Aloha everyone, and welcome to Skoloholics! Join us here to cheer on the Minnesota Vikings as they take on the Lions at US Bank Stadium. The Lions currently sit in first place in the NFCN. The Vikings, on the other hand are hanging onto a wild card spot by a thread, but they actually still control their fate in the division. A win today and they are still in control to win the division. A loss and their chances at even making the playoffs are significantly hampered. I’ll be curious to see how Mullens plays in his second straight start. The Lions are currently a 2.5 point favorite, we’ll see how right Vegas is in a few hours.
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Curse Of Oak Island is on tonight.
Spoiler
They don’t find the treasure…
It’s just like watching the Vikings
since it’s the day after Christmas and I’m still in the spirit, he’s a thought for you.
Looking around the NFC, many of the best teams have problems. Eagles? Cowboys? And even the Niners.
If we had remained healthy all year, think we might have been just fine in the playoffs. At least folks would know it was a battle.
Look at the Lions game – we make every mistake possible and still could have gotten them.
Yes, if we had not lost Cousins, we would be on a 10 game winning streak at this point, and on our way to winning the NFC North again.
Vikings going to win this weekend, Lions will lose, Eagles and 49ers will win.
Lions will then be stuck at the 3rd seed, they sit their studs in week 18 and the Vikes get an easy road W. None of it matters though because the Rams and SeaChickens both win out eliminating the Vikes from the playoffs.
Niners going to clobber the Rams the last week.
OK then… no need for me to watch the last two games. See you in September…
Guess i’m ok with Hall, see if he’s a capable backup. Think Mullens tho.
Well, here’s a WTH for you- just read that KOC is also considering Dobbs again.
Thats a head scratcher….
I think KOC is lost in space.
I kinda hope we bring out Dobbs again. Vikings Twitter would lose it.
Plus, our defense would immediately revert to shut down mode.
We would lose that game 10-9.
That’s pretty astute as it has a certain validity to it. Oh, for the good old 3-0 victories. And it’s actually a brilliant move on KOC’s part.
Admins?
KOC says they are going to decide on the starting QB prior to tomorrows practice. They may not announce it then, but they will decide by then.
My prediction….Cousins in a walking boot.
You know you’re in trouble when every week we’re waiting to see who the starting QB is going to be the next week. Far to Jets like. for me.
Jets like! That’s a good way to put it.
Well to me, Mullens makes the most sense, because he can actually move the offense and score points.
That is where I am at as well…although I would be happy with a Hall start.
Aiden O’Connell was 9/21 for 62 yards and 0 TD’s against the Chiefs yesterday, and the Raiders won.
It’s a crazy game sometimes.
All the articles I saw today say the Chiefs are melting down.
They supposedly more interested in Celebrities and social media than football right now.
I trust that they will get it figured out in time for the playoffs.
Kelce’s girlfriend is wrecking the team cohesiveness.
And they have the greatest QB in the league, and a highly ranked defense, how can this be?
QB wins is a real thing JR… folks here insist on that.
Seriously though, did you see Mahomes on the sideline – he is totally pissed. Gonna get interesting.
Everything is rosy when you’re winning. Lose a few games, and the Humpty Dumpty effect rolls in.
WR’s not contributing much. They double Kelce and Mahomies is throwing more picks.
Team is toast. They sure can’t sustain injuries like they have.
Well Oliver was touted as a pass catcher as well as a blocker.
And supposedly we have a guy on the couch that could step in for Wonnum for a game or two.
Oliver looked good on that pass play.
Oliver moves into Hocks role.
Mundt/Muse take over the blocking/backup roles.
It is only two games, lets see what the youngsters have.
Not like we really have much choice, unless they want to bring Rudolph back like they did with Barr.
Davenport signed a nice one year deal to sit at home and relax this year.
He played well that one game.
Think we should ink him for 5 years, $100 mil.
Laughing, probably some stipulation in the contract that he had to appear in at least one game to get paid or something.
Stoped clock is right twice a day – slightly better than one game.
Damn, that sucks.
Hockeson was just 40 yards shy of 1,000 yards too. Easily could have eclipsed that milestone the next two games.
Purple have had 39 out of 49 one score games. 14 already this year. Guess it’s some karma for last year. Not sure what the offseason brings but QB has to be the biggest concer. I guess i’d like to ink Kirk for a couple and work on it. What i want rarely happens however.
Currently, the Vikings have 8 draft picks in 2024, with no 3rd round pick. At the moment the Vikings are sitting at #14 in the draft. Not sure if they can get into the top 10 with losses to GB and the Lions to end the season at 7-10. There are reasonably three QB’s in this years draft that folks consider the best QBOTF types. I have never been a fan of selling the farm to draft a guy, especially after the RGIII debacle in Washington though. Thus, I do wonder who the Vikings will settle on to be their QB next year.
Twitter has all the draft pick simulators, and if we lose the next 2, we should be in the top 10.
Potentially all the way to spot 5, but that had all sorts of weird shit happening.
Well that would make many posters here ecstatic. Of course we have high confidence in KAM to use the draft picks effectively.
7-10 won’t disturb me much but that means losing to pukes.
I just saw a stat that the Vikings play cover 2 at 29%. More than anyone else in the league.
It’s funny since that was Donatels favorite cover too.
The aggression factor is down quite a bit.
I don’t mind cover 2. Fangio defense lives out of that look and rotates into other covers.
Seems weird that Flores is running it though. He called it 8% and 1% in Miami.
He favored rotating cover 1 and 3 with a health dose of cover 0 at around 10%.
I don’t know what the answer is to the defense lately.
I do find it ironic that we are calling a similar scheme as Donatel ran, and getting similar results.
It’s because they’re not playing Anthony Barr enough.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed confidence that his young quarterback will be able to bounce back from his clunker. But even Purdy sounded a bit shell-shocked following the game.
“I’ve got to ask myself, ‘Who are you?” Purdy said. “‘What do you stand for? Who are you when things are good? Who are you when things don’t go your way?’ It’s easy to be riding high and thinking you’re the man, winning games and you really don’t have a lot of adversity in some games.”
Purdy was a rookie last year, and he played in 9 games that went well for him. This year he’s played in 15 games and the Niners are 11-4. Not a lot of adversity there for sure.
He’s young, and he might have felt a little bullet-proof going into that game.
Ahhh.
Rodents just missed a 2pt XP try and are down 7 – 6 to Bowling Green in the ‘Quick Lane Bowl’.
Not to worry, still lots of time left.
9 – 7 now.
See I told you not to worry.
5 win team. Won a spot in field with a academics tie breaker. UGH…….
‘The Nerds’ are down 10 – 9 just before halftime.
Rodents up 23 – 10.
5m left in the 3rd Qtr.
ITS a GLORIOUS DAY!
Good Guy Gophers win 30 – 24.
@All is well now@
I’ll tell you this. KAM whiffed COMPLETELY drafting Cine instead of Kyle Hamilton. I cannot believe how wide right he was there. I loved Hamilton, and definitely thought he was the better choice on draft night. What the hell was KAM thinking?
but i’ve been told numerous times that cine is hitman’s replacement so he won’t see the field until hitman is gone…………………………………………………
yeah… let’s go with that… grin
haha right? seem LOGICAL
You forget the sarcasm font.
That my friend may be the biggest understatement for the day.
Seems like he was thinking he was the smartest guy in the draft.
He got schooled, hopefully he learned that lesson.
‘Pain is the best teacher’.
To date I am singularly unimpressed with KAM’s draft wizardry or acumen.
Anyone watch last night’s game? Admittedly I did not, only watched the majority of the 4th quarter, but Purdy looked to have lost his sheen. I viewed it as a SB preview and man the Ravens made SF look pretty ordinary.
The National media completely dismissed the Ravens and annointed the Niners “the best team in the league”. I think the Ravens played that game with a huge chip on their shoulder.
Interesting. Shanahan is now 0-38 when trailing by 7 or more going in to fourth quarter. Notice their play calls last night when down by 21 in fourth. See any 15 – 20 yard intermediate shots? His teams and QB’s for that matter aren’t build for that type of play.
I think that’s right JR. Shanahan is old school. A strong running game and a strong defense, win Championships. He builds a team that runs you into the ground and wears you out. That offense is not built for explosive downfield plays. When they’re behind, it’s hard for them to suddenly open it up. They’re a team that “matriculates” the ball down the field effectively, not bombs away.
Also, booth looked decent out there yesterday
Evans forgot how to tackle.
I still have no idea what our plan is on defense.
There’s no way KOC and Flores can’t see that having the CBs play that far off the line all game is a good idea.
Yet they did it even on multiple 3rd and short downs too.
Am I missing something here?
We were just giving up 5 yard passes whenever they wanted.
That just seems crazy to me.
The only thing I can think of, is they just don’t trust the corners.
My guess – you hit it, lack of confidence in corners.
And, go back and look at Charger game. We rushed six and played our CB’s 12 – 15 off. They just threw quick, under throws for over 400 yards. Made no sense.
I was actually thinking about the chargers game.
We re-tooled the defense a bit after that.
Yeah. We were playing a lot of cover 2 and cover 3 lately.
Not very aggressive like FLores is known for.
The easy answer is the corners can’t be trusted up in man.
One other thing comes to mind. The Panthers,Bears,Saints,Broncos and Raiders are all lacking offenses. Now, the Bengals even without Burrows have a lot of “adults” on offense and are well coached. And the Lions actually have a line,RB’s, WR’s,and a starting NFL capable QB.
Different situations, very different results.
I am right there with you. It is crazy how easy the catches are for the opposing team on 3rd and moderate yards, as opposed to the blanket coverage on our receivers in the same situations.
Over the last two games, Mullens has thrown for 714 yards and 4 TD’s, so he he can move this offense, without a doubt. Unfortunately, he’s thrown 6 interceptions over the last two games as well, which gives the opposing team a huge advantage. Simply put, eliminate the interceptions and the Vikings might could win the last two games, sneak into the playoffs and even win a playoff game.
It’s your fault.
You spent weeks telling us how Mullins was a gunslinger who had lots of turnovers, that he has probably ‘matured’ past the turnover part.
I told you that you had convinced me and if it turned out wrong and my hopes were crushed again I would blame you.
Well we now know that Mullins has maintained his ‘turnover’ tendencies. So now the chickens have come hope to roost Mr Prognosticator.
Laughing… I don’t know if I ever said he “probably” had matured past his turnover proclivity, but I sort of felt he had a guy in Cousins to emulate in that regard. I did think Cousins would be able to advise him and help him. So far I’m not seeing that growth or maturity in Mullens game. He does think he’s a top shelf NFL QB though. He exudes some pretty deep confidence that he can do the job.
Probably/Hopefully.
Practically Synonyms.
For sure eliminate the turnovers! Mullens is rightfully getting a lot of attention.
But, what the hell has happened to our defense the last. couple of weeks?
I know.
You know too.
They are playing deep cover 2 or cover 3 a lot.
CBs off the los and deep.
Easy to exploit if your guys can catch.
I think that’s a very fair question JR. They were running hot for a few games and completely shutting teams down, then BAM… they turn into a sieve.
Had a great Christmas. Always love all the kids being home! Now today, they are all leaving, so a bit sad. As I get older, every Christmas gets more memorable and better. Next step – waiting on grand children.
I hear the grand children thing is a good gig….
For you and NLV – grandchildren means Santa will be back. Love it!
I can confirm, yes it is.
Spoiling grand children and giving them everything they want… then giving them back to their parents…
Had a great Christmas. SIL hosted and we had 9 people there. Lots of food, board/card games, laughter, hugs, good time reminiscing about Nieces and Nephews growing up stories.
I was actually proud of my family, drama free, mistakes were laughed about, we joked about each other and gave and took it well. No ‘agendas’ other than having a good time enjoying each others company.
Kind of what Christmas was all about it seems.
Oh that’s good to hear. How was the ID place?
We were disappointed in the Property Manager.
Charged for things that didn’t get done, fixes done improperly, lack of communication, etc.
Town was great though, went to City Hall to see if they had a ‘welcome packet/map’ type of thing for the town. Clerk gave us a couple of pamphlets, then said ‘I think the Mayors assistant might have more’ so she walked to the Mayors office and introduced to the Assistant who got us a couple more pamphlets.
Then they said ‘and here is the Mayor’ as she walked down the hallway toward us. After introductions she asked ‘why did you pick Nampa’? So I explained Blue Heaven and mentioned that Nampa was voted ‘Best Run City in the US’ the two years we were looking to buy. The Assistant said ‘We are up to 7yrs in a row now, hope we don’t lose that streak’.
Mayor explained that it has a lot to do with Debt Per Capita. Kind of how you can pay off some bills and your credit rating actually goes down. So they could pay off their Water Plant improvements and lose the #1 spot. Seems keeping that top spot is pretty important to the Mayor as she doesn’t want the blame for losing it.
Everyone was all smiles and looking to help and be welcoming. We saw a lot of that while we were there.
That sounds fantastic.
Great to hear SoCal. Holidays (for whatever reason) sometimes bring out the worst in people. Your Christmas sounds like the one we all hope for. Awesome!
There were some ‘comments’ the last couple of years that seemed to indicate some underlying issues, was worried that those issues might have gotten worse.
But no, seems to have been all worked out. I was watching for minor drama to break out but not even a hint of it.
That was the best Christmas Present.
nothing better than not spending a lot on christmas gifts for the kids and having them be a major hit.
good job me.
I agree. You’re doing a good job.
I talked my wife back from the sizable windfall she wanted to give each of the grandkids, got her back to $100 plus some small gift items like cologne or candy. Keep in mind they get a grand in their college accounts at Christmas and their birthday.
The oldest GD opened her presents from santa, ma and pa. LuluLemon clutch, pants. A high end curling iron. Designer branded clothing. She’s a senior in HS. I think it is far better to raise kids on beer taste and let them excel as to their abilities….champagne tastes and I think college and post college life will be a struggle. This is what my generation and the generation after has done to their kids, all parents want their kids to have a better life than they did but you gotta let them want it a little bit. Otherwise they’re gonna boomerang.
do you want to adopt me?
You look like this?
im sure i could…
I’m all over that! My chocos are spoiled rotten but they love to escort me on hikes and hunts.
Have all the Admins gone on vacation?
Gooooose morning Skolos!
At 45 years old the only things I want at Christmas are food, football and family – got all 3 in mass quantities. Successful Christmas.
Frustrating game. Thought JJ played well. All I hope for in every game is the ball in our hands with a chance to win – had that on Sunday and let it slip away. Last pick to JJ was brutal, especially with Powell wide open on the play – he may have scored if Mullens makes a very easy, very obvious read and delivers the ball.
2 left to play and it is what it is – unlikely to do much in the tournament, but I’ll still root for playoff football until we’re eliminated. Vikings ‘backed into’ the 2004 Wildcard and it left us with a playoff victory over FTP on their field and a ‘disgusting act’ that lives on in infamy.
Get to host FTP at home and ring in the New Year by extinguishing their playoff hopes. Ain’t much, but it’s something to play for.
Skol!
Sounds like a plan, Mjolnir.
SKOL!
Good plan, FTP!
Solid – everybody plays to get into playoffs (better than not).
Powell was wide, wide open. Shame really. All those turnovers and poor defense and it still came down to a last throw and we missed it.
Powell was wide, wide open.
Yes he was. No need to force anything with 58 seconds left and a guy wide open on the 25ish yard line
There are times when the ball is forced to JJ no matter what, and the QB doesn’t do anything on the play but get the ball to him. That’s what it looked like to me. There’s only so much time in the pocket, and “scanning the field” isn’t going to happen. That said, I think a better ball there and JJ scores.
Just a poor throw at the wrong time.
As always I console myself that if the throw hit JJ in stride, he would have scored…Mullens would have been stuffed on the 2 point try “QB sneak”, and Detroit would have driven the field with out routes to boot a FG as time expired.
I do think a really solid throw would have worked to JJ. But you have to put some RPM’s on it.
But, Powell was so wide open and nearly a minute left.
Oh yeah, and you can’t help but think Cousins would have either ripped that ball into JJ for the score, or actually played QB and got the ball to Powell.
My Grinch like comments on the Christmas season.
Sweet Jeebus these are the next generations.
‘ The grin on my face died….’
😂😂😂
Yep.
Stupidity reigns.
Its really, really sad…The average IQ in this nation is definitely plummeting and I don’t know why…
I remember being stationed in Germany in the early 90s. I went to the PX to get a Stars and Stripes newspaper, they cost 35c, I gave the cashier two quarters, Since there was a power outage the cash register wasn’t working, so she took out a pocket calculator to figure my 15c change.
It the time I figured it was just the late teen army wife but maybe it was the start of the devolving of ‘the next generation’.
the best part about these stories is….
in the first one, that lady had ZERO shame pulling out her phone to figure it out, while you were absolutely shaming her in your head
and in the second one, the lady thought you were an absolute IDIOT for handing her WAY more than what she needed.
You hit the nail on the head.
I always think back on those required pre-med courses, I absolutely loathed the advanced calculus class I had to take and darn near failed and then the minutiae and esoterica of org chem. Funny thing is at the end of my second year of pre-med I had “changed” my major to chemistry, then got the fortunate call that I had been accepted into the medical lab tech program. I would have graduated with a degree in chemistry but I was no chemist.
Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah, calculus, boy I use that every day, not. Hey, at least I can calculate the volume of a sphere and measure angles and lines. And if someone tells me I need to cut 126″ of lumber in half I can work that out in my head. Sheesh.
The latter gal was definitely annoyed with me. She’s probably posting on the GB forum about this idiot that came in her store.
you would be super boring if you were just a chemist….
I’d probably be working in QC at the Molson brewery in Edmonchuk and oblivious to the NFL.
The funny thing about the Vikings is the offense and defense are rarely in sync.
Offense doing well? Time for the D to suck.
Defense working? Time for the offense to suck.
I do believe that the tape is out on how to beat Flores defense.
You just have to dink and dunk.
He keeps those corners back at 8-10 yards off the LOS even on 3rd and 4.
I decided to do a mock draft. I traded back twice and picked up the following players:
28.Kalen King, CB, Penn
46. Kris Abrams-Draine, CB, Missouri
60. Caelen Carson, CB, Wake
76. Max Melton, CB, Rutgers
108. Johnny Dixon, CB, Penn
124. Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon
153.Fentrell Cypress II, CB, Florida
155.Daequan Hardy, CB, Penn
161.Elijah Jones, CB, Boston
202.M.J. Devonshire, CB, Pittsburgh
I’m pretty happy with it. I would have liked to pick up a couple more secondary players, but this was just my first attempt at it.
You seemed to go CB heavy….hey we just need to take the best player available and if its 10 CBs so be it.
I would have liked to get a couple of safeties, but that is for next season.
From Mike Florio
Is Hall better than Mullens? I doubt we find out, my guess is we stick with Mullens, but I could be wrong, I often am.
at this point i don’t think it matters, roll hall out there and see if he is future backup qb material
My perspective is Hall has nowhere near the experience that Mullens has (good and bad) nor is he an upgrade in talent. He may be more receptive to coaching that tells him to protect the ball at all costs though. That’s kind of funny to me though, because people criticized Cousins for years for being too conservative with the ball, and not taking enough chances.
Meh. Roll with Hall to find out if you have a serviceable QB or not.
Mullens and Dobbs are both a big NO
As for criticizing Kirk, my issues with him are his inability to improvise or go off script, and since the O line has been so bad for so long, the team needs a QB with the ability to run away.
I agree with you that Kirk is a more accurate passer than the Vikings have had in a very long time. I still think, in today’s NFL, a QB must be able to also improvise and be able to extend plays with movement. Not a running QB, but a QB that can move around and scramble and keep plays alive. If the defense is asked to cover JJ and others for more than 4 seconds, someone is open.
Ummm tell that to Tom Brady.
Problem with Mullens is not only will he take those chances, but he lacks both the accuracy and velocity to make those throws.
The recievers were wide open most of the day. Cousins would have ripped that defense to pieces.
Most any starter in the league would have gutted that defense.
‘but I could be wrong, I often am.’
Welcome to the club.
They teach you to say that at the Dale Carnegie classes on how to influence people…my staff now just roll their eyes because they know I don’t really mean it.
Will Cousins be happy with a 2 year deal or is he going to want a 3 year deal?
I would be thrilled if we sign him for 2 years. I have heard folks say let’s sign him for a two and draft a rookie this year. I am against that. No sense having your QBOTF sitting for 2 years. I say draft a rookie next year….
would signing cousins to a multi year deal take the pressure off of drafting a qb in the first round this upcoming draft?
Yes.
I honestly feel like KAM made the decision last year that he was cutting ties with Cousins. It’s a fiscal thing. The Vikings will have to eat $28.5M in cap space for Cousins already next year, and adding to that debt isn’t something KAM is interested in doing. In 2025 the Vikings will be very healthy from a cap perspective, and that will be the year the team will be fully transitioned/transformed under his guidance. The future is not now, it’s two years from now for the Vikings.
I understand your perspective, but at this point I will be very surprised he they don’t re-sign Kirko…I think he wants to be here and isn’t going to be unreasonable. I think KOC can’t stand not having a competent QB. I guess time will tell.
Kirk’s agent is the unreasonable one
I tend to disagree with Cousins and/or his agent being unreasonable. In Washington Bruce Allen abjectly refused to offer Cousins a contract commensurate with his performance, and Cousins played on the tag for two years before Allen succumbed and let him walk. Since being here, Cousins has worked with the GM to keep his cap hit reasonable. He also offered KAM a “below market value” deal that was rejected (reportedly). I don’t think Cousins has ever been unreasonable when it comes to contract offers in his entire cvareer.
Good take – both for KOC and KC
I’m 100% against sending a rookie right out the first year you draft them.
Almost all rookies benefit from having at least a year on the bench learning. Doesn’t mean we have to have Cousins as the starter though.
Rookies struggle, and throwing one out before they are ready can destroy their confidence.
i didn’t get a chance to watch any of the game live…
but went back and watched some of the key moments and holy cow mullens has such a trashy arm. a couple of his picks looked like me trying to throw it 40 yards
Yes, his arm strength is a problem.
which is normally an issue for a qb…
Going to go out on a limb and suggest that is why he is not a starter in this league.
that’s a sequoia like limb….
Yeah. A couple of those INTs were just him not having enough power to get the ball out fast enough.
In order to get a deep shot, he has to loft the ball too much and he is throwing the DBs back into it.
That one play where the announcer is busy talking about Detroits CB baiting mullens was laughable. The CB was beat, Mullens and his noodle arm just threw it with so much air underneath that the CB made a play.
I don’t know if Cousins can help Mullens with his poor decisions, or poor throws. I didn’t see any shots of Cousins talking to Mullens during the game. Might be Mullens doesn’t want Cousins in-game advice. Might want to be his own man, so to speak. Mullens reminds me of Jeff George without the cannon arm.
yeah looking back at replays mullins made some bad decisions in crucial moments of the game.
I agree, but at least he turned it loose. He was throwing the ball aggressively, and honestly, we DID have a chance at the end to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
yep 100% i’m not mad he tried to make plays.
i’m actually not mad at all period. just disappointed it went the way it did.
we all knew what would happen when kirk went down, and it’s happening. just a little later than we thought.
I really do love KOC and his play calling this game.
Those deep developing pass plays were wide open all day.
The play calls were working.
His QB just lacks the arm strength to get the ball out there.
But he keeps calling them.
agree, but thats what we are, a passing team…we are not a dink and dunk west coast offense….
The thing that irks me most is how KOC stated a number of times that he was revamping our running game in the off-season, and folks were saying we would actually be running the ball more, and more effectively, in his second year. You spend a ton of time and effort as the Head Coach to improve the running game, and THIS is what you come up with????
Not a good look coach. Not a good look at all.
I do not believe we have an interior O-line capable of sustaining a strong running game.
I tend to agree with this take. Yet we returned all 5 starters on the O-line in the off-season.
Yeah. At some point they just gave up on the run. Right around picking Risner over Cleveland was telling.
CLeveland this year was ranked 31 out of 64 on ESPNs pass block win rate, and 16th on run block.
Pff had his pass block and run block even higher.
Risner has elite pass blocking skills. He’s top 5 in pass block win rate and PFF has him ranked in the top 5 as well. His run blocking is borderline bad.
Kinda tells you what they want in a blocker though.
I just thought the routes were a little too deep for Mullens. But they were open. Mullens is actually really good at throwing 15ish yard timing routes.
CHeck out these stats:
Mullens pushed the ball downfield all game. His average attempt traveled 14.6 yards downfield, most by a Vikings QB since Brett Favre in 2010, per @ESPNStatsInfo. He threw 18 passes of 15+ air yards, more than any QB in the past 2 seasons.
He is not a coward…for better or for worse…
Yep… clearly Mullens wants to drive the ball downfield, and we saw a lot of good throws. Eliminate the turnovers, and you are going to win with him (IMO). The questions is, can he rein it in when he needs to?
I just don’t think he can get the ball downfield consistent enough to eliminate all his turnovers.
That last INT was just a dead duck, but JJ was open and could have easily scored with a better ball.
Same with the INT along the sidelines on that deep shot. That ball gets out a bit farther and to the sidelines, and its a TD.
Some of it was taking risks, but I don’t fault him for trying those throws. Guys were open. He just lacks the talent to make them.
Don’t know if he lacks the talent, or he just missed on the throws. JR will tell you as a pitcher, sometimes you just miss. Cousins misses too. Every NFL QB misses throws. It comes with the territory. Purdy threw 4 picks last night.
For the most part, an NFL QB isn’t making a throw he doesn’t know he can make. Sometimes they get a blood rush and make a terrible throw. It happens. I like the fact that Mullens is letting it go. He just needs to get to the place where he’s more disciplined with the ball.
Another Christmas in the books. One day at work, then I’m taking the rest of the week off.
Made it to the championship game in my fantasy league.
JJ on Kirk Cousins
@Nah, I am sure JJ doesn’t care if the Vikes resign Cousins or not.@
It won’t go to show some folks anything here. Clearly Cousins has the goods when it comes to playing QB in the NFL. Jay Gruden installed him as the starting QB over RGIII 6 days before the start of the 2015 season. Since then Griffin (the @2 pick in the 2012 NFL draft) has faded away, and Cousins has never lost his starting job. In fact Cousins has been one of the most productive QB’s in the league, every year since becoming a starter. People here deride him endlessly, but se la vie. He is a top shelf QB, and the most productive QB the Vikings have ever had over a 5 year span.
Agreed.
Apparently an all world QB gets you 4-4.
A bum gets you 3-4.
Well, 13-4 too…
I am just telling you what JJ said..
I’m just going to blather here and point out that the Vikings won more games without JJ than with him this year (at least to this point of the season). The guy is clearly a transcendent receiver with many highlight reel catches but I just don’t know if our QB situation the next couple of years is going to merit the contract that we are going to have to pay him…when the team needs upgrades at many other positions to become well balanced. I’d rather shovel money into a deep OL than a flashy WR. My two cents.
This is not a popular opinion…Good for you for taking a stand.
Has anyone heard any updates on the injuries to Hock and Addison? How bad?
I haven’t but I’m sure they’re questionable for next Sunday.
Hock looked like a ligament tear, or at least a significant sprain.
He’s ded
I think the story of the 2023 Vikings is turnovers and injuries. We have turned the ball over 30 times in 15 games. 16 interceptions, and 14 fumbles lost, is a recipe for disaster, and indeed, that has been the case. In addition, 32 players have missed games due to injury this year. Many key players are out for the season like Cousins, and Akers, and let’s not forget the couch.
Just can’t win at this level with a lot of turnovers.
Agreed, turnovers and injuries. That is the story.
we’ve had so many injuries and new players i completely forgot about akers.
Yessir.
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
Back to the salt mines…
FTP week though, and a prime time game. More reasons to lay low on New Years eve and just yell at the tv and not worry about Drunk Drivers killing me.
I will be at the game with my brother.
FTP!!
Have Fun!
The SKOL chant pregame will probably be the most fun you have.
FTP is gonna crush this team.
Maybe you will get to see Hall play the second half though.
the legend could start this Sunday
I fear that the FTP will win. It may be a very frustrating game for us.
Give Hall a chance.
GM
I do not see a thread for today, but it is Tuesday so we can argue about Kirk today.
HA HA!. It is Kirk Cousins Day! Let her rip…
Team would have made the playoffs and probably lost in round 1 if Kirk had survived the season.
Instead we get to continue to wonder what the hell KOC is thinking.
Mullens and Dobbs are both turnover machines. Play Hall.
If Hall is so bad that he is not an improvement, then fire the scouts that told you to draft him.
For next season, I still hope they do not throw even more money at Kirk. Let him and his HOF agent go somewhere else.
If they do bring him back, I truly hope it is a team friendly deal for two years, and the team still takes a shot at drafting another QB.
If we had a perfect OL, perfect play calling, a perfect defense and a perfect kicker with $40 million fully guaranteed Kirk playing, they will still lose in round #1 and it wouldn’t be Kirks fault.
Since it’s Tuesday, I’m guessing you’d probably find a way to blame Cousins. CDS is a tough thing to get rid of.
Whatever, better items to consider as I depart and let the wolves go at it for a while.
I am thinking they will offer up a 2-year contract to Kirk. Not sure he will take it.
I think you are correct. No clue if Kirk is willing or even should take less than market value since this will be his last (Probably) contract. I know I would want to make money while I can.
I want the team to move on, but the QB play has been so bad the last 5 weeks even Kirko would be better.
Just draft your guy and move on.
Or offer Kirk a team friendly deal to see if he really wants to stay here.
No matter what, the team needs to improve the entire QB room next sesason. Jettison Dobbs and Mullens and draft someone.
Hall/Rookie/ Kirko or whatever bridge veteran you decide
I think KAM sort of burned that bridge when he rejected Cousins offer at the beginning of this year. The die is cast now, so to speak. Cousins will get good offers from several teams. Might go to Tampa for instance, or Atlanta. New England could use him too. In truth, Washington could use him as well, and now that Snyder is gone, he might could return. Washington has $81M in cap space in 2024 BTW.
That would be wild, if he went back to Washington. Would it be like the return of Fran Tarkenton to the Vikes?
You may have noticed part of Mullens problem, besides questionable decisions, is his arm strength on certain throws. Thought I read, at this site, Hall doesn’t have a lot of arm strength. Wonder if the coaches see this in practice.
Did scouts draft Hall to be a starter or a quality backup?
Mullens problem is definitely arm strength. The pick down the left hand side where he underthrew Addison, he gave that all he had, it was the correct read, he just didn’t have the juice to get it there…
His last pick wasn’t the right read, should have taken the easy completion to #4, but man that ball wobbled and drifted its way down field.
As I said before, that was his scouting report coming out of college, lacks arm strength to be a quality NFL starter.
That’s why I don’t understand the clamoriing for Hall – doesn’t he lack arm strength? You just have to have the juice to put a lot of RPM.s on some of those throws in tight windows and between zones. No getting around it.
The clamoring for Hall is because he looked less terrible on the one decent drive he had before going head first into a defender and ending his run.
Dobbs and Mullens are both turnover machines. And they will never be starting QB caliber while doing that.
Play Hall to figure out if you wasted that pick last year or not.
Imagine Hall is a serviceable backup, then the team has more options if they miss out on the QB they want in the draft.
ONE series – really? Even if I give you. he is a serviceable backup, which I hope he is, we still need to win the next two games. It does mean something to players and quite a few fans to get into the playoffs.
If KOC sees Hall as best chance to win next week, play him.
But not for just seeing what we have.
Since the team has shit the bed with turnovers this season, they are pretty much out of the playoffs already.
Mathematically they are in still, so I expect they will trot out Mullens this weekend and not play Hall until they are losing by two scores or more.
For a lot of reasons, you have to play to win. Look. I hate all the turnovers. All I maintain, if KOC believes Hall is best chance to win the game, play him.
I do find it interesting that there are reports from credible sources saying the Vikings front office favors seeing Hall while KOC wants Mullens.
KOC is very loyal to his starters and I think he believes he can “coach up” the players.
My take is that Mullens and Dobbs are what they are at this point. You are not going to coach them out of bad habits.
Might as well see what the young guys have.
Plus, I see enough former players on Twitter talking about how coaches get stuborn with players. KOC just spent the last few weeks filling Mullens head with all the info he wants him to know.
They don’t like to start that process over again.
I don’t really know. But I do believe KOC, like McVay, like strong arm accurate QB’s to run their offenses. Thus the like for Stafford/Cousins types.
Now, can Hall do this, I have no idea. I’m just not sure I buy into the – well, it can’t get worse.
And, if Hall plays, and he is not ready, it will be a huge hit on his career.
Here’s way I’m not that worried about Hall and the deep throws.
If you watch the pass play at 13 seconds, he throws about 30 yards in the air and hits the guy perfectly in stride.
No idea if he can do this on a consistent basis.
I would like to find out.
I really don’t care all that much if Hall plays or Mullens – leave to KOC.
Best deep ball thrower was Morino. Reason – he didn’t have to throw moon balls on deep throws. He hit guys 50 yards down field like ti was 15. Look at Mullens on deep throws – air balls, way too much air. Hall – I have no idea.
But, the reason Stafford can run this same offense as ours, is because he has a strong, accurate arm. Our offense requires the same arm talent to be fully effective.
I fully agree with you.
Hall is not the long term solution if this is what we want to run do.
But I think he could do better than Mullens is doing.
PLus, I just dont trust KOC that he is playing the best option.
The more he “coached” Dobbs, the worse he played.
Hall made some very nice throws in pre-season too. I had the tape. Will dig it out if anyone cares.
It was with scrub WRs against scrub CBs. But the accuracy and touch on those passes was great.
I’ve also seen tape out of college on Hall. He has a better deep ball than Mullens.
Hall also has very limitd NFL experience and who knows if he will play well or not?
Mullens
Strengths
Good foot quickness in the pocketCan go from play-action to pass-ready quicklyAble to bounce around and find slivers of space to cut it loose when pressure descendsCan make expedited throws from off-balance angles and hit his targetsCapable in controlled passing attack with tight releaseThrows with quality touchExceptional toughnessHad training staff “push the bone back in” and stitch up a compound fracture in his thumb against Texas-San Antonio so he could finish the gameWeaknesses
Well below NFL norm for sizeSmall frame unlikely to ever carry desired massLacks NFL-caliber arm to push the ball down the field and drive it between the hashes without defensive backs making plays on the ballWill opt out of throwing from balanced platform and into back foot tossesDoesn’t bring his lower body through his throws to maximize velocityFloats throws to field side and in the deep middleNeeds to get ball out earlier to compensate for a lack of arm
Halls scouting report. Not sure how accurate it is, but from the limited tape I’ve seen on him in the pre-season, seems pretty spot on. He’s got good accuracy an can hit guys in stride.
TLDR: he makes up for the lack of velocity by having really good ball placement.
Overview
An undersized pocket quarterback with unimpressive arm strength, Hall’s field command gives him a shot to make it at the next level. He throws with excellent ball placement to targets on the move and delivers a feathery soft deep ball with accuracy. His lack of drive velocity creates smaller margins for error and his timing needs to be impeccable to beat NFL man coverage. Hall operates with ideal poise from the pocket. He does an adequate job of reading coverages and getting rid of the ball without taking sacks. The size and arm strength will concern some teams, but offenses operating out of heavy play-action with levels-based route concepts could target him as a solid future backup.
Strengths
Weaknesses
You need solid arm talent to run our offense well.
Personally, I think he has better arm talent than Mullens.
Also was careful with the ball in college with a low turn over ratio.
No idea if he can do that in this league on a regular basis, but I like the way he throws.
Good morning all. Hope you had a Merry Christmas yesterday. We had a great day, and even the cats participated. They were in and out of the empty boxes, grabbing ribbons and bows and running around with them, and of course, climbing up and down the tree. My son and wife got me many great gifts, and they got lots of good stuff too. We watched football late into the night, then at 5 a.m. the cat came into the bedroom yowling, wanting to be fed. No rest for the wicked. Grin. Now I’m doing work email, drinking coffee, and checking in here for a minute. Will be interesting to see who shows up today and what stories they have to tell.
SKOL!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day!
Ah yes… Boxing day! Forgot about that!
Never forget Boxing Day!
We had a good family Christmas. My kids and granddaughter showed up and we had lots of gifts, lots of food and a little football.
I am surprised the 9ers lost. The Ravens played well.
Ravens did play well. Also seemed to have everything go their way.
Purdy will bounce back. I still think the 49rs are the best team in the NFC.
Miami or Baltimore for AFC.
Shockingly, no Chiefs or Eagles in the bowl this season IMO.
I think Miami plays Baltimore next week. Should be a good match.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
Merry Christmas to all, especially those who stop by here during their Holiday Festivities.
Merry Christmas!🎁🎄
Hope Goff is healing after that roughing the passer. MERRY XMAS!
Another sad loss
Think team is 7-10. Beat up with zero depth.
Personally I think that their depth has been to shit this year.
They are down to scrapping the bottom of the barrel and the hits keep on coming.
The fact that they are still fighting and competing is a testament to their heart.
I am hoping for 8-9 at least, taking down the Puckers one more time would be glorious.
Is there SNF or is that another greed think with Peacock and NFL?
Looks like it is on the NFL network
Have to say penalties and roughing the passer is getting beyond bullshit. Refs determine games.
Incompetence or Conspiracy?
I am thinking that the NFL wants to keep their thumbs on the scale to keep games close to entertain the masses.
It happens too much at critical points of the game to be simple incompetence, IMHO
That roughing on Jones was bullshit. Mullens took worse. Refs are incompetent ant not accountable.
Merry Christmas to all!
Tough day.
A bit of a familiar theme – too many mistakes (and not just turnovers).
Merry Christmas, JRob 🍻
Agreed.
Refs and injuries added in = bad.
Feliz Navidad to you and yours.
just like that, the Vikings are on the outside of the playoff picture.
@maybe next year@
Will be interesting to see what KAM can fix during the offseason.
I so far have not been able to decipher what Queasy’s vision might be for this team. That’s not saying much, oc, but it seems kinda hard to determine what the GM is up to with this team.
At first he seemed to be focused on eliminating high contracts on underperforming players. Replacing them with cheaper, underperforming (injured) players while staying competitive.
Now he has to look at high cost contracts for young playmakers like JJ, and Darrisaw, and costly high performance vets like Hunter.
Maybe once he get the salary cap under control he will look at his, and KOCs, vision on what to build going forward.
Powell as open as you can get on that last INT.
Just wondering what the hell KOC considers a “short leash”.
4 INT’s not enough?
Play Hall the last two games. Season is over, team is beaten up and beaten down.
See what Hall can do, draft a QB that is not terrible next spring and try to not suck next season.
Just no need to really force a throw at this point. Plenty of time left.
Have a merry Christmas you drunks!
Not drunk but you have a great Christmas as well.
Not drunk
Yet…..
Merry Christmas!
I’m not even remotely mad.
Mullens is a maniac that can wow you one moment and leave you scratching your head the next. We all knew that now.
KOC knows that and still wants to run the deep ball passes.
They work…until they don’t.
B Flo’s defense has an obvious weakness. Goffs pss chart is going to show an insane amount of balls out into the flats.
Maybe this is all we can ask for with the talent on the team right now?
Lots to be mad at, officials, bad play calls, mistakes, etc.
But given all the injuries, both before and during the game, the team still battled and had a chance at the end.
Not terrible given we were the underdog.
Raiders/Denver/Chicago/Cinny games hurt worse.
Not to mention all those Turnover games at the start of the year.
Kind of funny.
After every Mullins Interception I would type ‘Mullins Int’ and I would get the message: “Repeat Message, you have posted this message before”.
I am like ‘yeah, he keeps throwing Intercepts! Duh!!”
Merry Christmas everyone! We all knew without kirk we would do nothing. Cant play the “if only we had kirk” but I think even the staunch kirk haters know this would have been a special team if kirk was healthy.
Oh well!
Enjoy your friends and families everyone
You have a Blessed Christmas as well Freezey.
yes, until week 1 of the playoffs. Then Dorkwad returns
Lol
4-4 with Kirk
3-4 without Kirk
Merry Christmas!
Laughing…
With Cousins 18 TD’s and 5 interceptions
Without Cousins 9 TD’s and 11 interceptions