By Matthew Coller
Happy Friday, everyone! Well, the Vikings are 6-0 and getting set to play the biggest game of the year to date… let’s dive in…
Bradley P… Simmons for two first round picks 👀
What are your thoughts? Seems like too much for a 29 year old.
My thoughts are: Be afraid, very afraid.
It is a huge investment for the Bears but 29 years old isn’t old for an elite defensive tackle. They age extremely well vs. other positions. Look at Cam Heyward.
Because Caleb Williams has elevated his game into the elite-QB category, especially this year with his great improvement in accuracy/timing, the Bears are in a spot where they can push the chips to the middle of the table to add an top-five player at his position.
They have been rebuilding and drafting for years and years. Now it’s time to make a push for the Super Bowl.
The Bears had pretty much everything else on their roster except pass rush. They have a good O-line and weapons and defensive backs. This was the exact type of move that they needed while Williams is still on his rookie deal.
SKOLiosis-3… It’s getting harder and harder to imagine the GM beloved MN is a serious contender with the bears being added to the list of teams making a move to show they are serious.
Should the Simmons acquisition put pressure on MN? How do you think this trade impacts the North as a whole?
It impacts the NFC North massively. There are very few moves where a single player can completely shift the power outside of quarterback but Simmons is one of those guys. They should now be considered the favorites to win the division. Look at how Dexter Lawrence has helped the Bengals defense. This guy is every bit as good.
As far as the Vikings being a serious contender, well, you’re 6-0 so you’re a serious contender. When four of the last seven teams to go 6-0 went to the Super Bowl, how can anyone say that you’re not serious? I’ve never seen a fanbase so down on an undefeated team in late October.
That said, with three of the best six teams in the NFC making huge moves, the Vikings have to decide whether they’re going to keep up in the arms race or let these other teams get a leg up on them. That comes down to how confident Nolan Teasley is that a move can be the difference marker.
But it doesn’t have to be ALL IN or TOTALLY OUT. There is a possibly middle ground. Imagine they make a move for a multi-year player who can help with the next iteration of this team. Or instead of a huge name, they get three players who can all be reasonably helpful. Say it’s DT Grover Stewart, RB Tony Pollard and TE Greg Dulcich or something like that. That would be a little Moneyball style “in the aggregate” improvement.
Brad L…Reichard missed. Is it time to look for a new kicker?
“Did you see the game?”
It’s funny because I wrote the story on Reichard and so many people responded by saying they were hoping he’d miss one before the playoffs in order to negate the Gary Anderson storylines. Crazy part is that Reichard’s last three misses were caused by 1) hitting a camera line 2) the QB ball rather than the K ball 3) Blocked.
Though it did look like he was a little off from usual with the kicks on Sunday so it wasn’t totally random that it got blocked.
JB… A fantasy sports analyst charted QB accurate throw rate versus adjusted net yards and found Kyler the least accurate passer in the NFL. Does this jibe with what you’ve seen?
So here’s how his PFF passing grades break down:
— On throws over 20 yards, he ranks 16th
— Throws 10-19, he’s 31th
— 0-9 yards, 6th
I think that tells the story really well. On the intermediate passes, he’s been pretty much terrible. Last game was demonstrative of that. He went 3-for-7 with a turnover-worthy play on that high throw to Jefferson when he was wide open.
Your follow-up question is going to be whether Murray has always been bad on intermediate passes and the answer is: No. In 2024, he was the 10th best graded QB on throws between 10-19 yards.
Does that mean it’s just been bad luck and small sample size? Does that mean that KOC’s offense is causing some issues on intermediate throws? Is it the blocking because those throws require a little more time in the pocket?
I’m not really sure. I felt like against the Colts that the pressure that Will Fires got pushed back into him caused him to get a little bit wonky footwork on those types of passes for the rest of the day.
I don’t believe the answer is totally the Vikings offense having Kyler throw short passes on every play but that’s the one thing he’s been consistently good at doing for his entire career. Right now he’s 32nd in percentage of 0-9 throws. Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott are all at the top so it’s not like you can’t win with the quick game.
scampinaround… I’m still struggling to see how this is not an all-in year for the team. I get Teasley is in his first year as GM so that changes the outlook. What I’m struggling with is it took multiple years for BFlo to build his magnum opus defense, which will not be the same next year even if BFlo remains. It just seems like you don’t get your shot often, and you don’t always get to choose when your shot is. We’re 6-0 with a great defense, an offense with potential to be good enough, and a sparse field of competition in the NFC. Can the team really have a markedly better shot in 2029 after so much roster turnover and new draft picks then they would now with the proven players they have? I’m struggling to see how
I tend to agree with you. This is a once-a-decade defense. No matter how good Flores is, this group coming together like they have isn’t something you can just recreate. The Houston Texans’ defense falling apart from 2025 to 2026 is a cautionary tale.
The other thing is: How often do you have a $1.3 million quarterback? Talk about Kyler’s shortcomings all you want but this is the model of a cheap QB that we talked about forever. They didn’t have to tear it down this offseason because they were able to get a QB for nothing.
The only reason not to go all-in on this with a big-swing trade is that we don’t know what’s going to happen at QB in the future. What if they need to trade up from 23 to 10 to draft a QB? What if they need to trade picks to acquire a veteran this offseason? Or what if they need to pay Kyler $40 million? Then you need the draft picks to build the roster.
Otherwise, I see the Vikings as one of six serious contending teams in the NFC. If you’re at that point, take your best shot.
The fans who have waited 50 years to get to the Super Bowl aren’t going to be ticked if it doesn’t work, they’re going to be ticked if you do nothing and have the same playoff results.
Rob… Pollard would be my trade target if I was the Vikings GM. What is a realistic trade value for Pollard.
Who else not named Taylor should the Vikings consider trading for at the RB position?
I’m big on Pollard too. Outside of him, Saquon Barkley, Tyler Allgeier from the Cardinals, Rachaad White from the Commanders, Kendre Miller of New Orleans, Kimani Vidal from the Chargers.
So there’s a few but none of them are in Taylor’s ballpark.
Brad L…I’m not advocating for it, but can you see a scenario where Flores replaces KOC?
I just cannot talk about firing a head coach who is 6-0. If this changes, I will. But not now.
Jake J… Do you think it’s possible Flores wasn’t interested in Buckner? I know Allen and Hargrave had a lot of pressures last year, but it just didn’t seem like a great fit for the system.
I definitely think it’s possible, yeah. Certainly Buckner is a better player than either one of those guys coming off injuries but the question of fit is pretty big.
I’m still of the opinion that Buckner is such a monster that he would have been perfectly fine with how Flores wants him to play and he could have rotated into a spot where he’d give them more chances to rush four but I can understand if they’d prefer defensive tackles that are body movers rather than pure pass rushers.
Ben…Everyone says KOC should give up play calling but the Broncos are a great case study for why that’s not always the best solution??
Anyone talking about KOC giving up play calling is wasting their time. The only way that he would give it up is if the Wilfs told him that he had to give up play calling or he would be fired — and I can’t see that happening, particularly because the team is 6-0.
KOC is always going to want to be inside his QB’s helmet until the communication cuts off at 15 seconds.
I think we should give this team a chance to play out the next portion of the season before we decide that drastic measures are needed. The panic of this week from fans has been so over the top that it’s hard to know how I’m supposed to even respond to it.
Bradley P….All I want for Christmas is a quarterback that can get the ball to Justin Jefferson as often as Sam Darnold does to JSN. Too much to ask for?
It’s not too much to ask for. I’d like to see them using Jefferson out of the slot or backfield way more often than they have been and let him get the ball in his hands. KOC is absolutely right about Jefferson’s skillset being best when it comes to deep ins/outs but if the QB can’t consistently hit those passes and the O-line isn’t built to give him a chance to see it/throw it, then there has to be another solution. In 2024, Jefferson caught 75% of passes between 0-9 yards and averaged 8.3 yards per catch. More of that would be fine in this offense.
He doesn’t have the same type of quick twitch as JSN because he has those long strides but I believe that he could make a bigger impact on quick game and that would help become less predictable (and double-able) downfield.
Dan…. Proposal: KOC should take more deep shots on 3rd and long to get up to his personal quota of those. This way he keeps more drives alive, and the failed ones on 3rd and long can either be arm punts or sacks or brilliant successes. When they fail as a sack, the drive was probably going to end anyway.
The problem with taking deep shots on third-and-long is that there’s going to be either blitzes or deep coverage. I’m following your logic and there’s validity to the idea of throwing it 30 yards and hoping for pass interference or a jump ball coming down in your guy’s hands. A pick that travels 35 yards isn’t really hurting you because that’s basically a punt. But I understand why they do it on early downs to try to take advantage of opponents playing the run.
Billy J…With the Packers and now bears not having their 1st round picks, and the lions on the verge of having to move on from a lot of their offense, maybe teasley is looking too far forward past this season for the vikings championship window coming in 2-3 years when everyone else is on the down swing and sitting out the trade deadline. Personally, I think they should be all in now and not waste this start.
I don’t doubt that Teasley is looking ahead several years at what it’s going to take to build a championship-caliber roster and how much draft capital that’s going to take with uncertainty at quarterback and positions opening up to players aging out.
But the reality is that all the NFC North teams are set up to win for a while. Jared Goff is still only 32 and Gibbs is three years away from the RB cliff. Maybe they’ll lose LaPorta but otherwise the band is staying together. Jordan Love isn’t going anywhere. Caleb Williams isn’t going anywhere. It’s hard to see in the next three years where this gets easier. And if Williams keeps getting better, this only gets harder.
That’s why it seems to make sense to make a big play now. They have the roster to compete with the monsters of the NFC North right now and that might not happen in the coming years if they don’t solve the QB position.
Yelnats….KOC seems to have turned more conservative this year. Do enough to win, control the clock and avoid turnovers. It is working! The stingiest defense in the NFL is the driver. My guess is the offense will open up enough to outscore the next four opponents. I hope I never see KOC call four consecutive run plays to open a game again! The interior offensive line is again a weakness, who are likely trade candidates that would be an upgrade?
Yeah, he’s basically calling plays like 2015 Norv Turner. What Kyler is doing right now is pretty similar to 2015 Teddy but because he was young and had a friendly personality and Zim hadn’t disappointed anyone yet, people loved it.
There’s not a ton of obvious candidates at guard that are rentals. New York’s John Michael Schmitz got benched by the Giants so he could be an option but that team is competitive and may want to keep depth. UFA Jon Gaines of the Cardinals has played decently this year.
They might look for a bigger name who’s under contract. Landon Dickerson maybe? Would the Dolphins trade Aaron Brewer? Jackson Powers-Johnson from the Raiders?