to someone Ive been dogging all season...

Aaron Jones Sr yesterday could have tapped out and instead took a beating for the team. 

That was a hella example to set.

What a weird year in the NFL. Seriously. 

• Want to bag on a team? I give you the Detroit Lions. Their chances of making the playoffs are on serious life support (6.6% chance), so what's changed? I mentioned months ago that it was possible they just don't have the fight or grind in them after blowing and choking away 2 seasons where they were arguably the best team in the NFL. Is their window closed? 
  
• Along that vein, what happened to the Tampa Bay Bucs? Or even the Washington Commanders? I get it, Jayden Daniels has missed a decent part of the year but they look like complete ass. Add the Baltimore Ravens. And the Kansas City Chiefs. Maybe a handful of decent teams, but a buttload of mid to horrible teams. 
  
• So those fans that live in Minnesota and have PTSD about the Packers every year, how do you feel about Jordan Love now? How many more games do you need to see from him to feel that he's probably much closer to above average than great? 
  
• JFC, Drake Maye. You're smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy. Nothing but major props to that kid. 
  
• Ashton Jeanty: overrated? Probably too early to say, but 3.7 yards a carry isn't 'generational' to me, despite the team you are on. 
  
• The Tush Push keeps getting less effective every year. Refs aren't letting their guards fire off the ball a millisecond early or line up illegally anymore which diminishes the effectiveness greatly.
  
• Dallas is the most underperforming organization in NFL history for all the media hype they get EVERY...SINGLE....YEAR. 
  
• The strangest thing this season is all the low-yardage games by QBs this year, its amazing. Josh Allen threw for 130 yards yesterday. Mayfield 145 yards. Take a stroll through various boxscores of games throughout the season and they are everywhere, for every team, almost consistently weekly.
  

That's pretty amazing in this day and age.

Not that it matters much at this point, but I thought it was due to the Burns strip/sack, but evidently it wasn't...


McCarthy suffered an injury to his right hand late in the second quarter. He left the game after a monster hit by Brian Burns, who was unblocked off the right side of the offense. McCarthy fumbled the ball, and it was scooped and scored by Tyler Nubin, a 27-yarder that made it 13-10 Vikings just before halftime.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said after the game he did not yet know the extent of McCarthy's injury but it apparently happened before the first-year starter scrambled for a 12-yard rushing touchdown with 2:01 remaining in the second quarter.

"I was actually concerned with the angle that I had when he did run it in. I just wanted to make sure he, you know, I thought he got hit in the head or neck area going into the end zone, but he was clean there," O'Connell said. "And then I asked him if he was all right. He said he was. And obviously we had just scored a touchdown, big moment. But then we went out for the next drive. That's when he seemed to have some discomfort there, so we'll evaluate it and make sure we find out what's going on there.

O'Connell said McCarthy didn't mention discomfort when he returned to the sideline after the touchdown.

"I've done something pretty similar — quarterbacks hit their hands all the time, whether it's helmets or defenders and things like that," O'Connell said. "It happened to me in college, and I didn't even know I had a significant injury until the next time I took a snap.

"We ran the ball in first-and-10 [on that drive], and then just trying to throw a simple receiver screen, very similar to what we had thrown to Justin [Jefferson] on some of those third-and-long conversions," O'Connell added. "And I'm not sure he was able to even grip the ball, but I don't know if he knew or not at that point. I have not had a chance to talk to him. They took him away to evaluate him. But yeah, he was unable to grip the football."

Thus, having Burns unblocked was part of the play's design, since the intent was for the ball to come out fast.

'Connell said he was pleased with multiple levels of decision-making and execution by McCarthy before the QB left his ninth career start.

Vikings.com

So have we considered converting any of receivers to cornerbacks since they obviously cat catch.

The Vikings’ flight to Newark, N.J., returned to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport less than an hour after takeoff on Saturday afternoon because of a mechanical issue with the plane.

A team spokesman initially said the Vikings were boarding a new plane for Newark shortly before 5 p.m. However, a little before 6 p.m., the Vikings said the were still awaiting the arrival of a second plane and still intended to depart Saturday night.

The team eventually left MSP a second time at 7:43 p.m., with an expected arrival at at Newark just before 11 p.m. Eastern.

According to data from Flight Radar, the first plane turned around just southwest of Madison, Wis., at 2:05 p.m., and landed back at MSP at 3:04.

While crews attended to the plane, the team deplaned to switch to a different charter jet.

“Shortly after departing, the team plane experienced mechanical issues that required a return to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport,” the Vikings said in a statement shortly before 4 p.m. “The team will board a second plane momentarily and is expected to arrive at Newark International Airport later tonight.”

Travel glitches happen infrequently for teams taking charter flights for road games, but they aren’t unprecedented. Before their 2016 game in at Green Bay, the Vikings had to depart their plane in Appleton, Wis., by a cherry picker after the plane slid several feet off the runway and got lodged in wet grass following touchdown.

The Vikings lost to the Packers the following day, and were eliminated from the playoff race.

STRIB

Hat tip, I didn't think they could do it 


Congrats to them. 

 the Vikings games versus Lions and Packers will absolutely influence  NFC  playoff seeding. 


For JJ it's not playoff experience but it's the next closest thing because the games matter.

Minnesota is out, I get it, l BUT  they can  do someb major  damage on the way out. 



US Bank Stadium is gonna  be rocking ... 

LFG!

UFA's:
Harrison Smith 
Ty Chandler 
C.J. Ham 
Jeff Okudah 
Rondale Moore
Josh Metellus 
Eric Wilson
Jalen Nailor
Andrew DePaola
Ryan Wright 
Carson Wentz
Justin Skule
Matt Nelson

RFA's:
IPJ
Ben Sims

ERFA's:
Jalen Redmond
Bo Richter
Zavier Scott

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/...6/team/min

Great game last night with Bama coming back to beat Oklahoma. Miami and A&M in a dogfight this morning. I still think Notre Dame would have beaten any of these four teams if they would have been let in to the playoffs, but that's another conversation. Ole Miss and Oregon should roll later

The Vikings held an eight-point lead late in the fourth quarter Sunday night. The Dallas Cowboys were driving for a potential touchdown that could lead to tying the score.

The ball sat at the Vikings 45-yard line at AT&T Stadium, fourth-and-7 with 5½ minutes remaining. The Cowboys made the now-or-never decision to go for it.

Quarterback Dak Prescott threw a checkdown pass to running back Malik Davis, who was belted by a defender immediately just short of the first-down marker, a play that preserved a Vikings win.

Linebacker Eric Wilson made that drive-stalling tackle because of course he did.

He’s been an unsung star of the Vikings defense all season.

“You can always count on him to be sound with his assignment,” fellow linebacker Blake Cashman said.

Wilson’s emergence is a bright spot in a season that drifted far off course. Signed last offseason to a one-year, $2.6 million contract, Wilson has been an absolute bargain when measuring his impact and production.

He leads all NFL linebackers (non-edge rushers) in quarterback pressures (31) and hurries (23).

His 15 tackles for loss rank sixth in the NFL, third among linebackers.

He ranks second on the team in tackles (98), first in tackles for loss and is tied with edge rusher Dallas Turner for first in sacks (5½).

To put that into context, Wilson is only the 17th NFL player since 1999 — and first since Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby in 2023 — to record 90 tackles, five sacks and 15 tackles for loss in a season.


Not bad for a guy who was expected to serve as a backup and make his mark on special teams.

“I think I’m playing my best ball now,” Wilson said.

Best ball of his nine-year career. NFL players don’t typically hit peak performance at age 31, but Wilson’s success is due to several factors.

First, he takes remarkable care of himself. Listed at 231 pounds, his body is chiseled like a sculpture. He has muscles on top of muscles. Teammates marvel at the copious amount of fruit he consumes.

Second, fit matters. Wilson has played in different schemes with four NFL teams, including two stints with the Vikings. His role in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ complex, aggressive system aligns nicely with his skill set.

“When you’re playing linebacker in a 4-3 or a 3-4, the game looks different,” said Wilson, who first joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2017. “It’s a different feel. Over the years, it’s all kind of making sense.”

He just needed an opportunity. Wilson impressed Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell as a member of the Green Bay Packers defense last season, setting the wheels in motion.

“He jumped off the tape to me,” O’Connell said, noting he also heard glowing reports about Wilson’s character from Vikings staffers who knew him from his first stint with the team.

O’Connell met with Wilson during free agency last winter. Wilson was drawing interest from multiple teams. A chance to return to his roots and play in Flores’ system tipped the scale.

“I thought it could be a really good fit, and he agreed,” O’Connell said. “He’s made that all come to life.”

Injuries opened the door for Wilson to become a starter. His production kept him in the lineup, replacing Ivan Pace Jr.

Wilson said he has blitzed more this season than any point in his career. Flores’ creativity in how he uses players gives Wilson opportunities to make splash plays, especially as a pass rusher.

“We’re an attacking scheme. I like that about it,” Wilson said. “It’s helped me adjust my game accordingly. You’ve got to know when to take your shots.”

Cashman emphasized Wilson’s football intellect. Wilson is a smart, instinctive linebacker who has developed cohesion with Cashman on the Vikings’ elaborate pre-snap checks and disguised looks that are designed to confuse offenses. They spend hours every week going over communication. Being in sync prevents chaos.

“It helps that he’s a savvy vet, and he has a lot of experience and knowledge of the game,” Cashman said.

Wilson has made a habit of being in the right spot this season. The looming question now is: What comes next?

Wilson is set to become a free agent. He’s enjoying a career season, but he turned 31 in September. That’s not a sweet spot for a long-term deal, yet Wilson belongs high on the list of the Vikings’ most valuable players on defense this season.

“I like it here, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. Finding a practical deal that keeps him here would be a wise investment.

Strib