The future is now for the Vikings and J.J. McCarthy(Photo by Kara Durrette/Getty Images)
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Week 9 Minnesota Vikings postgame roundtable here at
Daily Norseman. The Vikes are coming off a ballsy win over the Lions in Detroit, and are back to .500.
Baltimore looms, but can the Vikings turn this into a streak? Before we look ahead to that, how about we ask the boys a few questions about the game that just happened, oh, about 27 hours ago.
Let’s talk to it:
Question 1: Imagine you’re a headline writer for Sunday’s game, and you have fewer than 10 words to write one for the win over the Lions. What is it?
Brandon Warne: Vikings Tame Lions at their own Circus
Christopher Gates: I’d probably go with “McCarthy Leads Vikings Upset of Detroit.” I know that McCarthy might not necessarily have been the biggest piece of why the Vikings won, but given everything that surrounded this game and McCarthy’s status so far this season, it’s an important point of emphasis.
Craig Williams: I like headlines that actually mean something, because I am not that creative. “Vikings Beat Lions at Every Phase”
Warren Ludford: Vikings Outplay Heavily Favored Lions
Sam Buegler: McCarthy remains undefeated in Michigan as Vikings’ D steps up.
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Question 2: We’ve all seen Kevin O’Connell hand out game balls after big games. I’m giving you three game balls for Sunday’s game — who is getting them?
BW: J.J. McCarthy (for obvious reasons), Eric Wilson (who has rendered Ivan Pace Jr. more or less obsolete) and how about….Blake Cashman, who had a PFF grade over 90.0 for his mammoth effort?
CG: I’m giving one to Eric Wilson, because that guy was everywhere on Sunday. One for Levi Drake Rodriguez for that huge field goal block that kept the Vikings ahead. And one for J.J. McCarthy, because why the heck not? Honorable mention to Myles Price, who deserved a whole lot better from his fellow special teamers in this one.
CW: Blake Cashman, Javon Hargrave, and Andrew Van Ginkel. That defense made all the difference on Sunday. You almost have to give one to J.J. McCarthy too, but this game was won on defense.
WL: J.J. McCarthy, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones
SB: Wilson, Hargrave, McCarthy. It was nice to see Goff get pressured and go down as much as he did, and that is in large part thanks to the two of them. And I have to give one to the QB in his return game; all I wanted was to see improvement out of him, and we got that plus a win.
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Question 3: Describe J.J. McCarthy’s performance in one word, and then elaborate on that with just one sentence.
BW: Ballsy. He went into Detroit and beat a Lions team that had no reason to think they were going to lose, and did so by making just as many throws as he needed to.
CG: Sufficient. Sure, he didn’t put up a ton of yards, but he made the throws he needed to make when he needed to make them, including that great throw to ice the game in a situation where a lot of team might have just handed it off. I’m sure there are much bigger statistical games in his future, but he helped the Vikings get the W in this one.
CW: Caretaker. He took care of the ball. He made a few plays. He missed a lot of plays. He didn’t make the mistakes that lose you games.
(editor’s note: that is NOT one sentence, Craig Williams)
WL: Adequate. He did what he needed to do, especially in key moments, to get the win.
SB: Resilient. He never gave up: not after the first Lions TD, the (alleged) INT, the Lions comeback attempt – just gutted it out for the W.
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Question 4: How does this change your view of the Vikings at the trade deadline?
BW: I would say….slightly so. A lot of things look different now than they did a few weeks ago. The Vikings can beat anyone in the division. The game against Washington looks a lot more winnable now with Jayden Daniels likely out for quite a while. Baltimore looks markedly more beatable now than it did to start the season. I would say look to be opportunistic, but don’t feel pressed to make a deal. Personally? I’d like to see a home run move for someone like Breece Hall. I know it won’t happen, but a guy can wish, right?
CG: It hasn’t really done much to change my thinking that the team should stand pat. I’m not sure who is out there as a potential addition that would be all that impactful, and I don’t want the Vikings to give up a ton of picks because they’re going to need them this offseason.
CW: Trade deadline is usually a dud. Depending on the health of Aaron Jones, I wouldn’t mind a RB or CB pickup.
WL: Not much. Vikings could use another corner — maybe look into Tariq Woolen — and I guess a veteran quarterback, although that’s not a pressing need. Could also trade Adam Thielen, although that would be a bit cold.
SB: This team still has the players and coaches to be competitive in the NFC. I don’t think we need any drastic moves at the deadline. Maybe try to bring in another corner, or someone to shore up the secondary, but otherwise, I think just keep getting healthier and hopefully start rolling down the stretch.
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Question 5: Who was your unheralded hero in Week 9?
BW: How about a hand for Brian Flores? His defense had a lot of reasons to be doubted, and it stepped the (expletive) up. The book on Jared Goff was that he handles pressure fabulously, so what did Flores do? Pressured him anyway. They punched him in the mouth, and as Tom Brady said, had him off balance for the bulk of the day. If you look at the quarterback stats, you’d have expected the game to go the opposite of how it actually did. Flores deserves a whole heck of a lot of credit for that.
CG: Jalen Redmond. Ignore his PFF grade for this week (because I certainly am), but he has been a problem for every offense the Vikings have played this season. He’s going to cost the Vikings a lot of money here in the near future.
CW: Javon Hargrave has deservedly gotten a bad rep amongst Viking fans. He really had a great game against a run offense that ripped the Vikings apart in the last few meetings.
WL: I’ll go with Blake Brandel. He had a clean sheet in pass protection and did alright as a run blocker as well, although there was one snap issue, but that may have been McCarthy’s fault. His best game so far at his new position at center.
SB: In terms of unheralded, I am going to go with Will Reichard. Once again, he just crushed it this week, nailing two field goals and three extra points. It is almost starting to become easy to take him for granted, but Will The Thrill has been fantastic this year.
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Question 6: Where do you think the Vikings will be power-ranked when this week’s rankings come out on Tuesday?
BW: I think they’ll be about 15th. A win over one of the top teams in the NFL should vault them a bit above right down the middle, which is where you’d expect them to be at 4-4. There will be some droppers, too — like the Lions and Packers
(devilish laugh).
CG: Well, they’re 4-4, which is middle of the road. So, I’d expect them to be in the middle of the pack in the Power Rankings, somewhere in the 15-17 range.
CW: Middle of the pack. 14-18 is about right for the team. They will need to prove they are a contender with J.J. McCarthy. He’s 2-1 as a starter with both wins on the road against a divisional opponent. The team looks good when the lineup looks more like what KOC and Kwesi had in mind. Injury management will be key for this team.
WL: Probably around 16th. They’ll go up for beating the Lions and getting McCarthy back, but still too many questions to be ranked higher.
SB: They are going to jump, but not by much. I would anticipate around 15. Winning a divisional game on the road is big, but it will be attributed more as a Lions’ loss than a Vikings’ win.
