NFL LIVE | Vikings are THREAT even to Carson Wentz – Dan O. on O’Connell not bring JJ McCarthy back

NFL LIVE | Vikings are THREAT even to Carson Wentz – Dan O. on O’Connell not bring JJ McCarthy back

flag. Oh, let’s talk Vikings, you guys. Interesting stuff. Carson Wentz got the win for the Vikings on Sunday. Has only been on the field for 46 offensive plays this season. Half as many as JJ McCarthy, but the Vikings offense has looked a lot better with Wentz under center. Not only are they averaging more yards per pass attempt, but two more yards per rush. And the Vikings have not turned it over with Wentz on the field this season. Now, Vikings coach Kevin Okonnell was asked if once JJ McCarthy is healthy, he will immediately return to start. And here’s what he said. I think, you know, the the first and foremost, he’s got to get healthy. Um, and then throughout that process, it’s not just I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, hey, the day he’s healthy, and if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there and say, hey, you know, go figure it out, type of thing. Marcus’s face, cuz I told y’all yesterday it was a quarterback controversy. Dan, I see. I told y’all, man. Uhoh. What did you see from wins on Sunday? First of all, Christian Darasaw matters a ton for the offense. A ton. Totally helped with the protection. I think the two things were he was really reactionary, which was a big deal. I think that sped up the style of their pass game. Like he reacted to coverage a little bit faster than JJ has. I think the second thing was the timing of their pass game was really good. You know, I was not expecting that he was going to go 1 2 3 4 5, hit his back foot, and the ball would come out to, you know, a backside post or an outbreaker to the field. So that was something that you know I think JJ sitting back and watching once again going all right again Darasaw being a part of that matter. So the reaction and the timing were a big deal. Two good, one bad. You still saw three or four sacks. You’re like, “Don’t do that. Stop holding it. Don’t do that.” And so if if he can one or two a game, get rid of that. I do think that there’s a lot of good to the style of play that he he showed. I just I just don’t think you can. Before I get to the defense, you can’t overlook what he did with Sam Dorn last year. You just It’s a part of the equation like, and this is about winning. I’m going to go to the defensive side because obviously there’s a lot of onus put on that. while you figuring out this quarterback spot. But Brian Flores is back to his old habits and it works. And none other than the perfect Cincinnati Bengals who going to land up a shotgun 700 times a game and allow you to disguise. You look at around the line of scrimmage. This is how you’re always fooled. And now you get out of this late, but now we have confusion on the offensive line. We’re trying to figure it out. I love these condensed tackles as well to have a game situation. It looks like the whole team is going to rush. It’s only four and they’re running games. The offensive line is trying to figure out not only who’s coming, but also how do we pass these games off and the the mind tricks that are happening with protection. Three covers. That was diabolical. Yeah. But but that’s what I’m saying, bro. Like for y’all know, y’all look at that prism, man. You and Mino are two of the best at it. when you start talking about the back end and obviously RC, I look up front because my whole career was spent trying to confuse or dictate protection, right? And he does a better job as anyone in the league. Now, you got to trust your guys. You got to trust them to get their depth, coverage. You got to trust the timing. And that’s why sometimes with Ben Johnson, when he has success, a lot of quick snaps to catch you, but they aren’t going to do that in Cincinnati. We know it. Cincinnati knows it. The whole world knows it. And that was set up perfectly for Brian Flores to have a day like he had. Mina, if they do go back to JJ McCarthy when he’s healthy, what does need to change? He just got to play faster. I mean, it’s as simple as that. Um, you mentioned Carson Wentz did take a few sacks, but outside of those sacks, he was hitting his first read like bam. 2.44 time to throw. JJ McCarthy this season is 3.15, which is if not the longest close to it in football. The first read is open in Kevin Okonnell’s office. Yeah, this was like proof of concept for that. So many of the passing concepts I thought so well executed. The receivers’s getting open. Jordan Addison back is huge. But McCarthy just got to pull the trigger faster. He has to trust the scheme and not more than his eyes. He has to trust what the offense is giving to him. Dan, what do you do? What do you do with with with the situation with JJ and Carson? What do you do? Yeah, I I still think you’re going, okay, you’re taking it week by week. Like if Carson Wentz comes in and continues to play well, there’s a reality where if the defense and him are complimentary, he’s playing at a high level, you’re not rushing him off the field, you know, you want to get JJ healthy. And I agree, he’s got to play faster. I I just think it’s a weekby- week thing. I honestly believe that. And you got to be honest with your quarterbacks and your football team. If Carson continues to play at a high level, you’re not taking him off the field. Y could be an interesting conundrum if that carries. All right, time for some top stories. Big questions in Washington where wide receiver Terry McLaren is uncertain to play Sunday versus Atlanta due to his quad injury per source. He’s seeking more information about the injury. Now remember Jaden Daniels working his way back from the knee injury that sidelined him last week. So something to keep an eye on there with the commanders. Now Bucks wide receiver Mike Evans is expected to miss three to four weeks with a strained left hamstring. Sources telling ESPN an MRI on Tuesday showed that Evans has a moderate strain. He missed three games with a hamstring injury last season. has just struggled keeping those hamstrings healthy. And in Tennessee, there are changes for rookie quarterback Cam Ward. And that offense, Titans head coach Brian Callahan is relinquishing his game day play calling job to quarterback coach Bo Hardig. That’s interesting. Something to keep an eye on there. And the Texans are releasing safety CJ Gardner Johnson. Gardner Johnson started all three games this season. Interesting move there. Obviously, he’s been a part of multiple teams, but no longer going to be with the Texans. All right, still to come on NFL Live, 12 personnel, Daniel Jones and that group has been doing, guys. Uh, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, so I feel like I keep being the one to ask the the big questions here, but are are the Colts fooling us? Are they frauds? I mean, how are we feeling, Kyle, about these Colts, dude? They have the important part of the roster. The important parts of their roster is good. The offensive line, the defensive front, up the middle. You know, I think about Franklin. I think about the two guys on the inside on the defensive line. Shane Stiken’s a really good coach. He understands that he doesn’t have to turn over the entire offense to Daniel Jones, but with the way that Jonathan Taylor runs the football, the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage, it puts Daniel Jones into situations where it’s an open book test and he doesn’t have to go reinvent the wheel. And that’s why Daniel Jones has looked good. Can’t help but think that the Kevin Oonnell impact has been huge for him. and Josh Macau, my old buddy in Minnesota. Daniel Jones looks like a new uh new quarterback. And the Colts look like they have a real football team. We’ll know more about the Colts this week because I Indianapolis is angry at me because the other night what I said. Yes. I said the teams they beat are combined 1 and eight. We also put the Denver Broncos in that spot where they could go win the AFC. They haven’t played like that. I’m just saying they haven’t come close to playing like that. The Colts have been playing like it. Yeah, but the Broncos haven’t. So the 1-8, the teams they beat are 1 and eight. So we’ll know more. If they go to LA and beat the Rams, we’re going to sit here and we’re going to say the Colts should win that division. If they go to LA and get beat up, we might change the tune on that and say, “Hey, let’s wait and see.” Well, then who’s the biggest challenger? Because I think you guys both like Houston coming into the season. Who’s going to be the biggest challenger? Jacksonville, which is reflective of the betting market right now. Indie is the betting favorite, but Jacksonville the non-starter in Houston because of the offensive line. Yep. Yeah. tough coordinator chain didn’t really matter. Uh that can’t fix that. Always comes back to the offensive line. I was going to say never ever forget it. You never do. You’re smart. You know, it always comes back to the That’s why I had to retire early cuz I sucked. They were like, “Get out of here. Go talk about it, buddy.” No, you didn’t. By the way, the throwback weekend, great to hear you miked up and with AP and Matt Ryan. That was fun stuff. A lot of fun stuff. Okay, guys. Did you dress off like you were in the 50s? No, I did not. Not like Matt Ryan did. He was He was all full. Nate Berles suit, too. What did you think of Nate’s suit? It was great. I asked him if he had any nunchucks in his Cadillac. He looked like one of those guys from the 70s that does karate. Of all the people that watched that show and were on that show, I might be me and uh Brent might be the only two that actually remember. Didn’t have to dress up either. Didn’t have to put any makeup that were around watching it back when it was when it actually started. Bill Cower looked amazing and he hadn’t had a full head of hair like that since the 70s. And the smiles that he had walking around the studio with that full quaff. I might try that. He looked amazing. I might bring my old hair. We’re going to do wig day next. Bring my old hair back. Let’s do that. All right, guys.

NFL LIVE | Vikings are a THREAT even to Carson Wentz – Dan Orlovsky on Kevin O’Connell not bring JJ McCarthy back