Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - What's your favorite game on the Vikings schedule?

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Matthew Coller and Brian Murphy talk about Murph's favorites games and most interesting matchups of the year for the Minnesota Vikings.See 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 Inside or Matthew Coller here and a fun show on tap tonight. Although I am going to give a warning right off the beginning of the show is pretty nasty outside. It is really windy. There's been tornadoes in Minnesota. It's been raining sideways at times. So just in case we lose a connection here on the live show, I'm hoping it'll be fine. And the location of my studio inside my house, if it's a tornado outside, I'll be in the right place, but just in case throw that out there,

but I'm going to bring in Brian Murphy in just a moment. And then it is farewell Clay night, intern Clay, his last evening on the show. So why don't we fire it up? Here's the question for the night, your favorite game on the schedule. We welcome in Brian Murphy to have this discussion and Murph, I gotta tell you something that I did not realize

about myself is just how much I enjoy the schedule release. And I know that this is very much true of you because you have a yearly road trip with your guys and you love to figure out when is it going to be, where are we going to go, trying to grab those tickets and flights and everything right off the bat. That's a sport for you in itself. But I love to see it all laid out in front of me. Yes, I knew the opponents, but I can't wait till that thing drops and we could pick the W's and L's and we could try to think about the games and what they're going to be, what we think of them now,

what they're going to become later. It's just one of my favorite days of the year, Murph. And who knew? I mean, 10, 15 years ago, I mean, 20 years ago, well, probably 40 years ago now, you cut it out of the newspaper, put it on the fridge in May and forgot about it. It didn't become a week long obsession and drip, drip, drip leaks. And who's going to play on Sunday and Christmas and who is Amazon going to get a game? And, you know, it's just the modern NFL, which is they suck every molecule of oxygen out of every room

and manage to make a new cycle out of a schedule release. But it's intriguing because with all these international games, with all these prime time slots, with all these streaming services popping in, and clearly now Christmas Day is constantly in play, it does have a major impact on how you can plan for a season both as a team and gear up for it as a fan, because let's face it, regular season games are events,

and you can kind of plot your life and family gatherings and seasonal duties and weather concerns around particular games, particular days, particular times, and you can imagine yourself in May what you, what you're going to be doing on December 14th and for myself and the St. Paul dads without wives, annual journey, uh, we'll be in Jerry's world, uh, that weekend, so we can get into that in a little bit, both in terms of how we settled on that and how the logistics went yesterday to kind of beat the price wars to get our flights booked and whatnot.

But yeah, you're right. It's become an event just like anything else with the NFL. Everything is an event. And what I like to think about, too, is the shape of a season, the progression of a season. You have a used to be put in nice little blocks of four games, but still, there is a very clear beginning crescendo to the middle season

The dog days of the season and then the race to the end and the playoffs and all that and I think what we love So much about the schedule release is trying to figure out. What is the degree of difficulty for each part of This season like where are the potential potholes? Where are the difficult stretches? out what is the degree of difficulty for each part of this season? Like, where are the potential potholes? Where are the difficult stretches? How do you have to start off a season in order to have a chance to survive the middle? Or do you have to survive the beginning?

And then sometimes we get really surprised. But remember last year where it felt like we were talking about, well, if they just get through this first part, then they could be okay. And they didn't just get past the first part. They blew it out of the water, roared through it. And then they, then they ended up in Jacksonville and we wondered where it went all went wrong. Right.

Cause we were like, Oh, well, the Jacksonville that'll be an easy win, but it'll be hard to face San Francisco and tech, uh, they used the Texans and they ended up winning those games. Hey, if they could go to Lambeau, then we'll know they're for real. But I love stuff like that. I love thinking about what my expectations were for how it was going to go. And then how it turned out when we actually got there.

Because it's sort of like we all do this imagination land season. As soon as the schedule drops, Here's how I envision it. I used to work with a guy. You know, fill in me. Yeah, right. Exactly. In our brains.

I used to work with a guy that the minute the schedule came out, he would pick the wins and losses and he would always pick like 15 and one for his team. It was just like, I don't think it's going to go that way. But you know, every once in a while, maybe he was right with that. Uh, but with all that said, with us waxing poetic about a schedule release, why don't we jump into the topic here? Murph? Uh, I want to just begin with what you think of the opener, which was sprinkled a little more juice on today with the story about Caleb Williams coming out, that he wanted to be a Minnesota

Viking. I promise you ESPN will not forget about that as they do their preparation for that game. But as far as an opener goes, how would you rate that? Well, I think the Monday night aspect of it makes it kind of interesting too, because the Vikings are just going to be sitting around watching the rest of the league open up and then the rest of the league's eyes will be on them. I look at the, in totality, I just look at the schedule. I don't see a gimme on there. I mean, Chicago used to be a gimme. Detroit years ago was always a gimme. I'm intrigued to see what,

you know, what Chicago's going to look like in Caleb Williams, you know, second go around here as a full-time starter, the new regime. Their birth, you know, they've ramped up, so there's going to be a lot of eyes on that roster, that offensive line, that retooling. I like the fact that the Vikings do get it at home. They've mostly put their soldier field problems to rest, but it's still a difficult place to play and they're gonna be playing in there in November.

It could be messy. So, you know, to get to get Chicago at home first, I think is- No, they're going to Chicago first. They're going to Chicago first. When do they come in here then? That's later. In November?

Yeah, that's- All right, disregard everything I said. The weather will be fine on Labor Day weekend or the weekend after Labor Day weekend. I still look, if you're playing in Soldier Field before Veterans Day, you'll be fine. I mean, it's usually not a mess. It's not cold and it's not windy and it's not crazy. This being said, the fact that they can actually watch kind of the rest of the league open up and reveal a little bit of their warts, maybe some stars emerge. You know they went to New York last year and it was kind of, it was obvious they were going to win. We didn't know what Darnold was going to look like. Now we don't know what McCarthy is going to look like on

the national stage on the road as well, but I think the fact that the Bears now are relevant and more than relevant and actually, actually gearing up to make a run. This division itself, it played out last season as the toughest of one of the toughest divisions now with the bears there, there's, there's no more gimmies. And I just feel like opening up on a national stage does give the Vikings a chance to debut their uh, rookie slash second year quarterback and against the team that is now geared toward

taking them down and then everything else, man, that's a, that's a 14 win schedule. We're looking at here. Uh, the, the results of which make for such a challenging season this year and so many cool matchups and so many great quarterback matchups. Well, that's what I like about it. I was thinking about this for maybe a column for next week. I'll probably write it, but I was having this thought today as I was going through the schedule again and just, you know, talking with it with Kevin Seifert earlier today, that conversation

is up on the YouTube page as well. Uh, but I was thinking about how Vikings fans, I want them to try something for this year, which is, and I know that they won't do this, but I want to try, which has always been very easy to listen. Yeah. Right. Which is to try to separate how intensely you want your team to win and compete for a Super Bowl, but also how cool this schedule is.

It's not an easy schedule. And I'm sure that 90% of Vikings fans would tell me, I don't care how cool it is. I wish they played the Jaguars 18 times and they could win every single one of those games. But as we go through this here, there are so many pops of cool. And I think that the first game is that it is in Chicago. It is a dramatic environment.

It is J.J. McCarthy's NFL debut in the place that has tortured the Minnesota Vikings and not so much in recent years. Soldier field. I think Kevin O'Connell has largely solved that, or Matt Eberfluss slash Justin Fields have helped them there. And then, you know, Kayla Williams last year,

or at least the Bears defense last year, helped them out there. But the point just being that it's an environment where the Vikings have historically had their problems. It's going to be on that big stage, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, national TV, and the island of all islands on Monday night football. And for JJ McCarthy to walk out, it's going to be like, welcome to the league.

My friend, this is the stage that you've been trying to get to for your entire career and then had delayed for you last year. This is not, and you're going to have to wait just one more day. Everybody else. Right. Right. But this is not a well, I said one o'clock. This is not a noon start against the Giants. Like Sam Darnold got a soft launch, I think. What what is it when a restaurant sort of opens up to opening like the soft opening?

Yeah. Sam Darnold got a soft opening last year. They were going to win that game if he threw no passes. But for this one, it's going to be like, all right, go figure this out and do it against the guy who was drafted number one last year. Folks, I'm trying a new thing to try to stop going to fast food restaurants all the time with my busy schedule. It is called Tempo Meals.

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Slash purple insider that is temple meals comm slash purple insider 60% off your first box Temple meals comm slash purple insider rules and restrictions apply and oh by the way Brad Johnson Who's had a pretty good success against the the Vikings as the Lions coordinator is now taking over as well. And I'd like to see, I don't know how that's going to take shape right away, what is what his imprint's going to be on the club. You know, they cycle through coaches and quarterbacks in Chicago like yesterday's news. There's going to be a lot of eyeballs just trained and a lot of excitement, I think. I think Bears fans were kind of abused the last couple of years with how the team was mismanaged and the fact that they do have a franchise quarterback who now looks like he has a solid offensive line and some complimentary pieces and some competent coaching coming his

way. It may take the better part of the season. I think you wrote about this today too, that week 11 matchup that will be here in November and not Soldier Field as I said earlier. Well, that may give us a better idea of who the Bears really are this season. But I just cannot get over the fact that there's not one gimme one hiccup.

And if anything, the Giants game late in the season is probably going to be that. But you gotta imagine they might be a little bit better than they have been the last couple of years. And then we'll get into this too. But I think really the trip overseas is really a gift. And we can get into why that is. It's never convenient, but the two opponents that they have look vulnerable and that's two hostile environments you don't have to go into.

So I think in some ways the doubleheader in Europe really placed their advantage to. So let's go through this thing in a through the lens of coolness and intrigue rather than wins and losses like Manny and I did last night. I think the Atlanta game at home does have some intrigue to it because Michael Pennex was picked before J.J. McCarthy, which shocked the world. They are not bringing Kirk Cousins as their starter. Presumably he's still on their roster.

He may be in the building. Right. Right. Last year, the Vikings Falcons was one that as soon as the schedule came out, we were just circling out, okay, that is the revenge game. Here we go. This one doesn't have that type of intrigue to me. I don't know if you have anything more on the Falcons game. I just think that's one that's like, okay, well, it's fine for a home opener. It's one that they could, should win against an Atlanta team that I think is

kind of a middling type of franchise at this moment, but it's really the next week against Cincinnati at home that I have my eye on more than Atlanta. Yeah. Well, it's also Sunday night game to open up to. I think, uh, do I get that part right? Yeah, I read it really quickly twice today. I knew the opponents, I just didn't stack them up on networks and all that, but I do believe

they're at home on Sunday night against Atlanta. Yeah, the quarterback matchup is fine, but it's just a murderous row of quarterback matchups too. I mean, they're all intriguing, they're all young. And then you look at the Borough of Herbert, they've emerged now, they're veterans now. Those guys are gonna be difficult to beat. If we're talking about the borough of Herbert, they're kind of, they've emerged now. They're veterans now. Those guys are going to be difficult to beat. If we're talking about the most intriguing one though, we'll get down there.

But I mean, it's way back, what is it? When did they go to Seattle? Week 13 or 14? I mean, the Sam Darnold matchup is going to be unbelievable to watch. But there's so much to get to before then. As you were mentioning, it's so fun to to it's so convenient to map out the schedule and what you might expect on May 15th. They haven't played a game yet, there hasn't been an injury yet, there hasn't been a controversy yet, there hasn't been a blown call, somebody hasn't

not shown up on time, somebody hasn't fulfilled their potential. All these shifting narratives that are going to start on week one and dictate how you feel about each opponent as the season progresses, how physically beat up you are, how mentally worn out you are, what are the stakes now? Maybe the division is if you start slow, then these other games take on greater importance. If you start fast, everybody's coming after you. So there's just there's not a lot of breathing room and it's gonna be fascinating to see how things play out

week by week, month by month, because what we're talking about now, yeah, maybe the Darnold matchup looks enticing in late November, but right now somebody gets hurt. Maybe he's underperforming. Maybe there's thoughts that he should get benched. Does he regress? Is McCarthy going to, I don't want to say wither,

but like, is he going to strain under the expectations of carrying a 14-win team to another double-digit win season because that's how the roster is constructed. So you've got to see, and all of this intrigue with McCarthy, of course, has been all untapped potential because he just hasn't been on the NFL field for a real game. So all of these, how is he going to respond to X, Y, Z? How is he going to react to this defensive coordinator

gearing up to stop him in particular? Some exotic defense he hasn't seen, how's he going to react to that? Is he going to turn into a turnover? Is he going to be smart with the football? Are there going to be whispers? You know, if it's a slow start, I mean, there's so many different variables and so many different possibilities. That's what makes the NFL, as we've always said, the greatest unscripted entertainment and the fact that you can talk about it six months in advance and speculate, project, uh, analyze and set expectations for particular games, particular matchups and why those games sound intriguing on May 15th, they may not even be remotely intriguing on

November 15th. So, uh, commenters, if you want to throw in what game you are most excited to see on the Viking schedule, Ron says Seahawks and Sam Darnold versus JJ McCarthy. We will get there soon enough Jason says Sam will be benched for Jalen Milro by then. I don't know about that I don't know if Jalen Milro is gonna be ready But hey if that's a hot take that you nail that'll be a good prediction Joe burrow is the one I want to talk about in just a second Edwin has that as his favorite game is the one I want to talk about in just a second. Edwin has that as his favorite game to watch. Vegas Patriot has week 18 against the Packers. My goodness, that could be really something because

these teams are, it always is. I mean, these teams are pretty neck and neck as far as expectations, rosters, all those things. We will definitely get to that one as we go forward, but let me know what your game that you want to watch is. So I was kind of moving past Atlanta pretty quick, but you reminded me it is Sunday night football and I want to know what you think Murph about the number of national TV games that the Minnesota Vikings have here. And I'll just tell you so you don't have to look it up. But let's see one, two, and then they've got two international three. Uh, four, sorry, I'm counting these now.

That's okay. Stay five. So I think it's, it's at least five and I may have not noted another one. I wouldn't be surprised if something's flexed in December. If they're, if they're roaring into contention again, like last year. Right. And so you've got the Christmas day, the first two weeks are on national TV. You're on the national stage for two inner international games.

So that is at least seven times you are out there on an island game. What, what do we make of that? Because I think this is a statement by the NFL to say this Minnesota Vikings team is relevant and they are interesting. And there have only been a few other years where we could really say that about this team. Even when they were coming off 13 wins, I don't remember having as many national TV games, but I think the JJ McCarthy factor is huge. The Justin Jefferson element and also Kevin O'Connell has taken his profile from last year as a coach who was still trying to show if he could do this or not to being like celebrity coach who's on every interview and his winning

coach of the year and he's at the award every timberwell timber wills game behind the bench. That's what I'm saying. And he's now got the contract to afford those tickets and so forth. But, uh, the point just being like that they now are a team that is in the spotlight in a way we have not seen in quite some time. And when the end, I deservedly so not because of the way they produce, but even when they've been on national TV, maybe in down seasons, they're always entertaining. The Vikings are nothing if not entertaining and intriguing, sometimes like a car wreck.

But I know people around the country that always talk about the Vikings, that never didn't grow up here, didn't care about them because they're always in the conversation. And the record has said that over 65 years, there are very rarely times when the Vikings are not in contention for a playoff spot, not in the conversation for a division title, not intriguing because of their quarterback situation

or lack thereof. They've usually, they even previous regimes, Red and the Colms got cheap, but the Vikings have usually never been ones to shy away from throwing money at free agents, making splashy acquisitions. Adrian Peterson was a superstar. I mean, they've had guys that have been the face of the league over the decades. They just haven't been, and again, all these biblical losses on national TV, whether regular season or playoff, has either endeared and gendered sympathy because of how sad things have ended at times.

But the bottom line is the Vikings are always in the conversation and they're always entertaining. And I think they deserve the opportunities to showcase themselves because the NFL knows they're a good product. And they know when the Vikings are playing, something magical sometimes happens. I mean, top of my head. I mean, the Miracle, of course, that's a playoff game. That wasn't scheduled, but the Minneapolis Miracle, the Moss Monday night game in 98 at Lambeau.

You know, the quarterback circus we had in 2023 with these guys emerging out of nowhere and becoming hot stories for a week or two, there's never a dull moment surrounding the Vikings, the far of years. They're just always in the conversation. So the fact that they are giving six or seven games is indicative, of course, of how well they performed last year, but how entertaining they are.

I think over the last couple of seasons, they fell more out of the limelight because after 2019 winning the playoff game against New Orleans, it was pretty clear that they were going to have a tough time breaking out of the middle and they did in 2020 and 2021 and their national TV presence and just presence as part of the national conversation was reflective of a team that was just another team in the league. And every once in a while you would get to July and somebody from NFL network would say, you know, I might pick her cousins for MVP. And the whole panel would go, whoa, that's crazy. And then, you know, no one really ever said it again after that,

just that they ran out of ideas. And now we are at a point where they have a lot of the different elements of teams that belong on those games so we know that a few teams are going to be there all the time that else cowboys because they have the huge audience. clearly they win all the time. The Buffalo Bills are there now showing you that market size isn't what brings people to the yard. It's winning its quarterbacks its success. I think it speaks to the expectations of this team are very very high because the schedule makers who are making these national games, they're always coming from the perspective

of what's got an exciting element to it that an audience nationally is going to be magnetized by and star players Especially star young quarterbacks are going to move the needle every time and I think that's a major part of it is The McCarthy intrigue the fact that they moved on from Darnold and they picked him. It's a built-in storyline on the beginning of every single broadcast. You're going to hear all about McCarthy. They could have kept Sam Darnold. They moved on from him. They won 14 games last year. And now the expectations are sky high after all the money they spent.

And all it says to me is that when we pull back a little bit and look at how this leadership group has managed this roster, this franchise, the Wilfs, their ownership, hiring quasi-daful Mensa, bringing Kevin O'Connell here, keeping Rob Brzezinski in a position of power. He's a very important element of this that doesn't get mentioned quite as much and the staff and the players and all the things that they have been able of power. He's a very important element of this that doesn't get mentioned quite as much. And the staff and the players and all the things that they have been able to do and

how much work that had to take over the last three years. I think it's a little bit of the NFL saying, we believe you, like we believe you in this leadership group, that you have actually created something that is entertaining and is relevant here. And just now I know there's not a relevant championship. There's not a relevant ring that you can get, uh, that they put on your finger. But for me, this is different than going into, I think any other season we've had in a long time. Oh, no question. I mean, maybe, you know, maybe 2009 with far just because it felt like everything was set up to win except for that one final piece. In many ways, it's somewhat similar in that everything is set up, as you mentioned, from the front office to the coaching staff, the continuity, the roster, the holes that were plugged.

Except you're not handing it over to a 39-year-old future Hall of Famer with two rings or two Super Bowl appearances, you're handing it over to an unproven second year player coming off a major knee injury. So that adds to the intrigue. It adds to the potential because, you know, McCarthy could, if he is the franchise quarterback, everybody hopes he is, he can give you 12 to 15 years of these kinds of intriguing seasons

in national TV matchups. And I think it's just, again, it speaks to the fact, and I think US Bank Stadium is a big factor in this as well. It's one of the toughest stadiums to play in the NFL. The noise factor comes through really well and the energy comes through well on television. Any broadcast team that rolls in there, either regularly or for the first time,

usually remarks how remarkable an atmosphere it is in there. And that plays well on television. So I think the fact that, you know, the Vikings patiently, patiently, patiently worked to get a modern stadium and get out from the chains, binding them to the metrodome and have this gorgeous venue that gets to be showcased several times with the blimp shots. It's downtown, and the people that are in the stadium and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the

people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are

in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the stadium, and the people that are in the rituals, I get it. But it just feels like US Bank Stadium has elevated the Vikings product, because the Metrodome came across as the Metrodome on television.

You could tell it was a relic. So I think that all factors in there too, the vibe, the atmosphere, I think the networks like to be there. I think they like to showcase a vibrant atmosphere. And the Vikings certainly have turned U.S. Bank Stadium into one of the toughest environments to play. Matt says week one is the game for him because he wants to see J.J.

McCarthy get out there. This will be the most hype debut. I mean, I don't even it's been a really long time, probably Kevin Garnett. But the world was not what it is now, media wise, probably Kevin Garnett, but the world was not what it is now media wise with Kevin Garnett when he made his debut. There was a lot of buildup for Kirill Kaprizov, but that's a nit, you know, the wild sort of a niche fan base. I don't know if they they didn't he didn't have the national appeal. But I mean, there was the sense that Kirill's coming, Kirill's coming,

Kirill's coming, Kirill's coming. And of course, he's turned into that superstar. But yeah, you're right. The anticipatory factor of it as well. I mean, I'm honest, honestly, not sure. I mean, maybe Moss is probably the last time that we talked about a player. Adrian Peterson could have been this farve as a free agent acquisition. But as a player, we knew what the potential was with far that he could be great

because he had been great for so many years But someone truly making their pro sports debut Moss and Peterson are the only other two I could think of that would be as hyped up of prospects that would put them on the level of McCarthy and There hasn't really been I mean Teddy Bridgewater came into the middle of a game for his debut I think against Atlanta and played well in that game in 2014. And there was anticipation there because he was a quarterback following Christian Ponder.

But when he was drafted, the team was awful the previous season. So he was a lower pick, right? And, and I'm just not sure how much they had at that moment to really argue. Like this is the must see guy. The difference is this team is in a Super Bowl type of mode and debuting a player as opposed to, hey, well, we're probably going to have to build over a couple of seasons around this player who's still developing. There's a different level of energy to that. Kelly says week 17 and 18, division is crazy good.

That is for sure. David has the charger game Harbaugh McCarthy angle could have drama comedy yet. Well, and the fact that the Vikings passed over Jim Harbaugh as their head coach. So there is a revenge game factor, but we we kind of got stuck on the national element here. Let's move forward Bengals getting to see Joe burrow here is just a treat for the fans for sure. Uh, that game, how about a lot of you are a little skeptical on the corners. That's we're going to find out if those corners can play because those are the

two best wide receivers outside of Jefferson Addison and they might make an argument for being number one Cincinnati for receiver duo This is a future Hall of Fame quarterback who is coming in here versus Brian Flores with the US Bank Stadium but I did want to get to the International games though and get your angle on that Murph because a little more came out there was a Ross Tucker show interview with Mike North who is the VP of something involving the schedule with the NFL.

I'm sorry, I forgot his whole title, but the guy who answers the questions about the schedule. And he said that when they pitched the Vikings on doing back-to-back international games, he assumed they were just gonna be like, okay, no, what? And he said, not only were they okay with it, but they were actually eager to be like, okay, no, what? And he said, not only were they okay with it, but they were actually eager to do it,

is the words that he used. What do you make of the fact that the Vikings sort of jumped at the opportunity to play in Dublin and then London? Well, they've certainly had practice. How many games have they done in the last 10 or 12 years? I went to one in 2013. I know they had one after that and then last year, right? I think, you know, Kevin O'Connell has already gone through this experience. They had a pretty successful experience with it. I mean, they

handled Aaron Rodgers and the Jets pretty well. The fact that I think it crosses off two road games from the schedule, I think is what has to be factoring into that. You get your, you know, and look, we're not, we're not talking, they're not flying overseas to go to prison. I mean, they're flying first class to go play a football game. It's not as difficult as sometimes it's made out to be. The fact that they're actually going to stay out there and get acclimated for two weeks, we should make the second half, not a breeze. I mean, you know, it's all about, well, getting the nutrition and the rest and hydration and what times do we do this and what times do we do that? Well, you know, by the time they're done with the Steelers in Dublin, I mean,

you know, the next week should be fine. So again, you're, you're eliminating going into Pittsburgh. And I know Pittsburgh has got a lot of uncertainty because of their quarterback situation. Regardless, that is a hostile environment to go into any time of year. Pittsburgh is a very difficult place to play. Uh, Mike Tomlin will have his team ready to play. So the fact that that's neutralized, yeah, Cleveland, another mess without a quarterback solution that we know of right now. Still not a easy place to go into. Cleveland has a great fan base, the dog pound, all of that. You're eliminating two road games in the span of two weeks. And

then you get your bye. And of course, after you buy, you get the Super Bowl champs. But the point being, I think it is not going to derail your season. It's still early. I think packaging them together is probably better than a one-off. And the fact that again, you're neutralizing two home games. You're not sacrificing a home game. You're not splitting. You're not getting one home game and one road game eliminated. You're getting two road games neutralized.

Lean into that. And by the way, you know, it's just another opportunity to go on at 9 a.m. in front of the world and, uh, you know, showcase. So I, I don't, I, I'm not surprised. They leaned into it, especially since O'Connell and those guys seem to handle it pretty well last year. Kevin O'Connell has had his team ready for these games in 2022. They beat the saints.

And then last year they played really well. I was overseas. So this will be the fourth one in three years. Yeah, right. Yeah. And I think that they now have it down to a bit of a science of how to pack up the entire organization and take it overseas since it's already been done twice with O'Connell in charge. And if you look at how tough the NFC North is,

and this might have been a little factor, I'm sure also the Wilfs are like, let's become the team of Europe. You know, that everybody wants to kind of galvanize around already. Jaguars. Well, that's right. The other day, my, my understanding for my international friends is that the Vikings are way up there for the most popular teams in England and in Germany. And, and they're kind of the rest of Europe, which is, I'm sure very exciting,

but also gives them the potential to have more fans there than Pittsburgh. And especially more fans there than Cleveland of people going over and also just, you know, people traveling from around Europe to get there because that's the closest they're going to get. But when I think of these two games and the advantages, one is JJ McCarthy doesn't have to play against TJ watt in his building. Instead, he gets to play him in somebody else's building, which is very good for JJ McCarthy. I also think that every other NFC North team has the nine road games and our friend Chris

Thomason went semi viral when he tweeted out that the NFL gave the Vikings an unfair advantage in a loaded NFC North. And well, my thing is that you'll never make the schedule fair year to year for every team. So whatever, but he's not wrong. And that's really good for them that the other teams do have to play more on the road. The Vikings will be the only team that is playing more at home than the road in 2025. Yeah. And especially with this division, which again, we've talked about how incredibly talented and star struck star studded and,

uh, aggressiveressive I mean the NFC North has always had at least two teams reigning supreme usually Green Bay, and maybe you could interchange the Vikings and the Bears given a season. The Alliance have been afterthoughts for so long, but I can't remember the last time this division had.

Three elite teams or two elite teams and elite ish team in Green Bay. They've shown signs of being elite and an aspiring ascending wannabe elite team in the Chicago Bears all in the same division. So it's going to be a fascinating knife fight to the finish, most of it playing out in December and January. And right, any small advantage you can get schedule wise out of that to still have your nine home games and essentially, you know, only six road games, six real road

games is quite, you know, I can understand why and they've been successful overseas. They've won overseas. So I would think if they had struggled overseas and complained and carped about the hassle and the logistics of it all. If, uh, you know, Kevin O'Connell was, was a rookie coach, like he was a couple of years ago and he had to go over there and just deal with it. He knows what he's doing. The staff knows what they're doing. Um, hell, they might even sneak around of golf at some beautiful course.

If they can win one game and get a day off. It should be a valuable experience for them. And I just feel like you take two real road games off your schedule. And as Thomas and mentioned, the, uh, the rest of the league is still in the, in the trenches like that, or the rest of the division is still in the trenches that could create one more victory on a 17 game slate. So the NFL giveth and taketh away, though, because right after they get back, let's just for those who don't have the schedule right in front of them,

let's just go through this week seven Philadelphia Eagles week eight Los Angeles Chargers at the Chargers with a three day rest. Week nine at the Detroit Lions with a three day rest week, nine at the Detroit lions, my toughest ranked game of the year. And then the Baltimore Ravens come here and then Chicago and green Bay. So like, yeah. And then is that that big Seattle game, that stretch from week six to the time that they face, I mean, gosh, Washington's coming after that. I mean, there is no breaks, no easy opponent.

But let's talk about the section with the Eagles and the Chargers and Lions and Ravens, because to me, this may be the hardest stretch of four games from from a May perspective. We'll see how it actually plays out. But this is the hardest stretch I think I have ever seen on a Viking schedule with its debut. All of these teams are competing for the Superbowl and you have the MVP of the league two years ago and had a good argument for it last year. You have the Superbowl MVP and that stack team. You have the team that ran you up and down the field at

Ford Field last year that you got to go there and play again. And then, oh, the easiest game through this group is Jim Harbaugh, an 11 win team, Los Angeles Chargers, and not only that, but a team that plays with a lot of grit and a lot of toughness and old school on three days rest. Murph, I mean, are we talking about a situation where if they come out two and two, that we're saying, wow, that is a really great result for you? Or do we got to change our mentality, Murph?

Because there might be an argument for saying, well, why should we look at it that way if they have real Super Bowl expectations? Who cares who you're playing? I'll take the last part first, absolutely. You want to be playing the defending champions. First of all, you got them at home. You don't have to go to Philly.

They've been going to Philly relentlessly. So that helps. I think, look, if you want to be tested and battle tested and you're going to have to go through it in your division, but you might as well have the Super Bowl champs, you're probably going to end up facing them in January anyway. You might as well take on the league MVP, and you get that game at home too.

So I don't look at it as, look, we want to have a season full of Giants, Titans, and Jaguars. You had that last year. In fact, they took care of the Giants, but we remember that Titans-Jaguars stretch where we were questioning things because They they won terribly they looked ugly and it was like kind of is this really team really worth that are really real So even though they were winning these these games against downtrodden teams doubts were kind of maybe not in the locker room, but there were doubts

Around them settling in well here You're gonna know where you stand. And you mentioned the two and two stretch there. Yeah, two and two breaking even during that stretch is fine, but it puts a big onus on your start. You've got to be three and two minimum, if not four and one coming out of London into that Philly game.

You can't afford to be already in a hole and scrambling to stay relevant going through that murderer's role. So to me, it's almost more important for a hot start than to defeat or at least serve notice to these opponents. You need to have the confidence and the swagger going into them because if you're if you're expecting to collect three to four wins in That run which would be magnificent And but you're expecting to do that because you've already stumbled coming out of the gate

That's going to really increase the pressure You're gonna have guys probably trying to make too many plays that aren't there Mistakes will be made everybody will be pressing and the world will be falling apart So I think that the opening stretch is probably more critical just because it sets you up to not only weather the storm, but puts you in a confident position to maybe take down some of these elite teams. To me, you win your two home games against Baltimore and Philly, you're serving notice and then that split the roads, I think you're on your way.

But let's not, you know, going into Dallas, I don't know what Dallas is going to be. Everybody's down on Dallas and I am too, but you're going into Jerry's world and maybe they're desperate and maybe their last moment to survive, people are playing for their jobs. That may not end up being a gimme too. The Giants game looks like a gimme, but you know knows how they're gonna be playing so this stretch early and in the middle It's probably gonna define them because the games at the end against your division are gonna decide where you're going if you're going to The playoffs are you gonna be at home? Are you gonna have a week off all of that is gonna be into play I just they need to be coming out of Dublin

You know four and one, three and two. So let me know to London. Yeah, let me talk out of both sides of my mouth. So I did pick a lot of losses in this stretch for the Vikings when we did the schedule last night. And there were some comments of like, why are you being so negative? It sounds like, well, at this moment, it's hard to pick against the Super Bowl champs, but things can be different then

But the other side of my brain says now wait a minute Didn't they go all in on this offseason? Don't they have one of the best coaching staffs in the league of the coach of the year? Didn't they stack up the offensive defensive lines running games to be able to play with? offensive defensive lines, running games, to be able to play with these football teams. This again is sort of a mind shift from where we were in previous years. We're talking about being relevant, but also being better. Like this is the best roster. The Vikings have run out since 2019. It might be the best roster they've run out since 2017. They're going to have to prove that I think to really show it

cause that team went to the NFC championship, but this is the most complete roster from top to bottom. So why wouldn't you be able to play with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Baltimore Ravens? Show me this, this is a show me section of the stadium, show or of the schedule, show me that you can beat these great teams. You don't have to beat every single one to prove you're a Super Bowl contender.

But who do you think you're facing in January, right? You're going to go against the Philadelphia Eagles. You're going to go against the Washington commanders that come up here in a little bit. The one thing and probably have to slay the Dragon of Detroit in Detroit, which Kevin O'Connell has not been able to do since taking over as the head coach of the Vikings. The one situation I would call it scheduling wise that I think does bend against them pretty badly is the turnaround after playing the Eagles.

And I know they get the bye week before that, but when you have to play a really super tough team, even if you win, then turning around in three days and going to somebody else's place on the road in Los Angeles, which I think that the Chargers fans are just starting to become Chargers fans last year. I didn't think that Vikings fans took over the Rams stadium as much as they had in the previous seasons. Probably just because of what they've proven over the years the Rams but it's also Thursday night football which means national TV game the fans in L.A. West. are probably going to keep their tickets for a game like that. They're going to want to go to a game like that because it's national TV. It's a big show and it's the Vikings coming in.

So I don't think it will be so much of a fan takeover. Maybe it's like 70 30, but not in the middle of the week. I think makes it harder for people to fly out, go to a game like that. You'll see a ton of purple, but I think that this is about as hard as you could make it on the Vikings. So it's a little bit like they gave them that freebie by the two international games, but then they said, screw you coming out of the international games to give them this matchup on short notice against the Chargers. Yeah.

And as you were mentioning at the top of your, uh, spiel there that I, the expectation level, like that, this is a roster that is set up to win. It is a quarterback that we've been told is set up to be a leader and a winner and a franchise quarterback. None of it's happened yet. And it hasn't happened yet because they just haven't played games. So the fact that they're gonna have to prove it, I think they should be welcoming that.

I mean this is the way the NFL set up. You win 14 games you're gonna get a brutal schedule. You're going to get matchups against teams that are also ascending and that are also have their designs on a championship and they have their franchise quarterback set up. So I think this is yes if you're a die-hard fan you want 17 games against the Jaguars. It's not feasible. It's not feasible because of the division they're in. It's not feasible because of the season they had last year. And it shouldn't be as a fan what you want. Because even if you do, you know, roll your way through mediocrity, you're not going to be in a position in January roll your way through mediocrity, you're not gonna be in a position in January to have success.

I don't think, I mean, you need to be able to be battle tested. You need to have those games, those regular season games that feel like playoff games that come down to the wire, decisions that are made, plays that are called, plays that are not made. These are all the pressure cooker situations that are gonna play out in January.

So why wouldn't you wanna have a preview of that? Why wouldn't you want to try to, uh, defend and take down the league MVP in your home building? Why wouldn't you want to have the defending Superbowl champions finally in your building as opposed to Lincoln financial field? Um, yes, turning around and going to LA on a Thursday isn't great. Uh, but they're not the first team to have to go West on a Thursday and play. Uh, maybe not after the, not four days after the Superbowl champions, but you know, maybe the, you know, the thing is it's not uncommon for maybe the Eagles to have a hangover.

Um, they had some struggles early last year. Maybe you're going to, the other thing is you don't know when you're gonna catch their teams and their lulls. Not every team, even the Vikings despite winning 14 games. We knew there was that stretch in November where they weren't playing well. They had, they benefited from some inferior opponents and they were able to get away from some, with some things.

You don't know where the Chargers are going to be in week eight. You don't know how the Eagles are going to be in week seven. You sense they're going to be fine by week 18, but you may be hitting teams in lulls. You don't know exactly where teams are going to be at their ebb and flow of a schedule, including yourself. So the Vikings need to be playing

at the top of their game through that four-week stretch, but they may be facing opponents that are playing at the top of their game, and that may be ripe for the pickings. I mean, you know, the Vikings caught, I think, San Francisco early in the last, you know, there's been times where it was ideal when they faced somebody. So you just don't know in May, of course, where that's going to be. So I, I don't fret as much because I feel like the greater the challenge, the more entertaining game, the higher the stakes, it's going to, you know, sharpen you like a diamond if you really are an elite team later on. Well, and I think we knew this even though they were good last year

and they were a good team and they got a bad matchup and they had a left tackle injury. They were flawed though last year and we really saw it against some of those bad teams and they didn't have too many times where they were tested against the best of the best last year in the middle of the season. There was a lot of, well, the Falcons are pretty good. The Seahawks are pretty good. Arizona is pretty good, but they were not a great teams that they were going against, so they were getting good wins, but it wasn't like they were facing the best of the best and that I think the game against Detroit made us think

that they were really close. And then the second game against Detroit made me think they were not anywhere close going into the playoffs and all that sort of thing. But this year, by the time they arrive, we will know exactly how strong they are. It will not be as much of a conversation. Well, how good are they really? We will know because they will have so many Provic games along the way. Let me ask you this, Murph.

Have we reached as we break down this portion, say ending with the Baltimore game in week 10, just this middle section that's the murderers row, have we reached your favorite game on the schedule yet? Have we gotten to your answer for that question yet? I have two ones personal ones, you know, more X's and O's, but no, we haven't reached either one of them. Oh, really? OK, because for me, it's the Baltimore game. Lamar Jackson coming here. And if you are going to games this year, you are thrilled with the type of

advice going to the most intriguing matchup or the most difficult matchup. I'm talking about the one that you're just most pumped about. Like what what one brings the most anticipation for you because having not seen Lamar in person at any point in his career, because the Vikings played home in 17 against Baltimore and then 2021, uh, nobody was really traveling to those games for media and then they haven't faced them since so now Lamar Bringing two MVP trophies playing against the Vikings floor is defense. How are they gonna contain him? What's he gonna do? How they gonna beat that team and they're just a really really good franchise

So it's two of the better franchises in the NFL going up against each other but the factor of not having seen Lamar in person, and I would say 99% of Vikings fans have not, it brings a different element to this schedule that we normally, how often are we ever saying that, Hey, this mega star we haven't seen him play against the Vikings. Well, that's actually true for Lamar. And I also think that's always one of the best coach teams in the NFL, especially during the regular season.

Well, here's the coaching matchup for the ages with Kevin O'Connell versus John Harbaugh and their group. So I love that as my favorite game on the entire schedule. Yeah. And it makes sense too, because it's a rare AFC visit from a, from a powerhouse as well. If we're going that way, I would say then that week seven home matchup against the Eagles just for obvious reasons. They're gonna have, they're coming off the buy. They need to be three and two, four and one, four and one at that point. And I want to, I want to see them against the Super

Bowl champions and I want to see them against Philadelphia at home because I think the last two, if not three games, or certainly in the Hertz era has been at Lincoln Financial Field and they've had problems there. They've had bad turnovers. They've had bad experiences. They've had tough turnarounds. The fan experience, I think, has been miserable. So I would really like to see how they can handle the NFL champions at home because that's the ultimate barometer, right? Because if we believe the Eagles are still positioned to be an elite title defender, then you're going to know this midseason. So that to me is the one that I think is going to reveal as much about the Vikings in the first half of the season. Well, and then two weeks later, obviously, hosting Baltimore again,

though it's going to reveal a lot about Bryant Flores' defense, a lot of this kind of fortified, not revamped, but fortified defensive roster. And they're going to have the benefit of having that crowd. And they're going to have the benefit of leveraging that against two elite quarterbacks. So yeah, those will be probably the those two home games, I think made. They may kind of define what the Vikings are capable of doing the rest of the way.

But to me, I think the most intriguing matchup even more so than cousins coming back last year is I'd love to see what Darnold is going to do against O'Connell and Flores in Seattle. And not only that is, you know, what is this week 13 is Sam Darnold going to be playing at the, the level in week 13 and 2025 that he was playing in week 13, 2024. Cause I think there are a lot of people who aren't sure that's going to be the case. Um, so if he is still playing at that level, um, I wouldn't even call it a revenge game. I just kind of find a battle among friends as it were. Now there's no revenge for Sam Darnold, considering that the team gave him

the opportunity to make 100 million bucks and be set up pretty well for the rest of his career. There is one matchup. I wanted to mention before we get to that Seattle one, which is JJ McCarthy's first trip ever to Lambeau week 12. That's got some weather potential. It's got classic football in the late fall type of field. That game is there.

Is that a night game? I think that's a day game. And that, that one's for now, but that one's going to be special. The first time there for anybody, but on the Sam Darnold point I that's one where when I was ranking them by degree of difficulty I had a tough time with the Seattle Seahawks are a really good football organization Even last year they got rid of their quarterback after last season They traded away a top wide receiver that was awful 10 win season

They were still a really good football team. Their general manager has built multiple contending teams. They had to tear it down and then rebuilt it with Geno Smith. And they haven't been great, but they've been good. They've kind of been where the Vikings were in like 2021, where you have to take them seriously because they'll have good enough coaches.

They'll have good enough players that, and a great venue where they're not just gonna show up and roll over for you when you have the jags the titans teams like that you just go okay whatever who cares that's a win move on but that is not the seattle seahawks i think that darnold has a good chance to succeed. What i don't think he has a good chance for that team to be great. It's it feels to me like he's going to be exactly like Gino Smith there, where there's enough talent around him to win nine or 10 games and be a tough matchup for the Vikings, but not enough for them to win the division, not enough for them to be a Super Bowl contender. Right. And I don't see him putting up the numbers he did with the Vikings last year because I don't think he's got the personnel necessarily

or even the coaching and the offensive scheme to necessarily do that. Now that could play out differently and maybe he's a 250 yard guy and more of a game manager than he was here. So I think he set up to succeed, you're right. I don't know if he set up to dominate and that was kind of what he was set up for last year,

unbeknownst to anybody. So that does, I think you may see a leveling off. I would be shocked if he continues the regression that he showed in week 18 and the playoffs. And we'll know right away whether he's still the deer in the headlights. I mean, that's something he's got to atone for and answer for in his career. His next playoff start needs to be an atonement if he can even get there. So that's why to me, you know, the Vikings kind of were able to peek behind the curtain on capable of, but also the kinks and maybe the insecurities and maybe some of the things that led to some of his struggles in other markets. It wasn't fatal, but it was stark how quickly it came unraveled for him. So what's that going to be like when the Vikings have a chance to get behind the

curtain again with what they've learned and how their defense is playing. I mean, they're going to be in a state, you know, and again, this is a week 13 game. So both of these teams are going to be fairly baked in to who they are and what they're capable of. I think it'll be a chess match. It'll be an intriguing chess match between Brian Flores slash O'Connell, Sam Darnold and his band of playmakers in Seattle, where of course we know, has Seattle ever come to US Bank Stadium? I think the Vikings are in Seattle all the time. It's like Philadelphia, it's like they're always in Seattle. They're always in there late. It's going to be rainy and miserable. I just feel like this is kind of one of those games where it's going to be again, not vengeance, but almost more of who was Sam Darnold in Minnesota, who is he today? And we'll probably know a lot more of that.

Uh, when they're out in Seattle, this is definitely a season for Sam Darnold to say what was the true Sam Darnold? Was it most of what we saw in Minnesota last year, or was it kind of the Carolina version that had some ups and downs, but was more down than up or is he just good now? Like I think Gino Smith is just good now. He's not great. He's not a megastar, but he went from being a backup for a long time to just a good quarterback who can win games.

Probably not good enough to win quarterback. Yeah, that's, that's how I think. Yes. That's how I think of Sam Darnold too. I think of him as a 10 win quarterback that if you catch him on the wrong day, he is going to be great and blow your socks off. But if you catch him on the right day for his opponent, he can look like what happened in Detroit. So let's talk road trips. Murph, I know this is one of your favorite subjects. You are going with the boys to Dallas Sunday Night Football week 15.

Now you didn't tell me till yesterday when the schedule came out exactly where you were headed, what road trip you were picking. So what led you to the decision to go to Dallas? So I am literally a passenger in this group. It's 10 to 12 guys and anybody that's been following Purple insider knows that I've accompanied them. This will be my fifth trip. I've gone four times started in 2021 We went to LA for Chargers game We went to Washington in 2022 Vegas and 23 for that three nothing barn burner And last year we were in Jacksonville only for the weather and not for the 12-0 victory.

So the last two games that this group has gone to has been the 12-0 pratfall in Jacksonville and the 3-0 victory in Vegas in 2023. When the opponents were set up, I always defer these guys have been doing it for 15 years. They've been to many of the venues. I'm always curious how they decide. It's usually, you know, they try to do it, warm weather destination, exotic destination, when, what time of year, what might the stakes be? And we were really keying in on Pittsburgh. I mean, when the opponents were determined,

they had not gone to Pittsburgh yet. We figured it would be a fun environment as long as it wasn't late December. It would have been an awesome time. And I've been to Pittsburgh before. It's a fun town to go to. I thought this would have been great. But then, you know, the rumors started circulating that they'd be going to Ireland. Now, some of these guys, some of these high rollers are going to Ireland, too. I am not going to Ireland. I have yet to go to Ireland. If I go to the motherland, it's going to be with my wife. At some point she would kill me if I went with a bunch of dudes to see the Vikings. So some of them are going to go

to Dublin, but Dallas was always kind of plan B on the domestic front because they haven't gone there yet. It's Jerry's world. It's sort of a, you know, if it's later in the year could still be warm. So we all defaulted to Dallas. And the fact that it's mid-December, it is a Sunday night game. It just sort of makes sense because it's kind of a, there's plenty to do in Big D. And yeah, I'm looking at, we're going to get a VRBO, which we did last year. Normally we've been doing hotel rooms. And I think anybody that travels with groups of friends,

whether it's couples or families or even dudes or whatever, it's, you know, the fun stuff happens in the margins. You know, the fun stuff happens, you know, late at night when you're coming home or early in the morning when you're reliving what happened. You can't really replicate that in hotels, right? I mean, it's, it's when you're under one roof together, it makes the experience that much richer. So I'm particularly, I think my brother's gonna come on this one. He's never been to Dallas and he's a huge NFL fan. So I'm looking forward to it just because it's gonna be a spectacle

and just to be able to crack open the keyboard within eyesight of Jerry and Junior and just being in that circus environment in Arlington deep into the season where the Vikings should be rolling by then and if all things play out I mean the the last vestiges of the you know the Prescott Championship window may be slamming shut and it could be a surly atmosphere in Dallas as well. So I think we're all kind of looking forward to this one being a pretty memorable trip.

So I haven't gone on the other trips to Dallas. They've played there a couple of times since I've been covering the team, and it just never really worked out for me to go. So this time I will be coming with and kind of can't wait to see. I mean, look, everybody is annoyed by the Cowboys. There's no question. At the same time, it is one of the venues that you have to see in sports. It's hosted a Super Bowl.

It's the Cowboys. It's the whole thing. Jerry Jones. There's just a lot of aura to that team and I'm not praising them for that. They've been totally mid as a franchise since my childhood, but they're like of all pro sports teams. Where do they rank in worth in American sports teams? Number one, they are the highest value.

No, they are number one. I believe. Yeah. I think there's a new maybe the Yankees are up there too. But I know the Dallas Cowboys on the Ford's lifts for years have been the highest hate because of the attention that they've gotten. It's been 30 years now since their last Super Bowl appearance. I mean, Jerry Jones takes over in 1989 and within six years he's got three rings. But ever since he got rid of Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer won with basically Jimmy's roster, they haven't done anything. They haven't even been close to a Super Bowl that I can remember. and Barry Switzer won with, you know, basically Jimmy's roster.

They haven't done anything. They haven't even... They've been close to a Super Bowl that I can remember. I mean, they might have been in a championship game, but I don't remember them being on the doorstep. And it's fun watching the Cowboys fail, because they are elevated to a nauseating platform of all eyes on them. And kudos for Jerry for keeping them relevant. He's the most exciting platform of

all eyes on them and kudos for Jerry for keeping them relevant. He's the most talkative owner. He's available all the time. He says some of the most outrageous things and you never know what he's thinking on a

given moment but he is never going to let the cowboys no matter what their record is become irrelevant. And the pressure is on because I know he's getting up there in age and the bloom is off the rose with him among the fan base. It's getting surly. And they didn't really do a lot this off season. So if they're running it back with what they have and we keep peering over into that booth. And every time I see Jerry Jones and Junior, I keep thinking of Sheriff Buford T. Justice from Smoky and the Bandit and his, you know,

numb nuts son-in-law. And I just see that dynamic playing out with those two. They just can't seem to get it right. And when I think of Sheriff Buford T. Justice's wrecked cop car, that's what I think of every November and December when it comes down to Dallas is either postseason hopes or contention factor. It just, it's fun to watch them disintegrate in front of all of us.

A very fresh reference on that one, but I understand what you're saying. It's a classic. And it look, if you're 23 and you haven't seen Smokey and the bandit, go get it. All right. Fair enough. I think this is the worst road trip schedule that I've seen from the Vikings ever. I mean, it's hard to get out to LA on a Thursday unless you're making a whole weekend out of it. Even then it's still pretty tough. Are you talking logistics or just intriguing?

I'm just talking like travel. Okay, so international if you're that person, that's great for you. Let's throw that part out because there aren't that many people who can do it. Last year, I did a whole story about, wow, there's like a traveling band of Vikings fans that shows up in every single city and they take over stadiums. This is a hard one to do because you have Chicago, but it's on a Monday. So that's not easy for everybody to travel their nighttime on a Monday in the middle of a week.

And then you have Seattle, which is cool, but, uh, that's not always the easiest trip to make. It's not a cheap city to stay in. And the weather will not be nice by the time you're flying out to Seattle in what is that November at some point. So, uh, Dallas is really the one that you have to circle because I'm not sure be nice by the time you're flying out to Seattle in what is that November at some point so Dallas is really the one that you have to circle because I'm not sure there really is another one of these road trips that you could say definitively okay this is the one where all the Vikings fans are

going to pack it up and you know bring their their horns and so forth to whatever stadium and take it over just not a lot of opportunities for that. And with the Pittsburgh game taken off the schedule and even the Cleveland game would have been wanted to spend upon easy flight. It's not that far away. You could fly in, you could fly out. You're not going to have that so much for this year. Let's wrap up on this Murph. Yesterday, when I picked the schedule, what a roller coaster it was at the beginning of the season.

I thought well, they can win a lot of these games. They could certainly win those two overseas. I think we expect them to do that. They could start off really hot. They've got this nightmare in the middle and what a finish it is at home. The Lions the Packers. Wow. I talked about juice inside that stadium.

Energy. The vibe is going to be crazy if that's for a playoff spot with the Packers. I ended up with 11 wins. How many wins do you think the Minnesota Vikings should get now that you've seen their schedule? You know, I was thinking of this number during the off season once the roster kind of got settled. And I haven't wavered off of that based on the schedule.

I'm going to settle on 10. And 10 sounds like a cop out because it's the easiest double digit you can get. It's the McCarthy factor. It really is. I think this team, if this team had a veteran proven quarterback, I think you're 12-13 is in the ballpark. I think because of his unknown factor, I'm going to stay with 10 because I think there are games they can win in spite of him. I think

there are games that they'll win and they don't need him to win it for them, but there are going to be certain games they're going to need him to win it for him, but there are gonna be certain games they're going to need him to win. And there are gonna be games, more importantly, they need him not to lose. So until we get to see this play out with him, nine slash 10, cause I certainly believe they're a playoff team.

Nine wins probably doesn't get you in in the NFC or if it does, you're going to be done soon. So I like 10 because it sets an expectation that I don't think is unrealistic. Now, I'm not going to go through and pick what the 10 are. I haven't thought about it like you did. I'm thinking that seems like a rational number based on what I've seen. And if they exceed that, I wouldn't be shocked. If they don't get to 10, I would be a little more disappointed,

mainly because of where they've set themselves up for. And is it going to be indicative of McCarthy or is it going to be indicative of McCarthy or is it going to be indicative of the pieces just didn't fit well together? Was there a catastrophic injury? Um, I don't think 10 is unrealistic. I think 10 is fair. And the thing we have to remember for this year is that the Vikings aren't the only team playing these opponents.

So last year, everybody got their turbo boost, which was called the AFC South. But this year, nobody gets that turbo boost and they all have to play the Eagles. They all have to play the commanders and they all have to play Baltimore and Cincinnati so, and then each other twice. So it's just like, you know, it might be your team is, is really got a cakewalk. It might be 11 that wins the division for this year, or it might be 10 that wins the division. We saw this from the NFC West last year where those teams, it was what?

10 or 11 games that ended up winning the division out there. And you can look at it in a bubble and go, well, you know, they dropped off four games, but if the other teams that are in your same environment are only winning 10 or 11, I think that tells you that you've done well for that track. And I think it is a very difficult track. So I've got 11, you've got 10. I think that's a very fair bar to set, uh, considering everything that's going into this, but now we get to see how it's going to play out and the buildup to it. I cannot wait. Murph. So I'm glad, I know this is one of your favorite times a year. Look at the road trips. Look at the schedule. See how it plays out.

So I'm glad we could get together. And during the season, we will be back for sure with Monday morning Murph. Although we may we may switch Monday morning Murph up to live Murph on Monday nights. We're trying to, you know, maybe figure that out. But certainly not week one. No, that's right. It's not, it's going to be a very least me waking up in Chicago and breaking

that one down after a late night, but one way or another, you will be back for the 2025 season. I can't wait for that. So thank you so much. Uh, thank you so much for your time tonight. Yeah. I think you mentioned it. Probably the most intriguing and highly anticipated

Viking season in a long time, certainly since we've been working together. Absolutely, absolutely. So thanks again, man. And we'll see you soon. Football, football. Maybe next week, Murph and I'll play some golf. I have not looked at the weather that's supposed to get cold. It's supposed to be nasty next week. Yeah, maybe we won't get to golf next week.

That's unfortunate.