Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello and welcome back to the Skullcast. My name is Asher Whitmer, and I'm here with my brother Christopher.
We enjoy watching football, and we enjoy it best when the Vikings are winning. We originally hail from Minnesota, so we are Vikings fans.
But just like the miserable train wreck of a season this has been, it looks like McCarthy might be done for the rest of the year. After a hairline fracture to his hand, Brax Moser did redeem himself a little bit.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: What an axpros.
He said Braxmos.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: We'll get his name here correct. Yeah. Max Brosmer. Something like that.
Yeah. So, Christopher, how are you feeling like that? I. I was discouraged watching just from the box score because McCarthy threw an interception and he threw a. Or he had a strip sack fumble that turned into a touchdown. The sack was after his injury and he couldn't grip the ball. And so I. I feel less. Not as negative as that. Plus, when you're watching, like, when you hear people who are watching the game and you go and watch the highlights, McCarthy was actually playing pretty well, in fact. Was the interception out of somebody's hands?
[00:01:41] Speaker B: There was.
There were two interceptions that came out of Naylor's hands. I think one was a little bit more on Naylor and one was a little bit more on McCarthy.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: He threw two.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: One of those.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: One of those came back because of an. Of a very, like.
Like borderline offsides on the defense.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: It was a pick six.
And I forget. I think that one was.
I forget which.
I think that one was the one that was a little bit more on Naylor. And then the second interception was out of Naylor's hands.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: Okay.
Anyways. Yeah. All that to say, like, the. The box score doesn't look pretty. From the two quarters that he played in. I thought. I had this feeling he was going to go off and get like 300.
This is the season where, where you.
If I have good feelings, I'm just like, oh, it's. It's not going to be that.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: He also just had a. His receivers dropped a lot. Like.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Um, so, like, I think his. If you adjusted for his drops, he. He actually probably would have had a fairly good game despite some of his.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: So. But obviously the. The really downside is the fact that if he's out, then there's no. Like, we've seen all of McCarthy before the off season. Yeah. Um, I don't think. I mean, I hope Brosmer goes and does well, has a great game. Yeah. But I don't. I don't see Them beating the Lions.
Yeah. How are you feeling? How are you?
Should this all be about lose the last two, get better play schedule? Like I, I don't quite understand that argument myself. Because we want them to win a playoff game. Right? Which means you have to beat playoff teams in the regular season. So why are we like trying to be the last place schedule? I don't get that. That, that to me that's the game of like just get into the playoffs, then we feel good about ourselves. But yeah, also if you think McCarthy's not playing, then it's like.
Right. It's not like he's developing.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: I think if you think of some of the schedule that we had this year and in kind of the way things were figured out as time progresses, you could see a scenario where if we would have had a much easier schedule this year, even a third place rather than a second place schedule, McCarthy would have had a little bit of an easier.
Like instead of, instead of going up against.
I think it was the Falcons Seattle and the Falcons Seattle.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: He didn't play Seattle, but.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Well, I'm just, I'm just naming the ones that were second place.
Like we got because of our second place schedule. I'm trying to remember.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: I'm trying to understand the logic behind that. I'm not sure I want McCarthy having an easy.
Like, I want to see what he's got.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Cause I think, yeah, we want to see what he's got. I think, I think the idea is like, you think about someone like Drake May has had a very easy schedule. That means he's, he's, he's been able to like both get a bunch of reps while also gaining confidence and chemistry as a team.
Um, and so, and so especially like looking at McCarthy's like the way he kind of was getting in his head and like there was a lot of pressure and stuff. If they had been winning and, or just playing worse defenses, you know, I think the theory is that like a QB could get his feet underneath him and then go into the playoffs with some momentum versus a veteran like Kirk Cousins who should have his feet. Like as far as like the, the, the, the, you know, the position of quarterback, he should have his feet fully underneath of him. This is.
My metaphors are mixing a little bit too closely here. But someone like Kirk Cousins, you don't want to like having a ha. You shouldn't need an easier schedule.
But younger QBs like, like Drake May, who's had like a super easy. I mean, we'll see. Maybe they'll be Bounced first round of the playoffs. But I think if you look at the Patriots, that would be an example of where a easy schedule could help you out for. With a young qb.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I.
I can see that. And maybe that's okay. I'm. I'm kind of like, I want McCarthy to be in the fire, and I don't think McCarthy cost us the playoffs this. This year.
Like, our. The Vikings are not a good team, which is why I think it's somewhat silly. Like, the Vikings have a lot of issues to solve if they're going to be winning a playoff game.
Like you mentioned, the drop, the drops. The Vikings have had horrible drops and not only drops, but just who is dropping them and the, you know, the rest of the offense.
This hasn't been the Ferrari that people said it would be for McCarthy. And I think obviously the injuries have created a roller coaster of stuff that might be the biggest issue. But I'm not convinced they would have missed the playoffs if.
If the rest of the team was what it. If the offensive line was what it would have been or you know, what some of the key skilled position players, if they would have performed like they did last year or should.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: So I, like, if McCarthy was still here, I wanted him to win out. Like, I wanted them to go. Oh, for sure. For sure.
Beat the Lions.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: I think even.
Even more than winning out, I just wanted him to play well. Like, I would have been okay with losing to the Lions if. If it was like this, this kind of nail biter. Like, he played really well. The team showed up and. And then they lose. It's like, all right, you know, Lions are better team.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: That's what I was meaning is like, play to win. Like, don't.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Don't go to. And. And I.
I think he could have.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:08:34] Speaker A: I think you would have.
He's been looking good. Yeah.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: And it'll be really interesting to see if he plays week 18. They haven't ruled him out yet.
Eh.
And.
But then. But then you're just going to have also this problem of like, well, he had a bad hand, like in that whole argument.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: It's just such a bummer of a season. Like every. Everything went wrong. Because even talking about the Ferrari, like, some of the. Like, I. I can't get around the fact, like, some of it is just that people just played poorly. Like.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Did she wake up my baby up?
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Oh, go for it. If you need to step out.
Christopher is dealing with a.
They just have a newborn, which he's Actually holding right now and getting their other toddler to sleep.
Teresa and I are soon. We are waiting any day for a newborn.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Which then we will probably go quiet on for a while. I don't. Maybe. Maybe that'll be our last episode of the year for.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
Um, I think I was saying. And I'll. I'll see here Kimberly has her. I'll see if, if I'm needed. But the, the team has played really poorly I think as some of some of their free agent acquisitions definitely didn't hit as good as last year. Even, even last year's like I think, I think Granard played well but he's.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Dealt with quite a bit of injury this year.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Just injuries and even some reason like yeah, Van Ginkel Cashman was also injured.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
What were you going to say?
[00:10:24] Speaker B: And well just saying like, like the whole team played poorly. Obviously the defense is playing really well now. So there's been some, some like trade offs and then it just seems like, seems like oh like it's like a three headed disappointment. Like perfect storm of people didn't play well. The Ferrari wasn't. The Ferrari. The Ferrari was injured, was having like mechanical issues and and then the coach, the coaching also I think, I think it's just like I don't think the team can be this bad. Particularly the team that was supposed to be as good as it was without like everyone kind of has to shoulder the blame a little bit.
It's just, and then, and then it was just in injuries.
It just felt like injuries were riddled. It feels, feels like every single player has missed a game. It's not true.
But like I think Van Ginkel, Cashman, Granard all took turns missing games.
Aaron Jones missed a couple of games.
Now Jordan Mason is out. Obviously the quarterbacks, you know, Addison missed the first three games.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And hasn't been.
I mean he's been almost worse than Naylor was last year in terms of dropping balls. You know who's been the bright little bright spot? Nobody's. Hardly any. Anybody's talking about bright spot offensively.
Well, just in the whole team.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: I mean Naylor's been really good. Yeah, Naylor's been good for the most part.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: Naylor's been really good.
Mr.
Dallas Turner.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Oh yeah, yeah.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: He's. It could be argued he's doing better than Jared Verse this year.
Jared has won a fight.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: I feel like he didn't do super well at the beginning and then has kind of started.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: He's been very quietly tearing things up yeah. He has more assists than Jared Verse. Jared Verse has. He has 12 more assists. Jared Verse has six more solo tackles.
How many QB hits do you think? Okay, shoot. I tipped my hand.
Okay, I'll just ask it this way. How many QB hits do you think between 10 and 20? How many QB hits does Jared Verse have?
[00:12:59] Speaker B: 10.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: He has 12.
Okay. Dallas Turner has twice as many.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: 24. 24 QB. He hits QB.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: I'm sorry.
I got. I was flipping back and forth between the two.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Is it the other way around?
[00:13:18] Speaker A: It's the other way around, yeah. Dallas Turner is 12. Shoot. But he does. He has more assists.
Jared Verse has nine tackle for losses.
Dallas Turner has eight.
Now, Jared Verse has started every single game. Dallas Turner's only started nine, but he's played in every game.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: Hey, Ash, give me one second. I need to. I need to deliver something.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: So the reason for Just to talk is the. The reason this is. The comparison is Jared Verse was still on the board when the Vikings chose Dallas Turner. And so everybody's always comparing the two. Why. Why did Dallas. Why did Jared Verse have such a hot start in? Dallas Turner hasn't.
I just think it's. So their force fumbles are. Are very similar. Jared Verse does. Yeah. Except for the assist, he does have more.
Better stats than Dallas Turner. What does PD stand for?
Passes defended by a defensive player. Because Dallas Turner has more passes defended.
Yeah. I can't see how many snaps. I want to see the snap comparison to see, like, what is the pace?
What are they doing that?
[00:14:34] Speaker B: I don't know. It feels like people. I feel like, like, obviously the GM's job is to gather scouts and make a good decision and et cetera, et cetera.
I think. I think it's. It's hard to.
To, like, make too much out of it because, like, how he. How he wrote Roseman says name Howie Roseman, passed up on Justin Jefferson and drafted Jalen Rager. Like. Like, I feel like.
Like that's. That's a colossal.
I mean, famously people passed up on Aaron Rodgers. Famously, people passed up on Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Josh Allen.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: Oh, was he.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: I think so.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: That's crazy. I mean, Lamar Jackson. Like, the Vikings also passed up on Lamar Jackson when we took.
Yeah, I forget who we took that year.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: So 20. Lamar Jackson was. 2018?
[00:15:41] Speaker B: I think so, yeah.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Oh, sure enough. Yeah. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, both went before Josh Allen and then Josh Rosen and then Lamar Jackson.
So the Vikings passed up on all of those guys.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
I just, it's just, it's just the draft is, is in like in like maybe, maybe Jared Ver like you. It's, there's so many things that go into it. Like does the, does the player, is the player excited to play for the team? Are there, are there good coaches there who know how to unlock that specific player?
You know, you know, is it a good city where there's, you know, he's able to, to be mentally healthy and stay connected as on the team? Like so many dynamics go into what probably causes a player to be well developed or good or whatever. And ultimately it's like if, if Dallas Turner has a good long career, are we really going to be thinking, well we could have had Jared Verse. Like, I don't think Jared Verse is going. I think the difference between Verse and Dallas Turner. I know this is a tangent and this isn't what you were saying. I'm just going off at people who make a big deal out of it.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Like the difference between those two players isn't, isn't what made or broke this team the last two years.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I, so I think of all the changes that could be made, getting rid of Quy affects me the least. Like I don't, I don't really know but I'm, I'm unconvinced that Kwesi is a terrible gm. In fact, I think, I think he's probably really good.
But he's also in development. I mean we, we're talking about.
Koc and Kwesi are both first time GMs and head coaches in this league.
And I obviously they've been given a lot more space than other, some other teams. When you look at, you know, Mike McDaniel's probably gone, I would assume there's going to be changes there.
Last week we talked about some of the other. I'm drawing a blank right now. Who some of those people were.
The guy in Denver. Flu, Eber Fluss Hackett, Nathaniel Hackett, stuff like those, those Dable, they weren't given near the leverage. I mean Dable was probably given the most just in terms of.
They really haven't done good for a couple years.
So I, I 100% believe that there needs to be pressure, expectation, very clear expectations that, that Kwesi and o' Connell are living under even Flores, although Flores has been phenomenal.
Yeah, the, I'm just not sure that like I want to see another year of.
Because something that we've seen with both of these guys is the adjustment and the ability to like rather than continue their way and focus on their thing.
They, they go out and try to deal, address the weaknesses and offensive line or whatever. And could they have done it in a better way? I don't, I, I guess for me it's like I'm, I'm not into this try to get a better draft positioning stuff. It's like, it's one thing if you're, if you're picking third or fourth and you could lose a couple of games to get number one, like perhaps. But even though the rate of a number one draft pick actually living up to the hype, I'd. I'd rather just get really good at scouting and drafting with the picks that you have and then developing the players because it doesn't matter who you draft if you can't develop people, which that actually probably falls on the coaching staff more than Quesi himself.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: And to me, to me the, the draft value lies in like that top five. If you could lose enough.
Not that I don't think any team should purposely like if, to me, if a coach, if a coach for sure purposely loses to get into to draft, you've got, he's gone like where, where, where tell.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: Where are the stories where a franchise, at least that we know of, intentionally tried to tank?
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Well, so I mean, I know Miami. Yeah, Miami is the most famous.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Where are they at?
[00:20:17] Speaker B: They were actually caught.
I mean, they're not doing well. Let me finish my point though. Yeah, the.
So, so the only way really, I think for an NFL team to tank is for like coaches to sit players or GMs to trade people away.
So like if, yeah, if before you're, you're at the trade deadline, the GM starts trading for picks kind of like the jets did. And I don't even know if I would call that tanking. I don't know that the jets are tanking. I think they're trying to garner value and this is where I would sell for sure. Yeah, this is where I would find value is 2, 2, 2 ways in the draft. If you don't need a quarterback or like any like, like any position that you're just like, oh, I gotta have that superstar who's up for the draft. If you can end up in the top five and sell that pick to someone who's desperate so that you go further down in the first draft and maybe have picked up a couple of second or third rounders or a second first rounder. To me it's the value of like, okay, now we can hit.
Now we can take our shot on More people.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: And so that's the only value to me. Unless there's like, Joe, you know, Joe Burrow was drafted number one overall.
They. He got injured. They bottomed out. They drafted number one overall again and got Jamar Chase, you know, that was.
That was.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: You know, he got injured in his rookie season. Yeah, I forgot about that.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Hi.
[00:22:02] Speaker A: How are you?
[00:22:03] Speaker B: So you have a rough time.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: I guess that this is kind of like a really rambling way of getting to a big question that we could discuss as we head into tomorrow's games. But.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: Yeah, what.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: What do we want to see at the quarterback position next year?
I'm not like, I'm. I'm at the place where this is a miserable end, where it's like, if they move on from McCarthy, I guess it's whatever.
I'm not ready to give up on McCarthy.
I want to see him continue to develop.
But I do believe they need a. A true insurance backup qb.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: And if they could find someone who's a true insurance backup QB can also be somewhat of a mentor while also nudging, like, if McCarthy is not performing, you could easily swap him out, bench him and, and this guy can carry the team, carry the run the offense. Well, better than Carson Wentz or whatever.
I would be in favor of doing that. I'm not in favor personally of going and trying to get a.
A new QB to be as your QB one.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: But maybe. I mean, it. It just him and ending the season injured does kind of dampen spirits a little bit. Yes.
What are you. What are you wanting to see?
[00:23:34] Speaker B: I think.
I think there's this kind of unfortunate thing.
Two things. I think Kevin o' Connell has the talent, I think, to be one of the greatest coaches of all time.
With that said, I think that he kind of. His tenure with the Vikings kind of has to ride or die with McCarthy. Like, I think, you know, they delayed He. You know, all based on, like, all the reporting and stuff. He wanted to keep Cousins, which I think would have been a good idea, but they made clear to Cousins that they were going to look for someone younger, and Cousins didn't want to do that.
And, you know, he. He became known as the quarterback killer.
And.
And then they bit the bullet with McCarthy. I think they were trying desperately to get Drake May, but they were. The Patriots were too far up the board that they had all the leverage.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Oh, good job.
Yeah.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: And so. And so I say all that to say that like this, like, McCarthy was O' Connell's pick, like all the reporting is that, that like o' Connell had the final say and, you know, who knows all the choices that were made to get there.
But at the end of the day, McCarthy is OConnell's guy and I think he sinks or swims with him, and I think both of them have, like, you've seen enough flashes. There's that leadership, there's the, the rallying effect. Like if, unless there's something we can't see, like maybe, you know, a certain amount of like stubbornness or arrogance on McCarthy's part where he just, or just full on incapability to fix his mechanics.
Like, unless there's something like that that we don't. We're not privy to, but everything that we're privy to, it's like we see there's this passion, there's this leadership, and it seems by all accounts that people like him, all of those things. It's like, if he can fix his mechanics over this off season and, you know, it's a hairline fracture, I don't think that that should necessarily affect his off season training.
But like, the idea would be it's like, okay, let's go into the off season, get a better quarterbacks, his personal trainer, coach guy. Like, get someone better than you had last year.
Spend the whole off season because the Vikings aren't allowed to work with him when, when it's the off season. So, you know, send him into the off season with stuff to work on.
Have someone, you know, don't go anywhere, just stay in Minnesota, work on your mechanics.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: Can he work out?
Can he work at Vikings facilities or not?
[00:26:46] Speaker B: I think so, because there's like a limit because there's like a week or.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Two.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: Where everyone starts coming into the building and coaches, and coaches are not allowed to be on the field with the players in the spring, sometime in the spring there, I think they're allowed to do like trainings and I mean like, not trainings, like meetings and like play film stuff.
Anyways, actually, maybe they're not allowed in the building because I think that's why they always go to high school fields. They're always talking about so and so worked out with this wide receiver in a high school field or whatever.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Yeah. NFL PA's offseason rules says workouts cannot begin prior to the first Monday in April for clubs with a new head coach or third Monday in April for. For all other clubs, workouts are strictly voluntary. Voluntary club officials cannot indicate workouts are anything other than voluntary contact. Work is prohibited.
Yeah.
Yeah, interesting.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Anyways, so what I guess all that to say. That's a meandering way to say, like, I think McCarthy needs to work on his mechanics, come in and study film like crazy.
Come into OTAs and training camp like a season ahead of where you were last year.
And maybe because the problem seems to have been in game, when he would focus on one thing, the other thing would go so, like, he'd be focused on his footwork, and then he wouldn't be able to read the coverage or, like, do his progressions or something. He'd be lost.
And so it's like, that's. To me, I mean, I've been a butcher and I've been barista, both of those. This isn't the. I'm not comparing those trades to quarterbacking, but it's like, it's like an instrument. It's like anything that takes practice, you learn. You learn your, like, base level movements, and you just do that over and over and over again, and it becomes old hat until you're not thinking about it anymore, and then you can adjust and do something else.
And, and, and so, like, to me, those things, like, that struggle of, like, I'm thinking about where my feet are and I can't do the mental work of reading the coverage, to me, that. That feels like something that is super. Super.
Yeah, that's my coffee. That's something that's super fixable.
And so to me, going into next year, McCarthy should be better. And with a coach like O' Connell and a receiver like Jefferson, and I'm sure. I'm sure a lot of that roster is going to be overturned.
Um, I wouldn't surprise if Addison gets traded.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah. And I. I don't know that I would mind if he got traded at this point.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: I. I don't either.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: He was the. His first couple of years, he was one of the best wide receivers in the league, but, yeah, there. There seems to be a little level of almost not caring or something. It, like, yeah, this team has felt like they have a Super bowl hangover, only they didn't go to the Super Bowl.
It's like they thought they were going to come in and have 13, 14 wins again, no problem. And they weren't ready for the intensity of the season.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Do you remember that picture of Darnold getting lifted up after the packers win last year?
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:45] Speaker B: And the locker room was just on fire and they were excited and they dumped water all over him and lifted him up and. Yeah, I remember a Packers fan retweeting that and saying this was their Super Bowl.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: What is.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: And I remember being like, whatever, like, get out of here.
We didn't win a game the rest of the year and then we had this season. Like, now you're talking about a Super bowl hangover. So, like, that was the Super Bowl.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: It's very.
And I don't. I mean, I just, I just think I, you know, there. Darnold could very well be playing for the conference again this year with the Seahawks. And there's part of me that's like, man, it's, it's fun to see. I, I knew the Vikings weren't going to be as good. I am surprised that the Seahawks are as good as they are. Um, I'm not surprised. Darnold, quite frankly, hasn't put up, like, he's not on pace to do as good as statistically as he did with the Vikings. But that's somewhat because of the scheme in Seattle and so forth. But there's a part of me that's also like, yeah, they had this big, amazing win over the Rams, but there's nothing about the Seahawks season that is that much different than Darnold season. With the Vikings.
Probably the biggest thing was the fact that they were down by two scores against the Rams and they managed to come back, but they, they also got some really lucky bounces and calls and stuff. And it's just like there again, the same week as a year before that Darnold was being lifted up on his teammate's shoulders. He has this big win.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: I'm curious to see how the rest of the season pans out for the Seahawks. I hope it goes better. You know, I, I cheer for development stories, period. Just like, I think it'll be very fun if McCarthy continues to develop and Caleb Williams is clearly playing a whole nother game than he was last year.
Green Bay's had a, had a gut punch here at the end as well. And yeah, I think it'll be a fun division to be in for a while. Obviously, if McCarthy does turn out to be a bust or just super injury prone, then, then it's going to be frustrating. And like you, I agree. I think, I think ko's legacy kind of ride or dies.
Yeah. Rides or dies on, on the success of McCarthy.
And yeah, I think they, I, I think they need a true insurance plan. Something, Something even where maybe not like, I don't know that it would be helpful. Obviously this isn't going to happen, but you know, to go bring in a, a Bryce Young or a, maybe even a Mac Jones, like, I don't know that that's so much what is needed.
But someone who's got somewhat of a veteran presence could be swapped out and run the offense well if McCarthy's not playing well or if McCarthy gets injured.
I don't. There again, like I, I wouldn't be opposed actually. You know who would be good possibly. Although I don't know if this would quite accomplish everything.
I wouldn't be opposed to Mac Jones. The problem is I think he's going to be expensive and I don't want to pay that much for this insurance piece for the. Mac Jones is probably going to start next year somewhere.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: Daniel Jones, though he signed. Mac Jones has signed for two years with, with the Niners.
[00:34:20] Speaker A: So he. On two years. Okay. Yeah.
Daniel Jones.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: Daniel Jones on a one year contract.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: Yeah, he sure is.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: Because he's going to be low having been injured.
Yeah. I mean that could be an interesting thing to consider to come in because he appears to. To have the caliber that could really push right in the ship.
[00:34:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Anyways, obviously we have a couple weeks left.
We'll see how things turn out.
Is there more you want to talk about or should we look over the pics, kind of see what.
[00:34:57] Speaker B: No, I mean I, I'm. I am like a little bit excited for tomorrow.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: It's Christmas. It can't be.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: The.
Hold on one second, I'm talking now.
I, I like Brosmer. Brosmer.
He didn't play terribly. I mean obviously playing the Giants.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: But like he, he was incredible in training camp, like preseason games.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: So there's, there's this. I mean he's not going to be Brock Purdy. Let's put that to rest. Let's put that to bed. He's not going to replace McCarthy. He's playing to show that he can come in and play a couple of series while like a quarterback gets checked out or something.
[00:35:48] Speaker A: Like, I don't know if I'm opposed to there being like if he comes in and plays two games, wins two games and bros. Bros versus like whoa. Maybe he is a Brock Purdy. Like I'm not sure I'm opposed to that tension being there in Minnesota.
[00:36:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: That would be a good problem to have in my opinion.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: Even though the media would have a firestorm with it and McCarthy would go through the shadow, the valley of darkness.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: I.
Whether or not that will happen, it seems very unlikely. But like I'm looking forward, let's put it this way, I'm looking forward to like the first quarter of tomorrow.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Because that's when the tension Will be like, could this become something. And you'll know very quickly if it's another Seattle game or not.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah. If there's not. That pass to JJ was really. Or to jets was really good because that was the kind of thing he. He was not able to do at all in Seattle.
Did he get any first downs in Seattle? It was like, I don't. Yeah, you got the ball and it just stalled out.
So one. One quick question. I should. I could have looked this up.
Brian Flores has not allowed passing touchdown in six. Is it just passing or offensive touchdown?
[00:37:18] Speaker B: It's been. It's been a couple games since they've allowed any touchdowns, any offensive touchdowns.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: But yeah, the passing.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: The big streak is passing, passing, touchdown.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: Six games.
[00:37:30] Speaker B: I have to change Joanna's diaper.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: Give me.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: Give me one second here.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Sure. Go for it.
All right, well, what were we thinking?
Christmas Eve, lazy day sleeping record later. And that's not what our kids had in mind.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: No, that's for sure.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Let's quickly go through our picks as I.
This is the most exciting thing happening in the NFL right now. I lost the championship in one of my fantasy football leagues.
[00:38:09] Speaker B: I was on the verge. I was projected to, like, go to the finals in one. In one group and win a championship in another group.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: And.
[00:38:19] Speaker B: And right at the end, George Kittle.
I was playing against George Kittle in both games, and he went off.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: And. Yeah, I lost. I mean, Purdy went off. Purdy had a great game.
Yeah, I was. I. There's one league that I'm in that I was dead last. I've kind of lost interest in. There was the league that I'm in with my boys.
I was first or top for a long while. And then a bunch of the younger guys were wanting different trades, and I decided to oblige them. And.
And I kind of sabotaged my team a little bit.
And.
And then I wasn't even paying attention to the one that we're doing with. With our. With Schrader cousins.
And all of a sudden I realized Aria and I are in the championship.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: All right?
[00:39:08] Speaker A: And I had McCarthy as my starting QB. Cause I just. I thought he would go off, and he did not go off. So Arya pulled out the win. She has the championship. I came in second.
But here's what's exciting. Last week, I went 15 and one, if you all remember. I believe I was.
Well, let's see, what is the difference? I was. I was seven games behind Christopher, and so I gained five games on him here to pull within two. He's still in the lead.
So with the final stretch here, I'm gonna see if I can make another close game.
Make it another 15 and 1.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: That's impressive.
[00:39:51] Speaker A: Close year. So we are. I'm riding his shirt tail here because I don't want to, you know, go really bad. I, I struggled with the Texans. Chargers. Chargers are going to be home.
Yeah. I think their offenses are similar and the Texans have the more dominant defense, so I'm going to go with them.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: That's good.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: But it could be the Chargers. I have the Chargers going to the super bowl, so I probably should be picking the Chargers. Yeah, it'd be exciting. I would. I would think it's fun if Brosmer goes out and beats the Lions.
I'm not that die hard about them having a fourth place schedule or moving up, but I just don't see it happening. I think the Lions are still the better team, especially with the current state of injuries and so forth that the Vikings have and the Saints, Titans.
I don't know, maybe it'll be the Saints, but I thought that might be a place that I could separate with you a little bit. We have Seahawks beating the Panthers, Bengals beating the Cardinals, Raiders beating the Giants, Bills beating the Eagles. Maybe that's the biggest one there. Eagles fans, our relatives might be a little offended at that.
You have the Bears beating the Niners. I have the Niners beating the Bears. You think the Bears.
I mean, if the Bears beat the Niners, I would be tempted to be like, maybe they should be on super bowl watch.
You think they could do it?
[00:41:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Bears are playing really well right now. I mean, I say they're playing really well. They're winning games.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: They have a, they have a good defense. I way underestimated their defense. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Why.
Answer me this. Why does. How, how can Dennis Allen do this?
But with New Orleans, it was bad. Like, it wasn't.
I kind of.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: He's just a bad head coach.
Like.
[00:41:58] Speaker A: But the defense wasn't good in New Orleans either.
[00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah, but he was. He. It's probably one of those things where it's like, I, I can run, I can run a defense if that's all I'm focused on.
But the moment I have to, like, make decisions about the whole roster and coaching staff and, you know, give input for the drafting and all that stuff.
The other thing too is like, maybe, maybe it's a systemic thing in New Orleans, like that. That team has largely been the laughingstock of the NFL, except for when Sean Payton was the Head coach.
And even then, Sean Payton was really only dominant when Drew Brees was there, so.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:46] Speaker B: I mean, clear. Clearly, Champagne's a good coach, but.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Yeah. What were you. I kind of interrupted you with the Dennis Allen thing.
[00:42:54] Speaker B: Oh, I was. I was just.
The 49ers thing, the Bears thing, it's just like.
[00:42:59] Speaker A: I don't.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: I don't know. Like, I. Like.
I don't know. It's a toss up the. The 49ers certainly have a longer history of playing well and certainly have a longer history of playing well under duress.
[00:43:16] Speaker A: I think Purdy's starting to look like his super bowl season.
[00:43:20] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: Their defense is really battered and injured. I don't know how they. But.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: But pretty good. I think that's the thing for me is that they're just so.
They're so injured, injured prone.
[00:43:34] Speaker A: When he's doing jump passes and, like, fake fake pitching, you know, he's really comfortable and he's got his. Yeah, yeah, it'll be interesting. I. I kind of root for him, too. Like, every. Everybody's.
It seems like most people in national media are kind of down on him.
It's like him and Jaylen hurts. Everybody thinks they're not very good, yet they keep showing up in the Super Bowl.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: Yeah, they're not.
Yeah, exactly. They're not. They're not your stereotypical quarterbacks, for sure.
And I think Brock Purdy is just always going to have the Mr. Irrelevant thing.
[00:44:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:18] Speaker B: Hanging over him as far as, like, public perception. I mean, even me, it's like, is he really that good? You know, but.
But, you know, I think he. I think he has the mentality to be able to not be affected by that.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: Yeah, he. He's like the Philip Rivers of. Of the young kids when you watch him play. Like, Even I know McCarthy has bad mechanics, apparently, but I think McCarthy looks smoother in his skill set, whereas Purdy doesn't. Like, I was watching some replays of their most recent game, and Purdy's a little more awkward, but he.
He made the throw and he made the. It was just like, oh, wow. Like, he has that ability. Philip Rivers looks like he's hurting and like he has to almost use two hands to throw the ball or something.
Yeah. And yet he still.
He still gets it done. It's just kind of awkward and.
Yeah.
Okay. Well, we're gonna have Christmas between now and then.
[00:45:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:25] Speaker A: It'll be a fun, fun time with family. I don't know.
We may not get next week's episode in as we are. Hoping a baby comes here soon. So we'll see how the end of this season rolls out. And it'll be fun. It's fun to.
That's the thing about sports is you can never predict how it's going to go.
It's new every year.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: That's why they play the game.
[00:45:58] Speaker A: That's why they play the game.
If you could predict it, you just. Everybody would sit and update their scorebooks.
But, yeah, it'll be interesting. It's definitely. Last year, we were rolling into this week on cloud nine.
This year, we're rolling into it down in the dumps with the. The trajectory of the Vikings. Or I'm sorry, not trajectory, but the. The pattern of the Vikings. We. We have a lot to look forward to next year. We'll be in the playoffs again.
We should win a playoff game, you know.
[00:46:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:34] Speaker A: Every other year of the cycle, but I don't know. We'll see. It's. It's hard to see.
[00:46:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
I don't know. I don't know.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: What.
[00:46:44] Speaker B: I don't trust anybody anymore. I was gonna say it feels like that, but it felt like we were gonna have a good year this year.
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, we will see you all later.
Have a merry Christmas.
