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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
No announcements yet, but I still expect JJ will be the starter this Sunday. Haters can hate, I want to see what this guy can do. If he is not healthy enough to start, I wonder if Wentz will continue to play well enough to cause more drama. There should be some clarity either today or tomorrow. We could very well see Max Brosmer play at some point this season.
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Yeah… well going into week 7, we’ve only played 5 games… so…
Hmmmm…
Bro…Bro….BRO….BRO…..BRO…..BRO!!!
A repeat performance of this would be nice…
Kirk wasn’t much of a lead blocker in that first play.
Who’s number 8 in that video. This guy seemed to move around, throw on the run better than what I’m used to hearing about. Those throws rolling left actually look quite difficult.
He stands like a statue, becomes part of the machine
Feeling all the bumpers, always playing clean
Plays by intuition, the digit counters fall
That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball
Be honest, if McCarthy ever played remotely this well, we’d never hear the end of it from Bow. Cousins lights it up? Yeah, he actually sucks though, so…
Laughing… I thought Diggs screwed up by running the wrong way…
First injury report of the week.
No DNPs so that is good news.
Interesting data here.
AND… right on cue…
Judge Susan Illston blocked President Trump from firing federal employees while Democrats have the government shut down.
Apparently she thinks she’s the President of the United States.
We have a huge judicial tyranny problem.
How is this Judge’s actions even legal. The President is the Chief executive of the.Government. Acting in that capacity, the Judge is saying he has no right or power to layoff or let go of personnel.
This happens in business everyday and every CEO has this authority. But this Judge say the number one CEO in the country doesn’t have this authority.
Absurd!
Oh, didn’t just recently Chief Justice Roberts warn these rogue District Judges about acting beyond their boundaries. SF is certainly a long way from DC.
A Supreme Court judge just said that there should be all black voting districts because it’s the same as the ADA. Another judge forced ICE to take down protective fences in the midst of protests and cartels offering bounties on ICE agents.
The judiciary is a mess. Chuck Schumer said the other day that “thankfully” under Biden we approved 263 judges that we can use to stop Trump.
A “mess” – you’re being kind. Listening to their confirmation hearings, many didn’t even know the law. I’m not even sure some went to law school. Lifetime appointees with no accountability is guaranteed to lead to a “mess.”
Indeed
Not legal.
Judge has TDS and just hope to slow things down.
If they can delay the firings long enough to win the shutdown then they won’t happen since the shutdown is what is allowing him to RIF nonessential employees.
Low level judges appointed by idiots like sniffer. What a joke.
This made me laugh…
You can find ‘some people’ who will say absolutely anything especial if they are paid or have TDS.
“Some people say” – and some people are idiots too!
oh and also, never read the book children of men, but i love the movie with clive owen
in regards to some discussions below…
i love the book “the mote in god’s eye”
that is all
Eagles at #22 on this list… good for us.
Vikings are capable of helping fix those numbers.
Hope they don’t but it would be foolish to say it couldn’t happen.
True
Vikings are at 11, top third, that is ok
It is good… let’s keep it up on Sunday! Take Hurts, and make it hurts.
It’s kind of funny seeing people talking about McCarthy on Twitter. Some people are like “Why start him? He’s not really very good so far.” Others are like “He’s just 22 years old… he’s only played two games… he’s still learning”. Then the reply is “Exactly”.
Who will be blocking Jalen Carter?
Just get him to spit on someone before the game starts. Problem solved.
I will argue, in his first two starts he was without our starting left tackle, which also tied up our TE1, and Addison. Our receivers dropped a handful of balls, our Oline was a hot mess and he still managed to go 1-1. He has had a chance to reset and see things from a new perspective. He will probably be fine.
Everyone talks about how good Wentz is doing right now, but he has had long stretches of games where we can’t move the ball. He has missed receivers and he is only 2-1 as a starter. Wentz is not lighting it up like everyone thinks, he has been sufficient.
Wentz has been far better in his play than McCarthy. It’s not even close. That’s reality. Caveating things for McCarthy, and not highlighting the many adversities Wentz has faced is disingenuous at the very least, if not downright skewing reality for the sake of argument.
Wentz is a much better QB than McCarthy right now. That’s just the bottom line.
Compare how the Oline had played in all of the games. They may have been down the starters, but they were giving Wentz more time. Plus KOC was calling quick plays instead of the long drawn out plays.
Wentz may be the “better” QB right now, but it isn’t by as much as everyone seems to think.
The Bengals game was won by the Defense. The Steelers game was an absolute joke, until the last quarter. The defense kept us in the Browns game, just enough to squeak out a win.
I don’t know about this. Let’s face it, the Vikings offensive lines have been poor for years. Remember our last two guards and center.
Thus, if you are going to play QB for the Vikings, you better be tough as hell and expect to get knocked on your ass with great regularity.
I am saying that Wentz has beaten the Bengals, who are 0-4 without Burrows and the Browns who are 1-5 on the year. He isn’t exactly beating the best of the best.
McCarthy has beaten the bears who are 3-2 and lost to the Falcons who are 3-2. Both are good, not great, teams.
My point was in reference to your first post about offensive line play.
I would say our Oline has played better the last two weeks, then it did the first two weeks.
In Wentz’s first two games, they allowed the same number of sacks as the first two games.
And he was 1-1 in those games. and the 1 W was against the Bengals, who are winless since Burrow went down.
The team was 1-1, and his production far exceeded McCarthy’s which is the bottom line. I said Wentz is a better QB than McCarthy and that is factually true.
And I’m saying Wentz has played far better even when 4 of the 5 O-line starters went down. He is better at completing passes under duress, and better at running the offense with just a couple weeks on the roster.
Wentz – 69% completion rate, 253 yards a game, 5 TD’s and 2 interceptions (tipped balls) and a 99.5 passer rating.
McCarthy – 58.5% completion rate, 150.5 yards a game, 2 TD’s and 3 interceptions, and a 67.2 passer rating.
Wentz is clearly the better QB.
Much respect for you NLNV, because as I recall you were pretty negative on Wentz’s ability to effectively produce. You have never said he is an all pro, and neither do I, but you at least admit you were wrong and rightfully conclude at this point in time Wentz is better than McCarthy.
I think JR and I had a discussion on Wentz where I said he was pretty good, and I remembered him when he was with Eagles.
I don’t recall being hugely negative, but I probably wasn’t completely sold on him coming in late, and trying to learn the offense two weeks before the season opener. We brought him in on August 24 if you recall after we let Sam Howell go. That was way late in the day to bring in the backup QB.
So far… it looks like McCarthy will start to me…
Painful does not always equate to ‘a serious left shoulder injury’.
A ‘Serious Injury’ would rule him out at this point and spur talk of a IR stint.
You can play QB with even a pretty severe injury to your non-throwing arm. Really, it’s just dealing with pain, and of course not wanting to take a hit on it.
‘it’s just dealing with pain, and of course not wanting to take a hit on it’
You mentioned the same things during the London game. Wentz did ok after his injury, did well even during that last drive.
And it’s not like they don’t have shots to relieve pain.
Definitely during a game, adrenaline kicks in and you can get through a lot. The days following though are murder. I don’t know what your personal injury history is like, but I’ve had a long list of broken bones, joint dislocations, tendons, bone bruises, cracked ribs, etc. I’d say my pain tolerance level is pretty high. That said, trotting onto the field knowing one wrong hit is going to crumble you is a little intimidating.
I have experienced a lot of that. plus others, and continued ‘the mission’.
Of course I never faced NFL sized, monster coming at me determined to do violence.
But then I have never been paid millions of $$ to be in that situation either.
You and NLV are good ‘military men’ – Semper Fi.
I did what was required I believe.
NLNVF went above and beyond what I accomplished.
We all served JR. We’re blood brothers as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you all for your service.
The local paper has a feature every couple of weeks about one of the veterans at the veteran’s home. About a month ago they had one that sorta resonated with me, honestly written. Wasn’t one of those articles where the protagonist collected VC scalps on his belt or singlehandedly took out a machine gun nest, was about an ordinary guy from here that was in love with a local girl, whose dad was in charge of the local selective service branch, who subsequently was drafted into the Army rather quickly under suspicious circumstances early in the draft (aka her dad didn’t like him). She wanted to get married but he didn’t want her to be a war widow, promised he would return to marry her.
In basic he ended up getting selected to be a radio operator of the PRC-25, a dubious honor to be the guy with a big antenna on his back carrying the radio that could call in strikes against the VC. Facing a high likelihood of death, he asked how to avoid carrying the PRC in the field and they told him if he could do morse at some fantastic rate of like 30 wpm he would be assigned to the big radios in the rear. He managed to qualify and so he was shielded from front line ops, many called him that unfortunate moniker REMFer, but he fulfilled his obligation and returned home to a lifelong marriage to his high school sweetheart.
Also said that he was starving when the transport landed in country, they said help yourself to a feed of hotdogs, scarfed down about a dozen, then the heat and humidity got to him and he threw up into a vile smelling garbage can right there on the tarmac before boarding a Huey to his post, thought “Welcome to Vietnam”.
Love hearing about heroes, but also love hearing how normal guys like myself managed to serve their country honorably while saving their skin.
EDIT to say I did not serve, but if I did I would have sought a nice 61J MOS.
People who served all have the same level of value in my eyes. I was badly injured in combat once and medi-vacced to a field hospital. A young Airman was prepping me for surgery and he said something like “they don’t make guys like you anymore”. I looked at him and said “you’re saving my life and you don’t think that’s important? I sure as hell do”. Then the anesthetic kicked in. I never saw that kid again.
We all did our part, we all raised our hands and swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. That’s what matters to me.
Does anyone know if JJ is a full participant in practice so far this week? KOC mentioned that he needed a full week of practice before he plays again.
Today is the first day of on the field practice.
Report will be out later today.
They had a an extra day of practice this week on Monday. McCarthy was on the field and throwing the ball, but KOC was still non-committal to him.
We invested in two strong D-Linemen this past offseason. Hargraves and Allen were supposed to bolster our line and stop the run. So far, we’re 22nd in the league in yards per carry, and 23rd in yards per game, against the run. Maybe teams are just running outside against us though.
Wonder, were our scores any better while Gink and Cashman weren’t injured?
Also, if you remove any play where Pace whiffed or bounced off the tackle I’ll bet our ratings get better as well.
This is a salient take.
In fact, just remove all plays where the opponent gained more than 2 yards and we’d be right up there in top 5 run defense. LOL.
But still, Pace is a liability to the run D. Guy is in the right place, just can’t seal the deal.
What are the comparisons to when they’ve been in there and not in there (injured)? Just curious.
I don’t have access to any authoritative data on that.
Some of this is defensive and scheme and overall strategy of the defense.
So this is something that to date, I can’t get my head around.
Trump angered a lot of people with his attitude and comments. pushed a lot of people towards the dark side.
Then with Biden in office, people realized that attitude and comments don’t matter as much as actions, and things went back to normal.
You think 15 million people who had never voted before, suddenly rose up and voted “against” Trump? Especially since everyone’s 401K’s went through the roof in his 4 years? I don’t.
I pulled up a chart of popular vote results on Wikipedia. It doesn’t seem to reflect what is listed in the above chart.
2008 – 69.4m; 2012 – 65.9m; 2016 – 62.9m; 2020 – 81.2m; 2024 – 77.3m
Wiki Bias??
Say it isn’t so.
‘The authors found that “Wikipedia articles are more slanted towards Democratic views than are Britannica articles, as well as more biased”, particularly those focusing on civil rights, corporations, and government.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideological_bias_on_Wikipedia
How do you slant numbers, other than falsely reporting them?
The numbers on Wiki are likely more accurate than the numbers on the graphic I posted. I don’t think Kamala got 77M valid votes though. I’m seeing that they’re finding real issues with the voting machines changing votes, and tons of counterfeit mail-in ballots that were printed in China, along with counterfeit ID’s produced in China. They’re finding hundreds of thousands of people on voter rolls that don’t exist either. Plus starting to find a lot of illegals that voted. There is a shit ton of voter fraud we’re uncovering right now. So much it’s scary.
Dems say it’s minimal… no big deal. I don’t believe them. They said Biden was sharp as a tack, the economy was booming, and the borders were secure too. Oh yeah, there’s not as much crime as you think, and their crime reduction programs are working.
Think some of that is true, but not 15 million difference. More likely Al Capone was counting votes for the Democrats.
It’s not hard to understand
It was a complete and planned vote fraud scheme.
Joe Biden even said it. Out loud by accident.
McCarthy will probably get the start…
On a lighter note…this is just what the world needs…..MORE PORN!!!
OpenAI to allow ChatGPT erotica content for verified adult users soon | Fox Business
Just throwing this out there now…I don’t want any of you to use my likeness/personality in your AI porn without my permission…
You forgot the word “again”.
How would you even know??
Asking for a friend.
Good point
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement as we work through this process…much appreciated.
If anyone’s interested in a heavy cover of Rebel Yell here is our band playing it last Saturday. Second ever show went pretty well.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1azuhxkuVK/
Appreciate yuh!
Someone asked if I could do the snarl..im like…no lol
It always starts up front…
I guess they could let the guys we ended up signing from them go….they had better options.
KAM got snookered…..
Dying sucks….I am currently on death watch for my Father in Law. He is 87, Has moderate dementia, diabetes, prostate cancer that has made it to his bones, had a stroke a month ago, now developed pneumonia and sepsis – on comfort care only – it will be a matter of hours or a few days – he is a tough old coot….
This is my 3rd time doing the death watch thing – it is not pleasant. He is definitely a strong Christian which makes the process easier….how do people go through this process without hope?
My condolences and prayers for you and your family to help you get thru this.
May your FIL join The Father in his just reward.
Yeah, that stuff is no fun.
I’m glad my pa died quick, sitting in his chair, listening to music. Last time I saw him alive, he waved to me out the window.
That’s a solid goodbye.
Same. Last words my mother ever spoke to me were ‘I love you…’
Likely the first thing she ever said to me too.
She died two days later, riddled with cancer. Her death was merciful.
it’s dusty in here now…..
🔨
NoDak, so sorry to hear this. It’s very sad, and very hard to deal with. I’ve been in this position with both my parents. The only only solace is in a belief that soon they will be at peace, and out of pain and suffering. Soon they will be with God. All you can do is care. All you can do is provide whatever comfort you can.
This is hard, but your love will get you through this, I promise.
We will all have you in our prayers as you walk down this difficult road.
It does.
My brother is the only one in my family who died quick.
Prayers up for you and your family.
All the best to you and your family. Certainly a tough thing.
Having “Hope” is difficult and don’t really have a good answer. But when my Father died we had a conversation a few days before. He passed this along to me – When you get my age, most all my friends are gone, my wife and brother and sisters are gone. I can’t do all that much anymore and I don’t really enjoy eating all that much anymore either.
when he died a few days later, mowing his yard, I felt he was ready and in a better place, Could be himself again.
I understand, sat with my sister for hours a little over a week ago. Just lost a friend this week, he went to bed and never woke up.
Sad times NoDak. Prayers for you and the family.
In response to your question – by realizing that death is as natural a process as birth. Have you ever read The Mote in God’s Eye? A sci fi novel where the alien society is incapable of regulating their numbers and quickly overrun the resources of their planet leading to massive wars followed by near extinction only to rebuild again and again and again. So it is good that as we age we die.
Yes, agree it is a natural process, but easier to navigate when you believe there is more to your existence than just your few years on this world.
I understand that in individual cases, such as yours. But I have been part of some pretty irrational care discussions at end of life even in families whose beliefs are deeply entrenched in religious beliefs, or for that matter individuals that espouse a very religious mindset. Of course the same is true of people without expressed religious beliefs. I truly think that dying and grief is an individual process, unique to everyone.
I lost both my maternal grandparents quite suddenly, not having spoken to them in a while, and as you know my father passed of aggressive AML before I could make it to his bedside. One of these days my mother will pass as well. I take an existential outlook, and try to have positive relationships with my loved ones, knowing that anything could happen tomorrow.
Oddly enough, though, I like to believe my dogs live again in a higher plane. Absurd I know, but I never said I was completely rational. To me, my dogs were saintly beings, without sin and with unconditional love.
‘The Mote in God’s Eye’
One of my favorite books back in the day.
I have a several books by Niven and Pournelle, all thought provoking.
Can’t remember what the ship’s crew called the little Moties that infiltrated one of the ships, engineering all sorts of weird stuff in the air ducts and stuff. They might have had to nuke that ship to eradicate them. Which gets me thinking of another scifi plot point like The Children of Men, the EPA has approved vadescana for control of Varroa (mite) infestations in honeybees, a double stranded RNA sequence that the bees ingest, which in turn the mites ingest, and renders the gene responsible for reproduction in the females inert. Imagine mass human infertility secondary to vadescana! Need to get the skoloholics scientists investigating that. The conspiracy theories abound.
🙏🏻
Looks like I was wrong about Fangio’s defense this year. He has lived in Cover 2 for years, but this year he’s running mostly Cover 1 and Cover 3.
Fifty lashes my boy – don’t be wrong again!
Laughing… yeah, I can admit when I get it wrong. Traditionally Fangio does like to keep things in front of him, and play a bit of a bend, don’t break defense. He plays a base 3-4, and brings blitzes from all over though. He has Adoree Jackson and Kelee Ringo to play CB against Jefferson and Addison. Quinion Mitchell their starting right corner is questionable. Thus I do think Fangio will play a lot of cover 3, especially if we go deep early.
‘Fifty lashes’ with a wet noodle?
That was a threat of choice when I was growing up.
SKOLOHOLICS PICK ‘EM AND SURVIVAL LEAGUE UPDATES
I have been set free from corn prison! We finished Monday. Brother was even mobile enough to drive the combine for a couple hours. Tilling is still left. I have returned to regular work, and it feels like a vacation. Mostly, I just want to sleep now. With no stress giving me adrenaline, I am crashing. But I will be able to pay some attention to football again!
The top three scorers in Pick ‘Em were Kirko Chainz!, NoDak and PA. I was second from the bottom, beating only JacksonVike. The corn surely distracted me.
Overall, a few of us remain below 500 points: Me, DE, JacksonVike and Bow. Meanwhile, the group above 500 points is ManlyPurple, Let’s Fish, NoDak, Kirko, Surly, Lasallegrouse and PA. Actually, no one is hugely running away with the scoring. It’s anyone’s game yet. Some folks just need to have a bad day, like I had. Others just need to have a good day, and things can shuffle.
Everyone got the Eagles and Buffalo games wrong. Everyone got the Broncos, Indy, NE, Rams, GB and TB games right. Several Iconoclast Picks: JacksonVike took Miami and Cleveland and Tennessee. He must have been feeling luck. Bow also took the Titans.
Two Genius Picks. That was Kirko taking Chicago and Bow taking Carolina.
No Traitor Picks because the Vikings didn’t play. I heard there is scuttlebutt about who is starting at QB this week, but I don’t know the details. I only knew corn these past weeks.
Survival was bloodbath. Freezy, Little Fishin, NoDak and Surly all got the ax. Manly and PA are the only ones without strikes. Lots of us took the Packers this week. I sense a pattern. Pick whoever is playing the Bengals!
Remember to get your picks in before Thursday night’s game. I have not even looked at mine yet. I need to get a bit more sleep before I can puzzle out such things. Last night I came home from regular work and went directly to a nap. Then I went to bed and overslept this morning. I would like to take another nap right now. I have nothing left to give. At least it is raining here, so I am not expected to get in a tractor when I get home. Hence, I will get into bed again. I will probably sleep through the Vikings game…
Freezy must have had to change a battery the last couple of weeks. He didn’t get his picks in, which is okay with me. At least I was able to outscore him.
Me watching my survival picks from here on out:
I’d bet all of my Skoloholics Bucks that Brosmer will be playing at some point.
That is not really a good thing.
Given the injuries, maybe Brosmer is the QBOTF ???
He has seen action already
Yep.
I guess I meant extended action.
Like he’s the QB for the rest of the game/season.
Yeah….he lost 1.5 yards. Very poor production.
The Eagles are completing 68% of their passes, but only averaging 195 yards a game. Hurts throws a lot of balls short. He uncorks a few deep balls a game, but basically keeps the ball within 5 to 7 yards of the LOS. Devonte Smith and A. J. Brown are their “go to” guys. I feel like we need to contain Saquon Barkley first and foremost, then contain Hurts. Keep Hurts in the pocket, and play solid coverage, and I think we will be good.
Sounds like a recipe for a Gink 6.
If his neck wasn’t made of dust, yeah.
Yes, Eagles/Hurts aren’t going to beat you with his arm. Limit the run game, crowd the short passing game, you might give up a deep ball here and there but live with it.
I would have done the same thing against the Falcons especially since their receivers aren’t as good as the Eagles.
Might need more.
What does he know, he only plays defense.
“with the staff we got… them dialing it up, it’s almost nearly impossible (to fail).”
That’s what I’ve been saying all spring, summer, and now fall.
The Eagles pass defense is pretty good, but Fangio will play cover two, with a mix of man/zone under. Thus, KOC’s favorite play, the deep crosser to Jefferson will be there if the O-line can hold up long enough for McCarthy to get it off. The Eagles only have 9 sacks so far this year, but they do get a lot of pressure bringing just four guys.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
McCarthy has to prove he can make the reads to execute the offense at a high level. When I start seeing him beating defenses with his brain, I’ll be happy.
I would like to see him display a bit more touch and accuracy, too. Seemed like he was zipping passes through guys’ hands and making them contort too much to try to snag them.
McCarthy has always been in run heavy offenses. Basically Michigan ran the ball down everybody’s throat, and only threw the ball to mix things up. McCarthy didn’t come in with exceptional passing credentials. He has a very strong arm though. He can whistle it. That said, as you highlight, working the ball to different levels requires different trajectories and touch. Firing a fastball on every throw doesn’t cut it. McCarthy supposedly worked on this all spring and summer but it looks like he still only has one speed. His TD throw to Jefferson against the Bears showed he can fire the ball into a tight space. He has to work on the other pro throws though.
His TD pass to Jones on that wheel route had perfect touch on it, but he had time to setup and focus on that. Its not second nature to him yet, but, like we all said, reps reps reps. This is going to be a process for better or for worse. I want him on the field ASAP. And am also not in the same mind set that the 2025 Vikings are in “Win Now” mode, 2026-27 are the SB run years.
I think it would be best to win now. The future is not promised to anyone, and that whole “wait till next year” thing never seems to quite work out. Look at the Ravens. Seems like they always end up saying “yeah we didn’t get it done, but wait till next year”. The future is now.
I heard the same criticisms of Josh Allen his first couple of years. Only way to learn that touch is to play. Hell, guys were still complaining about how hard Favre threw after like 20 years.
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