Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Hello and welcome back to the Skullcast. My name is Asher Whitmer. I'm here with my brother Christopher. We're two brothers who love talking about football in our spare time and we enjoy doing it with each other. We decided to start a podcast and here we are a year and a half into it.
We're Vikings fans, if you didn't identify that from the name.
And we are trying to walk this line of being realistic about our team after a fan almost fantasy like season for most of last year trying to be realistic about the Vikings while also a bit exasperated at some of the media takes about the Vikings quarterback situation a little bit. I told Christopher right before we hit record here that I don't want to spend a ton of time doing this. Vikings are on a bye week. They didn't have a game this last week. We will look at the game coming up with the Eagles a little bit, but it amazes me how many Vikings conversation there is on Twitter. And this is the thing Christopher and I were just talking about is. Is it just my algorithm? Is it. Are there any rational fans who are this way but seeing so many people. There's definitely even like national media analysts at large on ESPN and so forth that, that talk this way as well. Like oh you got it. You got to ride the hot hand. You got to give it to Went since he's, you know, what two and one, I guess in his three games.
And I just like to me that we, we are exhibit A of why you don't give up on a quarterback so soon. And the thing that.
Christopher, you can give some feedback here in a moment and we can talk later around some of the stuff that O' Connell has talked about McCarthy needing to practice and work on and even just whether or not we should be optimistic. Like I think there's a difference.
We both had the Vikings making the playoffs this year. I said they need to win a playoff game this year.
I still think they could, but a lot of a lot of stars would have to align for that to happen. Based off of what we've seen in these first five games, it's probably more likely they missed the playoffs where I'm at now today.
I would much rather see McCarthy get the reps and get the practice. We haven't seen enough of him to have any conclusions about him. We are exhibit A that you don't give up on quarterbacks soon.
We we've been able to bring in quarterbacks who did not have good establishment early on and repair them, rehab them or at least be a significant part of their journey. I don't know that. That we should take full credit. Obviously, we don't take any credit. Kevin o' Connell takes full credit for everything.
But Sam Darnold played a full year here. That's where people saw, oh, he can win. Daniel Jones is now winning in the Colts. And he specifically named how the Vikings quarterback room is and the things that they've. They.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: The.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: The way they prepare and so forth. So we are exhibit A for showing you you do not give up on a quarterback after two games.
Two games. And let's weave in. We can weave in some of this conversation, too. Did you see what the Falcons defense did against the reigning MVP and the number one ranked offensive line in the NFL?
They made him look stupid too. Pardon my language. They made him look like a careless, haphazard quarterback as well. So if you watch that Falcons game and thought, oh my, where's the hero that we had in the Bears game comeback? Guess what? You're in the same boat. A lot of Bills fans are. And while the Falcons are a bit of a mystery to me because they had that fluke of a game where they were shut out by the Panthers, of all people, it's very clear they have one of the best pass rushes in the NFL. Anyways, that's kind of my little rant to say. I'm not sure that you can be a rational fan and be ready to give up on McCarthy yet when you have Kevin O' Connell as your head coach.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think a lot of Vikings fans are rational.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: Well, I, maybe I didn't finish my thought either. I'd rather see McCarthy get the reps even if they end up dead last in the division. And I think we've talked about that. But yeah, I don't know if we're rational either.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: I mean, we, you know, I think, I think it's.
I think part of it is, is because, you know, Minnesota sports as a whole have just betrayed us so often and so we take all of that trauma into all of our fan fandoms.
Yeah, but.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm right with you. Like, like the idea. Oh, that one thought in response to the Falcons thing is like kind of, kind of the, the goal of the NFL and the beauty of this season is that from week to week, our narratives are shifting and changing and turns out the Panthers might not be as bad as we thought they were at the beginning of the year. Like, them. Them shutting out the Falcons might not be as much of a Condemnation of the Falcons, as we thought. You know, I don't, I don't know if the Panthers will be good or not, but I just think they, you know, they're, they're competing against teams that we didn't think that they could compete against.
And so all that to say, like the, the domino effect on, like, well, how can the Vikings be good because they lost to the team that was shut out by the Panthers. It's like the NFL is actually super competitive and there's a lot of parity across the board.
Yeah, no, I'm right with you. As far as, like McCarthy and development, I mean, Sam, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, I mean, Geno Smith at first, obviously this year hasn't been good at all. But like, these are, these are guys the last several years who have come from like dumpster fire teams. The jets, the Browns, the Giants, the Panthers washed out and, and then found. Found somewhere else after even stumbling. Stumbling around a little bit. Like they, I think they, they all went and spent, you know, Baker Mayfield spent like the last half of a season with the Rams or what was, was it even half a season?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Daniel Jones spent time in a game or two. I think really it wasn't much.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, Stafford came back then. Or was it just the end of the season?
[00:07:06] Speaker B: It was to end of the season. Let me see. Keep talking. Let me see if I can look it up.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: But all that to say, like, bigger. Baker Mayfield spent a couple, you know, drank a couple coffees with the Rams and Daniel Jones spent time in our lunchroom, essentially.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
Five games. Baker Mayfield had. Was with the Rams for five games the month of.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: Sam Darnold.
Gotcha. Yeah.
Sam Darnold, you know, went to Shanahan first and then to o' Connell and played.
All of that speaks to development. All of that shows these guys had the talent that teams thought they did. Those teams were dumpster fires because typically only dumpster fire teams draft that high.
And those teams are still rolling around in their mud looking for a franchise quarterback. They've given up on these guys that other teams have picked up on, finished their development. And now the story is all. I mean, Baker Mayfield seems pretty set. Like, like even if he doesn't win a Super Bowl, I would say that that's a successful turnaround. I think Sam Darnold is yet to show that he is better than he was with the Vikings. Like, I think he needs to win like a playoff game or at least be competitive all the way to the end into the playoffs.
Six in order for him to show in order for him to prove that the Vikings were wrong to let him go. And even still, I don't think the Vikings were wrong. I think the Vikings had a plan and he wasn't a part of that plan.
At that price point.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: We should want just to jump in on here on that real quick. We should want as Vikings fans, Sam Darnold to go and succeed like that. That is an indication of the like. If, if, if Sam Darnold was here, had a winning season and then left and fell apart, that indicates Kevin o' Connell didn't develop a quarterback. Kevin o' Connell just has schemes for people and that's then all your hopes and dreams are on the coach and until somebody adjusts to his scheme and out schemes him. Whereas if Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones come here and then they go and they're successful other places it shows Kevin O', Connell, probably not just Kevin O', Connell, Josh McCowan and other people in the room as well. They're good at developing quarterbacks, which is what the hope for McCarthy is. We're not saying McCarthy is an MVP now. We're not saying McCarthy is even going to win a playoff game this year or have a winning season, but we want to give them reps.
Yeah, that's what I was going to jump and say. I'll keep ranting if I'm not careful.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: And like, you know, some people might say, well, you're not giving enough credit to Sam Darnold. No, it's predicated on credit to Sam Darnold. It's predicated on the fact that this was a guy who's extremely talented and somehow was washing out with the jets and the Panthers.
What we're saying is that Kevin o' Connell and this team that he has set up were able to unlock Sam Darnold. So yes, like, yeah, Sam Darnold, like Josh Dobbs did not turn into a franchise quarterback.
Sam Darnold did. So yes, Sam Darnold is an incredible player.
Yes, incredible players take development and, and you have to unlock that through the coaching, through reps and that's McCarthy's not been given the chance. Number one, it's his first season starting. You cannot judge someone off of two games.
There could maybe be legitimate concerns of like is he injury prone? Like if he gets injured like a third time this season that would be pretty concerning.
But, but even there the Vikings probably cut him loose. He would probably go and have several injury free seasons and he would get the development that he, that he needs and so there's kind of this degree of, as fans, we need to have patience, and we don't want to have patience. We want to see the teams moving. We want to see them trying. And there's some legitimacy to that. But it's like you could either be the Browns roll around for five years in some of the worst team building activities the world has ever seen, or you could still have Baker Mayfield.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:11:53] Speaker A: What would you rather have been cheering for the Browns for the past four years? I mean, there was that one season with Flacco that was, I'm sure, fun, but everything else was miserable and embarrassing.
Or you could be cheering for someone who's. Who's incredibly loved by that fan base at first.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: It's also like Baker Mayfield. Yeah. I mean, this kind of throws shade at Kevin Stefanski, but Baker Mayfield may still be in Cleveland and still not be who he is today. Like, there was a journey of quarterbacks going to coaches who were able to bring out the best in them and coach them in ways that they can then carry from one team to another.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: I also think there's a big difference.
Baker Mayfield's receiver was his big receiver that he had for a while was OBJ Famous. Kind of dramatic.
You know, I need the ball hog type of guy.
D.J. mcCarthy's is Justin Jefferson.
The culture that those things set somewhat too put on the shoulders of Stefanski. Somewhat. But also, I think it's another sign of just incompetence as an organization.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I think as I watch some of this, because I've seen stuff on Twitter and again, I don't know, some of these, there's like a Vikings fan page or purple persuasion stuff like, I'm not sure who's behind all that. Some of the people, the names that I know, they're. They're far more rational.
Although Tyler Fourness is. He's a reporter of some kind. He's kind of played into it a little bit, in my opinion.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: But what is. What has he said?
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Well, it just kind of played into this idea that there. That there is a controversy in Minnesota between the quarterbacks and that Kevin.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: I haven't seen it.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: I forget what. I should have the headline pulled up here that. But I just think so. I see some people, like saying, I had a Converse.
Oh, I think it was someone commenting on one of our shorts or one of our videos actually talked about how, like, the Vikings window is open for the next one to two years and they've got to win. You got to go with Wentz to win. Now they're in a win now mode. And first of all, I would say that is exactly the mentality that sets Vikings fans up for the grave disappointment of the playoffs. Like when I reflect on uneven last year. If we just want to take as an example and we're. We're going more than 10 minutes on this, but it's. I think this is a bike is bye week. We can, we can spend more time on this and less time on the rest of the league where the school cast after all.
But the we. We all saw like it turned out way better than we thought it was going to be. And we saw Sam Darnold develop. We saw the defense look super, for lack of better language, super sexy or super splashy in their play. They're leading the league and takeaways and all this.
And we're all enthralled with stuff that we hadn't seen in a while seen in a long time. I think teams that were sorry fans that have lived through quite a bit, we're like, okay, we'll see what it looks like in the playoffs. And sure enough, the things that were always there throughout the season but were disguised because they, they weren't playing, you know, super competitive teams or for whatever reason, you know, Sam Darnold was hot enough because for a large portion of the season, Sam Darnold was one of the best against the blitz which was so random and then he just totally fell apart against the blitz. And you know, there were weaknesses that we should have picked up on earlier on in the season that I kind of, I think it. To be honest with you, I knew they were there as well. I just kind of found some ways to rationalize why they're not as big of a weakness as possible. Well, when also when rubber meets the road, our left tackle got injured, but when rubber meets the road, those weaknesses are exposed.
And so in, in the same way, what I'm trying to approach now is a realistic, like, what are the weaknesses? I have no delusions about our weaknesses right now. There's, you know, you already brought up the injury proneness of McCarthy. There's also mechanics that he's needing to work on and there's mechanics that, that are an issue.
You know, the fact that the run defense has not been near as good as it was last year and maybe a lot of that has to do with Blake Cashman coming out and hopefully he'll be back for the Eagles game. That'll be near nice and so forth. But there's def diff different pieces we can look at will this team actually win 11 games like I said they would, or a playoff game like I said they would? To say we need to stick with McCarthy is not to say there aren't legitimate weaknesses. In fact, to have the idea that we have a Super bowl team now and we got to go try to get it with Wentz, that is to be blind to the weaknesses that we have.
And that is to kind of live into this fantasy that then will let you down in the playoffs. If we have any hope of going deep, we need some very fundamental pieces to be built out, pieces that I don't think Wentz is ever going to recover. Wentz has done a fantastic job as a backup quarterback and maybe he should play against the Eagles. But I still think a couple things. Let's be realistic.
Will we actually win a Super Bowl? Are we actually in a window to go win a Super bowl right now? I do think the Vikings have one of the best well rounded rosters in the whole league. Is Wentz going to be able to carry the team through to win a Super Bowl? I haven't seen anything to convince me that ways in that direction. I think McCarthy needs developed. But I've seen some things in McCarthy that said, if he's developed, he's got the it factor that could carry us to a Super Bowl. So I'd rather push this down the road. But then back to what we were saying. Overall, I think the Vikings super bowl window is as long as Kevin OConnell is coach. And that's saying a lot for a guy that hasn't won a playoff game yet. So I do, I am holding a microscope too. He needs to win a playoff game. But if, if that's like, if, if Kevin o' Connell is not that kind of coach that could take the Vikings to a Super bowl, then I think we're deceiving ourselves. We're fooling ourselves to think that the playoff windows open or the super bowl window is open.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Right.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: If Kevin o' Connell is enough that the super win super bowl window is now open, then I stand back and say no. Just like with Dan Campbell with the Lions, just like with Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers, or Sean McVeigh, Andy Reid, some other great coaches around the league, as long as their head coach, then they're going to be able to put together and develop players to get, give us an opportunity to be competitive in the playoffs.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that was a, a big 20 minute rant on the.
Let's, let's, let's look around the league a little bit and then we could.
Pardon my Alexa who's talking here. Did you hear that come through?
[00:19:37] Speaker A: I heard, I heard. I couldn't tell what. What was happening.
[00:19:41] Speaker B: Maybe spend, yeah, five to eight minutes here kind of reflecting on the league as a whole and then jump into our picks for this next week and we could discuss a few things around the Eagles Vikings game there.
There's a lot that we could talk about. We had several kind of surprising upsets. What? Was there a game that stood out to you that was like, oh, I think. I think this is saying something about the landscape of the league.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I really wanted the Bears to lose, but they didn't.
So I won't say anything about that.
[00:20:22] Speaker B: You think that says more about the Bears or the Commanders?
Just real quick.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: It probably says more about the Bears. I haven't looked up. I fell asleep before the end of that game and so I haven't looked at like the fourth quarter stats. Caleb Williams, the part that I watched. Caleb Williams was not playing well still. He was still like missing and some of that could have been timing which I think is still not playing well. Like, like six weeks into the season, a second year quarterback like Caleb Williams that people are wanting to praise. Again, development, like year three could be a lot better. I'm not saying give up on him, but he.
This is more than I wanted to talk about. The Bears.
Yeah, he.
He could. He should be more in sync with his receivers. So either he's totally missing them or, or they're like their routes aren't matching. Like, like his expectations of like where they're running and stuff.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Are.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: Aren't synced.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: My.
Go for it. My takeaway from that game is, is just. I think if it, if the Commanders had taken care of the ball better. That game's not even that close. The Commanders win by multiple points. Some of that may have had to do with.
With weather. Some of that may have to do just with discipline and ball handling. And that's a downside to the Commanders and they deserve to lose in that way.
For the Bears, they've won three games in a row. Three games that were kind of close at times. And it's those types of wins that could get you rolling. And so that's the one thing, as a Vikings fan, the one thing I'm a little nervous is like it, it wasn't a pretty win. Like you said, Williams still has a lot of development to have happen, but it's also the kind of win that could get you rolling.
Anyways, what about some of the other games around the league?
[00:22:21] Speaker A: I think the big takeaway for me was the Bills loss again, combined with the Chiefs win. And I sent you a text and said, like, it's discouraging that the Chiefs are probably. Which the Chiefs is also. The Lions was also a Lions disaster loss.
So, like, those three teams were in competition.
Well, the Lions and the Bills, I think were in competition for the best teams in the league. And then the Chiefs just slowly have been like, yeah, they look like they're unimpressive.
Unimpressive, inevitable Chiefs, like, where it's just like, I.
I don't know how you won 30 to 17, but like, here we are, week six and you're just like rolling people over. I don't know where that came from, you know? Yeah, obviously we do know where that came from. Worthy came back. They're going to get Rashid Rice again.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: You know, and Mahomes and defense.
Yeah. And I would have said they looked quite a bit better in, like, they resembled Super Bowl Chiefs, in my opinion, in that game.
[00:23:31] Speaker A: Well, first. Yeah, for sure. It still kind of felt like especially like they lost to the Jaguars last week. Like, was that last week?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Yeah, but they were also one of the. That was one of their most undisciplined games ever in the.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Well, I think. I think that's what I'm. That's what I'm saying is like, there's just kind of like.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: I see.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Where did that. Like, where did that come from? Like, you guys were awful.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
Um, so.
So some. Like, my. My perspective on that is.
Yeah. On one hand it's like, okay, it looks like everything goes to the Chiefs again, but that's. There's also a bit of a beauty to that in. In the fact that it's fun to see, like, Vikings fans learn from this.
Just because you start 0 and 2 or you have a. A poor, poor stretch of games, like, don't let that sway your emotions. Obviously, it doesn't matter what the fans are at. It. What matters is what the players and the team is at. But that's what championship teams do is they're. They're stayed together.
They're held together through those thick and thin periods.
The other thing I just want to really quickly say is I don't want to hear it. Lions fans, listen.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: If you're going to complain about the refs, let's revisit week 18 of last year.
If there's a conspiracy about refs, give Vikings fans the opportunity to go Back to week 18. Last year. Otherwise, let's just.
Let's move on.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: So, two thoughts.
I tell everybody. I tell Eagles fans this. I tell everybody, like, every team complaints. Like, you spend time with any fan base, they're going to complain about the refs. Every team thinks that they're getting cheated 100%.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: It is.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: It is weird that the chi. Like. Like so many people see this pattern, and then the Chiefs walk away with. With zero penalties.
And I don't. I don't know how to solve that. I'm not. I'm not saying. I'm not saying it's weird in the sense that, oh, the refs should have made something up.
I'm just saying, like, either. Either they are the most disciplined team you've ever seen and they, like, got it all together for this last game, or there is some sort of a bias in the refs where it's like, we're really watching the Lions, which they should be because the Lions are a dirty team.
They always have been. Well, yeah, I just think it's.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: I don't.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: It's not something I'm making an accusation about, but it is. It is something that I look at. I was like, oh, interesting.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: I would.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: I would like to see. See someone, like, break down. Why?
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Yeah, why? They.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: I don't escape without any penalties.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Like, to be clear, I'm not saying there weren't blown calls. Travis Kelsey had a. Had a dropped catch, and that wasn't called there. There were definitely some bad calls or missed calls.
My point is, if you're allowed to cite that as why you lost, then let's revisit week 18, because there were a lot of blown calls in week 18 as well. And the. The, like, there's lots. It sure seemed. It sure felt, you know, as a Vikings fan, it sure felt. The Lions were rode hard by the media and by the league all last year, and they hardly acknowledged the Vikings. And it was like, from a Vikings perspective, it could feel like everybody wanted the Lions to get to the super bowl, and then Washington comes in and just shuts them down. Obviously, I think, again, I go back, I think Aaron Glenn. I think the Vikings gave Aaron Glenn a head coaching job. He played his super bowl against them and then.
But then, you know, people were able, ready, and prepared for it. And that's the point I'm trying to make. Yeah. I don't know, you know, why.
Why The. The Chiefs were.
The Lions are way more physical than the Chiefs are, so maybe. Maybe refs are paying attention a little bit more. The Lions tend To get away with. With like, they should have more PIs called against them than what they do. And in a certain degree, I'm like, hey, go ahead and coach that. If. If the refs are only going to call a certain percentage of PIs, then play close jam guys get. Get in their faces hard and. And maybe it'll work at. On the other hand, it's like the Lions don't actually have that superb of a defense, so I don't know if.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: Got a bunch of injuries.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: They do. Yeah. That's fair.
But just. I mean, even. I don't know, the whole. The whole Dan Campbell era, the Lions defense has not. But actually been a leader in the stat regard. But yeah.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah, there's. I say. I say they have a bunch of injuries. There's a reason the lions and the 49ers have a bunch of injuries year after year.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:33] Speaker A: They play super hard.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
And that might win them a Super Bowl.
I don't know.
Until. Until the Vikings win a playoff game or two, then I don't know that we should be like.
[00:28:48] Speaker A: Or until the 49ers win the super bowl playing like that.
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's true. They've. They've gotten close. Yeah. I. Yeah. Let. Let's.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: Is that.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Were there. Was there more around the league you were wanting to highlight?
[00:29:03] Speaker A: No, that. That was kind of the big thing.
It was just like, oh, it's the Chiefs again.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: And I don't.
[00:29:12] Speaker B: I'm not sure what to make of the Bills. Like, it to me, that game said way more about the Falcons.
So as a Bills fan, I would say hang in there. I will say that I do believe my gut reaction from the opening night or the opening weekend, Bills versus Ravens. I think there was maybe a little bit more legitimacy to that than.
Because since then I've been like, oh, well, maybe the Bills have figured some things out. My takeaway from that game was Bills have not fixed their defensive struggles from last year and the Ravens don't protect the ball. And I think we're seeing that continue here.
The other issue with the Bills is they. They don't have playmakers like the Falcons. Finally have some playmakers starting to put together. Bijan Robinson, Drake, London.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: Bijan's incredible. He reminded me of Adrian Peterson watching him run.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Yeah. His burst through.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: Like when he gets a hole through, like, he's more explosive, in my opinion, than Saquon Barkley. Saquon Barkley's pat.
And so he'll wait for openings to open up. Whereas Bijan Will, like, see a little opening and shoot through it. It was.
It was phenomenal to watch him. Yeah.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: Let's.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: Let's go through our picks. You.
Let me. Let me pull this up here so our YouTube audience can see. Last time I failed to prep this or to share this, you continue to stay ahead of me. I'm 57 and 35. You're 59 and 33. I believe you were 9 and 5 last week. And I was. I should start putting that. What the. What the week was right underneath or something so that we can see. I was 8 and 6.
So I'll just put this first list of games up and we'll highlight. Probably want to spend the most time around the Eagles. I.
I just want to say I really struggled with this. I am nervous that the Eagles might get right against the Vikings.
There's just once again, you know, the Vikings falling apart on the Eagles.
There was also a part of me that so far, every time I've chosen the Vikings to lose, they've won. And so there's a part of me that's like, let me just pick them to lose and then hopefully they'll win. But then when I. When I stop and thought about, okay, what. What have I seen from the Vikings and what have I seen from the Eagles, and I think the. I think the Vikings can pull a win here. Maybe. Maybe if. On one hand, I really want McCarthy to start this game because I think the team is best prepared and the Eagles defense is soft right now.
The Eagles have a defense that works really well when they have big, strong guys on their defensive line. And when they don't, or when they have some injuries to that line, it creates some weakness in their pass rush, which then exposes weaknesses in other aspects of their defense.
And so I. On one hand, I'm like, that's. I would rather McCarthy come back in and play that instead of the rest of his team being on a short week and have to play the Chargers, which have a pretty decent defense themselves, although recently they haven't been superb.
But. Yeah. I don't know. What are your thoughts?
[00:32:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I.
I really struggled with this because it's like this game, like, this game could turn around and really be embarrassing that I picked the Vikings, like, really did that again, you know, or it could be proven to be true, and I just feel like there's a really good chance that it could be proven to be true.
Eagles are not playing well.
I thought last week that maybe they were getting some things together and then they didn't. And Then AJ Brown, you know, was being all coy and stuff, and so I was like, this team is not in sync. So there's that.
They could still pull it together.
But then Zadarius Smith retires mid season. Who's. Who's, like, older, but now he was with the Eagles.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I was.
So now, last year, he was with Detroit, right?
[00:34:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I think he signed with Detroit mid season. Maybe in the year before that he was with the Browns or something like that. At some point, the Vikings traded him to the Browns.
But he. He. He was. He was nothing to, like, shrug at. And so that. That is a definite, like, loss to me. There's like, maybe it's for personal reasons. Maybe there was something with health. Maybe they were gonna cut him, which would be surprising and would mean that maybe he's not as much of an effect as I thought. I don't know why he retired, but to me, there's like. It's like, ooh, there's.
There's. There's.
I wonder what is going on with the Eagles. Um, yeah, just all of those things combined with their play make me think the Eagles could be.
Could be trending in, like, sort of a messy situation right now. And the Vikings could come in and take advantage of. Not come in. They're. They're hosting.
Could take advantage of that at home.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Yeah. The fact that they're at home swayed me. The other thing is, And I've told you this for a couple of weeks now, but it does. To me, it. It feels very similar, and obviously I'm just a fan a thousand miles away, but it. It feels reminiscent of the Niners game last year where you have a team coming in the. The reignings NFC champions. Obviously the Eagles actually won the super bowl, but they've also not played the Flores defense or this iteration of the floor is defense. And we see, like.
I'm a little nervous because on one hand, if Minnesota is not careful, I. I could see Hertz being able to scramble out of. Of some of the rushes and the blitzes and so forth. On the other hand, what we saw against the Giants was that you can very much disrupt hurts and you can disrupt the. His. His passing game isn't very good.
There's some interesting data even around Saquon Barkley. He seems to have a pattern of having high seasons, and then the following season is pretty low. Maybe not quite the Adrian Peterson or Derrick Henry type, stacking up good seasons back to back.
Obviously, Henry's having a down season as well this year, but the.
The fact that, yeah, Saquon's the run game, for whatever reason, just isn't quite what it was last year.
The inner clubhouse dynamic, to me, I can't help but wonder, obviously this is presuming a lot, but I can't help but wonder if some of this stuff isn't carrying over from a year ago and that they happen to be able to disguise some bad dysfunction with some really good play. Like they had incredible play last year pulls them together and they go and win a Super Bowl. But if you look at the reactions that they had to winning the super bowl and even coming into this year in light of being super bowl winners and stuff, I didn't really think about it at the time. I did think about. It was weird that on opening night, Sirianni and Hertz kind of tried to act like they didn't know it was banner raising night.
That was kind of funny to me. But yeah, it's. It's almost like.
Yeah. I just wonder if. If some of these dynamics aren't now coming to roost and being exposed again because the play isn't there. That was there, especially the second half last year.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:49] Speaker B: Now, I don't think if I'm an Eagles fan, although I know some Eagles fans who are very down on the team right now.
If I'm an Eagle, I'm looking at, yeah, I'm looking at last year and thinking like they're 4 and 2. Like if they're 4 and 2 playing like this, wait till they get it together and right and it'll, you know, they'll be unstoppable then. And I think you can't deny that.
As a Vikings fan. I'm also like, I've been picking Eagles every week so far and four games they should have lost.
Maybe the Rams game you can place on like the Eagles legitimately, special teams pulled it out, but the other three games, it was the other teams that fell apart and couldn't close it out and pull off the win.
And then they also lose two games and they're really sloppy and just not creating a lot of pressure. When I look at what the Vikings weaknesses are right now, I'm not sure that the Eagles will tap into that unless they happen because they do have a longer break. They played Thursday night last week.
So anyways, I decided to settle on Vikings. We'll see if we're right or wrong there. Is there any other team you want to point out? We need to wrap this up here quick, but I think, I think the Dolphins are a bit of a Dumpster fire right now. So I'm going with the Browns. Even though they're. Yeah, they're both.
[00:39:16] Speaker A: They are a dumpster fire.
Browns are less of a dumpster fire, more like a dumpster ash.
And so they. They may get the better. I think I just saw how the Dolphins played against. Who. Who did they play against? They were like a field goal away from winning.
[00:39:33] Speaker B: The Chargers.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah, they do. They are staying close enough. You know, it's interesting that Mike McDaniels isn't gone yet.
They keep playing just well enough, but I think even just some of what we're seeing with Tua's leadership and so forth, it'll.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: Yeah. That. That.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: That it's going to be long till it.
[00:39:59] Speaker A: That is. That I've lost all respect for Tua.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah, I have. The Texans taking down the Seahawks. I don't know.
I could see this being one of those games where it's like, if the Seahawks beat the Texans, then I have to acknowledge two things. One is the Texans aren't what I thought they were. And to. The Seahawks are better than I thought they were.
Texans have the best defense in the league right now, and I'm curious to see what that. How Sam Darnold responds. One of the things I was going to jump in and. And say, I don't think I said it then hopefully I'm not doubling up. But this time a year ago, Sam Darnold looked. He was in MVP conversations as well. And so it's like, as a Vikings fan, it's like, don't look at that and be like, oh, we should have kept him.
No, he was that way last year, too. And then look at what happened in the playoffs. And so I'm curious to see what. What happens when.
If. If pressure. They've lost two games where both of them had stronger defenses. And so you're saying the Seahawks now they.
Yeah, somebody wants to. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: You want to say hi to Asher?
[00:41:14] Speaker B: Hey, Joanna.
Hey.
[00:41:17] Speaker A: She's not in the greatest.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: Good to see you.
Do you think the Texans will win?
[00:41:23] Speaker A: Do you think the Texans will win or the Seahawks.
[00:41:27] Speaker B: Do you think the Vikings will win? That's the question. Is she Vikings or Eagles fan?
[00:41:31] Speaker A: She's a Vikings fan. I don't actually know yet.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: That is arbitrarily determined for the foreseeable future.
Well, I think. I think we'll wrap up this episode unless you have more you wanted to say on Seahawks, Texans or any of these games.
[00:41:49] Speaker A: The Seahawks. Texans is a Monday Night game. That, that'll. That'll. Buccaneers, Lions, Seahawks, Texans. Those are great. Nice hair, Joe.
[00:41:58] Speaker B: Those are great primetime games. Yeah.
[00:42:00] Speaker A: Great primetime games. Yeah.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: I also really like the fact that the Eagles Vikings game is just at 11 o'. Clock. An 11 o' clock game or 1 o' clock Eastern Time.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: It's, it's just tucked in there.
Not much attention.
I think that bodes well for the Vikings is what I'm saying.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:42:24] Speaker B: So, yeah. If you, if you are a rational Vikings fan, I apologize for, for making this but if you are a rational Vikings fan, I'd be curious to hear what, what are Your thoughts on McCarthy and the Vikings and the path forward. Maybe especially if you're someone who's watched the Vikings for 30 years or so. Like how does, how does this look and sound?
Obviously we, we just don't have a lot of tape, a lot of time with McCarthy to really get a feel, a handle on anything. But just in terms of the, the Vikings, other than Christian Ponder, which fell apart very early, did that. Was he injured before the season started?
[00:43:17] Speaker A: No, he, he tried, he played.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: He did play. Yeah. But it, I actually didn't, I didn't follow the Vikings during that era.
[00:43:28] Speaker A: It was, it was a really pathetic era.
[00:43:30] Speaker B: But what, what I was gonna say is out of Christian Ponder, the Vikings haven't had, was the Vikings haven't had a top 10 quarterback draft pick ever in decades. Ever. Yeah.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: Teddy Bridgewater was probably the closest thing to like, oh, we might have something here. And then his knee just got destroyed.
[00:43:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:54] Speaker A: Non contact injury.
[00:43:57] Speaker B: Yeah. So, yeah, thanks for listening. If you, if you're still listening, drop us a comment.
If you're no longer listening.
Have a great week seven and we will talk with you guys later.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: Glad to have Vikings football back.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:44:18] Speaker A: See ya.
[00:44:19] Speaker B: But Teresa and I are taking an anniversary getaway this weekend, so I'm not.
We're gonna go to Portland, Oregon and oh wow. See the city. We've never been to that city and.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: We'Ll probably actually War zone just totally falling apart.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: That's the narrative.
That's what people say.
Oh, we're gonna go check for ourselves. We'll probably possibly be at Bridgetown. Bridgetown Church right as the Vikings are playing.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Oh, cool.
[00:44:55] Speaker B: Checking out the church John Mark Comer founded and Tim Mackey used to go there. I don't know if he still goes there. We should look up what church he goes to. I should see if I can have coffee with Tim Mackey.
Could always try.
Okay, we will see you guys later.
All right.
[00:45:14] Speaker A: See ya.
