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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
It sounds like the Vikings’ decision on who will be starting QB against the Eagles next weekend will hinge on who will be the least injured at game time. J.J. McCarthy is still recovering from an ankle injury, and Carson Wentz is dealing with a shoulder injury. They haven’t shared many details on Wentz’s shoulder injury, or at least I haven’t found any. Fans and pundits were divided on whether the Vikings should turn the team back over to McCarthy, as Wentz looked really good since taking the field. Considering that Wentz took over after only being on the team for only two weeks, it’s logical to assume that he will continue to perform even better as he gets more comfortable with the offense and working with Kevin O’Connell. I just want the Vikings to win, I don’t care if Mama June is under center. Just win, baby.
Speaking of win, that’s what the Giants did last night to the surprise of pretty much everyone. I loved it, I DO NOT like the Eagles or Philadelphia, and I would LOVE to see a changing of the guard in the NFC East. I was happy to see Dart and the Giants give the Eagles a whippin’, I like Jackson Dart as he’s an Ole Miss guy, and I also like Kam Scatteboo, I wanted us to draft him as he really impressed me in that bowl game finale last year.
Vikings and NFL News
Fox Sports provides injury updates for every team in their 2025 NFL week 6 injury report.
Stats and highlights from last night’s Giants-Eagles game and the unexpected results of that game, from NFL.com.
NFL.com provides updates around the league in their NFL News Roundup.
Media Selection
Here’s another great one from Forgotten History where they look at the assault on our freedoms called The Patriot Act. Enjoy!
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The NFL admits that the missed the call on Sir Will FG attempt that hit the camera wire.
Does that mean that they will do anything about it? Of course not.
All is well in Lubbock, Red Raiders are up 35-17.
And #nojinx for sure.
See yall @ Huntington Bank in a week…
21-0 Texas Tech over Kansas.
All is good.
The wife hates Texas Tech… grin.
I should have used #nojinx.
It is now 21-17.
Or maybe the Mexican put a Hex on them.
SoCal you’re killing me. Did I read below you went to Panda Express. They have the best spicy orange chicken dish. Now, I’ve got it on my mind.
Going there for lunch tomorrow!
This is getting to be like the food network – and that’s not a bad thing.
I’ve never been to a Panda Express. We have a really good place called China Moon less than a mile from us. They have $5 lunch specials. I get the boneless spare ribs and pork fried rice, with a pork eggroll and a can of coke. The portion is so big, I usually eat half, save the rest for a snack later.
Best lunch deal anywhere.
Text me some and I will compare them to Panda.
#grin
I got Orange Chicken with noodles for The Teacher with a order of Rangoons.
I got fried rice with teriyaki chicken for me.
Aggies and Florida trading TD’s. A&M just scored and right now at the beginning of the second quarter, it’s 21-14 Aggies.
OK, now the A&M QB has 136 yards and 2 TD’s (one rushing and one passing) on 5 completions.
A&M QB has 103 yards passing and a rushing TD on 3 completions.
Since everyone is talking food, I grilled burgers and brats today. Tasty.
Always a good choice VP.
Make sure to safe some for your buddies (aka us).
Indiana beat #3 Oregon in Oregon 30-20.
Impressive, I guess they deserve their #7 ranking.
Jekyll and Hyde Texas spanked #6 Oklahoma.
That should make Ms NLNFV happy.
She say Arch Manning still doesn’t impress her… laughing.
Well I understand that women don’t know anything about football.
I heard that on here somewhere.
She loves football, and hates women on TV talking about football.
The other day at lunch, I explained the nickel defense to her. She was all ears.
I got all you cooks beat.
I put a pizza in the oven and napped.
Will say that pizza looks really good.
Laughing… about my speed when I’m on my own for sure.
Food of the Gods
We used to joke about ‘Food of the Gods’ when my nephews were young teens. Then we visited my mom is Santa Barbara and went to a Greek Festival at the park. The food pavilion and a big sign that said ‘Food Of The Gods’. My nephews were gobsmacked as they just assumed it was a silly ‘Uncle Joke’.
Ended up getting the book for them, discussed it with them and they did a book report on it when they got to high school.
Good Times.
Hope it was a short nap so that the pizza did burn.
After the gym I didn’t feel like making dinner and since it was my night I stopped at Panda on the way home.
Panda was the only place I was confident I could order for The Teacher. She didn’t go to the gym as her hip is still sore.
Done with Ohio St-Illinois, 20-3 at the half.
Missouri hanging with Bama 17-17 in the 3rd qtr.
Bama holds off Missouri.
Illinois goes down to Ohio St as expected.
Off to the Gym for a few.
Told you about Illinois.
Playing golf tomorrow morning at 8:40. Looks like temps just under 70 degrees. Beautiful.
We have covered football, food, politics/patriotism and so now we have devolved to Golf?
Try it… you’ll like it. Grin.
Whenever I visited on leave my ex Father In Law took me to play golf.
He saved up all his marred, found, damaged golf balls for me to whack and lose during our round. I don’t think we kept score mostly just hung out.
He was a very good man/Dr. I still miss him. More than I do my own alcoholic sperm donor.
I always have a bag of used golf balls in the garage and a spare set of clubs when my daughter brings her guy around. He’s over 20 years younger than her, and from Belgium. Great young man. We go out and he whacks balls around and it’s all for fun. She refuses to marry him because he’s “too young for her”. Yet they’ve been together now for over 5 years.
Now you guys have done it with all this food talk. Now my wife is out and I can’t cook very, but I’m resourceful.
So, I’m going to the store and buy a porterhouse to grill. On the way back, going to stop at the BBQ house and pick up baked beans, fresh slaw and cornbread.
Can’t compete with all that fried food, but this will have to do.
Make sure that ‘fresh slaw’ has pineapple in it.
#grin
Grilled porterhouse sounds awesome.
Went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Had the country fried sirloin. OK… that was one big hunk of a meal. Had applesauce, buttered corn, and a baked potato too, along with those yeast rolls. I couldn’t finish it, so I’ll have it for later. Man, that is such good comfort food though.
I call foul.
Making me hungry for Texas Roadhouse.
Hmmm wonder if I can talk The Teacher into going out for dinner?
She says that they did enough ‘eating out’ in Hawaii.
Yeah, the wife was like “where do you want to do lunch?” When I get the vote, it’s all over but the crying. Grin. Texas Roadhouse has the best down home food out there.
Got two pork tenderloins on the smoker, gonna cut them into medallions, a little of the old man’s homemade bbq sauce on the side.
Gonna mix up some green beans, garlic and bacon.
Camper potatoes in foil smothered in butter & garlic…… with more bacon – I’ll scorch em’, like them burnt and crispy.
Husker foosball in less than 3 hours.
Goose approves….
Gotta admit that sounds fantastic Mjolnir. Love the way you do the potatoes. Very cool.
Just plain russets. Scrub them up and slice them with the skin on – thin.
Foil pan – season w/whatever. I use garlic powder. Slap Ya Mamma, onion powder. Line the pan with taters, thinner the better. Pile butter and bacon and thicker slices of tater on top. More butter, minced garlic. Can throw in green beans or even snow peas for filler.
Cover with foil – oven @ 400 for 60-90 minutes, longer depending upon pan size.
I pull the foil and turn the broiler on for about 10 minutes, or I’ll pull the foil and put them on an already hot grill, top rack and close. Dealer’s choice on that method…..
As comforting as comfort food gets imo
Awesome. My wife makes potatoes similar to that. She watches cooking shows ad nauseum, and has hundreds of different dishes she likes to throw together. You sound quite accomplished in the kitchen. I’m the classic “open the can and cook it in a pan” guy.
That’s pretty much me too. Lots of time spent as a kid camping and cooking outdoors. Grew up in a hardworking but relatively poor family so we made due with what we had, got resourceful.
It’s all meat & potatoes type stuff. Put dead flesh on fire, season with stuff from other stuff, make flesh hot, palatable.
I’m incredibly thankful I don’t have an Iron Chef palate. Simple creature. Simple tastes. A boiled potato smashed with a fork and seasoned with some salt and pepper and a pat of butter is genuinely one of my favorite foods.
I guess I’m as simple as a potato? Definitely as smart as one…..
Laughing… 28 years in the military, and living in 26 countries made my palate quite simple too. Totally a meat and potatoes guy. My wife always lets me know when we dine out at a costly restaurant what the heck the menu says. She also tells me what I won’t like.
‘I guess I’m as simple as a potato’
As versatile as one as well it seems.
Got to love potato’s in all of their forms.
The Ohio St University drove down the field with ease on the opening drive. Only to stall inside the 10 and settle for a FG.
Illinois might make this an interesting game after all.
#nojinx
Been watching Illini football for over sixty years, don’t count on it.
Laughing…
So far Illinois keeps coming up ‘almost’ and are down 20-0.
They are putting up decent effort however.
Laughed at this…
He is now working on a peace deal between the US and China. Just put an additional 100% tariffs on them.
Looking forward to the ‘experts’ heads exploding again.
Everything he does the media and politicians decry as a catastrophic event that will kill millions of people.
Maybe it will bring enough money to fund the government.
It worked with WIC which had run out of money due to the shutdown.
Just note how well the “experts” from both parties have done in the Middle East over the last 50 years.
We lived through the Yasser Arafat years.
Saturday Salutations Skol-Schizophrenics…..
Full slate of the college foosballs today!
Red River Rivalry – Texas/OU live from the Texas State Fair.
The fightin’ Cignettis of Indiana rolling into Eugene for a top 10 showdown between Indiana/Oregon.
Top 25 matchups between Bama/Mizzou, THE Ohio State 🤮 & Illinois.
Solid games between South Carolina/LSU – featuring 2 likely 1st round QB’s next year. Michigan @ USC – both teams 4-1.
Also keeping an eye on Georgia @ Auburn, Iowa @ Wisconsin (go meteor!☄️) and Florida @ A&M as I’m a closeted Aggies fan thanks to Quentin Coryatt – if you know, you know….
And of course, my beloved Cornhuskers roll into Maryland looking to turn the Terrapins into turtle soup…..
Happy Saturday yall – be safe and enjoy your weekend…..
🔨🔨🔨
In addition to all of those I am looking forward to the Big 12 games. That league will be a ‘Last Man Standing’ situation.
#9 TTU, #18 BYU, #21 Arizona St, #22 Iowa St. Some excellent 1 loss teams like Cinncinati, TCU, Arizona, and Houston. Plus teams I like watching lose like Coach Primes Prima Donas and Kansas St with their long, blonde, pretty boy, not very good QB.
Oh I forgot Utah. They are also 4-1 but since they are playing 4-1 and #21 Arizona St one of them will drop down a bit.
Since Utah was ranked before TTU beat them I expect them to be ranked if they beat Zona St, and they are playing at home, should be an excellent game.
You may or may not know my wife got her Bachelors at A&M and went to Texas for her Masters. Just a good ole Texas girl, always ready to cowgirl up.
A&M trending up and Texas trending down.
Yep. She is an Aggie at heart.
I think I might be too. Loved RC Slocum as a kid. Was a huge fan of Mike Evans in college (and the pros too for that matter) and can’t understate how impactful Quentin Coryatt and ‘The Wrecking Crew’ were on this lifelong Husker kid. I remember watching the ‘88 Kickoff Classic and thinking the Aggies had the coolest uniforms in college football – still do.
Yup. I know. I have this weird habit of remembering things that people say or write……
I have the gift/curse as well.
But The Teacher says that ‘I only use it for good’.
So let’s start the day right…
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Every morning we started the school day with the pledge.
Should be a requirement for all schools today.
Yep… time to get back to loving our country and respecting our flag.
That would be racist and sexist and homophobic and xenophobic and any other ‘buzzwords’ you want to include from ‘Liberal Land’.
Or we could be a bit different and do the Gettysburg address. Every bit as patriotic.
‘a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal’
The world has “noted” what was said here and history has never forgotten it.
Thank you for posting this SoCal. I truly wonder how many of the children in our country over the last 25 years have ever read this.
My children who were educated during those years, could tell me the name of some Indian that was killed wrongly, but did not know who wrote the Declaration of Independence
Sad, but the left took over education, and we have so many people now who couldn’t tell you almost anything about our history.
‘some Indian that was killed wrongly’
According to one vision of history. Everyone has their perspective of what happened. ‘Ones perspective of something depends on their location/stance/distance in relation to that thing’.
Even if their perspective is 100% correct from all stand points. I still think the importance of events surrounding the freedom and establishment of our country far out weigh more minor transgressions.
Since ‘Old Abe’ and I share a birthday I have always gotten ‘Lincoln themed’ gifts for BD and Christmas. I have a collection of them that I put in the ‘spare room’ that I call ‘The Lincoln Bedroom’.
I have quite the library of books on the man, 90% of them I have actually read.
Should we lay bets on when we get a ‘weekend tread’?
I figure it would be a bit later given it is Sat.
So about 2hrs seems about right so say 10:47 Central.
A good comparison on our QB issue is the Giants.
Wilson is washed, and it seems that his teammates all see through his bullshit. I think Wentz is actually better than Wilson at this point in their careers.
The players wanted Dart to play, and so did the fans. Dart looked very good as a running QB in 2 of three games, and looked pretty good throwing the ball last night as well. The second game was absolutely terrible. And the first game, while they won, he did not throw the ball well.
I think Dart has potential, but more importantly, the players are rallying behind him, and the plays he does make are giving the fans hope. He is fun to watch.
With Wilson, you know exactly what you have, and how it will end(Poorly). Sounds very familiar to me. We have endured season after season of ok to good, and sometimes very good QB play offset by terrible play when it matters. I am tired of the recycled vets, and am ready to see what the kid can do, and if he can be very good, or even great.
Kid has gotta stay healthy.
Im not very optimistic at this point.
I think the Viking players will rally around whichever QB the coaches decide to play.
The players will rally around whoever is under center, for sure. Because what other choice is there?
If this is true, it is sick on so many levels!
Yeah… and we’re the bad guys according to the Dems.
I live in the stupidest state in America.
This made me laugh Surly.
SoCal and I are starting to become like Cane and Supa.
which one of you is a huge creep that likes to show off weightlifting videos
I do DDP yoga 5x/week on my break, does that count?
In all seriousness, I like SoCal, he more than anyone puts me on check and is often the only one to reply to my takes. He’s kinda the yin to my yang.
The team owes me nothing and I owe the team no unfettered loyalty. We lived through Ponder and Zimmerspeak. KOC, get your shit figured out. Whisper to the QB. Quick play calls. None of this MENSA 5 second route BS. Save that for a healthy and competent O-line.
I try to use Logic as my Loadstone.
Sometimes I ask questions to understand the Logic of the poster.
Sometimes I think the Logic is broken and I will point that out.
Other times I agree with the Logic and so I voice my support.
Most of the time I am just being a wiseass. Hopefully accent on the first syllable.
Agree. KOC proved he can actually use his brain and call a quick attack game (which is what he needs to do with a crap line) and it worked. Only took him 3 seasons to start figuring it out. I am betting he’s back to his old ways next week, though.
‘Cane and Supa’
Who?? Never heard of those guys.
Unless it is Cane from ‘Cane and Able’.
DN HOFers who probably are still in the top 10 for number of posts all time on that site. They were friends IRL that could bicker for easily 50 back and forth posts about whether the left guard was right handed or not. Cane was an amateur bodybuilder.
All this QB stuff has my head spinning. I am certainly no QB expert but have watched football for a long time. Of course that meets nothing too.
But a question and this is just out of curiosity.
I have read at least a hundred times here. today and over most of the summer, JJ is the QOTF and has this really high ceiling for building a dynasty like Mahomes oe Brady.
What is that based on?
It’s based on the hype that he’s “a winner” and his energy that everyone raves about. Thielen said he has the “it” factor.
My view is very simple. McCarthy has never once in his life carried an offense with his brain and his arm. Michigan ran the ball more heavily than any school in the Nation, and of course had a very solid defense. That team carried McCarthy, not the other way around. That is not to say he doesn’t have a strong arm. He does. He does not have any experience deciphering defenses, calling out protections, hitting windows before receivers make their breaks, etc. In short, he has a long way to go to get to the next level of QB play. Scrambling and running around is a way to offset weak QB skills. The easiest thing a QB can do is take off running. It’s totally brainless, and takes nothing more than athletic ability. Great QB’s have great minds. They process fast. They understand defensive schemes, concepts and strategy. They understand leverages, blitz packages, coverages, and pre snap vs post snap reads. They can see the defense, compute the route combinations in the play call, evaluate the matchups, and know instantaneously where to go with the ball.
A young QB can get by with making as many plays with his legs, as he does with his arm. Eventually though, he has to grow into being a guy like Rodgers or Stafford, who sees the defense, processes it immediately, and immediately knows where to go with the ball.
Thank you – logical. But you have not been one of the “next Mahomes” guys.
Just wonder what that is based on?
Didn’t say he is going to be, well maybe I have, but the point is that he could be.
I know you said that. I’m just interested in what you see to make that call – and I’m not trying to be an ass here or something.
I watched him play two games. No big deal, tough circumstances, but he looked terrible.
And as I said below, I watched Jaren Hall, a fifth rounder 3rd stinger, actually look better in his first two Viking games.
So I have to be missing something What is it you see that directs the “could”?
Again I’m not trying to be tricky here. Hell I hope he becomes a HOFer.
First and foremost is that he hasn’t proven that he can’t. Otherwise, what I saw watching him in college was more than a hand off merchant protected and carried by the team around him. Rewatch that Alabama game and tell me the kid doesn’t have the ability to step up. Much of what I have said is hyperbole based on the fact that this is one of the first times in my lifetime that the team isn’t just recycling a washed up vet and hoping for one last run out of them so I want to have hope. Even that 4th quarter of the Bears game, he showed he has that unmeasurable “it” factor. He just needs to put the rest of it together and prove he has it between the ears and there is nothing in his past to make me believe at this point that he doesn’t.
I forgot that Tom Brady also said that JJ is the best Michigan QB of all time too.
And I thought it was Elvis Grbac.
To be honest I watched him play three college games. One against TCU played poorly, one against Alabama and he was great, and one half against Penn State where he didn’t even throw one pass. So very limited, and I don’t put all that much in college ball.
But he did play great against Alabama. So if that’s it, I can understand.
OMG this is so true!!!
Mahomes has always been a guy who played the game in a sandlot style. He’s been a playmaker and improvisor his whole career. He lucked out with the Chiefs (and actually cheated to get drafted) because Andy Reid had built a great offensive line with great skill position players and scheme, before Mahomes showed up. Reid is an innovator and he embraced Mahomes creativity and improvisation. NFL defenses are built on reads and keys, and Mahomes completely upset that apple cart. There were no reads and keys with him, because he literally made it up as he went along. A play was set up to go right, and he went left. He had Kelce who doesn’t run routes, he runs to open spaces. Then Tyreek Hill who could take the top off any defense. Mahomes was a generational player simply because he played the game in a way no other NFL QB does, and he had an incredible team around him (especially his head coach) to facilitate that.
McCarthy is not a generational player. He’s the same as every young QB in the NFL. He’s a good athlete, a good leader, and has a good arm. That’s like the first rung of the ladder in the NFL.
Regardless of where he landed, Mahomes is a generational talent.
I actually disagree. Most OC’s want a QB that is a technician, not an artist. They want the square peg in the square hole. They want a QB that runs their system, their way. Also, there aren’t many HoF TE’s and WR’s just waiting for you wide open whenever you run around. In addition, you probably know Reid let the offense make up their own plays. I’ve never seen that shit before.
No, the stars definitely aligned for Mahomes. Put him anywhere else, and he might have never shown through.
Now NLV, I have never heard one coach, analyst, pundit, player or former player not say that Mahomes wasn’t a generational talent over the last seven years.
I respect your opinion, but disagree here.
Generational talent absolutely. I explained why. He played in a way that destroyed NFL defensive keys and reads. He played in a manner where defenses couldn’t prepare for him, because he was so improvisational. I maintain though, if a team doesn’t use the player to their optimum, then they aren’t go to be all they can be. Reid absolutely was the one guy in the NFL to foster Mahomes talent, and as I said, he had a whole offense completely built for him.
That reminds me, if it was KOC’s plan to allow JJ to develop under an experienced mentor (which it was clearly not his plan to do so), we could have signed Rodgers back in March to lead the team this year. Would have been an understandable move, not that I would have personally liked it (see – the team owes me nothing).
And where do you get the experience needed, on the field on game day.
Your question is the million dollar one and I don’t know the answer
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours watching film, discussing defensive schemes, concepts, leverages, sight adjustments, flexes, formation adjustments, and route concepts. That’s just for a start. As JR said, you don’t do calculus without going through algebra. You run plays in practice and simulate the defensive environment. You go through every option on every play against every potential defensive look, hundreds of times in practice, so when you see it in a live game everything is immediate and instinctual.
McCarthy is 22 years old. He is in the perfect situation. He can do all that for another year, and still be that very young QB. Or he can go out there, not know what he’s doing, make a lot of mistakes, get hit a lot, and lose games.
I have never compared JJ to either of those guys.
I am HOPING that JJ becomes a long term solution at QB. Obviously, with the surrounding talent, he should not be required to be great, just very good.
I do think Jaxson Dart could be another Josh Allen type, if he survives and learns to slide. I have no idea how good JJ will be. My wife thinks he is injury prone and we should have drafted Bo Nix. I hope she is wrong. She is known to have poor judgement since she married me.
I hope JJ improves, and for a few years, at least, I do not spend the offseason hoping for a QB change like I have been for most of the last 20 years.
Culpepper prior to getting his injury was good. Not great. Zombie Favre gave us 1 good season. But we all knew it was a short term fix.
Ponder, Teddy (RIP Knee), were not good enough to start in the NFL long term.
I love to hate on Kirko, but he is for sure the most complete QB we had between Zombie Favre and when he was allowed to fleece ATL instead of us for a change. I hate how much he was paid, but good on him for collecting while he could. I do not have to like it, and do not. His salary and a shit GM kept the team stagnant for years. I wish he had chosen the JETS instead. We would have no fewer championships.
I say JJ is the QBOTF because that is what the coach says. The coach and GM are tied to making this work with a QB on a rookie deal, allowing them enough salary to build a decent roster. They now have a few years to do so.
I want to see JJ play, and progress, so we can find out if there is just potential, or will there be potential realized.
You can list dozens of “Average” QB’s that have won super bowls. I want to have a QB to root for that is better than average.
I’m not trying to trick anyone here or be a smartass. I don’t watch much college ball and had read here how good JJ was and all that. No more, no less.
Then after those first two games, I’m like WTF? The Atlanta Falcons – The Panthers beat them 30-0 the next week.
So simply. I didn’t see anything close to what I had read here.
I do not pay too much attention to college football.
I was on record here as hoping the team would draft Daniels or Nix or Maye, but that I would also defer to Coach. That guy knows QB’s better than I ever will.
Once they drafted JJ, I was fine with it. They chose him over Nix, could have had either. I am guessing the Coaches know what they wanted in a QB, and JJ has enough of those skills that they drafted him.
I agree that through 2 games, there is not a lot that looked good. Although the O line he was playing behind was also terrible. I expect things to improve IF the O line plays better, and maybe we get more quickly developing plays?
I dunno. I have hope still, but that is not really anything but blind faith.
I just wanted to get some conversation going. It has been fairly slow the last few days. Apparently it worked we almost hit 200 comments today.
Oh I think it’s all good and a lot of solid football takes. Different perspectives are always good.
1.5 points is all? Wow… We will likely lose by 17!
Their OL is hurting. Saquon can’t get going if the defense is in his face the second he gets the ball.
Since when have the Vikings taken advantage of a team’s weakness? We usually make their weakness look like a strength!
Yea Cooper Rush and Mike White sure looked like good QB’s.
Those who live by the sword…….
It simply amazes me that she claims weaponization of the DOJ on her, when she ran for NY AG by claiming she was going to weaponize the NY DOJ on Trump.
Absolutely soulless people in the democrat party.
Soulless and complete hypocrites.
I think “blatant liars” and “worthless idiots” also fits.
Melania Trump is singularly impressive.
That is all.
So much QB discussion and it didn’t even include Kirk, are we finally moving on?
Laughing…
Na, he’ll be back next year.
He might be, but I could see him walking away from the game too. He could do anything he wants.
I’m surprised the Bengals went with Flacco over Kirk. The Falcons asking price must be pretty high still. I don’t see how they are going to get a more desperate team than the Bengals though.
Because the idiot Falcon GM wants full price and no one will accept that.
Yeah, that’s what I’m saying as well. How do they think somebody is going to be more desperate than the Bengals currently are? Whatever the Bengals were willing to give up is the most you’re ever going to get this year.
The Bengals also have a cheap ass owner.
There is that.
What? They have one of the highest paid QB’s in the league, and two of the highest paid receivers.
They won’t spend any money on defense is their issue, I think.
And nothing else. Once he paid Burrow as he should, Burrow became pretty outspoken about keeping both those receivers.
And I don’t think their facilities and all of that are real good either.
That’s not right, they have Trey Hendricks on a big contract too.
They aren’t cheap. They’re overextended.
They have one of the best pocket QB’s in the game, also somewhat brittle, and one of the worst olines in the league. Makes complete sense.
So then then go out and get the most immobil QB in the league (and cheapest).
They are totally screwed up.
They are screwed, but it’s not because they’re cheap. It’s because they made made bad choices.
I agree. Take the relieved salary cap and draft picks and move on. You might get another big QB injury in the next month or so, but you’re probably right that the market likely won’t get better.
Well, I think deep in their hearts the Falcons know if Penix goes down, they have a QB that can run the offense at a very high level and likely won’t miss a beat.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Kirk is back to starting at some point, penis hasn’t been particularly impressive so far
Kirko still sucks.
There, I did my part.
Is Brandel our Center of the future? I thought he did a very good job against the Browns.
Don’t think so, not it’s good to have another guy who can step In if needed
I hope next year we can talk Fitzpatrick into coming out of retirement.
I was hoping for Tom Brady.
I especially like his taste in women.
7 min of good stuff, the full video of Sundays final drive in London.
Really enjoyable watching that again. Very well called, and executed drive. Patient, efficient, and ultimately successful. Wentz looked the part in the moment. That’s 10 years of playing in the NFL on display.
Oh hell, with KOC calling plays and our superior line play, any QB could lead a final drive like that.
Laughing. One thing about Wentz has always been his big, long wind up and time to actually throw the ball. His motion isn’t as compact and quick as I’d like, but it is what it is.
My gut feeling is the team will go with McCarthy as soon as he can play physically. I’d imagine he’ll start against the Eagles.
Well when I lived in Washington got to see most of Wentz’s games from his rookie season. He was well on his way to getting the MVP when he got hurt (like 13th game) and his play far surpassed any of the so called great QB class of 24, including the kid from Washington.
Yep… he is a big physical guy. I remember watching him too.
Guarantee he would have won the MVP that year if not injured.
We’re about to find something out.
Believe out next three games are against teams all ranked in the top 10.
Then a breather against the Ravens( right) and then the Bears.
And then the Packers who are ranked in top 10.
After this, we’ll know whether we’re a good football team or not.
The future is the next few weeks.
We are a good football team. The amount of injuries to starters so far this year has been quite significant. We have had 13 different O-line combinations in 5 weeks for instance. Van Ginkel, Hitman, and Cashman being out as well on defense, among others. It’s the nature of the beast though. It remains to be seen how the season pans out, because anything can happen.
I maintain if/when healthy with good QB play we can go to the SB.
We certainly have a team that can do that. For sure.
^^ This….
We are a good football team. Gimme all 22 starters, healthy – with a week of practice.
We can beat anyone.
🔨🔨🔨
They have yet to have all 22 healthy at the same time this season, that is what will hold them back
Any of our NoDaks make it to Grand Folks for the Turning Point Event last night??
I did not make it…heard it was a great event and a great crowd.
The videos I have seen show a large, enthusiastic crowd.
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2025/10/10/thousands-attend-und-turning-point-usa-event/
Jackson Dart had a 89.8 QBR last night. He didn’t throw for a ton of yards, but was effective and efficient, he used his legs frequently when needed.
That is the kind of performance I am hoping to see from JJ next time he starts.
Dart was indeed using his legs to move the chains.
He was not sliding and fighting head first for every yard.
He will not last long in the league doing that as he is not build like Josh Allen although at 6’2″ 233lbs he is not small.
yeah Dart got walloped a few times…
I was laughing that as soon as he came out of the blue tent from being evaluated for a concussion his coach smacked him on top of the head.
Coach was trying to smack some sense into him about sliding and not getting concussed.
By smacking him in the head right after he gets checked for a concussion.
Sec of War Hegseth just signed an agreement to train F-15 pilots after the US sold $12B worth of F-15s to Qatar. They will be training the pilots at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. About 170 Qatar personnel will be assigned to the base.
The Teacher and I do our shopping at their BX and Commissary in fact we will heading there in the next couple days.
Here is a 2022 Stars and Stripes article that explains the agreement that was just completed.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2022-01-18/deal-qatar-air-rorce-members-idaho-base-4330963.html
U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are larger than most folks realize. We sold F-15’s to the Saudis 30 years ago and still have thousands of U.S. contractors living there, maintaining them.
Currently the estimated cost of Canada to acquire 88 F-35s to replace their aging F-18 fleet is $74 billion for a 30 year life cycle. That’s a lot of zeros. Many Canadian politicians have been slain on the battlefield of the jet replacement boondoggle, but suffice to say someone somewhere in both countries is making bank.
‘but suffice to say someone somewhere in both countries is making bank’
That is a universal truth.
Brush up on your Arabic and you might get invited to spend time at someone’s home in Qatar while you frolic on the beach.
I grew up in Santa Barbara, ‘frolicking on the beach’ is old and boring to me.
Lucky dog. Some of my fondest memories are playing in the surf with my wife and two different dogs in Seaside Oregon, once in 2004 and again in 2017.
I agree that the beach can be fun when watching kids, loved ones.
The Teacher just got back from Hawaii and stated several times that it reminded her very much of Santa Barbara except the water is warmer.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 to Maria Corina Machado.
She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
As we discussed yesterday, nominations for this years prize were closed on January 31st. So… Trump was never considered, or eligible for this years prize.
I thought the Nobel was a Swedish thing? Why are the Norwegians horning in on it?
Yes, Alfred Nobel died in 1896. His will was opened shortly after, revealing that he had donated most of his fortune to the establishment of prizes to people who had “conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” He also appointed two executors of the will, whose duty was to create an organisation for the prize. Their task in the subsequent years was to negotiate how this prize was to be set up, with Nobel’s relatives and the Nobel Prize-awarding institutions: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, Karolinska Institutet for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) for the Nobel Peace Prize.
So while the Nobel Prizes are fundamentally managed by Swedish institutions, the Peace Prize is managed by the Norwegian Committee.
Alfred Nobel made his fortune from the invention of dynamite.
My head is full on worthless information which makes me The King of Trivia in my family.
‘It is good to be the King’.
Yes, he started experimenting with nitroglycerin in Russia where he spent most of his early life. He moved back to Stockholm where he ended up patenting a detonator (blasting cap) for triggering the explosion of nitroglycerin.
I think his brother was actually killed working with nitroglycerin.
He eventually invented dynamite, and became a very wealthy man.
He evidently started the Nobel Prizes because he felt guilty due to all the deaths caused by his inventions during wars. Although this has not been confirmed.
That’s what I understand.
I just shake my head listening to the people that are upset that he didn’t win the 2024 Peace Prize that is awarded in 2025. I guess it makes a decent ‘talking point’ for the uninformed.
Pretty cool article – makes sense.
Kevin O’Connell Reveals Harrison Smith’s Lone Demand for Vikings Return
Snarky me wonders who is in bed with him that he doesn’t want to be checked.
#grin
He’s old and just wants to watch Matlock and fall asleep early.
I am old enough to remember when Matlock was ‘Much Watch TV’.
What exactly is a “hotel bed check”? Just someone knocking or coming to the room to make sure you’re in there and sleeping/ready to sleep?
Just guessing it’s like high school, making sure everyone is in their rooms after curfew.
Play JJ if his ankle is good to go. He is the future and needs every rep he can get. If all we want is to be good enough to make the playoffs this year then start whomever. I would like the team to start playing for the future instead of the now.
Always want to win now….losing is for losers.
Ok, so we sit our possible QBOTF, so we can win a couple extra games this season. In the offseason we move on from Wentz, come back next year with another veteran QB as the back up, end up playing him for a couple of games. He does well enough to win us a few games, so we continue to start him. Make the playoffs and lose game 1. Cut veteran QB in the offseason. Rinse and repeat, meanwhile 4 years later we still have no idea if JJ is any good, but we still feel he has potential, as well as the rest of the league. We sign him to a big contract ala Love with the Packers, and he costs us a fortune and have to make cuts to the team because we can’t afford them.
Reminds me of the 90’s where we just kept bringing in washed up has-beens in order to win a few games to keep the fan base interested. Meanwhile the Packers become the best team in the division for 30 years, because they stuck with a QB until he figured it out. I personally like the path the Packers took, even though it is a bit risky.
That’s just a false strawman and there are ways to do this without sacrificing this year and still be building for the future.
Explain to me how you get game time reps from the bench.
First, you have to be “ready” for game reps. Like trying to teach someone Calculus who hasn’t mastered Algebra yet.
Second, I admit I’m in to winning and believe one should always try their best to win. As do all the guys in the locker room.
Now, I don’t care what Wentz did at Phily or the Colts, that was in the past.
And I don’t care what JJ did at Michigan, that’s college ball.
So I’ve watched 5 games. One QB looked capable, and the other didn’t. In fact, I thought Jaren Hall looked better in his first two Viking appearances than JJ. And he was a fifth round, 3rd stinger with virtually no preperation.
Remember there was a guy named Skule playing left tackle for Christian Darrisaw in those two games. And the coach did the QB no favors by trying to run long drawn out pass plays.
And remember Hall was playing behind the Three Amigos at guard and center. And he didn’t have a year and a half to prepare.
But KOC said McCarthy was 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours away… have a nice wait.
Here’s the thing. If you’re going to put a guy on the field who doesn’t actually give you the best chance to win, be honest about it. Tell the public the truth. We’re gonna play a guy we think will be really good in a couple years, and in the meantime sit the guy who is really better. So don’t bet any money on us, and if you’re buying a ticket, just know we’re not interested in winning now, we’re looking to the future.
I believe KOC is being honest when he says that JJ is 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours away. But he is not going to get those reps sitting on the bench.
Exactly… so we’re playing the lesser QB, and placing his development first. He’s more important right now. One day he’ll be great!
Lesser QB?
JJ (QB) was drafted #10.
Wentz was drafted #2 overall.
If it took this long for Wentz to put all together while JJ (QB) is still learning. In the here and now I am not sure Wentz is a ‘lesser QB’ at this point. He may not have the ceiling of JJ but we don’t know if he will become the QB Wentz is currently. We obviously hope he will be but it is not guaranteed.
Glad I don’t have to make the call, KOC makes the big money to do so.
Play the guy with a career to show he isn’t the guy instead of playing the guy you drafted to be the future and bet your career on.
Playing Wentz vs the Poopereaters, or even the rest of the season, doesn’t mean JJ (QB) career is over or ruined.
And yet to some it seems completely binary.
Should we all be non-binary?
It means his development has hit a hurdle.
Like The Douche did when he sat behind Favre for 3 years.
Yeah that guy didn’t do anything after that.
You are missing the fact that KOC did not say we will play JJ in 2025 when we think he’s ready, he said he IS ready. Justin Jefferson didn’t just say we want him to be our guy, he said he IS our guy.
This is vastly different language than the Packers organization voiced with Rodgers 2005-2007. Of course we all remember his first start in 2008. Fudge.
You think? At the time KOC said that, Wentz wasn’t on the team and we hd no one else.
What was he going to say- “JJ isn’t ready, but since we have no lone else he is playing.”
If they didn’t think JJ was ready and the guy, they would have kept Darnold or Jones. It’s not like either of them signed massive contracts.
Thought Darnold did pretty darn well from Seattle and we were willing to go like 20 mil or so.
You are making excuses for someone else’s decision. If your school board decided to fire all the grade 1-3 teachers save one, would you say well what else could the superintendent say, our one teacher isn’t ready, but since we have no one else what am I supposed to do?
Bottom line, some argument on the internet won’t change my mind, and I hope it won’t change your mind. I think the Vikings management screwed the pooch when they had a bird in hand at the end of last season, and continued to screw the pooch through the preseason.
This – I give Wentz one more game. If he lights it up and wins, you stick with him. Otherwise, you have your excuse to switch back to JJ. One game isn’t going to matter much in his development.
I’m not taking the minivan to the car show, just because the ’63 corvette has low tires. Once I air up the tires I’m jumping in the ‘vette and racing to the car show.
Not sure I get the analogy.
I didn’t either as we sure as hell don’t have a 63 Vette.
I always wanted a ‘Muscle Car’ but by the time I could afford it they didn’t make much sense with a family and kids.
I don’t much see the sense of getting one now.
We have an old washed out QB that is doing good, not great, right now. We also have a young stud that could potentially be great, but because he is injured we can’t use him. So once he is healthy we open the gates and let him run.
What if we lose all the rest of the games this season Bow? Then how great a plan would that be? What if McCarthy never gets it, a la RGIII?
I will go on record as supremely confident we won’t be signing Wentz to be anything other than a backup in the upcoming offseason. We have a long history of tossing QBs with winning records to the slag heap.
Wentz has a winning record??
‘The 2024 election was the closest presidential race in the 21st century’.
Cackles.
Similar takes.
Right now the Wentz monster is 2-1, I merely extrapolated which is not scientific nor actually achievable. My apologies.
I meant by playing McCarthy to develop him, rather than Wentz, we are admittedly playing the lesser QB right now.
That makes more sense.
Thanks for clarifying.
Amen. While I disagree with some of your takes, this is spot on.
Remind me again how long FTP kept The Douche and Love on the bench learning to be a NFL QB.
It didn’t seem to hurt them overly much, unfortunately, it doesn’t make JJ (QB) a bust either.
They were also learning from Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers, not Carson Wentz and whomever we roll out next year.
I thought JJ (QB) was learning from reigning Coach of the Year KOC.
And from what I remember/recall Favre and Rodgers didn’t like each other and not a lot of mentoring was going on.
McCown is the QB coach and it is his job to develop McCarthy. He should be the mentor, and he should be working out all the wrinkles in McCarthy’s game. Wentz isn’t responsible for anything but being an example of how to play QB in the NFL.
Remember, JJ got to effectively sit on the bench (in his street clothes on the sideline) for his entire rookie season, drinking from the firehose of KOC’s mentoring.
Remember, that same coach of the year said they were running with JJ this year, not sitting him behind a proven entity like Darnold for his sophomore year.
Remember, they took him to the UK rather than having him rehab at the world class facility right here at home as they were anticipating getting him more game time “over there”.
I remember. You can’t bs me. As a fan I have zero control over the organization decisions, but if they haven’t made up their mind by the end of the season then I hope they draft a QB in the first round next year, and let that QB develop on the bench behind McCarthy while they give us a big ol mansplaining about the strategy of sitting JJ behind Wentz this year.
Not sure what point you are trying to make.
I will simply say again;
‘Playing Wentz vs the Poopereaters, or even the rest of the season, doesn’t mean JJ (QB) career is over or ruined.’
The point I am making is we did not sign a veteran QB to mentor JJ, with the plan to gradually introduce him in relief, during this season. Favre and Rodgers was an entirely different dynamic. We signed Wentz at the end of the preseason.
To put it plainly, the guys that evaluate JJ every day, who get paid the big bucks to make these decisions, clearly decided that JJ was ready to start. They didn’t even need to watch him take more than a handful of preseason snaps. Their decision, not mine, not yours. You might say it is easy to cast stones, but this is a professional organization in the most watched sport in the US. I refuse to make excuses for them.
You are right.
Once decisions are made they must never be changed no matter how much the circumstances change.
All great leaders and organizations follow this rule.
I will wait for the great leader and coach of the year to say he has changed his mind about JJ’s development arc. If he does that, I have zero problem with the decision making going forward. I just won’t make excuses for him if he can’t admit it.
People making excuses for the coach and front office again and again and again is just plain silly. There is no reason this team got destroyed by Penix et al, only to have the Falcons shutout by the Panthers the next week, other than lame ass coaching and play calling. Tar and feather my ass for saying it.
The future is now.
George Allen
That Allen dude was pretty sharp.
I agree.
Old time ‘common sense’ that looks Wise and Smart today.
I would like to win the SB THIS year.
The league looks a bit down this year and the opportunity is there.
I would like to be in the position to win the superb owl every year, and other teams be desperate to think they have a chance when we have a down year.
You can’t win many without first winning ONE.
So, if we make the playoffs and lose in the first game, that is okay with you. As long as we won a bunch of regular season games. And we continue to do this year after year.
This is a false premise. There is no statistical relationship between sucking (going sub 500) and winning a super bowl in years post sucking.
This relationship does not exist. run the numbers yourself, I have. Sucking does not lead to winning a super bowl.
Losing is for losers. Stop pushing this false narrative.
We also have proven that being great in the regular season does not necessarily win superb owls either. At least not for the Vikings.
No, didn’t say that,. I believe the NFC is weak this year and we have a very good team when healthy. See no reason then we can’t go to the SB. And if we do, that is certainly not the same old same old.
Who knows what future will bring. Love may turn into another Rogers and Williams the next Mahomes.
And JJ might be the next Brady those two get to lose to. If JJ is healthy, he plays. 2 games, one of which he was apparently pretty severely injured during, do not make him a bust or the lesser of their options for this year.
I only go by what I saw on the field for the first five games.
And I’m not saying he is a bust at all – he just may not be the best option for the team right now. This is. not an on/off switch.
Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls with three different QB’s.
I guess I fall in the other mind frame.
Wentz gives us the best chance at a successful season. We have far too many (read ‘expensive’) pieces of a championship team in place to squander their best years on a developmental project that thus far has shown he’s not the best QB on the team. They run the risk of losing the locker room and fan base if they do that.
JJ can get reps, master the playbook, and build chemistry in practice, and can sink or swim when he’s the ‘next man up.’
Both of them having injuries throws a wrench into it, though. Don’t want to rush either of them back and make the injury worse.
A lot of the people arguing for JJ to sit behind Wentz, are the same people that complained that the starters only played one series in preseason. That you don’t get the same experience in practice.
They’re not wrong. You don’t get the same experience in practice that you get in a game. Your teammates aren’t trying to rip your head off (for the most part), and the environment is much more controlled and less chaotic.
However, you DO get experience……
regarding the qb, just play whoever gives us the best chance to win….
Absolutely. This isn’t Little League where the coach’s kid gets to pitch.
And right now, it looks like the NFC is there for the taking.
Yes it is.
That’s probably whoever is least injured right now, not sure which one that is at this point
F that, we need to play the guy that we want to be the guy.
What if JJ is the guy they thought when they drafted him and what if Wentz is the guy who has developed into a career backup that wasn’t even good enough to be on a team in August?
Seems like we did OK with that Sam Darnold fella who had developed into a career backup. He’s not doing to badly thjs year either.
Same with Daniel Jones, and he never took the field.
And yet the people who watched him in practice and are getting paid millions of dollars to run the team decided that JJ was the better option.
that may or may not be true. Didn’t Seattle offer Sam like 35 mil and we only wanted to pay like 20 or so.
Believe if Sam had taken 20 here, he would be playing.
To be clear, I am advocating for JJ.
Same. I want to see JJ if he is healthy.
Only reason Wentz should see the field is if JJ is still hurt.
Yeah, I just don’t get the desire to stick with comfortable and good enough by a lot in this fan base. That’s what they’ve done for my entire life. They drafted a qb in the top 10 for the first time in team history. Let’s actually swing for the fences for once and be the dynasty instead of going with good enough, piece meal veterans. If they’re gonna fail, fail trying to be great.
I’m not saying this is directed at you, just the general sentiment that continues to pop up with this fan base in general.
That is totally unfair and a misrepresentation of how many or some perhaps feel.
Completely not directed at you or anyone else for that matter, but I just feel FFS both Wentz and McCarthy are gonna be sore, but we have a raft of tough games coming up, a full week to prepare for the defending SB champion, that also happens to look vulnerable. Are they going to be like sharks in the water sniffing for chum after losing two in a row, yes, yes they are, their OC seat is getting warm. Let’s see what this team can do with the rising young star. Heck if he’s playing like crap or needs more tape on the ankle they can always sub in Carson.
Oh they are going to be hungry and the Eagles have some tough assed defensive lineman. JJ has been a little slow processing, and somewhat brittle, maybe best for his health and well bing to sit another week or so.
Or maybe AJ, Smith and Saquon are just going to give up.
Their defensive lineman are real.
And our line, any QB could get killed out there
Then those who want to see Wentz play the rest of the year should want JJ out there so he gets destroyed.
They’ll be fine. I think KOC is being forced to actually call quicker developing plays by the dismal state of the OL.
And those who want him to be the future should want him on the bench this game to avoid yet another injury.
Gfs pick for Vikings starting QB…
Just imagine the tush push play that we could install into our offense 😳
QB lead runs?
Who wants to push that tush though.
If it wins us a SB, I’m all over that.
Our full back could get lost in there
With her providing the push?
His comment from the ‘mythical words on top’ are going to haunt my brain all day.
‘ I don’t care if Mama June is under center’
That is a whole lot of beef making ‘the beast with two backs’.
GM!
FTP!
FTE!
SKOL!
Fun game last night. I love watching Dart play. Even though I was too stupid to play him in fantasy football, and I am knocked out of the survival pool as well. All worth it to see the Eagles lose.
I am hoping JJ is back on the field next week, but defer to the coaches decision. Wentz has certainly exceeded expectations and is playing well. I still want to see JJ out there if healthy. He needs time under center. Dart is playing well for it being his third game. I expect JJ to do the same.
Happy Friday,
Skol
FTP
FTE
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
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