Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - VIKINGS SCHEDULE IS OUT -- let's pick every game

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

Matthew Coller and Manny Hill pick every game of the Vikings schedule, which officially came out on WednesdaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Coller here. And if you hear a little extra spring in my step, that is because the Minnesota Vikings have a schedule. And now that the Vikings have their schedule out, that means that we get to do our first real true picking of the schedule. We know the free agents, we know the draft picks, and now we know the teams and the order and the locations and when and where the Vikings will be facing those teams. So myself and Manny Hill will be picking every single game. And we want you to in the comment section pick along with us.

So how about we welcome in Manny Hill who throughout the season each week picks the schedule based on the previous results of the week. So this Manny is a wonderful day for a man such as yourself. And just how, who would have thought, you know, a day in the middle of May when it's like 85 to 90 degrees in Minnesota and people are blasting their air conditioners for the first time in 2025 that we'd be thinking about fall and cooler weather and football season already. But here we are and now we're ready to pick the schedule. I love it.

Well, Manny, you never have to push me to talk about football. And I did see from time to time throughout on social media today, like, oh, well, why is the schedule release a big deal? I'm like, are you serious? Because it's the schedule release. It's time for us to really see what it's going to be like this year. Don't rain on everybody's fun parade. And as you said, the middle of spring slash summer here, when we get a chance to actually look at these games. So why don't we jump right in to the Minnesota Vikings 20, 25 schedule?

Now, I'm going to pick along with you Manny, because I've got my record as well. So I will let you go first with each game and then I'll tell you what my picks, I've already made them so I'm not gonna adjust them based on your picks. I've already written them for an article. And I'm also gonna tell you,

I've also ranked every game by difficulty. So I will also tell you how difficult I think the game is going to be. So we start out the 2025 season with the Vikings on the road against the Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams against JJ McCarthy schedule makers. Good job, except for I know that some Vikings fans man, you're going to be a little terrified of soldier field. That's kind of seem like Kevin O'Connell has exercised those demons.

So your first of the year, is it a win? Is it a loss for the Minnesota Vikings? Yeah, it really does feel like KLC is kind of exercise those soldier field nightmares, those demons and everything. And I think especially with the season starting out week one, it's just still gonna be kind of the end of the summer season getting into the fall. So the weather is still gonna be nice.

I would imagine it'll be a nice temperature and everything. And unless it's like raining or something like that in Chicago, but I think it's gonna be a nice evening, a Monday night game to start out the season at Chicago bears. And I think the Vikings will get off to a nice start and, and, uh, open things up with a victory. Well, and what's great about this is that it's on Monday night football. And we get to sit here and watch all of the opening week of the NFL on our

couches, stress free for all Vikings fans, see how it all plays out. And then you get to watch on Monday night football. I did get a few notes from people today saying we're on national TV a lot. I'm scared. And you know, uh, anything, uh, can scare Vikings fans, but, uh, this one, national TV against Chicago has some demons in the past for sure. Some, uh, difficult nights, maybe 2016 when Mike Zimmer hurts his eyeball and they lose to a really bad Chicago team when they were five and oh,

but it is a new era indeed. And I love that place at nighttime. It's spooky. It's kind of weird and ugly. You see the sun go down and the the skyline, which is awesome there at Soldier Field, kind of disappears into the darkness. It is a really awesome place to play. Opening up.

And I love the battle because it's not just Caleb versus J.J. McCarthy, two guys in the same draft, one of them number one, one of them number 10. It's also two coaches that are an interesting matchup as well because Ben Johnson has kind of owned the Minnesota Vikings in recent years with the Detroit Lions and now he gets his chance against Kevin O'Connell in this environment. So as far as openers go, what I always want

with an opener is juice. Give me some juice. Give me some energy, some vibe, some excitement, and to be able to go to Chicago, one of my favorite venues to go to outside of, uh, you know, maybe the accommodations for reporters, but just in general, one of my favorite cities, one of my favorite places to go. Love this matchup. Uh, did you say you're picking a win? Did you say that already?

Are you picking a win? Okay. Yep. I got the Vikings winning that. Okay. Me too. I have one to know. And I ranked this as the eighth most difficult game on the schedule. Some of this will make more sense as we go along.

But the reasoning just being, I think that going to Chicago is still tough and Ben Johnson has made them tougher, but I don't think based on how they played Caleb Williams last year, that it will be one of the toughest games on the schedule. So week two, they play Michael Penick's and the Atlanta Falcons, this one at home. And here we are Manny with another cool matchup of quarterbacks that were in the same draft. So do you think the Vikings will beat the Falcons at home?

It's hard to really get a read on how good Atlanta is going to be. I think, you know, all of that is really going to depend on the development of Michael Pennings and how he sort of progresses and gets better in year two. We tend to see quarterbacks, you know, depending on how the rookie year went, they, you know, maybe might make a little bit of a jump in year two. So that'll be interesting to see how Atlanta kind of comes out of the gate with him. But I think with the Vikings being at home, being the home opener, US Bank Stadium, the

fans are going to be juiced up, ready to go. And I'll give the Vikings a win to go to two and over Atlanta. I also have this as a win for the Vikings. Michael Pennings is a, I think a talented quarterback with a lot of maturity for somebody who's going into his second year and age, but I don't think anything prepares you for that. For what us Bank Stadium is really like when you're on the wrong end of that.

And especially when it's the home opener, if they come off a win against the bears, that place is going to be nuts. You know that people are going to be crazy for JJ McCarthy, even if he throws 10 passes in a win against the Chicago bears. And I also think that fans now sense this is what we were waiting for. Like, I think that's the feeling of the fan base is last year was fun and they brought it at U.S. Bank Stadium more than they had in previous years. But there was still some trepidation of, well, this isn't what we really wanted with Sam Darnold. This is what Vikings fans really wanted.

And I think they're going to be Crazy ready after all this build up all the money spent everything else for this game And I also think Brian Flores is gonna have some things for PENIX that team has improved on defense But I don't know if they've improved enough on defense to win that game So I will also go with a 2-0 for the vikings and i rank this as the twelfth most difficult game i think it's not the easiest because the falcons are good they have weapons they did give the viking some problems and they have i think an offensive coordinator last year who when panic scott in the game started to show what he could really do that maybe couldn't quite do with a totally broken Kirk Cousins.

Like why isn't the man running any play actions? Like, do you see him trying to run? So I think the Falcons will be a tougher challenge than they were last year, but this is a game that I would expect the Vikings to win. So both of us have the Vikings starting out really well here to and O in the JJ McCarthy era. Let us move on to week three in a matchup that I just cannot freaking wait for. I saw Joe burrow Vikings Bengals in 2021. It was his first start of his second season.

He lit them up with Jamar chase in the Rashad Breeland game. Delvin cook fumbles, but that was at Cincinnati. then he lit them up with Jamar chase in the Rashad Breland game. Delvin cook fumbles, but that was at Cincinnati. And then the next time the Vikings went to Cincinnati, borough was hurt and it was Jake Browning starting. I haven't seen a lot of one of the great quarterbacks in the national football league. I cannot wait to see in that environment. A guy who is brilliant can pick apart, has the best weapons in the world.

But the question for you is Manny, do the Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals? Yeah, this is a rubbing the palms together type of matchup. You've got Joe Burrow, the great Joe Burrow in a chess match with Brian Flores this is gonna be this is I I'm actually a little surprised that this is not you know potentially a national game one of the one of the national games that are gonna be on this list that we're gonna see for the schedule but yeah it's gonna be fascinating Joe burrow his first trip to Minnesota. What is that going to look like? I like the Vikings in this game because even though the Bengals have a high powered offense

with Joe Burrow and those receivers, I still don't know if they've really done a lot to fix a weakness that they've had really the last couple of years, which has been their defense and their defense was really bad last year. It's what kind of prevented them from going to the playoffs, even though Joe Burrow played great last year. So I think this is an opportunity now for JJ McCarthy to really have kind of a breakout game of his own against a suspect defense. And this is after having a couple starts under his belt now. I think McCarthy will play well, the Vikings will play well at home and they'll come away with a, uh, a sneaky win and a higher scoring game against Joe burrow on the Bengals.

Wow. Okay. A three and Oh, start from you Manny here for the Minnesota Vikings. I actually I'm going to go with the loss here. And here's my reasoning is the Brian Flores defense is great. And there's no question about it. We have seen some of the better quarterbacks figure it out. And that's just because they figure everyone out.

Cause they're the best quarterbacks. I mean, out of 17 games, Joe burrow will play 14 that are great. And then he'll have a couple of clunkers. Uh, I also think the environment will have no impact whatsoever on Joe Burrow. I know he hasn't been here. I don't think that matters. The guys play in the super bowl. He's played in the college championship, played at LSU.

I mean, he's just, he to me is one of those guys who is one of the golden quarterbacks of this age. And if the Vikings end up in a shootout, I think it benefits him slightly more than McCarthy because McCarthy has not been in that kind of shootout yet in his career. Like I could see the first two games playing out where you can win a little bit uglier and a little bit more with the defense and McCarthy just has to do enough to win. But Joe burrow is going to push you to the maximum. And if there's one weakness on this Vikings defense, and we are a little far away from this, but it is the cornerback position.

And oftentimes I think what's happened over the last few years is when they face teams with decent receivers, but not great, they're totally fine. But when they face the almond raw St. Brown, for example, that's where, or the Puka Nakua, that's where they have some problems, you have two of the best Jam Nakua. That's where they have some problems. You have two of the best Jamar Chase and T Higgins and a guy who knows how to get them the football. So I am going to say the Vikings start this off with a two in one record

instead of your very optimistic three and oh, I rank this one as the seventh most difficult game on the schedule. The reason it wasn't even higher was because there's tougher games. But also what you said, I think is very valid that if they can win a shootout with JJ McCarthy, it's like we're going to be really through the roof with excitement if he can beat Joe Burrow in a shootout. So I've got him two and one through three weeks and you have them three and oh, now heading to Dublin to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I have dubbed this game to be an advantage for the Vikings to not have to go to Pittsburgh.

But Manny, do you have the Vikings starting out for and oh, are you going to be that bold? I'm going to go there. Wow. With with with a little bit of that, with a little bit of an asterisk because who's gonna be playing quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers at this point? Like if it's gonna be Mason Rudolph, then like, yeah, sign me up. And yeah, it's gotta be four, no. But if it's Aaron Rodgers, that could make things a little bit more interesting.

I don't think Aaron is the same guy he was even just a couple of years ago as an MVP. But you know, I think you put him on a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers that have some talent. I think he can, you know, still play pretty well and it might make it a little bit more challenging but I'll put it down as a as as a win for right now, just because I'm just going to play it as Mason Rudolph is starting at quarterback in that game. And it could be really, really ugly at that point for Pittsburgh and I'll, I'll give the Vikings a win there.

Well, let me say this about your four and Oh, start is if we were to design the easiest start for the Vikings and the Browns are the next team up. So I'll just say over the first five weeks, this is pretty darn close to how you would do it. I mean, maybe you'd throw the New York giants in there instead of the Falcons, but the Falcons and Bengals at home are to me, not the most imposing. I still have the Bengals getting a W there, but out of the quarterbacks that we have here, you're talking two inexperienced quarterbacks.

And then who the hell knows for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I agree that Rogers might have enough in the tank to still cause some problems, but they don't really have a run game. They don't really have a great line. They have one wide receiver. They traded away the other wide receiver. It's a pretty sad offense and it has been for a long time.

The reason I would have picked the Steelers is because of their defense and their home field advantage. And the numbers are so favorable to them as a home field advantage defense, but now they don't have it. And if this is just an okay defensive performance, the Vikings will win the game because I don't think the Steelers can score. Honestly, I don't care who their quarterback is.

I don't think they can score a whole lot of points and you just wonder what in the world happened to your off season. Maybe they're waiting on Kirk, but maybe they need that June 1st trade for Kirk Cousins to Pittsburgh. I don't know. Whoever their quarterback is. I'm not scared of them unless Kurt Warner or Philip Rivers or Drew Brees comes out of retirement and those guys decide to play for the Steelers.

But unless they do, this one is a W for me. And I rated this game. Let me scroll. I rated this game 14th out of 17. I did not think that based on who their quarterback is that this is going to be a particularly difficult game. I also think as popular as the Steelers are, the Vikings are the team of Europe. I mean, I mean this and I was, I was on a podcast today of a guy who's doing it from London and he's media over there. And we were talking about this.

He's like, there's no fan base internationally like the Vikings. Like they are the top. about this, it's like there's no fan base internationally like the Vikings. Like they are the top. And I think Dublin, especially, uh, this is like sort of tongue in cheek, but they've got a coach named O'Connell and a quarterback named McCarthy. And I think those people are going to come out to see, but also Vikings fans traveling overseas, they do it like nobody else, uh, and they are not losing their home game.

I think Steelers fans might be a little more salty about losing their home game. So I think there's a lot of edges there. I will give the Vikings also a win. So I have them starting out three and one, you have four and oh, now the Cleveland Browns, is this a let down game Manny or are you going five and oh, which, hey, look, if you said last year, five and oh, I think we both would have been like, come on, man, like stop being a Homer, you crazy. And then they did go five and oh to start the season

and seven and two overall last year. So I don't think it's that nuts, but are you going to go there with a five and oh start for the 2025 Minnesota Vikings? I am, I am gonna go there at five and and all they're going to be the Cleveland Browns. I am absolutely fascinated at who's going to be starting a quarterback for the Browns at this point. It could be Joe Flacco. It could be Kenny Pickett. It could be Dylan Gabriel. It could be Shadora Sanders. Who the hell knows who's going to be playing quarterback for the Browns? It's realistic realistic to to picture any of those four guys starting at that point

Good luck Kevin Stefanski. Have fun with that But yeah, I you know and I could see how the Browns, you know Having Myles Garrett still is he's still gonna be a force to be reckoned with one of the best events of players if not The best in the entire league that's still a guy that a force to be reckoned with, one of the best events of players, if not the best in the entire league. That's still a guy that could give you some problems potentially. But with the way the Vikings have boosted their offensive line in the offseason, I think it's going to bode well for JJ McCarthy and whoever's going to be playing quarterback for them is going to be in for a long, long, long, I guess, Sunday morning for us

afternoon for them over there in London. Uh, so yeah, I got the Vikings going to five and no beating the Cleveland Browns there. I'll give you a stat that's influential for me other than just they have no quarterback at the moment, but just influential for me and picking the Vikings to win in decided fashion against the Cleveland Browns is that there have been a handful of games, call it eight, I can't remember the exact stat, eight or nine that have been seven points or higher when it comes to the spread that a team is favored by seven

points or higher. And I think all but one of those, the favored team is covered. So when you're giving a neutral field and there's no potential advantage and then you're asking both teams to travel, usually just the better team wins over in London. There's a lot of close games by the spread that have gone either way, but most of the time when one team is a lot better than the other, it really shows on the neutral field and it really shows in a different environment where they're kind of scrambling that, hey, just raw talent ends up playing out. The other advantage the Vikings get is,

and I don't know my maps very well, but they just have to go from Dublin to London, which doesn't seem like the same as going from Cleveland to London. There's going to be a massive change for everybody in that organization and scramble to get there, where the Vikings just pick up Operation and move it over and stay in the same. I think it's the same time zone. If you're from Dublin and I'm wrong

about that, I'm sorry, but it can't be by as many hours as Cleveland. Okay. I should have Googled that, but the time zone changes is a big factor for these players going over there. And the Vikings will already have adjusted themselves through the previous year or the previous week. I mean, so I will give them a win as well. I now have them starting out four and one and you have them five and oh, but here now reality starts to show up of this schedule and I think what we can figure out. So I put in the buy to for there. It is the week six by The reason I put this in here Well one is that they get the buy after they come home so they can readjust

Before they face my number one or I'm sorry number two It's not my number one number two most difficult game on the entire schedule which will be against the Philadelphia Eagles at home and I think Manny just before we get into this Eagles game, that if they are not four and one or five and oh, after these five games, it's going to be a rough ride for them to get where they want to get with their schedule. Like they have to start off really well, because if you get behind the eight ball, this next run of games is, oh my goodness.

So I'm curious where you have them going, but it is a nightmare in the middle of the season, starting with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. So do you have them starting six and oh, man, will you go six and oh? Well, this is interesting because it kind of reminds me a little bit of how the schedule went last year when the Vikings were five and oh, they played the Detroit Lions at home and then had to turn around a couple days later on Thursday and travel out to Los Angeles to play the Rams. Didn't go so well those two games with the Vikings. They dropped them both.

Kind of a similar setup here too with you've got the Eagles at home out of the by high powered team defending champions. And then you travel just later on that week on that Thursday out to Los Angeles again, uh, this time to play the chargers. We'll get to the chargers game obviously in a minute here, but the Eagles coming in here just, I mean, it's, it's, they are kind of, they are the standard right now in the NFL. I mean, if you want to be a championship caliber team,

you've got to be able to go toe to toe with Philadelphia Eagles. That's just who they are right now. They're so low. They lost guys in the off season and they're still, they're still going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. So I got this down as the first loss on the schedule for me. We'll see how it goes for you. But yeah, I've got the Eagles winning this game at US Bank Stadium, dropping the Vikings to five and one.

I also have a loss here putting the Vikings at four and two for me. And it really just comes down to I think their offensive and defensive lines are phenomenal. The Vikings are very good in those areas. They are still the gold standard in the entire NFL for offensive and defensive lines. And they've continued to make moves there in the off season. I think also the Vikings directed their moves to create more pressure inside, which is great. And I'm for it. And I think it's right with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, but you may be sacrificing

something against the run. And in recent years with this florist defense, the great runners have taken advantage. It's Benjamin Gibbs. And now you're going to see, presumably if he's healthy, say Kwon Barkley, uh, we'll just talk about every game if someone's healthy, cause who could even begin to guess who's going to get hurt as we go forward. But if they're playing say Kwon Barkley and Jaylen hurts, I think that's going to be a very, very tough matchup for them. And then defensively think about the corners that they have in the secondary

that they've built when you're on Mitchell, who produced gene, uh, they brought in, who am I thinking of it? Safety, somebody at safety to improve that group. And there, I think even more of a complete defense with some more experience. They're a Superbowl favorite for a reason. I will go with the Philadelphia Eagles. Their second most challenging game is where I rated it. Now they go to the Los Angeles chargers of Los Angeles.

And as you mentioned, eerie almost how similar this is. I think the bi-week was at the same time and they were five and oh and they came out and they or something like that, right? Maybe it was uh it was something like that though. It was similar. It's very very similar um cuz uh yeah, I think it was at the same time. Someone ought to correct me on that but very very similar and then going out to Los Angeles but this time instead of facing Sean McVeigh, it will be Jim Harbaugh.

What kind of difference does that make for you, Manny? Do you think they win or lose at Los Angeles on short rest after playing the Eagles? I know things kind of fell apart for the Chargers at the end in the playoffs. Justin Herbert had a really bad game and threw a bunch of picks and all that stuff. But Jim Harbaugh just seems to, and he's kind of building this Chargers team a similar way

to what they were, the way they were built in San Francisco, where they were really strong up front on both sides of the ball, strong defensively, trying to get a good running game. You draft Hampton with your first round pick, Amarian Hampton out of North Carolina. So he's, Jim Harbaugh's gonna try to really run the football again, protect Justin Herbert a little bit to make sure that not everything falls completely on his quarterback's shoulders. The defense still has a chance to be pretty good.

And I think just on a short week for the Vikings and having to travel, I know they're getting the bye week before the Eagles game, but it's still kind of a lot of like traveling going on over the month of October for the Vikings. So I'll put this down as a loss as well, just because it's a road game going out to LA against a team that should still be pretty good, I think, and pretty well coached with Jim Harbaugh. So I've got the Vikings dropping a second in a row and dropping to five and two. Okay. The sky is falling. The season is over fire.

Kevin O'Connell as they dropped to five and two and yours, I am going to go with a win here to get to five and two. So we've reached the same spot, uh, just a little bit different ways. And I did have this as the eighth most difficult game considering how the chargers play. And a key factor here is that the chargers don't turn the ball over because they run so much and their quarterback is a pretty conservative player. I think Justin Herbert is more like Alex Smith than people want to admit, but still still a very, very good quarterback and he's super gifted and all that. But he's very safe with the football. I'm going to say that this is not exactly like Los Angeles last year.

It's not exactly like Sean McVay is coaching the other team. And I think the Vikings have more weapons to win a game like this and the chargers will have less time to prepare. Their defense was nasty last year, less time to prepare for Kevin O'Connell's offense. So I'm giving a slight edge to the Minnesota Vikings. This one is really a coin flip though. I don't think there's an easy way to say which team is decidedly better. But I'll just say that them trying to run the football play defense on a Thursday

night where sometimes all hell breaks loose and offenses rule the day because defenses don't have as much time to prepare. I'm going to go with a win for the Vikings against the Chargers. So then we move on to my number one most difficult game on the schedule for the Minnesota Vikings. My last experience at Ford Field watching the Vikings play the Lions. Not great, Manny, not great. I flew all the way there, drove to the stadium, took a long time to figure out how the heck you get

to the press box, get up there. And within a very short period of time, it was clear it was not gonna go the Vikings way. And I think one of the reasons was the intimidation factor. Now look, you could say, JJ McCarthy's not gonna be intimidated. That was a Sam Darnold thing, but look, this is a tough one. Okay. When you're going to a team

that has Superbowl aspirations with a crazy SOB as the coach and the fans have gotten very, very full of themselves with the Detroit Lions. But I think in that way, last year they were acting a little eagles-y. I mean, it was, it was a wild atmosphere. I would expect there's a lot of that same stuff for the Detroit line. So toughest game of the year for me,

but do you have the Vikings pulling out a W here? Yeah, boy, Lyons fans have been filling themselves the last couple of years, haven't they? But you know what they get good on them. Like they, they have been the laughing stock for God knows how long and they deserve to kind of boast in their glory right now as being, you know, the best team in the NFC North the last couple of years. And so I expect nothing different this time around. I've got the Vikings dropping a third in a row here at Detroit. Um, it's just going to be such a tough place to play. That crowd is going to be rocking. That team is really good.

Still a little, still interested to see what that offense looks like now that Ben Johnson isn't calling plays for them anymore. Um, that can be something to kind of watch for with them. But I think with just the quarterback and the line and the receivers and the running game and the coach who the head coach who's very, still very good. Uh, the Lions are still going to be very formidable. So I've got Detroit winning this one at Ford Field. So I also have them losing this game and going to five and three in part because

Kevin O'Connell just got to prove that he could be Dan Campbell and Detroit Lions. If I'm not mistaken, I think O'Connell's only win against the Lions was the first game that they played 2022 where they really should have lost that game. But Dan Campbell botched the, uh, the, the clock. I think he kicked a crazy field goal when the field goal to go up sick. I think, yeah. When the last thing you should have done there was kick the field goal. And then KJ Osborne makes a crazy catch.

The Vikings go on to win that game. And that's the only one that they have won. But I did run across this in the games of O'Connell and Dan Campbell. Only one of them has been less than 50 points scored between the two teams. And that was week 18, obviously. But all the other games are high scoring 50 plus and they are wild shootouts and entertaining. And I think that it can be that way again, but when you're one in five against the other head coach,

I think you're going to have to prove it before we're going to give you the credit for that one. This is a murderers row in this portion of the season, Eagles chargers lions, and then the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson's first ever trip to US Bank Stadium. This here was my third most difficult game only behind the Eagles and the Detroit Lions. But I mean, who put this part of the schedule together? They were not trying to space out the Vikings challenging games.

So here we are, week 10 Vikings and Ravens. What do we think, Manny? Boy, if you're a season ticket holder for the Vikings in 2025, you are getting a treat for the home schedule this year, which will burrow coming to town and Lamar Jackson coming to town. Jalen hurts and the Eagles and Saquon coming to town and Lamar Jackson coming to town. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles and Saquon coming to town. Woo, hell of a schedule, man. But yeah, it's gonna be a challenge. Do I have the Vikings dropping a fourth in a row,

a fourth game in a row? I'm gonna say no. And they find a way to beat the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens, I mean, Lamar is great. Derek Henry, I saw they just gave him an extension, a $30 million extension. Good for him as well. That team is, is obviously very, very good. But once in a while, they'll have a game. The Ravens will have a game on the road where they just don't quite play as well. And you're kind of scratching your head like, oh, Lamar, what happened there? What was that about type of thing?

I think this is potentially a game like that where the Vikings just play really well. They get their best performance of the season. And the Ravens just kind of have one of those questionable games. So I'll give the Vikings a win here in a very tight competitive game that they pull out in the end. So you had the Vikings losing to the Chargers. I had them winning.

We're going to be different on this game as well. I have the Vikings losing this game to the Baltimore Ravens. I could see there being some element of Lamar's never played here before, but he's played everywhere. And when I was looking at his stats from last year, like, have we all Googled what he did last year? It was 40 41 touchdowns for picks and he ran for 915 yards and some, I mean, he didn't win the MVP because Josh Allen was every bit as magical

as he was and whoever you picked is fine because they were both deserving. But my goodness, his passing efficiency he also led the entire NFL in yards per pass attempt which we might want to inform maybe some teams from a certain draft class that Lamar Jackson can indeed throw the football because you know he hasn't just proven he's a good thrower he has dunked all over that like Shaquille O'Neal ripping down the basket and breaking the backboard He's now one of the best pure passing quarterbacks in the NFL best playmaking which the scrambling ability When you can't necessarily read Brian Flores right off the bat Well, if you can scramble

I think it's gonna cause some problems for Flores's defense kind of the way that Kayla Williams did in to cause some problems for Flores is defense kind of the way that Kayla Williams did in a soldier field last year. We saw that if they don't contain that this quarterback can do something special. The Ravens, they haven't gotten it done in the playoffs, but they are as incredible of a regular season team as exists in the NFL. So I'm going to go with the Ravens winning this one as one of the most challenging of the season. So we both have them at five and four.

Is that right? I've got him at six and three. I'm sorry. Six and three. And I have them. Yeah, that's right. You've got them at six and three. I've got them at five and four right now.

But so that would be three out of the last four games on my schedule and yours for them losing. So they've, they've hit the skids a bit, but now they go and play or they will stay home and play the Chicago bears at home, Manny, I only have this as the 13th most difficult game. We don't know what Ben Johnson's going to look like, but we sure do have a sample size from last year on what Caleb Williams looked like playing at us bank stadium, a totally different quarterback from what we had seen against the Baltimore Ravens.

Do you have the Vikings starting a new winning streak here against Chicago? I do. I think it'll be a fairly close game just because it's a it's a divisional game. And I think this is at a point in the season where the bear, we could see the bears start to play a little bit better as they've gotten more acclimated to Ben Johnson system and just his coaching style and all of that. And, uh, we could start, I think we'll start to see some real improvement from Caleb Williams. And so he'll play better. Um, but I think the Vikings being at home,

we'll give them a bit of an edge. So I've got them winning this one and improve into seven and three. I have it the same way. And one of the things to keep in mind is the Chicago Bears defense under Matt Iberfluse occasionally actually gave the Vikings problems. But if you look at their defense now, they have made some improvements.

I would not say they've made massive improvements. I think it's still a very flawed defense and that's going to matter at US Bank Stadium. I think the running game for Chicago, even though Ben Johnson touts his running game, they don't have a running back that scares me at the moment. I think if there was a way to neutralize the Vikings defense for Caleb Williams a little, I'm feeling like pinning the ears back is something we're gonna say quite a few times. This will be, we have now reached the portion of we're so deep in the season

where we can't really, and this is what makes this so fun, right? We can't really predict. We'll know by then though, is Caleb Williams the dude or is he not the dude? Is he still the flawed guy that's getting sacked every third time? And maybe they're a little bit better because of Ben Johnson. Or was it all the Eberfluss, Waldron, Thomas Brown, whatever experience that caused Caleb Williams to be so bad or just a lack of playing experience and thrown into a real pressure cooker of a situation.

Or can he still not see the field? Can he still not pick apart a Brian Flores Blitz? Can, are they still the bears, the same old bears that every off season everybody pats them on the head. And then we go out and actually play the football games and they're nowhere near what everyone had them in imagination land. Uh, we are not going to know right now or even have a vague guess right now. It's some of those questions. I think the bears got to show me though, before I give them any credit here.

So I will also give the Minnesota Vikings a victory. So now I have them at, what is that six and four and you've got them at seven and three at the moment. So we go on to the road at Lambeau field, JJ McCarthy's first time at Lambeau field playing against the Green Bay Packers. This is great Manny because you know, I make that trip down to Lambeau and Sometimes it's in January. Let me tell you that's not a good time But in the fall, what a beautiful journey It can be in the fall to go down to Lambeau Field.

Magical with the crisp air for J.J. McCarthy. Now I just want to remind the Vikings, put on the right shoes this time, get the right cleats, make sure they stick in the grounds, you're not sliding around. But as long as they do that, Manny, they've got a chance in a game such as this one. But will they win?

Do you have them going to eight and three or two, seven and four? Kevin O'Connell is two and one in his career at Lambeau Field, including two consecutive wins in 23 and 24. I have this as a loss. I think the Packers are still going to be a very formidable team. Matt LaFleur is still an excellent head coach, loss. I think the Packers are still going to be a very formidable team. Matt LaFleur is still an excellent head coach and it's a quarterback in Jordan Love that I think is really kind of stepping into a time where we really get a sense of like how good he really is.

He's performed very well the last couple of years, but it's always been kind of an up and down, slow start, bad, you know, slow start, good finish, good start, bad finish. He gets banged up a little bit. This is now the year I think where we can really see him possibly break out and, and, you know, really start to be at his best. And I think, you know, this part of the year can be kind of tricky weather wise going to, going to green Bay. So I've got the Vikings losing this one and dropping to seven and four.

So the last two years under Jordan Love, not every single game has been him starting because Malik was in there, but just go with that. 11 and six at home, one of those losses was to the Minnesota Vikings, but nonetheless, or was it two? Two losses were two of those six were to the Vikings, but still they are a very good home team. Lambo still matters.

I don't think that Kevin O'Connell or these players are intimidated by Lambo. I do think that it is a young quarterback's first trip there to a team that has not had some crazy off season where they made a bunch of moves, but they're still good. And if they've got wide receivers from the draft not at some crazy off season where they made a bunch of moves, but they're still good. And if they've got wide receivers from the draft that step up, they're going to be a better offense with Jordan Love there.

It's always, anytime we do the pick the schedule, the first version, it's always hard for me to say the Vikings win both of, and we did that with Chicago. So if I think, no spoiler for week 18, But I always want to make sure that I'm splitting some of those games between the division rivals because it's Although I guess I didn't do that with the Lions. Did I or wait? No the Lions week 17. We're gonna find out Did I just spoil the 17 and 18 picks? Maybe I didn't anyway, the point just being it's gonna be a hard matchup in Green Bay. And both of us have a loss. So I'm going to go to six and five and you are at seven and four.

So now the season for both of us is teetering. Where is it going to go? And the final stretch here, Manny, is Seattle, Washington, Dallas, New York Giants, Lions Packers, a mixed bag of some very winnable games and some very difficult games. So we go on to Seattle, Sam Darnold versus his old head coach, the guy who they loved more than him.

JJ McCarthy. Is it a revenge game? I don't think it can be because Sam Darnold now they did pick someone else over him. They didn't franchise tag him, but he also probably wanted to go and if Kevin O'Connell turns around your entire career and makes you a hundred million dollars, you're not getting revenge. So they're going to call it a revenge game. I am planting this flag right now saying this is not a revenge game, but do they win man? It's going to be a tough one. Tough place to play. Sam Darnold. I thought in a Vikings uniform handled that environment pretty well last year and, and made a big throw to Justin Jefferson to win that game. Um,

young quarterback though, JJ McCarthy going into that environment. But you know, I want to give JJ McCarthy, we've talked about some of these places where he's gone and big environments and everything that he's going to face this season. I want to give him a little bit of a benefit of the doubt because he has played, he played on such a big stage at Michigan, played a national championship game, played in, you know, he started college football playoff games two years in a row for Michigan. So he has, he has seen the bright lights and the big, the big moments at the big stadiums. So I'm going to give him a little bit of a benefit of the doubt that he can maybe handle

a Seattle crowd and go in and play well. And you know, this is later in the season, week 13, I think he's got a lot more experience under his belt now at this point of the season. He's probably playing at his best at this point. So I'm going to give the Vikings a road win here against Seattle in a close game because of that environment. I think Sam Donnell will have a chip on his shoulder a little bit, not bitterness, certainly against the Vikings.

But I think just that competitive side of him will, will want to go out and beat the Vikings and play very well against them. So I think he will. It'd be a close game, but I'll give the Vikings the slight edge and finding a way to win here in Seattle and improving to eight and four. OK, so just to go back one to the Packers, I had that as the fifth most difficult game on the schedule against the Packers. I don't think I mentioned that. And for this one, I had a tenth because I think that it's probably

somewhere in the middle. There is a Seattle argument. Same time, I looked up Seattle at home against the spread over the last five years. They're just another team in the league Seattle is tough. It gave the Vikings some problems last year, but they ultimately came out and won that game They know all of the weaknesses of Sam Darnold. They know how he sees the field. They know what he doesn't do Particularly well, and if you give Brian Flores that kind of information I think he's going to have a pretty good time.

And with Darnold, if he's not seeing it well with the defense, we know he'll scramble backwards. Jonathan Grenard or Andrew Van Ginkgel or Dallas Turner will chase him down. That kind of thing. I could see multiple turnovers in a game against Sam Darnold. I just think he's going to have a really tough time with Brian Flores, his defense. So I also gave them a win to go to 7 and 5. So the next game on the slate also ranking very high among the most difficult games

the Vikings return home from Seattle to play the Commanders of Washington. This was my fourth hardest ranked game. I am giving the Commanders a lot of credit. I saw the over under win total. People are a little skeptical if the commanders can take another step, but they brought in Laramie Tunsel. They brought in Devo Samuel. They've improved their interior defensive line. I just think they're a really, really hard matchup. And a lot of it's just the guy with the ball in his hands. Jaden Daniels, unreal first season.

Now he's got more around him to work with, just the guy with the ball in his hands. Jaden Daniels, unreal first season. Now he's got more around him to work with, but can he handle US bank stadium Manny? Where do you have this game going? I've got the commanders winning this game. I think I'm with you on them. I'm really high on them. I love Jade, Jaden Daniels.

And you mentioned bringing in Devo Samuel and the improvements they've made on the defensive side. And look, I mean, Dan Quinn's a good coach, man. Like that guy, he is, I think we kind of forget sometimes that that guy coached a team to the Super Bowl and had a 28 to three lead. Now people make fun of the Falcons for losing that 28 to three lead in the Super Bowl, but they still like Dan for losing that 28 to three lead in the Superbowl, but they still like Dan Quinn jumped out 28 to three on Bill Belichick in the Superbowl.

There's something to be said for that. And you know, we, people were a little bit surprised that they made it all the way to the NFC championship game last year, but that's a team that's really talented, really well coached, a great young quarterback. They're going to be tough to beat. So I'm going to give the commanders a win at us bank stadium here. So I've got the Vikings dropping to eight and five here. I am also going to go there. And a major part of that is because when Sam Darnold went to Ford field in the environment, he freaked out.

He overthrew guys. He panicked. Jayden Daniels was like, I got this. That'srew guys. He panicked. Jaden Daniels was like, Eh, I got this. That's all right. No big deal. And I just don't think the US Bank Stadium is going to have its effect on Jaden Daniels. And as I mentioned with Lamar, even if it does, it might not matter because he is such a playmaker.

I agree with you on Dan Quinn. I think they've improved their defense enough. They've improved their offensive line enough. They've improved their offensive line enough. They've improved their receiving core enough to be considered a very serious in my mind, Superbowl contender. So I gave a loss there too. So I'm sitting at seven and six and you are sitting at eight and five. And now they've got this final stretch to go.

Let's just take a real quick stop here and ask a question. If the Vikings are seven and six, eight and five, how are we feeling about that? Are we feeling like it's going well? Even if they lose to the commanders, if we feel like they're still a really good team, do we feel like these results would be disappointing if we're only picking them to be there considering how much they spent and going all in on McCarthy because I feel like it's to be expected considering the run of teams that they're going to face in the middle of the season that there's going to be a skid there and that's why they play

all the games and not just this many. But I think that the expectation is going to be a little higher than where I have them overall just based on what they've done in the off season and the hype around JJ McCarthy. But I still have a little bit of skepticism on whether they're going to beat these teams that have great quarterbacks. That's, if you notice, that's kind of the way that I've picked is if you got a great quarterback, I'm not sure or you know, at Lambeau that I'm not sure that I can go there just yet.

But how would we feel if going down the stretch, if this were the case? I think for me, I think if they're eight and five at this point, after, you know, even dropping one at home to Washington, I'm still feeling pretty good about it because the team is competitive. They're, you know, they're, they're still, I think at that point playing fairly well. And I think a lot of it's going to determine is going to depend on, you know, how JJ McCarthy is playing because he is the key piece in, in all of this. It's so vital that he continues to grow and develop and improve. And it's so important that he's good. Like they just need him to be very, very good at the bare minimum, just be very good. If he ends up being elite, great. But I think they need

to, at least in this first year of him starting with weapons around him, with the improvements that they've made on defense, the way they've set up the offensive line for him now. He's going to have an opportunity to be very good and he's going to need to deliver. And so if he's playing well, and they're eight and five because they've had to play Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and the Eagles and all of that stuff and taking on a team in Washington that was in the NFC title game. I'm cool with that. You know what I mean?

It, a lot of it will depend on how they're looking, but I think if you're, if you're telling me they're going to be eight and five through 13 games with JJ McCarthy starting for the first time in his career, I'd sign me up for that. I'd be good with that. From my standpoint of being seven and six, it would seem like the season was teetering right there of if you don't improve down the stretch and you don't get hot down the stretch, then you're going to miss the playoffs and an NFC that has a lot of projected

very good teams. And at that point, this is where it's a little bit of hedging on how it's going to go for JJ McCarthy for me. I think that he could start out really well because the schedule is so favorable, but this is going to be the first time of facing the beasts of the National Football League, and there's going to be some bumps and some challenges and some tough road trips and things like that that they could get caught up on. But I look at the final four games here and go this is an opportunity the beginning and the end of this schedule are totally open for them to make this a great season where the middle is just a survive and advance on a weekly basis because there's so many even seattle maybe they're not a great team but they're also not a bad team

and last year they won ten games and they were a difficult matchup. So now we start the final section of the season with the Cowboys, a national television game against Dallas. What is Dallas's defense going to be like as George Pickens gone rogue yet or whatever and, uh, ruined their team. Like he did with the Pittsburgh Steelers. National TV. This is a road trip special. I think Manny, do you believe the Minnesota Vikings will beat the Cowboys?

Well, the, the, the Cowboys have weapons on offense. Dak Prescott's a good quarterback, CD lamb, good receiver. One of the better receivers in the NFL, George Pickens is talented. offense. Dak Prescott's a good quarterback. CD Lamb, good receiver, one of the better receivers in the NFL. George Pickens is talented. You kind of wonder where his head is at sometimes, but he is a talented player. I just, Brian Schottenheimer, I just, I'm not just not buying the Cowboys overall as like a real formidable force,

just not buying the Cowboys overall as like a real formidable force, especially in that division with Washington and Philadelphia being at the top there. I feel like the Cowboys are just looking like an eight or nine win team right now that will win some games, but they're also just not really good enough to really compete at a high level. And I think this is an opportunity for the Vikings to go into Dallas on national television and just play really well. JJ McCarthy will have all the eyes on him. And, you know, Micah Parsons obviously is one of the best defensive players in the league. But I think the Vikings offense is set up to be able to kind of handle him a little bit better with

the improvements that they've made on the offensive line. So I think this is a win. I've got them going to nine and five here and winning a game against the Cowboys. The Cowboys will be able to move the ball a little bit because of what they have on offense. But I just don't buy them as a real fluid operation right now. And so I've got the Vikings one of that game. I think coaching matters. I don't want to count out Brian Schottenheimer.

He's been around the league for a long time. Maybe he'll be a good head coach. We don't know. If you go back and look at reactions to coaching hires and then compare the results, that's even more random. And the draft. Yeah, right. Exactly. Everyone made fun of Dan Campbell. They thought he's going to be there for two years and then get fired.

That has not been the case for them. So I don't want to count him out. I think the Vikings are a better team. They're just a stronger, more complete team than the Dallas Cowboys. So I have a win here as well for the Vikings to go to eight and six. And you have them at nine and five down the stretch. Then let me see. Where did I have that game as far as difficulty ranking?

I didn't. I don't think I had it. Well, I had it ninth because it's Sunday night football. It is in Dallas. There is a lot of pressure there, but I think that that's a winnable game for the Vikings, so that kind of puts it in the middle of the schedule. The next game is not in the middle of the schedule by my difficulty rankings. It is the second easiest game. I don't know if I mentioned or not Cleveland was 17th as the easiest game on

the schedule and not even given Cleveland a home game, but going to New York facing Jackson Darv, I guess we'll be the quarterback by then. I'm assuming Russell Wilson has gotten benched. The only thing you could see is that the Giants have some defensive talent. That's for sure. They have very serious defensive talent on their D line, but no longer with the Vikings O line, do we just say, oh, man, they got Dexter Lawrence like it's just over.

He's going to kill everybody. They have some guys who could actually block. I mean, this one, I think we're probably on the same page, Manny. The Giants are one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL and one of the saddest, and the expectation is not very high for them. So, I mean, I've got to win here. Who knows? Maybe James Winston is starting this game for the Giants.

Yes. Who the hell knows? Yeah, I mean, the Giants have some players on defense where you kind of have to kind of watch for a little bit. We'll see what Abdul Carter looks like, you know, as he kind of steps in, if he can just figure out what the hell Jersey number he's going to wear and stop trying to steal the Jersey numbers of giants legends. So you know, their edge rushers are going to be, you know, a little bit of a force obviously with Brian burns as well. And Dexter Lawrence is still there. Uh, but

just offensively at the quarterback position, who's going to be playing Malik neighbors is going to be really good, I think, but it's just who's going to be thrown in the ball right now. I'm not, not sure Brian Dable is really a very, very good head coach or head coach material. Maybe he's more of just a coordinator type of guy. Like you said, the organization is dysfunctional. This is, if the Vikings don't win this game, I would be very, very shocked and on a quite honestly, very upset. So I'll give the Vikings a win here and I've got them going to 10 and five.

Yeah. The rule does not apply. Last year, we put in a rule that there had to be a shocking loss. Now, they actually never happened last year. There really wasn't that shocking loss. They almost did it against Jacksonville. That rule does not apply for the first picking of the schedule. As we go on into the future, it will. But that is an easy one to have as a win.

The next one is much more debatable. So you've got them now at 10 and five, correct? And I have them at nine and six. They will play the mighty Detroit lions week 17 at us bank stadium on Christmas day, hope you, uh, are maybe, I hope you're able to compartmentalize, put it that way between your holidays and the rage that comes along with watching a Minnesota Vikings game. But that's not the question now.

The question is, do they win this game? The Netflix game to a Christmas day, how about that? So maybe people won't even be able to see it and they'll just watch the podcast and find out what happened because they spent the day with their families. I've got the Lions winning here on Christmas Day at US Bank Stadium. I I'm kind of with you with as far as the Lions go with the Vikings until Kevin O'Connell, like like proves that he can beat Dan Campbell, uh, semi regularly.

I'm just probably going to lean lions and in, in all of these matchups. So I've got Detroit winning this one, uh, late in the year. And it's for all we know, the lions might be, you know, trying to win this game to clinch the NFC North at this point. So, uh, they'll be ready to go. And, and, uh, so I've got the Vikings dropping this one and dropping the 10 and six. So I have a W for this. Here's here's what I'm thinking.

Here's what I'm thinking that through the wars and the battles of the middle of the season, JJ McCarthy has become that much stronger, that much more resilient. And this is the time they don't have their coordinators that they had last year, that this is the time that JJ McCarthy steps up big and wins this game at US bank stadium. It's been a game that they haven't been able to win against the lions with a lot on the line over the last couple of years.

This one they are going to get against Detroit. And there's a little part of it is just the Jesse Pinkman meme, which is the, they can't keep getting away with this. Every one of those games, the Vikings have been right there. The 20, 23, one where Nick Mullins decided to throw the ball right to a Lions defender, rather than right out in front of Justin Jefferson for a touchdown. And even last year, they are one first down, one completion away from beating the Detroit lions at home.

They have come very, very close multiple times. This is the time that they get it done. I still have, this is my sixth most difficult game because it's the lions, but I'll have them splitting against Detroit. So both of us have a now 10 and six record, which brings us to the final game of the season Vikings versus Packers. The last two years they've had a similar game. I mean, I guess, you know, the way the NFL schedules that you're going to get your division games at the end, but they had the week 17 game last year that Sam Darnold won. They had the game the year before one of the most forgettable ones I've ever covered, the Jaren Hall start against the Packers.

Oh, yeah. So this one has gone a lot of different ways. Twenty nineteen was a Kirk meltdown game, a no show game that they lost. They had a Kirk win game late in the season against Green Bay. So it's got a lot of different ways. How about this time? Do they get to 11 and six or are they a 10 and seven football team? I think and a lot could be on the line between, you know,

playoff seating could be on the line between these two teams. It kind of feels like both of these teams are going to have similar records this year. Kind of that 10 and seven, 11 and six type of range. Both of these teams. I've got the Vikings winning this one and splitting with the Packers for the year. This is my divisional split between these two teams. And so I've got them winning at home,

lot on the line, potential playoff seeding on the line and getting it done and finishing 11 and six on the year and marching right into the playoffs. So I didn't ask you to tell me what your record was going to be. I didn't tell you otherwise, I might have made it different from yours, but it's the same. I have them sweeping the final four games. So starting off very hot and closing very hot and running into a lot of potholes

in the middle of the season. But I tend to believe in the randomness of distribution of things anyway. Like normally, when we do a schedule pick what ends up coming out is a lot of like Well, I have them losing two in a row So I can't make it three or something like that I try to throw all that out and just focus on the individual game and I think they will win this one Against the Green Bay Packers week 18 a split with the Lions split with the Packers Take two from the Bears and end up 11 and six and in the playoffs.

Is that good enough to get over the Detroit Lions and what they're going to do that? I don't know. And that brings us to the final part of the discussion. And then everybody should log off and go watch the Minnesota Timberwolves. That's what we're going to do here in about five minutes. And then tomorrow night, by the way, I'll be doing another live chat. So all your questions and comments and everything else, um, tomorrow jump on in. We'll, we'll break this down. Brian Murphy's going to show up, but I'll do the live chat as well. So

I will have a lot of fun with it, but what does it mean if the Minnesota Vikings win 11 games in the regular season with JJ McCarthy? Is this like, let's self-evaluate here. Is this us being a little bit too optimistic on McCarthy in this Vikings team? Is it dead on the over under is eight and a half. So just by that measure, it's optimistic at the same time, the Vikings under Kevin O'Connell, when they've had their starting quarterback healthy have beaten the over under significantly in 2022 and 2024. How do you feel about yourself?

Like a self-evaluate with this 11 and six pick many. I think you have to be feeling pretty good. I think, you know, if you have JJ McCarthy going into his first season as a starter, you find a way to win 11 games. If, if a technically not a rookie, but if a rookie quarterback comes in or his first year as a starter, let's say he comes in and he wins 11 games and you get into the playoffs. How do you really complain about that?

And you know, I think this team coming off of 14 win season last year, thanks to the AFC South in parts for that. I think coming back with a with a more difficult schedule, a better AFC division that you're going up against a much tougher schedule, I think coming away with 11 wins, I think you have to be pretty happy with that, especially with a quarterback that doesn't have a lot of experience yet. But with the improvements that you've made to the roster,

you're setting up your young quarterback to be able to play good football, good competitive football going forward. So I think an 11 and six season getting into the playoffs and who knows, maybe you'll win a game or two. I mean, we saw Jaden Daniels take his team all the way to the NFC title game. Wouldn't put my money on J.J. McCarthy doing that in his first year as a starter, but we've seen crazier things happen in this league. So I think just getting into the playoffs, I think would be a huge, a huge win for him and this organization going forward.

When I pick a schedule, I think about let me let me get real deep about my schedule picking philosophy, Manny. Uh, am I doing it of what I think or what I expect? And I think I tend to lean more toward what I expect than what I think because everything that we evaluate for a team and their performance is versus expectation. That's why we love to use the Vegas line to have that conversations. Well, what's the outside expectation?

What's the inside expectation? I think the inside expectation is not just an 11 win type of season, but it's also that I have them winning the last four games that JJ McCarthy comes out of that hellacious middle of the season better for it and on the upswing and this team becomes the best version of themselves down the stretch, which we saw last year, not counting the last game in a week 18. But before that they were playing some of their best football coming down that stretch after they had run into the difficult times.

And I also think the more Kevin O'Connell is able to coach JJ McCarthy, the better chance that there is that they can have a run at the end of the season to get to 11 wins. I also think that's where I want to set the bar for this team. Like that's where you should be. You put a lot of work into this roster. You put three years really into this roster to get to this point. You spent more than anybody else in free agency.

Go win, go compete with these teams. And now some of the times that we picked losses, I didn't, I mean, I didn't just go, oh, well, that's obvious. They're going to lose that game. Like there's a lot of thought that goes into a game against Washington. Like they should be right there. Philadelphia. You might have to prove that to me. But if

we're talking about an 11 win team that is right there in a playoff spot, you win 11, you're solidly in a playoff spot. If that's what they do, I think it's a success for a regular season. And I don't even think there's really a discussion to be had about, well, what makes it a successful season? The playoffs, I think we all know that. I think we all know that that it, they need to go deeper in the playoffs than they've gone before. They need to be legitimately competing for a super bowl in the postseason, or it's always going to be a massive disappointment. But for regular seasons to put yourself in a position to be a serious contender

going deep into the playoffs, potentially, you gotta probably get to 11. If you get to 10, you can get in the dance, maybe. But man, is it a hard road if you get to 11? You're talking about the potential for a home playoff game, at least maybe one. And you've also played well enough and beat enough good teams where you can point to yourself on paper and say, hey, we can compete with anybody in the league.

I don't expect this year to have as many bad teams as there were last year Last year was it wasn't historic like all-time historic But recent memory historic that there were way more teams with five or six or less wins Than there were so I so I don't think Detroit's winning 15 the Vikings winning 14 We kind of have to treat each year as its own environment when it comes to that. But this is going to be, I think, a tougher environment to win 11 would mean you're serious. And that's what you need to go into the playoffs doing. And then when we get there, we'll see what everybody looks like. But for our first edition of truly picking the Minnesota Vikings schedule, a heck of a time, Manny.

And we'll do it again for sure in the off season. And then when the regular season comes around, we pick through the schedule every Monday, maybe we'll. Well, we'll figure out kind of a different spin on it or something by then. But we'll definitely do this time and time again to constantly be re-evaluating what we think of this team. And and I love it doing that way. So our first look at it is 11 wins.

Manny, thank you so much for your time, sir. I appreciate you. Always a pleasure to be on with you, my friend. And yeah, I'm looking forward to looking forward to September. Can't wait for these games to start. All right. All I have to say before I log off wolves and five Best of luck to them and I will see you guys Brian Murphy's actually gonna join tomorrow night as well I was reminded that that will be pretty fun

He's gonna have a little bit more of a fun angled look at the schedule as well So we'll talk to you all then. But thanks everybody for tuning in. Go watch the Wolves. Football. Basketball.