Week 8 thread

[Duke4life831]

The Vikings letting Darnold and Jones walk so they could roll with McCarthy and the corpse of Wentz is an all-time fumble. I would've let them walk as well, but let's not mention that. I'm not really in the loop with everything Vikings, but how did this happen? Was it money, was it thinking Darnold was a walking fluke, was it KOC thinking he could fix any QB?

It's pretty obvious by now that they fell in love with the idea of having a starting QB on a rookie deal. As soon as they made the investment (McCarthy), there really was no turning back.

Darnold wanted more than just a 1 year commitment to be a starter.

In hindsight, they should've kept Jones around by letting him compete for the job. Then they would've had a fallback option.

They offered Jones more than Indy did, but he thought he had a better shot to play in Indy. I don't think the Vikings could have resigned either Darnold or Jones without trading McCarthy or offering them substantially more than they received.

And for all this hand-wringing, we still don't have very much information on McCarthy yet.

Again I don’t put too much blame on the front office when it comes to Jones. But the reports I read during the summer was they offered a similar deal as the Colts and didn’t want to negotiate. It was basically take the deal or we’re pulling the offer. Aka, I don’t think they really had any interest at all in keeping Jones.

[Cactus Jack]

If Darnold folds in the playoffs again, the Vikings didn't make a mistake.

If McCarthy plays poorly then letting him go was a mistake.

It puts pressure on them to find a replacement asap. To try to salvage the situation. Who do you bring in? Do you bring back Cousins?

That's why it's imperative that McCarthy pans out.

[Cactus Jack]

I do think letting Darnold walk will ultimately end up getting Kwesi and KOC fired.

You think they will stick with McCarthy for another year? Or would they try to find a replacement this offseason?

[Duke4life831]

If Darnold folds in the playoffs again, the Vikings didn't make a mistake.

If McCarthy plays poorly then letting him go was a mistake.

It puts pressure on them to find a replacement asap. To try to salvage the situation. Who do you bring in? Do you bring back Cousins?

That's why it's imperative that McCarthy pans out.

Haha ya the only way it doesn’t turn out to be a mistake to let Darnold walk, is if JJ becomes a legit franchise QB.

If he doesn’t then it was a massive mistake that will most likely get Kwesi and KOC fired.

They just won 14 games with Darnold as he put up a pro bowl season and even got some MVP votes. The easiest path would’ve just been, “hey we clearly got a guy that excels in this system. But his major flaw is handling interior pressure. Let’s just spend all our assets and money fixing that issue.”

Instead they chose to take a huge gamble. And so far it’s not paying off. And the thing is, JJ is going to have to hit the ground running once he gets back, or all of this doesn’t matter. Kwesi and KOC will be gone.

[Duke4life831]

I do think letting Darnold walk will ultimately end up getting Kwesi and KOC fired.

You think they will stick with McCarthy for another year? Or would they try to find a replacement this offseason?

Let’s say he comes back next week and continues to struggle for the rest of the year. I damn well hope they’d be open to looking to find a replacement or at minimum bring in someone who is capable and have a legit open QB competition.

I give the Colts and Steichen a ton of credit. They only saw Richardson start 15 games in 2 years and decided enough was enough. Bringing in Jones and having a legit QB competition and moving on from Richardson was a huge move for that team. And most likely saved Steichen’s job. I’m hoping the Vikings do the same if JJ comes back and continues to struggle

[Worm Guts]

It's pretty obvious by now that they fell in love with the idea of having a starting QB on a rookie deal. As soon as they made the investment (McCarthy), there really was no turning back.

Darnold wanted more than just a 1 year commitment to be a starter.

In hindsight, they should've kept Jones around by letting him compete for the job. Then they would've had a fallback option.

They offered Jones more than Indy did, but he thought he had a better shot to play in Indy. I don't think the Vikings could have resigned either Darnold or Jones without trading McCarthy or offering them substantially more than they received.

And for all this hand-wringing, we still don't have very much information on McCarthy yet.

Again I don’t put too much blame on the front office when it comes to Jones. But the reports I read during the summer was they offered a similar deal as the Colts and didn’t want to negotiate. It was basically take the deal or we’re pulling the offer. Aka, I don’t think they really had any interest at all in keeping Jones.

They offered him 15 , he took 14 from the Colts. From what I read they were sensing hesitation from him so they pulled the offer. I don’t know why they were so quick to pull it, but I don’t think you make the offer if you have zero interest.

[Duke4life831]

They offered Jones more than Indy did, but he thought he had a better shot to play in Indy. I don't think the Vikings could have resigned either Darnold or Jones without trading McCarthy or offering them substantially more than they received.

And for all this hand-wringing, we still don't have very much information on McCarthy yet.

Again I don’t put too much blame on the front office when it comes to Jones. But the reports I read during the summer was they offered a similar deal as the Colts and didn’t want to negotiate. It was basically take the deal or we’re pulling the offer. Aka, I don’t think they really had any interest at all in keeping Jones.

They offered him 15 , he took 14 from the Colts. From what I read they were sensing hesitation from him so they pulled the offer. I don’t know why they were so quick to pull it, but I don’t think you make the offer if you have zero interest.

I think they wanted Jones as a backup and they didn’t want an open QB competition. Jones wanted a chance to at least have a shot to compete for a starting job. Vikings weren’t interested in that and pulled the offer

[QB_Eagles]

If Darnold folds in the playoffs again, the Vikings didn't make a mistake.

If McCarthy plays poorly then letting him go was a mistake.

It puts pressure on them to find a replacement asap. To try to salvage the situation. Who do you bring in? Do you bring back Cousins?

That's why it's imperative that McCarthy pans out.

For the GM, sure, it's probably a fireable offense, but for the team and the fans?

Maybe ask bjj how it is to root for a team the regularly wins 13 games but **** the bed in the playoffs. Oh wait, he's no longer a fan of that team.

[El Turco]

Better to have a QB who sucks in the regular season than one who isn't clutch in the playoffs IMO.

At least the former gets you a higher draft pick.

Sure, if you trust your franchise to come up with a quarterback. There are many franchises that have been waiting for a good franchise quarterback despite having many high picks.

Before Purdy got his extension you were saying teams should draft a new QB every 4-5 years.

Most teams including Niners should, but there are handful of franchises that are too inept at drafting. And realistically most teams are afraid of creating competition among young quarterbacks and they rarely spend high picks on quarterbacks subsequent years.

[Lakers In 5]

Rumblings of Lamar not playing tomorrow after all?

[azcatz11]

Rumblings of Lamar not playing tomorrow after all?

Penix is out as well.

[hermes]

I do think letting Darnold walk will ultimately end up getting Kwesi and KOC fired.

You think they will stick with McCarthy for another year? Or would they try to find a replacement this offseason?

health might play a role. if mccarthy is able to start the rest of the year, that's probably enough time to get a sense of what you have in him.
if he's good and leads them to the playoffs or something - you obviously keep him
if he goes through the normal ups and downs/struggles of young qbs - you keep him to see if he can continue to build (the thinking being he'll be a year behind everyone development wise because of the injuries)
if he's bad and you're just not seeing what you want - should just pull the plug and move on, but that is the toughest one to do especially since they made such a big bet on him

all of that aside, they definitely need to bring in someone else to the qb room next year

if he can't stay healthy, i don't know what you do. at some point if you want to stay in the league, you have to be able to stay on the field.

[JujitsuFlip]

Rumblings of Lamar not playing tomorrow after all?

Saying Snoop will get the start too over Rush, if Lamar ends up not being able to go.

[LAKESHOW]

These dudes playing with Fire. Thinking this is a video game and collecting Money. But Thursday nites and traveling Europe ain't no joke. It takes a toll. Which is a partial excuse for the Vikings last week, amongst others

[therealbig3]

Darnold looked bad last year in the playoffs, but it was one game. Not enough sample size to be labeled a playoff choker imo. I think letting him run it back would have been the better option. Especially with how good he looks in Seattle.

[QB_Eagles]

Darnold looked bad last year in the playoffs, but it was one game. Not enough sample size to be labeled a playoff choker imo. I think letting him run it back would have been the better option. Especially with how good he looks in Seattle.

He also looked bad the last regular season game when they lost the #1 seed.

Maybe he developed his clutch gene in Seattle but I will wait to see it.

[Cactus Jack]

Darnold is very good when he has a clean pocket. It's why he's been one of the best QB's when using play action. If you have him drop back 40+ times a game, he won't nearly be as successful. But that's true for most QB's. Seattle is just utilizing his strengths. They run the ball more than most & run play action off of it. They run a lot of 2 & 3 TE sets- heavy formations (Max protection). That's why Darnold is having success.

The Vikings lost that playoff game to the Rams because they did a poor job of game planning to protect Darnold & we're simply overwhelmed.

Everyone wants to blame Darnold for that outcome. But coaching plays a role too.

[QB_Eagles]

Darnold looked bad last year in the playoffs, but it was one game. Not enough sample size to be labeled a playoff choker imo. I think letting him run it back would have been the better option. Especially with how good he looks in Seattle.

Darnold is very good when he has a clean pocket. It's why he's one of the best QB's when using play action. If you have him drop back 40x a game, he won't nearly be as successful. But that's true for most QB's. Seattle is just utilizing his strengths. They run the ball more than most & utilize play action off of it. They run a lot of 2 & 3 TE sets (Max protection). That's why Darnold is having success.

The Vikings lost that playoff game to the Rams because they did a poor job of game planning to protect Darnold & we're simply overwhelmed.

Yeah, but what happened against the Lions then? Their DL wasn't that good (due to injuries) and he only got sacked twice. If the Vikings had won that game, they wouldn't even have faced the Rams.

I really hope for you you don't have to experience more postseason heartbreak, but if you're that optimistic about Darnold suddenly being clutch without all evidence to the contrary maybe it can't be avoided.

That Darnold is playing very well in Seattle isn't the surprise. He played very well for the Vikings, too -- until week 18.

[El Turco]

Yeah he made that Lions defense look like 85 Bears, looked like he had the yips again. It was so bad that most people predicted Rams would win following week even though Vikings were the better team pretty much all season.

[Cactus Jack]

Darnold is very good when he has a clean pocket. It's why he's one of the best QB's when using play action. If you have him drop back 40x a game, he won't nearly be as successful. But that's true for most QB's. Seattle is just utilizing his strengths. They run the ball more than most & utilize play action off of it. They run a lot of 2 & 3 TE sets (Max protection). That's why Darnold is having success.

The Vikings lost that playoff game to the Rams because they did a poor job of game planning to protect Darnold & we're simply overwhelmed.

Yeah, but what happened against the Lions then? Their DL wasn't that good (due to injuries) and he only got sacked twice. If the Vikings had won that game, they wouldn't even have faced the Rams.

I really hope for you you don't have to experience more postseason heartbreak, but if you're that optimistic about Darnold suddenly being clutch without all evidence to the contrary maybe it can't be avoided.

That Darnold is playing very well in Seattle isn't the surprise. He played very well for the Vikings, too -- until week 18.

Everyone just wants to immediately write him off.

I'm not expecting a Super Bowl & we'll worry about the playoffs when the time comes. But I've been very pleasantly surprised by his play so far.