They need to beat the Lions!
Do the Vikings need to beat the Lions to be considered serious Super Bowl contenders? I think that they need to beat the Lions because it is a division matchup and it is at home. They should still be serious contenders even with
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The Vikings are Super Bowl contenders thanks to a QB nobody else wanted
Sunday’s NFC North tilt between the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings and the 4-1 Detroit Lions won’t be only a matchup for divisional supremacy or a possible playoff preview.
It will also be a showdown between two former top draft picks, quarterbacks Jared Goff and Sam Darnold. Goff, who was picked first, and Darnold, selected third, were discarded by their original teams (the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Jets, respectively) before they found homes with their current squads.
With the Vikings, though, Darnold has posted the best passer rating and quarterback rating of his career so far. And in every game except one, he’s thrown for multiple touchdowns.
Yes, McCarthy — the No. 10 pick in April’s draft — is lying in wait. But would Minnesota move on from Darnold if he can lead the team to success in the playoffs? Especially when McCarthy is an unknown as a professional?
Don’t be surprised the next time Jalen Nailor shines.
He’s quiet as a mouse, but his actions speak volumes. He’s dealt with injuries, but his patience has paid off. He’s wising up and applying key lessons from important people in his life. He’s strong, unselfish and bright.
And did we mention he’s fast? Like really, really fast.
“He was introduced to me as ‘Jalen Nailor a.k.a. Speedy,’ “ Michigan State wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins laughed over the phone as he remembered his first impression of the former Spartan. “I figured, like, this kid must be able to run. And that held true. I mean, he can flat out pick ‘em up and put ‘em down.
“He was a joy to coach because he’s a big-time student of the game,” Hawkins said. “Not overly talkative, but very engaged. He always asked smart questions, and he wanted to be great. He picked my brain.”
Nailor has excelled in so many regards at the start of his third NFL season. None of it’s surprising.
“I think he’s starting to know who he is as a player, and it usually starts to happen around this time of your career. Just being a former player myself, understanding the game starts to slow down, you start to see stuff,” Vikings wide receivers coach and two-time Pro Bowl WR Keenan McCardell imparted. “He’s starting to understand how to play this game, and that’s a big thing for people to make the next stride.”
McCardell had two impressions of Nailor the first time he put on his tape.
“I said, ‘God, he can play. He can really play.’ And the next one was like, ‘Where is he?’ “
The score on the slant made Nailor and Justin Jefferson the first Vikings duo in history with a TD catch in each of the first three games of a season – and the first NFL pairing since Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in 2018.
“That’s fire, that’s fire,” Jefferson smiled when he was asked what the joint milestone meant. “I mean, I feel prouder for Jalen than for me, of course. For his journey of getting to this place, to get a touchdown in [the] first three games, [it’s big] for his career, [and] where he wants to go in his career.”
McCardell knows firsthand the feeling of catching fire. “It’s like nobody can cover you. You feel like every time you get an opportunity, you’re going to make a big play,” he said. “To be a great one in this league, you’ve got to have that feeling all the time, every day, even in practice. ‘There’s nothing that they can do to stop [me].’ … He’s starting to understand that he can do that. He’s got that feeling, and I love it.”
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For Nailor, that’s trusting his speed, hustling to help teammates and taking advantage of opportunities. It’s moving fast – reacting instead of thinking – taking care of his body and letting his play do the talking.
“This league is impatient with players, just in general, especially drafted players,” Phillips said. “There’s a sense that they have to be something. But if a guy plays for 10 years in this league – and maybe he’s not an All-Pro, but he had a damn good career – is that worth that pick? That’s what everyone’s trying to look at once we [got] him here. I don’t care what pick [he was] or what round.
“I’m glad we have Speedy,” Phillips asserted. “He’s shown what we all thought he was going to be.”
Cam Akers Grateful for Return to Minnesota
Akers hit the grass Wednesday for his first practice since being acquired via trade the previous day. The Vikings agreed to terms with the Texans to return Akers to Minnesota, for whom he played six games last season.
Twin Cities media members spoke with the running back following practice, and he called it a “great opportunity” to be back.
“I was excited simply because I know the scheme, know the people and how they operate here, and I know how they treat people. I know how they go about business, and it’s a winning organization. I want to win. I want another Super Bowl,” said Akers, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI when Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell served as the team’s offensive coordinator.
“I’m happy to be here, man,” Akers later added. “I prayed about it, and God answered my prayer.”
O’Connell noted Minnesota never stopped keeping tabs on Akers.
“Cam has been somebody that we didn’t necessarily want to let go to somebody else last offseason, but good football players, that tends to happen,” O’Connell said. “We credit [General Manager] Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah] and his guys for getting the deal done to get Cam back here.”
The mutual respect between O’Connell and Akers was reflected in both of their media sessions.
“[My career has] been a journey, and you don’t really get to run across people and coaches like K.O., who really care about the person,” Akers said. “They care about the business, as well, but they care about the person, too. You know, that’s K.O. That’s who he is. You know, he obviously wants to win, he wants what’s best for the team, but he cares about the person.”
O’Connell called the addition of Akers a “depth move” for the Vikings running back corps, assuring it bears no direct correlation to the health of Aaron Jones, Sr., who is considered “week to week” with a hamstring injury.
“Aaron is going to progress throughout the week and hopefully has a chance to go on Sunday,” O’Connell said. “Ty Chandler and Myles Gaskin and Cam will work behind him. I like where Ty’s at, and obviously Aaron Jones has been a huge, huge impact for our team. So getting to solidify that depth at the position, with an urgency to run the football throughout the rest of the season, we wanted to make sure we could do that now when an opportunity became available.”
In his first press conference after the trade for Akers, head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked if another trade could be in the card to improve the football team. While he exuded confidence in the team, O’Connell did nothing to calm the outside chatter.
“Oh, you know, I think where we’re at right now as a team, we’re just focused on the guys we have, and we’re really excited about our roster, but I’m sure, you know, as we move forward here, Kwesi and his group will be evaluating any and all options that work from a standpoint of continuing to build this team, but at the same time, you know, we feel a really good depth. That was one of the reasons why we made the move for Cam just to continue to solidify an important part of our team for the next 12 games and beyond. And if there’s an opportunity to do that in another position, or an opportunity to add an impact player, you just have to work through all of those as a group figure out what works best.”
Vikings-Lions will be broadcast to most of the country on Sunday
According to 506 Sports’ weekly map of broadcast coverage, Sunday’s Vikings-Lions game will be shown from California all the way to Florida, with pockets of coverage carved out for other games. The main region that won’t get the game is the northeast, including the major population hubs of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and D.C., which will get Giants-Eagles. The Falcons-Seahawks and Colts-Dolphins games will also be shown in those teams’ local regions.
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