run was a huge momentum shift that he almost singlehandedly put them back in the game.
Score: 0.0
(Editor’s note: If his big run had been stopped at the LOS, which it almost was, Cook would have had less than 4 yards per carry; I would have given myself partial credit)
Kirk Cousins passes for more yards than he did last week
This is an easy prediction. While he doubled his yards, his completion percentage dropped almost in half from 80% down to 43%. He also threw twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. Also, that 1 touchdown was almost an interception too. While this was an accurate prediction, it was too easy and he only gets half credit.
Score: 0.5
Diggs and Thielen are both held mostly in check, with maybe one big play
He nailed this one. Diggs only had 1 catch (that was almost picked off), but it was a big play. He had 6 other targets and got nothing from them. Thielen was targeted 8 times and caught 5 for 75 with no TDs or monster game changing plays. Full credit for this prediction.
Score: 1.0
Aaron Jones looks better than last week
This one is also a pretty easy prediction. Aaron Jones had a great day with 23 carries for 116 yards and a TD. He also caught 4 passes for another 34 yards. He looked like the primary back that everyone was excited to see. Because it was an easy prediction he only gets partial credit, but also because Jones did so well he’ll get most of it.
Score: 0.8
Darnell Savage, building on his confidence from last week, comes up with a wow play
Does a wow play count if it’s negative? He missed the key tackle for Dalvin Cook’s long TD run. Other than that, he did seem to play with more confidence and continues to show the speed and instincts that the Packers are hoping for.
Score: 0.5
A secondary receiver (i.e., not Davante Adams) gets a touchdown
Again, nailed this one. Geronimo’s TD catch was a thing of beauty and scoring against the Vikings is really hard to do.
Score: 1.0
Kenny Clark has his way with rookie Garrett Bradbury
Kenny was awesome again yesterday and Bradbury and the Vikings had a very tough time dealing with him. The officials helped the Vikings with a terrible call against Kenny, but this prediction was correct.
Score: 1.0
Packers 17, Vikings 13
Getting the result right is worth at least two-thirds of this score. The Packers score was within 4 and the Vikings was within 3. Being within 1 TD of the exact score is really good and counts for a very good score.
Score: 0.9
Total Predictions: 8
Total Score: 5.7
Percentage: 71.25%
He was totally wrong on Dalvin Cook (Editor’s note: I was not totally wrong) and took 2 easy predictions that are only partial credit. The rest was very solid.
For the rest of this weeks analysis review, check out our weekly What We Learned Column.