REACTION to J.J. McCarthy’s Injury & Robert Smith Joins Ron Johnson | Minnesota Vikings Talk

REACTION to J.J. McCarthy’s Injury & Robert Smith Joins Ron Johnson | Minnesota Vikings Talk

Hey everybody, it’s Ron Johnson and uh this is the Ron Johnson show in Locked on Sports Minnesota. Uh sorry for the somber mood uh for the funeral close. Uh I think we might have to bury a team today. Maybe bury a season. Can Carson W get it done? Is Kurt Cousins the answer? Does the NFL need to put more quarterbacks on the NFL rosters? We’ll talk about all that and much more coming up next on the Ron Johnson show. Locked on Sports Minnesota podcast. It’s endless Minnesota Vikings talk with the diverse voices of your local experts. Now, the Ron Johnson show. On the field, in the broadcast booth, Ron Johnson is Minnesota sports. He’s played with them, hung out with them, and grown up with all the big names in Minnesota sports. They’re hanging out with Ron Johnson. It’s the Ron Johnson show on the Locked On Sports Minnesota podcast and it starts now. Hey everybody, this is Ron Johnson and this is the uh Ron Johnson show on Locked on Sports Minnesota. I’m your host. I want to thank everybody for joining me today. It’s a beautiful Tuesday out there, people. Beautiful Tuesday. Uh Vikings have the day off. So today is a day of rest, recovery, reflection. Uh, and Robert Smith. We got Robert Smith joining us in the Hangar Ron Johnson segment. All the RS, Ron, Robert, Rest, Reflection, uh, Revision. Can the Vikings rewrite history? Is this a Case Keenum type of year? Let’s not forget what Case Keenum did as the backup. But people, we have to bury a little bit of the season. We have to bury a little bit of the hopes of the season, a little bit of what you thought would happen. And we’ll do all that much more coming up. But before I get into that, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $5. And if you and if your first $5 bet wins, you’ll get $300. So, let me let you know that now. New customers, you just got to bet $5. Five $5 bets. That’s all you got to do is bet $5 and if it wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. And you can use it across the entire app. Well, as I as I talked about in the show, uh we got the the the hang around Johnson segment coming up. We got the daily three coming up. As I bring my producer Sam into the show, I want everybody to know, make sure you check out all of our shows. Uh Monday through Thursday, we got a lot of content postgame shows, postcast after every Vikings game as well. We break down the outcome. Now, this is a Jake Browning vers Carson Wentz. I don’t think anybody had that in their bingo card for this game. This game was supposed to be the game. Joe Burl, Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, LSU. You got JJ McCarthy from Michigan. Hell to the victor. I don’t even know how they do theirs. All that, none of that though. None of that is going to happen. You will have Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase, so you’ll get the gritty maybe if somebody touches the end zone. But Jake Browning and Carson Wentz, I did not have that on my bingo card for uh week three of the NFL season. Noon kickoff at US Bank Stadium. Looking forward to doing the pregame show. Uh but Sam, I don’t know if we have the funeral music, but Sam, I mean, look, he’s got the funeral garb on for all the listeners, for those Yeah. If you’re just listening uh on the app, thank you guys for continue to listen, download, but you’re missing out if you’re not checking us out on YouTube. And here’s where I go with this. He was young, very young, didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve the blitz off the end. Just a DN though. Wasn’t a blitz. Was it a mis pickup? Was it a misassignment? Was the mic identified incorrectly? All of that left him wide open for a potential head rattling, ankle breaking, finger dislocating hit. We saw Anthony Richardson take a similar hit. Did the center not turn the right way? Did the guard actually need help? What was the tackle doing in that moment? With all that said, JJ McCarthy, they said the injury came up on a scramble. I think it came up on that hit, people. But you know what? Forget that. We got Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz is going to throw absolute dots. He’s not the runner used to be, though. It’s not the RPO Carson Wentz we remember from the days of the Eagles. But this is the one thing we can bury, Sam. We can bury comeback player of the year. Just come back. Like, forget comeback player of the year. Just come back, please. Just come back, JJ. After the buy, after they get back from Europe, just Yeah, because two to four weeks now. I mean, yeah, they’re he’s not going to go to Europe. I mean, maybe he’ll still go, but he’s got a newborn. Um I I’ve seen all the things people are like, “Oh, he’s just not good.” So, people are like, “Let’s just put him down anyway. Let him let him get a little bit more time.” Uh some people were saying, uh this is a fake injury to spend more time with his newborn. Uh you know, get that first couple of paternity weeks for a father. people. I love the jokes, but no, no, this is not one of those things. Uh, but I don’t honestly I don’t see a reason to travel to be honest, unless he just really wants to be around the team and he wants to show that he’s a leader and a captain. Uh, if the ankle is truly swollen and high ankle, getting on a plane for multiple hours. I mean, now there will be great trainers out there and all that stuff to help. It probably doesn’t help when you have an injury like that to keep the swelling out of the ankle and and getting them back in four weeks. But high ankle spraying that leads me to believe that any type of wrong turns. He’s back in four weeks. Let’s say 3 weeks after the buy, any type of turn, any type of hit, any type of getting rolled up on, it’s going to reinjure it. Like that’s one of those things where it’s going to take a full season. Like we’re going to see him taped up. We’re going to see him limping around a little bit. It’s going to take the whole season. And so we can we can kind of you got to bury the comeback player of the year thought process in this. But you know what? I’m not doing the funeral. I’m not I’m not cuz up up top buttoned ups tie. That’s funeral opened up. It’s like a it’s like a Saturday night and we got the real the real Carson Wentz in the building. People talked about it. Now Sam, I I pose you a question though. when it happened, were were you thinking like potentially trade for Kurt Cousins? Did that ever cross your mind? That that hit me this morning. I saw a picture of Julie and Kurt Cousins at US Bank Stadium. They posted saying, “So many memories.” Why? Why stop the memories now? Why not make more memories? Like, would Kurt Cousins have loved to been the backup for J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penn? Because Michael Penn looks really good and I don’t think you’re ever getting back on the field out there unless he gets hurt. Uh but J.J. McCarthy didn’t look as good in the last two weeks. Would Kirk Cousins have been the guy to kind of keep him mentally like somebody’s coming, somebody’s closer than you? Like I I don’t know. I don’t know that that’s what I thought about. I don’t know. Did you ever think about that? Well, you know what’s funny is on yesterday’s squad show before we heard the McCarthy news, we knew about Burrow and and we thought, well, hold on. Oh, are the Bengals going to bring in Kirk to play the Vikings on Sunday with Burough out three months? But here here’s what I tweeted yesterday, Ron. Here’s my comparison. JJ McCarthy is Trey Lance. Top 10 pick, missed his first year with injury, took over the job, you know, got hurt. Um, Max Bromer is Brock Pery. He’s just waiting. He’s just waiting in the wings to take over. And that makes Carson Wentz Jimmy Garopppolo. So, uh, so he’s going to come in and Bromer’s going to be the backup. And all the best Viking seasons, Ron, have been the result of a quarterback injury. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. Brad Johnson to Cunningham, uh, Bradford to Keenum. We’ve had a lot of that. Um, you know, McCarthy to Darnold, you could even say last year. So, I’m still holding out hope that this could there could be some magic left in the in the Vikings, you know, karmic reserve. And not to be confused with uh Sam Darnold, uh or sorry, not Sam Darnold, but you said uh Jimmy Garopppolo, uh Carson Wentz, not to be confused with the Jimmy Garopppolo that Dina Rsini would never want her sister to date. Not the same two guys, different guys, different thought process of why Jimmy Garopppolo is not his looks. It’s not his uh woman uh type of uh allure. It’s just the fact that he’s the quarterback that’s just here as a veteran and potentially might win a couple games, potentially might throw four picks. We don’t know. Like, we really don’t know what Carson Winston is going to do. Uh we do know that at one point in his career, he had a quick trigger. He had a quick mind. Uh he was able to decipher that RPO very fast, which for people that don’t know, run pass option and read option are two different things. So, do not get those confused. JJ McCarthy’s touchdown against the Bears was a read option. There was no pass in that. RPO means I can run the ball with the running back. I can keep it and run it myself or I can quickly throw it out. The offensive line does different things in those situations. The read option, they’re just blocking forward because they know there’s no potential pass and they can be down the field. Run pass option, they’re trying not to be down the field because they think like he might throw this ball. Um, and that’s the one thing the NFL hates is the RPO is because some of the guards uh tend to release a little too soon and they and the quarterback ends up throwing it. But Carson Wentz was able to decipher that with the Eagles for I don’t even remember was it 11 weeks, 12 weeks before he got hurt. Um, he he basically got them to the number one seed and all that or whatever the top, you know, top playoff contention and you know, Nick Fos just ended up getting the flowers and winning the Super Bowl. Uh, but Carson Wentz was the quarterback that year. doubt. Does Carson Wentz win a Super Bowl with the Eagles over Tom Brady? I don’t know. I don’t I mean, that’s always going to be a question mark. I mean, I think that’s always I mean, that that’s probably something for the rest of his life, you know, when we’re telling when he’s telling stories, when he’s speaking at engagements, whatever he does, he’s going to talk about that, but but maybe his story is not over. Maybe his story’s not over. Here’s here’s where I go with this, Sam. What if Carson Wentz comes in and has a Sam Darnold electric start? He’s not Josh Dobs. He can stay in the pocket. He wants to stay in the pocket. He has a big arm. What if Carson wins these next four weeks? Looks absolutely Pro Bowl worthy. You know, 250, 290, 350 yard games. You got the Browns, you got the Steelers, which is a dangerous defense, but you got the Bengals and the and the and the Browns coming up. Could Carson Wentz Could Carson Wentz do it? If he does, Sam, here’s the thing. Say he throws for 290, 300 multiple games, do you just give it back over to JJ McCarthy? Th this is the impossible question. I don’t know how the Vikings keep finding themselves in these type of of quandries at quarterback. Um, but if Carson Wentz is 4-1 through the Europe swing at the buy with the Eagles coming up next, his former team, is that where you want to put Jay McCarthy back in? They have put all their eggs in the JJ McCarthy basket, but I think it would be hard to to just give him the keys back. You You don’t want to shatter this kid. You don’t want to give up on this kid so early, age 22, injured in his second game of the season. You can’t give up on him, but you’re also in win now mode with this roster. And Carson Wentz has a lot of traits that Kevin Oonnell likes. Big arm. He is not turnoverprone. Doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions. doesn’t take a lot of sacks, does fumble a little bit. Fumbling’s been a problem. Um, but there’s a lot there in his resume that that could really fit with the Kevin Oonnell offense. And he’s got, Ron, a stronger resume coming in here than Sam Darnold did without question. True. I mean, it’s not even close. Um, been a while since he played, right, at a at a high level, like three, four years since he was a starting quarterback. But there it is very possible that he has a renaissance here in these next three weeks. And you can get all three of these games, don’t you think, Ron? Bengals without Burrow and then Browns, of course, and Steelers. That’s probably the toughest game of the three. You could be four and one at the buy with Wetsz. Yeah. Yeah. And and I don’t remember what I did on Vikings game day live. I think I said two. I think I said three and two heading into the buy because I I had them losing to the Bengals and or maybe I did say four- one. I might have said four- one coming out of the buy. Um because I it’s on Vikings.com people, by the way. Um I do it every year for the Minnesota Vikings on Vikings.com. And um I I think I said three and two or 4 in one. So they’re still on pace. Um I just didn’t have them losing to the Falcons. I had them losing to the Bengals. But now you’re right, it flips. Like it could be uh this could be a win because Jake Browning is not Joe Burrow, but he did still go out there and beat the Jags. Like when I heard Joe Burrow got hurt cuz I had picked the Bengals that this last week and um I was a little bit nervous in that pick. My wife does picks uh at her school uh just for fun like her and some teachers do it and she doesn’t know what you know that’s why they do it cuz a lot of them don’t know what they’re doing. Some of them don’t. They just do it to you know to interact with other teachers and have fun. And she’s the dean so of course you know if you’re the dean of the students you kind of want to make sure you’re interacting with the teachers. So this is one of the ways she does it. Um, and so one week she won and of course I got a text from uh the basketball coach and he’s like, “You definitely helped her with those picks, didn’t you?” And I was like, “No.” I was like, “She picked them all by herself.” And my daughter, actually, it’s funny. My 14-year-old daughter watches football, too. So, she helps her out, too. Like, she’s like, “No, mom. No, mom.” Like, that that’s the that’s the quarterback from like I’m so surprised if my 14-year-old how much she knows. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up on an NFL sideline. Um, because she does love football, but she also knows it. like she talks about it. She asks me a ton of questions. And here’s the funny thing too, Sammy, you know this. When you’re watching sports and your wife asks you a lot of questions, sometimes you feel like, did you really just ask me that, you know, but with my daughter, I can’t do that, you know? Like even sometimes I’m like, why is she asking so many questions? But then I’m realizing like, you know what, she just wants to know like she just want cuz she’s like, “Dad, wasn’t he the backup for this team and he’s not that good, is he? Like why is he in the game?” You know, so she’ll ask those questions and in my head I’m like, “Yeah, he’s not that good. Like what do you why would you ask me that?” And I’m like, she really doesn’t know. She’s just asking me. And so when I think about what Carson Wentz can bring, you know, like I looked at that pick and I picked the Bengals and they end up winning. Now, does that mean the Jags are just that bad? Like that’s the other question mark there. Like is Travis Hunter and this Trevon Lawrence thing not really going to work out the way Cohen thought it thought it would? But I also think that Jake Browning, Brian Flores, the main reason, so the the Bears week, Flores was fine. and did a decent job this past week. Couldn’t stop the run. Couldn’t stop a nose bleed, but couldn’t stop the run. Bejian Robson second highest output of his career, 143 yards. Next highest was 170. He had his second highest output of his career on Sunday Night Football. And then the week before that had 100 yards receiving. So, he’s really just telling y’all like, look, if whatever you try to take away, I’mma do something else. Take my run away, I’mma pass. Take my pass away, I’mma run. Scary. Scary. And Pennix is at the helm. Like, I didn’t give him enough credit heading into this. Kid’s good. Kid’s good. I’m no longer hating on Michael Penn. The kid’s good. Like, I am 100% rooting for the Falcons and Michael Penn cuz they are good. I mean, sorry, Kirk Cousins, but Michael Penn is good. Boy gets his ball out of his hands quick. Uh, but it also helps when you have Bejian Robinson. Let’s be real. When you can run the ball like that on any team, you don’t have to throw the ball as much. You don’t have to put the ball in harm’s way. And I think that’s what the Falcons didn’t want to do against Brian Flores’ defense. um Harrison Smith being out. Is that still a problem for this defense? Van Ginkle being out, Blake Cashman being out. Like, I mean, you know, it’s it it is what it is. It’s a lot of injuries, a lot of guys coming to blame. Um I I just I just look at this matchup where Carson Wentz could be a hero. He could be Carson Wentz could be the hero for Minnesota football for the next three weeks. And then are the fans like And here’s the thing, Sam. So, perfect situation. You’re you’re you’re you’re Qu or you’re Kevin. And it’s not crazy cuz Kevin’s on the field for this. Vikings beat the Bengals. Vikings somehow cuz internationally they tend to do well somehow. And I will say the the Flores defense verse Aaron Rodgers tends to do well because Aaron Rogers is a is a is a risk taker. And so he’s willing to throw some picks here and there, but they’re also without Cam Bin. Cam Binham has two picks in two weeks. Did you see that? Two good celebrations, too. Two good celebrations. Two picks in two weeks. Oh, cuz he did the thing with the uh the the coach guy, right? But the stomach thing. Yeah, the football and the belt. And then he did the backslide. Yeah. Two weeks, two picks. I see why they paid him. I kind of wish he was still here. Two wins for the Colts, too. Two wins for the Colts, but he but he’s good. And without Harrison Smith now, you’re like, “Dang, I wish we had Cam Bino back there cuz Cam Binham is legit. He is the guy. He should have been the future of the safeties here.” But it is what it is. They they tried to go one more run with Harrison Smith and uh here we are. Uh Browns though definitely can get that win. They don’t know who their quarterback is. Flaco got bitched. Dylan Gabriel came in, he didn’t look good. So, if he wins that, and you’re right, going up against the Eagles next, do you put Carson Wentz in versus the Eagles, or do you go back to your guy JJ McCarthy at home in front of the fans at noon and subject him to Jaylen Carter in that Eagles defense? Like, what what do you what do you do? Because you’re subjecting your rookie now to a ridiculous defense, you know, Cooper Deene. And I mean, did you see the way they manhandled the Chiefs? They manhandled the Chiefs offensive line and their receivers. They were I mean they had Patrick Mahomes second guessing what he should do. So do you subject JJ McCarthy to that or do you just say cuz this I had that as I have this as a loss. I had this as a loss against the Eagles. I hate to say it. Or do you just say all right Carson wins get us one more and then we’ll go play the Chargers in LA with JJ McCarthy like against his and then he’s going against his old coach though. Like the you’re sending J.J. McCarthy out to see his old coach. Like does Harball know everything about J I mean it’s just And then you got the Lions. You got to go to Detroit and they look really good. They big brotherthered the Bears. Dan Campbell big brother Ben Johnson. Like hey you got a new job. I’m still your big brother. Come over here. He gave him a noogie sandwich. Put him in a headlock and noogie ngi nie. Like he just 52. had the reporters asking him like, “Did you did you feel like he ran the score up on you when he went for the touchdown on fourth and goal?” You know, and he’s already up. What? He did what he’s supposed to do. He do. No, it’s not what he’s supposed to do. He’s supposed to kick the field goal. There was no reason at that point to go for it on fourth down. He just wanted to stick it to you and he did it. He did it. And because people were questioning the week before against the Lions or sorry, against the Packers. So, I think he was also trying to exercise that one, exercise that demon and say, “Ah, I’m still who I am. I’m still Dan Campbell. I’m still biting kneecaps. Let me show you. Give me that knee. And he just just spanked him on the way out the door. So, with all that said, Sam, what would you play? Like, do you just give Carson Wentz three weeks by week and then you bring JJ McCarthy back against the the best one of the best defenses in the NFL or how do you Yeah, I think you have to give JJ one more chance. I mean, I think you have to abide by all the decision-m you made led to this kid being your quarterback. So, are you gonna are you going to give up on it because of one major clunker? You can’t. You got to have more patience than that. So, I think I mean the only condition would be is if Carson Wentz dominates these next three games um executes the offense in a way that JJ McCarthy, you know, simply can’t. Um and if they internally believe that this is the better chance for them to win a Super Bowl this year, they may have to ride that. Um, but I think that that 98% chance they’re going to give JJ McCarthy another shot to take this team over when he gets back. Um, and I would I would suspect it probably comes against the Eagles after the by-week to give him extra time with that ankle. Um, I don’t think they’re going to rush the kid. They typically don’t rush these type of injuries with important players. That’s a tough environment. That’s a tough environment. But Ron, you might also have the healthiest offensive line you’ve had all year because you have Darasaw. Presumably you would get Kelly back by that point as well. So you might have all five fresh. Yeah. And I think that’s the key too, having the full offensive line, having the full be you’ll get you get Jordan back. So you have the full bevy of weapons as well. Um Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hogson, Adam Thelen, Jaylen Naylor. Like you have a b you have Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason. Like you got a bunch of weapons. Do you have enough bullets? Do you have enough ammo? Do you have enough footballs? Like you don’t have enough plays. 46 plays is not enough for that many weapons. 46 plays is not enough for that many weapons. Can you find more plays? Can you stay on the field longer? Can you metriculate down the field and not go three and out? Like this three and out bit is getting annoying. But you know what? We’re going to talk about how to metriculate down the field with Robert Griff or sorry, Robert Smith. Uh Vikings running back. Uh one of the best running backs in Vikings history. was one of probably the one of the best offenses in Vikings history. Uh we got that coming up and then we got to day three. But after a short a quick word from our sponsors. We’re brought to you today by FanDuel FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet five, get 300 right now if that $5 bet wins. It’s one of the best promotions that you can find. It’s football season and that Vikings Bengals game has had some very interesting line movement because the first news was Burrow’s out. I think the Vikings are favored by five and a half. Then McCarthy’s out. It came down to two and a half. But I think that still could move around because now it’s a battle between Browning and Wentz and and who do you like? Uh the Bengals are two and 0. The Vikings are one and one. The Vikings are favored at home. They’re trying to get to two and one with Carson Wentz. You can bet that. You can bet the props. You can bet live. You can put together a parlay or a same game parlay. You can try to capitalize on, hey, who’s the best two and 0 team right now? I’m going to bet them to win the Super Bowl. Try to get some good odds on that. All available at FanDuel. FanDuel.com and the FanDuel sportsbook app. New customers bet five, get 300. When that $5 bet wins, FanDuel make every moment more. Well, now it’s time for the hang of Ron Johnson segment and uh one of the best running backs uh in college football history, Vikings history. Uh one of the most athletic dual threat backs and uh no better guy than to talk about Bean Robinson with, which is one of the most dual threat backs I’ve seen than a guy that was prolific in the passing game for the Minnesota Vikings. Uh first off, Rob, man, appreciate you for joining me on the show, but I saw you at the game. We were chatting a little bit. Jared Allen was over there with the gold jacket on and so on and so forth, but just hanging out. The gigantic the gigantic gold jacket, man. He’s big. He’s huge. Um, but when you think about Bean Robinson, week one, 100 yards receiving, 24 yards rushing. Brian Flores comes into this game with the same mindset that I have. We got to stop Bean Robinson in the past. We got to stop. We got to We got to locate when he’s split out wide. we got to locate when he motions, you know, and he’s running that crossing route to to become like a screen almost backside. They ran the ball like the Buccaneers game, first three to four plays were passes. Vikings game, first six plays were runs. And so, I don’t know if if if uh the coach just saw it on film and said they can’t stop the run. Uh, but when you see Bejian Robinson, man, one week 100 yards uh rushing or receiving, next week 143 yards rushing, man. How how good can he really be? I think he can be the best. I mean, you know, you look at guys like Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamar, Saquon Barkley, maybe to a lesser extent because as as as great and, you know, talented as he is, I don’t know that he has like the route running ability like everything in the route tree that those guys have. Uh, and Bejian’s like that’s that guy too. Like he can literally run any route in the route tree and it just makes it so difficult to defend. And uh his ability to make people miss in short spaces. Uh his ability to get his feet up and down quickly and to make extra cuts to make guys miss without uh obsessing over it or doing it too much is really it’s stunning to me. He’s a He’s a lot of fun to watch. I think you’re absolutely right, though. I think they felt that, you know, Brian Flores, based on what he saw in week one, came up with a plan that had them much more vertical along the defensive line, kind of shooting gaps as opposed to occupying gaps. Uh, and the the Falcons took advantage of it. They they gashed them early. And when you look at your career, you know, 6,800 rushing yards, uh, but you were not just a runner, like you also were were involved in the passing game. Uh, when you think about, you know, various seasons, 100 yards here, 200 yards here and there, but the biggest is like 28 catches, 38 catches, like you were all over the field helping your team out wherever possible. But when you see today’s offense, you know, a a running back actually just lining up going 21 personnel and not fullback, running back, running back and running back, one running back outside as a wide receiver, running back, running, one running back in the back field. Like, do you look back and say, man, I didn’t even think about that we could have done something like that. Um, well, honestly, like I I wouldn’t say, man, I wish we had done that. I wish I had prepared myself more for that. And you know, hindsight’s 2020. Uh, and like it’s funny when I think about, you know, I’ve been around the game so long now in media. Uh, and I’ve learned so much more about different philosophies, uh, and how you teach players to do certain things. I could have made myself a much better player. I just, I mean, there’s no two ways about it. uh you know I I would have worked more uh on lateral movement uh the mechanics of it as opposed to just thinking of it as a concept uh because it’s one thing to say hey you want to make more people miss but how do you get how do you train your body to do that uh yeah you want to be involved in the passing game but what areas of the passing game are you going to focus on so how do you use your time in practice to prepare yourself for what you want to be on on the field. And uh yeah, I it’s funny like and I I don’t say that like uh arrogantly or you know as a knock against my coaches, but if I was coaching me, I would have made me a much better player. Nobody’s ever said it better. I like that. I like that cuz I mean honestly I look at like Marshall Faulk, you know, and you look at some of those offenses, you you know the greatest show on turf with the Rams. Like when you go down the list of all these offenses that eventually started doing that, putting running backs just in the slot and saying, “Hey, who’s guarding this guy? Okay, they got a linebacker on them. Let’s go deep. Uh, who’s guarding him now? Okay, they got a DB. Let’s run a screen with our running back.” And that’s what you see the Falcons doing. The Falcons are basically just lining up in 21 knowing you’re going to go base package and then they’re like, “Okay, how do you want to defend us? If you’re going to try to stop us in the pass game, we’re going to run the ball.” And the Vikings having three safeties on the field and like you said that three four defense where the the centers uncovered. I think they figured it out. They’re like, “Look, just double team this guy and then let’s run out the back way. Double team this guy, run the other way.” And they just the Vikings never I mean I don’t know. I’m not a defensive coordinator. Yeah. But I do know if you go hat for hat. So if you switch it up and put the two linebackers on the line and make it more like a bare front and go like a fiveman front, then maybe you slow it down a little bit. But I think the third safety has to become a linebacker. Josh Matelis should have maybe just been at linebacker level and made it look like a a 4-3 5-3 type of front and say, “Beat us with your arm. Can you beat us with your arm with your receivers?” Uh cuz Drake London last week had 15 targets, but only like seven catches. You know what I mean? Like they I just don’t feel like he has a true feel for the deep throws and the true deep throws, but he has a great feel for the underneath stuff and that’s where, you know, he killed the Vikings. But if you’re Aaron Jones, five carries, one target, no catch, and you’re supposed to be the starting running back for the Minnesota Vikings, and you lose the way you lose, could not move the ball, what are you saying to your offensive coordinator this week? Well, you know, it’s a it’s kind of a loaded question there because there’s And the reason I’m not There was only 14 runs total though cuz like the other Mason only had nine. Jordan Mason nine carries, Aaron Jones, five carries. Like if you’re both backs, what are you what are you telling your offensive coordinator? Yeah. Well, like you said, you’re not a defensive coordinator. I’m not an offensive coordinator. So, it’s it’s it’s one thing you like everybody wants the ball, right? Uh but play calling is really about uh focusing on and accentuating what you do well. Uh but it’s also covering up some deficiencies that you know that you have. Uh and trying to do that in real time, right? So, you’re thinking about matchups that particular week. You’re thinking about uh how your guys are looking early in a game against certain looks and against certain players. So yeah, obviously you say, “Look, I want the ball more.” But the reality of it is you also understand, I think, especially, you know, with Aaron and and and Jordan, they understand some of the limitations that they have uh from a personnel standpoint up front and uh the timing of the runs may may just not have been there. Yeah. And and that’s the thing about JJ McCarthy now. You know, he’s out Carson Wentz coming in as a backup. You know, we’ve seen this story before with Case Keenum. Uh, you know, I think Randall Cunningham came in due to injury or something like that. I can’t remember which quarterback it was. Brad Brad Johnson. I was a part of that team. Okay. Yeah. There you go. So, when that happens, when you have a a change, a quick change, unexpected change at quarterback, how as a weapon in this offense, do you try to make sure Carson Wentz walks in? Like if you’re Justin Jefferson, if you’re Jordan Addison, if you’re uh Adam Thielen, if you’re TJ Hogson, I mean the thing, the funny thing is when you name these guys, they’re all Pro Bowlers. You got Aaron Jones, you got Jordan Mason. Yeah. But how do you, you know, come in saying, “Hey, we got this.” Like it’s not the the season’s not over. Cuz a lot of people, if you look at Twitter, which is the worst place to look when stuff like this happens, everybody’s saying the season is over. Bury the season. I started the show off. I changed clothes, but I started the show off in a in a all black suit. I had the sunglasses on, you know, we had we had the slow music undertaker. Yeah, we had the slow music playing. So, you know, you know, we and the only thing I buried I buried the comeback player of the year talk. I think that that’s out the door now. That’s going to be tough for JJ McCarthy to even win comeback player of the year being out four to five weeks. Um, but I think just coming back and playing good football still is an option. But what would you go into the building, you know, cuz today is a day off, but some guys are in there getting treatment. They’re doing their stuff, getting their little film, you know, picking up their iPad, you know, all the stuff. But then Wednesday, like where what do you or even text messaging like what are you telling Carson Wentz right now? Yeah. And I I don’t really even think Carson went like Carson Wentz is probably telling those guys as much as anything, right? Okay. He’s been around this league a long time. Uh you know, I I uh uh called some NFL games a few years ago. I think uh we called uh the games when he was with the Commanders. So, uh, he’s seen the ups and the downs, uh, which I think is really important as a quarterback. Uh, you know, the most important play is always the next one. And, uh, you know, we talk about, uh, next guy up mentality, but a quarterback like that, a backup guy, a guy that’s been shuffled around the league understands that more than anybody. And so, when, you know, that he doesn’t need to hear it from the players, the players need to hear it from him. A quarterback needs to go in and command the huddle and tell everybody, “Hey, you know, I I don’t want to see any pouting. I don’t want to see any heads down. Yeah, I know you want the damn ball. I’ll get you the ball when it makes sense to get you the ball, right?” Like it it’s not it’s not the other way around for me. I think uh Carson Wentz needs to be the guy that tells them, but more importantly shows them, of course, the season isn’t over. everything that you thought this team could be and everything that we can be and with the reality of the of of some of the injuries that we have, we’re going to go do it. And when you look at, you know, you talked about the Brad Johnson deal, you know, 97 and 98. Um, what like walk us through that? He gets hurt. Like how do you guys handle that situation and and the new quarterback coming in? Yeah, I I mean to us, you know, it’s it’s it’s part of the game and you know what it’s like with backup quarterbacks. I mean, they’re around all the time and you know, you’re joking around and look, they’re getting plenty of reps. You always got to be ready for that. Uh so to us, you know, we had we had a team with some veteran leadership. I mean, Chris Carter was there, Jake Reed was there, obviously. uh Randall McDaniel along the offensive line. Stucey had been around for a couple years, myself just on the offense, right? Like so we had guys that we just we we just knew that we had talent. Uh we had a great offensive coordinator and Brian Bilick. We weren’t really worried about it. You just what what can you ever do as a player but go out and play, right? Yeah. And and again, Randle Cunningham wasn’t like a newbie to football. Like he, you know, he knew what he was doing. He knew he came in for six games and everybody knew what they were getting out of him. But then 98, you guys go out and make one of the I guess best draft picks ever in uh Vikings history and and you guys have just weapon after weapon after weapon. You know, probably the greatest show on turf before the greatest show on turf. when when that happens, is that like is because again, Jordan Addison will become kind of the insertion into this offense in week four, is that where Randy Moss was to you guys was kind of like a boost and because you guys went nine and seven in 90 97, which is weird for those that like numbers, go play that in the lotto. Um, but 9 and seven and 97 and then 98 that was my freshman year at the University of Minnesota. So, I was it was exciting to be in Minneapolis. Like I was a college freshman playing football, but every week we’re turning on the TV and we’re like, “Man, this dude is nice.” Like like who is this guy? And so you guys just went cuz I knew Tony Dunie, so I knew about the Vikings. You know, I met some of you guys just being out, you know, in town. And um you know, it was kind of cool to see, but it was just, you know, it was like the Beatles for for football fans like myself growing up being a college kid. You know, I mean, seriously, that offense was just prolific. I got a chance to, you know, cuz of my dad playing, you know, for the Steelers, he got to come to town. He would introduce me to guys like Chris Carter and, you know, I got to hear stories and but, you know, it was just different. And is that something that Jordan Addison can do for the Vikings kind of being just another piece to help cuz I guess Justin Jefferson would be Randy Moss, but then Chris Carter was a huge part of that, you know, and so can Jordan be that additional piece to help Carson Wentz, you know, kind of win these next two games overseas, plus I mean the Bengals, too, but he won’t have them for that. And uh is is Naylor healthy too? Did he didn’t get knocked out? No. Naylor will be there. Adam Thielen will be there. Hawinson’s health and you know there’s I mean there’s there there’s plenty of talent there and you know I would honestly to me you know just kind of having been around the game you know tell me what’s going to happen up front because that was the real problem. Um and that’s been that’s been the real problem this season. you know, I know that you have some new faces, uh, you know, at at at left guard, at right guard, and of course with Darasaw being out, um, and even at center, I mean, it was a it’s a really a rebuilt offensive line. If those guys can’t get it done, then it doesn’t really matter what kind of shiny toys you have on the outside or in your back field. That’s, you know, that’s the the one element of football that has always stayed consistent. If you can’t get it done in the at the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, then you’re not going to win games. And when you look at, you know, again, the the amount of stuff you’re saying with the offensive line, Christian Deraw knee injury, he said he’s mentally ready. He said he’s physically ready. They just haven’t cleared him yet. Do you think that that’s just all like media speak? Cuz I I know when you hurt your knee, it’s 100% mental. Like if you if they’re saying you’re good physically and you’ve played in games, if you’ve practiced to teams, sometimes it’s like I don’t know if I can can I can I trust myself to move the way I’m supposed to move so I don’t get my quarterback killed and also I don’t you know hurt my team. Um people forget the mental part of it. You know, Harrison Smith, all this stuff. There is a mental part of this game that you’re going out there putting your life on the line every time. You know, Brad Johnson with a neck injury. You’re putting your life on the line every time you step on that field. Um do do you think that’s part of this with Christian Darasaw too, though? was the trainers and everybody’s saying mentally and physically he’s there. We just got to figure out a timeline. Again, he did get hurt like week eight or nine. So, he’s way ahead of schedule compared to like everybody saying 12 months. But, do you think that’s part of it too is just like getting over that mental hurdle of saying, “Yep, I’m cleared. I’m ready to go.” Sorry, I froze a little bit there. Sorry, back to it. Uh, so I saying the mental the mental hurdle of Christian Darasaw, um, you know, they’re saying it’s it’s he’s mentally and physically ready to go. He’s cleared, but he hasn’t played yet because they’re just like it’s just not there yet. But he’s played in full team practices versus the Patriots. Definitely different though. There was no actual tackling to the ground. Um, but you know, went out there some preseason stuff, warmed up before this first game, but just not there. So, do you think that’s a little bit of mental or do you think that’s just 100% precautionary because he’s way ahead of schedule? Yeah, it’s, you know, and it’s funny. I was I was talking about this yesterday. I remember watching him warm up in the first game and just seeing the closeup of the way that uh he was doing his high knees. He looked tentative. Um, now tentative can be mental, partially mental, but you have to understand the way that our bodies work and the way that your body will protect itself even subconsciously. like when it’s not 100%. A lot of times when you’re going to take steps, it’ll just shut down or it’ll uh kind of send the message, if you will, to not make that a full speed or a full weight step. And that’s what it looked like to me. And quite frankly, he didn’t look that close to me. I just, you know, as a as as a non-medical professional, but someone that’s been around the game, it looked like he was at least a couple weeks away from from doing it without thinking about it. And you’re right, that’s the mental part. If you’re thinking about it, then you’re you’re not ready. That’s just that’s just the way that it is. I remember coming back from an ACL. I tore my ACL December 5th of 93 and then had training camp in the summer of 94 and going into my first one-on-one pass blocking drill against the linebackers and kind and the grass was a little wet and my knee slipped out and I I was thinking, “Oh man.” And then I got up and I was like, “Oh, I’m fine.” Like this thing it’s fine. And that was the moment like from there it was like, “Hey, I’m good.” But you only reach that point when you reach that point and it’s different for everybody. So So Robert, you know, like like any football coach, I say one more and I just realized I got two more for you. So you got to get back on the line and do it again. No, but before we get out of here, one one question I did want to ask you is um you know, we all saw the uh Randy Moss uh news. He’s cancer-free. We kind of knew that um you know, when it first came out and uh you know, you just never know. And so for men, one, um, a lot of men, especially black men, you know, don’t think about small things like physicals and all that stuff growing up. I know I’m I’m victim to that. I have not probably done what I should be doing. Uh, my wife right away, like I think a couple weeks ago, she was like, “You need to get a physical.” And so I reached out to actually the Vikings, one of the Vikings doctors, uh, Dr. Dave Olsen, you know, so he and I have talked and I’m like, “Yep, let me know. Let’s get set up so I can get a full physical work done.” Um, but when you heard the news that he was cancer-free, you know, what what what did that mean to you? And and is there anything like else that you would love to tell other men? Yeah, no question about it. Well, this is uh this is what my company Fan Huddle is about really. Uh and we did a partnership with the Vikings and the Browns. Uh and really, you know, we use current and former athletes to create health and well-being content. Everything from Pilates to relationship health. Uh, and I think screenings are really an important part of that, you know, and and you mentioned especially with black men after age 40. Uh, you really want to get the colonoscopy. Uh, and you want to stay on top of you know, some of those values uh that you know they’re uh looking at to see if you have uh, you know, prostate cancer or uh if if there should be further screening uh for that. But your blood pressure uh I think uh you know there are a number of different screenings now that are available. Some really cool stuff on the technology side. Uh there’s a company that uh that we’re working with actually clinical grade cardiac assessment just using the microphone of your phone can identify murmurss irregular rhythms aortic steno stenosis which is a narrowing of um a major artery uh in your heart. And you know, unfortunately, my brother passed away uh at age 48 uh from a heart condition uh that uh had been previously undiagnosed. So, uh I know it’s very important uh and something to stay on top of. And you know, the mental I don’t want to I don’t want to get too far off into the weeds, but I think the mental health part of it uh is more important than anything else because if you’re not taking care of the mental health part of it, then you’re, you know, far less likely or or you know, probably not going to focus on any of the stuff any of the other stuff at all. Uh and for me, mental health, you know, is really grounded in humility and uh you know, trying to treat everybody the same. Uh but that self-t talk and staying away from the negativity. I mean there’s there’s plenty of negativity. You can choose to jump in that pool if you wish. Yeah. Or or you can just la laugh at it and say life’s too damn short uh to be focusing on negative things. Yeah, man. That’s I’m that’s a word for me. I I’m definitely cuz I’m in the thick of kids sports and there’s nothing more negative than kids sports sometimes. And uh yeah, you know, it’s it’s a tough it’s a crazy world out there, you know, cuz my daughter’s one of the top, you know, 2029s in in softball right now. And so just traveling, you know, to all the places. She’s she just came back from uh Chicago. She’s got to go back out to uh to Indiana, then Illinois, then Colorado. And so, yeah, it’s a lot of negativity around around kids sports, too. And so, but uh one last one, man. Like, thinking about Brad Johnson and Randle Cunningham, this hit me. Do you think the Vikings are gonna have a problem if if if Carson Wentz goes out here and throws, you know, two 300 yard games or something, you know, within the next three weeks? Do you think there’s going to be a quarterback controversy or do you think they’re just going to turn the range back over to JJ McCarthy? No, that’s a, you know, that’s a that’s actually a great question. And I don’t mean to make it sound like you wouldn’t ask a great question, but uh I doubt it. Um, you know, you always have to think about it because I think, you know, going back to that example, like people weren’t people weren’t expecting Randall Cunningham to play the way that he did, right? Uh, and uh, it didn’t really seem to make sense to turn it back over at that point. As much as we love Brad, like I don’t know how you can really. Um, but I just think that because of the organization’s long-term goals, uh, you know, really the, uh, mental makeup and, um, fortitude of the of of, of JJ McCarthy, uh, you wouldn’t want to damage that uh, in any way, I think. And you know that could be devastating especially for a young quarterback that had been out of the game already for a year with an injury to not get that if he’s coming back. But let’s be honest, like it just depends on what it looks like. This isn’t a very likely scenario. And again, this is not to knock Carson Wentz. But if Carson Wentz is throwing for, you know, five touchdowns and, you know, 400 yards a game, why would you turn it back over? Yeah, it’s going to be a tough one. I think everybody wants a W for the Vikings, you know, two out of the next three games hopefully. Um, and then you got the Eagles coming up after that when they get back from over the pond after the by-week and, you know, that’s when the rubber is going to meet the road. But I’m Ron Johnson. That’s Rob Smith joining me in the hang of Ron Johnson segment. Coming up next, of course, we got the Daily Three. I want to appreciate Rob for joining me today. Now we got the Daily Three. That’s three questions, three minutes for people. That was no editing. My my like my change of clothes was between Sam’s commercial read like I am I am Superman in the booth. There was no editing there. That was real time change clothes. I’ve been a runway model uh for the fashion fest for the golfers. That’s uh no or sorry children’s hospital. That’s November 21st this year. I’m probably going to still do it because uh there’s nothing Friday night and the Gophers I think on the road on the 22nd. So I should be able to do the fashion fest this year again. I I changed quick. I mean, I I think I’ve been between like model 20 and then model 40, and I had to change that quick for 20 people to walk across the stage and get into from suit to suit. So, I I can quick change people, but it’s time for the daily three. Uh, take it away, Sam. All right, Ron. Uh, Gophers lose 2414 Saturday night, late one against California. I love their quarterback, by the way. That might be a top five pick in the 2028. Saapulle, incredible 18-year-old kid. Uh, what was your biggest takeaway from the Gopher’s loss? That that he’s good. Like Sapu Latele is good. I I did the breakdown on the pregame show as well for the Gophers pregame show. I’ll probably air that a little bit later this week. Um, just cuz it was the plays he ran, they did it in the game. And sometimes the Gophers like just did not understand that that’s all they do. He is willing to take I I said down and distance does not matter. It didn’t. It could be second and 15. They are not trying to get seven to eight yards to make it a manageable third down. They’re going for the dagger on second and 15 because they know you’re probably sitting back thinking like, “All right, watch for the eight yard route or watch for the No, he is throwing dimes down the field. He can run a little bit and get out the pocket and throw. He has that weird left-handed off one leg throw thing he does and he’s legit.” The other part about the Gophers, I just feel like they’re forcing the Ky Paris thing a little bit too much sometimes like that that trick play to him for him to throw the ball. He’s no threat to get the ball into the flat. So, it’s not like everybody’s going to be running to him. And then the play type, like the backside route, they’re not affected by a throw to Ky Parish on the far side. So, he was supposed to throw it to I think the tight end screaming down the field. Those guy like it it was just too long developing. Like, if he had motioned or something or did something where everybody’s like, “Okay, why is he over here?” Then maybe you get away with that. But it just it was too like we know it’s coming, you know, like it just I just didn’t understand in that moment like you you had something going and even though it was still 14 to 17 and then he booted the punt and so you know again when you try to make something happen versus letting the game just come to you um you know it’s one of those things where it ends up hurting and it did. I think the Gophers are going to bounce back. They’ll be fine. Uh they got a by-week this week, but you know they they got to figure out who they are because they should have been three and 0 at this point uh you know according to everybody and they just couldn’t get it done. I don’t know. What did you think? Yeah, not not a good Parish game. That’s the the biggest takeaway for me obviously. Um just didn’t seem like he was all there. A couple special teams blunders and then the offensive mistake and and on defense too got picked on. So all three phases tough one for Parish. Um, you know, I felt like Lindsay showed a lot of good things. Um, still and Brockington is Brockington the wide receiver won. He was really good at that game, too. But tough loss. Uh, try to bounce back against Ruters, I right? Yeah, Ruters. And that’s uh that’s the Aan. Speaking of like former Minnesota quarterbacks, you got Jake Browning coming into Minnesota. You got uh Aan Kelly Manis coming to Minnesota, his first time back since um he, you know, left. and didn’t really wasn’t too happy with the way he exited. So, yeah, it’s it’s it’s it’s going to be a fun one. Yeah. Uh WNBA playoffs are underway, Ron. It’s the Valkyries and the Lyns and the best of three first round. Game one went to the Lyns. 29-point win on Sunday. So, a great chance that they advance with a win um in game two. What could hold the Lynx back, Ron, if anything, from winning the WNBA championship? Uh the Aces and the Liberty. Um, I mean, the dream is pretty good, but I still think, you know, the Liberty and the Aces, like the one thing about sports, just like when we’ve seen it, I mean, basketball, men’s basketball is a little bit different with the one seed most times because it’s just a dominant force. In women’s basketball, it’s more of a team game. And, you know, the Aces and the Liberty have proven to be better teams down the stretch. That’s the only thing I think other than that, they they are like the Fisa Collier, like they are a good team. Uh, you know, their chemistry is good. you know, you got the stud buds. So, it seems like everybody is kind of clicking on that team. You know, it the the only thing is going to come down to that like the the the the stamina and can they stay with championship pedigree teams like the Liberty and the Aces. I think that’s the that’s the only question mark. Aces have won 17 in a row. Yeah, I think it’s that’s insane. Um, last one, Ron. Uh, let’s see. Winning streak 10. Yeah, 16 and then game one of the game one. Yeah, they don’t count that on this thing that I my notes over here, but yeah, 16 straight wins plus playoff. Yeah, that’s that’s crazy. That’s crazy cuz you think about all the other teams like I mean the Mystics lost 10 straight into that. It’s not funny, but it’s just like everybody else is like one win, one win, three losses, one loss, one win, three loss, win six, win 16. Like that’s why that’s say like when you think about that for the Aces, that’s one of those things where it’s just like we’re good. We’re good. and and was it Becky Hammond? Like just the chemistry of that team. They just they just have it. Like you just see them together. You see them playing together. You see all their off the court jokes. Like it’s just it’s they have it. And that’s that’s the that’s when that happens. When you rattle off 16 wins, it’s because your team is just together and they they know and they trust each other. So And they have Asia Wilson and like she’s she’s a star. Yeah. I mean they’re they’re champions. They won it twice in a row a couple years ago. So, they are absolutely a threat. Game two coming up later this week. To the NFL we go. Every division has at least one 2 and 0 team. The Bills, Bengals, Colts, Chargers, Eagles, Packers, Bucks, Niners, Cardinals, Rams. Those are the 10 2 and 0 teams in the league. Who do you think is the most dangerous right now? I’d say the Packers and the Bills. Like the Packers and the Bills both look really good. They don’t look like there’s any slowing them down right now. Now, the Packers got what they wanted, which is somebody to get after the quarterback because the rest of that defense always tends to play pretty well. They just never had a true demon on that defensive line. Uh, they had guys like I mean, if you you have to go way back to like, you know, Matthews and AJ Hawk and, you know, like stuff like that. Like, it’s been a while um since they had a true demon where everybody’s like, you know, whoa, okay, this guy non-stop motor, can get up to the quarterback by himself. That’s why the Packers are dangerous because Jordan Love looks really good. I mean, I’m not going to hate on them. The receivers, you know, we were questioning the receivers like, is he going to have the weapons? Seems like they’re making just enough plays to make it work. Like, they look like a dangerous team. And I, you know, again, it comes down to the Vikings. I right now, now this is just right now, I don’t see the Vikings having a chance to beat the Packers right now. Just with Micah Parsons and the fact that he can roam the field and he lines up pretty much everywhere they need him. Like, he’ll go inside, he’ll go outside. Like I feel like that Packers game they’re going to pick on Donovan the Jackson. I feel like they’re going to have Michael Parsons loop a bunch on the inside cuz you saw that um uh what game was that that he gave Havoc? Was that the uh Commander game or I’m trying to think which game I saw him? It was just he just kept going inside and you saw the guy try to hold him up. Um but it was the most recent highlight. What was that game? But when you think about that, like that’s that’s the that’s the the highlight in my head of Micah Parsons is them trying to hold him up and having no chance of holding him up. Like that’s that’s what makes him such a dangerous weapon. That’s what makes him such a like a viable weapon. And the Bills just have Josh Allen and everybody joked about Josh Allen getting married, you know, and he’s going to throw for 5,000 yards now. Um it it it is it is what it is. Like it is what it is. the guy is good. He had the huge comeback against the Ravens and that’s what makes them scary. But yeah, it was the Commanders game. That’s what I was thinking. I was like I knew I saw the video. Uh but it was him going inside trying to rip pull through and it was just like they had no way to stop him. They had no chance of stopping him. No way to stop him. And that’s why I I I like the Packers. Uh right now I just don’t know what the Vikings and the Vikings don’t run the ball well enough. Like it’s it’s just right now it just doesn’t seem it feels like the North is going to go to the Packers. And and if I’m not mistaken, did Rini say that? Did she say Packers first? Did she say Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions? I think she did. I feel like she did. I think she I think she said I think she said Pack. We’ll have to play that clip maybe a couple weeks and see where it’s at. But she did say But she’s wrong on the Lions though. The Lions are ahead of the Bears. She gave the Bears too much credit. That’s the one where people are going to say like, “Oh, but she said the Lions would be at the bottom.” But the season’s just early. This is just the second week. They’re one and one. So, there’s a chance the Bears can win and the Lions lose and they go one and two as well. Uh, but the Vikings, I mean, the Vikings one and one as well. It just doesn’t look great right now with Carson Wentz. So, it’s a I mean, I I I mean, I don’t know, Sam. My power rankings right now, I go Packers, Lions, Vikings, Bears, just just off gut reaction of the last two weeks. That’s what it feels like. It feels like Packers, Lions, Vikings, Bears. Unfortunately, I don’t know. Where do you have it? Yeah. No, that’s correct. That’s correct. For the NFC North, um, you know, I remember last year the, uh, the remember the Saints, remember the Saints scored like 40 points a game in the first two weeks and everybody was was talking about Clint Kubak, Derek R and that offense. And didn’t they lose like six in a row after that or seven in a So things can change fast. It can change. It can change. Things can change fast. I think we like we rode off the Lions way too fast after their bad week one. Then they hang a 50 burger. They make a statement against the Bears. Bears probably are are still in rebuild mode. I think people crown like thought they were going to be improved. Maybe not. And then the Vikings are a huge mystery right now. The Packers are steady. The Packers got got every you know they didn’t have a coaching change. They didn’t have a quarterback change and that they look like it. They look like they have some continuity right now. And they added Micah Parsons. So they’re plenty dangerous. They might be last year’s Lions. That might be a juggernaut that’s going to roll steamroll their way into the playoffs. So, we’ll we’ll have to be guarded on that. Fortunately, I don’t think the Vikings play them until middle of the season, Ron. So, they got some time to try to get to their level. Well, that’ll do it for today on the Ron Johnson show. I want to thank Robert Smith for joining us. I want to thank Sam Xram for putting together a great show. Make sure you guys check out our Locked on Sports Minnesota postcast on YouTube following every Twins, Vikings, Gophers, or Wolves game. Luke Inman is broadcasting live with team experts like myself for the golfers. Um, and never miss a postcast by subscribing to Locked on Sports Minnesota on YouTube. Cuz this golfers win one, it’s going to be a lot of quarterback talk. You got Drake Lindsay who’s PJ Flex upand cominging incumbent star and you got Nathan Calig Manis who feels like the Gophers just did not trust in him. It’s going to be a good one on Saturday. Make sure you guys don’t miss that postcast. I’m Ron Johnson. Sam want to thank you guys. Have a great Tuesday. All right.

The Minnesota Vikings lost QB J.J. McCarthy to an ankle injury on Sunday and now turn to Carson Wentz. Ron Johnson tries to put it all in perspective and wonders whether Carson Wentz could earn the job long-term. Robert Smith joins the program to give his take, and then Ron talks Golden Gophers football and Minnesota Lynx in the Daily 3.

Find full episodes of The Ron Johnson Show and Team Postcasts on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-sports-minnesota/id1615249036
Find full episodes of The Ron Johnson Show and Team Postcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2p4adMUTLFgk0l88NjkK5S

Visit the Locked On Sports Minnesota HUB at KARE11.com: https://www.kare11.com/lockedon

CHECK OUT OUR DAILY TEAM PODCASTS:
Locked On Wild: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-wild-your-daily-minnesota-wild-podcast/id1492739918
Locked on Wolves: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-wolves-daily-podcast-on-the-minnesota/id1153019457
Locked on Vikings: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-vikings-daily-podcast-on-the-minnesota-vikings/id1144153403
Locked on Twins: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-twins-daily-podcast-on-the-minnesota-twins/id1349600088
Locked on Golden Gophers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-golden-gophers-daily-podcast-on-minnesota/id1536979266

#MinnesotaVikings

—