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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
The Vikings completed their strong finish to the 2025 season with a win over the Green Bay Packers yesterday, the team’s fifth consecutive win. The win pushed the Vikings to 9-8, pushing them over the .500 mark for the first time since the week 6 bye. The defense stole the show yesterday, as they absolutely smothered the Clayton Tune led Packers offense. The Vikings racked up 4 sacks, and 8 tackles for loss, and actually held the Packers to negative 7 passing yards, as Tune had 34 passing yards, but lost 41 yards on sacks. Dallas Turner continued to impress, as he racked up 6 tackles (4 solo), with 2 sacks and 2 more QB hits. The defense had a shutout going until the Packers kicked a field goal with one second remaining in the game. Until then, the Packers didn’t even get close to scoring.
Here is a list of all the Packers’ drives yesterday.
Packers Drives
- 3 plays, 1 yard
4 plays, 2 yards
3 plays, 12 yards
6 plays, 17 yards
3 plays, -14 yards
1 play, -1 yard
7 plays, 26 yards
8 plays, 28 yards
3 plays, -6 yards
13 plays, 56 yards
It was a disappointing season overall for the purple and gold, who began the year with high aspirations. Injuries played a part, and HC Kevin O’Connell struggled to adapt his play calling earlier in the year. J.J. McCarthy had some struggles, but gave Vikings fans reason for optimism with the way he played at times. Injuries limited McCarthy’s season, but the team won 6 of the 10 games that he started. I was encouraged by his play this year, and I feel that he’ll play smarter to avoid injuries as he gets more experience.
The defense started the year strong, and seemed to improve every week through the entire season. I really really hope that the Vikings are able to keep Brian Flores on board for at least one more season. I would think that a coordinator job for the Vikings is better than a head coaching gig with a team like the Raiders, but I’m biased.
Vikings and NFL News
Harrison Smith and C.J. Ham savored yesterday’s win, as it may be their last game in the NFL, per Vikings.com. Harrison Smith has been my favorite Viking for many years, I love how he plays the game and how smart of a player he is. Maybe he’ll come back to coach or something, like Studwell did. Ham is another great player, teammate, and person. Both of them will be missed, should they decide to hang up their spurs.
Also from Vikings.com, Justin Jefferson joins Randy Moss and Mike Evans after extending his 1,000 season receiving yard streak since entering the NFL.
Stats, highlights, and a summary from yesterday’s Vikings vs. Packers, from ESPN.
The league revealed the 2026 wild card weekend schedule, from NFL.com.
All of your NFL week 18 scores, stats, and highlights, courtesy of NBC Sports.
The Falcons fired HC Raheem Morris and GM Fontenot after the team missed the playoffs, per CBS Sports.
Media Selection
We didn’t get to play this nearly enough this year, but at least we got to play it five weeks in a row to end the season. STRIKE UP THE BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Congrats Bow.
Ill St 34 – Mon St 35 in OT.
That was something else. I was feeling pretty good when they were up by 14, multiple times. Really thought they were gonna lose it at the end.
This is real, not AI. Biden’s Freudian slip during a virtual fundraiser, mistakenly calling his campaign’s voter mobilization efforts a “voter fraud organization” instead of outreach.
Cap talk…
Taco Time!
If I only knew how to make a gif with the above words and this picture.
He’s always keeping Minnesota first
Right……
Ran back to Minnesota to keep it safe while his unit was deployed.
And couldn’t remember his rank, and that Italy wasn’t in the Middle East.
He did say in the VP debate that he was ‘knucklehead’ sometimes.
He just failed to mention that they rest of the time he was con artist, aka politician.
This doesn’t make sense…
Ok, Dr NLNVF.
Well SoCal, he had his hand X-rayed 2 weeks ago, and the report was he had “a” hairline fracture. Note the actual location of this mysterious fracture has never been disclosed. Now he says his hand has multiple fractures after X-rays today. Really?
So 5 of the top 10 highest paid QBs in the league did not make the playoffs.
Plus 5 of the QBs in the playoffs are on their rookie salaries.
Seems logical.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nfl-half-of-the-top-10-highest-paid-qbs-missed-the-playoffs-but-their-big-contracts-werent-the-problem-003008191.html
Yeah… it’s time…
‘Youngster’.
#22
Hmmmm…
Nothing to see here move along.
Dalvin is proud…
Looking at his face, I thought that was dalvin
The list so far…
Worried about the Brady connection and the Raiders
Yep
2 hours to kickoff. Will the Cats pull it off or will Illinois State pull off the biggest upset of the year?
I know little ( about Illinois St), but I hope/think Cats role. I think 10+ point victory #NoJinx
Hopefully. They are 10.5 point favorites. Only silly Dakota teams lose to an unranked team in the playoffs.
Just know ISU is in Bloomington/Normal Illinois and I was born in Bloomington.
Who are these cats? I assume some sort of Montana team, Is this game visible on tv?
FCS championship. Montana State Univ in Bozeman( I am an alum). Ranked #2 or 3 most of the year. Rolled their archrival Univ of Montana twice this year. On ESPN
I kinda stopped paying attention to fcs after NDSU won like 9 straight and then SDSU won like three straight, I can never remember which Montana is bears or cats but they both seem to be good
The wheels go round and round…
Smart – hire someone else’s reject. Will never understand the NFL and how these guys think.
Happens all the time! Mind-blowing! Morris is a terrible head coach and got fired, but hey, maybe he’ll work for us!
I agree… fire a loser, then hire a loser… that’s ridiculous to me.
This isn’t a proven fact. It’s rumored that some “source” in Venezuela has made these statements. Paul has been a vocal denouncer of Trumps narco terrorism attacks, calling them “war crimes”. He votes against Trump constantly too, and tries to undermine him at every turn. Basically a full throated anti Trump activist in Congress. Still it would be terrible if he accepted money to betray his oath of office, and his country.
Don’t know these guys…
That JJ guy fair caught a punt yesterday. He is the only one I remember hearing of before.
So he can be JJ (PR)??
Great… we can have the three JJ’s representing our team!
Hmmm…
Two time coach of the year, has had the best two seasons in browns history, I always wondered what he actually thought about ditching mayfield and trading for Watson, if he wanted to do it or it was above his paygrade
Salient points…
i don’t know how they’re GM Andrew Berry still has a job though, he’s put together mostly bad rosters, also KAM comes from his tree
Agree… Berry sucks in my opinion.
Yeah, and the Apple doesn’t fall far from the suck tree, KAM needs to do better this offseason or I think he may be gone
hey foreskinface, saw your post earlier about ST, remember the second bears game where the Vikings led with under a minute remaining, only to lose after the ensuing kickoff was returned 60 yards, essentially putting the bears immediately in fg range? If the Vikings had won that game they would be division winners.
HOW DOES MATT DANIELS STILL HAVE A JOB
I DON’T KNOW
Stonks be good today.
48,977.18 +594.79 (1.23%)
.DJI(INDEXDJX)
Jan 5, 4:15 PM EST
It’s Audit time.
Just trying to suck air at this point.
Coaches getting fired.
I predicted them all yesterday I believe.
A few more to go though.
If the homeless guy can hire a coach for Cleveland, Deion is on the table.
See ya sometime after the beating….
Is it the same homeless guy whose cock Big Stupid Face saw?
I freely admit I’m not a good loser and this season was hardly a success at all.
And beating the Packer scrub team doesn’t mean jack to me either.
KAM – you put together a good roster but rolled the dice at QB and lost.
Golden rule in the NFL – you cannot consistently win without good QB play.
This needs to be fixed or another year is going to be wasted. A 40 million dollar receiver who barely gets 1000 yards. What a waste.
Now, going into next season pinning your hopes on a rookie QB who showed a little improvement at the end (little is right) but is hurt all the time is crazy.
I don’t know the right answer about this, but the QB situation needs to be fixed. You aren’t doing crap with the fourth best QB in the division.
And going and getting some throw away from another team is hardly the answer either. Oh, we’ll play JJ until he gets hurt again, or just plays his way out, and then just throw a Justin Fields in there and all will be just swell.
What a plan.
.
is sam darnold available??
Danny dimes is
What was JJ’s accident history in college? Red flag, or not so much?
Like peeing/shitting his pants or do you mean car wrecks?
LOL…..All of the above
lol, I’d say all are red flags too
Have no idea, but have noted his history as a pro.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. Huge gamble to play “rookie” QB, and didn’t pay off, like many of his injury FA acquisitions (albeit, not at the most important position like QB). Frustrating year, particularly since the NFL is such an even year for competition this year and they could have made a legitimate run with a pretty good defense. JJ is a bust, move on quick and get someone else who shows some promise, while getting a decent vet.
For sure the league is more open this year. With the way the defense is playing, just add a little offense and we could have gone a long ways.
“As long as you got air in your lungs and a heartbeat in your chest, never say die”
also Smith
I did my first Mock Draft of the offseason. I thought it went pretty well. Did a couple of short trade backs and got some extra picks.
26.
A’Mauri Washington, DT Oregon
49.
Brandon Cisse, CB South Carolina
62.
Connor Lew, OC Auburn
97.
Zakee Wheatley, S Penn State
129.
Fa’alili Fa’amoe, OT Wake Forest
158.
Jacob Rodriguez, LB Texas Tech
232.
Greg Johnson, OG Minnesota
235.
Nick Barrett, DT South Carolina
239.
Dalton Brooks, S Texas A&M
242.
Brett Norfleet, TE Missouri
2027 PIT 2nd
You need to find a ‘Tom Brady’ type with a forth round pick.
Sucks
-Five
Season summary:
overall a failure
main goal was to see if JJ can be a quality starter, goal failed mostly because he sucked complete ass or was hurt, he did get better as the season went and certainly can sling some piss missiles, but he still needs to learn when to take a little off and use some touch, KOC was asked after the game if JJ is the starter next season, he didn’t directly answer the question.
other goals:
oline was supposed to be vastly improved, failure. Jackson was pretty decent for a rookie and Fries was definitely worth what they paid for him, and when Kelly played he was very good, but despite even wearing the Sputnik helmet he couldn’t not get concussed, I hope he fully recovers and goes on to a successful life, but he was a failure here due to unavailability. The tackles were a mixed bag, idk what the fuck Darrisaw’s deal is, play one game Skip two, play a game, take himself out of a game, be on a snap count. The one knock on him coming out of college was injuries and it’s been an issue throughout his career. O’Neill was ok but also had some injury issues. Skule was a bit surprising as he didn’t completely suck ass when pressed into service, not the norm. The rest are ass or meh backups, need a center going into next season but otherwise in good shape PENDING Darrisaw actually showing up to play.
The Vikings traded for Thielen due to injury and suspension of nailor and Addison going into the season, he didn’t get many targets during this time and once Nailor and Addison were back he didn’t see the field and was subsequently cut, waste of draft pick, failure. However, if Addison stops engaging in tomfoolery and poppycock they have arguably the best group of three WRs in the league with Nailor starting to develop.
interior Dline was supposed to be vastly improved, failure. Hargrave and Allen were supposed to solve the issue with zero interior pass rush and did so somewhat but not enough to offset how bad they became defending the run. I expect hargrave is gone this offseason, Allen probably returns. A bright spot was Redmond, he’s an erfa so no matter what he’ll be back, I expect the Vikings to give him time one year tender and then try to negotiate a longer term contract. The edge rushers were good… when healthy, greenard had injury issues throughout the year, so did VG. Turner seemed to start figuring things out though. He was really good the second half of the season and looks like he could really be an impact player.
Wilson was a revelation at lb, he’s getting old but they should figure out how to bring him back next year
Another goal was to improve the secondary, I’d say they somewhat succeeded. Okudah mostly sucked and then got hurt, but Rodgers was solid. I’d say they did not do a great job replacing Bynum, though I doubt they anticipated Harrison Smith’s mysterious non football related medical issue going into the season, the group got better as the year went on and Smith finished the season strong, but it sure seems Smith will be retiring.
Other notes:
Will the Thrill only missed one kick all year, what a stud. Fat boy didn’t suck at punting. Price is a decent returner, but (and stop me if you’ve heard this before) had issues with fumbles. He needs to fix it. His coverage unit certainly didn’t do him any favors and overall coverage units are ass both ways, I expect a new ST coordinator.
i like hock but I’m not sure he’s here next year
if Flores leaves there will be some decent options to replace him, Raheem morris has worked with KOC before, Brandon Gannon also just got fired.
Either way the Vikings finished around/above .500 so the majority of fans are happy
I am very curious to see what they do this offseason considering they have negative cap space.
TLDR Version, The glass was half empty.
My TLDR version: glass is half full
Well, 9-8 is technically over half full, so yore rong, but i just described how they got there
Good summary and agree.
If you go from 14 wins to 9 wins ( and last was a gimme) that’s a failure.
It’s a performance – wins – business.
my benjammin summary of the season:
gone way too much
never around
would pop in say stupid things then disappear
barely any thread summaries
thinks he’s better then everyone here
probably misses biden
walz is his hero
i just miss him
lol, Walz quit his reelection campaign this morning, I bet mick is crying looking at his walz poster in the chicken coop (I miss him and five)
also, miss u2 bb!
i actually forgot about mick! living up in that liberal cesspool of duluth
Yeah I think of him once in a great while, especially when mention of Walz or chickens comes up, he just kind of disappeared maybe he had another kid
We work too hard throwing zingers around to have Benjammin show up week 19 and do a season summary, do better.
I think Price is actually a very good returner, but some legitimate and some fake holding calls that always brought them back were the problem. I’d like to see the breakdown of teams getting called for holding on kick returns – I’d bet the Vikings were #1. Another way for Goodell to control the games.
He’s good when he doesn’t fumble
Did Will actually miss a kick besides the one that got deflected by the damn cable?
I don’t consider that one a miss – NFL screwed the pooch.
I don’t consider that a miss either, but he did actually miss one FG attempt, made every PAT though, can’t remember the last time that happened
i don’t mean to switch topics on here, but this is a non football related question…..
whats your opinion of office etiquette when it comes to being sick, or your family being sick and coming in to the office
i have always been the type, when it’s a cold (cough, sore throat, etc) to come into work and just stay in my office and do my best not to expose anyone, but i’m not sick enough to stay home.
what about when you were throwing up the day before and now your entire family is throwing up, but you feel better.
i feel that in this scenario, you are obviously still a carrier, but the stomach bug is gross and very contagious…stay home for a day or two. no need to be around others.
thoughts?
Having run a number of large organizations, I always felt folks needed to stay home when they were sick. Yes it’s a stress on the workforce at times, but in the long run, I thought it was the best decision for the organization as a whole.
Always bothered the hell out of me when people would work in office while sick.
I caught crud from many co-workers over the years that had small children or had just spent time with grandkids. They are coughing or sneezing and spewing crap all over and infecting the rest of the group.
I would prefer people stay home even with the common cold. If possible.
I rarely miss work for being sick, and have not for years, but I sit at a computer all day, and can do that from home if I am not feeling well.
You mentioned “Office Etiquette”. So for office jobs, if you are sick, stay home. Your job is not so important that it is ok to infect the world.
Different story if you do not have enough PTO and your company will not let you work remotely. If that is the case, please go to the office and spit in your bosses coffee or cough all over in his office.
agreed to this.
while i show up with a cold….i realize it’s probably better for me NOT to be there
have a co-worker right now that was puking a day ago and now his entire familiy is puking and i’m really annoyed he’s here and acting like he’s not spreading ANYTHING….walking into everyones cubes and talking.
I told him he isn’t allowed to set foot in my office
I’m no Fauci, but my only problem with this scenario is he is walking around talking to people. If he were to come in, stay at his desk and work, I would have no problem.
agreed and agreed.
#infauciwetrust
Same opinion.
Had a coworker at the prison tell me, ‘I am sick, I can stay home and burn sick hours and be miserable or I can come to work and be miserable get paid. I choose to work.’
No easy answer to this and having worked in an office for nearly 45 years can play it either way.
Certainly you don’t want sick people coming to work. But you also don’t want the folks ‘that feel a little tired and not great’ not coming to work.
The contagious issue is tough. Regardless of what you do, it does seem if someone gets a cold, everyone else seems to get it sooner or later anyway.
Vague answer – expect people to be adults and act accordingly.
unpossible
Well, writing hard and fast rules won’t work either.
And you’re correct some people won’t act like adults, but many will.
Your question really has no black/white answer. As such, I choose to believe as a leader if you have cultivated the right culture. ‘More” will chose to act like adults than not.
i agree with you, there is no exact perfect answer….other than think about others as more important than yourselves.
the issue is you have alot of people who, since covid, are trying to go out of their way to show that we can do whatever we want, and they are usually who get most people sick haha.
The only correct answer is wear a mask and maintain a 6′ distance from anyone. Whether you are sick or not.
for…..15 days…
Or 2 years, whichever comes first.
ultimate act of unselfishness
Just gotta think about your grandma.
Get your butt to work, unless you are 1/2 dead. Its winter, flu is going around. Most of us will get it. Suck it up
A cough can be spread through the air, so stay home, throwing up is not an airborne illness so go to work and don’t touch anything or anyone, yore welcome
Depends on your situation too, if you’re in a cubicle I’d say just stay home no matter what, if you have your own office with a door and can keep people out, do whatever you want
Depends on your industry: Food industry – stay home when sick, even minor stuff IMO
Office job, esp. when isolated to your computer essentially: do whatever you want, but generally – stay home if moderate-severely ill
Healthcare – should stay home when sick, but patients come in all the time when sick, regardless of specialty, and sometimes they have to wait months for appointments. So unless moderate-severely ill, work but take precautions (wash hands, etc.)
I work in a nursing home. I come to work sick, people can die – depending on what flavor bug we have, we can mask/gown/glove to limit exposure to others.
I know there are many jobs out there where you don’t have direct contact with others, but if you work in a crowded office your choices have direct effects on others.
So do you think Nailor comes back? Too expensive???
https://thevikingage.com/7-minnesota-vikings-wont-be-back-2026-season
I’m ok with all of those players not coming back, Nailor being the one bummer but understandable
Roster needs an overhaul.
Honestly, Nailor looked good this season, but at what cost?
I feel the same about Adderoll. Not sure the pay is worth the play.
I am very glad it is not my money being spent on mediocrity each and every season.
Of course, the Stadium is still full, so the Wilfs are laughing all the way to the bank. Not US bank stadium, but their real banks.
Wow… could this actually happen? It does align with Minnesota’s gubernatorial appointment power for U.S. Senate vacancies.
So nothing would change, Lib/Woke Gov and Lib/Woke Senator.
Just annoying which again is more of the same.
Politicians are crooks? My world has just been rocked.
I need a lot of hugs today.
People need to remember how much money Klobuchar took from the food industry giants to determine that Ketchup is a vegetable. Gotta keep feeding the processed crap to the kiddos.
Derrick Henry is a special person…
Great running back. And seems like a great human.
This is satirical but…
Might as well just retire Shaddeur’s number right now.
It’s the Browns. I wouldn’t be surprised.
It all depends on what the homeless guy thinks.
Hits just keep on coming…
Maybe he can take Flores’ spot when he leaves.
Wow…
Not my money. Gruden is the only one I would want to coach my team though.
Same
Lol! Can I get in on that money to not coach there?
I’m sure I could coach them to at least one win, or maybe even zero if they like.
Probably need a few top draft picks in a row.
And… here we go…
It would be sad to see Coach Flo go there to that ‘sh*t show’.
His call to make though.
I thought I read somewhere that Brady has been mentioning Flores a lot in broadcasting, so it is maybe a done deal he is going there.
I haven’t really watched an Brady called games in while.
That has been a rumor for a few days.
Clickbait?? Guess we will see soon.
how is Matt Daniels still employed by this team?!!??!!
Will the Thrill and Ryan Wright, is my only guess.
Returner was pretty good most of the time.
Of course a lot of his best returns were called back due to penalties.
When it comes to a Minnesota questions, the answer right now is always: “Somalians.”
Vikings finished with the 5th worst offense in the league in terms of yards, and the 7th worst in terms of points.
They finished with the 3rd best defense in terms of yards, and the 7th best in terms of points.
So last year, Darnolds first here in this system, he threw for over 4300 yards with 35 TD’s. If he had been here, second year in the system, how well do you think the offense would have been?
And then with our defense.
Last january, many people on this site could not wait for Darnold to move on
Huge turd(s) he laid against Detroit and LA. That’s why for sure.
Yep, he crapped the bed way worse than what Kirk Cousins supposedly did.
They were pretty equal in crapping
They both collapse when it matters.
Matthew Stafford finished with 4,707 yards, the third highest total in his career. He also finished with 46 TDs, the highest of his career and highest in the NFL (second was Goff with 34…a huge difference).
I hope he wins MVP.
Rams won that trade. Lions got hosed even with the draft picks.
Big game tonight ladies. Go Cats!!!
can anyone explain what an ERFA means in regards to free agency?
Jalen Redmond is an ERFA which sucks because he was REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY good this year and now we gotta pay him.
I’m kinda shocked we didn’t try to lock him up during the season
Exclusive Rights Free Agent. If the Vikings offer him a contract, then he can’t negotiate with any other team.
ok good, so that’s good for us then.
we NEED him.
an Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA) is a player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract; their original team can offer them a one-year, league-minimum contract, and if they do, the player cannot negotiate with other teams, essentially forcing them to sign with their current club or sit out the season.
Jalen Redmond signed a three year contract worth $2,715,000 with the Panthers on May 12, 2023. The contract has $115,000 in guarantees. He received a signing bonus worth $20,000
Vikes will do the right thing and sign him to a multiyear contract at a fair salary….with some team discount
yep, perfect.
just wanted to make sure we didn’t lose him. dude was a STUD for us this year
Can KOC fix Zach Wilson?
Another Jersey cast-off that turns out ok? It could happen….
Can KOC fix JJ McCarthy is an even more pressing question. He’s had two years heretofore.
Rec for the appropriate use of ‘heretofore’.
He has had 10 games heretofore.
Practices and film room study don’t count?
That is what I have been told. I have been told that the player needs snaps during the regular season. Preseason and practice and film room only go so far.
Again, this is what I have been told.
So, with 10 games in, I say the jury is still out on JJ.
If next year does not show marked improvement, he will be gone.
KOC said McCarthy needed 10,000 hours, and 10,000 reps…
Yes, but the reps need to be in-game, not virtual goggles.
So in a season, a team runs around a thousand plays in 17 games. So 10 years from now, we’ll see what McCarthy has.
The 10 thousand hours comes from standard corporate motivational things. Becoming and expert takes that many hours.
The “10,000-Hour Rule” originated from journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers, which popularized the idea that ~10,000 hours of deliberate practice leads to expertise
I think KOC was trying to tell us it takes time.
I am willing to give JJ another season. If he continues to improve, we have a QB. If not, we keep looking.
So folks are already claiming this was a wasted season, and now you’re good with following the same exact plan? OK…
No, I am not ok with the exact same plan.
I do think JJ is worth another season.
I do NOT think Wentz should be the backup, nor do I think the team should wait until September to try and find a backup QB.
Get 4 QBs on the roster by end of May.
Get better at IOL.
Get better IDL so you can stop the run.
Not ok with the same exact plan. I AM ok with giving JJ another season as the starter until he dies on the field.
Here’s how I would “play” it Surly. I’d look for a couple of good vets to bring in to camp, and have a real QB competition. I would select the guy who showed he was the best option, as the starter. I wouldn’t place McCarthy’s development ahead of fielding the guy who gives us the best opportunity to win.
That is actually the best plan.
I do not think the team will do that, because at least this season, they did not bring in Rodgers (he is an asshat, but way better than anyone on our roster) because they did not want to hurt JJs feelings.
I am fine if they bring in one vet and draft another QB. Two seems spendy, but it is not my money.
I agree that JJ has fallen short so far. I still am rooting for him. He could be a backup for a couple years if there is someone better out there.
I am ok if they start him next season versus overpaying for average. We have seen that for years.
I ask this out of ignorance I suppose and as a former baseball player.
Many have said JJ has bad mechanics. In baseball, if a pitcher has bad throwing mechanics, you learn to work them out throwing hundreds of pitches on a practice mound – not in a game.
So don’t really understand needs game time.
Needs game time for processing corrections and learning. Needs offseason for mechanics.
This is my understanding as well….
Work on mechanics in the offseason.
Game time is where he learns that every player on the field is like the best single player on the field in college, and gets used to the speed of the game.
Didn’t realize JJ had processing problems. Thought he was just inaccurate with his throws.
“He holds the ball too long”, “He can’t read defenses post snap”, just a couple of the things said throughout the season. I don’t know if it is a problem or just inexperience.
But, in order to work on the game time processing, he kind of needs to be in the game, to get the experience.
That’s pretty normal for a young QB. Patience and time are all that is needed. Maybe he still fails, but he has the physical tools and I choose to remain optimistic.
I don’t think he’s a natural thrower of the ball actually. He mostly just chucks it IMO. So his physical skills are suspect to me.
No doubt the jury is still out.
You had indicated can KOC fix Zac Wilson. I was just wondering can KOC fix JJ.
Now the injury issue, don’t think so on that.
I was just wondering IF coach could fix Zac Wilson. I think he is intriguing, but he could suck forever.
and you are correct, that JJ has a long ways to go. I did see improvement throughout the season. But if he is always injured, there needs to be a much better overall QB room in order to compete.
Gil Brandt always said you can’t even begin to evaluate a QB until they have like 30 or 35 starts under their belt.
You can see a lot in practice. A QB has a lot on his plate. You can see as plays are run, how he manages the various sets, and adjustments he is required to make. Is it seamless? Does he see defensive changes? Does he understand his progressions? Does he hit the right route combination based on what the defense does? He needs to show a strong grasp of the offensive concepts as compared to the defensive sets he’ll face. That’s just step one though. Then he has to take that to the playing field on game day, and mentally function against an opposing defense. Can he see it, know it, and throw it. If option 1 isn’t there, can he instinctively move to 2 and 3 and 4? Finally can he stand and deliver? When the walls are crashing in, can he take a lickin, and keep on tickin? This was Darnold’s Achilles heel the first half of his career. He tended to rush throws and miss more when he was getting a lot of pressure. He mentally broke down.
I don’t see McCarthy really processing much. I see him running plays, and then scrambling around and “creating” on the run. That isn’t a formula for success. Tom Brady never did any of that. Ever. Nor did Brees, or Manning, or Marino, or Goff, or Stafford, etc. Guys who can use their brain to run a passing offense, are the guys who give you a strong chance to be successful. BTW, you can see how they process on day one of training camp.
You’re right. You definitely know more than one of the best GMs in NFL history.
I know plenty…
Him or Justin fields maybe, either way he seems to do well with highly drafted degenerate QBs
Tua and Murray will likely be available.
If they can financially make it work, Watson might be available too. Maybe we could have a happy ending to the season then.
lol. I see what you did there.
I really dislike both of those players.
Just mentioning a couple that I think are going to be available. Other than that or others cut, there really isn’t many FA options next year. Kenny Pickett, 38 year old Case Keenum, I think Jones is actually set to be a FA, but there’s the whole injury thing and if he’s healthy, then he’ll be getting a starting gig somewhere. Turdbiscuit will be a FA as well as Jimmy G.
I’m just trying to brainstorm who the mythical “vet to compete” is supposed to be and there just isn’t any real options at the moment.
i’m going back and forth on how i feel about the season, the team, the coaching, the front office.
i’m really basically disappointed we opted to let the season ride on a rookie QB… (yeah yeah i know NoT a RoOkiE)
if Kam wasn’t such a bad drafter, and we could actually build team depth in the draft, we wouldn’t have had to waste the money on our 2 waste of space free agent interior lineman and we would have had plenty of money to sign sam darnold.
we really fudged that up.
I agree that Kam really fucked up since the 4 very big free agent signings did not really work out imo. O line is still a weakness. Big time.
So first the narrative was the JJ era has begun! Bring on the Super Bowls. Then it was he’s just 22 years old so we HAVE to let him develop.
I wonder if that’s still the narrative though.
The narrative had a pretty major plot point added to it: JJM’s injury thing was not just a knee that needed to heal and he’d be fine again. He revealed that he’s officially injury prone until proven otherwise.
I think if he stayed healthy all year he would have developed fine. Not perfect, but just what you’d expect from a first year starter who is 22 y.o.
Sadly, he did not get the development time we hoped/needed.
Yep. I feel the same way. He played in 10 games and the team had a winning record. If he had played all 17 games we would have a better idea of what the hell we have with him.
He showed improvement, and some fun plays. He is also injury prone and sometimes makes terrible decisions.
I think he played about as well as most of the QBs in his draft class played last season, with the huge exception of the WA qb that lit things up his rookie year. The rest all had growing pains that he dealt with this season.
If he still looks the same next season, he is gone. If he improves, and the defense does not regress, the team should be in the playoffs next season for another epic disappointment.
Well said. Yes, the key is health. QB health is make or break in the NFL.
Both can be true, I believe the JJ era has begun and am hopeful we will get a superb owl win during this era. But, it is also true that a 22 year old needs to develop, not only as a player but his body needs to mature enough to take hits from 300+ lb men on the regular.
Our superb owl window is still open even if the QB needs a year to develop. Remember Rome was not built in a day.
This is the problem I have with McCarthy… he doesn’t show any signs (to me) of being a cerebral QB. He’s a guy who runs around, and does make great plays at times. Like 3 or 4 really great plays a game. I don’t see him running the offense, I see him running plays.
We’ll see if he ever advances beyond this state.
That’s how I viewed Tark.
Tark scrambled as a strategy. In those days defensive linemen were not the athletes they are today. He said he ran around on purpose, just to tire them out.
Hindsight is 20/20, but yeah he messed it up. We’ll see how it all works out this coming year. I think the division is still within reach of we can get decent (healthy) QB play.
i am 100% of the mindset that we will be fine IF mcfragile stays healthy…
but guess what HE WONT
Sadly I’m with you on this. I wish I had more hope, but until he proves otherwise…
There’s a nice piece over at DN claiming hey had the money and should not have let Sam go. Some interesting comments both ways.
But one thing struck me. Sam was still only 27 and had played here just ONE year. What might he have done with continued good coaching in the second and beyond.
I personally believe our roster is as good as Seattle’s and we could be in the number one seat if he were still here.
I agree, but like Cousins, KAM wanted a young QB on a rookie contract, not a vet on big three year deal. He wanted Sam as a rental for at most one more year. Seattle made Sam a much better offer. Then the Colts did the same with Jones, and suddenly the cupboard was bare. The gig was up. KAM couldn’t keep a good vet on the team, using this one year at a time contract strategy. He lost Cousins who offered him a below market deal, as well as Darnold, and Jones, by trying to string them along on one year deals, while making it clear he wanted a QB on a rookie contract under center. KAM’s well laid plan ran over his well laid ass.
Kirk still sucks
Pretty sure Jones took less to play in Indy because he chose to compete with Richardson for the starting gig instead of JJ.
He has said as much. And he was probably correct, although with McFragile getting hurt, Daniels would have gone on a tear here and maybe not relinquished the starting job.
Because he saw clearly that if he was the better player, he would get the start with the Colts. He wasn’t ever going to get that here. No need beating your head against the wall for an organization with its head up its ass.
Or he thought JJ was better than Richardson so he had a better chance of being the better QB. The Colts had flat out said Richardson was their starter and he would have been if he knew how to use exercise bands.
If he saw McCarthy throw one pass, he would have known he was better.
Question for all the wise fan ‘coaches’ around here.
Several weeks back, KOC wouldn’t play JJ because he wanted him to be 100%. So we played a banged up Wentz.
So yesterday, KOC marches JJ out there when he has to take a pain killing shot to play.
What’s going on here?
McCarthy didn’t take the shot before the game, then took himself out of the game, mid series in the 3rd quarter. He has said his pain level was an 8 on a scale of 1-10. He threw the ball well the whole first half though. Looked like he could grip the ball and throw it fine. He showed no signs of discomfort, like shaking his hand, or holding it after any play. Methinks more is being made of this injury than should be. Starting to really wonder why McCarthy had to be absolutely perfectly healthy before KOC went back to him.
No idea. He has a hairline fracture. I know that hurts, as I have had two of those in my hand and once a wrist. It certainly looked like he was more uncomfortable in the second half. Maybe the adrenaline wore off? Maybe he is a pansy? He got Jefferson his 1k yards so maybe at that point he felt he had done his job in a meaningless game.
I never heard exactly where on his hand this hairline fracture was located though.
Right on the hair line.
Great… thanks for clearing that up! Grin.
I was a throwing athlete per se and had a hairline fracture in my throwing hand – yes, it hurts. But as I recall (been a few years). doctor said with the hand there is also soft tissue damages and they actually take longer to heal than the bone.
Just found it strange KOC seemed so protective earlier in the season and not so much in a meaningless game.
Agreed. Weird priorities.
You have to be flexible enough to change the narrative when it suits your needs.
All successful politicians know this.
I would say it is because when he had the ankle sprain, we were early to mid season, and didn’t want to make it worse. This was the last game of an already lost season, so he probably figured JJ would have 4-5 months to recover, before OTAs. Just my humble opinion, but it makes some sense, to me anyways.
Yeah… it’s like that…
I’s tough but you don’t reach retirement age by being a pansy.
As they say, old age is not for sisseys..
I second that.
10 more years…..I plan on retiring at 72
I can’t make it that long. 9/3/26 and I’m out.
Congrats!
I made some very poor decisions. Catching up on retirement savings now.
I married the right woman which helps a lot.
This man wants to be President…
I have a male co-worker I have been playing a long game joke on for a good decade now, where I randomly let him know that I am obsessed with him, and that his wife and family are terrible for him, and he needs to leave them to be with me and start a candle-making business.
I get bored, okay…
Anyway, last week I printed out divorce papers and left them on his desk with a note to “fill them out and return them to me ASAP!” (They don’t actually say “divorce” on them. The legal terms are “dissolution” and such.)
So, he has been VERY confused and going around asking other coworkers “What are these papers and do I really need to fill them out for him?” because he can’t figure out how the papers are work-related.
Meanwhile, I…
Diabolical…
I see HR coming for you.
And his wife suing you for ‘alienation of affection’.
#grin
Probably, but it will make the day go faster!
An important consideration.
Officially out of the race. Hope he goes to jail.
Are all you Minnesota people here doing alright? This has to be pretty saddening to you all.
He should go to jail, but won’t. He dropped out because he was told to. He couldn’t possibly win the election with all the fraud stuff, so when they would have rigged it so the democrat wins, nobody would have believed he won. So they get a new person, keep rigging, and hope people will believe they won fair and square.
Gotta get a Somali elected so they can keep hiding the fraud and pander to the left. Maybe Omar will step out of congress to run for governor.
Ilhan Omar….
FML.
Just wait. You’re going to be pining for the Waltz days in about 11 months.
Yep, they will “elect” someone worse with a more destructive agenda.
Yeah, I agree with that. I am still holding out hope that the newly arrived despot decides to point the finger at all the voter fraud and immigration fraud he assisted.
Just asking, do the people there really care?
Supposedly, inside the state this has been known for years.
Most dems will just vote blue no matter what because they have no thinking skills and orange man bad.
Yes, we care, but the rocks and cows cannot out vote the metro area.
This is the biggest problem. Also, the metro schools have done a fantastic job of indoctrination over the years. I feel the war has already been lost. Socialism of some form will take over this country and my great grandchildren will be reading the Koran unless people wake the hell up.
Everyone talks about how the Christians were bad during the crusades, but they never talk about what led up to the crusades.
Those “everyones” should go live in a Muslim country for a while – real, present time.
Much like Illinois and Virginia, Too many Dems in the big cities to out vote the rural (mostly Red) good folks.
I feel bad for the rest of Illinois. You could live over 300 miles from Chicago but you will still be run politically by Chicago.
Commifornia has the same issue.
Honestly I doubt that the Vikings are “out” on McCarthy yet. I think he’s QB1 at the moment for 2026, and the search might be for a vet to back him up.
When you start with a talented roster and miss the playoffs, everything better be on the table for evaluation.
If not, the “leaders” of this team aren’t doing their jobs.
Hmmm… I think this is mostly pundit projection, but we’ll see.
We have officially entered “click bait” season
Seems like we are always in the ‘click bait season’ now days.
Last Megadeth album out in less than 20 days. I am very excited. They are going to do a cover of Ride The Lighting!
Very belated Happy New Year, everybody!
Happy birthday, Brad!
After our season ended yesterday with a meaningless win over the Packers (always nice to beat them though, even if it’s their 2nd stringers, because FTP) I can’t help thinking that this was a wasted year, and that this situation could have been avoided.
The Vikes whiffed hard on handing over the reigns to “Nine”, who clearly is not ready to play QB in the NFL. Did our COTY, the QB whisperer, not recognize that our former 1st round pick is nowhere near ready to lead an offense in the NFL? Was there pressure to play him at all cost after missing his rookie season? Of course the kid needs reps, and at some point we had to find out what we have in him (not much, IMO), but it got obvious pretty quickly that the dude needs MUCH more time to learn.
Rumor has it that KOC wanted to keep Darnold, but higher ups decided to roll with JJ. We’ll never find out, but while the Vikes will watch the playoffs from the couch, Sam Darnold clinched the #1 seed with Seattle, and Daniel Jones looked very good with the Colts until he got injured.
Well, there’s always next season. Personally, I don’t have much hope that “Nine” will develop into an even serviceable QB, plus he seems to be mucho injury prone. We’ll find out. Hope the script has good things in store for us next season.
Tl;dr. Yup.
Wishing y’all an excellent offseason, I’ll be around. SKOL!
Great to see you, and Happy New Year. I do think this offseason will be one with some intrigue. Lots of stuff to consider as we prepare for next year.
He is a bust, but everyone here was so sure he’d be able to “game manage” and coast to playoffs. I’d be surprised if he’s a starter in 2 years.
I still think Darnold will turn the ball over or take a sack that costs Seattle the game. Even with the best defense in the NFL (Maybe Houston is a bit better?).
Seattle needs to just run the ball, then run the ball some more, then a few play action passes. Then run the ball some more.
As long as FTP and the Eagles are not in the Super Bowl, I will be interested in watching.
At some point they will be in field goal range to win the game and he’ll do one of his patented, turn a 4 yard sack into a 12 yard sack, thus taking them out of field goal range.
Still, he’s there and we’re not.
Laughing. Sam was very solid, if not spectacular against the Niners. I think he’s settled into his role, and he has the requisite experience to keep doing his job well.
I watched very little of that game, but saw him do exactly what I described. Other than the eggs at the end of the year, that was the one thing that drove me bonkers last year watching him. Mostly very good play but even if the pressure was from the edge he always tries to escape backwards and would add 7 yards to at least one or two sacks a game.
Escaping backwards in an attempt to get room to either throw it away, or get off a viable pass attempt is a pretty normal thing. Every QB in the league does it.
Not like Darnold. Most learn at some point to slide away from the pressure or just go down. He only escapes backwards, every time.
Oh yeah… Darnold runs backwards different than every other QB…
Darnold scrambles for first downs well… he runs forward to do that. Breaking contain, takes many forms. Sometimes you run directly backward then break right or left of course. Sometimes you can’t shake the defender.
He turned the ball over 4 times lol “SPECTACULAR”
They did score a lot though, right?
Why the dumping on Sam?
He played for crap teams most of his career, came here with good coaching and won 14 games. Then left went to another new team and offense and again won 14 games. How many QB’s do that.
Wish he’d been our QB this year. Then maybe we’d be sitting in the number one spot.
Not dumping on Sam, but I am laughing at the idea that a QB throwing for 198 yards and 0 touchdowns is solid, as long as they aren’t wearing purple and gold. McCarthy threw for 163 and 3 touchdowns against the Commies and 250 and 2 passing and 1 rushing touchdown against the Cowpies, but he didn’t show anything that gives certain people any hope. McCarthy may not have thrown for a lot of yards, but he improved through the year and there was plenty there to give hope for the future.
Given the starting point that is improvement.
But until he can play two games in a row without getting hurt, I’d bet. nothing on the future.
He might keep getting injured, but I’m hoping it’s just bad luck. If they were all similar issues like pulled muscles or ligaments then I would be more worried.
Throwing for 198 yards, and completing 77% of your passes, is very solid. Darnold ran the offense well, and he was cool as a cucumber.
Laughing about McCarthy’s performance against two VERY bad defenses as some sort of proof he is superior to Darnold.
The NINER game?
I could see the Packers beating the Bears, just because, but there is no way the Packers beat any of the good teams.
Saturday I was in the grocery store, wearing a Columbia Performance Fishing Gear (PFG) shirt. A guy in a Bucs jersey asked me if they’re biting this time of year. I said I didn’t know, I don’t fish. He said “WTF are you doing wearing a fishing shirt, if you don’t fish?” I said, “I don’t know. When was the last time you played in the NFL?”
My wife laughed… so did the cashier.
Good roast!
touche
The type of ‘epic comeback’ that I think of about 5 minutes too late.