Vikings Message Board.Com

With competent QB play, the Vikings are a playoff team. With excellent QB play we can go deep in the playoffs, and who knows? So, the big question to be answered tonight is what kind of QB we have. Here's hoping for "excellent"! SKOL!

Getting out of there with a win is all that matters. We got contributions from every phase of the team. Myles Price will break one this year. He has a burst. Banging a 59 yard FG was great. I thought the pick 6 was the game ender for us but JJM came back and started throwing the ball well. That was key for him. Jones getting deep for a TD was a nice play. The rocket thrown to Jets for a TD was a thread the needle job. Delay of game is something they need to correct. You can't play like that. When Caleb lost his throwing ability he missed some wide open guys by a mile. Looked like a bad Dobbs. It almost looks like he throws sidearm. I'd put a spy on him next time and take those big runs away and force him to beat you with the pass. Digging out of a hole was great and hard to do. Our OL did fine. A few leaky plays but the true test will come against the top defensive fronts like the Eagles, Pack, Rams ect... That's when the true colors show.

Did anyone catch when Okudah might have picked up a concussion? Read he's being evaluated for one, I never saw anything.

Adjustments came down to.... rushing more than four on defense, and the run game being established on offense. Immediately opened up the offense, and flustered CW on defense. His passes started sailing bad.

Injuries a little concerning. Saw JJM's arm on full display in the 4th. Eric Wilson played huge. GREAT ST play across the board.

Stat from the ESPN game summary. I'd call that an impressive record.

But McCarthy, who is now 64-3 in games he has started since his sophomore year in high school, settled down in the second half. The takeaway after his first start? McCarthy is a winner.

I have to admit I was very discouraged last night. But the I found myself standing in my living room for the 4th qtr screaming with excitement. I did predict 27-17 which would have been good if you take away the pick 6.
I do think it was smart to sit Darrisaw last night. As someone with a torn meniscus, you don’t want to feel an uneven grass surface. Better next week on a consistent surface.

ERIK the PURPLE wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 11:23 am ...very discouraged last night...then standing in my living room for the 4th qtr screaming with excitement

You likely just described every single Vikings coach, player and fan last night
Thrilled to see JJM did not let the early egg-laying get him down. We've seen plenty of rookie QB's in the league who cannot make that mental leap after things go south. If he had continued to crumble I would have been highly - maybe unrecoverably - discouraged.

ERIK the PURPLE wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 11:23 am I have to admit I was very discouraged last night. But the I found myself standing in my living room for the 4th qtr screaming with excitement. I did predict 27-17 which would have been good if you take away the pick 6.
I do think it was smart to sit Darrisaw last night. As someone with a torn meniscus, you don’t want to feel an uneven grass surface. Better next week on a consistent surface.

JJ just needed some experience. Come the 4th quarter he was experienced and then led a comeback for the ages.

Great to start the season off with a win despite the offense playing poorly for most of the first 3 quarters. The Bear offense really fell apart. Obviously the Vikings defense had a lot to do with that but Ben Johnson is going to have his work cut out for him this season after cruising with the Lions offense for the last few seasons. Caleb Williams does not handle pressure well at all. Get to him a little and he'll start sailing passes all over the place.

As for McCarthy, he showed a lot of composure coming back in the 4th and got glowing reviews from his teammates, so I'll give him credit for those things. But from what I saw, he's got a lot to work on, starting with his tendency to just lock on to a receiver. It cost him once on the INT, but if DBs know where McCarthy is going to go with the football once the ball is snapped we can expect to see a lot more defenders jumping routes. Along those same lines, McCarthy had a lot of batted balls. He's got to learn to use his eyes and other cues to throw off defensive linemen so he can get the ball where he wants it to go.

I expected him to struggle and he did. I hoped to see him overcome that early adversity and he did. Now I want to see him settle in and become more efficient. It's the small things that make a big difference at the pro level. But he handled a lot of pressure and I can see why he has won at every level he's played because he made the plays he needed to make when he needed to make them.

Some other items of note from the game:

- Vikings pass rush is for real. Most teams don't have a Caleb Williams who can escape pressure like that. I expect this defensive front 7 is going to end up with a lot of sacks before all is said and done.

- Donovan Jackson looked fantastic. I specifically watched him on a few snaps and he looked solid. He looked like a 10 year vet the way he moved and handled his assignments.

- Hope Cashman isn't hurt too bad.

- Hope Okudah isn't hurt too bad either.

- Tough road win against a divisional opponent. The Vikings overcame about the worst 3 quarters of offensive football I've seen from them in a long time. Great grit and determination across-the-board in all phases of the game. Hopefully they can settle in and get things going earlier against the Falcons.