Hello everyone, and welcome to the Week 8 Minnesota Vikings roundtable here at Daily Norseman. The Vikes are coming off a loss to the Eagles at home. Now they’re not only on the road, but also on a short week.
Can the Vikings beat Justin Herbert or will they be yet again turned aside by a well-known quarterback?
Let’s find our wives and head to P.F. Changs to talk to it.
Brandon Warne: I’m a simple man, so I like it just because it’s a vehicle for me to put more NFL games in front of my eyeballs. There’s also just something about drawing to the end of your day with a football game on the TV. Makes a man feel good. But for a serious answer, I’m mostly ambivalent because while I don’t like when my team has to play on a short week, the opponent does as well. Anytime that wouldn’t sync up is about the only time it would bother me that much. And NFL Sundays are a bit lonelier when your team isn’t on during the day. Hmm…maybe it does bother me more than I realized?
Christopher Gates: I’ve never been a big fan of Thursday Night Football. I know it’s a way to get the NFL on more times per week and money money money and all that, but it generally just isn’t good football. The road team gets especially hosed in most cases, because they play a game on Sunday and can’t really hold an actual practice on Monday or Tuesday before getting on a plane Wednesday. It doesn’t give either team a whole lot of time to prepare, which is too bad. I know it’s not going away, but I sort of wish it would (except for Thanksgiving, of course, because eating too much and watching football all day on Thanksgiving rules).
Craig Williams: I like Thursday Night Football as a fan. It’s a challenge the teams need to adjust to. I’d prefer not to be in LA every year for it. The NFL should do a better job of alternating those games so the same teams don’t play at home/road. There has been a streak of great Thursday Night Games. I hope this one has me wondering how I am going to sleep after the epic Viking win.
Warren Ludford: TNF is great in that it is another night to watch football, but it sucks when the Vikings are the road team on a short week. There is no statistical proof that road teams on TNF fare worse than road teams overall, but it feels like more of a disadvantage.
Sam Buegler: I enjoy Thursday Night Football! Oftentimes, the games can be… rough, but still, it is a good distraction to have on even when I don’t care about the games or teams. When it is the Vikings, my stress goes up a bit. I still like being able to watch. I get all of the injury concerns, but watching on Primetime, without worrying about which streaming service it’s on, is very convenient.
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Question 2: Be honest — Did any part of you want to see Max Brosmer start over Carson Wentz?
BW: Not particularly. I get “let’s start Jaren Hall!” vibes from the whole discussion. From a pure team standpoint, I don’t think you can go from Wentz to Brosmer to McCarthy and then ever go back to Wentz for any reason. It’s just a weird dynamic that’s hard to explain succinctly. I’m saving the Brosmer redshirt for whenever the season is officially cooked and if I don’t have McCarthy available. It’s natural to want to know what you have, but I think throwing him out there in games that matter would actually be a detriment to his career arc.
CG: Honestly, I’d sort of like to see it. Wentz has been in the league for 10 seasons now, and at this point you basically know what you’re getting with him. At least with Brosmer you can get a little bit of the unknown and try to develop him a bit in the event that the Vikings see him as a long-term backup or a potential starter should the worst happen with J.J. McCarthy. Kevin O’Connell is obviously a big fan of Brosmer, given the way he raved about Brosmer this preseason, and I don’t think it could hurt to give him at least a few chances to see what he can do in a game that actually matters.
CW: Of course, I want to see Brosmer, for that 1% chance he’s the next great player. However, I think that feeling would go away about five snaps into seeing him play a real game.
WL: Yes, I am very curious to see how Max Brosmer performs in a real game — more than the limited snaps he had against the Bengals. He seems like he could be a better QB2 than Wentz and more of a long-term solution there. But there is part of me that thinks he could be a starter- sort of a Brock Purdy type.
SB: Yes. A real part of me did. Just to see what we had in Gopher. Wentz just disappointed me on Sunday, with the ints and the misses, we took a completely winnable game and threw it away. I’d be willing to take a flyer on Brosmer for this one game, and then reevaluate everything ahead of next week vs the Lions.
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Question 3: What’s your Worry Meter (1-100) with J.J. McCarthy? Be as specific or general as you like, but please elaborate!
BW: I would say it’s about a 20 and it’s virtually all rooted in his injury history. We have seen a total of two bleeping games of McCarthy. To be fair, that cuts two ways: one good (small sample size) and one bad (need that sample size to actually grow). But as for JJM the player? It’s far too early to be concerned about that, in my opinion.
CG: I’m still down in the lower range, maybe a 20 or 25. I’m just not ready to bail on the kid after two preseason games and two regular season games in his career. The ankle injury has been a bit of a bummer, to be sure, but McCarthy is still only 22 years old and the team has made it obvious that they firmly believe that he’s the future at the quarterback position for this team. If we’re having this same conversation next season, then it’s going to be time to get a little worried, but I think it’s a little too early to declare the J.J. McCarthy experiment a failure at this point.
CW: Worried about his health: 90/100. Worried about his play: 50/100. It’s hard from the outside with almost no real information about McCarthy’s health. The obvious two injures in the first few games played is going to be concerning. You never know, but concern if obviously there. His play, is a lesser concern, mainly becuase we haven’t seen him play. I would love to see how he handled a five-game stretch. Too soon to tell, but it’s been a mixed bag for the youngen.
WL: My worry meter is about 60 with McCarthy. Most of that has to do with his durability. He’s been injured twice on plays that seemed routine and missed significant time- we don’t even know what play he tore his meniscus. That’s a concern because the injuries happened on relatively routine, rather than extraordinary, plays. And he’s missed significant time with both. If he is injured again this season, that almost forces the Vikings to invest a lot more in a high-end backup and possibly QB1 competition next season. And it would raise serious concerns about his viability as a starter. I have less concern about his ability to ramp up his performance after he returns and has better pass protection and Jordan Addison out there, who was his favorite receiver by far in training camp. Addison on the field also opens things up for either Jefferson or Addison, but without Addison it’s easier to take away Jefferson without another receiver picking up the slack.
SB: I would say around 38. I am a little worried about the multiple injuries and hoping that doesn’t become a trend for #9. I am less worried about his play – still having concerns of course – but I want to give him a few more games in the saddle before I really start to panic. We know he has the ability to win; he just needs to put the pieces together at the NFL level for more than one quarter.
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Question 4: What Chargers player other than Justin Herbert do you fear the most on Thursday night?
BW: Can I say Kimani Vidal? I guess I just sort of default to the opponent’s running back based on how things have gone for the Vikings this season. Credit where due, however: they kept the Saquon Barkley funk going last week. Fool me twice, Vikings.
CG: I’m going to have to go with Derwin James, because he’s the guy on the Chargers’ defense that you need to be aware of at all times. He’s great against the run, he’s great in coverage, and if he were playing just about anywhere else he’d probably be a household name. I know that a lot of NFL fans know who he is, but I don’t feel like he’s ever really gotten the recognition that he deserves. The Chargers can move him around all over the place like the Vikings used to do with Harrison Smith in his prime, and he sets the tone for that whole Los Angeles defense.
CW: Ladd McConkey seems like someone who will tear this team up. Keenan Allen had a monster game in the last matchup between the two teams.
WL: Keenan Allen. He was brutal the last time the Vikings faced him with the Chargers.
SB: My first answer would have been Joe Alt. The dude has been a beast so far in his career, and protecting Herbert is the only way for them to succeed. HOWEVER, given that he is questionable and may or may not play, I am going to go with the boring answer of Ladd McConkey. Not only is his name too much fun to say, but he has been playing well this year. If the Herbert connection gets going, it could be very hard to stop the two of them.
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Question 5: What’s your final score/result prediction?
BW: Last week, I did a pick ‘em where I posted a final score but not a winner. I won’t cop out quite like that this time — though in my defense, the final score was close — but I’ll just say I wish I liked the Vikings chances a little more. I foresee a 17-14 game, but I’m not sure the Vikings come out on top. Is that wishy-washy enough?
CG: Most years, the Vikings give us a game that they go into looking like they’re totally screwed and manage to come away with a win. This one has the potential to be one of those games, I think. The Chargers have had issues protecting Justin Herbert, and I think the Vikings might be able to get him off of his game a little bit. If the Vikings can keep this one close. . .and, honestly, pretty much every Vikings game winds up being close somehow. . .I think they might be able to sneak out of Los Angeles with a win. I’ll give this one to the Vikings by a score of 23-20.
CW: Vikings 24-Chargers 17. The Chargers are in terrible form right now. Their OL is beat up. I put my faith in Flores to clean up the big plays and KOC to have an effective plan.
WL: Vikings win 23-17. The Chargers aren’t a great matchup with the Vikings. Offensively, they don’t have a run game and will have a difficult time protecting Herbert even if they get Alt back. Defensively, the Chargers are a team the Vikings can run on with great success (they’re 28th in rushing yards/attempt allowed) and that will help Wentz and the offensive convert third downs and remain in manageable down-and-distance situations. I imagine Herbert will try to take some deep shots like the Eagles did, hoping Isaiah Rodgers hasn’t corrected his biting on fakes, but I don’t see them having the success that the Eagles did. Chargers are terrible (31st in the redzone) offensively, but they are 6th on defense so given how the Vikings struggled in the redzone against the Eagles (they haven’t much in other games) this will be the key to getting a much needed victory.
SB: Both the Chargers and Vikings are at weird points in the season, and this game could be the tipping point in either direction for them. I am going to say the Vikings take this one, narrowly, as both defenses step up and force a low-scoring matchup. Vikings 14, Chargers 10.
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