Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Okay. Welcome back to the skullcast. My name is Asher Whitmer. This is my brother Christopher Whitmer. And we are ready to have a fun, fun episode for you guys here today. We are, we are. What do you call it when like somebody is from one culture, third culture. We're like third culture sports fans or, or something. Because we grew up in Minnesota, we moved to LA and our young adulthood and early adulthood was formed in L. A. And so we're here this morning excited that the Dodgers won the world series.
We're here this morning excited that the Vikings beat the Lions.
Yeah. So we have a lot of things that we're like blowing off steam about. No rhyme or reason to the, to the untrained or un informed listener, to our, to our own history.
Yeah. Why don't. Let's just jump in it. I. I messaged you we were going back and forth last night that like, oh, this episode's gonna be fun.
And I was like, it's going to be hard not to come on. It's going to be difficult not to come on hard with I told you so about J.J. mcCarthy.
Not that I, I am surprised they won on one hand. On the other hand, I was like, I. I think based off of what we've seen. Yeah, I think this could happen. I think they could do it. McCarthy's that kind of guy.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, we both, after we stopped recording last week, we both were like, I almost picked the Vikings. And then we were like, in the same way that you can't vote against the Chiefs and the Eagles right now, you can't vote for the Vikings just based on how they've played.
But then they, they went out. I feel like they went out and they, they proved our kind of preseason expectations correct.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: What we saw against the Lions is what we expected to see from week one, like the whole way through. Defense, offense, McCarthy. To be clear, McCarthy was not right. Flashy, dramatic, but he made the place he needed to make. And if anybody remembers the Lions was that week seven last year where they just needed to make a first down and they win the game. And Darnold couldn't get that first down converted lines. I forgot about that.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: And. And McCarthy did it. He first try. You know, he.
Well, I guess it was, it. Was it a third and long? I can't remember. But anyways, I think it might have been third.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: And he lay. He layered it. Like if you've listened to any local Vikings media this past off season, they were all talking about like layer the touch on the Football and stuff, which, based off of listening to them, I figured out is like. Is like that. That ability to just, like, slide it right into where Naylor needs to. To catch it.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: The. And it was the only space it could be caught, essentially. Yeah.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, it's precision, and that's something that he's really struggled with and went in that incredible moment, was able to do that, which. Which shows, like, it shows his ability. So he might not be able to do that consistently the rest of the season. Like, he might miss some of those, but it shows that he has that ability and. And that he is growing. Like. Like he struggled with that in camp and has now progressively gotten better. And that's what you should see in a rookie. You should see someone who, like, game by game is getting better. And he's almost guaranteed to have a dud or two yet the rest of the season.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Oh, for sure.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: But.
But, like, that's what we expected.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
A couple things on that.
One is that I was gonna say something about layering in precision. What had you. What were you saying?
[00:04:37] Speaker B: His ability to grow. He worked on it.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: His precision wasn't good.
Even. Even in that game alone.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Like, there was a dramatic difference between when he had time to set his feet versus throwing on the run. So there are some things that. And yet one of his touchdown passes came on the run. So as we. As we saw within the game alone there, there's a lot to be improved. Like, this is. We're not sitting here saying, like, McCarthy's MVP caliber kind of thing, although if he continues the trajectory of growing, I think that could easily be one day specifically. And this is the second thing that I want to look at is it's not fair to compare McCarthy to the Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams of today.
Like, if you go back and look at their first three games, Drake May came out pretty strong. So, I mean, I have the stats up here.
Drake May, through his first three games, actually was only two starts. He came in for part of a game. His first one.
His. His fourth game, I think. Did he get injured or something? Because he only played part of that game as well. But he had five passing touchdowns, two interceptions, no rushing touchdowns, and like rough. Roughly 530 yards of passing.
Outside of that, none of the other guys had a touchdown pass in the first three games.
Let me confirm that. No, Jaden Daniels had his first in his third game.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: You're talking about Williams last year, them of their career.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: First NFL games.
That's what you need to compare McCarthy to. Not to this year.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: Don't compare to what they're doing this year compared to the first three games that they've had. J.J. mcCarthy is the first player in NFL history to have a game where he has two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.
Two of those. In his first three games.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: He.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: He's four for four. That Atlanta game is horrible. It's bad. He. He didn't have hardly any passing yards, let alone a touchdown. He threw two interceptions. He fumbled it a couple times.
So that Atlanta game is awful. And it darkens his.
His. Especially when you look at cumulative metrics like his rating and so forth, it brings it lower than some of the other guys.
But He's. He's had four touchdown passes.
He's had two rushing touchdown passes, six touchdowns in his first three games. None of the other QBs drafted in his class had that many touchdowns in within his first three games of the NFL. So all that to say he's starting off swell. He's starting off wonderfully. I, I think my expectations were too high. I expected with Kevin o', Connell, I was like, watch him come out and put up 300 yards against, yeah, the Bears. And obviously that didn't happen. But he's. When you compare to these other guys and Drake May is. I mean, he's deserves some decent MVP talk himself this year with how he's playing. And obviously we don't know what McCarthy is going to look like 25 games in yet. But my point being where he's already starting in some regards better than the other his. The rest in his class started.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: How much does a start talk? I don't know. Jaden Daniels, CJ Stroud, like, they've all taken some fairly big slumps into it. But my point being, I don't know why that, why there's still.
Why there's still kind of this drive to like prove McCarthy's not good.
And I'm just like McCarthy's match and tit for tat with all the other guys in his draft class better than some of the guys that were drafted high and that people really want to do. Well. Bo Nix was awful. He didn't have a touchdown pass for his first.
Let's see.
Well, I guess in his fourth game he got one. But he had four interceptions in his first two games. It took him a while to really get going.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: How many.
J.J. mcCarthy's had one interception in each of his games.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: He's had.
He had two interceptions against Atlanta. Otherwise. Yeah, it was one against the Bears and one against the.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Okay, so four for three plus a fumble, I think.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I, Yeah, it. I like what you're saying is exactly right. Like, like we, I mean, I, I thought that the Vikings as a team were gonna win a lot of games, but like, like, honestly, like if this, if, if McCarthy hadn't been gotten injured, that similar trajectory that like 10, 10 to 12 games. I mean, I said 13, but 10 to 12 games would. I would say would be feasible. Like the track that he's on, Bears, Falcons, Lions especially beating the Lions, the.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Track that he's on in their house.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, if you took that track and in, you know, against the Bengals, you know, I think he would have beat the Bengals and the Browns a lot easier than then Carson did. Probably would have worked something out against the Steelers.
I mean. Yeah, we could go on like the Eagles, like, if, if.
You know, I think I, Yeah, I think it's.
It's very much in line.
Coming back to my original point, I think it's very much in line with the, the expectations that we had in the preseason, which included like a rookie, essentially a rookie season for McCarthy. And what you're pointing out is that he's even better than some of these people that we really think are doing really great, especially in their second season. Now, obviously Jayden Daniels has had an awfully unfortunate season, especially with like dislocating his elbow now.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Well, in.
And to clarify, like, Drake May had a. Had a really good start. Drake May is probably the best of the class so far when you look at.
And honestly, singular stats. He didn't have a good team around him last year, but when you look at what they did.
But I'm just saying McCarthy's right there too. McCarthy, McCarthy. Drake made in. Throw any interceptions. He had five passing touchdowns. McCarthy has four passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns made in. Have any in his first three games. So I'm just saying they're comparable. They're there.
And there's like you were pointing out at the beginning, there's things McCarthy is already demonstrating, having learned and grown.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: And the, the trajectory is there to build off of.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: And, and that's like someone said that like if you're only looking at the, at the box scores, at the stats that, you know, and you conclude, oh, you know, J.J. mcCarthy is not a good quarterback or like he's trash or we should have, you know, stuck with Darnold. You clearly didn't watch the game. Like, like there's. There is. And this is so cliche but like There is an it factor about guys like jj And I think this is true about Jaden. I think this is true about Drake May. There is like, this sort of it factor where, like, the team. The team is energized by his presence in.
I don't want to kick him while he's down. I think. I think Carson Wentz.
I come away from this season admiring Carson Wentz a lot more than I did before, but just to be frank, I don't think he has an it factor. Like, I don't think people are inspired by him, even though he's, like, ruling it out, grinding it out in a grueling, under. Grueling pain.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: And in that. That sort of motivation is so essential to, like, the quarterback position in a way that even, like, I mean, Justin Jefferson also has an it factor, I think, but I don't think he can energize a team quite the same way.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. When it's coming from your quarterback. I thought about that, too. It's like. Well, Wentz had some games where he put up better stats perhaps than McCarthy did in this Lions game, but there seemed to be. There was an energy there that. That hadn't been there for five weeks or however many he missed. And so. So, yeah, it's like, I don't. I don't know. I will get into our picks at the end, but it's. I'm not. I'm still a little bit at that place where we were last week. It's like, prove it now. Okay. Okay. You. You won. That's good. Can you be consistent, especially.
And maybe we can transition in a little bit more to some of the other aspects of the game. But the defense showed up in a way that I don't think we've seen ever this season.
And they showed up how they were supposed to show up. Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen specifically. Obviously, Cashman was back. Harrison Smith had gonna say. Harrison Phillips. Harrison Smith had his rip, had a full game of snap count and Van Ginkel was there.
If that happens consistently, I think the playoffs are still on the table. Now. This is going to turn into one of the toughest. Like we thought it would be the toughest division in football.
But the way the defense played in that game is exactly. If you're going to beat the Lions, if you're going to beat the Rams of the playoffs or, you know, the Eagles, whatever teams is standing in your way, you have to have a defense that's physical like that.
And the. The thing that I. That stood out to me, watching that game was for as entirely unprepared as they were in the Thursday night game against the Chargers.
I would say.
I don't, I don't think I'm just like, see, saw this. We're talking about a coach who has led the largest comeback in NFL history.
We're, we're talking about a coach who has, who has raised up mediocre quarterbacks every, you know, everywhere he's gone at or, I mean, he's only been here in Minnesota as a head coach, but he's had a number of different quarterbacks that he's had to work with. I would say Sunday's game against the Lions was perhaps his best coached game it looked. And both him and Flores, they looked prepared, dialed in. That's what I wanted to see after. Yeah, after the Rams and Lions game, I wanted to see you guys come and have a plan that, that addressed your issues, fix your issues. Now they had, they had some things going for them offensively. I think that was the first that they had four of the five starters on the O line playing together for the, for a whole game. And so, you know, we hadn't really seen that before, but I still just the plays, even, even the whole way they were working, which I guess Jones had been injured a little bit, maybe we would have seen that earlier. We didn't see it against the Bears or Atlanta or anything. But the, the way they were using Mason and Jones simultaneously fake handing, running a fake handoff to Mason and then screen pass out to Jones. Like, we, we need to see more of that kind of stuff. It's not trick plays, but it's deceptive and it's, it's the kind of thing that's going to be a weapon down the road. And then just the defense, the defense showed up, the defense was ready, they were physical, they were prepared. And I think you mentioned it. It seemed as though perhaps Hargrave and Allen specifically were publicly addressed by the team.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah, just based, just based off of the, the when after every game, Kevin o' Connell hands out game balls, which we haven't seen in a while because even in one of their wins, they didn't show it. Which makes me, you know, is interesting. It feels like maybe it wasn't super, super happy time, even though it was a win.
And he like, he specifically was like, oh, shoot. I don't remember what he said, but it was like kind of like he.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: Specifically said you were challenged.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: I think, yeah, you were challenged and you, and you like stepped up essentially, or you like, met that challenge and they weren't, they weren't like up front. They, you know, he, he actually had to like pull out his quarterback talent and like toss them the ball in the back of the crowd. So it wasn't even like they were like, like hyped and like ready to receive the game ball.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: And, and so like just that whole framing of it felt like me, I wonder if Hargrave and Alan were like, yeah, like publicly addressed in front of the team because then also the team also like really like roared in response when he gave them game balls and stuff. And he does this like he, you know, he did this to Jordan Addison when Addison was benched for the first quarter or the first half in London.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: Just a quarter. Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Quarter. Yeah. And then, and then got the game winning touchdown. Like he, o' Connell beeline it to him, gave him a big hug and then the mics caught like, I'm so effing proud of you.
So he does this like he'll, he'll challenge them, clearly he'll be mad.
And then, and then he just makes a point to lift them back up again, which again, again is like last couple weeks have been rough, but it's like another reason. It's like I, I, I'm kind of ride or die with o' Connell just because I think, you know, we'll see how the rest of the season goes. But he, he has that ability to like lift people up.
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: Which could be, yeah, could be really sappy. But I think the fact that he holds people accountable keeps it from being cheesy. And I think that's the difference between him and McDaniel. McDaniel's Mike Dolphins coach in Miami. Yeah, I mean, I have no idea. I don't, I don't watch their, I don't watch any of their stuff. So like, maybe he does, but he seems like a guy who's like a player's coach but then isn't able to hold them accountable.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: Well, and that's kind of the thing. I think we see that in places. Obviously there's guys like, you know, we've picked on Sirianni quite a bit. It still baffles me how he has the ability to, I don't know, I think Philly culture is probably just a little bit different.
It's, you don't see him as a player's coach, really. It's, it's just like he has his own quirky personality and, but he's winning Super Bowl. He's gone to the super bowl multiple Times he can, he can manage star personalities and reel them in and, and then you have guys like Andy Reid who's like I don't really know what his personality is. He's just like a genius at scheming up offense.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: And amazing. Like he's done well everywhere he's gone. But he's, he doesn't seem like a sappy players coach, but he also doesn't seem like this hard nose kind of whatever.
And then you have the players, coaches, Mike McDaniels being maybe like the, the poster boy of it.
But o' Connell could, could probably come across that way too like super positive, super sappy and, and I think like the longer his tenure goes, the more we see this where not only do we get a level of honesty at the podium that I think plays into some of the, the media's attempt to like read between the lines and is like what's going on? And, and then you had, I mean we had a couple of weeks there where media had narratives going about the team that were just crazy and every now and then you'd get a peek into the clubhouse and it's like I don't, I don't think they are quite like how the media is painting it and, and now that obviously there's a win, everybody feels good after a win. I do think there probably was tension. I don't doubt that when you have the adversity that they face, there's going to be a level of tension and, and general frustration. But in terms of o' Connell losing the locker room and all that, what I was going to say is we see honesty to media and then we've seen this like no BS column out kind of hard nose almost by Kevin o' Connell married to his players coach. Like really the value and building up a good culture and so forth and yeah, I'm with you. I'm ride or die. There's not really anything that wants Jim Harbaugh even though they punched us 37 to 10.
Like some of those things are learning curves for Kevin o' Connell and Brian Flores.
He has yet to win a playoff game. So there's a lot that he has to learn yet. I have no doubt. But is there, is there a guy that could. Can learn it and do it and go the distance, develop a young qb?
I'm very confident o' Connell can do it.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah. There's.
Sometimes I've worried that if I was following Kevin o', Connell, o', Connell, like if I was under his leadership, like the way he talks about quarterbacks makes me sometimes worry and I think I got a little bit worried about this the last couple of weeks is like, is he so, so focused on developing McCarthy and developing the quarterbacks that, that the rest of the team is getting neglected? And sometimes it kind of bothers me like where he talks about. It's like, yeah, you know, what did he say something about? Oh, he was gonna, he was gonna put on Pat. He's gonna strap up and lace up and imitate Lamar Jackson for, for the deep, you know, to play it, to prepare the defense. It's just like, like he so often refers to his own like failure in a self deprecating way that I'm just like all he thinks about is quarterbacking and the quarterback development and how he, his career didn't turn out the way he wanted to. Clearly, it's clearly a driving factor for him is how he was treated.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: And so I've worried, I was like, is, is he's kind of fixated on that, that he's not bringing the rest of team along. And then you hear things about like Justin Jefferson sneaking up on him with a mask, you know, during the hall, you know, Halloween practice or whatever. And yeah, and you know, I don't really know, you know, how the defense is responding to him and stuff. But like to me it just seems very clearly like, like you were saying, he has not lost the locker room. There's a certain freeness between him and some of his players. I mean this week he indicated that he basically didn't talk to the team. Like he pulled the captains aside and said, hey, this is on you guys to mo. Like to get the message across to the team and, and then like the night before when they have their, like they have like some sort of powwow, all of the captains address the team, which is like, however, you know, there's a bunch of them and, and so like there is, there is like this way of like he's, he is empowering the team and causing them to take ownership in a way that is incredible leadership. Like he, he clearly.
I don't know if it's just intuitive, Tim, but like he clearly has thought a lot about his leadership approach and, and he's incredibly, incredibly intentional about developing his coaches and his, and his team that yeah, I want to see how the rest of the season goes. Like obviously if they, if they fall apart again, I don't know that you, you certainly don't come back. I mean maybe you do come back from that, but like it seems like, you know, if they would fall apart again and there'd be like, more of the same that we had the last couple weeks, then you would, you would start to wonder, like, oh, did he actually lose the locker room? But, like, if, if this trajectory, from the way we saw them rebound against the Lions, like, we haven't won a game, not in like five years. In, in.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: In the Ford Stadium against the Lions and in the place where they got slaughtered, essentially. Like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I thought about that too. His, his fixation on developing quarterback.
Even, like, I think that comes out even in his scheming. And we've talked about that some.
And so I do think, you know, how for any of us, there's an event in life that shapes kind of what we end up doing with our life and pursuing and finding purpose and passion. And often that thing is kind of a wound or there's a sort of baggage that comes with that. And I think that's probably true. Just as a fan, like observing o', Connell, it.
There's. There's a level of baggage there that I'm sure Kevin has to continue to process through. I was going to say manage. I don't, I don't know if it's. Yeah. How it is.
But the things that give me hope kind of. Yeah. What you were talking about, some of how the, The. The players respond to him, but then even the fact that he meets with guys like Harrison Smith once a week, one on one, like he's meeting with defensive players, he's meeting with. We don't get this. You don't have sound bites like you did in Cincinnati coming out. Now, Minnesota's offense hasn't been the Bengals offense, but where, where you have players speaking to the media about how, like, defense has to get a stop. You know, we got to play complimentary football, offense, offensive players saying that we don't have that, that kind of rumbling coming around. Even, even the.
Oh, was it Alec Lewis or whatever that. That wrote an article talking about tension in locker room and stuff. Like he was kind of pulling on some stuff back in spring training or training camps, spring training, baseball.
And so I, I just think that Minnesota's faced plenty of adversity.
If there was a breaking down of culture there, there would have been a couple of times, even quite frankly, the way Carson Wentz was handled in that last game, like, could have been a classic time. Now Wentz can't come. Came out in defense of the Vikings for that. Was he told to do that?
I don't know.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: You know, I don't I mean, he has no obligation.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.
Well, what I'm trying to say is I don't doubt that that's a factor that for sure. You know, fellow coaches around o' Connell or mentors in Connell's life probably have pointed out or do point out and could be like. Could be the Achilles heel of sorts of.
[00:29:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: On one hand, he's going to be very successful at developing quarterbacks. On the other hand, he may be so focused on quarterbacks that he. That he struggles to win. But o' Connell seems to be a healthy dude and. And a.
At least aware enough to get people around him to help him lead a whole team, even if his specialty is the quarterback development.
Yeah, it'll be. It'll be interesting. It definitely seeing them come out, if they would have lost to the Lions, that's what I expected.
And then it would have been sort of like, you know, we'll see what the rest of the season does. But the fact that they beat the Lions makes the rest of the season look more exciting and ready to watch. I have another message that my video can't be accessed here.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: Yeah, you're.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: We should. Let's look at our picks here.
Yeah, you have.
[00:30:37] Speaker B: While you're pulling that up, I'm gonna say I'm looking at the Minnesota schedule and with. With Chicago coming up, two games against Green Bay and then the Commanders, Cowboys and Giants.
I think. I think our. Our.
Our basement is nine wins.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
Yeah. And I think, you know, the fact that we have the Lions and the Bears to play at home.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:06] Speaker A: It's like, sure, we went into their house and beat them. They could maybe come and beat us, but it'll be interesting. I'm really curious to see how they respond. How they respond to this Ravens game is going to say a lot. If they're. Even if they lose, if they're competitive and close and it's tough. Yeah, that'll give me a lot of encouragement taking it. I think we could. We could pull something out here. It'll be. Yeah, it'll be fun to watch you. You are.
I don't know if you walked away with last week, but I did not do well.
6 and 8.
You were 10 and 4. So you're now in the lead at 85 and 49.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: I didn't know we had four games difference last week.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: Well, yeah, that was just. In week nine, we were tied and now I just gave up the lead. It's like I'm the Minnesota Twins crashing and burning in the second half we track together. Except I'm going to go with the Patriots over the Bucks.
I want the Bucks to win more of a.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: But you need to differentiate.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: And I think it's likely. I don't know. I'm not ready to give up on the Texans yet either. I'm going to.
I'm going to say the Texans beat the Jaguars.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: That's fair. That's fair.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: I had the Vikings in this list. Oh, yeah. I had this weird feeling of the Ravens.
[00:32:33] Speaker B: I had this intrusive thought when I was predicting the Bills Dolphins as terrible and like they traded people away and stuff. As terrible as the Dolphins are, I had this intrusive thought of like, huh, I should. I should choose the Dolphins. I just want to say that because, like, if it happens, I want it on record. I don't actually want to put my name to it.
Yeah, it's a cow. Is. This is the cowards way.
But you know, division games can be. Can be weird and the Dolphins are hosting and those, those two teams particularly often don't do well in like, each other's stadiums.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah.
So we have, we both have the Ravens beating the Vikings, which will be disheartening. That'll mean both of JJ's games at homes or losses.
I think for me it's just like, I want to see it consistently. It's a, it's, it's a great game. Let's see, let's see you go out and do it before I trust you and feel like I could pick you again.
And Jackson, Lamar Jackson is back looking his normal self. He's very, he's going to be very.
He's going to be a big challenge for the, for Flores and the defense.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: I think if Hargrave and Allen can go out and be physical and manhandle the front like they did against the Lions, that'll be huge that they shut down the run. Perhaps one of the best. I mean, he is one of the best. I was going to say perhaps the best running back in the league. Jameer Gibbs was a basic non factor in that game. And, and can they do that against Henry?
2.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Two games before against the Eagles too. They. Not those players. But, but the Vikings shut down Saquon Barkley.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: Exactly.
Now the challenge here, like, hurts, I guess a little bit, but even more so is you have a very quarterback that's very capable of running. Goff's not a runner. Like you could get pressure to golf and, and disrupt him. So it'll be interesting to see how it Turns out the Ravens defense hasn't been good when you look at the grand scheme of the year, but lately they've been looking like their normal selves. And so those are things that I'm just.
I'll stick with the Ravens would love to be able to. To be wrong on that pick this weekend. And, and that'll definitely change. Purple.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Purple game.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: The. What do you mean, the purple game? They're all purple.
[00:35:15] Speaker B: Both. No, just both. It's the two.
[00:35:19] Speaker A: The Ravens are purple. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm gonna start giving the.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: The Niners their due, Roger.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: While the Niners and the Rogers Steelers. Their.
Their love. They. They don't go away.
They didn't really do anything at the deadline, and so I'm not sure that they're going to do much in the playoffs.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: But I also, I also forgot that Joe Alt is out for the season.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I wondered.
I was like, man, they. Because they, they have both. Both of their all pro tackles are currently injured right now.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: And by the way, Joe Alt is out for the same injury that McCarthy was out for. He came back sooner.
The Vikings held McCarthy out until his. His ankle was totally, totally healed.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: That's all. Joe Alt is out with a high sprain. High ankle.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: Well, maybe I should go clarify that before I say that confidently. He was out for a high ankle sprain, came back and is now out again. And I was thinking it was related to his ankle, but.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: Okay. Because he's out for the season now, right?
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah. The packers and the Eagles. The Packers. If I'm a Packers fan, it'll be an interesting game. The packers have had some big wins this year, but if I'm a Pack packers fan, this is the.
I mean, this is how I am with, with my team, with my fan.
When teams that do something in the playoffs beat the teams they're supposed to beat, like maybe they lose to some. Maybe they don't have a super sexy record, but they beat the teams they're supposed to beat. And the packers haven't done that this year. Their two losses come against teams they should have beaten.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And Jordan Love, Browns and Panthers.
And then a tie with the Cowboys.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: And then a tie with the Cowboys. Jordan Love didn't throw any touchdown passes. I think he threw one interception on Sunday.
Yeah, I, I'm not even really sure how to think about the packers because they're on one hand, you know, the way they played the Lions, the way they.
Who else did.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: They.
[00:37:40] Speaker A: They beat somebody else pretty strongly.
[00:37:43] Speaker B: The.
Yeah, they played the. They Played the Lions, the Giants.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: No, I'm looking it up here real quick.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: The Packers. The packers feel like, oh, the commanders, they.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, the commanders. Pretty good. Well, guess it was nine points.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: The packers feel like a team where it's just like, they are who we thought they were. Like. Like people are out here putting them.
Putting them in the super bowl.
And.
And I'm just like, okay, may, maybe, but I don't think so. I don't think they're. They're the team that you think they are. And I don't know why you think they are other than that they're the Packers. Like, they're the packers. And you're. And you're hoping for a narrative that love is like, far two or five, three. You know, like they love. People love. Comparing that packers have had three quarterbacks while the Vikings have had, you know, 30 or whatever.
[00:38:43] Speaker A: They. The.
Jordan love is the biggest. That. Yeah. That's why I wasn't that nervous at the Micah Parsons trade is because their lack of edge. Rushing isn't the thing standing between them and a Super bowl win.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: Jordan love.
Now if Jordan Love shows up and plays like he did against the Lions, right. Which really hasn't been seen since we. I should look at his game against. Because they did. They put up 35 against the Steelers.
Let me look. That was a pretty good game. Jordan Love. 360 yards, three touchdowns. So, yeah, I mean, if Jordan Love shows up like that, they could go deep, but then he turns around and shows up or doesn't show up against the Panthers. And so, I mean, I guess based off of the pattern, they probably will beat the Eagles and then lose to the Giants or something. But the.
I think the Eagles are getting it turned around. This is around the same time last year they started turning it around. And so I would.
I'm going with the Eagles.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: The Vikings. The Vikings were like a get right game for their locker room culture.
Like, they were already, like, pulling out. I mean, obviously they. They were winning.
But AJ Brown decided to simmer down. I was like, okay, I can. I can. I can stay here.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: Oh, we knew it would be that way. Vikings get the Eagles right. Giants get their moment in the sun beating the Eagles. And the Vikings turn in and it's like, hey, do you need some help getting back on track here?
We'll give it to you. Okay.
[00:40:27] Speaker B: All right.
[00:40:27] Speaker A: It is ex. It's exciting. It's exciting to be a Vikings fan. We have QB development underway. Barrington, any major injuries? Hopefully that doesn't happen more hopefully it's a fun second half of the season.
But like we've been saying, hang in there. Don't ride the emotional, dramatic waves of media narratives or stay in there or.
[00:40:57] Speaker B: Just like, it is gonna be a roller coaster and, like, part of the thrill of the roller coasters that you have ups and downs.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I'm not saying it's not going to be a roller coaster. I'm saying don't ride the. The roller coaster narrative ride of, like, Minnesota made the wrong decision. They should have kept Darnold and Jones and, like, somebody floated the idea that the coaching staff could be gone at the end of the year. Like, what in the world?
[00:41:29] Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe like the O line coach. And also, I don't. I've never loved Wes Phillips. Kevin o' Connell brought West Phillips from. From the Rams.
He doesn't seem like an inspiring person to me, but.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: Although, wasn't it his idea to do that screen, that fake handoff screen pass to Jones?
[00:41:49] Speaker B: It might have been, yeah.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: Anyways, I don't know. We will. We will see how this week goes and then we'll know if.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: If we are, we might be all down in the dumps again next week.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: McCarthy's a bust and Kevin O' Connell is the worst.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Coach Casey has to go.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: Why?
Mr. Speedy, who couldn't catch a ball last year, who was a bust of a draft, was.
Came up big with sticky fingers to close out the game against the division rivals.
[00:42:19] Speaker B: Sure did.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Okay, we'll see you all next week.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: All right.
