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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
The 90 degree-plus heat continues in the northern Dakota today, with a high of 90 expected. Relief is on the way, though, as the highs will only be in the upper 50s by Thursday with 1.5 inches of rain expected to fall by Friday. If you don’t like the weather in North Dakota, just wait a few minutes, it’ll change. I’ll sure be happy when they get over to our house to install the new A/C condensor.
The schedule will FINALLY be coming out tomorrow, so we can stop getting bombarded with stupid leaks and rumors. Leave it to the NFL to dramatize such a trivial event. Just release the stupid thing so that we fans can begin planning our trip(s), most of us have to work, you know. Dummies.
Not much earth-shattering news out there. It sounds like Shedeur Sanders outshined (it’s correct, I looked it up and outshined is generally used over outshone in America) Dillon Gabriel on the field at Browns minicamp, which is unlikely to shock anyone. Not much else out
Vikings News
Montigo Moss completed rookie minicamp with the Vikings and hopes to be invited to training camp, from Fox 22 in Bangor ME. The son of Randy Moss, the former Maine WR was elated to get the chance in Minnesota. I’m pulling for him, he seems like a good kid, and his dad is one of the all-time greats.
The Vikings signed two players from their rookie minicamp tryout, LB Matt Harmon and DE Elijah Williams, per Vikings.com.
CBS Sports hands out offseason grades for all 4 NFC North teams. They give the Lions a B, even though they lost A LOT, including both coordinators, and added very little. The Vikings got an A-, which is fair, but here are the Vikings’ Notable Losses.
QB Sam Darnold, S Camryn Bynum, QB Daniel Jones, OT Cam Robinson, EDGE Patrick Jones II, CB Stephon Gilmore, C Garrett Bradbury
So, we lost a QB who was a one-year stop-gap anyway, Bynum is a loss but I don’t know that Jackson is much of a downgrade, a backup QB who didn’t play, an OT who played like crap, a rotational EDGE who I will miss, a 34 year-old CB who may be retiring, and one of the worst centers in the league. Looking at our notable additions PLUS our first round G Donovan Jackson, I like the team’s trajectory.
DT Jonathan Allen, DT Javon Hargrave, C Ryan Kelly, G Will Fries, RB Jordan Mason, CB Isaiah Rodgers
NFL News
Even though Dillon Gabriel was drafted before Shedeur Sanders, Sanders is looking better in Browns training camp thus far, story from MSN.
CBS Sports ranks the 2025 strength of schedule for all 32 NFL teams.
Browns LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will miss the 2025 season due to a neck injury he suffered last season, per NFL.com. I wouldn’t be shocked if his career was over, but at least he’s able to walk, that was an ugly injury.
Trey Hendrickson has received zero communication on his contract from the Bengals, according to NFL.com. The Bengals are historically bad at retaining talent, it’s been like that for decades. They managed to lock 3 players to huge contracts, but that only shores up two position groups (QB and WR). They must be drunk.
Media Selection
Great discussion here between Sean Ryan and Tim Tebow talking about the issue of human trafficking. The world needs more people like both of these guys.
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Schedule comes out tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Bet plenty more leaks come out before then.
They have to generate interest.
To me it is no big deal, we already know who they are playing, this just about when.
All about getting clicks.
Saw a funny line, If Trump was pro oxygen the liberals would suffocate.
Reminds of the old Margaret Thatcher line… “If I could walk on water, they would say it was only because I can’t swim”.
She was pretty good. Liked her “the problem with socialism is that eventually run out of other peoples money”. Dims have no problem.
I was stationed in the U.K. when she was the P.M. Loved her.
In the end, Saudi Arabia is agreeing to invest one Trillion dollars in the U.S. Trump asked for $500B, the Saudi’s increased that to $600B, then after meeting with Trump today, upped the deal to one trillion dollars.
Just watched a Lib on TV say that the Saudis only gave Trump $1T to appease his ego, that the deals only help his ‘friends’ and don’t do anything for the average working class American.
TDS is fun to watch sometimes.
The message is old, and folks can see clearly (I hope) that nothing the Dem’s tell them is true. They said tariffs would destroy the economy… nope. They said inflation would be rampant… nope. Everything was getting more expensive… nope. Trump is Hitler… nope. Just everything they say is a lie, and everything they predict is wrong. They insist they are the ones who support due process… while they scream to end law enforcement. They say no one is above the law, while their activist judges break it.
Oh yeah, and gaslighting the citizens with their lies about Bidens mental acuity.
I cannot see how anyone can say with a straight face that the Dem’s are better for the country than Trump.
The only Dim voters at this point are those with TDS and those who vote that way out of habit.
All their ‘talking points’ are aimed at their base and hoping to pick a few stray stupid people.
Getting a new AF1 from Qatar? Even some Maga’s not fond.
Go Pups!
Twinks postponed, double tomorrow. 8 game streak is still alive.
This has been (again) misrepresented to the populace by the liberal politicians and media.
Here’s the facts. In 2016 a new deal was negotiated by the Air Force to buy two new aircraft from Boeing to replace the 22 year old Air Force One aircraft. Boeing wanted $5B for the two aircraft, scheduled to be ready for operation in 2024. Boeing said the aircraft were already built (in 2018) and would be turned over to the Air Force by 2021, but the Air Force required three years to test and accept the aircraft. Trump re-negotiated the deal with Boeing, based on the exorbitant costs, and reduced the cost by some $1.4B. The aircraft were scheduled to be ready for delivery to the Air Force by 2021 for operational testing and acceptance. It is now 2025, and to date the aircraft are still not ready for delivery. Delivery date has been pushed now to 2029, and costs have gone way up. If you factor in the three year testing period, the aircraft would be ready for use by 2032, on a contract let in 2016. Trump is unhappy that a five year contract is in its 10th year, and no aircraft have been delivered AND the deal he made with Boeing has been violated by them. Boeing came out recently in response to a White House query, and said they could deliver the aircraft by 2027, if they cut requirements. Thus we’re sitting here with almost 40 year old aircraft, and Boeing is stringing this out, and running up the bill year after year. Qatar offered the aircraft to the Air Force as a gift to them, not Trump. The DoD and Qatar have a lot closer ties than people understand. We spend a shit ton of money over there for bases, housing, storage facilities, support contracts, etc.
The President sees this as a “fair deal” because of our fiscal investment in Qatar, and as a really good gesture by Qatar. I agree with the President.
In about 6 years, when the new Air Force one is in service, the aircraft will be retired to the Trump library. I see nothing wrong with that.
Read about the contractual thing with Boeing. As they say, shit or get off the pot. I have no concerns.
Does the AF have no pull with Boeing. Being has been in shit loads of trouble for all the sloppy work on the commercial side. You’d think they would be jumping all over themselves to get this right.
And by the way, this is friggin ridiculous. Do you know how many B24’s and B17’s this country was rolling out in 43 – 45. But that group of people knew how to win wars and get things done.
I don’t disagree, but the Federal Acquisition Regulation has made procurement a legal and practical nightmare.
Pull? Not really. They could terminate the contract for cause, and start the acquisition process all over again, with the whole contract award process starting from scratch. Boeing won the award in 2016, frankly because their aircraft design and proprietary rights to systems aboard Air Force One were the “best of breed”.
Other aircraft manufacturers would love to build the next Air Force One, but they would have start from scratch devoid of any Boeing design elements to avoid Boeing suing them.
The contract award process takes two years, then the aircraft build out would take 5 years, then acceptance and testing is 3 years. In today’s dollars we’re probably looking at $15B of new investment to have someone else build two completely new Air Force One aircraft.
They have to make sure all the ‘T’s are crossed and all of the ‘I’s are dotted legally. Then the plane has to be gone over with a ‘fine tooth comb’ and upgraded to AF1 standards especially for communications.
Other than that the usual suspects are going to howl about it. Some Rep have to say ‘there could be issues’ for political reasons. Bottom line is if DJT said ‘No” to the plane the same TDS types would bitch and try to make it an issue.
DJT is going to DJT and those with DTS will act out accordingly. Same old same old, like Trump you take the gift, say ‘Thank you’ and fix the problem as NLNVF laid out.
Makes zero dif what Trump does here out. Even if correct. It’s almost laughable.
Anybody watching the Diddy trial stuff? Pretty sick details. I feel sorry for the people involved – he sounds like a monster.
Didn’t/don’t really know who he is.
From what little I have heard he sounds like a sick puppy with the $$ to live out his fantasies. How much his ‘victims’ were ‘forced’ vs did stuff for $$ I have no idea.
His underaged victims are a different issue, their parents deserve a slice of the ‘blame pie’ IMHO.
@just a victim of systematic racism@
Wow! I just got caught up on reading the comments. The Kirk Cousins passion still runs deep in many on this thread – both for and against. I applaud the effort folks put into debating Kirk.
When there’s no absolute right or wrong, only shades of gray, you can argue and make points forever.
Yore rong.
It do be Tuesday
it is Tuesday. Off season is boring. Something to argue about.
We’re better than Washington and Detroit is better than Rams and Chargers. I’d say then we are better than Detroit but it seems like a long time since we have beaten them.
Top 10 Over/Under bet?
Top 10 SB Winning Bet?
Top 10 What?
Looks like a betting site so the ‘Sharps’ are trying to rake in more money from the ‘Marks’.
?
It’s from Fox Sports/Bucky Brooks.
Rankings are stupid. Bucky Brooks doesn’t know any more about any team at this point in the season than you or I.
Too high.
Sorry. Our QB hasn’t played a single real NFL snap.
Yeah, I would have to agree. I won’t buy into the hype of JJMac until he shows he is at least adequate.
Yep.
The roster is very good, but that doesn’t mean crap if the QB can’t figure out NFL speed.
Preseason isn’t the real NFL.
He did look great until he got hurt. Somehow.
Wasn’t the knock on our squad last preseason that our QB was proven to be bad and KO got him paid. I trust that KO knows how good JJ is and thusly let Sam walk.
I agree. But seeing is believing.
Darnold turned into a pumpkin in the most important games of the season.
Long road ahead for me before I claim success.
Yep. If KOC thought Sam was better or had any worries about JJ, Sam would still be in Minnesota.
Well I think the fiscal perspective has to at least be considered. Darnold played well enough to garner a good pay day this year. KAM and KOC had to weigh and decide things with that factor in mind.
Clearly they feel they can roll with McCarthy now, so paying Sam was not in the cards.
Yep. I am pretty sure that Coach wanted Kirko back, but not at the expense of the rest of the roster, so they rolled with Sam.
I felt JJ would have started by mid-season. Sam had a few pretty bad games, but got bailed by a very good defense.
I am not expecting 14 wins, but I expect the team to make the playoffs, and have a better chance once they are in the playoffs. Team is better overall. Just like last season’s team was definitely better than the 2023 version.
I don’t know about McCarthy getting the starting nod last year, but reports were that he was impressing in practice and meetings. Obviously he showed KOC enough for him to be comfortable with letting Sam move on.
The defense should be more better this year as Flores runs it back for for a third consecutive season. It’s fully mature. Same with the offense, now going into its fourth year. McCarthy is surrounded by players who are fully immersed in the offense, and proven performers. This is as “point and shoot” as it gets. He really almost can’t cock this up. All KOC has to do is keep the play calling within McCarthy’s relative experience level limits, and we should have a great year.
Commies and LaChargers rated too high. Pukers are rated WAY too high…who are their superstars? Switch the LoLions and us.
Anybody buying some UnitedHealth shares?
Not me. I don’t shit where I eat, and they are in trouble.
Yeah, I guess I don’t see how much “trouble” they’re in. I know they have spoken about increasing healthcare costs, but I would guess they just increase their premiums like always so they can make a profit next year. Losing nearly 50% of stock value in a few months doesn’t seem true to fundamentals. I would guess it has to rebound to $400 at some point.
They’re my med insurance provider (for now).
Apparently, Pope Leo’s brother is a huge Trump fan.
Could get interesting on some stuff.
The View didn’t like him until they found out he had a Grandfather from Haiti.
Now they are calling him ‘The Black Pope’.
The View – what a bunch of dingalings. Anybody who pays much ttention to that group needs serious help.
We get our laughs where we can.
They will selective like him when it suits them.
For the most part, they will trash him and Christians at every turn, unless the Pope says something against Trump, then it will be front page gabbing.
2.3% inflation.
Those darn Trump tariffs.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/cpi-inflation-april-2025.html
Democruds will have to change their Talking Points again.
Poor guys (gender non-specific) I almost feel sorry for them on this losing streak, almost.
They just double down.
CNN said Trump got snookered by China and caved.
Honestly DE, I am wowed by all that Trump has gotten done in these first 115 days or so. It’s mind boggling.
Remember when Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after less than eight months in office for “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. Yet he told the whole country that his foreign policy was to take a “strategic pause” for his Presidency.
Trump is trying to get as much done as possible before the midterms. He has to get as much done while he has the House, Senate and White House.
Nothing is guaranteed after 2026, I think it looks like he could add to his majorities but who knows at this point.
True. But he also needs to get a lot done because there’s A LOT that needs to be fixed. Just about every federal agency is f’d up as well as their policies and procedures.
I try to temper my view on politicians, but I have to say, Trump has been the single most productive President in my lifetime. I voted for Reagan in 1980. Doing things Republicans claim they would do, only to be pansy’s and agree with the dems.
It has been amazing to watch.
Well said and I completely agree. I do’t know if you listened to Mark Levin Saturday night ( got SoCal to post a video) but he said in some detail what you just articulated.
I like Levin, but I struggle watching his takes.
Maybe it’s his voice. Personality.
I can’t watch Hannity much either.
Just grinds against me for some reason.
I find the depth of Levin’s background material far superior to what is available most anywhere else.
I struggle with Hannity as well. He is aggressive in pushing his talking points even if he has to ‘bend logic’ to do it.
Levin gets down in the foundation of an argument and articulates it well. The issue is he is ‘preaching to the choir’ with me.
Well what do you expect?
They certainly can’t say ‘Trump Won’.
If they can’t find a negative spin they will just make one up our of whole cloth.
I saw a headline/story, I think from the Washington Post, that said it’s actually bad that prices haven’t went up from the tariffs.
Woke Logic is not logical.
This might have been it. CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/business/car-prices-tariffs-recession-economy
There are too many idiots on social media. God no wonder the younger generation doesn’t know which way is up.
Millenials and Gen Z can’t steal these cars…
Well, it’s not good for electric cars and the Bakken Oil field.
Yep. I posted that yesterday.
Saw this take and thought it was interesting.
Seattle can easily turn to their rookie if Darnold turns back into a pumpkin.
LOL….
What is angering is how this level of mental and physical decline was overtly, and abundantly clear, but the media insisted as late as May of 2024 that he was “the best he’s ever been” and anyone who said otherwise needed to STFU.
This stuff makes my blood boil. The clear and obvious lies were are told daily from state run media. These people are soulless.
No, they’re criminals!
Totally agree. The media and the Democrat party lied to the populace, and there is no legal recourse for this. Infuriating.
As we discussed yesterday, no legal but there is recourse and it is happening to the likes of MSNBC, CNN and ABC (haven’t checked the others).
But thank God the majority of people in this country actually have good eye sight, and can hear well too, and trusted their OWN sight and hearing.
A stumbler bumbler is just that no matter how much whip cream you put on it.
And yet, Kamala Harris won 74,999,166 votes. Almost 75M people voted for a brain dead alcoholic.
I suspect the majority of those believed that they were voting against Hitler.
You could have pulled a corpse from the coffin and they would have voted for it over Hitler.
‘a corpse from the coffin’
So you are saying FJB would have gotten the same number of votes?
Given that Harris is even more clueless than Joe, I believe he would have gotten more – not enough to win though.
FJB was brain dead and controlled by ‘handlers’ who had the control of the Auto-pen.
Cackles was a drunk, dumb, and entitled due to claiming to be a minority.
Hard to say who was more clueless.
so, I could run for office….
Laughing… apparently.
Yeah, amazing anyone can trust them with their constant, blatant lies. But morons (of mostly a certain party) still do.
So voting against him was ‘Able-ist’ and ‘Age-ist’.
Got it.
Randy Moss is over-rated. How many Super Bowls does he have again? He must suck since his trophy room is empty.
Randy Moss touched the ball 10 times a game.
The QB touches the ball on every offensive snap.
See the difference?
The O-line blocks on every play too… see how that works?
Very valid point! And five of them have to all do a good job, so one mental slip up or incompetent player (Bradbury, generally all our guards for the last 8 years) and you have consistent pressure ruining plays and everybody blames the QB.
Because nothing is perfect for the QB and the QB is paid to adapt when stuff breaks down. That’s the job.
And Cousins production numbers are singularly impressive behind bad lines. You forgot to mention that DE.
Then stop quoting QB stats since the OL is the one responsible.
See how that works?
Laughing… you’re the one that intones only the QB is responsible for wins and losses, not me. AND the fact that any QB could put up the numbers Cousins has behind terrible O-lines throughout his career is pretty damn amazing.
Haha you know I’m just joking, but at the same time, that is the criteria used for some arguments. So I just gotta keep it warm for discussion. 😉
I know.
I just think the QB is usually the highest paid player on the team.
They are the offense and a reflection of the entire team.
If they can’t handle it, get out of the kitchen.
There’s an old saying in football. “QB’s don’t complete passes from the prone position”. We saw how Mahomes got manhandled and destroyed in the Super Bowl behind a decimated O-line.
Reality.
I’m guessing the Vikings will play in Chicago week 18 and GB will play in Detroit week 18. Vikings at home against the Lions week 16 or 17.
As discussed below I would be okay with this, If you thought Detroit started slow last year (despite winning those game) I think they are in for a rude awakening losing their coordinators, and they arent going to be that well oiled machine on offense. This favors Vikings in my opinion. Same system on both sides of the ball the past 3 seasons and better lines on both sides. Vikes W
I wouldn’t be surprised for it to be a SNF or MNF game too. Showcase JJ to the world week 1 and put the Lions in their place at their place. I’m good with that.
I agree with this. Although, you have to factor in the refs. Despite getting screwed for many years on many calls, Detroit now gets some pretty ridiculous calls and no-calls in their favor (at least the past couple years). Could swing the game, like always. But I like the Vikings’ odds.
I don’t put much weight in this new coordinator thing. Both these guys have been part of the organization for a number of years (OCV left and came back). They’ll run the same schemes as last year.
Problem I see is that they laid an egg in that playoff game and will have a big bug up their asses over that.
‘laid an egg in that playoff game’
Them or us?
That’s true – forgot. But think their egg was bigger than ours. They were the darlings of the NFL.
Its going to be a good game regardless! 4 more months!
Aaand it’s official, Vikings will play back to back away games in Dublin and London. Already signed up to get tickets for the Dublin game, hopefully things will work out and I get to see the Vikes for a 3rd time.
I think it is over the top but if they manage to win both games I can accept it.
Now I wonder if they will stay in Europe in between games or travel back and forth for each.
I would bet 99.9% that the bye week is week 6, Oct 12th.
Probably, an extra week to recover from their ‘adventure’.
Doesn’t answer the question though, maybe some will stay and some will travel back and forth.
Just hope none of them go thru Newark.
I would be surprised if they come back state side.
They shouldn’t come back and it’s an advantage for them for the second game.
NFL will probably schedule Thu night games for Pitt and Clev before going oversees to give them a couple of extra days to prepare.
Can the Vikings get the same type of practice in while in London versus TCO in Eagan????
Think KOC will get them ready, be OK.
Unless…………Ireland IS a tasty beer playground.
Na, there’s no good beer there.
Harp!
Yeah. The two games doesn’t bother me that much since they are both away games but I don’t like the early bye.
Since they will probably stay between games, they should have at least a little advantage since they’ll be used to the timezone.
Except for the partying, sightseeing, different foods, and lack of focus being in Europe that could derail them.
Maybe they should rent a boat as a team while they’re there for some team bonding.
Boat cruise down the Thames River has possiblities…..
That blonde looks like she has been a little slow getting away from the dinner table.
Fat Shaming be bad.
Even if you are trying to help them/it/they become healthier.
Could be a problem potentially, but I think KOC will handle this aspect of the trip just fine. Plus, we have won all of our games on European soil so far. Sure hope that this trend will continue.
It kinda is, might be an advantage for the Vikings though that they can stay over here between games. It’s a very short trip from Dublin to London.
Would have liked an other opponent as I’ve seen them beat the Steelers in 2013, but I sure won’t complain. This should be fun.
Awesome. Should be a great trip. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there, but Dublin is built on a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey. It is very lovely with scenic views of the river, and lots of history to explore. Dublin Castle is a major Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It’s located off Dame Street in central Dublin.
I loved my trips there back in the day.
Dublin was actually founded by Vikings. Prior to them being there it was just a trading area. Good Museum on the Viking/ Dublin history there. I think it is called Dublinia
Last time I was there, was about 15 years ago. It was a two day trip for work. Didn’t get to see the museum. I love museum’s and history.
I really didn’t go to Ireland to see museums. Did go to both Jamesons an Guiness.
That is my plan someday. Visit both of those places, while my wife spends our retirement money at the Waterford plant.
You will not be disappointed – generous pours abound.
FIFY
Liberated?
Now that I am fully retired, my wife and I are planning our next few years of vacations. Ireland is very high on the list. We went to Scotland in 2023. We’ll go to Italy in 2026. Hopefully Ireland after that.
Nice
sounds like Ireland 2025 should be in the works
I wish, but, I have been fighting some colon cancer for the past few months, so we took some time off from traveling. Hopefully, I will be given a clean bill of health in a few months. Chemotherapy sucks…
oh wow, i had no idea.
i hope you continue fighting and get clear of that, my friend.
Praying for your health and strength
Thanks. All is going well. I am being treated by the staff at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jacksonville, FL. Awesome place, great Doctors and Staff.
This is my second bout with cancer. It seems all of my military deployments to the middle east (toxic dumps, burn pits, etc) have finally caught up to me. The VA has given me a 100% disability rating. and my prognosis looks very good. I have not mentioned it on here before, as there are a lot of people much worse off than me.
A lot of the members from my military unit have contracted cancer from these issues, several have passed away. I am one of the lucky ones.
My grandpa had that. Hope and pray you get on the mend.
Praying for you my friend
All the best for a clean bill of health!
Get well soon mate. Maybe we can meet up for a beer when the Vikings play somewhere in Europe again!
Sorry to hear you are going through that.
Hope you do get the clean bill of health soon!
And, cancer sucks.
Stay strong.
All the best and prayers for you in dealing with that.
Jeebus! Good vibes sent to you full a clean bill of health.
#cancersucks
That’s scary, man. As you know, colonoscopy was one of the topics of the day yesterday. Best of luck with your treatment.
Yep, I got very busy and waited way too long for a colonoscopy. I think it was 7 years since my last one.
That delay really bit me in the ass (so to speak) 🙂
Ireland and Italy are quite different but both are great places to visit. I find the people in the British Isles amazing.
I love the British Isles. My wife’s mother’s side of the family is from Liverpool and London. We always enjoy going over to see the extended family and then doing all the tourist stuff.
I did like the food, because it was basically comfort food. I tried the Irish stew dish of course, but I also had the Coddle once, and Boxty with black pudding sausage with my eggs in the morning. Might have been the single hardiest breakfast ever.
A little story from last visit. Was there with my boss and his wife and she wants to go for a bike ride around the country. It’s typical spring weather in Ireland – cold, windy and rainy. We stop at a spot to go to the bathroom. My boss’s wife stays outside and when we get back she is talking to an older Irish women. And the boss’s wife is carrying on how cold and windy it is and how tough it is biking. And the Irish women looks at her and says “What’s the matter Lass you’re still alive aren’t you.”
Love the people.
Great story JR. One thing about international travel is, you usually meet some very engaging, and nice people.
Scotland is really nice. A bit “wilder” than Ireland
Yes, we had a great time. We rented a car and drove all over the country looking at the sites and enjoying the culture. I’d love to do that again.
Too fat.
Never been to Dublin so far, looking very much forward to the trip.
Awesome! Have a great time!
SKOL!
FTP!
Thanks, SKOL!
I actually love that for the team, and for you since you get to see them play.
Two weeks of road games, at neutral sites, with less travel (I imagine they will stay in the area between games). Should work out well for the good guys.
Another plus, from past experience, we’ll be turning those away games into home games when it comes to crowd noise. Both games I attended in London so far Vikings fans turned out in droves. This will be fun!
I would expect the fans at both games to be heavily in favor of the Vikings. Many more well-off Viking fans will make a vacation of it and do both.
So the Vikings are playing in two Islamic cities. They probably can’t bring their cheerleaders then.
Going to try and talk with the wifey into making the trip.
That would be awesome, rooting for you to be able to convince wifey to make the trip!
Hey HUN, I know you are pulling for Halifax native Marchand of the Panthers (gah) over the Leafs…of course I want the Leafs to pull the series out. However, I don’t know if you’ve been watching the Oil-Knights series but last night had to be one of the most egregious bs refereeing spectacles I’ve ever seen. The Golden Floppers and the Golden Refs were in full view of the hockey world. All the sweeter that Skinner got a shutout against that charmed team. Fuckers. I hope the Oil gash them on their ice on Wednesday to punch a ticket to the Western conference final.
Hey MT, yup pulling for Marchy (not the Panthers). Haven’t been following the Oilers Kings matchup closely, but it is known that they have a “good standing” with the officials, to put it mildly. Happy for the Oilers that they seem to get the upper hand in the series. Kings can go play in traffic.
As for the Leafs, Marchy is known as the leaf killer… hope he does it again, albeit wearing the wrong uniform (that in itself is wrong on so many levels…).
(Oil beat the Kings 4 games to 2) (we are playing the NHL darlings and division winners the Las Vegas Golden Knights, up 3-1)
Aden Hill sticks out his skate to trip Janmark, Hill flips through the air doing a high hand stand and acrobatic corkscrews, Janmark gets a penalty for tripping.
McNabb laid a cross between the 9 and the 1 on Kane whose skates were turned towards center ice, goes flying over Hill all flopped out after Janmark does a beautiful between the legs puck capture and shot to score, Kane gets a charging call.
Fuck Vegas. They can eat a bag of dicks. Bettman has his head so far up their ass you can see his toupee in their throat.
‘Fuck Vegas. They can eat a bag of dicks. Bettman has his head so far up their ass you can see his toupee in their throat.’
LOL
Don’t be bashful, tell us what you really feel.
It’s just been ridiculous since they became an expansion team. Give credit to the owners and management, they built a competitive squad right from the get go, but their fans are insufferable know it alls that have never worn a pair of skates in their lives and they don’t call them the Golden Refs for nothing.
You would almost think I was talking about a Viking in division rival.
Indeed, what you said. I’m getting the teams mixed up, my bad.
Just watched the highlights, Hill seems to be a bastard on the ice, somewhat. Tries to provoke calls, and the refs are doing him the favor. I laughed when Kane scored his goal, well deserved.
Also like the fact that Trent Frederic seems to be playing hard for the Oilers, another former Bruin I hated to see leave the team. Good for you guys I guess, you got a fine player there.
This could be their year.
Maybe they really will win Lord Stanley’s mug this season, will be rooting for the Oilers to finish off the Golden Showers tomorrow.
Hope Vegas loses, it will end my NHL season.
The Mild, once again, one and done. I’ve read somewhere that they made the playoffs 8 times in the last 10 seasons, only to lose in round one every time. Curious what that team would need to get over the hump.
Parise/Suter contracts expired, dumbest thing ever. At least the GM has more flexibility going forward.
Today is National Apple Pie day. Sounds like a plan to me.
It’s also National Frog Jumping day.
In 1865, Mark Twain published his first short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Later, he changed the name and published it as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. This same story also had a third title, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
The current frog jumping record was set in 1986 by Rosie the Ribeter, who jumped 21 feet, 5-3/4 inches.
I love useless facts, and I am serious….
Pretty impressive record. 21 feet?
That must be one tough frog
Love me some Apple Pie.
My wife asked me if I wanted her to make one from scratch today. I said sure! She said “sorry, I’ll buy one”.
Laughing.
Apple pie is amazing.
One thing I will do for sure when I next visit Hawaii, is get a McDonalds apple pie.
They still fry them in HI. No school like old school
Truly one of the best desserts ever.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-falcons-qb-kirk-cousins-drops-5-word-message-plays-chess-son-turner
Controversial indeed!
I can see why so many here have issues with him.
I have fond memories of playing chess with my father when I was young. Good job, Kirk!
I don’t get it – what’s the big deal?
It was a joke… about how controversial Cousins is.
Seems like a great guy. Even though he cannot grill and cannot improvise on the football field.
Yeah, because that long run for a TD against the Cardinals was definitely not improvised.
Was a great play. Kirk has outliers like that every season, like the “You Like That?” game. outliers happen. I did not ever see consistency under pressure.
Reminder, I am not an athlete, and could never be top 15 in the world at a job like QB(Kirk has been that at times, just not top 5 like his pay has sometimes been).
I am just a fan that rants about shit I cannot control, because I can do that.
Me…
Folks should take a step back and look at the tape. Remember the play against the Eagles where Cousins got clobbered in his face, while standing in his own end zone, and hit Thielen for a 65 yard play? He has done this over and over during his career. He has always taken big shots and still delivered. There are dozens and dozens of instances where Cousins has made amazing plays, but no one really gives him credit for it.
There are also dozens and dozens of plays where his brain short circuited and he just fell down in the pocket or fumbled the ball because the defense was not what he thought it was going to be pre-snap.
No, there are a few plays where he really didn’t execute with aplomb, but the reality is he far more often made chicken salad out of chicken shit. This is your problem. You overstate things that didn’t go well by an extremely wide margin. Cousins production statistics and franchise records clearly show he was a top shelf performer. So like every QB ever, he has had some moments that he didn’t do well. Those moments are far outweighed by spectacular throws and plays though.
I’m only offsetting your rose colored view of everything. You cherry pick good plays and ignore all the bad ones because they weren’t his fault. Most unlucky QB in the history of the NFL. A decade of shitty teams around him. Obviously he had nothing to do with his career .500 record. If only he would have been half as lucky as the other QBs in the league he would have multiple championships.
Laughing… dude, you’re the cherry picker. You are the one who takes a minimal event, and claim it’s the norm. I show reality, where overwhelmingly Cousins has delivered the ball under extreme pressure, which occurs more often than not. I give the big picture, and you focus on outlier data.
He was also pressured more than almost any QB in the league (for years). That’s gonna increase the bad-play-type stuff.
He also had one of the longest time to throw of any QB in the league. Hold the ball longer, don’t move out of the pocket, and you’re going to get hit more.
Not saying you’re not right here, but it seems strange. I have read here countless times, and also seen watching games, for most of the time our two guards and center were the shittiest pass blocking lineman in the league. How’s he getting all this time to throw?
They look worse than they really were because of holding the ball longer and not moving, at least in the pocket. Darnold would move but it was worse because he would go backwards, right into the lane the tackles were blocking their rushers to.
So once again, baseless narrative. The fact is, Cousins “time to throw” is a bit skewed because he ran a lot of play action passes, which of course extends that time. Also, the scheme he ran had a lot of deep crossers, which also forces him to hold the ball longer. He’s never been in a West Coast scheme, where the ball comes out quickly. Teams have taken advantage of Cousins processing ability, to run deeper and longer developing plays.
Holding the ball too long is a false narrative, and time to throw is also a balky stat. It’s the time between when the QB takes the snap, and when he throws the ball. It intones that he’s standing there and holding the ball. The reality is, it includes the time the play is developing, and it’s not a pure reflection at all of how much time a QB has to throw the ball.
What do you mean, one of the three would get pancaked on just about every pass play. You will hold the ball longer just because an offensive lineman is getting knocked into your lap. You have no choice but to held the ball and try to get out of the way and then pass.
This.
Maybe if you know you’re guards are going to get run over you should throw the ball quicker or move out of the way?
Guess that would work provided the guard doesn’t step on your foot or knock the ball out of your hands.
I heard it works really good if you try to take the snap from the guard.
Do you mean one single season? Because that can’t be true for his tenure in MN.
I only sporadically put it together the last two years.
The fact that you can pull one example out kind of proves the point. Exceptions do not make rules.
Bullshit Bow, I can list dozens of plays where Cousins improvised, or made a great play under tremendous pressure. I can’t help that you just refuse to acknowledge this, while continually promoting a completely false narrative.
I can sight a dozen times Joe Biden said something smart, but that doesn’t make him a rocket scientist.
Joe Biden has always been an idiot. 12 times in 50 years of politics seems closer to nothing. And if he did say something right, he stole the thought from someone else.
Laughing Bow… that might be the most inane argument I’ve ever heard.
Haha yeah. Biden has never put up consistently good stats (of being or sounding smart), much unlike Cousins’ career of consistently good numbers.
95 years of getting elected is a pretty good run, not to mention being selected out of everybody in the country to be vice president and then becoming president. Those are some pretty good stats.
That’s because politics is like a reality game show on tv.
“Elected”. You are assuming the elections weren’t rigged, and getting elected proves any sort of intelligence or good decision-making.
Of course they weren’t rigged and to say or even think they might have been is un-American.
Kirk probably shouts “king me” whenever he gets a piece to the opponent’s back row…
Doesn’t everyone? Especially when playing with kids. Dad jokes are still the best jokes.
The schedule discussion from yesterday got me thinking, hopefully nobody seen the smoke. If the Vikings have to travel to Detroit on opening day could be a benefit for the Vikings. They will still be learning the new offense and defense.
This is true. New OC and new DC coming in and the team will still be in that learning curve timeframe. We might just have a bit of an edge there.
At the very least it would mean the second game, likely week 17 or 18, will be in Minnesota.
Pups win again, it doesn’t look like Curry will be playing on Wednesday, which could be the series final.
Wolves should be able to win the series at this stage. Just got to get one out of three.
GM!
FTP!
SKOL!
Happy Tuesday, I guess.
Now that Kirk is the QB of a different team, and we do not have a 1 year stop-gap QB, I am finally going to a home game again.
Do you have any opponent in mind that you want to see at US Bank?
It will depend more on the schedule for me vs opponent.
I am not spending the money on FTP, so probably Lions or Bears.
What if the new QB plays poorly when you go to the game? Gonna hate him forever too?
No because he’s a rookie making pennies on the $$ and isnt hamstringing the team while losing. Context, context, context. If he’ still doing that when his in his late 20s and early 30s he will deserve the criticism.
He’ll have multiple Lombardi’s by the time he’s 30.
Might could.
Ohhhh so you’re already making excuses for him… got it.
Not an excuse. I just have the brain capacity to judge people and situations on a case by case basis. An almost 30 year vet QB making big $$$ should be held to a higher standard and expectations then a 21/22 year old rookie. But that would be logical which you drift in and out of.
I was pulling your chain…
And for the record, Cousins was the most productive QB over six seasons of any QB the Vikings have had, and owns a lot of franchise records.
I will give him two games. If I spend hundreds of dollars, and JJ plays as poorly as Kirk did in 2018 vs the Bills and Bears, then yes.
I doubt that will happen. JJ has shown he can improvise without panic.
Laughing. All young QB’s take off running and people say they are improvising. They are running, because they don’t know what else to do. Favre talked about that in an interview. He said “people thought I was this great scrambler and improviser when I was young, but the reality is I ran because I didn’t know what I was doing”. It is WAY easier to be a running QB than a true pocket passer who reads defenses, and goes through progressions. Anybody can take off running. That isn’t great QB play.
Staying alive in a collapsing pocket while being able to look downfield and not get murdered is what I am talking about. Move enough to keep the play alive. running should be the last resort.
Moving in a collapsing pocket, while keeping your eyed downfield.
I could never do it. Hoping JJ can.
Think that’s the problem folks have evaluating Cousins; there’a a fine line. Even when the pocket is breaking down he will stand there and deliver the ball to a third or fourth read. That’s great. But on the other side, while he’s waiting on the late reads, he gets sacked from holding the ball too long. Both events happen.
As a former QB, the commentary that someone “holds the ball too long” is laughable. If there is place to throw the ball, you throw the ball. If you don’t see a place to throw the ball, duh, you don’t throw it. You think if a QB has a place to go with the ball, he just holds it? Especially in the NFL when the you have 2.5 seconds on average to see, understand, and deliver the ball? No, if it’s not there, it’s not there. That is not to say QB’s are perfect. Sometimes they do make mistakes on reads, or progressions and don’t let the ball go. Mostly though when a QB holds the ball, it’s because he doesn’t have a place to go with it, before he’s taken down.
You are as I recall allowed to throw the ball away.
And what I said must be true. Fkey gave me a red flag because it mentioned something positive about Cousins and you argue because of the negative I point out,
Must be pretty close to spot on.
Oh I was just providing my personal experience to the comment. There are times when a QB holds a ball too long, but saying everytime he doesn’t let the ball go, he’s holding it too long is just not reality.
You are, but that is a decision often made in milliseconds. You take the snap, and execute the play. If the rush gets to you, you have to weigh and decide options. If you remember, RGIII refused to throw the ball away and would take a sack, to protect his completion percentage. This drove Gruden nuts. Cousins will definitely throw the ball away to save a sack if he can.
If they were longer routes and he was just waiting for the route to develop then his average distance of pass would be longer than most, right?
Average as you know can be deceiving because of standard deviation.
Believe it was 21 or 22 Cousins was second to only Mahomes in air balls of at least 20 (maybe 25) yards beyond the LOC. Also think it was like 3000 of his 4300 yards were this length of passes.
These have to be longer routes.
Here’s week 5 of 2023. I don’t remember if this was only week 5 or through week 5 and I don’t feel like trying to recreate it again. Also worth noting is that through week 6 of 2024, the average air yards is identical for the league.
I was referring to 21 and 22.
You simply cannot complete 3000 yards of 25 yard completions without longer routes.
And how many times have we seen JJ catch that 25 yard dig crossing route.
And how many times have we seen one of our IOL’s get pancaked.
I have said below arguing with NLV that Cousins holds the ball too long at times. But usually it is because he is waiting to hit the longer developing route.
Here’s back to 2019. (Intended Air Yards / Time To Throw). The league average seems to be pretty consistent at 7.6 ish / 2.75 ish
2019 – 8 / 3.01
2020 – 8.3 / 2.88
2021 – 8 / 2.76
2022 – 7.7 / 2.83
2023 – 7.2 / 2.86
2024 – 7.8 / 2.71
I happened to see Mullens on the 2023 list. He was 9.8 / 3.07. Darnold was at 8.9 /3.08 last year. That’s what throwing it downfield looks like.
Not sure I understand this but due feel I have a little understanding of our passing game and some of the blocking.
Is anything I said in the post ending with arguing with NLV incorrect?
No, but the narrative that he is waiting to throw it further is false and that’s all I was showing. He is remarkably average throughout his career.
feel like I am arguing against both and yet not.
I do think he does hold the ball too long sometimes and gets sacked. But he also hangs in there and will get to a fourth read and complete a big pass.
We are not a dink dunk offense and KOC likes to sling it down the field. and our guards and center have been poor.
So it all seems reasonable to me how it hangs together.
I don’t think I’m arguing anything you are saying. I don’t disagree that the IOL has been supbar, I just don’t think they have solely been as atrocious as it is made out to be.
Atrocious is indeed an unfair term. And at times sports can be unfair in a total sense. You can have a 12 play drive and one blown block in the red zone can cost you a chance for a TD. Similarly, one bad pass can too. All the good plays, blocks, runs and passes get negated by one individual mistake.
That’s the game though.
Nice try with the red herring which of course is your trademark.
Nice job ignoring actual facts backed by data as is of course your trademark.
NIce try creating a false narrative that longer time to throw automatically is driven by longer routes, and only longer routes. Stop with the fool’s gold Bow. You just created a statistical data point out of thin air, then challenge me with it?” Yeah… not playing that game Bow. Make shit up, insist it’s a fact, argue with a made data point… insist you’re right. Wow.
You are the one that said he takes longer to throw the ball because they run more longer routes. If that were the case it would be reflected in is yards per attempt, but it’s not. Also, I didn’t make up anything. This is data from the NFL.
No it wouldn’t. Average can be moved by the dispersion of the data.
Yet over the last 6 seasons it has been incredibly consistent due to the amount of passes attempted in the NFL each year.
Here is where you make another faulty ipso facto argument. KOC loves to run deep crossers. It’s a staple of his passing offense, especially since JJ arrived. The crossing series is a five man route concept that can be called in different formations. Whether it’s 2×2, 3×1, or 3×2, this passing series stretches the defense vertically and horizontally. It’s a great concept against man defense, middle of the field open (MOFO) or middle of the field closed (MOFC).
It requires a QB with exceptional processing speed, and a great arm.
The five man route concept has a combination of routes for three receivers to one side of the field, and two receivers to the other side of the field.
The combination for the three receiver side:
PostCrossFlatThe combination for the two receiver side:
GoDigThe crossing route always comes from the three receiver side. The coach has the freedom to tag which receiver will run the crossing route. Once the receiver is tagged for the crossing route, the other two receivers, from the outside-in, will run the Post and the Flat.
The QB must determine based on the safety alignment (fundamentally) and the CB leverages, where he will go with the ball. When he drops back, he is usually reading deep to short, but the rush can affect how long he has, and how many progressions he can get through. He can buy time in the pocket of course, but if the deep routes aren’t there, he must get the ball out on the shorter routes.
This is where your narrative falls apart. You clearly know nothing about offensive concepts and how they are executed. The QB is responsible for getting the ball out deep if he can in these concepts, but often the ball goes out short due to necessity. Thus longer time for the play to develop, but a shorter pass results.
One thing you should also really study when you watch film is the depth of our routes and how closely covered the receivers are. Often Cousins has to throw a ball into heavy coverage, from a crowded pocket.
Them’s the facts.
Nope, because he is not a starting QB in the NFL.
He didn’t throw for nearly 40000 yards and 300 td,s by being a splinter gatherer.
YAC plays into that, that’s why I looked at average air yards to target and not total. For overall passing yards, Sam got 97 yards in one play last year. I like to use data that takes out the 60 yards that JJets ran when looking at passing stuff.
Depth of target is usually determined more by the defense than anything else. When defenses play shell, they force shorter depth of target throws by default.
Of course if you knew football, you’d understand that.
Got it. Ignore the data because “trust me bro I’m smarter than everybody”.
Sorry if I actually know how football works and you do not.
Another inane comment from you. We were talking about plays already executed… stop being foolish.
Even if the longer route is covered 50% of the time and the QB has to dump it to a shorter route, the average is going to go up. Look at the average depth of target for Mullens and Darnold. There is more to it than simply the line was bad. The line was basically the same last year and they were even without Darrisaw last year for a good chunk of the year. Darnold threw for over 4300 yards and took 48 sacks on 361 attempts. In 2022 Kirk threw for a little over 4500 yards and took 46 sacks on 424 attempts. The overall stats were pretty similar but Darnold was throwing the ball down the field more. He took considerably longer to throw the ball, but he was throwing the longer routes and the data shows that.
Faulty logic not based on actual statistical data. You have no idea how many times the plays are successfully executed deep. When you go get that data (accurately not made up) then you can do some cipherin.
I have provided plenty of actual data. All you have provided to back your argument is that “I played quarterback before the forward pass was invented”.
I have explained in somewhat exhausting detail the facts, while I get false narratives, faulty logic, and commentary based on false premises from you.
Not actual statistical data? Is the NFL not a reputable place to get NFL statistics and data from?
I predict JJ will be decent for the first four games. Then teams will get film on him, and he will slump. And then the fork in the road comes: will he overcome or will he go mid…?
Teams will try different things to defend McCarthy. Some will rush 3 or 4 and flood the backfield to confuse him, and give him nowhere to go with the ball. That was Zim’s standard ploy, and it rarely worked. Rookie QB’s and backup QB’s thrived against Zimmer for some reason. Others will rush 5 and 6 guys and play press man against him which would likely be more effective.
Play calling, O-line performance and the run game will all determine McCarthy’s success in his first four games. I do think KOC has now found his groove in play calling, and I think he knows what McCarthy is capable of. Much like C.J. Stroud’s rookie season with the Texans, I expect KOC to put McCarthy in a position to make solid throws.
FTP Auto Rec.
Kirk Tuesday!