Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello and welcome back to the Skullcast. My name is Asher Whitmer. I'm here with my brother Christopher.
We love football, we enjoy tracking the Vikings. We want to see them win one or multiple Super Bowls before we die if the Lord willeth. But that's not going to be this year. This is not the year for the Vikings to win a Super bowl. And there's a lot of stuff we are going to talk about, dive into, rant about.
But Chris Brown, I'm going to kick it off with you. What is your instant reaction in light of the Week 11 loss?
Once again McCarthy has this beautiful game winning drive to take the lead, only there's just enough time on the clock and Vikings special teams breaks down, gives up a big return and the and the Bears are able to win a kick a field goal to win it. Yeah. What are, what's your instant reaction?
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Instant reaction was very discouraged. I was very discouraged and mad.
I couldn't believe because I wasn't watching the game. I was at work and so I had had the game pulled up on in on a mobile device and was watching the like scores come through and I was so mad. I was so mad at the Packers. I couldn't believe that they got the, the game winning the Bears goal. Yeah, the, the Bears can't believe that they got the game winning field goal because I was like the whole game I was like they were staying in it and it was, you know, came down, it was 16 to 10.
I was like they, I think they can do this. Like I think they can is 16 to 10 right? Or was it 16 and 9?
[00:02:03] Speaker A: No, it was 1610 and then they, they scored to make it 17, 16. But then the, but then, but then.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah, the special teams just like let up a massive return and so I mean got a field goal.
It, it felt, yeah, it felt very discouraging. I think, I think there's part of me and I'm just going to be this incessant maybe like positive. Maybe it's a survival tactic.
I was very discouraged because there's, there's all this up in the air about McCarthy that. But then also it does feel like that game like it does feel like that game was, was like the turning point for the season. Like if we could have won that game I could see us going on a run and I still see us possibly going on a run, but I just think it's going to be very hard to go on a run and to be able to make the playoffs.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's so it was an awful game. But on McCarthy's standpoint, like that final drive that he had was beautiful, looked great.
You wonder why can't he play like that, be that decisive and consistent in his mechanics as he was on that final drive.
But there's also, we talk about, or people talk about McCarthy just has to manage the Ferrari. Just drive the Ferrari well enough and we knew there's going to be this up and down with McCarthy.
Yeah, but you can't have Addison dropping balls, Hawkinson dropping balls, stealing even borderline a drop, borderline a bad throw. McCarthy had a bad game, but it's accentuated when the Ferrari isn't even driving like a Ferrari.
I thought O', Connell, McConnell, I thought O' Connell fixed some of the issues in terms like he ran the ball more maybe, maybe they should have done it more. There again, I didn't, I wasn't able to watch the whole game.
So I'm not sure some of the specific plays where he opts to try to throw it as opposed to run, run it.
But the biggest piece for me was just like this team is not an 11 win team. Like it's a development season for McCarthy for sure. He's up and down and I'm sure we'll get into some of the hot takes and the exclamatory thoughts that people have about McCarthy, but this team is not a playoff winning team. The team is bad. The team is not, they're not consistent. They don't even seem like they want to win that much. I don't know if they thought it would come easy.
You have flashes where, where they looked more prepared, where they come in and I'll have a hot take on my pick for this week because they have an ability to go in places where they, you know, maybe struggle that last year and they have some improvement but then against teams that they should be able to win. And the, the thing about it is, and I want to give Bears fans their, their due diligence because it was an ugly game, period. I, if I'm a Bears fan, I'm, I'm feeling about as miserable as I was a Vikings fan. Like, no, neither of the, it should have ended in a tie probably. Like neither team played well, both quarterbacks had a 50% completion rate. And so on one hand I'm like, the Bears are not a, I don't see them sustaining the division lead. However, the Bears are winning the ugly games and that's that those are the teams to watch out for. Teams that can win the ugly games when they can stack ugly wins together, obviously you need more than that to move on, but they're finding ways to win. Believe it or not, Caleb Williams is leading the league in fourth quarter game winning drives this year.
And so they, they have it together.
And I think some of what we saw from Ben Johnson early on in the season of, of kind of throwing the fire hydrant at Caleb may be starting to pay off. Which is partly what I wonder if O' Connell is doing with McCarthy, because he's definitely not protecting McCarthy like some national analysts have suggested. Floated. He's, he's putting him in some intentionally difficult situations and McCarthy's not looking too good. But it was another winnable game. The Vikings could have won it.
I thought they would win it. And like you said, I'm not sure what that means for the rest of the season. The fact that they lost that game because there's really only one potential winnable game on their schedule. If you're going by like facing an equal matchup.
However, the Vikings beat the Lions.
Yeah, they played with the Eagles.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: I think that's, that's part of, part. I think that's part of my thing and my optimism is that they've been in these games like they've stayed in the games. They've, they have, yeah, they've been, been right there with this. The Steelers, the Eagles, and they beat the Lions and the Ravens. They honestly should have been able to beat the Ravens and the Bears. There were chances, there were moments in that game where if they, in each of those games where they could have taken them down.
And so like they're playing really poorly, but also their quarterback is playing really poorly and when he locks in, they drive down the field and score every time.
I think, I think like some of the stuff that is encouraging is like the O line is playing really well.
Donovan Jackson didn't allow any pressures.
I don't, I don't think there was a single sack all game.
You know, the defense was playing decently, obviously like the Bears offense was playing terribly. But like Dallas Turner is, is coming, coming up. He had a, he had a decent game. I think that the disappointment with Turner is largely overblown. I think, I think what we're seeing with Turner is also development that, that fans just don't have the patience for and maybe like, I think he's being taught how to do the simple things really, really well, which is also, I think what they're trying to do with McCarthy.
He, his like mental, like number one. There was like one delay of game. So they, they fixed that from last.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Week and there were very few penalties, weren't there?
[00:09:16] Speaker B: I. Yeah, yeah. I don't actually know the number, but certainly wasn't a part of the narrative of the game.
And his, his like knowledge of what is going on on the field seems to be, well, like he's making good decisions, he's just throwing incredibly inaccurate.
And, and I think the problem that he has, it's fairly obvious and straightforward. You look at like, you know, J.T. o.
Sullivan with the QB school and different people who are analyzing his play, breaking it down, and it all seems to be about like his stance and his body and like his throwing motion, which to me those, those are mechanics, those are things you can fix. Like, like whether or not you're a leader, whether or not you're, you're mentally in the game.
All of those things are a lot harder to teach.
Mechanics over time you can fix if you have the patience for it.
So I don't know, I don't know if McCarthy has like the capability to have like a one game where it just clicks and then we go on a run.
Because if it does click, I think we can go on a run. You say there's one, there's one game winnable game.
There's one winnable game. Maybe if like the Baltimore and Ravens, the Baltimore Ravens and Bears team shows up. The team that played them, I think they're all winnable games. If, if the team that played the Lions shows up.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's. What if the team that played the Lions, if the team that shows up on the game winning drive or in the fourth quarter of the Bears or you know, there's. We have seen this team be able to do it. I also, I'm not sure what to make of some of the comments from Jefferson and so forth. People, people definitely want to create this conflict going on and I'm sure, I'm sure there's tension. I have no doubt there's tension because nothing looks like what they wanted it to. But I also think that maybe it's appropriate for Jefferson to get a little agitated.
Addison. Like these guys need to take personal accountability too in their own effort and, and, and play. And so what if there's enough. It seemed like defensively was that back with the Lions game where it seemed like Hargrave and Allen had been specifically addressed and they ever since they've been way more physical at the line.
Maybe there needs to be a little bit of something like that with the offense too. And obviously it's it's hard. You have to do it carefully and more. What I was going to say is maybe it's coming organically because some of some of Jefferson's comments sound people want to take it as though he's frustrated with the offense.
They also sound like Jefferson acknowledging what we're all seeing. Like, yeah, you receivers aren't necessarily making it easy for him either by how many drop passes or something. Jefferson typically doesn't drop passes, but there have been times where he seemed to run the wrong route or like there was some confusion or something that has happened with McCarthy and obviously, I don't know, maybe Jefferson, he took ownership for that in the Week 1 game with the Bears and maybe that was just kind of a veteran move, captain like move. Maybe it is McCarthy actually misjudging where, where he was supposed to throw that ball and so forth. But there, there's definitely these aspects we've seen this team, they. They have the skill set it and so there's the hope of like, man, they could break off and go on a run. I think McCarthy will be that way. Like, I there's a part of me that thinks once things click for McCarthy in a consistent manner, he'll go from Lee what I think he's leading the league in interceptions right now to to just carrying his team. I don't know that he'll ever be a yards leader of passing yards. I don't know. I'm not. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out what we all are. We're six games into this.
But he seems to be the kind of guy that can, as you said, with his leadership, his mentality and learning the game and what he needs to do to direct a win for his team. I think they could go on a run.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: But right now they're not doing it. It doesn't look that hopeful.
I did look it up. They had two penalties against the Bears for 15 yards, for 15 penalty yards, which is phenomenal compared to their 13 against the Ravens. That alone, if they would have had two penalties against the Ravens, they probably won't win that game. Yeah.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: But yeah, that's where it's like.
And I think, I think my, so there was those instant reactions. I think my like, overall kind of weak reaction is I, I cannot stand this fan base on Twitter.
I and I used to get super defensive about this because, like, I think you meet if we were in Minnesota interacting primarily with Vikings fans, I'm sure it'd be like all over the place, whatever. But the people on Twitter are so. And maybe this is just more.
Obviously, this is more of a reflection of Twitter and the types of people on Twitter. Yeah, just so reactionary and, like, digging for drama. And, like, the real story is that it's just very boring. Like, I don't think, like, even. Even, like, our guys at Purple Daily like, trying to, like, say that the ownership doesn't have the patience for this.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: You. I was just gonna say that you.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: Listen to other people who talk about ownership and talk about the facts of ownership.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: This.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: This ownership group is very patient. They were with Mike Zimmer for eight years. Like, yeah, they.
They. They were with. I mean, Spielman wasn't in his role until Zimmer, but, like, Spielman was in the organization for, like, 12 years. Like, like, I. I don't. And even. Even their own guy, their insider guy that they bring on.
Shoot, I forget what his name is.
I find him mildly annoying, but. John, no purple dailies.
Oh, he does like, updates.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Doogie.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Doogie.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah, he.
[00:16:09] Speaker B: He.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: He.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: He really downplayed it. He's like, ownership loves o'. Connell. They're not going to give up on Kwesi yet. Like, like, if heads roll, it's going to probably be like, Grigson or, like, you know, someone further down.
I think Locked on Vikings made a good point that. That if there's a problem with McCarthy's development, the QB coach, which is McCowan, is the one who really would be responsible for that. Like, obviously, the head coach, our particular head coach, has a lot to do with McCarthy's development, but he's not. He's not doing the.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: He's not. By McCarthy doing the drills, you know, I mean, I don't entirely know for sure, but. But I.
So the idea that there's going to be this big, dramatic, like this season's going to end in this kind of fallout, to me, just.
Just makes me lose respect for a lot of people.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Maybe.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Maybe I'll be wrong. I've been wrong about a lot of things this year, but I think I got started on this rant by just talking about, like, this fan base and our impatience with development. Like, it's. It is going to take development and it's going to take patience, and I rant about this every week, I feel like.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: But our. Our show is at risk of becoming a little boring, probably if it was ever exciting, because we're just saying the same.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Give us a game to rave about.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: I've thought about that. With the score, north is. I I've lost a little bit of interest in them because it feels like they're going the route or of what's going to get views and clicks and which they call themselves the people's show.
They're leaning into what the people are online are saying and wanting and that's all this drama and so forth. But it feels hypocritical to me how, how you can go from just earlier this year praising Kwesi's moves at free agency, praising OConnell even. Even as early as the spring training and just the development that they've been putting into. And then all of a sudden when we have the ride of development, be up and down and I think in full transparency, I was unrealistic or just wasn't aware of exactly how challenging it is to develop a QB.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah, by.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: By predicting 11 wins, a playoff win, all that. Like, that was.
That was ambitious. You know, obviously I'm wrong on that.
Would be a miracle if they win every single game from here on out and get. Get to the 11 wins. But the.
What was I going to say with that? Oh, yeah, it's. It's the up and down. Like when you actually watch the team, when you hear them talking about what's going on within each other, when you hear Jefferson talk, when you hear o' Connell talk.
I think o' Connell has a very specific plan that he's putting into place. I like to see the fact that he ran the ball more.
Could that. Could that be something they continue to improve? Perhaps. But I also think give it a year from now, McCarthy may be a better passer because of being challenged in this regard. And the way o' Connell runs the ball currently, maybe valuable may. May. May look totally different. It feels frustrating because McCarthy's not there yet. And so it's like these are reachable games and we as a fan base just want the win. And yeah, quite frankly, I don't think o' Connell is focused on the win right now. I don't think o' Connell ever want, like, even, even the way Score north is depicted, like, oh, everyone was looking for a deep playoff run this year. It's like, oh, I'm not. I'm not sure that's true. Like, when you, when you listen to o' Connell and the coaching staff talk heading into spring training, heading into the year. Yeah, they wanted to build off of last year, but everyone knew they were going into a developed McCarthy year.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: And is it worse than what they hoped it would be? I'm sure, like, right.
It. It has Looked very ugly. Yeah. It's okay that McCarthy is off the Mahomes mountain of Nick Wright's tears quarterback ranking right now, but.
But I think it's absolutely ridiculous and hypocritical to be jumping ship this fast. It was just like, this is the ride.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: This is, to be fair, to score North Judd was advocating. He's like, I think they have to play him the rest of the seven.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: Games.
And. And positive Phil was. Was, you know, talking about, like, Vikings fans need for patience and do we have the stomach for it? I think what I was frustrated about was, like, some of the narratives they were that Judd was proposing. And again, again, it's like it's their hot take segment and whatever. And yeah, maybe I'm just not a hot takes guy, so. But. But even beyond them, I. They're kind of the big. You know, they're kind of the big. Especially, like, Twitter, Vikings fandom guys. But, like, yeah, just people I see in. In the tweets, just talking about, you know, just totally. Yeah, like you said, totally writing McCarthy off, saying just insane things about Koc. Like, I just.
What do people.
What do people expect? Like, you fire KOC and you just. You start the whole thing over again. And I just. I don't know what people want.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: But.
And. And the thing that's. Really. Sorry, did I cut you off?
[00:22:12] Speaker B: No, go for it.
[00:22:13] Speaker A: I was gonna say, like, and this is why. This is very boring. Like, we have to just acknowledge it's a very awkward time to be a Vikings fan because you see.
You see McCarthy dapping up his receivers afterward, and it's. You know, it looks. Or. Or his. The way he takes ownership and stuff at the podium and so forth, and it looks like, oh, you know, either he's an extreme narcissist or he's a really good leader.
Rallying people together. They're going to work things through.
And it could go either way. Like, it could go that he never figures things out and this all goes down as super embarrassing. And he's the laughingstock of the NFL. Like, that's how this could go.
Right now, quite frankly, he is somewhat of the laughing stock of the NFL. Yeah, he does a better job almost at throwing to the other team than to his own team. And that's not quite fair. He has to, what, averaging maybe two interceptions a game.
But the.
The other piece to it is that he could get things figured out. His team continues to ride with him and the confidence that his O line is at, like, even. Even that final drive.
Who's 76. Is that Jackson or is it Freeze? It might. Or Fries. It may have been Fries. Might be Fryers had like turned around and was jumping up and down with him when he threw the touchdown pass to, to Addison. And so I like it seems like they're still rooting for him. They're still, they're, they're with him in the development and so it could, it could just be him. His engagement. Like quite frankly, I don't like to see young QBs and you see this some with Michael Penix.
Little bit with Caleb Williams less maybe this year he and he and Johnson are definitely together more but where they, they have a rough outing and they just kind of go and sit on the bench and they kind of go and yeah, but McCarthy's there with his receivers. He's there talking to O'. Connell. He's there with McCowan.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Yes. It's awkward. We don't know. McCowan may be a horrible QB. Coach McConnell's plan might not work. McCarthy might be a failure of a QB or within the next 15 games a lot could turn around and things look significantly better.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: I. So there's this guy I follow on Twitter, Quincy Avery. I think he's a former quarterback, but he's, he's now. He does like quarterback coaching and analysis and stuff. And he was talking about, he was talking about how he's like it is, it is norm. Like you cannot bypass the, the sort of struggle of an, of developing a young QB. He's like you have people like C.J. stroud and, and Jaden Daniels who have incredible rookie seasons but both of them regressed in their second season. You have Caleb Williams who's kind of, kind of a bad rookie season and now like he's kind of strugglingly putting it together.
And you know, I honestly think the Bears, by switching head coaches the Bears probably saved Caleb Williams career. Like he'll probably go on to be like a pretty decent if not great quarterback which wouldn't have happened I think if with a second. But like Bryce, Bryce Young, like Bryce Young was benched.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: The only reason Bryce Young got a starting job back at least last year, he may have gotten it this year but like was because of like an unfortunate car accident that Andy Dalton had.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: Like.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: You know, Joe Burrow is maybe in my lifetime. Joe Burrow and Mahomes are maybe the two like golden boys who you know, Mahomes sat for a year and then had an incredible, you know, first year starting. Joe Burrow, you know, played great, got injured and Then went to the super bowl the second year. And so like he, he had a pretty good season but you know, there again he was. Joe Burrow was injured for. This is something I just now thought about, like we don't talk about with McCarthy. Joe Burrow was injured like within six weeks, I think of his rookie season. So he was like out and then went on a Super bowl run.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: Anyways, injuries do continue to plague him and so.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah, they do.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: I think that's probably more a reflection of just the horrific organization that he plays for who spends all their money on three offensive players.
And then it doesn't get him an O line, doesn't get him a defense.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
So we have a quarterback, young rookie quarterback who's already led a pretty phenomenal fourth quarter comeback, second half comeback. He does it once again, has this game winning drive. Looks beautiful. Amazing.
Mr. Darnold over there faces the Rams again, throws four interceptions, they lose the game.
I want to be careful because I want Darnold to succeed. I really do. I kind of grew an affection for him last year. We saw how like he had games where he literally did look like Mahomes.
[00:27:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: And it's frustrating that people nationally are giving him a little more recognition now. And now because McCarthy's struggling, everybody's like, well, maybe it wasn't so much O' Connell that helped him develop. Maybe it was Darnold had it all along. All this. It's like, okay, then the narratives, it's both hands. Like Donald had it there. He needed a coach to unlock it.
But this is why I'm not jumping the bandwagon yet. It's like, I want Darnold to succeed, but I'm very skeptical that Darnold's going to succeed in the biggest moments. He may have some really good stats, some. I think he'll lead his teams to 500 ball and better lead his teams to playoffs. Hopefully he'll win playoff games.
But I would rather see the guy that has the it factor to have guys rally around him and then to orchestrate comebacks and, and step up a certain aura about him. Like when things are on the line, you see something change in McCarthy's own aura. And you saw that drastically with Darnold. Is his own aura changed when, when he could not figure out defense, when he like, things just weren't working.
And I don't, I don't. I'm not saying this to be like, oh, the Seahawks are going to collapse. Rather I'm saying as Vikings fans, we've, we've seen that before. We've seen that part of Darnold before. We saw the part of Darnold that leds you to a Phenomen season. And here we are middle of November, looking at a playoff spot, and we're about to run things down for the division or whatever. Like, we've. We've had that with Darnold.
So come talk to me after Donald's won a game or two in the playoffs, and then I'll be like, hey, you know, yeah, the Vikings could have maybe invested in him, but I'm also totally okay with taking this ride, failing in my predictions of them winning a playoff game this year. And who knows, maybe the Bears will have gone worse to first and the Vikings will have gone almost first to dead last this year. And everyone can laugh at the Vikings, but I think, like, I'd rather do that ride and see what O' Connell can do developing McCarthy and what could be improved beyond that.
Yeah, I'm enjoying the ride.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: Even though the Mondays and Tuesdays following the weeks are not near as.
I'm not as amped to listen to football content as last year when everything was going well. Yeah.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Yeah, there's been. I just have not engaged nearly as much every. Every week. Unless. Unless it's, you know, the week after the Lions or whatever. Then. Then I. I engaged a lot more, but every week I diminished a little bit more just because, yeah, I. I don't. I don't enjoy losing, like, but more than that, I just think.
I don't even think it's the losing that I'm so discouraged about. It is.
It is just kind of the way people talk in these really crazy extremes where it's like, oh, it's the worst. It's got to be fired or there's going to be drama or whatever. It's just like, I. I just don't think that's true. Like, kind of going back to what you were saying about Sam Darnold, though, like. Like, I. I do think that Sam Darnold has it within him to take a team to the super bowl. And I. I hope.
I hope he does one day win a Super Bowl. I think that would be an incredible story. I think that would be an incredible story for the Vikings, like, Like to play a part in that. Obviously, it would sting, like, if. If within the next year or two, Sam Darnold is winning a Super bowl trophy.
And we think, oh, man, we had him in our building. He was our guy. Like, we were crazy about him. That, you know, 2024 season.
That would hurt, that would sting, and there would be thoughts in my head of like, maybe we should have kept him.
But I think at the end of the day, no matter what, there was. There was no other option. Like, there was.
There was no realistic world. Unless, maybe. Unless he won. You know, he ended the season completely differently last year. I don't think there was ever a world in which it was realistic that he would stay.
I didn't want him to stay. I still am glad we moved on from him because finding a young quarterback in the long run is the better strategy than.
Especially for this. Especially for this franchise, because we've done this veterans thing time and time again.
We had Dante Culpepper, who was, you know, he was a great young quarterback. He's our last, like, great quarter young quarterback that we drafted. And then it was a bunch of veterans, and then Teddy Bridgewater was probably going to be a franchise quarterback, but then he blew out his knee.
Christian Ponder was a bus. Like, like, we have gone through the cycle of. Let's try this veteran quarterback. We've had, you know, old.
Old Eagles quarterback. What's his name? McNabb. We had McNabb. We had Matt Castle, we had Sam Bradford, we had Kirk Cousins.
You know, the list goes on. We've tried that.
I don't want to go 12 and 5 and lose in the playoffs. Like, I want to find someone to win a Super Bowl.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And fans need to hold. We need to stand accountable. Because nobody wanted the Vikings to resign. Sam Darnold last year, that was fans, I don't think. Vikings fans.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:59] Speaker A: Like, that. That was not the talk of Twitter last year. That, like, in January, February of 2025 this year, everybody.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: Everybody was out for blood.
[00:34:09] Speaker A: People. People would have been furious with the front office if they shelled out more money to keep Sam to stay.
Nobody had confidence in Daniel Jones. Like, the idea that Daniel Jones could become what he is with the Colts was far from people's minds. Like, we didn't even see him play with the Vikings at all. And so the. The idea that somehow the front office was so foolish for letting these people go, it's like you're.
You're totally reading things. In hindsight, you're completely having recency bias. And it's just. It doesn't make sense. If you think that they were a part of unlocking these things in these.
These players and they chose instead to stick with McCarthy, that means they feel they can develop him into something. And yes, it is a risk, but ownership was on board with it. OConnell's on board with it. Quasi's on board with it. There's a lot invested in this and they're not just doing it half heartedly. So I think, yeah, I think we have to like, be honest about what we were, what we were wanting and in for the ride as it is.
Yeah, let's. Let's go through our picks here as we wind down this week's episode.
I took out the win.
I think I should get a bonus. I don't know, five wins because I got exactly 11 wins on week 11.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: But I don't know.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: You're still in the lead, going 10 and 5. Basically the differential was we were right alongside each other. I picked the Bills to win, you picked the Buccaneers to win. And so I got that win ahead of you this next week.
My thought process is this. We're at week 12. If I'm going to gain ground on Christopher, I've got to start hitting extra bases. I've got to start hitting home runs. I got to do to keep the football metaphors. We got to start getting the 20, 25 yard chunks, not just these little checkdowns.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: I'm about. So. So you're saying I'm about to pull way ahead. There's about to be a blowout.
[00:36:30] Speaker A: It's going to go either way. This is an awkward week of picks because either, either I'm like, well, I can't. I can't even remember. I'll just show this either. I'm going to pull out. So we're, we are neck and neck for the most part.
[00:36:44] Speaker B: I, I thought about going with the Vikings. This is what I was going to say.
This is what I was going to say. I was going to stick with my rule of like, they.
Even with the Lions game, they have not proven themselves to justify me picking them.
But I was going to say I think the Vikings are going to win. I have a feeling that the Vikings are going to win.
Yeah.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: And I almost went packers and then I was like, you know, they have been good on the road, especially in division.
They're struggling at home.
And I also think there's enough bit of fire under the belly now, especially losing to the Bears where I could see them pulling it out. I could be wrong. I agree with you. They haven't really shown anything to make me pick them with confidence.
But I'm leaning on the fact that I don't think the Vikings are as bad as they look. And as everybody says they are, I think they've got Somewhat of a fire in them yet. And I also need to start getting some 20, 30 yard chunks here. And so seeing you go the, the easy route of picking the Packers, I'm, I'm going to pick the Vikings, upset the packers in their own house.
I thought maybe it'd be easy for them to beat divisional rivals at home. Then clearly it's not.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: I'm also picking the Steelers even though they have an injured starting quarterback to take down the Bears.
I'm picking the Browns. Maybe Shador Sanders will show something that he hasn't been able to yet. I'll go to the next screen here. I'm having the Cowboys take down the Eagles and the Saints. The Falcons. The Falcons are in danger.
And the Panthers over the 49ers.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: The Panthers are 6 and 5.
That's crazy.
[00:38:39] Speaker A: The Panthers could be a really cool story of the year.
[00:38:42] Speaker B: They could win that division.
[00:38:44] Speaker A: I also think the Rams are the sneaky Super Bowl.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:49] Speaker A: Watchdog.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: They probably might be putting together an MVP season here.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that'd be kind of boring. But.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: So the Eagles. The Eagles are the team they did this last year. Right. It's like they don't look like a Super bowl team. They don't look like a Super bowl team. Well, next thing you know, you look back and they're, they're on a seven game winning streak.
And that game against the, the Lions was ugly. It wasn't. It was.
They played the packers the week before that. Right. And that was ugly.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: That wasn't games against the NFC north.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: But just like the Bears, they're stacking ugly wins. I do think the Cowboys being in division and healthier, I think they might come out and force the Eagles to play better than they have the last couple of weeks. But I don't know, maybe the Eagles will just blow them out and hold serve and show that they are indeed the super bowl favorites. But I don't think the.
Who did I have? The Chargers and the Lions in the Super Bowl. The Chargers winning the Super Bowl. I, I'm gonna wanna. What did we decide? We're gonna have the final like after.
Before playoff games has started after the season. We're gonna do our Maya Copas.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Oh yeah. Maybe.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: Is that what we said? Because I, I definitely. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna want that.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: Switch it over for the, for the Super Bowl.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Yeah, for the super bowl picks.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: Who did you pick? I'm trying to remember the Chargers as.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: The Chargers winning the Super Bowl. Oh, I got totally sucked in to the, The September Early October wins that. Yeah, that happens every year. Somebody starts out high.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: That was kind of interesting to see the Chargers get blown out last week. Who blew them out? It was someone.
[00:40:43] Speaker A: It was the Jaguars.
[00:40:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
Because I was just like, all right. So, so, so this fan, this. This team that made us feel so miserable, like, the worst game of the season.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, they had been blown out before. They played us, too, but, yeah, this is.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: Again, again, like, Vikings fans just overreact to everything. I don't. I don't think they overreacted to that game. It was awful. It was horrible, and it was a bad game. Yeah. Didn't. Didn't help that Kevin o'. Connor. Like, they didn't practice. They didn't. They only did walkthroughs that week, which is weird.
But that was the third Thursday night some of those teams with the famed Jim Harbaugh getting blown out.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: There is nothing in me that wants him over.
[00:41:32] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: Even though I'm. I know he's a great coach. Like, he's. He's great.
Awesome.
I'm excited to see what o' Connell can do.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I just. Everything about. I.
I think I talked about this last year, like, with Kevin o', Connell, and I think Quesi is less important, but I do like Kwesi, Kevin o', Connell, Jefferson.
Like, these people make me enjoy being a Vikings fan. It's not just. It's not just the logo and the colors. It's like, I like these guys, and I like. I like their process. Like, I like that. I mean, it's a little bit cheesy that he. That Kevin oconnell goes on K fan and, like, gets this kind of glazing interview from Paul Allen. But. Yeah, but he. He goes out of his way to. To have moments like he did yesterday where he's. He's very blunt and straightforward about their process, and I like that. And it's also within, like, the vein of, like, Bud Grant and, like, some of our greatest.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:30] Speaker B: Vikings memories. So.
[00:42:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I. And I think, like, Vikings fans really want.
It's almost like they want Kwesi to be. Or. Or. I. I was thinking about this in particular to Kwesi, but the Vikings franchise as a whole, to be something that they're not. Like, I think we overestimate to what's.
For one thing, I don't think people hit on draft picks as positively as people think they do, that. That somehow. You know what.
And we've talked about this some before, but what. What they've been able to do in Philly the last few years.
First of all, a couple things.
I'm not convinced that that's the only super bowl route to go.
That's not the way the Chiefs necessarily go.
Even though the Chiefs have, like, when they had a week o line, they went out and fixed it in the draft. They, you know, they definitely used the draft to help develop. But this notion that you have to hit on the vast majority of your draft picks or else you're not going to be able to develop.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: It's like, yes, that's how the Eagles did it. That's how they've done it recently, but that's not how they've always done it. And that's not how all super bowl winning teams do it, aka the 2020 Los Angeles Rams.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Right.
[00:43:59] Speaker A: But the other thing is, Kwesi has done a phenomenal job for a smaller market franchise and at bringing in guys who.
Yeah. And we've gone down this route before, so I'm not going to do it anymore. But I just think.
I do think the criticism is unwarranted and pre.
Pre. What's the word? Predetermined.
Like, there's, there's a lot of. There's a lot of stuff where the jury is still out on Quasi and o'. Connell. Talk to me in two years. Maybe I'll be embarrassed by this take, but I'm not ready to close the book on those chapters yet.
Anyway, we will talk to you all next week.
We're gonna be recording fairly early.
[00:44:49] Speaker B: Oh, yes, that's right.
[00:44:50] Speaker A: Probably Wednesday morning because we have Thanksgiving festivities going on.
But it'll be a fun weekend.
Hopefully it'll be an interesting.
Obviously I'm looking a week and a half. We have a whole set of games to watch before them. But it'll be interesting to see how the packers and Lions do on Thanksgiving Day.
Maybe the Vikings will give us something to be excited about that weekend as well. Man, can. Can you imagine this? If the Vikings beat the packers and the Lions beat the packers, the packers would be in last place by the end of Thanksgiving.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: Yes. And packers beat the Lions fairly soundly.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: Probably not going to happen. Yeah.
The packers should be playing better than they are.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Anyways, what I was going to say in pointing that out is I actually get to see you in person, hopefully for the next time we record. So.
[00:45:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
Probably won't record while you're here.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: No, don't have time to.
We'll talk to you all next week.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: All right, See you.
