By Jim Souhan
Many Vikings fans have probably been begging Kyler Murray to “get down’’ during the instances he has scrambled or run in a Vikings’ uniform.
Saturday night, college football reminded us that the quarterback slide is a slippery slope.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was dazed and left the game after USC’s Desman Stephens ignored Moore’s slide and blasted him in the facemask.
That was a borderline criminal cheap shot. One that a lot of defensive players and coaches would encourage.
If you’re not ethical, you’d probably be happy to trade a 15-yard penalty for the removal of the opposing quarterback.
In Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut, he, too, slid to avoid contact and took a hit to the head that knocked him out of the game. He missed Week 2 with a concussion and will return today (Sunday) against Tampa Bay.
Defensive players and coaches should be more severely penalized when they take advantage of a defenseless quarterback. Quarterbacks should still find a better way to avoid being defenseless.
They should dive, not slide.
Dive, and defenders will back up to protect their ankles and knees. You’ll get more yardage, and you won’t get hit in the head.
-The hot listen: On the Viking Update podcast with Jon Krawczynski and Alec Lewis, I noted that Kevin O’Connell is performing much better with journeymen quarterbacks than Jim Harbaugh is with a supposed franchise quarterback.
-Daily thought: If the US wins the Presidents Cup, it will be despite the strategery of captain Brandt Snedeker.
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