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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
More than three days later, Sunday’s game still leaves an icky taste. Yuck. Honestly, I wonder if sitting the starters for the entire preseason (other than the first series of the first game) is the right idea. I understand the logic that you don’t want anyone getting hurt in a meaningless game, but you also don’t want the offense looking lost through two games that are not meaningless. KOC should consider changing his approach moving forward. The injuries are racking up quickly, also not a good start to the year.
Oh, and I give zero thought to the reports that McCarthy’s injury is faked so the team can bench him. Good grief. He’s a rookie, no coach in his right mind is going to bench a guy after two games.
Vikings and NFL News
Vikings.com has the latest Vikings vs. Bengals news and interviews.
The team placed RB Aaron Jones on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, per NFL.com.
The Vikings signed old friend Cam Akers to help the running game with Jones going to IR, per Yahoo Sports.
From ESPN, J.J. McCarthy is expected to miss two to four weeks with an ankle injury.
In the wake of the McCarthy injury news, the Vikings signed a former Falcons QB to help back up Carson Wentz, per Newsweek.
Media Selection
I can’t remember whether I’ve shared this one, but it’s a good one, so I’ll share it again. Enjoy!
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great movie
Well this is disturbing, but good news for the country. That said, it looks like a whole bunch of people need to be fired, and possibly prosecuted.
Shocked/Not Shocked.
The first thing the Republicans should have done when they had control was to fire everyone in the CBO. They were first appointed by dems and lean left on all their scoring.
Same with the Fed…
They are not allowed to ‘fire the Fed’, it is suppose to be independent.
They still managed to become political though.
The Fed Board members (7 of them) are nominated by the President, and confirmed by Congress. A sitting President can fire any of the board members and nominate a replacement at any time. So yes, we could rid ourselves of the Fed. The Chairman is different, because he or she is selected to serve for a term, and only Congress can remove him/her.
Trump fired Lisa Cook, but of course she refused to be fired and sued. Eventually Trump’s authority will of course be upheld, and she will be ousted, but these liberals think they are above the law.
First Colbert, now Kimmel. There’s hope for this country yet…
Another One Bites The Dust seem appropriate.
Actually it’s more like money talks. Their largest paying affiliate said they were cancelling if they didn’t do something about Kimmel.
So we signed Desmond Ridder to our practice squad. Ridder was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals ahead of training camp. On August 26, he was waived by the Bengals as part of final roster cuts.
Coincidence?
Oh good.
Originally I had heard that we signed him and he was on the Bungles PS, that would have meant that we had to put him on the 53.
Him to PS is more good-er I believe, he can be ’emergency QB’.
He also knows the Bengals 2025 playbook, and scheme.
Can he block?
Laughing… he can run the scout team, and help our defense out.
Not worried about our defense. Now our offense, it’s a mess.
Thus far we have been terrible offensively. McCarthy has been one reason. The O-line has been another reason. Addison being suspended has also played a role. I still think we screwed up in the first two games by not working Thielen a lot more, as well as Hockensen.
All true. But just feel we are going to do a lot better this week with a seasoned QB.
I’m hopeful… that’s about as far as I can go with that. Wentz is erratic. He considers himself a playmaker, not a point guard. He’s rubbed teammates the wrong way because of that. He wants to be a football hero, like he was in high school and college. That shit don’t wash in the NFL.
KOC is the main reason our O stunk the 1st two games.
The rest are contributing factors.
Sports guy with Barreiro on KFAN said he thinks JJ will be best QB out of last years draft. Trying to cheer you up. Time a factor it seems.
I said before the draft last year, I saw more NFL ready skills in Bo Nix than any other QB. I still think he is the best QB in that draft.
My wife agrees with you, and reminds me every time JJ does something stupid, that Kwesi/KOC should have drafted Bo Nix.
Injury report…
Ryan Kelly being out is huge. The O line is shit with one starter out.
The left guard is playing pretty well for a rookie, but if he has shit help on each side I see another dead QB.
Go Brosmer!
Also, re sign SLOTERGOAT
This is interesting data…
I am 2-0 in Fantasy Football, yet my team really is bad. I have just been lucky this season so far. Exactly the opposite of last season.
JJ was my starting QB. For this week, I picked up Jake the Snake Browning and I am starting him.
I want something to root for since I will be there in person. I have Jordan mason, and Justin Jefferson, but the Vikings offense is so terrible I needed to pick up a player that can score.
45-2 Bengals. Early prediction. Zero offense by the purple, one safety when Browning trips over his own feet and fumbles into the end zone, and the Purple try to fall on it and instead knock it out for a safety.
i don’t do fantasy football, but if I did, going into this year Joe Burrow would have been my top pick, followed by Lamar Jackson.
They “used” to say in sports you’re never as good as you look when winning – ala 4th quarter against Bears – and never as bad as you look when losing – ala 4 quarters against Falcons.
So, where are we. Don’t know. But I would rather start poorly and finish strong than vice versa. Last year comes to mind.
But but, our offense has come out deadass flat two weeks in a row and we are suppose to have an offensive genius coach. KOC call up your best plays and get these guys fired up. Score a TD in the first quarter!
Here’s the deal. McCarthy has been oversold. He isn’t a generational talent. He isn’t special. Every year young QB’s get way overhyped and fans think they’re something they’re not. Playing QB in the NFL is hard. Mahomes admitted it wasn’t till his 4th year that he could read defenses. McCarthy is no Mahomes. Look at Trevor Lawrence. He is a very good QB. Folks called him the young GOAT. He has yet to accomplish much.
As I said earlier, we should only look for and expect growth and improvement. My expectation is we will see that growth as games and seasons go by.
I agree with that. I expected next season to be the real “first chance” at making a run, and the year after (2027) even more probable to make a run. Provided he learns and improves. If not, 2027-2028 draft QBs again.
I think JJ has all the skills needed to be successful. Now, the mental part of the game remains to be seen. I hope he is excellent at that very important part of the game. Time will tell.
This season, I just wanted to see him improve as the season progresses.
But man, the O line still being shitty is rough.
Hmmmm… they’re in concussion protocol Alec…
Kelly/Fries seem like a waste of money as of now. Skule?! Got a rookie LG surrounded by nothing.
The moves we made in the off-season on both sides of the ball, gave us confidence that we finally had bolstered the trenches to the point we would be very strong. So far our D-line and front seven let the Falcons run for 218 yards, and our O-line is amongst the worst in the league.
Yep, trash. Kwesi is a genius!
We’re waiting…
“OUT”. Book it.
I don’t think we’ll hear anything solid before Friday.
I’m a tad negative on season so far.
Well realistically speaking, we don’t have anything to crow about. Our star QB is rated about dead last in the NFL, our O-line is decimated, our Fullback and starting RB are on IR, and the defense has a linebacker who can’t tackle for shit.
you said star, but i think you meant starTING qb….
I was using the vernacular of the over the top pundits.
Interesting to see some of the stats from the Henry Ford system in Michigan in regards to vaccines and chronic disease… Anybody have any thoughts there? Seems to be another study hidden from the public by those in the high up government health positions that RFK is now uncovering.
It’s all about the money.
Unfortunately, our medical system is about putting people on drugs and vaccines.
Most of it paid for by the government. Doctors get rich over government approved medical payments IMHO.
As an eye doctor, I cannot confirm any sort of kickbacks for vaccines and systemic drug Rx’s, but I’m sure there are nefarious things like that out there. Insurance is the biggest racket IMO. Reimbursements for eye exams haven’t increased in like 30 years for vision plans.
I’m not even saying that kickbacks are routine for most doctors.
But I have to believe that medical offices get higher reimbursements for various drugs and procedures over others.
I mean all of the vaccine companies were given legal immunity for like 70 years on the covid vaccines.
I agree that likely many offices and medical companies are in cahoots with vaccine and pharm companies. It’s just not a thing in my business, at least where I work.
It’s sickening that our Government officials have lied to the country and the world for decades now. The whole COVID lie was especially insidious.
Yeah, I keep hoping that people saw how terrible the lies were about that and will lose trust in some institutions over it (and many have), but way too many have their heads in the sand still and won’t change.
It’s a sad state of affairs in America.
We have many democrats and media people cheering on assassinations.
ABC reporter and Montel Williams both thought the assassins lover’s texts were touching and portrayed that as acceptable/understandable.
I know that’s a different issue.
But that’s the mindsight out there in our society.
Didn’t RFK Jr saying something about CDC and the health care system in this country being the most corrupt in Government?
That is saying quite a bit.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/09/17/congress/rfk-jr-said-cdc-employees-were-killing-children-former-director-says-00568626
Yep. The recommendations for covid vaccine for young people with known negative side effects much outweighing the benefits, esp. heart issues in young men, is a testament to that.
My thoughts on this are not very deep – I’m really not sure.
Had polio vaccine and that was no doubt good. Had the covid ones and they were worthless.
Now, I find doctors and medicines quite mixed. I have a bad shoulder and before leaving DC went to Doc. His remedy rest, ice, then moderate rehab pt. Come to Florida, see the doctor. His first things are cortisone shots, antinflamatory pills – the medicine route.
Seems it’s a lot on the doctors.
It’s a shit study.
My question about that is why do they hide it, instead of coming out and saying “the study is flawed and here is exactly why”. Seems like hiding something.
One thing I often think about is I saw a study years ago that said aluminum is a potent neurotoxin and can have effects at levels as low as 1 mcg. But there is up to 200 mcg in some vaccines (assuming good regulation of production, which is questionable). So how is that ignored? We try to avoid ingesting it in general aspects of life, but we pretend that it doesn’t matter for vaccines, but especially when being given several at once to very small children/babies, I think it is problematic. The detrimental effects outweigh the benefits of many vaccines, IMO. Particularly the flu vaccine and stuff like that, that has been shown to be very ineffective anyway.
I’m no expert on childhood vaccines and their aluminum content, I just cut and pasted this from CHoP (Philadelphia)…they could be full of horse poop for all I know.
To my knowledge, aluminum ingested is not all absorbed (what I saw in the past is up to about 2% absorbed). Injecting straight into the venous system is near 100% absorption, which is where much of the problem lies.
I don’t know the background…perhaps the article was refused publication by numerous journals because of the flaws with the study? This is not unusual with any of the reputable big name peer reviewed journals, I had to write and rewrite my publications multiple times before they were accepted by their reviewers.
Anybody got any recommendations for sprinkler blowout in the Rogers/St. Michael area?
I have decided to love people today. I love you all, and if I could, I would give you all a hug to the point where it feels uncomfortable and you just want it to stop.
‘ it feels uncomfortable and you just want it to stop’
I am already there.
On the hug thing, unless it is a manly Bro Hug of course.
Laughing… OK Wren
i don’t have to make that decision, i just always love people.
that’s why i’m the ricky bobby to your cal naughton jr
Stocks up so far today.
46,060.11
+302.21 (0.66%)today
Sep 17, 11:11 AM EDT •
#nojinx
Valuations are extremely frothy IMO, but with continued money printing and “optimism over AI”, they will continue to soar like they have the past 5 years. Stonks only go up!
All news is good news these days, and I don’t see any bad news coming down the pipeline anytime soon anyway, so I don’t see how things will change.
I think blocking is kind of important so a question in that regard for whomever might know the answer.
Recalling back to 23 there was concern when Cousins got hurt as he called all the line blocking adjustments as well as audibles from the LOC.
After he was gone believe they turned this over to Bradbury and he did so last year.
Who’s doing that now?
Noticed several times Atlanta was jumping into five man fronts and we didn’t seem to be making a lot of adjustments.
There is no way McCarthy was calling his own protection adjustments, so yes, that responsibility fell to the center. Unfortunately, Ryan Kelly and Justin Skule both left the game in the concussion protocol and didn’t return. So the second string center was now responsible for calling out protection adjustments, and the third string left tackle was supposed know what to do.
So far Cam Ward, the #1 pick in the draft and the Titans offense are the worst in the league. Ward famously stated in training camp that the Titans would have the best offense in the league this year.
Ward was 19-33 passing for 175 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Titans are 0-2, which isn’t surprising in the least.
“Well, I think I’m capable of a lot. Coach Callahan, he’s gave me a lot of authority. So, I want more of it. And that’s the relationship that me and him are just building every day,” Ward said.
That offense is shit, it would be hard for any quarterback to succeed there.
Ward just completely demonstrated his naivete as a rookie. “We have the best offense in the league” he said in training camp. Dumber than a box of hair.
Yeah, he must not have watched much NFL football.
Or played it… reality sucks.
Confidence is one thing, but saying stuff that is extremely far from the truth just goes against your character and trust.
i think the logic is funny. sit your starters during preseason so they don’t get hurt.
starters all start getting hurt in the first and 2nd games of the season…
overcook/undercook….straight to jail
I’m a believer in the starters playing in preseason. If they get hurt, they shouldn’t be so weak. We are better off without them.
Okay, that might be a bit extreme, but McCarthy should have been playing, at least.
well i look at the best team in football over the last 10 years….the Chiefs. I think they have either played in the championship game OR superbowl like 9 out of the last 10 years, something absurd like that.
and they played their starters EVERY preseason game, and in the last preseason game, almost until halftime.
they win ALOT. maybe thats how we should model our team after…WINNERS
Can see the logic both ways and your point about the Chiefs carries a lot of weight.
Still if I had a QB like Stafford with a seasoned line I might rest them. But if I had a line that had not played an NFL down together and a QB that didn’t even play for a passing offense in college, I’d take the Reid position.
Our offense looks putrid and we’re lucky we got to play the Bears – look what Detroit did to them.
Our poor offensive performance is on KOC.
KOC said he takes the blame for the team’s poor performance. I say “duh”. A blind man could see that from 100 miles away.
Yeah… I’d say you need to play your starters a little in preseason, to knock the rust off a little more, and run some plays that feel out where everyone is.
The joint practices that are more and more prevalent now, are convincing coaches they don’t need to play their starters in preseason games.
As I said though, I still think live game reps are needed.
i agree with you. the idea that joint practices are enough is getting absurd.
i’d rather a starter get nicked and dinged in the preseason with time to recover, than in the first game or two and then miss a game or two.
just my two cents.
The players association has negotiated practice times, intensity, tackling, time in pads, etc down to a bare minimum. No two a days, no hitting, and no live tackling, leave teams ill prepared when they play their first regular season game.
Add to the fact that the TCO Performance Center is lauded as one of the premier facilities in the NFL, and players “love it”.
Doesn’t seem to matter does it?
Maybe they stopped staying “hi” to each other in the halls. That kind of bad morale could cause emotional injuries that manifest as physical injuries.
I hope nobody butchered any stuffed animals.
I know, it doesn’t seem to be the right approach. They were already saying that there were more injuries because there’s far less contact in training camp than there was prior to the last CBA. Now, our starters are barely seeing any contact until the regular season.
I said this yesterday, but I sort of suddenly realized that the reason their defense did so well against our offense Sunday was because Cousins ran the scout team offense in practice. He knew everything about the offense, and KOC’s tendencies. It reminded me of Jon Gruden running the Raiders offense against the Bucs defense in practice, leading up to the Super Bowl. That defense knew the Raiders offense inside and out, and they shut the Raiders down.
There were some shots of Cousins on the sidelines during the game, and the only word to describe how he looked was somber. I think it hurt his heart a little, giving away the secrets to the defense.
no, this was the live look at cousins on sunday night
Why didn’t this work last year where Kirko actually played and sucked?
Very simple, he was the first team offense QB. Penix ran the scout team last year, not Cousins. That’s what the backup QB does. This year Cousins ran the scout team snaps. The first team defense has been saying Cousins beats them every day.
And Cousins throwing arm shoulder and elbow were both hurt, as well as having an ankle injury on his right leg so he was pretty crippled when he played the Vikings last year. His performance plummeted after he took that hit against the Saints in week 10. Eight months later, he said he was about a 7 or an 8 healthwise. No NFL QB is gonna be good with a damaged throwing arm, especially a pocket passer.
In case you wanted to know.
Just a false dichotomy.
Atlanta scored 21 and 22 points in both games. Just did it differently. Penix threw for 135 versus Cousin 350.
But the tale of the game was on offense. Last year we scored 42 and Sam threw for 5 TD’s. This year we scored 6.
And as I remember Sam got sacked several times in that game too..
True, but Cousins threw two interceptions, and had no TD’s in the game as well. He just didn’t have the arm to get it done.
Stats are misleading. Cousins threw an INT before half we got zero points out of and one at the end when the game was over.. He also lead three long TD drives for 21 points. One as I recall was a 70 yard drive and he completed 5 of 6 passes for 61 yards – handed off to Robinson. and he ran in from the two for TD. That’s as good as a passing TD for me.
And. it is true all with him being inured.
But all that aside, we lost this game because of crappy offensive play on our part.
By the way I watched last years game before this one just to note differences.
Nicely done. Kudos.
SKOLOHOLICS PICK ‘EM AND SURVIVAL LEAGUE UPDATE #2
The top three scores this week were Surly at number one, Let’s Fish at number two and me at number three. This is not to say we are better than everyone else, but the numbers don’t lie. We are…
Things look different overall, however.
Currently DE, Bow and Little Fish’in are laying in the weeds at the bottom of the standings, waiting for the right moment to strike, like a northern watching a spinner rippling through the water above. See that. That was a fishing reference, and I don’t even fish, but I want to fit in…
The next clump is all sitting comfortably above 200 points. From top to bottom, they are Surly, Kirko Chainz, PA, Freezy and JacksonVike. Only seven points separate them. That’s not a whole lot. On the other hand, only seven points separate me from Brad Pitt on a looks scale from 1 to 10, but that doesn’t really help me when it comes to modeling.
The top group is only six points apart. They are Let’s Fish, Manly Purple, Lasallegrouse, NoDak and myself. I could be higher if I had courage in my convictions, but the Vikings got me. Everyone picked the Vikes to beat the Falcons. I actually had the Falcons to beat the Vikings but went and changed it at the last moment. I figured homefield would make the difference. Why am I so stupid like that?
So we all got the Vikings wrong. On the other hand, we all got the Chargers, Cardinals, Ravens, Bills and Rams right. We had many Iconoclast Picks, though. DE was the only one to take the Jaguars, Saints and Giants (and he was almost right on the Giants). Bow was the only one to take the Bears.
For Genius Picks, that would go to Freezy and Bow. They were the only ones to take the Seahawks. That’s the game that burned me the worst. I put 14 points on the stupid Steelers. The Steelers also burned Lasallegrouse in Survival League. He and Blue Plate Special are now one more missed pick from being out.
I was interested in how many people picked the Cowboys over the Giants. Seven of us went with the Cowboys. I thought I would be unique picking them in that I figured the Giants suck and the Cowboys are usually okay in the first part of the season, so now is the time to pick them. Low and behold, the Cowboys almost screwed us all. If they didn’t have a kicker that kicks 60 yard FGs like he is kicking his shoes into a corner, we would all have a strike against us.
BE SURE TO GET YOUR PICKS IN BEFORE THE THURSDAY NIGHT GAME!
My pics are in.
Should I refer to them as my picks or my prophecy? I’ve only gotten four games wrong all year.
Pretty normal for a first time QB behind a bad O-line.
after seeing what the Oline has graded out as pass protectors…..those stats make sense
Nope, can’t make excuses for QBs “A good QB transcends his surrounding cast” Or so I have been told.
Right and Joe Biden is the sharpest guy in the room and runs rings around everyone.
That’s just a completely bogus media narrative. Do you think Mahomes would have carried the Browns anywhere? No. He was drafted by a team that was built, and mature, with a HoF head coach. He had a HoF TE, and Tyreek Hill, who could not be covered too.
Fixed it for ya…
That’s just a completely bogus
mediaskoloholics narrativeExactly. Winners win. Tom Brady would have won both games by 40.
It’s the combination of a young QB who has a long way to go in the NFL, a bad O-line performance, and a head coach play calling faux pas that resulted in those stats. Kinda the classic perfect storm. The jury is still out IMO on McCarthy. His welcome to the NFL moment has been a rough one.
At what point do we start saying JJ is fragile?
I think you can say it now. That is not to say the problem can’t be mitigated.
JJM reminds me of Ponder when he takes off running. Ponder laid it out there when he ran, and he got hurt for it multiple times.
JJM needs to start sliding if he is going to play that game.
i still stick by my sentiment. if JJ played well on sunday, i think his ankle sprain is a “might miss this week” type injury. but because he played poorly (along with EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF THE TEAM) that ankle sprain “might be up to 4 weeks”…..
Live look at the Vikings season:
2026 PFF Draft Rankings…….
https://www.pff.com/draft/big-board?season=2026
Where are the kickers?
So, let’s see what Wentz has left in the tank. Still looking forward to the Dublin game, should be fun, even if half the team might be on IR by then.
Maybe KOC can pull another Darnold with Wentz. Our QB whisperer needs to step up his game.
I’ve come to the conclusion JJM needs a slide coach. If he becomes a running QB, he needs to get his butt down. He can’t take the beating.
Agreed.
GM!
FTP!
SKOL!
Happy Hump Day!
First!
First & FTP auto rec
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
FTP Auto Rec.