TRAINWRECK

CHARGERS 37

VIKINGS 10

The Minnesota Vikings are covered in failure. Everything they did to set themselves in for the 2025 season has been a disaster.

This truth that has been bubbling up for weeks spilled over completely in Thursday night's lifeless, disgusting, humiliating loss to the Chargers. 

Typically, I do some sort of chronological recap of the games, but what's the point? The only moment there seemed to be the slightest shred of hope for a win was when Isaiah Rodgers pick sixed Justin Herbert on LA's opening drive. But the refs screwed us and negated the score, saying Rodgers didn't secure the catch. Even though he clearly did. We have enough problems without the refs stealing touchdowns, now two weeks in a row.

The demolition to come rendered this irrelevant. The rest of the game was a grotesque "effort" by the defense. Zero pressure on Herbert. Zero coverage of receivers (the middle of the field was wide open all night). Zero resistance against the run. Soft, pussy, gutless garbage from a highly funded defense.

The offense was no better. Carson Wentz, playing hurt and with a giant sling on his non-throwing arm, was absolutely pummeled all night. I mean, credit the guy for his toughness (bordering on insanity), but it was clear by halftime that he just could not play. He literally submitted to sacks multiple times before there was even pressure. Awful throws all over the place. The only TD needed a big Chargers penalty for it to happen. It was basically criminal that KOC kept Wentz out there almost the entire game, before finally putting Max Brosmer in at the very end. What are you trying to prove?

The OL was terrible again, with Brian O'Neill out again and Christian Darrisaw barely playing before apparently getting hurt again. The KOC playcalling was lousy, with again a refusal to even try to run the ball, even with Aaron Jones back off IR.

The penalties from this undisciplined, poorly coached team poured in again. Dallas Turner had one of the stupidest roughing the passer penalties you'll ever see.

This was one of those games I just zoned out of early. The game was clearly over by halftime, because this team did not want to play. And mark it down, this is now 8 of the last 9 games dating to last season that they have played awful. Hard to believe this franchise was playing for the NFC's #1 seed less than 10 months ago. It has catered.

What happened?

Well, basically every single aspect of the roster construction for 2025 has been a disaster. Some of the seeds for this were planted a couple years ago, some are new.

The Vikings sold us a bill of goods, that JJ McCarthy was going to be ready to play at a high level right away, and that the free agents they brought in would provide the type of roster that they could compete with. This was not meant to be a developmental year with no expectations. This is an old roster, full of players who won't be here by the end of JJ's rookie deal.

Sure, McCarthy is injured, but he looked mostly lousy before and is clearly brittle. I have never been excited about this guy, and I never would have hitched the franchise to this guy. We will surely see him now starting in next week's blowout loss in Detroit. And now, he may be all that stands between this regime and a collective pink slip. 

For all the wins KOC has had so far, his teams still show up looking unprepared in big games. His playcalling remains frequently atrocious, especially in short yardage and the redzone. He is good at offering post-game cliches, after which nothing changes.

Kwesi depends even more on being saved by McCarthy, cause his body of work is mostly bad. Poor drafts year after year. Turner looks like a bust. The defense has imploded with free agents (Hargrave, Allen, Okudah) who are hot garbage, retained players (Murphy, Metellus) who look like a waste of money, and players we could have easily kept (Phillips, Blackmon, Gilmore) and would have at least helped the depth. 

The supposed upgrading of the trenches has been a flop. The 2 OL we spent a lot of money on (Kelly and Fries) are clearly not missed by the Colts, currently holding the NFL's best record. The handling of the Darrisaw situation has made no sense. Either play him or don't. None of this snap count bullshit.

The QB situation has been botched beyond comprehension. Each individual decision over the last couple of years has been defendable, but it left us with zero fallback plan if McCarthy isn't a star. They don't even contemplate having a real backup QB, then have to scramble after the preseason by trading Howell and signing Wentz.

So now a lost season (and it IS lost, the playoffs are out) becomes all about JJ McCarthy. And if he is not good, and quickly, this regime is in big trouble. 

This year will be year 4, and will again have no playoff win. So if McCarthy can't play, that's a lot of losses the rest of this year, and next year, too (cause I doubt they bail after this year regardless). That would mean 5 years of no playoff wins, in a league where almost nobody keeps their job with so many years and so little payoff. And this is self-inflicted. They CHOSE to build the team this way.

So, JJ, here's the keys to the franchise. Good luck. The future of the Vikings franchise rests entirely on you.