All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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Sounds like Cashman, O'Neill, Jackson and McCarthy are back to practicing.

I'm not sure that means they are full bore or a go on Sunday, but that's a good thing.
 




Hard not to look at all of this and not say good news. Limited Participant practice on Wednesday sure turns out to play on Sunday an awful lot of the time. An OL with O'Neill and D. Jackson (and Jurgens, provided he's actually better than Brandel?), joining Fries and Darrisaw sure sounds like a good thing to me

 








Yeah that’s Kwesi bit. So far above — the granular is for everyone else. It’s dumb and the best leaders may not make it to the plant floor but they manage the optics.
 



Rodgers
23/342497.342103.7

Flacco
31/473427.330108.6


washed ...


Especially evident when Rodg threw a 60yard perfect Hail Mary bomb to give them a chance at the end.
 





It was always a problem of logistics.

You can't split reps between two QB's all week and get the starter adequately prepared. You have maybe two days, more like one, to do something like that. And you have to assess at reasonable speed if McCarthy's ankle is good to go and if the rust from not playing is not too thick.

You can't do that with only a day or two.

Wentz was always starting.


Now the question is, do you bring McCarthy back on a short week against his former head coach?

And if not then ... then at Detroit?

And if not then .... so you're brining him back in Week 10. I dunno ...


Obviously all of this is completely dependent on Wentz performing and not getting hurt. If he doesn't play well, put the kid in, by all means!
 

GopherGrit said:
Rodgers
23/342497.342103.7

Flacco
31/473427.330108.6


washed ...


Especially evident when Rodg threw a 60yard perfect Hail Mary bomb to give them a chance at the end.
Click to expand...

Looks like Flacco outplayed Rodgers, by not throwing any picks against a stout Steelers defense.

Meanwhile, against a weak Bengals defense especially without Hendrickson, Rodgers turned it over twice. Sad.
 

Bengals are weak.

I mean, yeah, they only lost 24-37 to Detroit, and now they beat the previously 4-1 Steelers.

Hugely weak. Makes sense our win against them doesn't count.

If only KOC would have chosen to call good, winning plays before! Instead of purposefully calling bad, losing plays! Argh!
 

GopherGrit said:
Bengals are weak.

I mean, yeah, they only lost 24-37 to Detroit, and now they beat the previously 4-1 Steelers.

Hugely weak. Makes sense our win against them doesn't count.
Click to expand...
Yeah, hugely weak. Bengals Defense ranked next to last. Not exactly a small sample size. As also best Defensive player didn't play tonight.

2025 NFL Defense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats | FOX Sports

Find out where every NFL team ranks on defense following Week 6 of the 2025 season.
www.foxsports.com www.foxsports.com

Not sure about what point you are making about the gibberish of the Vikings win not counting and KOC comments. Very bizarre comments and sarcasm (I hope).
 

Ope3 said:
Yeah, hugely weak. Bengals Defense ranked next to last. Not exactly a small sample size. As also best Defensive player didn't play tonight.

2025 NFL Defense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats | FOX Sports

Find out where every NFL team ranks on defense following Week 6 of the 2025 season.
www.foxsports.com www.foxsports.com

Not sure about what point you are making about the gibberish of the Vikings win not counting and KOC comments. Very bizarre comments and sarcasm (I hope).
Click to expand...
If my post is not replying to a post of yours, then I am not directing my post at you.

Hope that will be clear going forward ...
 

GopherGrit said:
If my post is not replying to a post of yours, then I am not directing my post at you.

Hope that will be clear going forward ...
Click to expand...

Understood, but whether it was directed at me or not your comments appeared as quite a non sequitur as I do not recall anyone at anytime indicating remotely that the Vikes win against the Bengals did not count.

Additionally, any negative critiques on KOC have been rather few and far between. Maybe there's a zealot here or there during the game making a comment which is usually easily dismissed.
 


Ope3 said:
Looks like Flacco outplayed Rodgers, by not throwing any picks against a stout Steelers defense.

Meanwhile, against a weak Bengals defense especially without Hendrickson, Rodgers turned it over twice. Sad.
Click to expand...
So, should we hypothetically signed Flacco instead of Rodgers?

Submitted by KOC, Eagen
 

Just Gopher It!! said:
So, should we hypothetically signed Flacco instead of Rodgers?

Submitted by KOC, Eagen
Click to expand...

When it was discussed in the 2025 Offseason thread between Rodgers or Flacco, I was advocating "none of the above" which is the route the Vikes chose.

However, I did say if it was either/or I would have chosen Flacco. I won't say last night's contest validates that opinion, other than to say it was at least reasonable.

The way the OLine has been banged up, odds are strong that either 40+ old QB would be significantly hurt/injured by this point, given that the current 20 & 30 yr old signal callers have fared in terms of health.
 

GopherGrit said:
Bengals are weak.

I mean, yeah, they only lost 24-37 to Detroit, and now they beat the previously 4-1 Steelers.

Hugely weak. Makes sense our win against them doesn't count.

If only KOC would have chosen to call good, winning plays before! Instead of purposefully calling bad, losing plays! Argh!
Click to expand...
just a general comment, the bengals are, statistically, the worst defensive team in football (DVOA).

Part of box score looking is it also entirely ignores the game flow and what's happening on a down by down standpoint. The Steelers ran the ball for 7.4 yards/carry (despite only a long of 37) and averaged more yards a run than yards per passing attempt (which is challenging to do in modern football with all the protections for the passing game). The first pick entirely changed how the game went (and was a completely boneheaded choice and terrible throw into double coverage). 2nd one is a great interception. But both of the picks you go from leading and having the ball to now you're down 7 and the other team gets the ball coming out of the half.

it was an awful team loss from the steelers to a bad bengals team. Over the last 25 years, 65% of games are decided by 13 or less. Losing by 13 where you scored with 3 min left in garbage time really means nothing. They were down 28-3 going into the 4th quarter and have also lost by 38 and 25 this year.

In any regard, don't think the Bengals or the Steelers are very good and would take the Vikes to beat them both with each team having their full roster. If the Vikes miss the playoffs, that Steelers game with basically no one on the OL was a killer.
 

Ope3 said:
When it was discussed in the 2025 Offseason thread between Rodgers or Flacco, I was advocating "none of the above" which is the route the Vikes chose.

However, I did say if it was either/or I would have chosen Flacco.
Click to expand...
Agreed.
Ope3 said:
I won't say last night's contest validates that opinion, other than to say it was at least reasonable.

The way the OLine has been banged up, odds are strong that either 40+ old QB would be significantly hurt/injured by this point,
Click to expand...
Agreed
Ope3 said:
given that the current 20 & 30 yr old signal callers have fared in terms of health.
Click to expand...
I was also having some fun with Rodgers GH agent!!!!
 



McCarthy Out till November?

The logic in the article from Heavy makes sense to me FWIW-

——————-

heavy.com

Vikings, JJ McCarthy Injury Update Pushes Return to Next Month

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy's injury timeline took another hit as it appears he is unlikely to be cleared for several more weeks.
heavy.com heavy.com

The goalposts continue to move for J.J. McCarthy‘s return for the Minnesota Vikings.

Coming off the bye week, McCarthy made his return to practice after missing three games due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 2. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has maintained that McCarthy must practice for a full week before he returns to action.

McCarthy’s participation in practice hasn’t offered much optimism. McCarthy has been listed as limited in practice while Carson Wentz, ailing from a shoulder injury he sustained in Week 5, has been a full participant.

All signs point to Wentz playing this week against the Philadelphia Eagles, but it’s continuing to trend that waiting for McCarthy could stretch into November.

KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reported on October 16 that he “can’t imagine” McCarthy plays on a short week of practice for a matchup against the Los Angeles Chargerson “Thursday Night Football” next week by virtue of O’Connell wanting McCarthy to get a full week of practice to prepare for his return.

If that’s the case, McCarthy’s return would be pushed back to a November 2 matchup with the Detroit Lions — seven weeks removed from when he injured his ankle.

McCarthy said in his Wednesday news conference that he received second opinions on the ankle injury, and his ankle would require four to six weeks to fully heal.

“It’s getting there, I wouldn’t say it’s 100% but we’re striving every day to get there as fast as possible,” McCarthy said in his Wednesday news conference.
 

Here’s some depressing snippets for non-happy hour regarding our porous run D frim Alec Lewis’ article yesterday. If it still sux after we get Cash and Gink back, then yikes-

www.nytimes.com

Veterans Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen must do more for Vikings defense to excel

The two free agent defensive tackles have excelled at rushing the passer, but the Vikings expect more of them against the run.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com


Statistically speaking, their production is difficult to parse. They have combined for two sacks through five games, but their pressure metrics are starkly better than those of the players they replaced: Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard. Run defense is an entirely different conversation. The Vikings have already allowed 15 explosive runs, according to TruMedia, which is 12 more than they’d given up through five games last season.


Minnesota’s run defense ranks 23rd in the NFL in DVOA, a mark that accounts for strength of schedule. Here is where the team stacks up versus the previous two seasons under Flores:

Vikings run game per year
20235.458.6%3.8
202412.262.8%4.1
20250.555.1%4.3

Few defenses are going to excel against Bijan Robinson, who shredded the Vikings for 143 yards in Week 2. More concerning was Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell’s 99-yard outing in Dublin.

When it comes to the assessments of Hargrave and Allen, their influence on opposing quarterbacks is undeniable. They have combined for 24 pressures through five games; Phillips and Bullard totaled 22 in all of last season. Minnesota’s average time to pressure is significant, too. The Vikings rank No. 1 in the NFL in quickest time to pressure at 2.33 seconds, which explains why their previous two opponents designed game plans to get rid of the ball more quickly.
 

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