Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello and welcome back to the Skullcast. My name is Ash Whitmer. I'm here with my brother Christopher and we are finally coming in here to wrap up the 2025, 2026 NFL football season.
We're two brothers who love to talk about football, particularly about the Vikings. We'd love to see them win multiple Super Bowls before we pass on from this life to the next. We missed.
We've been out a couple weeks here. My, My wife gave birth on the 31st of December and so we did not record that week nor did we record the next week due to the natural flow of having a newborn in the house and also dealing with some sickness.
But we wanted to jump on here and do one more episode at least before the season ends, kind of recap how the season ended for the Vikings and also look at who is left. We're. We're recording this before divisional round starts on Saturday and Sunday, January 17 and 18.
And we're gonna do repick our super bowl picks because. Well, for me, nobody that I had in the.
In the championship rounds, let alone the super bowl rounds are in the playoffs anymore.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: So who did you have in the championship?
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I had the Chargers versus Colts and Eagles versus Lions.
So half of my picks didn't even make the playoffs.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: The Colts. The Colts are devastating season.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: That is.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: Yeah, they had. I mean they were, they were well on their way to being in the.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Playoffs at least, but just a precipitous downfall.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: Yeah. So what. What is the. As we reflect, the Vikings end five and. Oh, and they end second to last. It's ba. It is literally a mirror of the division a year ago.
So a year ago the Lions were the number one seed and then the Vikings were second, packers were third, Bears were last. Now this year Bears are first. Then it's packers and it's Vikings and it's Lions and really one way to look at it is if the Vikings could have stopped that Bears kickoff return after.
Yeah, they came back and had a game go ahead.
Game win appeared to be a game winning drive against the Bears.
Then the Bears, I forget who their returner is, but had a good kick return and they with a few seconds left on the clock were able to get into field goal range and beat the Vikings.
That separates Minnesota not just from the playoffs but. But from winning the division.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: When you think of the roller coaster year that it was, that's pretty crazy to think about like that that's how close they were. What?
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: What are your.
Obviously JJ had an injury they have that awful, awful win against the Lions. I mean it was a good win, but Max Brosmer once again is proving he's not, not NFL ready.
And then JJ comes in and plays enough of the final game to look promising.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Look good.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: They get Jet jets.
His thousand yard season.
Obviously the packers weren't really trying to win much at all either. But yeah, what's kind of your takeaway as The Vikings ended 5 and oh, and what we saw from JJ or the team as a whole?
[00:04:07] Speaker B: I think, I think somehow this Vikings team is both incredibly good and incredibly bad.
And I think that this season kind of shows it. It's like a terrible season and at times felt worse and I think was worse than then two years ago when Kirk got injured and we were just like flying Josh Dobbs in and shutting out the Raiders 3 to 0.
Um, and yet we end with a winning record. And like you said, you know, with some caveats very well. We're like a poor special teams play away from winning the division.
And we would have, we probably would have gotten smoked by whoever we played in the playoffs. Hosted. We would have hosted a game. J.J. mcCarthy's hand would have still been injured. The packers probably would have played a little bit more seriously. So who, you know, who knows how that like the packers probably would have played their starters and whatnot. So who knows how that last game against the packers would have gone?
Yeah, but so all that to say it's, it's a really, it was a really weird season.
I think the, it is, it shows the, the fact that they're probably not the most competitive division in football, but our division is super competitive.
I don't think the Packer. The packers were not nearly the super bowl team everyone had them out to be. Although I do think that they would have won this playoff game if Micah Parsons would have stayed healthy. So I'm just saying that because there's a certain amount of nervousness I have in going into a new season wondering what are the chances we get left behind by these teams that have more settled quarterbacks.
So yeah, it leaves a lot of questions in the air. Like I have a lot of questions about choices that the team made throughout the year.
I have questions about the coaching and as like someone who's not at all like a football knower other than just very casually, it's, you know, I don't.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: I don't, I don't, I don't.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: I'm not able to have a lot of opinions. I have questions of like, should they be overhauling Some of their coaching, what are they going to, how are they going to develop JJ McCarthy? They had the year end, their year end pressers yesterday, and they were very coy, but not nearly as confident about JJ McCarthy being like, the end of his rookie season or not at the end when he got injured going into his rookie season. Kevin o' Connell said, we, you know, we found our franchise quarterback. We're confident that we found our franchise quarterback.
And they're still saying that he has like, the mentality and the attitude of it, but they, they did not speak with that sort of confidence. They said that they want a competitive and deep quarterback room, which I think is appropriate.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: I.
Yeah, I also think people are reading in to his comments. A lot of what they want.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Because my, my first, what I first saw was, was a lot of people saying, like, oh, they're not. There's no guarantee JJ has it. And then I went and listened to his comments and I was like, ah, yeah, to me it sounds like he's. He's the guy. But they want a deep room, which I think is necessary.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Just based on what happened this year and even two years ago.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I think the way, the way I take it is that J.J. mcCarthy is the starter. He's the starter coming out of the season. He's the presumptive starter going into training camp. But that they would. I think it seems like they, they're leaving enough of a door open that if they brought someone in and he just like, outshone JJ McCarthy, they would not be opposed to starting like a, like a slightly more experienced quarterback who outplays him in leading up to the season.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Yeah, but they don't. They also have to, like, do you know how angry this fan base would be if they said JJ's the guy?
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah, they just. And, and I also don't think. I also think there's a certain amount of, like, I think of someone who's developing a guy. Like, if I was in charge of developing a guy like jj, I think there would be a certain amount of humility that I would want him to come into this off season with. Like, hey, I, I did not play super well.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: And I also missed, like, they're in just this awkward spot where Kevin o' Connell is known as the guy who said that organizations fail QBs sooner or like, before QBs fail organizations.
And yet he is faced with someone who, because of injury, is kind of failing the Vikings.
And yet. How do you say that when it's an injury?
So in some ways you're stuck in this gray area of like, yeah, what do we do? You know?
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: And so. And so, yeah, I think some, some humility. Not, not in the sense of, like, I want, you know, I want J.J. mcCarthy to, like, you know, feel down on himself necessarily, but just, like, just, you know, I am gonna put my nose to the grindstone and improve and also, like, talk with trainers, people, like, how do I stay healthy?
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Like, well, that's, that's kind of how I took it. Like, I think it's perfectly appropriate for coaching staff and the organization as a whole to communicate in such a way that McCarthy feels some somewhat insecure in his job that he has to perform.
But I didn't think, like, some of the comments I was reading, commentary I was reading made it sound like, oh, it's. This is just proof that they're going to go find somebody else.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: Like, you didn't take it like a backhanded.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Yeah, not at all. If anything, I just thought it was a, a guarded way of.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: Of responding to the end of the. Yeah. I didn't think there was particularly anything shocking to come from Ko's comments about it that it's like, oh, we're gonna, we should expect a big splash or, or like, oh, we should be angry because he's sticking with jj. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: No, I, I, I think I, I resonate with that thing.
You know, what happens with the defensive coordinator is huge.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: I think about.
I don't know if this is the reason for the Vikings woes, but Grant Udinsky has gotten some head coaching requests. And I remember when he, when he was in Minnesota, like, people.
Well, I think it was Ben Gessling wrote an article about him that was really interesting and.
Which is also how he got, I think, on the radar to be pulled away from the Vikings, ironically.
Um, and so some people were like, you should have fired Wes Phillips and hired Udinsky into the offensive coordinator instead of letting him leave for the Jaguars.
And now getting. I think the Browns were requesting an interview with him.
Um, I, I don't, I don't know. I also, I don't know that that necessarily would have solved what ailed the Vikings this year, but it, it is always a bummer when you see talent. You know, Kevin Stefanski, Mike Tomlin, Grant Udinsky. They're all former Vikings coaches. Tony Dungy.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Yeah, but I, like, Vikings Nation settled down. I, I've been, I have this rant that I'm like, we, we are so driven to see a win right now. We've got to see the win that we're willing to like.
Like some of the suggestions out there. I don't know. Immediately after the, the Steelers are bounced out of the playoffs. Like we're seeing mockups of Rogers in Vikings uniforms. Like it's setting. The stage is set and all this and I'm like, this just proved that the guy's not it. Like I do not want to see a year of Rogers. Maybe, maybe that would have been wonderful. Whatever. Like, I just, I don't think.
Look, look at what happened. He got slaughtered by a tremendous pass rush.
That same pass rush would the Vikings would have faced if they were going to go on a Super bowl run. Could Rogers have gotten the Vikings into the playoffs? Yes. I don't doubt that at all. But this is, we're not wanting another playoff.
We can win 14 games and not be as satisfactory as what we've seen. We want playoff wins. We want to go deep. We want to see a championship. And you're going to face an intense pass rush like that.
Well, guess what?
The Vikings don't have an O line to protect the old hobbled guy that trips over his blockers when he's trying to escape the pocket. Like that's not going to like even the Vikings don't even an improved offensive line.
I'm not sure could have, could have helped protect Rodgers from when they faced the Texans or the Seahawks or the Bears. I mean the Bears have a fairly good defense. I don't think it's tremendous. The Seahawks is probably the biggest pass rush in the nfc, but there's some tremendous pass rushing in the afc.
So I'm just like this, this is like, listen, The Vikings went 9 and 8. If this was the Jaguars who were 4 and 13 and they turn around and their guy that they drafted stumbles into a what, what did he go 6 and 4 record in his first 10 games? The season's 9 and 8. Yes, it looks ugly and it's like, man, there's lots of improvement that need to be made. Made. Then it would be like, wow, this was, this was a really good developmental year and that's how we need to have.
Have been thinking about this years. This is development. This is not super bowl window yet. It's development.
Can super bowl window be there next year? I was hoping by the end of this year we could say, oh yes, our window has opened. I don't think we can say that now.
The question is with the qb. I think the questions are bigger than that because we clearly have some holes. We Have a number two wide receiver that can't stop getting arrested and can't hang onto the ball. We have a, our number one wide receiver that had his worst year ever.
Not only the fact that he had his lowest yards, but he dropped more balls than normal. We have running backs that. And offensive line that continue to get injured. And so, like, there's, there's a lot of pieces that need to be figured out.
I do think the Vikings, like you said, are a very good team.
They could go deep. But I just think a year ago, I remember seeing memes of Grant Udinsky and people like, what does this guy even do for the Vikings? And I had forgotten about that Ben Gosling article, but I remember everybody was like, oh, you got a, you got a fire.
Wes Phillips, I don't know what he does. Why he's still around that. That's a legitimate question.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: I think he helps with play design and stuff. I think he.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you're right. But everybody thought that Josh McCowan should be promoted to offensive coordinator because he's the guru with the quarterbacks and offense, and we're going to lose him and all of this.
Well, now everybody's like, well, what does Josh McAllen even do? He needs to be fired. This is all, you know, and everybody's looking at Grant, Grant Udinsky, which nobody knew what he did and been like, looking at him like, let's celebrate the fact that, hey, Flores might get a head. Head coaching job. Grant Udinsky might get a head coaching job. Are there questions around, you know, the development of JJ and what. Is the jury still out on how that's turning out? Yeah, there are, but I don't, I don't think we're, We've seen enough to be able to say that this is a failure and this is awful. Rather, there is a, a culture and a environment that is being set here that produces high quality coaches and helps people improve and, and step up their game to the next level.
I'll. I'll stop there, but that's kind of my rent. Like, I'm. Yes, this.
I wanted to see a playoff win this year, by the way, just to rub it in.
Jim Harbaugh with the, with the Los Angeles Chargers is.02 in the playoffs. Like, don't be. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Like, give it time. Give it development.
I don't think the Vikings are.
Yeah, I have been actually feeling rather more optimistic about the future than I did last year. I think that's because the season ended with two embarrassing win losses, whereas this year it ended with. It ended with five straight wins. And I would say just overall improvement like we wanted to see after that Falcons game, we wanted to see JJ Improve. Can he improve by the end of the year? And he did. He. He. If you take his last five games, I think it was, um, he just. The last five games of stretch, he's in the top five of all NFL quarterbacks in some of the key metrics. I forget exactly what they were. I think completion percentage was one of them, which is what he was really struggling with early on. And so I just. Yes, the question of injury and health and stuff like, that's the biggest. Ugh. What do you do? You know, it's, in a way, it's maybe out of. Out of control.
Is it on him to learn how to protect himself? I don't know. You know, I was watching CJ Stroud and who is the other. Who has been playing? Oh, maybe it was Malik Willis before the playoffs started.
And like, both of them have. Have mechanics and stuff that it's just like, hey, that kind of looks like ch. JJ why don't we hear about their awful mechanics and way of. Because they're not throwing and stuff that.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: They'Re not putting up. Just statistically terrible.
Well, Malik Wills, maybe.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Well, they're not. They're not. Is. I, I just keep coming back to JJ McCarthy's had the biggest microscope or magnifying glass on him all year long.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
He also just had, like.
Just like some terrible games that I think C.J. stroud didn't have as much because his team around him played a little bit better.
Like, I mean, like J.J. mcCarthy, if he, if he wasn't missing the ball, then his receivers were dropping them. And so it just looked. It looks like he's got a really terrible passing percentage and whatnot.
I mean, which he does. But some of it's him. Some of it's his receivers, some of it's. Et cetera, et cetera.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: I, I, The.
The idea is like, some, Some of the. Some of the fans want, like I've seen, and I'm sure this is a small minority. I don't know. I don't, I don't live in Minnesota, so, you know, I don't. I don't know what the, what the local fans are saying.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Just. Can I, Can I jump in on something real quick?
[00:21:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: CJ Stroud, in his rookie season, had a game against the jets where he only threw for 91 yards. He had a 43.5 completion percentage and lost the game 66 to 30 against the Jets.
Now, he did have.
Okay, I'll shut up. He did have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 300 plus yard season games, including a 470 yard game.
I'm just.
The point I was trying to make is like, young QBs are going to have those bad games. Yeah, for sure they're going to have.
[00:21:59] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What I was gonna say, though, is about some Vikings fans online at least are.
There's a very small, what I assume is a small minority of Vikings fans who would like to see Flores kept even at the expense of o'.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Connell.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: And that, I mean, obviously that's not gonna happen. Like, that's just not. That's not gonna happen. Like, if you think that that's gonna happen, you might wish for that to happen, but if you think it's gonna happen, you're kind of dumb.
But it, to me, it just goes to show, like, kind of piggybacking off of what you're saying about, like, needing to win now. Fans are impatient. I think fans are also, like, sometimes I think fans think that teams are just filled with like, robots and they forget that these are humans who form, like, psychological and emotional attachments to people. And you need like, yes, there's a part of being a football player where you kind of have to, like, roll with the punches. You kind of have to be able to get past, like, oh, my coach got fired. I really liked him. Here's a new guy, I got to learn his scheme, blah, blah, blah.
But like, you don't just fire a beloved coach and then replace him with an existing coach and think that that's not going to create some. Like, like, like you're not drastically risking losing the locker room.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And especially when, like, as it pertains to the Flores, o' Connell thing, like, Flores has been very open about o'. Connell. Like, he learned.
Does anybody remember how the league thought about Flores? In fact, we're still waiting to see how the league feels about Flores.
But before coming to Minnesota, it was really only Mike Tomlin, who has given Flores much of a chance. Tua was saying everything that he wanted to say. And Flores himself credited o' Connell to learning a lot from o' Connell as far as how to lead men and to create a culture. And, and so I'm just like, I think the fact that Flores is now being considered for a head coaching job, first of all, he's a tremendous defensive mind, but that's a testament to o' Connell. That's a testament to the coaching staff and development that's happening there. And I would love to see Flores stay.
I'm nervous of what it's going to be like if he leaves, but I, I think he deserves a shot and. Yeah.
Yeah, I definitely would not want to see him over o' Connell right now.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know that I have much more to add.
I.
Yeah, I think I would. I would like to see. Yeah, it'll be interesting. They. They. They have a lot more, I think, cap space than some folks would like to give them credit for.
In part.
Luke Braun. I think you and I both saw this video. Luke Braun did a kind of a breakdown of how much cap space the Vikings actually have between the inflation of the cap.
What's it called, the cap limit going up every year with the amount of money that the league makes, um, cap space, the cap space increases the more money that the NFL makes. And so that, that, that the room you have to, like, sign people and stuff gets a little wider a little bit every year. But then also with.
With being able to put money into void years and stuff, they could free up a lot of room for next year.
So obviously, we need to address, like, the corn. We need to address cornerback, we need to address safeties.
I'm very curious what they end up doing with Hargrave and Allen. There's a part of me that's, like, not that worried because Jalen Redmond, Dallas Turner, some of those guys played really well.
I, I'm. Yeah, I'm. I'm nervous. I'm not nervous about Justin Jefferson because he's still.
He still played exceptionally for wide receiver. Just not as exceptionally as we're used to him seeing, like, he's still a top even in his, like, like, oh, this is a disaster season for Jets.
He's still like, top 10 or whatever it is.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Um, but, you know, but.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: But this team, this team is kind of built around Justin Jefferson being great, and a young quarterback is going to need Justin Jefferson to be great. I do hope, like, they, they indicated some that they wanted to get back to the way they want to play football.
And I do hope that they. They don't just abandon some of the success they had towards the end of the year with, like, relying more on the run and stuff.
Yeah, I mean, obviously they're smarter than I am, so maybe they're trying to do something that's new and whatever. I don't know. But to me, it seems. It seems like they need to. They need to Figure out some of the line stuff again and then fill some of those holes at, in, in the defense. I think a lot of people want to move off of Hawkinson.
I think he actually is better than people give him credit for. He's not, he hasn't had a, he didn't have a great receiving year, but he's also coming off of an injury and.
I've, I've seen people point out how like great he is at blocking and stuff and I think that that's important.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, going, going back to Jefferson.
I was just looking it up because I, I remember Randy Moss kind of going through a lull soon before now. Randy Moss put up his, his career, his best career year in his age 26 season, whereas this was Jefferson's age 26 season.
And so it wasn't, I mean, Moss with New England. Moss put up more touchdowns, but he didn't have as many yards as he did in 2003. Jefferson has put up more like he's had an 1800 yard season.
Two, two over 1500 yards and, and one over 1400 or another one over 14. So 1, 2, 3, 4 seasons out of 6 have been over 15 or 1400 yards. And so like on one hand I'm kind of, it's like, yeah, we, we're so used to him going off and having these big seasons being, you know, him and Chase or him and Adams or him and, you know, somebody else argued over whether or not they're the best wide receiver. That was not this year. But it, it's also not uncommon for a star athlete who goes on to have a very fruitful career to go through lulls.
And the fact that it came with a, a young QB like this isn't surprising. I, it. I think this is probably what you're talking about that. And what I talk about is, is it definitely seem, is he seemed to drop more and so he didn't seem to be quite as effective as we're used to seeing him be. And so it's, and he's alluded to it, there's some off field stuff in his personal life. And so, yeah, it's kind of like, well, hopefully that doesn't, you know, drift over into the next season. But as you were saying, he is a human.
There are things happening in his life that, that matter.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, yeah, I don't, I don't really know. Like, it's, it's. I don't even know how interested I'll be in listening to all the, all the like podcasts and stuff because everyone, Everyone's a little bit negative.
And I just. I, I'm not. I don't need everything to be sunshine and roses, but I just don't enjoy this sort of speculation. I don't. I don't enjoy living in that tension of.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: Of like, I come to. I come to.
I don't. I don't know that I need a lot of cathartic release from my Vikings fandom. I come to my Vikings fandom as my, like, cathartic release. And so if you're, like, making me more pent up about, like, angry at the coaching staff or something, then it's like, well, this isn't serving me.
[00:31:18] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
I, I have quit listening to almost.
I, I find it hard to get into any NFL. Some Rich Eisen stuff is still fun, but I don't know, there's just so much super hot. We say it every year, but it just seems to continue to get worse and worse. We need like these super hot takes and, and just stuff that's like, you're not even thinking anymore about, like, you're just.
You just know this is going to get really a lot of views and clicks right now right off the bat. And first thing first, and I think it's making.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: Remains phenomenal.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: It helps that most of them, their, Their favorite teams are out of the playoffs, so they have to.
Well, and they, they have to stay kind of.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: They do.
They do have, like, hot take culture. They still participate in that, but they clearly don't take themselves very seriously.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think they think they're phenomenal.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: I think they would argue that they do take themselves seriously. Like, I think Nick Wright would say that he hates being wrong, but when he is wrong. Well, that's not true. I think there's times when he's wrong and he won't admit it because he still thinks he's right.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: But there's definitely been some times where he kind of shifts.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Yeah, shifts.
[00:32:40] Speaker A: What he was saying is like, no, you were pretty.
[00:32:43] Speaker B: But he doesn't take himself seriously. I think, like, he, he has a sense of humor. He can take a joke. He can give it.
And he's just.
I don't know. He's not everybody's cup of tea and he hasn't always been mine. But I followed first things first since before, like when it was Chris Carter and him.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:33:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I used to watch it. I came there because of Chris Carter.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: And then he got fired and the whole show completely shifted to, why did Carter get fired? I Think.
I think there's differing explanations, but it seems like he may have exploded on somebody one time and so they, they said, well, we will not be needing you. Your services.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: It is. I, I really enjoy the show. I think, I think all three, all three of them. I've tried. So Wright has his own, I guess. I don't know if Bruchard has his own, but I can't think of his name now. The host, Kevin Wilde. The Patriots fan, Kevin Wilds. Yeah. He has a, A, A podcast and I've, I've kind of enjoyed it a little bit, but I, I think the three of them together make up a really good chemistry that, that is fun to.
Whenever I'm needing to just kind of debrief from the day or whatever else listen to. I, Yeah, I, I don't. I'm just. I almost don't have a lot of expectations. Like, I. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Flores. It'll be interesting. Like on one hand, I, I looked midway through the season, I was like, ko, you need an offensive coordinator. Like, you need to stop calling plays. But then on the other hand, by the end of the season, I was like, he is, he is brilliant.
Yeah. And maybe, maybe his brilliance can still go to work.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: I think, I think the key to them will be can. Can McCarthy improve and take on more of the mental load of his offense?
And can, Can.
Can Kevin o' Connell meet him where he's at while pushing him towards.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:15] Speaker B: While stressing him and building up his ability to, to move into his offense.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And I like. One of the things that makes me optimistic about JJ is he seems like a hard worker.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: And he's.
That comeback against the Bears is. You know, it's very ironic. The Bears have now become known for being the comeback cardiac Bears they learned it from. That's great. Like, maybe they'll go deep, maybe they'll go into the Super Bowl. I don't know. But I think that part of J.J. could be developed. I, I think J.J. has it in a way. Like, we didn't see that from Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins was great at putting up garbage time stats. JJ is what, 2 and 1 or 3 and 1 in primetime this year? Did they play four games or.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: He won the. He beat the Bears, lost to the Falcons, beat the Lions.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: The Lions.
Was the Lions game the end of the season? Was that a prime? That wasn't prime time.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: End of the season was Christmas.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: No.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: What at the end? Oh, the end against the Packers.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Yeah, that was. That wasn't prime time.
[00:36:32] Speaker B: That was just against the Lions was Christmas Day. So it was prime time because it was a standalone.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: But that would have been Brosmer. What was the. I was thinking he had.
[00:36:44] Speaker B: Oh yeah, you're right.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: That was against three games. Who. Who was there Thursday.
Thursday night Chargers.
[00:36:50] Speaker B: That was the Chargers.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And they got blown. Yeah. So maybe he's just one and one in prime time.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: Actually, I have somewhere. I have the schedule.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: My point, the point I was trying to bring out is we. We see him in like key moments of the game. Be able to step up.
Obviously then he lays eggs in some games which. So there's never. You're never given a chance to have a key moment of the game. But I'm just. That just gives me optimism for. I think this kid can be developed further and I'm not ready to move off of him. I trust KOC and the staff.
If they bring somebody in, whatever, I trust them.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: Dallas.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: I'm not.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: Dallas was a Sunday night Dallas.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. I knew there was another one there.
Excuse me. So, yeah, I think. I think that's all I have to say. I. Yeah, I, I think I started by saying I don't have a lot of expectations. Like I don't know.
I don't even really know what.
What I want them to draft or. Or do or.
I think there's speculation that Grinard could be gone or. Or yeah, you mentioned Hawkinson already in trade packages and so forth. But I'm just like people are throwing out trade Grenard and the 26 and 27 first round for Joe Burrow and to me that's laughable. Joe Burrows had. Not only does he get injured a lot, he misses the playoffs some. Now again, we could debate whether or not that's all his fault because the Bengals have such a bad. But then.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: But Joe Burrow has not. If Joe Burrow has not had Flores as a defensive coordinator.
[00:38:41] Speaker A: Fair, fair. But what if Joe Burrow comes and gets injured?
[00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Then it would be. And then disaster.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: Then the windows slam shut and Quesi traded away the first round pick of 26 and 27.
Fire him.
It's just like what the if.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: So I don't like the idea of trading Garnard because I, I think again that human element, like, I think he's important to the.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: To the.
Yeah.
I will say a real mentor to Dallas.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: I will say like you could maybe nitpick somewhat, but Kwesi's done a pretty good job at moving off of people, knowing when to move off of people he hasn't done a super consistent job at who he brings in.
[00:39:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:33] Speaker B: But like feeling. I think, I think it was right to let go Thielen. Thielen put up big numbers and Panthers, but we've been fine at wide receiver since Thielen left.
We haven't missed Thielen. We didn't miss K.J. osborne.
I mean, Danielle Hunter is playing out of his mind this season.
I don't, I don't feel bad. Like, I don't, I don't like, like he's, he's one of the few ex Vikings where I, I genuinely can root for him and not be like, like even Darnold, there's still this kind of like, ah, do I, do I want to root for him? Because then it's like if he, if he wins the super bowl, there, there will just always be a question of like, what if he would have stayed, you know, even though I, I wouldn't go back and change my stance on Darnold, there will be that question where. Whereas with Danielle Hunter, I mean, I think it was, I think, think it was a totally fair swap that we did. We basically traded for.
Was it Cashman and Granard who came over from the Texans? Yeah, and Daniel Hunter, I think. I mean they were free agents, all three of them, but it was essentially a trade.
[00:40:48] Speaker A: And Grinard, let me double check this. Granard put up as many, if not more sacks last year than Hunter. Now Hunter, Hunter did way more this year than.
[00:40:58] Speaker B: No, I think with what we needed to do with our cap, I think it was a very good move and I think that it's just working out well for both of them. If we, if we would get like a really good trade return, I'd maybe be okay with Grinard. I just.
There is always like when you, when you trade a proven commodity for a draft pick, you're basically trading like you're basically trading away with hopes that you can draft or replace that person equally, you know, and so there's always like this man. Like, I don't know, is Grinard on the back end of his career? Probably.
But I think his leadership is important. And with Harrison Smith likely retiring, you're going to need an old head leader, someone who has heart and knowledge of the game in Flora's scheme.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
Danielle Hunter has put up. Why, why don't people talk about him more?
[00:42:04] Speaker B: I don't know, Brett.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: He got off to a slower start than, than Parsons, but he's put up four consecutive double digit sack seasons and if he hadn't gotten injured in 21. He would have done a then as well. And he had. He's had out of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 seasons.
He's had seven double digit sack seasons.
[00:42:31] Speaker B: The Brett Coleman who has the bootleg football podcast he, he posted about Daniel Hunter. He said, he said he's one of the most underrated players and if he would get a Super bowl this year, he'd almost be a shoo in hall of Fame.
I don't think he was very good.
I don't think he was very good coming out of college. And someone was talking about how it's a testament to the Vikings coaching.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: I.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Mean to his hard work and also the Vikings coaching in his early years.
And I think that's the slow start that you're talking about.
[00:43:19] Speaker A: It's very. I mean he, he started better than Grinard. Grinard just didn't get near as many snaps either. And I don't know, I don't. I'm not looking into the details if he was injured and stuff there. But like both of them have very similar starts. Kind of wasn't till their 4th or 5th year till they took off and started getting into consistent 12 sack. But yeah, both of them had 12 sacks last year. Grenard was injured this year and only had three and Hunter had 15.
But yeah, I, I find myself. Let's. Let's shift. Yeah boy, we're running on 47 minutes here.
We should have probably wrapped this up. Let's shift into our playoff kind of. We, we want to redo our picks.
Um, I find myself cheering for the Texans.
I, I want to see Allen get to the Super Bowl. There's part of me that would love to see Allen have his chance at, at a ring.
Um, but I also think the Texans are a very exciting team to cheer for. Patriots are, are an exciting team. There's.
I, I like Drake May I like Vrabo. I like what they have going there. It's just that they're the Patriots and so it's like ah, it's like why does. Why does it have to be them?
Let me see if I can get to presenting here.
So we here let me go to. We're going to discuss the way the season wrapped up concerning our picks.
This is so frustrating. If only I had stopped Christopher's kick return at the 40 yard line.
I mean at the 30 yard line instead of the 40 yard line, maybe I would have been able to pull out the win.
My browsers are choosing to slow. Why. Why is it slowed up all of a sudden. This is embarrassing.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: I would just like to point out that I. I had the Vikings winning out.
[00:45:27] Speaker A: I did all along.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: I did very terribly. The games I thought they would lose, they won. The games I thought they would win, they lost.
But right at the end, we synced up in the last five. I got correct.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: No, you had the Lions winning on Christmas Day. In our actual picks, at least.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: Oh, maybe I changed it.
This is my on.
[00:45:55] Speaker A: That was at the beginning.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Over here.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: I put a W.
So I. In week 17, we didn't do week 18. So we're. We're not. There are two weeks, I think, that we skipped week 17. I went 8 and 8. You went 7 and 9.
I end with 153 and 88. You end 154. 87. All right, round of applause for you. Being I won last year, you won this year. So I guess we'll have to do one more year to have a tiebreaker. Now, let's go back.
I want to present our super bowl pick. So I had. Well, we'll start with you.
You had the Chargers and Bills originally, and then the Eagles and Bucks. Everybody but the Bucks of your picks made it.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: Not.
[00:46:48] Speaker A: And then what?
[00:46:51] Speaker B: Well, by now, I only have the Bills left standing.
[00:46:56] Speaker A: Yeah, the Bills. The Bills are left standing. You're sticking with them. You say they're going to go to the AFC Championship and win. They're going to go to the super bowl against the Rams, and you have the Buffalo Bills winning the Super Bowl.
Now I.
[00:47:12] Speaker B: Rams would be a great Super Bowl. I'm not going to lie.
[00:47:16] Speaker A: That would be a great Super Bowl. The. The boys. My boys were really wanting a Chargers, Rams, Super Bowl.
[00:47:22] Speaker B: Oh, that would.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: Of course they did. They. Originally. I was, like, trying to be all objective. We were. Early in the season, I'm like, okay, who actually looks like they could win? And it's like, I'm not just going to go with who I want three.
[00:47:35] Speaker B: Or something like that.
[00:47:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so.
And so I. I picked the Chargers to beat the Lions in the Super Bowl. The Lions didn't even make the playoffs. The Chargers are bounced, and they. They were looking fairly strong early on. So this time I'm just flat out going, who I would like to see.
I would love to see a Bills, Texans, afc, and I would love to see the Rams versus the Niners in the NFC Championship. I could get excited about the Niners going and winning a Super bowl, but I also would love to see Allen get it. I'm with you. I'm Going to have the Bills win the Super Bowl.
I guess there's nothing exciting here. Luck. We both have a Bills Ram super bowl going on. So I guess we're not sold on the Seahawks yet. You're a little more sold on them than I am.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:48:31] Speaker A: I think there's a chance the Niners could go in and beat them.
[00:48:34] Speaker B: It'll be interesting to see how they.
[00:48:35] Speaker A: Especially with Fred Warner coming back. I did forget that Warner's coming back.
Excuse me. So, yeah, it'll be an interesting, Interesting.
[00:48:44] Speaker B: Matchup for sure, but has the potential of being one of the greatest, like, overall playoffs that I can remember.
I'm sure. Like, there was a good span of years where I really wasn't paying attention, but, like, from Wild Card round till super bowl, basically, you mix the bag up at all and they look like good matchups.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, it's been.
I was pretty sure the. The Steelers would get bounced. I was pretty sure. I was pretty sure the packers would be bounced.
Who else? Oh, Panthers.
[00:49:26] Speaker B: The Panthers had. Chargers had more in them than. Than expected, though.
[00:49:30] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
And I don't know if that says more about the Panthers or the Rams. It'll be interesting to see. But I was curious to see how New England played against the Chargers because they hadn't faced a defense like that.
Well, now I'm like, man, that New England team is fun.
[00:49:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:48] Speaker A: Yeah, they're. They're a young, fun team as well. I mean, I think they could go the whole way. Anybody. Anybody really could go the whole way.
[00:49:57] Speaker B: They always say.
[00:49:58] Speaker A: Anybody standing right now, they always say.
[00:50:00] Speaker B: This weekend is the best weekend in football.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:50:05] Speaker B: Oh, my daughter just woke up.
[00:50:08] Speaker A: Yeah. I should get going, I think, because.
[00:50:10] Speaker B: This is also the weekend that the national championship is in college.
[00:50:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: And it's also like, the divisional round often tends to be pretty even. I would say last last week, like, I mean, we'll see how this weekend goes. I'll say last. Last week was phenomenal as far as, like, fun games to watch.
[00:50:29] Speaker A: It was fun to sit back and watch good, good players play instead of being anxious and be like, man, is he gonna do it? It's like, oh, but goodness. There's a lot of good teams that spend a lot of time going three and out that that Eagles game was. I knew when. Cause I quit after the first quarter. I forget what we were doing.
And then I came back to watch in the third quarter, and it was like, still the same score. And I was like, okay, this. The Rams or the. The Niners are going to come back and win because the Eagles should have. The way the the Niners were playing early on, the Eagles should have been able to separate themselves nicely from them. And it helps when you can put two quarterbacks on the field and have a trick play to pull out of your hat. And they've done that successfully twice now. Okay, we will see you all. Yeah, we don't have anything on the horizon as far as when we'll record next, but join us as we anxiously watch what happens with the super bowl and in the off season and whether or not Skull Nation continues to be anxious and groaning, or if there's exciting things percolating.
[00:51:50] Speaker B: We'll see if you follow history at all. There's a pretty good guess.
[00:51:56] Speaker A: Next year should be good. It's true. It's true.
[00:51:59] Speaker B: NFC Championship, baby.
