Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - VIKINGS SCHEDULE IS HERE (let's pick every game) (Part 1)

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

The Minnesota Vikings released their schedule on Thursday night. Matthew Coller analyzes every game, the schedule's best and worst parts, the potential road trips and key factors to each game. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fandul. Matthew Collar here, and the NFL schedule has arrived. So we are going to go through every single game, talk about key factors, talk about what we think of this schedule overall, and whether the Vikings will win each game. I have made some rules for myself, and I'll reveal them as we go along. But one of the things is that I should always. always have a letdown game because every Viking schedule, especially now that they're 17, but this has always been the case, there is a loss that we just can't believe.

So I challenge myself every year as I'm going through the schedule. You got to pick a loss that nobody would expect. So save the pitchforks in the comment section. Understand that's my strategy for picking the Viking schedule. And we'll get to a number that we think that they should end up with. for wins and I want to get your responses. I want you guys in the comment section to pick along with me, heckle my picks all you want, and then at the end, we'll talk about whether it would be a successful season for the Minnesota

Vikings with what I come up with and the highlights overall of this schedule. So let's get into it. The Minnesota Vikings open up their 2026 National Football League season with the Green Bay Packers. And I remember when they did this in 2022, we had some really good conversations about whether you like that or not. Do you like opening up against your biggest rival at home? For me personally, the answer is a thousand percent yes. It's right off the bat, game with a bunch of juice, and everybody inside U.S. Bank Stadium is going to be crazy jacked up. Biggest rival.

Can't wait for this game. We're going to spend all summer thinking about it, talking about it, talking about it. about it, previewing it, everything else. That is way better than when they open up against the Titans or the Falcons or something. It's like, give me right away a consequential football game. I think the downside of that is that you're talking about a consequential football game in week one. And week one can be pretty random.

And the teams aren't, you know, there's not a lot of training camp practices. They're not in the best shape yet. They haven't played their way into whatever identity they're going to. have, but there is a distinct advantage of having the Vikings play against the Green Bay Packers this year. And the Packers fan duel over under, by the way, is nine and a half. So there are pretty high expectations for this Packers team. The advantage, though, is that Micah Parsons is unlikely to play in week one. He tore his ACL late in the season. And normally, there wouldn't be any individual player that we'd be talking about in the schedule.

release day as, hey, this guy and his health is going to be a huge factor because so much can change before week one. But Michael Parsons is one of those players. He's one of the five best defensive players in the league. They were totally different with and without him. And if they don't have him, which it's not likely that they will, then week one, Vikings are playing a different version of the Green Bay Packers defense. And because of that, I have a win. So the Vikings start off the 2026 season in pick the Vikings with a victory at home. The last time they played this game, 2022 Vikings Packers to start the season, the Vikings had a great day offensively and beat Green Bay.

And I'm predicting that they will do it again. So week two, we are on to the Chicago Bears. The Vikings will play at Chicago at Soldier Field, which I hope they never moved to Indiana because I enjoy the heck out of the old creepy football field. It's going to be a noon game. against Chicago Week 2. And right away, there's another discussion, which is what do you like that it's two

NFC North games, so much ways on these two football games to start the season. I like the one, which is the Packers. I don't know if I love both of them. You might rather get the Jets in Week 2 or the Dolphins in Week 2, get a win, like get rolling into your season. but once again early on in the year, just like last year, the Vikings will play against the Chicago Bears. The Bears over under on Fandul, nine and a half, another team with very high expectations for this year. And just as we look at key factors for each game, this one to me is, can the Bears pressure the quarterback?

I'm assuming it's going to be Kyler Murray in week two, but whoever it is, if they can't pressure the quarterback, because they didn't really improve major parts of their defense. I think the Vikings can get an edge here, but it's Ben Johnson. He's often solved Brian Flores' defense. They've run the ball extremely well, and you're going to have Dominique Orange, Caleb Banks, guys that are still learning on the fly,

facing off with this offense that has as much confusion. And if you don't have Harrison Smith, there's just a lot of moving parts going on. And I think the bears have a slight edge in this game. They've also really struggled to chase down Caleb Williams. So I am giving the Bears the victory in week two against the Minnesota Vikings to start the season at one and one with two major NFC North games. On to week three, where the Vikings will face off at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, the Buccaneers have fairly high expectations.

Fanduil over under is eight and a half. And my big question for Tampa is, can Baker Mayfield bounce? back because two years ago he threw for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and really is maybe a handoff away from winning another playoff game for the Bucks. That's in 2024. But last year, they lost, I think it was seven of their last nine games, just totally fell off the face of the earth after Baker Mayfield got injured last season. But the fact that you have to face him early, it's in Tampa Bay. The weather is going to be hot. They have a defensive. line that can be really, really nasty with Vita Vaya. They've added Rubin Bain. They have Antoine

Winfield Jr. I think the Vikings are probably a better team than Tampa Bay. I did not like their offseason. I did not rank them very high in my NFC power rankings. But I also think that Baker Mayfield has had good days against Vikings defenses in the past. The last time they played was maybe 2023, I think was that the opener that Mayfield played pretty well, controlled the ball all game, and beat the Vikings and they're at home. So I am going to have a one and two start for the Minnesota Vikings losing at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On to week four where the Vikings play the dolphins. And I was just watching the Los Angeles Chargers schedule release.

And they did a halo thing and they were shooting a tank because the dolphins are tanking. So I'm going with a Vikings win. Clearly, week four at home. And it's a nice break after playing three very good and very physical teams. Even if we don't think that Tampa Bay is a serious contender, you know that they have a lot of physical players. They have a lot of talent on their team. And even though they lost Mike Evans,

they still have a quarterback who can put up 400 yards in a game. And then you get a little bit of relief coming back home in week four to face off with the Miami Dolphins, whose Fandul over under is four and a half for this year. I mean, Malik Willis, I was looking at Malik Willis's weapons, and that's the kind of the key factor. Does anybody emerge for him? Is it Chris Bell? As he playing at this point, he's coming off in ACL?

Is it Caleb Douglas, one of their draft picks? Is Tutu Atwell going to find it? I mean, they've got nothing. So as long as the Vikings can stop their run game with Devon A. Chan and Malik Willis, this one should be an easy win for the Vikings to get to now two and two. Week five, the Vikings face off with the New Orleans. Saints in New Orleans. This is all about Tyler Shuck. Tyler Shuck is not talked about a lot in the NFL, in the dialogue about young quarterbacks. For one reason, he's not that young. I think he's like 26 already.

But they added some nice weapons for him in Jordan Tyson and Travis E.T.N. And they have a good coach in Kellynne Moore. So the Vikings cannot underestimate the New Orleans Saints. And last year, Tyler Shuck was the 17th best PFF quarterback, which is pretty solid. And there's a chance he could take the next step. So the Vikings in week five face off with New Orleans in the Superdome. I'm going with a win here because whenever Brian Flores plays an inexperienced quarterback, it's just advantage Flores. They don't know what to look for.

They are terrified, flustered, flummoxed, confused. And, well, I see some baller nature in Tyler Shuck. I think he's going to have a really, really tough time. against Brian Flores. Fandle has them at seven and a half for their over under, which I think shows you that there's some belief that New Orleans could start to turn things around. But I also looked at their defense, and it's hard to find how they're going to get after

the quarterback. They've got weaknesses in the secondary. And KOC is very familiar with the doings of Brandon Staley, the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints because he was with the Los Angeles Rams. And then you remember that insane game against the Chargers. That was Brandon Staley coaching the Chargers in 2023. So I think the Vikings have an edge there to begin their season three and two. The biweek is in week six.

Do we like that or not? I don't love it. I think it's almost close to the middle point of the season, but maybe just a tad early. You might rather go week eight or week nine. But the reason that it's good, I think, for the Vikings is that the next section of the schedule. So they start out three and two, but the next schedule section of the schedule is an absolute murderer's row of really good teams after they face the Indianapolis Colts. And that will be at home at U.S. Bank Stadium coming out of the by week.

This is one of those where we're going to be saying, I promise you, in week seven, the Minnesota Vikings better win this football game. Daniel Jones should be back to 100% at that point. Jonathan Taylor is the key factor in this game. Quentin Nelson, young defensive tackles. Can they control the game on the ground? But the Vikings are a better team than the Indianapolis Colts. And it's Daniel Jones revenge game. Revenge for leaving the Vikings and revenge for the 2022 playoff game.

So a revenge game for the Vikings against Daniel Jones. They're over under Indianapolis is seven and a half. But I think this one all comes down to can this new look front seven without Jonathan Grinard, without Hardgrave, without Alan, or even if you go back, Harrison Phillips, young guys, can they slow down a team whose identity has been to run the football with Jonathan Taylor? Because if you can't, then they can control the game against you. But the Vikings coming out of the buy should be fresh.

I'm going with a win here. And that turns into a four and two start for the Minnesota Vikings. And then now this is where it gets nuts. they will go to Detroit, which is always crazy. I was going back and looking at every game that they've played against Detroit recently. And you had the week 7th or week 18 game to win the division two years ago. You had last year's game was absolutely wild with J.J. McCarthy coming off of his injury and then coming back and getting a win. You had Nick Mullins going nuts against them at Detroit.

You had 2022 where they threw a pass to Penae Sewell. and the Vikings couldn't stop anything. You had the winless Detroit Lions beating them. I mean, it's always nuts at Ford Field. It's one of the great atmospheres that exists in football. And I'm going to go with the Lions here, that the Lions get the win. They're over under is 10 and a half. The markets are really buying a bounce back for the Detroit Lions.

So the Vikings drop to 4 and 3 here with a loss against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. and then what I would consider the game of the year. Monday night football, Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium, Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills. This is a team coming into U.S. Bank Stadium, desperate to win a Super Bowl with the best quarterback in the NFL and someone who's come so close so many times, not to mention that we are going to relive over and over leading into this one,

the 2022 game, which is, for my money, outside of the Minneapolis Miracle, the best football game that I have covered in the last 10 years of covering this team, Bills and Vikings. And we know that KOC could go toe to toe with that team. We know that, I mean, that defense was very different in 2022. But we know that Josh Allen can be human sometimes with turnovers and mistakes and inaccuracies. And the Vikings took advantage that day. They're going to be coming back in. There's guys on the team still, including Josh Allen, that were there.

That's what does kind of feel like it wasn't that long ago, doesn't it? That game was absolutely insane. So the best team in the AFC, the presumptive Super Bowl favorites, I think. I'd have to check on Fandle if they are the actual Super Bowl favorites in the AFC or if it's somehow Kansas City still. I think they are. Let me just check real quick. Yeah.

Well, okay, that's weird. So Baltimore is slight, no, Baltimore is tied with Buffalo at plus 1,000 on Fandul. So yes, the favorites going into the season for the Super Bowl. Super Bowl and the AFC. Their over under is only 10 and a half, which I'm a little bit surprised by, but I'm going to go with a loss here. So the Vikings dropped to four and four with a loss against the Buffalo Bills on Monday night football. But all picks are subject to change. But that one right now, I mean, the bills are just a behemite.

They've added to their team. They got Bradley Chubb. They brought in DJ Moore, who's been a Vikings killer. They should be ready to go. Folks, if you find yourself hunting search engines for different hairstyles that might cover up your receding hairline, or if you're studying every actor and athlete you see of a certain age to see how they're handling their hair loss, well, maybe it's time to get yourself a solution instead of obsessing over what's happening on your dome. I present you with that solution.

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Micah Parsons is back. They have not done that well at Lambo since Kevin O'Connell took over. I am going to go here outside of the darnold game. Well, no, I guess they've been okay. They lost in 22 and then had a great game in 23 where Kirk got hurt. Darnold was great and then last year was rough. So two and two since KOC took over at Lambo Field. But Jordan Love has gotten a lot better at handling the Brian Flores defense.

And I am going to give the Packers a win here, because they will be likely to have Micah Parsons back. So the Vikings drop under 500 here at 5 and 4 against the Packers at Lambeau Field and then head to Mexico City to face off with the San Francisco 49ers. And I think this is a big break for the Vikings to be able to play San Francisco in Mexico city and not have to go all the way to Santa Clara to play them. where it's just not been a good situation for the Vikings anytime they've gone to Santa Clara. I feel like San Francisco always has the edge.

I don't know if it's the grass or what it is, but they have the edge in that stadium. But now it is a total coin flip going to Mexico City. San Francisco is over under 10 and a half on Fanduels. So there's a lot of credit that they're still getting for being a team that constantly achieves in the NFC. but I do think that this could be a year where they start to slide down a little bit. Kind of like two years ago where they had a bunch of injuries and missed the playoffs.

Could happen again to them. Their team is still being buoyed by a handful of really good veterans who are getting older and a guy who's turned out to be quite a good quarterback, but they just don't not have. And then Robert Salah, you know, squeeze the most out of them last year. But they don't have the team on paper to justify what the expectations are for the 49ers. It's really, they've got great coaching. They've got a really good system and a quarterback. But I think the Vikings can win that game and get back to 500 at 5 and 5. They come back home and this is what I warned you about. I warned you about the letdown game because the Atlanta

Falcons should not be a good team. They're at home. They've just gotten in our simulation here, a big win in Mexico City and it feels like you put so much into those international games. I know it's not that different, but it still is definitely different to go all the way there and have Sunday night football. You get the big win. Everybody's talking about, oh, the Vikings, you know, just got this big win to get back to five and five. And then you lose to the Atlanta Falcons.

Falcons over under on fan duels, only seven and a half. They're not considered to be a very good team. We don't know who's playing quarterback. Is it Tua? Is it Michael Penix? Neither one of them has been good. But the Falcons beat the Vikings last year and totally different system. But the weapons that they have are dangerous.

They have Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Bejohn Robinson. It's really going to be a test of whether they could slow down or running back like Bejohn Robinson. It just feels like one of those. You had a high point and a very, very tough run of games that you battled through Detroit at, you know, Lambo Field and San Francisco and then you're, oh, this should be an easy win, right? And it's not. So five and six is where I have them through 11 games.

Then the Carolina Panthers come to town. And I will give the Vikings a win here against the Panthers, another over under seven and a half team on Fandul because I think there's not a huge belief in Bryce Young overall. And, well, I do believe that Carolina's defense has gotten a lot. better. I also think that Bryce Young versus Brian Flores is not going to go well. He's not super mobile. He can't see particularly well. I don't think that he's great under pressure. And a lot of times he'll just kind of throw the ball up a little bit or he'll become a super, super conservative quarterback. And check down, check down, check down. He averaged 6.3 yards per attempt last year. So I am going to go with a Vikings victory here to get back to 500 as they go down the stretch. So,

if I'm counting correctly, then I have it at 6 and 6. And I appreciate you calling me clueless, but I will say this in the chat. I always pick a letdown game. You cannot go through a single Viking season that they've ever had and not find a letdown game, ever. Even when they win, you know, a lot of games, even when they've won 12 or 13, there's always that one where you're like, how did you lose that? They went 15 and 1 and they had a seat and they had a game. What was it, Tampa Bay that they lost to in 1998?

Like, there's always one. So that was the one I included. I just, you know, I think it's part of picking the schedule that you have to at least include a little bit of randomness there. So they get a win against the Packers, six and six. Now they go to New England face off with the Patriots. I think that's a tough trip to make. Drake May, I don't think the drama at that point will be any part of the conversation anymore. to be long gone into the past.

They have a great young quarterback. They will have, I think, A.J. Brown at that point, they have improved their defense a little bit. They've added to their offensive line in terms of depth a little bit. The Patriots went to the Super Bowl last year. They deserve benefit of the doubt here playing at home. Their over under is only nine and a half, which is interesting. I would have thought coming off the Super Bowl, it would have been a little bit higher. I don't know if it's being pushed down by the drama or whatever it might be.

but either way, I think that they're still an extremely strong team with a great young quarterback who is not yet peaked, and I think they will win that game. So the Vikings drop to six and seven. So now we go down the final stretch. Four games left in the season. What will they do? They will host the Detroit Lions as another December Detroit Lion game.

I think it's in December. The Lions come to US Bank Stadium where they also have crazy. games all the time against the Vikings, and I'm going to give the Vikings a win to get them to 7 and 7 against Detroit. They play then host to the Washington commanders. The commanders, I think, will be way better, and their over-under-round fan duel is 7.5. I would have that higher. They're getting Jaden Daniels back. They've improved a lot. They had a very high pick in the draft, also took a third round wide receiver who could help them right away. I just think they're going to be a good team.

But the way Jaden Daniels struggled against Brian Flores last year, I could see it happening again. And I could see that defense being tougher with Durante Jones, but not quite there yet. And the Vikings taking advantage to get to 8 and 7. Two games left on the schedule. They will play. The New York Jets in New York.

This is a team who's over under five and a half. I would go higher on that. by the way. I think they'll be a, I think they'll be terrible, but nowhere near as terrible as they were last year. And the Vikings should win, but there's a factor here of the weather and it's in New York.

Kyla Murray's actually been fine in weather over his career. I looked that up, how he's done outdoors and so forth. But, you know, like it's, can be a factor of if there's a snowstorm or something, there was that game where Jarius Wright, wasn't it, wasn't it weather there,

where Jarius. took a long touchdown and overtime maybe against the Jets. You never know in the East Coast, whether you're going to get hit by a snowstorm. But the Vikings should win that game to get to 9 and 7. Final game of the season, they will play host to the Chicago Bears. I love this. I think this is amazing for a final matchup. It could be a determining game of who wins the NFC North.

You cannot ask for anything better than that. Vikings Bears, and I'm going to go with the Vikings win to get to 10 and 7. So there you have it. My final record prediction is 10 and 7 for the Minnesota Vikings. And just a few thoughts along the way is I think that middle section of the season will ultimately determine what happens with this team. Because when you go back to coming out of the by week, Indianapolis cannot be underrated in the fact that they can run

over you than at Detroit, Buffalo Monday Night Football, at Green Bay, at Mexico City against San Francisco. Those four games, five games, will really determine where this season goes because I think that's incredibly hard. So it's a super exciting start. It is a really, really tough middle. But I think the end of the schedule, it's still not easy. It's definitely not easy.

But the end of the schedule having Washington coming to Minnesota, getting to host the bears, playing against the Jets. That's your road game. But the final four games, you're at home for three out of those four. And they could be tough NFC games that are for playoff positions, but you get to host in order to do that. So what do you think? 10 and 7 for my prediction for the Minnesota Vikings. Let's dive into your thoughts, your feelings. where are you guys at on 10 and 7 for the Minnesota Vikings in the prediction?

And look, anything else you have to say about the schedule on the whole, any observations you make, any like games. I mean, you could answer this question, which is, what's your favorite game on the schedule? If it's not Buffalo, how about that? Like the Buffalo Monday Night Football is just so good. It's national TV. It's a rematch of the 2022 game.

It's two teams with high expectations, highly drafted and exciting quarterbacks. You just can't ask for more than that. A great defensive mind, a great QB, a new coach over in Buffalo. That's phenomenal drama. So if it's not that, what's your other favorite game on the schedule? Let me know. So let's get into your comments there. Bob says 10 and 7.

If Kyler is a top 15 quarterback, if he's better than that, add a winner to. I think that that's exactly right, Bob. And this is kind of what I'm trying to factor for when making these picks is, well, how good do I think Murray's going to be? And how many games will Kyler Murray be the better quarterback than the other team? I think there's ones where it's obvious, like Atlanta or Carolina or the New York Jets. But there's a lot of games where it's pretty even if Kyler's playing his best football. If you're going up against Caleb Williams, well, that's kind of a lot of.

carbon copy of Kyler, only Kyler's more accurate and Caleb, uh, is, I think a little better in terms of like scrambling running, um, at times, like, uh, throwing on the run. I mean, at times than Kyler Murray, but you have, you know, Murray's a little better at executing. They're, they're close, though. Like, they're similar players to each other. Even Jared Goff, very different, but also usually ranked about the same in that 10 to 15 type of range among quarterback. So, I think a lot of these games are very even. Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray following a similar trajectory, right? Like number one overall draft pick to a really bad franchise, kind of left behind by that team. Now a redemption arc. So there's a lot of really good quarterback matchups, but if he's

up for it, if he's playing his best football he's ever played, then they can win a lot of these games. If he's just the average version of all the years of Kyler Murray, then you're probably looking at a nine or eight win season because you do have a lot of tough opponents here that you have to have better quarterback play than them on a weekly basis. Norse Forest, cool playoff bound at 10 and 7. I think that that's really important that they make the playoffs and 10 and 7 would be successful. I think the thing about 10 and 7 though is that it might leave you in a spot where you're not sure what to do with Kyler Murray. If he ranks as the 15th best quarterback in the NFL and you go 10 and 7, what do you do? I think you probably end up with a mid-tier type of

contract for him and then you see what happens. Or do you kind of roll the dice and try to draft a quarterback, but 10 and 7's not going to have you drafting very high? What have you thought of JJ McCarthy? How many games has McCarthy got into at this point? Like, there's so many questions with that. But if Murray played all 17 and went 10 and 7, it puts you in maybe the toughest spot to be in whether you go back to him or not. Bobby, the Bears have no pass rush and their turnover luck is bound to regress over next year. I totally agree with that. I usually, though, go with the NFC North, and I did that this year.

Unless there's a Detroit tanking situation or a Chicago tanking situation, I usually go split with the NFC North. They're really tough teams. They're very, very even. They always, almost always these teams play close games against each other. so I did go split this year where I was a little surprised at myself as I also went split with the NFC South, but I needed a letdown game and I could not make it Miami or the Jets. I just don't, I just don't see it.

If you're playing the Jets at the end of the year, by the way, Gino Smith might be hurt. You might be playing up at the end of the year is probably going to be helpful because, well, I think they'll show a little scrap. They will not be in the playoff race at that point, or at least the way I'm projecting it, where the dolphins, I mean, you can play them whenever they're going to stink. So I was like, where do I come up with the letdown game? And that's how I landed on Atlanta because that would be, I was thinking of the one that where could Vikings fans be very high on where they're going and then get punched in the gut. Sorry, it's a trend.

So that was the one that I went with. But I do agree with what you're saying. And it's a key factor. Can Chicago get after the quarterback? Because if you don't get after Kyler Murray, he will sit there and pick you apart. Pergatory again, a week six buy is this four years in a row or only three. I, you know what? I have not thought about that.

I guess you have. I don't remember when the buys were. I don't know how the team feels about it. I think they probably feel like it's a little early to have a buy in week six. Now that you're saying that it does come to mind that it feels like they've had in that range a bunch of times. But it's a little early for me. Also, though at the same time, it's before the hardest stretch. of the entire season.

So I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind it from that perspective. If you had maybe in the middle of that tough, tough stretch, so you have to play two or three games after you've been playing for eight weeks in a row, that would be a lot harder. But getting the break and then coming out of it and going against Indianapolis, which is not a team that's going to roll over. And then the really difficult stretch there after that, the Detroit, the Buffalo,

then it's a short week to play after that. so I think that they landed in an okay spot for the bye week. Gazincad, fair enough point that sometimes the letdown game is the NFC championship game. That's true. Purple Kool-Aid defending my letdown games says you have to have the no-show game and the Falcons defense gave us fits last year. Granted, it was with a patchwork line. Right, yeah, I mean, there were mitigating factors for why the Vikings lost to Atlanta last year.

But, of course, you know, it's, I mean, that, that can that can happen uh no you're right Alex in 2024 they did not have the let down game until uh well i guess the playoffs um so you're right about that that they only lost to two teams every other season okay so you found you found the one who's 20 24 every other season they well no you know what i'm gonna counter that i am going to counter that because they had the let down game against the jacksville jaguars they won that game they did not deserve to win that game it was a grotesque abominations of National Football League football, they just got away with it.

Because John Parker Romo hit every single field goal, but they should have lost it. So even then when they won the game, there still was a crazy letdown game against the terrible team. But every other season, you could say there's a loss in there that totally shocked you.

Norse Force is seeing 14 and 3. That's a little aggressive for me. The first time I ran through it, I was like, you know, like, because I didn't I didn't pick my letdown game first. I just went W's and L's first and then I looked at it and I said, all right, I've got to get the letdown game in there.

Where is it going to be? So I came up with 11 wins if there's not a letdown game and then had to go back and adjust it to getting to 10 and 7. Great point, Alex, that if they are 5 and 6, there will be a discussion about the quarterback. Do you go to J.J. McCarthy? Even if Kyler's playing well and they're 5 and 6. Do you go to J.J. McCarthy?

Is it one of those situations where, hey, look, I mean, you might as well trade away at some point there in that discussion. If they're, I think I had the, what, four and three going into, do they move the deadline back? When's the deadline? Like that deadline area, they're kind of 500. So would you trade Kyler Murray at the deadline? Would you, you know, consider tearing down some of the older pieces because you're not really competing for a Super Bowl? like you're right that if they did start five and six the way that I have them, I kind of have them hovering at 500 the entire year and then having a hot streak when they

get those home games at the end of the season and closing it out strong and making the playoffs. But if they are five and six, there's definitely people who are going to be saying if it plays out the way we expect, you should just be going to McCarthy, you should just be figuring it out, you should be trading Kyler Murray, all that stuff. And we could go back to the way back for those who have been. around a while, the skull searching of what quarterback are they going to draft. But that, yeah, I mean, I could see it playing out that way, though, where it's a little bit of

up and down, up and down, up and down, and you have to get hot at some point. And really out of the gate, there's an opportunity there to jump on the Packers and Bears, gain an enormous edge in the first couple weeks and then beat the Tampa Bay Bucks. But the Bucks game, the Bucks are a pretty good team. They're not terrible. they're like a 500 type of team. But when you play those first two games, really emotional, really physical, and then you have to go on the road and play a super physical, super aggressive team,

it just sort of screams out. Like this might not be your day. So that's why I gave them a loss against Tampa Bay. And I also think that the interior rush from them with Vita Vea, Coliza Kansi, Rubin Bain is going to be pretty nasty on them. But that was kind of my thinking on that pick. Alexander says McCarthy's starting now since they're five and six and you're tearing apart KOC saying he's on the hot sea.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, right. I mean, but that could be the case, right? And last year, that's what it looked like halfway through the season two when they struggled. I mean, I do think that people will have higher expectations for the start of the season. The end record. But I didn't see this as where you go WL, WL, WL, WL, WL for this year necessarily.

It's, yeah, they've got an opportunity to, you know, get hot against New Orleans and then Indianapolis. But that whole stretch, it's hard to see them, you know, running away or getting way out in front in that middle stretch where they're playing Detroit, Buffalo, San Francisco and in an international stage. I mean, there's just a lot there that's going to be pretty tough. So, yep, good point. Yeah, if they get to four and five, then people will want J.J. McCarcy. you back. And what would it be without some quarterback drama in Vikings land? Gatino, letdown game against the team that beat the heck out of the Vikings last year, not likely. Well, I don't, you know, how likely is any letdown game, right? Anyone that you're going to

pick out of a schedule is not going to look likely. It's just that there's always letdown games for every team. I mean, not just, you know, that one. Are you not factoring our offense? uh rod rodrick says uh no i did factor your offense but i also factored the things that could go wrong as well when uh i am looking at the schedule because if you're just assuming that they're going to have the best offense in the league then i would have them at 13 or 14 wins and if you're just going to assume that every single thing on defense is going to go right and they're going to be perfect then i would have them at 13 and 14 wins but i don't think that uh the 14 win season and the 13 win season, both of those years were truly a demonstration of how

everything can go your way sometimes. But when we're trying to project it right now, I guess if I said perfect world scenario, how many, you know, if Kyler Murray is a top eight quarterback, which is where he's peaked in the NFL, if Justin Jefferson's the offensive player of the year, if Dallas Turner has 12 sacks, if Theo Jackson turns into ball hawk Jackson and he's got six picks like but every single thing going right is hard to imagine in a football season so i think there's some weaknesses and some potential injuries on the offensive line and there's a history of kiler murray and this is where you say did i factor this oh yeah i factor this there is a history of kailer murray being a roller coaster having hot stretches

where people talk about him for MVP and having cold stretches where he's very frustrating. And I know that they can even some of that out. But I don't think you can make that disappear entirely. It's kind of like Kirk Cousins, only he's shorter and faster. But he has a similar career where it's a lot of up and down for him. And if he has a lower stretch and if he doesn't have great games against certain really good teams, then yeah. But I mean, I don't think that 10 and 7 is a bad outcome at all.

to be in the playoffs and have a chance. But I also think that if we're just, if we're just writing the Vikings in as a top five defense, that's a bit of a stretch too. You have to play a lot of really good quarterbacks, and there are big differences between this year and last year, even though Flores is going to elevate every single season, you're relying on super young defensive tackles,

super inexperienced safeties, linebackers who at least one of them has had injury history. Eric Wilson has one year as playing as a full-time starting linebacker. Like there's question marks here. The cornerback depth is a big question if anybody gets hurt. So I do think that we have to weigh all of those things. Alex, the bills were bad on the road last year. They could totally win this game.

Well, they could totally win every game. I mean, they won in Buffalo. I don't think a lot of people thought that they were going to win in Buffalo. But if I'm picking the game right now, I would have the, well, not just me, Fanduil has the Vikings, the Bills, as a Super Bowl fan. favorite in the AFC. It's very hard to make an argument that the Vikings are in the same realm as a team like the Buffalo Bills.

That one is exciting and they could definitely win. But if you're doing it right now and putting percentages on the chances that they win, I can't pick them. The bills are a Super Bowl favorite and they have the best quarterback in the NFC. Gazinc had all the NFC North Away games before week 11. That's a great observation. And I think that's a big win for them going down to Green Bay, like in 2022, the, the cleat game in 2022. I don't think that's something you want to do in January.

It's always difficult to go down to Green Bay then. So now all of you folks who drive from Minnesota to Wisconsin will have the nice leaves changing. It'll be a beautiful crisp day. But it doesn't have to be one of those nightmare. Hey, we're going to have everybody's cold breath, you know, at minus two degrees at kickoff. or something like that, not having to go to Soldier Field when it's cold, and, hey, maybe their grass will be decent in week two, right? So there's some good breaks for this schedule along the way.

Dan, if Murray is lousy and cold weather, why not play nine versus the Patriots? Yeah, look, number one, Murray's not lousy in cold weather over his career. Just because he's short doesn't mean that he's bad when it's cold. but you're not do no I do think though when you look at just the schedule in general and you're trying to imagine all these different scenarios you do factor in or try to weigh at some point you might have j jay mccarthy starting games like kailer murray has gotten hurt before in his career he was hurt last year he was hurt in 22 and then recovering in 2023 he's had full seasons but he's also had ones where he's missed games so nine uh making

get a chance to play throughout this year. And that's sort of baked in to the 10 and 7 record is the fact that, yeah, I mean, I think that he will, but I don't know where or how, but I think he will get into some games. But no, you're not benching your starting quarterback for a backup just because it's cold. Gatino, Daniel Jones, Achilles, injury was a complete rupture. Oh, it was. I didn't know that. So I haven't seen details on his injury, but he'll be back by the time he plays. against the Minnesota Vikings for sure. Alex, the theme of the season, the Vikings set to play a bunch of defenses

who are projected to be poor. And this is a thing when it comes to the schedule. We never weigh in enough and we never really know how it's going to play out when it's right now. But a lot of times, quarterbacks, how many backup or young quarterbacks do you get to play?

So in this case, it could be Tua. it could be, I mean, you never know who's going to get hurt, but it's going to be a young Tyler Shuck. It's going to be the first time that Bryce Young plays here. The last time he played Brian Flores, he got absolutely slaughtered in that game where Harrison Smith had a couple of sacks and what, didn't DJ want him run something back for a touchdown. So there's quarterbacks who either haven't been to US Bank Stadium before or haven't seen Brian Flores defense on this schedule. but there's also a lot of quarterbacks who have. You know, Josh Allen over the years has seen all sorts of different defenses. That's a veteran quarterback.

I mean, every defense you can imagine. All of the NFC North has seen it and has had at least some games where they've been good against it. Let's see. San Francisco is another team, even though I've got them beating San Francisco who has seen it. This floor has defense before. So Gatino, the Vikings don't have a single game against the team. team coming off a buy or Thursday night game. That's an advantage. Yep, I definitely see that as an advantage. Flores owns the Bears. I don't see it that way. I have, I don't see it that way.

He had, Caleb Williams had an amazing game against them in his first game, the away game at Soldier Field. He went crazy in that one when they came back. He played well in the game and they slowed it down in the one that, the kickoff thing, but, you know, still, won that game. And he played really well in week one and they got ahead and they should have won that game against the Vikings, but melted down. So I don't see Caleb Williams having freakouts against this defense. And Ben Johnson has owned the Vikings defense.

I don't see it the same way.