All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

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Slim Tubby said:
What's really frustrating is that we might finish 9-8 this season even with all of the very winnable games we lost due to abysmal QB play.
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Yes. Bad QB play and also the free agent misses. Still 9-8 with a win Sunday. I know KOC took his lumps at times throughout the season, but he has to get some credit here when all is said and done.

Hearing speculation now regarding if Flores makes a lateral move to a team with a better QB situation. Gotta be frustrating for Flores at times that his side of the ball has to do all the heavy lifting.
 

Regarding Flores, I don’t foresee him being pursued as a HC, as his lawsuit against the NFL & three teams is still active, after the NFL’s request for arbitration was denied.

Here is an article from CBS Sports and also a summation with more details from Chat GPT, which is accurate, based on what I’ve read.

www.cbssports.com

Court of Appeals upholds ruling in Brian Flores' lawsuit vs. the NFL; three teams could go to trial

The court found insurmountable flaws with the NFL's arbitration process
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

——————

What the Lawsuit Is About

  • Brian Flores, a Black football coach and former Miami Dolphins head coach, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the National Football League (NFL) and several teams, including the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and Houston Texans.
  • He alleges that he and other qualified Black coaches were subjected to discriminatory hiring practices — including “sham” interviews where teams interviewed him to comply with the league’s diversity rules without serious intent to hire him.
  • The lawsuit claims systemic bias in hiring for head coach, coordinator, and front-office jobs, and seeks class-action status, unspecified damages, and changes to NFL hiring practices.

Background & Key Allegations

Some of the notable claims in the complaint include:
  • The Giants allegedly decided on another (white) coach before interviewing Flores for their head coaching job, and a text message from Bill Belichick was used as evidence showing the Giants’ intentions.
  • The Broncos interview in 2019 was allegedly perfunctory and insincere.
  • While coaching the Dolphins, Flores says he was pressured to lose games (“tank”) for draft advantages and to recruit a prominent quarterback, and was then fired after pushing back.
  • Other Black coaches — Steve Wilks and Ray Horton — later joined the lawsuit with similar allegations.
These allegations are rooted in claims that the league’s leadership and many teams systematically disadvantage Black coaches, despite NFL policies like the Rooney Rule meant to increase diversity.


Legal Battles & Recent Developments


Court of Appeals Says Case Can Go to Trial

  • In August 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals (Second Circuit) ruled that Flores’ lawsuit can proceed in open court, rejecting the NFL’s attempts to force the case into private arbitration under a process controlled by Commissioner Roger Goodell.
  • The appeals court agreed with a previous ruling that the league’s arbitration provisions were inadequate and could be invalid.

Ongoing Litigation

  • After this ruling, the case is moving toward trial, meaning Flores will argue his claims publicly in federal court rather than behind closed arbitration.
  • Flores’ legal team has also criticized the NFL-appointed arbitrator for delaying progress, saying the arbitration process has been slow and stalling.

Why It Matters

The lawsuit goes beyond just Flores’ personal situation — it addresses what he and others describe as systemic racial bias in NFL hiring practices, especially in high-profile leadership roles where Black representation has historically lagged behind the player base.

Should Flores prevail or reach a significant settlement, it could have wide implications for NFL hiring rules and diversity initiatives.


Where things stand
  • The lawsuit survived procedural challenges and is set to be tried in court rather than forced into private arbitration.
  • The NFL continues to defend its hiring practices and may seek further appeals or other legal maneuvers.
 

Flores got terrible awful legal advice in this situation, on whether or not to pursue this avenue. Likely pushed hard from outside sources, people around him, that this was a good idea somehow. I highly doubt it was solely his decision, he just doesn't seem that dumb.

The NFL has a long history of guys who were/are great Coordinators and just not good Head Coaches. Two absolutely completely different jobs. Spags in Kansas City, Josh McDaniels, Robert Saleh are just a few of the more recent ones.

Flores is going to have to show prospective employers that he learned something about how to treat subordinate staff when he was in Miami. Plenty of reports that he was an insufferable prick to most of the people in the building in Miami, staff walked around on eggshells hoping just not to be the one to set him off. The Tua reports certainly added to all of that after he left Miami, regardless of who was in the right or wrong.

Flores is a pretty damn good DC that makes reportedly around $4-$4.5M per year for a solid NFL franchise and pretty good owners. We should all be so disrespected and discriminated against.
 


Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Flores got terrible awful legal advice in this situation, on whether or not to pursue this avenue. Likely pushed hard from outside sources, people around him, that this was a good idea somehow. I highly doubt it was solely his decision, he just doesn't seem that dumb.

The NFL has a long history of guys who were/are great Coordinators and just not good Head Coaches. Two absolutely completely different jobs. Spags in Kansas City, Josh McDaniels, Robert Saleh are just a few of the more recent ones.

Flores is going to have to show prospective employers that he learned something about how to treat subordinate staff when he was in Miami. Plenty of reports that he was an insufferable prick to most of the people in the building in Miami, staff walked around on eggshells hoping just not to be the one to set him off. The Tua reports certainly added to all of that after he left Miami, regardless of who was in the right or wrong.

Flores is a pretty damn good DC that makes reportedly around $4-$4.5M per year for a solid NFL franchise and pretty good owners. We should all be so disrespected and discriminated against.
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Flores will be a tough sell for a lot of owners as HC. He is seen as both a liability in being too tough on support staff but also suing a former employer. It's really hard to hire someone you know might sure you if you ever fire them. I'm with you Ogie, I think he got some awful short-sighted advice and he is paying for it.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Flores got terrible awful legal advice in this situation, on whether or not to pursue this avenue. Likely pushed hard from outside sources, people around him, that this was a good idea somehow. I highly doubt it was solely his decision, he just doesn't seem that dumb.

The NFL has a long history of guys who were/are great Coordinators and just not good Head Coaches. Two absolutely completely different jobs. Spags in Kansas City, Josh McDaniels, Robert Saleh are just a few of the more recent ones.

Flores is going to have to show prospective employers that he learned something about how to treat subordinate staff when he was in Miami. Plenty of reports that he was an insufferable prick to most of the people in the building in Miami, staff walked around on eggshells hoping just not to be the one to set him off. The Tua reports certainly added to all of that after he left Miami, regardless of who was in the right or wrong.

Flores is a pretty damn good DC that makes reportedly around $4-$4.5M per year for a solid NFL franchise and pretty good owners. We should all be so disrespected and discriminated against.
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I'll agree with you on the legal advice. I also really doubt Flores could still be an insufferable prick and remain on KOC's coaching staff. I'm sure he's learned a lot since then.

Flores wasn't a bad head coach either. He was 24-25 overall and 10-6 in year 2. Despite starting 1-7 in year 3 and all the negativity that was reported about him, he never lost that team and went 8-1 down the stretch to finish 9-8. Then he was fired. He was a significantly better HC than Spags, McDaniels, or Saleh.
 

Slim Tubby said:
What's really frustrating is that we might finish 9-8 this season even with all of the very winnable games we lost due to abysmal QB play.
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Falcons we never had a chance that day, was not going to happen
Steelers was really bad then suddenly we almost came back, but it was too much to overcome
Eagles we had our chances, could have won that one
Chargers was horrific
Ravens not quite as close, but similar to the Eagles game?
Bears we had the game won
Pack wasn't close after the first quarter+
Seahawks obviously was a laugher


We just needed one, right? Assuming Pack without Love loses to Ravens, we'd be 9-7 and they 9-6-1 ... we beat them next week to take the 7th seed 10-7 while they're 9-7-1.

So, that's the Chicago game. Just an incredible ending.
 

golf said:
The Bears game was the killer. We had that game won. (We should have a 4-1division record). Pack loses tonight and we would've been playing next week to make the playoffs.
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You are correct that they had the game won.

Incredibly bad ending
 





Interesting to watch tonight...

Just how well does Malik Willis play tonight (and next week if Love is unable to go)? He's a Free Agent next spring and while he seems to have some deficiencies in his game, it's hard to dispute that when he's been pressed into duty by the Packers, he's played pretty damn well.

His performance over the next few weeks could make him a decent sized contract in the offseason for someone looking for a different option at QB.
 




The Chicago Bears have won the NFC North. next week Packers game mean nothing to Green Bay. They have nothing to play for. So don't be suprise if the Packers sit many starters next week.
 


gophersfan said:
The Chicago Bears have won the NFC North. next week Packers game mean nothing to Green Bay. They have nothing to play for. So don't be suprise if the Packers sit many starters next week.
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Might as well drop a few more spots in the draft.

This damn franchise....... LOL
 


gophersfan said:
The Chicago Bears have won the NFC North. next week Packers game mean nothing to Green Bay. They have nothing to play for. So don't be suprise if the Packers sit many starters next week.
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Max Brosmer vs Clayton Tune. Throw out the records. Get your tickets now!
 


golf said:
Yes. Bad QB play and also the free agent misses. Still 9-8 with a win Sunday. I know KOC took his lumps at times throughout the season, but he has to get some credit here when all is said and done.

Hearing speculation now regarding if Flores makes a lateral move to a team with a better QB situation. Gotta be frustrating for Flores at times that his side of the ball has to do all the heavy lifting.
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So this move happens before we trade for Burrow? 😎.

I’ll be surprised if he leaves for the following reasons

Wilfs, may have deficiencies as owners, but 🐊 arms aren’t one of them.

B Flo has a pretty good setup here; he took basically zero heat when the D wasn’t performing earlier in the season. I think the Wilfs and KOC give him a lot of freedom and he has very little managing up is required. My last sales job was a situation where I could see/talk to my boss as little or as much as I wanted - there was no penny ante babysitting, and thst kind of freedom is priceless.

He has direct influence on D personnel. Red ended up here because someone Flo knew slipped him an Arlington Renegades tape, and after watching it he marched into KAM’s office and said we need to sign him ASAP - Lewis wrote about this last year in The Athletic, and one of his points was, Flo basically has as much power and freedom as a coordinator could have.

We are a fringe playoff team this season, despite having lost are two top QBs for a significant chunk of the season and having a decimated OL; no way we lose to the Steelers if we were healthier.

Already won 4 SBs at NE

Still only 44 years old.

He’s likely mellowed as he’s grown older after the Dolphins experience, as happens to many men.
 

Bo Nix has accomplished this in his first two seasons, which no other NFL QB has, according to a UTuber I saw yesterday -

20+ Ws

7500+ yards

50+ TDs

He’s going to be one of the best from his class and win a SB before he’s done.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Bo Nix has accomplished this in his first two seasons, which no other NFL QB has, according to a UTuber I saw yesterday -

20+ Ws

7500+ yards

50+ TDs

He’s going to be one of the best from his class and win a SB before he’s done.
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He’s also 25 (Maye 23, McCarthy 22 and Williams just turned 24 so about a year and a half younger), has thrown 23 picks in 33 starts, came into a team and coach that was 8-9 and made Russell Wilson look competent. I think he’s been very solid

Sean Payton hasn’t gotten a ton of national love but he’s done a really really good job there. The offense does just enough and wins with their defense.

That class as a whole is looking good aside from who knows with JJ and Penix unfortunately looks like a guy who’s never going to be healthy
 

upnorthkid said:
He’s also 25 (Maye 23, McCarthy 22 and Williams just turned 24 so about a year and a half younger), has thrown 23 picks in 33 starts, came into a team and coach that was 8-9 and made Russell Wilson look competent. I think he’s been very solid
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He also already has 9 or 10 game winning drives in the NFL 🤯.

He’s a winner
upnorthkid said:
Sean Payton hasn’t gotten a ton of national love but he’s done a really really good job there.
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Great coach, leading two teams to SBs may get him to Canton, and I wouldn’t bet against him.
upnorthkid said:
The offense does just enough and wins with their defense.

That class as a whole is looking good aside from who knows with JJ and Penix unfortunately looks like a guy who’s never going to be healthy
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Vikings will win 5 in a row. Lock in 3rd place schedule and ~15th pick. Oh well.

 


kg21 said:
Nonchalant about what?

????????????????????????
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My original post and your reply:
GopherGrit said:
Just looking at some of the scores ... how many draft spots did we just lose by going from 4 wins to 5 wins?

Know for sure that Wash, Atlanta, and Cincy went ahead of us.

Saw that one highlight of Seattle beating Atlanta ... on that one TD throw the db barely even made an attempt at a tackle. Clearly not trying to win.


Also so pathetic on the Bengals game. "Joe, Joe! Minnesota just won! OK ... throw two picks!" "OK, the game is out of hand now .. now you can go ahead and pad your stats back up with a meaingless TD. Cool?"
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kg21 said:
We were picking 11th coming into the day........with the win, we are still picking 11th

Again, there are so many shitty teams in the NFL.
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upnorthkid said:
He’s also 25 (Maye 23, McCarthy 22 and Williams just turned 24 so about a year and a half younger), has thrown 23 picks in 33 starts, came into a team and coach that was 8-9 and made Russell Wilson look competent. I think he’s been very solid

Sean Payton hasn’t gotten a ton of national love but he’s done a really really good job there. The offense does just enough and wins with their defense.

That class as a whole is looking good aside from who knows with JJ and Penix unfortunately looks like a guy who’s never going to be healthy
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There is no physical or mental (talking biology of the brain) maturing left to do at 22. It doesn't matter if you're 22 or 25, in of itself.

What matters is the NFL reps you've gotten.
 



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