Friday Mailbag: A season hinging on London

The Vikings are facing a fork in the road against Cleveland and fans have questions

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday, everyone! Hopefully you’ve had enough time to take a deep breath after last week’s loss and prepare yourself for just about anything between the Vikings and Browns. Let’s dive into your questions…

Warren P….

Looking at the run defense why is the expectation so far from reality? Is it Gink? Is it Cashman? Is it pace fitting in wrong holes? Is it edge setting? Is it DTs not getting the push we expected? I remember we had some not insignificant defenses anomalies last year when Cashman missed- is it that simple though?

Also not a question but folks that throwing out these “I’ve seen enough of GM” or “fire Kwesi” takes are wild! I promise follow another team. There are plenty of good and great franchises that miss on an entire draft- this is absolutely one of those we all hyper focus on the Vikings and don’t see this happening over the league over the last couple of decades.

Funny enough I got into data science in part thanks to this show- changed my career in the military actually. I did a deep dive on fantasy hits or busts over which round they were drafted. For fun I looked at fantasy “hits” across 15 years. For fun I included team that drafted the player. Obviously this wouldn’t be were the player ended up but what I could gather is the draft is wildly random.

A team will have multiple “hits” in a year and then not for a 5 year clip. I’m sure there are better data driven projects on specifically this but it’s mostly random from what I’ve seen… that being said- some franchises do have bad ‘process’ but I don’t think anyone could say that about kwesi yet.

The run game issues have been several things combined. Cashman and Van Ginkel are terrific players when it comes to getting around blockers and making tackles. Missing them is no small thing. Same goes for Harrison Smith, who is great at coming downhill and making a stop.

The other part is how the games have played out. Atlanta and Pittsburgh played from ahead, so they could run on first and second down. The Falcons have an elite RB and Pittsburgh used six linemen.

It’s also the trade off that they made by signing Hargrave and Allen. I don’t think when they got those guys that they expected to be playing games where they were losing for three quarters.

To your point on the GM, I’m glad that I could inspire you to get interested in data science. That’s amazing.

Every study that has ever been done on the NFL Draft has shown that no team is consistently good at getting hits. The Saints nailing Alvin Kamara, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, Alex Anzalone and Trey Hendrickson in the same draft and then the next year they take Marcus Davenport, Tre’Quan Smith, Rick Leonard, Natrell Jamerson.

Now just because the draft is random doesn’t mean it has no real repercussions. The lack of draft hits has pushed them into a spot where their free agency decisions and extensions have to hit and they have to find UDFAs and under-the-radar guys. Going into this offseason, I thought they did a great job of both. Thus far, some of the free agent risks haven’t worked out the same way they did in 2024.

The idea of firing anyone is absurd and doesn’t deserve any attention. People like to go in comment sections and social media sites and try to one up each other on who’s more outraged by the Minnesota Vikings every week. It’s frankly become a really boring act.

Thomas S…. Matthew: Who in the heck is going to play center on Sunday? The ghost of the great Mick Tingelhoff?

Jeff Christy, I think.

The thing about center is that it’s probably the hardest position to replace outside of quarterback. All the other jobs have an option to help paper over the fact that there’s a backup in the lineup. With a receiver out, good teams have a strong WR2/3. When there’s a defensive player out, there’s usually a way to mitigate the impact of the player’s absence strategically. At center, that guy is touching the ball every play and he’s the most vulnerable to attack from the biggest players on the field. He also has enormous leadership duties and plays a massive role in the run game. Being without Ryan Kelly is really tough. Being without Michael Jurgens is a code red emergency.

I will say that Blake Brandel is about as experienced as you’re going to find in terms of backup swing linemen, even if he hasn’t played center before. He knows the calls inside and out and he’s much larger than your average center, which might help a little against the monsters of Cleveland.

The injuries are just brutal though. If the Vikings had their full offensive line, I have no doubt that they’d be an exceptional unit. But they are not even close to healthy right now. Not much anybody can do other than try to get the ball out as fast as possible and pray.

Bradley P…There’s lots to be disappointed about this year but I think I’m most disappointed in the coaching staff. From the offensive line unable to defend stunts and twists, the defense not adjusting to the hella quick A-Aron (playing 12 yards off receivers) game, kick returns being brought out of the end zone, poor short passing game, etc. What say you?

I don’t think there’s anything unreasonable there, although I think the special teams has been pretty good overall.

Some of the things you’re talking about can be attributed to playing backups. When Ryan Kelly was in there against the Bears, he was awesome against the stunts. Carson Wentz was good both weeks at getting the short pass game going early but then against Pittsburgh he got forced into a spot where they’re couldn’t dink and dunk. Overall though it hasn’t been enough considering the issues up front.

On defense, I thought that the run game might be a concern but I didn’t think they would have given up the sixth most rushing first downs at this point. I will say that we have to give Rodgers some credit for the quick passing game. It looked like he was just calling some sort of “check with me” play and then throwing it out to DK every time he got the right look. That’s impressive. They weren’t even playing off on some of those plays, it was just the fact that DK is way bigger than any of their corners.

To your point, coaching is supposed to be a huge advantage for this team and it hasn’t felt that way so far. But I don’t think that’s because KOC and Flores have forgotten stuff from last year. It’s because any mistakes are magnified when your quarterbacks aren’t playing well and you have a bunch of injuries.

Vikings fans really aren’t used to way below average QB play like they have gotten so far (28th in EPA). It has been a long time since Christian Ponder or Matt Cassel were out there struggling to get anything going but that’s what it has looked like. When your QB either can’t operate the offense or is missing open receivers or taking a ton of sacks or throwing a bunch of picks, everyone looks really bad.

If they don’t get either Wentz or McCarthy on track consistently going forward, there’s going to be a lot of hammering on the coaching staff. That’s how it always goes.

Geoff… If you’re the Vikings head coach (you’re not yet, but you will be in 2029), are you pretty much committed to putting McCarthy back in at QB once he’s fully healthy, regardless of how Wentz does in games prior to that point? Or are you still in “wait and see” mode right now?

If it’s me, McCarthy’s going back in against Philadelphia no matter what happens. Had they won 40-10 against Pittsburgh, I wouldn’t feel this way but we saw the limitations of Wentz when this offense can’t be perfect around him. If there’s any way to get into contention, it’s probably going to have to be on the back of somebody who is more dynamic at this point with his legs. And then they would have to hope that everything else clicks and he has a Bo Nix-esque second half of 2025.

However, if I was the head coach and my QB Whisperer on staff — call him Kenny O’Kennel — said that he felt like permanent damage could be done to the young quarterback by playing him too soon, then I would keep him on the sideline.

It’s not an easy thing because there isn’t any soft part of the schedule to bring him back. Just have to throw him back into the deep end. If they don’t, that must be because KOC doesn’t think he can handle it.

Robb Q…. Hello MC! Hands down, who are the best 1-3 and the best 2-2 teams now in the NFL? Lastly can you dig Flores being promoted as Associate Head Coach to extend his role with KOC for 2-3 years more? Yes/No Why?

They already have an assistant head coach in Mike Pettine. It’s true that Flores has been a revelation in Minnesota, but I would prefer that KOC remain the clear cut head of the ship and not add any ambiguity to who runs this franchise.

In terms of Flores’ future, we’ll have to see how things play out. I can’t exactly speculate on his status when we are so far away from the end of the season and so much can change between now and then.

I have to think that Baltimore and Houston are the best 1-3 teams with possibly the Giants mixed in if Jaxon Dart is good. The Vikings better hope that the best 2-2 team is them. Washington has a good argument though.

Mark T… With Daniel Jones playing fairly well for the Colts, assuming he continues to play well, how high of a draft pick would you speculate the Vikes to receive? Do you think the Vikes did enough for quality back-ups this year for the offensive line?

Ben… It feels weird talking about a 3rd string QB but do you think Shedur Sanders not being considered to be the starter for the Browns has more to do with his maturity and less to do with his ability?? He doesn’t strike me as a guy a franchise can lean on during tough times

It’s probably both. I wish people who loved him at draft time would just admit that he wasn’t a good prospect. He isn’t a great athlete, he was a sack machine in college, he doesn’t have a great arm and he played with Travis Hunter. He’s also an immature walking circus who was afraid to compete at the NFL Combine and sounded like a complete fool when he talked at the podium. Apparently that’s how he acted behind the scenes too. Folks ignored all the red flags because of the celebrity. Nobody wanted to be the one who said it.

If you are entitled and don’t put in the work, you’re not going to play very well and that’s what happened to him in the preseason. Yet some journalists and draft analysts are making excuse after excuse after excuse. Do you see Max Brosmer acting this way? Did you see Max look like he’d never seen the playbook before in a preseason game the way Shedeur did?

In a world with Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, I don’t think Shedeur is very talented. And if you’re not that talented, you better be the hardest working and the best teammate. He’s darn sure neither of those things. He should be so embarrassed for making this week about him when his teammate Dillon Gabriel has this amazing moment of his first NFL start. And if he can’t avoid making an absolute fool of himself after one jab from Rex freaking Ryan then he’s too soft for this anyway.

To me, he’s just another fifth-round pick QB3 in the league who has done absolutely nothing and shown no reason to believe he ever will. We should never hear another word about this guy until he proves he deserves it.

Bradley P… Pie chart of blame for how this “easy part of the schedule” has gone.

Well, they are 2-2, not 0-4, so it’s not like the season is over. It feels like this week has been non stop Vikings fans looking to blame anyone and everyone. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen Gary Anderson and Brett Favre have the .500 start.

I really don’t think this is complicated. The Vikings made a bunch of bets this offseason and they needed a lot of them to hit in order to be great. They needed JJ McCarthy to be very good right away. They needed his offensive line to be healthy. They needed his running game to be excellent. They needed the defense to be untouchable.

A lot of that stuff has only happened in spurts. McCarthy hasn’t been very good or healthy. The OL hasn’t been healthy. The run game hasn’t been excellent. The defense hasn’t been untouchable.

O’Connell has had some regrettable moments as a play caller. Flores’ defense has had some problems with stopping the run and got burned by Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ gameplan.

It hasn’t gone how we expected and they need to get it turned around starting with a win against Cleveland. If they lose to the Browns, then fans have every right to go after everybody. Coaches, front office, players, whoever you want. But if they come back to America at 3-2 with the season very much alive after all the calamities that have befallen them with injuries, I’m not going to be ready to take a blowtorch to everything that moves.

Patrick G…Looks like Mason Cole is a free agent, why hasn’t he been signed to our practice squad as 3rd string center yet?

The last time Mason Cole played was 2023. He graded by PFF 37th out of 40 in pass blocking.

Matt D…Who should get the bulk of the short yardage receptions if they want to try and replicate whatever they were planning on doing with Rondale Moore before he got injured? Myles Price? Jefferson?

I would like to see them use Myles Price and Tai Felton occasionally on offense for some of those quick plays. Though I didn’t mind them using some of those quick screen type throws to Jefferson just to get the ball in his hands and move the ball positively.

Jason… What is the point where they should just say the season is a wash and we see what JJ is going to be? I understand he needs to be healthy first.

I would like to see McCarthy back against Philadelphia no matter what happens. If KOC decides otherwise, it’s going to be hard to argue with his judgement though. Nobody knows McCarthy or the situation better than him.

But if they lose to Cleveland, then it’s almost impossible to see them running through the next bit of the schedule with Wentz so they might as well get back to developing McCarthy.

If they don’t want him to play against the Eagles and Chargers in four days, then if they ended up losing both of those with Wentz, then it’s a natural time to go back to McCarthy.

I just tend to think that there’s never going to be a perfect time to do it.

Mark… If McCarthy, whether thru health or play is a question mark in 3 months, don’t they need to bring in legitimate competition next year?