We turn to the Daily Norseman for info on the Vikings
The NFL regular season is here, which means our weekly ‘5 questions’ segment is back. With the New York Giants facing the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Christopher Gates of SB Nation’s Daily Norseman answers our questions.
Ed: Let’s get to the Sam Darnold question right away. How are you feeling about Darnold as the Vikings’ quarterback for the 2024 season? Optimistic? Pessimistic? In-between?
Chris: I‘m probably more optimistic about Darnold’s chances than I should be, given his track record. On one hand, the guy was a #3 overall pick and has been in situations that were a complete mess when he was the starting quarterback, as neither the Jets nor the Panthers really had a whole lot going for them offensively. On the other hand, it’s hard to ignore what he’s done to this point with a TD-to-INT ration that’s barely at break-even for his career. The man obviously has the physical talent to be a solid quarterback in this league, but he hasn’t put it all together yet and I’m sure he knows in the back of his mind that this is his last best chance to make it in this league. With the Vikings, he’s surrounded by the best group of skill position players he’s had with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson (when he returns from his injury in a few weeks), and Aaron Jones along with a pair of outstanding bookend tackles in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill. As far as Darnold’s chances in Minnesota, with deference to the great Frank Sinatra, if he can’t make it there, then he can’t make it anywhere.
Ed: What are your thoughts on Mike Zimmer’s recent comments about holding grudges and saying he did not want to talk to the players on his way out of Minnesota because they got him fired?
Chris: It really sort of came off as saying “These failures were everyone’s fault but mine.” The jarring part was when the relationship between Zimmer and then-GM Rick Spielman was discussed. There were a lot of rumors going around that the relationship between the two men was strained, but not to the level that was described in the piece. The fact that they hardly even talked to each other really does shed some light on why things were such a disaster in their last couple of seasons with the team. I know that in my previous line of work, I had to deal with supervisors and co-workers and whatever that I didn’t care for, but you had to figure out a way to get the job done anyway. The fact that two grown men couldn’t put aside their differences in order to strive for team success is really sort of pathetic, to be honest. I’m not sure if the story was meant to paint Zimmer as some sort of sympathetic figure, but if that was it’s aim then it fell well short with me.
Ed: If you could take one player off the Giants’ roster and put him in Minnesota’s lineup who would it be? Why?
Chris: Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct answer, and in this case the obvious answer is Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence really doesn’t get the level of credit that he should, even if he is acknowledged as one of the best interior linemen in the league. The Vikings’ defense appears, at this point, to be solid at the linebacker spots and in the secondary, but they don’t have the big butt-kicker on the interior that can eat up blockers and let other players make plays. If the Vikings had a Dexter Lawrence-type of player that they could plug into the middle of this defense, I think they’d be on the short list of the best defenses in the NFL. They’re still going to be solid on defense, but the interior defensive line is this team’s potential Achilles heel, in my opinion, and a player of Lawrence’s caliber would take care of those concerns straight away.
Ed: What would be a good season for the Vikings?
Chris: It depends entirely on your definition of “good.” From a long-term building perspective, it might be best for the Vikings to lose a lot of games and wind up with a high draft pick that they could trade to a quarterback-hungry team for a boatload of draft capital to use to build around J.J. McCarthy and company when he comes back next season. However, I don’t think that a team with Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores on its coaching staff has any intention of “tanking,” so I don’t know if that’s going to happen. In the more traditional sense, a “good” season for the Vikings would see Darnold finally turn into the quarterback that folks envisioned him as when he was drafted #3 overall by the Jets and for Flores and the defense to do enough to keep the team in the mix for a playoff spot for most of the season. I don’t know if they threaten for the NFC North this year, but a potential Wild Card spot isn’t completely out of the question, I don’t think.
Ed: The Vikings will win Sunday because? The Giants will win because?
Chris: The Vikings will win Sunday because they will keep Sam Darnold upright and allow him to exploit the matchups against what appears to be a vulnerable Giants secondary. If the offensive line can handle Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and company, there will be plays there to be had and hopefully Darnold will make them. The Giants will win on Sunday because their front seven showed up in dominant fashion against the interior of the Vikings’ offensive line and made things difficult for the offense. In either scenario, the Giants’ front seven is going to be the key in this one and will determine who comes out of this one with the W.
