Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Hey, friends, welcome back to the Skullcast. My name is Asher Whitmer, and I'm here with my brother, Christopher Whitmer. We are two Vikings fans who enjoy talking about football and we just want to see the Vikings win at least one Super Bowl. But we're also concerned about multiple Super Bowls before we die.
And so we.
What'd you say?
[00:00:39] Speaker A: We're not gonna settle.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: We're not gonna settle. And sometimes it feels like within Vikings fanbase, we're all driven for one Super Bowl. And so you see the rest that seems stacked and ready, primed to go. At least we thought before hit with a bunch of injuries.
And then you have McCarthy do what he did against Atlanta and then Carson Wentz do what he did against the Bengals and a whole bunch of the fan base was like, let's ride Wentz to the Super Bowl. And we have been crying this whole time.
No, Wentz is a backup. Fantastic job. We think McCarthy could have done a pretty cool job against that version of the Bengals as well.
And it all comes full circle now where after the Eagles game where they lose 28 to 22 and everyone's like all up in arms now get McCarthy off the team blaming Kale C. For his play calling. Now I in a bit, Christopher, I'm going to let you kind of run through what you saw the game. But I was. My wife and I were on an anniversary getaway in a beautiful city in north the Pacific Northwest. And so I actually spent very little time this weekend watching football. I watched the first two Eagles offensive drives and the first Vikings offensive drive since the Eagles started with the ball. That was about how it panned out.
And two things stood out to me. One, that touchdown to A.J. brown.
Like, what in the world was Mattelis doing covering A.J. brown?
And why was there hardly any pressure on Hertz? Like Hertz stood there all day and I know they dropped eight, but still. And Dallas Turner was there, it looked like he was hardly doing anything.
Now it also he was up against Lane Johnson, who's a really good tackle or guard. What does he play on their offensive line? But it just to me that that was a little disconcerting to see how soft the defense was.
And. And just the matchup like isn't. Is it not a first guess that Rodgers should have been on Brown.
And then I saw the first Vikings drive where two passes stood out to me in particular. One actually looked good. It was like a 15 yard pass to Thielen, Adam Thielen, and they got a first down and it Looked really nice. Although on the replay, you see that Justin Jefferson is wide open over the top and nobody's guarding him. If he would have, Wentz could have dropped it into him and Jefferson would have been off for a touchdown.
Maybe there was a safety on the other side of the field that wasn't in frame or something, but that. That was kind of puzzling to me. And then soon after that, they did kind of this screen pass out to Addison where he could have walked in for a touchdown, probably, but it was a horrible pitch and hit the ground like it wasn't even.
Maybe it didn't hit the ground. He just. It was out of his reach.
And to me, immediately, I groaned inside. I was like, this is not going to be a good day because the.
The Vikings offense is best when they're creating pressure. I'm sorry, defense.
And then if Wentz is not. If he's missing some of these reads and not making easy passes, it's going to be a long, grueling day. And come to find out, it sounds like it was. But, Christopher, that's about all I saw of the game. So I'll turn it to you. What. What was your impression? I know you. You were.
I, too, share your optimism about the team as a whole. But maybe. Maybe first, let's debrief the game a little bit.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Yeah, the. I missed. I missed most of the first half because I was working that morning, and so then I was, like, kind of checking in on it and then finished it at home.
So I missed, like, that. That first drive and whatnot. We were. There was already a pick six.
There's already an interception.
And then when the pressure was on, it seemed like Wentz was playing faster and playing, and like, we were moving the ball, driving down, down the field. And I think that was.
That was kind of one of the things that stuck out to me is that we were getting into the red zone. Like, we. We didn't punt very often, and I may be forgetting and I need to look up the game recap, but we didn't pump very often. It's just that we would get into the red zone and make some blunders.
But people. People were open, and, like, Addison Ham was open on that weird. I don't know if you saw that weird shovel pass thing. Shovel pass grounding that Wentz did where it was like.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: I heard people talking about it, but.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: It was a touchdown right there. And I was like, yeah, okay. Like, we. We could literally come back to in this thing. We could beat these.
These Eagles and And then he just, like, makes this, like, boneheaded shovel pass to nobody, and CJ Ham is wide open just like, a couple strides away from the end zone.
And.
And it just. That just felt like the thing I was.
I live in Philly, and I was texting my boss, and so obviously he's an Eagles fan. He says he's a Vikings fan.
Second, just from. On my behalf.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Just to keep. Good work.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: And.
And yeah, I was just. I was just telling him, like, I mean, God bless him. I think he's a. He's a fine dude. I love it that it's kind of a home team story.
But I just texted. I was like, Wes is kind of dumb sometimes. Like.
Like, it just felt like that it was the two things that felt like. It was like, we get in the red zone, Wes is gonna do something dumb.
And then on defense, like, we would get. When we did get good pressure on Hertz, he would just sit back, hurl the ball downfield. And in every single time, I knew it was going to land, which was. Which was odd.
Not odd in the sense that, like, Jalen Hurts is. Is an underrated quarterback. It was odd in the sense that I'm not used to that working like, quite like that from.
From.
From a Vikings defensive perspective.
I'm. I'm trying to remember.
This is something I probably should have known.
Van Ginkel is still out.
[00:08:12] Speaker B: I think I thought he was gonna be back in. Yeah. Was he not in the game, in that game?
[00:08:18] Speaker A: I would. I would need to look that up.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Because I was seeing reports the end of last week that he.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: That he wasn't. He didn't do anything. Cuz, like, I noticed him in. And in all of the recap that I've listened to on podcasts and stuff, I haven't heard anyone talking about him.
But regardless, we miss. I mean, it was nice to have everybody back.
He was out.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: He did not play.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: He was out.
I think. I think we miss some of those things because, like, there was just a few moments where it's like, man, just like a Van Ginkel interception right here would.
Would light up.
Jonathan Grinard had several QB pressures that, like, he had his hands on him. I think someone mentioned this after the game that, like, hurts seems hard to tackle. Like, you can get to him.
And this makes sense. I mean, he benches an incredible amount. He's the tush push guy.
And so there were a few times where, like, Granard had his hands on Hertz should have come down with him in her. Hers is just a oak tree back there.
And.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Which is maybe where. Because you had the Giants. The Giants got to him several times, I think.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: In their last game. But they have a much bigger defensive line and the Vikings for the forest scheme, I think is. Is a little smaller and faster than.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: As far as big Buff.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, it was like Wentz making dumb plays. He made some really incredible plays, honestly. Like, I think like, like we would if.
I mean, you can say this every single time. There were. There were some clear blown calls I thought in favor of the Eagles there.
There probably was some the other way too.
And.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: And.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: And obviously you always want. Want to pick six back, but without that pick six, like erase that pick six. Let's say they don't get those points, we don't get those points, we win the game.
And. And so like it just felt like the theme of the day was soft, soft pressure in the passing game. Like, like those three. Three or four big explosive plays that want to ice the game at the end and then a couple to get them in position to score touchdowns or two. Two. I think that actually huge passes to A.J. brown and one to Devonte Smith to get touchdowns.
And then the pick six from Wentz and a couple of his stupid plays. Like. Like the feeling I came away from the game was that it was entirely the Vikings to win or lose.
And. And there were just a couple of blown coverages and dumb plays that lost us the game.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's interesting. I mean, I. I've watched a few little reviews or whatever, like the reviewing the calls, the blown calls.
It's also interesting like for one of the first times the Eagles false start on the tush push was called. And so I, I happened to see one of those when I hopped on for just a few minutes sometime. I'm not sure what I was doing, but the, like the Vikings punted only once in that game according to.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Minnesota Vikings.com and they gained nearly 400 yards of offense and had season low in penalties. They had three penalties the whole game. And yet.
So I like, that's where I'm, I'm like, what. What is J.J. mcCarthy do in a game like that? Yeah.
Where you know, you have Wentz who goes blue screen of death. Like for. For the record, I think Wentz has done a great job as a backup qb.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: I don't know. Like, I do not want to ride him. I don't want to ride. He's not the hot hand. He never was the hot hand. He played a very soft Bengals team and looked that that game was also largely buffed. The points were buffed because of the defensive show that Isaiah Rogers put on. But Wentz has done great. Like for most QBs outside of Mac Jones, who has 100 grand on every win that he can produce this year as a backup qb. Like, if you're talking to most NFL teams, hey, you're going to be without your starter for four to six games and your backup's going to play 500 ball.
That's. That's a win. Like, that's really good.
Especially considering the fact that he came in very last minute. Now, hearing how Sunday's game went puts me back in the position of like, I personally would have been fine with Max Brosmer being the backup qb. And it's like, what would that have been like if Max Broser had had. Or Brosmer had three to, you know, two or three starts? I don't know. Maybe that's risky. He's a rookie too. I know, whatever.
But he, he.
He played very well in the spring training.
All that to say though, the way like my sense has been based on.
On what I'm hearing from people who watch the game, that was like, was. It was Wentz's blue screen of death moments.
Were the Eagles getting just a ton of pressure on him as a qb, or was it you. You made it sound like it was more as the game, like as crunch time came, then he started executing. And I guess part of me wonders what would.
Obviously we want McCarthy healthy before he goes back out there. So if he's tender and ginger and doesn't quite trust his feet and all that.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: We don't want him out there. But what, what would it have looked like if McCarthy was the one out there playing and you. You have some of these not blue screen of death moments happening.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah, the.
I was. I was just looking at the, the. Some of the defensive stats.
It was.
There's kind. There was kind of this thing. I don't. I don't remember a ton of just like constant pressure.
I think Wentz had. I think Wentz had time and KOC was scheming people open. Like, like, like I said, the, the one thing I know is that there were a couple times he got hit hard. Like the. I think it was the.
I think it was the interception return for a touchdown which happened in the fourth first quarter. I was. I was still at the coffee shop and someone was watching the game.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: It happened in the first quarter?
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Oh, interesting.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: And. And he's like, he Got murdered was the expression.
Oh, hold on. It might not have been the first.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Hey, just to jump in here real quick, like this is. This is ridiculous. The Vikings had 21 first downs compared to the Eagles 13. Their third down efficiency was 7 of 15, as opposed to 3 of 10 for the Eagles. Fourth down efficiency was 1 of 1. The Eagles were 2 of 3.
The one I believe was the tush push that got called on a false start.
The Vikings had 67 total plays as opposed to the Eagles 49. Almost 20 more total plays than the Eagles. The Vikings allowed only two sacks. The Eagles allowed three. The Vikings punted once. The Eagles punted three times. The Vikings had three penalties for 30 yards. The Eagles had eight penalties for 64 yards. Nobody lost a fumble.
The Vikings threw two interceptions. The Vikings had 34 minutes of possession versus 26 of the Eagles. Like that is a win.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: By all metrics, except for the fact that, you know, they. The. The Eagles didn't throw any interceptions.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: The way, the way the game went. We. That interception was a nine. Was probably a nine point swing.
Just. Yeah, just based on the fact that we own on each of our possessions. We only didn't make it to the red zone twice.
Well, aside from that play, so. So other than the pick six, there was an interception and then a punt. One punt.
The. The. Yeah, the interception was like the first. Right out of this, right out of the second quarter.
The interception in return for a touchdown.
What was I saying about that? I forget the point I was making otherwise.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: We were getting to the red zone.
It's a, it's a, it's a 22 to 19 game or, or a 25 to 21.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
So. Yeah, I mean, and you know, there's the, the butterfly effect of like, if you change one thing, you know, maybe that affects game strategy or whatever.
So I mean, you never really know. But, but say the game pretty much continues on as it was and you take out that, that interception. Pick six.
But yeah, I think, I think we made the point I was making. I kind of totally just escaped my mind now. What I was trying to get at when I started looking up when that was.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: And yeah, I think, I think that was essentially my point. Like, like the Vikings played well and, and I like the expression of Luke Brown and lockdown Vikings. Like he was talking about how like the defense played. Well, the defense stopped the Eagles pretty effectively except for a few crucial blown coverages that two of them went for a touchdown and Luke Braun was like, yeah, other than that, how else did the play go Mrs. Lincoln. You know, like, like other.
Other than the murder of your husband, other than these two crucial blown coverages, like, the game was fine.
So, so there, I mean, there is this thing of like that's, that's the game of football is. Is. Is that you take advantage of those moments and whoever does that better wins. But.
But I, I come away like, oh, yeah, okay. It's all coming back to me because I was talking about. You had asked about pressure on Wentz and, And he. He got. He got hit really hard on that pick six early on in the game.
And so I think.
And there's also. I mean, we haven't even talked about Blake Brandle, the essentially third string center, first time center who. Who was playing.
I think he would. His weakness was crucial.
Just a couple of times Wentz only got sacked twice, but just a couple of times where his.
His, you know, lack of experience at center.
One time he like had a terrible snap, like sent it to the roof essentially. And then.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: And then just got bull over.
So I think early on in the game that messed with Wentz a little bit. And, and if, if, you know, again, the what ifs, but like, if we had Ryan Kelly in there, like a, you know, even our old center from last year, Bradbury, I think we win that game.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I just based off of some. The little that I've seen and off these stats and so forth, I just, and this is my optimism about McCarthy. I just, I don't think the Eagles. So on one hand, on one sense, it's like, okay, I don't think the Eagles are the Eagles of a year ago. They're currently not playing in such a way to win a Super Bowl. So the fact that we lost to them is an indictment on the Vikings more than anything. But I guess I would say this game is evidence to me of like, see, this is why we don't try to ride with Wentz. Like, let's get McCarthy back in there as soon as possible.
And so maybe kind of shifting now to. As we look at Thursday's game now, I do believe Koc has come out and said Wentz will be starting on Thursday night, which is probably wisest. Like, I'm not sure that you're setting anybody up for success to bring him in on the short week of practice and so forth with, With a team.
But what, what are your, you know, and maybe there's not. We've kind of talked about this quite a bit already and it's. We're. We're kind of in a wait and see mode. I'm not sure exactly how McCarthy's ankle is doing. Do you, do you see them bringing him in against the Lions?
Is that wise? Or do you wait until. What is it? The Ravens? After.
After the Lions?
[00:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah, Ravens, Lions, Ravens, Bears.
I. Yeah, no, I.
So Koc said, you know, they, they didn't. I think they split their practice basically into two days. They haven't really had a full day of practice. Short week.
Koc has made a big deal about how he missed a practice the week going into the Falcons game, which was this terrible game. So it seems to me if you look at everything, it seems like they. Number one, the Vikings training staff is always super cautious. They were with this, with, at least in recent years.
They were like this with Jefferson a couple of years ago. They held him out eight weeks on a hamstring.
Just everybody, they're, they're always slower than other teams to, you know, unlike Brian Dable who's like rushing into the blue tent to get his concussed quarterback back out on the field.
The ins. And so like, I absolutely think it's the best decision, partly because I trust the Vikings and I trust Koc to do what's best for him. Because the concern would be that if you're favoring an ankle, you're gonna develop bad habits, which he's talked about before. Other people have talked about how, how debilitating, creating those bad habits, bad footwork as a young QB can have like this like long lasting repercussions into your career.
And so like I, I mean Koc has always talked in terms of like the development of quarterbacks and the quarterback journey. And so it absolutely makes sense to me that he's, he's thinking long term with J.J. mcCarthy.
But he, he said, he indicated if this was a Sunday game that McCarthy would most like, he, he. I don't. He didn't come out and say it, but like he said about as clearly as a coach ever will that like, if this was a Sunday game, he'd probably start.
And it makes sense with how, how much he saw McCarthy struggle with like very little practice against the Falcons. It makes sense that he would then be like, I'm not gonna throw him on a recovering ankle with very little practice against the Chargers. Um, so to me that, that's all like, there's no, there's no like, conspiracy. There's no like, like, it all fits in line with what we have seen from Koc and this coaching staff of like, we're going to develop this guy. We're going to do what's best for his development and in weight, like weighing that, what's best for the team. But ultimately what's best for the team is a healthy and competent McCarthy. And, and he said like those mechanics that, that like he's really encouraged by how those mechanics are coming along that they were working on in the bye week. And people, people have just taken that and run with it as if, as if, like there's been some great big setback. To me, it's just like here's, here's a coach who is unusually transparent about what they do both, both with injuries and with the development of his players.
And like, he didn't have to tell us what he did in the bye week with J.J. mcCarthy, but, but he did. And, and then everyone ran with that and it's like, oh, why, why is he being set back? It's like because they weren't preparing for a game. Like, of course he's going to develop his quarterback.
And I actually think that that's a good sign that you're noticing problems, you're addressing them. And now he says he sees improvement.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I just, I mean for all the folks out there, and maybe there's comparison going on with Drake May because it was leaked that o' Connell really liked Drake May. And now look at what Drake May is doing against with the Patriots. Now in all fairness, now I know he did this against the Bills and Josh Allen, which is impressive, but for the most part, the Patriots schedule is very easy, very simple. They haven't had to play too difficult defenses. But everybody else, I mean, you look at Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams on Sunday, they won the game but had an awful game.
And you know, we've been around this bush before that there's, we have two games to go from with McCarthy and I am excited to see more that those two games show that. And there's an up and down two quarterback development that, that is a roller coaster that you have some really high highs and really low lows. And I don't think there's anything more drama from the high highs to winning that comeback in Chicago and then losing that game at home against the Falcons and, and then no more drastically different type of game than the Bengals game immediately following the Falcons where, where there were a number of different pieces in place that were not there for the Falcons game.
And so we see all this swing and this short little honeymoon with Carson Wentz and people are kind of off on McCarthy, off on Wentz and they're looking longingly over at Darnold and Jones and, and I just continue to echo and echo again. It's like maybe, well, it's hindsight, but maybe we will turn around 20 games, 25 games under JJ McCarthy's belt and say, you know what, Kevin O' Connell has failed to develop his quarterback, but the fact we do not know Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold are exhibits.
I guess they're B and C. You could, you could point to Geno Smith or Baker Mayfield as exhibits A and B or, or yeah, Daniel Jones and, and Sam Darnold or C and D perhaps in the NFL recent history, but they're, they're classic exhibits. Why you don't just give up on a quarterback after two games.
And the fact that KOC played such a crucial role in their development gives us the confidence that give 20 to 25 games. So we're, we're very excited to see McCarthy back out there and we trust Kevin O' Connell in knowing when to bring him back out there and how to develop him and maybe like give it a, you know, I would say like 20, 25 games and hopefully like the concern might BE, well, maybe McCarthy is injury prone, but hopefully, you know, those 20 to 25 games can happen within the next year and, and we'll know what we have as at a quarterback and maybe we'll look back and be like, you know what? KLC failed to develop this quarterback. That's all a possibility. We're not glazing over with rose colored glasses.
But the best scenario for the Vikings with the coach that they have and the team that they have, is that they can be able to continue to develop the JJ McCarthy and get him out there to play. And I'm looking forward to it.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: In the meantime, we play the Chargers. Thankfully we get the Chargers when they're kind of down and injured and beat up.
I'm still kind of nervous about the game, which maybe we can head into looking at our picks for this upcoming week if you're ready for that. But yeah, that's kind of my, my $0.02 in terms of the outlook at the quarterback position. On with the Vikings.
[00:31:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't, I don't want to delay it too long, but I did just want to emphasize that like, development thing. I feel like we've talked about this for years, even before McCarthy was on the Vikings, is how strange it is that we just shove quarterbacks into starting roles so quickly because you look at, you look at Mahomes Sat for A year. You look at Rodgers, sat for three years.
You look at Peyton Manning, struggled mightily, had like 28 interceptions his first year.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: And is it his head coach or owner has said they shouldn't have played him the first year? I forget maybe.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: How that was. Yeah.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: And, you know, I don't know as much history about, like, older quarterbacks like Brett Favre and whoever else, but there's a pretty consistent pattern that it's. It's very, very rare that the greatest quarterbacks just like, step onto the field and are incredible.
And I would guess just pure guess that those who do probably are older rookies, like, probably played longer in college.
Like, it'd be interesting.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: Like Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson. Some of those guys who were like, really great their first couple of years.
Be interesting to look up how old they were and, like, how much experience they had. But it's just like, you got to develop these guys.
And if McCarthy doesn't turn out, probably will. Like, I just think he probably will. If he doesn't turn out, maybe we get Mac Jones or Brock Purdy or, you know, the 2026 or 2027 version of Sam Darnold. Like, I believe that much in klc. I think he's earned that trust and he could lose it between now and then.
But.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: But he deserved. Yeah, he's deserves that trust.
Yeah.
Yeah. And there are some people, I'm realizing more and more, there are some people who are just down on McCarthy because they hate Michigan.
[00:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: In which then I'm like, you're. Okay, You're. You're a college fan. You're not a serious NFL fan. Especially a serious Vikings fan.
And to each his own. That's fine. You can.
[00:33:45] Speaker A: So little.
Just from my, like, non college football fan perspective, it feels like there's so little that bleeds into the NFL. Like, there's such different sports that people.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, you can.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: Different.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: You have people from college who everybody's raving about. It's like, oh, I never. That guy never turned out at the NFL level.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, how many of the last 15 Heisman Trophy winners are actually good? Like, actually had good pro.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah. I don't know. I don't know that question right offhand, but I'm. I'm agreeing to your.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Well, the fact that it includes, you know, guys like Johnny Manziel, you know, and.
And I think RJ3 won one.
Like, those types of guys. It's like.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: My gut is that most of those guys did not have Good careers.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, even. Even like, you know, back in my day when I paid attention to every kind of sport, Vince Young and Reggie Bush were like the big Heisman winners and so forth. They didn't do anything in the NFL level. Really.
[00:35:10] Speaker A: Reggie Bush.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Bush maybe had a couple of good years, but.
Yeah, but I think he also. Did he get injured? Maybe. That kind of limited him. But.
Anyway, we ready to look at our picks?
[00:35:25] Speaker A: Yeah, let's do it.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: So last year, we. Or last week, we both went nine and six for week seven, which means you maintain the lead two games over me. You're at 68, 39.
I'm at 66 and 41 this week. Obviously, the Vikings play tomorrow night. And you are optimistic about the team. I'm optimistic about the team as well.
However, the fact that they are going with Wentz, and I'm not super optimistic about Wentz and the fact that it does seem like there's continual injuries kind of lingering, whether it's offensive linemen or defensive players.
I'm not necessarily that optimistic about the Chargers game.
And I guess I'm also sort of feeling like I should have gone with my pick of the Eagles over, so. I don't know. Maybe you'll be right. What. What's your optimism about the Vikings beating the Chargers?
[00:36:32] Speaker A: I'm. I'm pretty nervous.
I feel much the same way about this game as I do about the Eagles.
You know, there's. There's a certain amount of revenge aspect of, like, Harbaugh really thought that. Like, I think harbor thought he had the Vikings job, and then they hired Kevin o'. Connell.
And so there's probably. Just knowing Harbaugh, there's probably a chip on his shoulder about that.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: And all the fans that really wanted Harbaugh, if they lose, they're gonna be like, see, we should.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: So, you know, he's the more experienced coach. He wins a lot.
Obviously, like a better quarterback. I think they're getting Joe Alt back, who's like their Christian Derrissa.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: I don't know. Is. They are getting him back.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: I thought. I thought he said. I thought he told a reporter that he was gonna play.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Oh, he was limited participant.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: But I mean, still, I think he's also High ankle sprain, so.
Yeah, you know, it's in California, I think.
I think there should be like a. There's often a decent amount of fans showing against those Los Angeles teams. But also the Chargers, I think, are more established. Established now than they were, you know, two or three years ago whenever we played there last against them.
So yeah, it's. It's a little bit of a toss up, but I just. I don't know. I think, I think this is a really good team and I think the only weakness is whatever's going on at center and.
And then Wentz just occasionally being kind.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: Of dumb and the vulnerability at quarterback.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Yeah, if we can avoid that, which I think we can like, I think Wentz has that capacity and I think KLC has that capacity to coach people through that.
If we can avoid that, I think.
I think we win the game. I don't expect it to be a pretty win, but.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, one of the things that I've been thinking about with the Vikings because more and more teams get injured and so on one hand that kind of discounts all the injuries that. That have been happening with the Vikings. However, some key things that are different. First of all, you have Mac Jones with the 49ers, who's been phenomenal as a back backup QB. Like most fan bases need to realize that is the exception to the rule. That is not the rule to have that caliber of a quarterback backing you up. He also has incentives built into his contract per win. So there's a lot of things that going right there.
I don't think, I don't think Wentz is the type of guy where, man, if he just had those incentives, he would be winning more games. That's not the point.
Especially since he missed all of training camp with the team, whereas Mac Jones was there with them and present. The other thing though is very few teams have their crucial pieces at O line missing and their QB missing. You look at the, the Lions, they've had tons of inner injuries on defense. But I would. And this might be a bit of a hot take, but I would suggest that one key defensive player means less to a defensive unit than one key offensive player. On, on the offensive side of things, when you have schemed your whole offensive structure for a certain type of quarterback or certain wide receivers or a certain running game or whatever.
May, maybe I'm being whatever. But when you look over the last several years, the, the players, the defensive players who had who led the. The league in sacks or tackles for losses.
Not sure if that scream is coming through.
It's fine.
[00:40:49] Speaker A: I did hear it. But.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: They'Re playing out there.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: It sounds like got kind of loud. Yeah.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: Defensive players, they're on bad teams, bad defensive teams. And when you look at some of the better defensive units, they have less of those spectacular star players.
Whereas. So all that to say that I think it's. It could potentially. I'm not trying to discount. I'm sure the Lions work very hard so that it's replaceable and anybody could step in, but it's not a fair comparison to injuries like the Vikings because they've had Jared Goff, Amanra St. Brown, and even Jameson Williams and Jameer Gibbs. Through all of that, they've had their, their key offensive figures. And I'm not saying this to make excuses for the Vikings. I'm saying all this to pinpoint your point in that this is a really good Vikings team, the fact that they have faced this adversity, and yet here they are still within striking distance of.
Of a playoff spot of 10 wins potentially. Now, there's a long road ahead. There's a lot of work ahead, but I'm optimistic.
I had the Chargers pegged as a loss. I had the Eagles pegged as a loss from the very beginning. And so I'm sticking with.
With them as a loss, but hopefully I'll be wrong.
[00:42:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I had. This is the one I had in this stretch after the buy. I had Phillies loss, Chargers win, Lions loss, Ravens loss.
This is the one I had as a win.
[00:42:41] Speaker B: I should say I had. I had the Chargers pegged as I could see it going either way. Like, I had several.
I could have seen the Vikings winning five straight in their first five.
I also could have seen. Seen them easily going three and two, which is what they did. And then I had.
I think I had the four straight games.
Eagles, Chargers, Lions, Ravens. I had most likely four straight losses, but possibly one win in there. And, you know, going into the bye week, I thought, well, maybe, maybe they get four straight wins. Obviously, that's not going to happen, but the, the way these teams look right now, I don't think the lion, the Lions is going to be a loss, you know, unless the Vikings come out and just play phenomenally.
[00:43:34] Speaker A: I mean, see, that's the thing is we have. We have twice as many games as we've played left.
So, yeah, all, all that's happened up till now can have like that amount of time is going to happen twice yet.
And so, yeah, we just have.
[00:43:55] Speaker B: We have What a roller coaster.
[00:43:58] Speaker A: We're gonna. We're gonna end up. You can't end up even, I guess, but end up. Yeah, 9 and 10 or 10 and 9.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: No, 9.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: And yeah, you're right. And on. I mean, honestly, if we get to the end, if, like, I would be pretty disappointed in this season if McCarthy gets injured again, but if we go 8, 9, 9 and 8 and we figured out it's like, oh, yeah, we've really got something here with McCarthy, I mean, I'd be super happy. I mean, I predicted them to go 13 and 4, which, I mean, honestly, if, if McCarthy would have been healthy through, through this game, I don't. I think I'd be sitting pretty well for that prediction to come through. Looks like we went jocks.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: We, we, we are in it full agreement otherwise until.
And these are kind of simple games, but I'm going with the Broncos to, to take down the Cowboys. The Broncos put up 33 in the fourth quarter.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: Largely just because I, I need to somehow make an attempt to, to reach you again.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: Two games.
[00:45:10] Speaker B: The Cowboys, the Cowboys look really good. The Broncos seem really inconsistent. They, they, you know, put up 33 and 1/4 against the Giants, but they also laid a complete egg against the jets. And so I'm not really sure what to think of them. Very similar to the Falcons. The Falcons one week have like the best pass rush in the NFL and then the other week can seem like they don't really show up. And so I'm not sure what all to say, but I think there's a chance, especially since the Broncos are at home, that they get the Cowboys.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, we'll wrap that up for this week. Thanks for joining us. As we debriefed the Vikings and as we looked forward and we'll see how they do Thursday Night Football and then thankfully it's a longer break till they play again on November 2nd. If you have not already, go ahead and subscribe to the channel and like it, Share it with a friend. Drop a comment Let us know if you're a Vikings fan, let us know what your outlook is as, as you've been watching the team develop their quarterback or be unable to develop their quarterback with injury.
How are you feeling about the season and how this roller coaster ride that we've been on so far. Thanks for listening. We'll see you all.
