Projecting Minnesota Vikings 2025 playoff fate

Projecting Minnesota Vikings 2025 playoff fate

Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. I just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. I will ride with this group. Seriously, man. Please. And away we go. And a happy Thor’s Day to all who celebrate Thor Istrom from Matthew Barry’s fantasylife.com. And we have a show for you guys today on Purple Daily. We are Look, Jud’s already just he’s grinding the hands together. He’s ready. We are going to pick all 14 NFL playoff teams, our Super Bowl matchups, our Super Bowl winners. Thor even has the cuz he’s a draft man, the top three teams that we’ll pick in the 2026 NFL draft, our MVP, and some uh some criticism or call it slander from a smart football guy directed toward the Vikings from ESPN.com. So, we’ll get to all of that. Let’s shout out Quick Trip first before we do anything else. Let’s start the show the right way here, Jud. Absolutely. Because Quick Trip and the Vikings are teaming up to put you in the ride of your dreams. Folks, picture this. You behind the wheel of a brand new 2025 Ford Bronco Big Bend or tearing up the trails on a brand new 2025 Polaris Sportsman ATV. How do you win this? Just stop by your local Quick Trip and for every dollar you spend using Quick Rewards, you’ll earn a point to spend in the Vikings fan zone, purchase qualifying products and earn bonus Fanzone points. Take or just tap the QuickRewards app, enter the Vikings fanzone and start winning now. Details available at quicktrip.com/fanzone. Quicktrip.com/fanzone. Drive, ride, and win like a Viking only at Quicktrip. Also, before we get into the show here, uh so a little over a week ago, the tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School, uh well, it it touched our show and Declan’s family as he’s talked about and he talked about it in depth on Mackey and Jud uh last week, but or two weeks ago, but time has sort of flown here, but last week, week and a half ago, but uh Purple Daily and Scorn North listeners have uh helped raise over $2,000 so far. So, Dax, explain to our audience here. Yeah. Yeah. So, if you want to help out uh the students, the faculty, the parents even uh at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, you can do so by going to scorort.com/donate. Your your money is going towards resources to help these kids try to get the necessary therapy and resources that they need to get some semblance of trying to go back to school. Plus, classrooms need to be repaired. Uh plenty of of things that need to be improved at that school, not just inside of it, but certainly outside of it for that great community there. So if you are inclined to donate, whether it’s five bucks, 100 bucks, anywhere you want, anything you want to donate, scornorth.com/donate to help out Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Jud, who should start? Who should Should Thor start? Yes. Yeah. Have Thor start. Thor, do you want to bat lead off here? You want to pick You want to tell us your 14 playoff teams across the league? I’m happy to start there. Well, let’s start with playoff teams and then we will get to we’ll then we’ll all do playoff teams and then we’ll do another round where we do our Super Bowl matchup just to kind of create some structure here. Okay. All right. Let’s do this. So, we’ll start with the NFC and I’m going to I’m going to go by order of seeds, predicted order of seeds here. So, my number one seed, the Commanders. Number two seed, your Minnesota Vikings. Oh, wow. three seed and and some people don’t like this team. They do play the easiest strength of schedule by the projected win totals for this coming season which bit more predictive than last year’s record. The 49ers I I I I think end up scraping in and winning that division. Not a good division. Uh number four, this is a this is a bit of a surprise too. Um, but my boy terrible Terry Fontnau and the Atlanta Falcons stealing their division. Not a very good division there either. Uh, the Falcons put a lot of eggs in this basket to try to save terrible Terry’s job. Maybe this is my bias because I want Terry in my life going forward. I’ve put the Falcons as division winners getting the four seed. last three wild cards, Eagles, Packers at 6, and then uh the Seahawks sneaking into the playoffs at seven. That means that I’ve out of the playoffs in the NFC, Lions, Cowboys, Rams, Buccaneers. You say Commander, who is your one seed? The Commanders. Commanders, the one seed. Dude, the N it’s the NFC is so tough to pick, especially if you believe that the Vikings are a playoff team, and some people just write the Vikings off and don’t include them, but you’re leaving out like Rams or you’re there. You have to leave out two or three viable teams, but you have you have Buccaneers missing playoffs. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, it’s a it’s a it’s a flawed team in my opinion. Okay. Well, the South is flawed. The the the entire South is flawed. For sure. It’s a hard That’s hard to pick, Pete, because if of ineptitude, the rest of the divisions are hard to pick because teams are good usually. That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. And and I think for that division, it’s going to be another one of those years where they’re you have a couple of those teams that are sort of stuck together around 500 uh towards the end of the season. And and I’m I’m just having the Falcons squeeze in there. Okay. Give us your AFC playoff teams and then we’ll we’ll go from there. AFC playoff teams again starting at the one seed and going down. One seed Bills, two seed Ravens, three seed Chiefs. Now this is it’s chalk to this point. Now, now we get a little bit less chalky. Four seed. I like the Jaguars to return to the playoffs this year. I love Lean Cohen. I thought that was a really really good hire. That guy is super duper sharp. If between him and then having a healthy roster and then adding uh Travis Hunter, I also like some of the their free agent acquisitions. I I think they they they win that division, which is not a great division. Uh, and then the wild cards, Broncos at five, Bengals at six, and then another surprise one, the Patriots, who play one of the easiest schedules in the NFL this year. I think they sneak in at seven. Uh, which would have the the teams I have missing the playoffs in the AFC of relevance. Steelers, Texans, Chargers. Yeah, Chargers losing Sean Slater, but they move Joe Alt over the left tackle, but how much of a right tackle problem do they have? And can Joe Alt step right in? Um, so that’s that’s a that’s a tough division too, man. I mean, even the cuz so you’ve got two teams from the AFC West out, but the other two teams are coached by Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carol. And so there’s just competitive teams all throughout that division. That’s a good division. Yeah. And and and I think the Steelers are going to be or I’m sorry, the Raiders will be a tough out, but yeah, I mean, just how good that division is, I I couldn’t get there to to getting them in. Okay. So, we’ll we’ll pause before we get to the Super Bowl part there. And uh Jud, you want to you want to bat second here? I’ll bat second. I’ll bat second. All right. So, first of all, I’ll start with NFC division winners. Okay. Commanders. Wow, you guys. Yep. I like the command. Like, I’ve been I’ve been questioning the Commanders, but then the more I think about it, I’m like, no, they look like they’re legit. the Eagles. I It’s so tough to repeat with a really good season a after a Super Bowl championship. Not saying that they can’t. Uh but anyway, Commanders unpopular pick. The Packers win the division. Wow. Look at you, dude. Yep. We got the Packers winning the division. Wow. Well, but just wait. Just wait. Judge’s new ringtone here. But that division is incredible. The South, I’ve got the Bucks. Baker Mayfield’s turned out to be really good. And again, I don’t trust that division. Like, I just don’t like there’s no team I really like. I think Carolina could pop up in a couple of years, but I don’t think that they’re there yet. The Falcons, I don’t know. I mean, Panics might be fine, but he also might be hurt by week three. Um, in the West, I’m going with San Francisco. I like that pick. I think they are a well-run, well coached team with question marks. Um, if Brock Party is ever going to shut people up, it’s this year. Like, there’s a lot of question out, well, now you’re paid. Now, they had to jettison some of your teammates because you’re paid. Well, so Brock Pury and the 49ers win the West. Uh, my wild card teams in the NFC. Vikings, Eagles, and Rams. I think the Rams make it. Yep. Yep. Uh, are you worried at all about Matthew Stafford’s back? Yes, I am. I’ve gone back and forth on on this. I did think about Thor’s pick, the Seahawks, but I al so I’m worried about Stafford’s back. I like McVey a lot. I think he’s a hell of a coach. Uh the most significant team that I just spurned left out though was the Lions. Yeah, I left the Lions out. You guys both have the Lions out, John. You and me. Yep. Look at us. There’s just a lot there. A brutal schedule. Yeah. Coordinators are gone. offensive line is not anything close to what it was. There’s just a lot of question marks there to me. Yeah, losing Ragno and and Zyler’s tough, but in particular Ragno that that offensive line been so nasty in the past. We have to see what their interior offensive line looks like. That could be a different offense if that isn’t a different interior offensive line and and it’s going to get worse. We just don’t know by how much. But if you want to look at an example of of a team that has awesome tackles but a crappy interior offensive line and what that did the offense, take take a look no further than the Vikings the last couple years. Having a a bad interior offensive line hurts. Yeah. And they still managed to round it to win 13 games and 14 games. But yeah, if you’re looking to make a playoff run can be tough. So, okay, Jud, give us your AFC teams. All right. My division winners in the AFC are the Bills in the East, the Ravens in the North, the Texans in the south. I actually think the Texans come back and play well. Offensive line concerns me. CJ Strad, great rookie year, dropped off a little bit. I think he’s good. And then the West is the Chiefs, so I will stay with the Chiefs. Eventually, it’s going to end. I don’t know that it ends, at least as far as division wins this season. And then my wild card teams in the AFC are the Chargers from the West, the Raiders from the West. Oh. Oh, yeah. I love what you’re doing. And the Bengals from the North. I leave out the Steelers, the Broncos. Um, and and on the Broncos, I like what they did. I think they’re on the right track. I think that Bo Knicks might take a bit of of a step back. Teams have had a hold now summer and spring and summer to watch them on film. So, I think that that definitely is going to impact them. Um, so, and the Steelers, I mean, if I don’t know, the Steelers just they make the playoffs a lot, but they certainly have not been a dominant to good team for a while now. So, Chargers, Raiders, and Bengals are my wild card team. It’s also worth noting that in the history of the NFL, only one quarterback aged 41 or older was effective or even really passable, quite frankly, Tom Brady. So, cuz Brett Favre was like 39, turning 40 in 2009, and then we saw what happened when he hit the age cliff. So Aaron Rogers would have to do something completely unprecedented outside of Tom Brady in order for the Steelers to to comb through a tough division. So okay, so both you guys have the Lions out is the biggest headline so far. I think Balln knowowers over here, me and Jud. Yep. Yep. Yep. Big ball dance right here. Yeah, Sam Cassell would be proud. Okay, we’ll see if if I mean Declan’s been all over the Lions fading the entire off seasonason. So, Declan, what are you give us your NFC playoff teams? Okay, I’ll start with my uh division winners, then go to the wild card. Uh division winners, Vikings. Vikings win the north this year. I said that state fair. I will hold serve. Vikings win the north. Mhm. I will have the Eagles still winning the NFC East. I know there’s usually a Super Bowl hangover between one of the two teams that always get there. I don’t know if the Eagles will get back to the Super Bowl. I still like them more that I know the Commanders are the fun pick. I still like the Eagles a lot. So, I’m going to take the Eagles. I Giants and Cowboys, I mean, Giants especially are going to be a gong show this year. Uh, so I still have the Eagles winning that division. I have the NerS also bouncing back. Easiest strength of schedule in the NFL. Uh, they were still, even though they were they were uh just crippled by injuries last year, they still put up a really good um they still had a pretty decent season. And sports books love them. I mean, some even have them winning 11 and a half, 12 games with with minus money. So like they they’re going to they’re they’re going to bounce back this year. And then I have I have the Bucks winning the South. I feel like it’s all outside of the Saints. I feel like it’s a dart throw. Like you could blindly pick one out of the hat and say, “Yeah, that team might win the NFC South.” So I have Vikings, Eagles, Bucks, Niners winning their divisions. My wild card teams, Commanders, Packers, surprise one, Arizona Cardinals. Oh, I don’t hate this. I I stepped around the They won eight games last year. They doubled their win total. Jonathan Ganon’s done a good job. They got weapons. Yep. That’s a good sleeper one. Don’t sleep on the I’m not Again, I don’t think there’s like a huge playoff run maybe in there, but I do think they bounce back again. Also, just strength of schedule wise, they have one of the easier paths in the NFC for strength of schedule. So, I have the Cardinals getting in as well. Those are my seven playoff teams. Like it in the NFC. And and again, Lions out. No Lions. So, not even a wild card team for any of the three of you guys. Three guys that know ballers. Ballers. Ball knows. Exactly. Right. I did this, too, by the way. Yep. You know this. No one was in cahoots. Jud, Thor, and I. We’re not We’re not We’re not Well, you’ve been out on Detroit. I’ve been out since like May. Yeah. Yeah. So, your ethics here, D. Let it know if they go, you know, seven and 10, I will be the first one saying, “I told you so.” In in January, right? I’ll be that guy. Of course you are. Um, in the AFC, I have the division winners as followed the Bengals. I’m with Jud. I think the Bengals bounce back. They win the North. It’s a tough division at at the top at least. I had the Bengals winning the North. I had the Bills winning their division. I had the Chiefs winning theirs. And I had the Texans winning the South. Um, wild card teams, Ravens, Patriots. I think Patriots get in. I think Patriots bounce back. I think Patriots are going to bounce back here. And my last one in the Denver Broncos. I I I They have a good defense. Bo Nicks uh is able to just manage the game there. He still had a really good rookie season. Uh I think they’re so competitive. That division is also stacked. Um but I I I will not buy into the Chargers. I just won’t do it. So I have the Broncos being the wild card team there to round things out. So those are my playoff teams in the NFC and AFC. Pete Carol chewing gum right now. can’t believe that you don’t believe either almost he’s using this he’s using this as a motivation for his team chomping the gum I mean it the there’s going to be some teams and the Raiders are one of them that probably just need to take a step before they take the playoff step so you could I could see the Raiders sneak to like an eight or nine win season and just maybe losing out on a tiebreaker something like that but wow okay there’s I feel like there’s pressure on me to to go four for four kicking the Lions out of the playoffs here. Oh, there is. Yeah, definitely. There’s pressure. Yeah. Am I a balln knower? Are you a baller? We’re about to find out. Exactly. Right. Special no ball or not. So, I will say that uh I believe football is one in the trenches and the offensive line tends to determine wins and losses more than almost any other position group in the league. There’s other things that clearly matter like quarterback play matters a lot and edge rushers and and pass rushers matter. But earlier this week on the O line committee, our guys Jeremiah Sirills and Alex Boon ranked all 32 offensive lines separate from each other. They came together and it was shocking how much those lists actually matched just them. And they’re not going through like PFF. They’re just it’s their own intuition. They know all the players and uh so they had a pretty clear-cut consensus like top 10 to 12 offensive lines in the league. I’m just want to tell you that I am going to put as many of the top 10 to 12 offensive lines in the league as possible in the playoffs cuz I think it would be I’m leaning on offensive lines and strength of schedule to drive my decisions here. Okay. So, we’ll start with the NFC playoff teams. It’s my my gut says to try and find a way to like fade the Eagles for various reasons. Saquon Barkley’s workload. Uh you got Nick Serriani pretending like he doesn’t know that it’s ceremony night tonight. Just it’s always weird vibes, but that team is still loaded up and down both sets of trenches. They’ve got weapons on the edges. Barkley is healthy right now. And so like even if I think he’s going to take a step back, give me the Eagles to repeat as division champions in the NFC East. I think the Lions, despite a brutal schedule and new coordinators and 40% new offensive line, I actually think they still sneak the NFC North for one more year. Wow. With like 11 or 12 wins. We got to take away that ball ball knower card from you, Phil. And part of my logic, Thor, is they have one of the biggest rest advantages in the league this year. So the Lions have a plus3 net day rest advantage up and down their schedule. So I think having the extra day 13 different times or having an extra half a week on your opponent, I think that adds up over the course of 17 games and it’s going to help supplement some of the losses that they experienced. But I am with you though. It does feel like they are teetering on the edge of the whole thing could come if Ben Johnson was holding that offense together. Uh but they they still have some weapons. Jared Goff is a really good top 10, top 11 quarterback. So I still have Lions winning the division. I’ve got the Falcons winning the NFC South. So the Falcons have one of the easiest schedules in the league and they’ve got high-end weapons to surround Michael Penn. Bjan Robinson, Drake London took a big step last year and uh and they have they still have a pretty high-end offensive line there in Atlanta even after losing Drew Dolman. So, give me the Falcons to win a division that’s always kind of up in the air. And uh and you guys have mentioned the 49ers schedule being one of the easiest in the league. So, give me the Niners to win the NFC West. Also, Kyle Shanahan always bounces back after a bad year in San Francisco and bounces back to like go to the Super Bowl or NFC Championship game. This feels a little different cuz it’s Brock Party’s team much more than it’s been in the past. But, I mean, Ricky Pearl is going to take a step as a first round receiver. They still have Trent Williams as their starting left tackle. So, there’s more questions about San Francisco than there’s been in the past. But give me San Francisco to win that division, especially if Matthew Stafford’s back is going to be a problem. Wildcard teams, Vikings, well coached, top five offensive line, top five pass rush, weapons all over the place. So Vikings as a really good wild card team. Packers get in as a wild card team. They won 11 games last year uh despite almost not winning a game in the division. So if they can start winning a couple division games here and there, look out for the Packers. And then my surprise wildcard team is the Carolina Panthers to sneak in at nine and eight. The Panthers were very good in the second half of the season last year. They had fourth quarter leads at Philadelphia and Kansas City and they don’t play a 2024 playoff team until week nine. So they have a really smooth schedule the first two and a half months of the season. That means I’m leaving out the Tampa Bay Bucks. I like the Bucks, but I don’t know. It just kind of feels like I don’t know if I fully believe in Todd BS as a head coach. Uh Mike Evans, another year older. I think they’re going to be a really good competitive team, but I’m you have to leave somebody out. Uh the Commanders, I could see a little sophomore slump for Jaden Daniels and 12 days of net rest disadvantage on their schedule. So, tough schedule and they have the short end of the rest stick compared. So there’s a between the Lions and the Commanders, there is a net 25day rest swing Lion schedule compared to Commander schedule. So I am factoring that in. Rams I worry about Stafford’s back. Seahawks I wanted to put in, but there’s only seven teams here. So those are my NFC playoff teams. Do you guys think so? The one thing that occurs to me is as good as the North is because their schedules are tough, including playing each other twice. I don’t think they get three teams in this year. I I think they get two in and I think somebody gets hit in the chin and falls to the canvas and gets the 10 count. It could be. It could be. Yeah, the margin for error is is is very small in that division for sure. And this is why like people that think the Bears are a playoff team, I want to hear your logic from front to back cover on how you think they’re going to navigate that division, their schedule and the other NFC teams, the Rams, the Seahawks, the hell the the Bucks, the Falcons, the the Panthers, like how are the Bears navigating all of this to get to a wild card spot? I I’m curious. Uh AFC playoff teams, Bills, Ravens win their divisions. I think those are the two best teams in the AFC roster-wise. And then the Chiefs obviously with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. But uh I think the Chargers, even losing Rashawn Slater, they’re moving Joe Alt, a blue chipper over the left tackle. Uh so we’ll see how their offensive line holds up, but Jim Harbaugh averages 11 and a half wins per season as an NFL coach. And so I think the Chargers take over and win that division. I have the Jaguars winning the AFC South for the reasons Thor mentioned. Trevor Lawrence finally gets the Shawn McVey tree guy and Liam Cohen. Liam Cohen’s like the forgotten Shawn McVey tree guy. He was the offensive coordinator for Shawn McVey like right after Kevin Oan left. Yeah. Uh so give me give me I know he’s had kind of a weird introductory press conference. Nick Serriani had a weird introductory press conference and look at him now. He’s a Super Bowl winner. So, uh, wild card teams in the AFC, the Chiefs, the Broncos, and the New England Patriots. I do question their offensive line a little bit. Questionable up front in weapons, but Mike Vrabel, Drake May, and the second easiest schedule on paper should lead them to about nine wins. So, I have the Bengals out and firing Zack Taylor. I’ve got the the Texans have a really spotty offensive line and a tough schedule out. Uh and uh the Raiders maybe one more year from now we got the Raiders going in. Zack Zack Taylor. So the the two coaches I think deserve to be fired because they can go somewhere else and exist. Stfansky one. Zack Taylor too though because like if you look again how the Bengals are run, they’re run so poorly. They’ve got this quarterback Zack Taylor. I’m not saying he’s great, but I am saying this. The Bengals are Joe Burrow for four or five years go to a Super Bowl. And you are dysfunctional from the top. My That’s what I want to see. I want to see in Jacksonville. How are you run? How are you run? Cuz I will say this, Philadelphia, Howie Roseman, their GM is fantastic. Like Nick Serriani, if you transplant him to 2024 Jacksonville, I don’t think they’re a playoff team. And I think he probably is a, you know, a hostile coach who’s overly aggressive. And I don’t think it works. Like I do think that these teams are very much based on their cultures, how they’re run. Uh the Bengals terribly run, Cleveland terribly run. And my question now is does Jacksonville have leadership from the very top now. What’s that like? And we’ll do a full breakdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars leadership potentially on NFL takes next week. Be great. I want to see it. Um before we let’s make our Super Bowl picks, Super Bowl uh who plays in the Super Bowl and who wins the Super Bowl. Starting with Thor in just a moment here. Uh, shout out to Underdog. Underdog is back for another football season on Purple Daily Dex. It is Thursday Night Football. I’m very excited. I just locked in. Here’s what I got, Thor. I have just This is a simple one for me. A simple pick them. I have Seaquan going over just.5 rushing or receiving touchdown. Basically a touchdown for Saquon. Okay. And then I I I will ride Dak Prescott one and a half passing touchdowns. I think they’re going to be playing from behind. I think they’re going to pass the ball like crazy. So, I’m locking that in. That’s what I’m locked in for for Thursday Night Football to kick things off here. Uh whether you want to get in on tonight for Thursday Night Football tomorrow, Sunday, Monday. Uh there there’s plenty of awesome options at Underdog. Send me your wins too. uh go to the underdog app on the App Store or Google Play Store and then you can uh use promo code score ko r for a deposit match. Go get the underdog app and use promo code score. Only suggestion if I may if you’re going to put in the deck over touchdown and a half maybe toss in a third leg maybe go over the half of a touchdown for George Pickkins. I mean those got to go to someone those odds a little bit. I like this. This is what we always have to have Thor just riding shotgun with us here. Uh uh I do you have any advice l for MSP plumbing, heating and air conditioning users or Yeah, there’s a parlay I like on that card too. Air conditioning and uh heating all together HVAC HVAC parlay. Yep. But it starts it starts with this Thorski. It starts with going duckless because if you call MSP, they are a Mitsubishi Elite Diamond contractor for Duckless and they know what they are doing. Man, do they’ve helped the sports dad out. They’re fantastic. If you have an older home with no duck work, that’s no problem. MSP specializes in smart and efficient duckless installs. These systems aren’t cheap. So, guess what? MSP is going to help you make the best decision for not only your home, but also your budget. Quiet, efficient, just comfort where it’s needed. MSP has been serving the Twin Cities for more than 100 years. Local, trusted, and committed to your comfort. Give them a call. 651-615-4292. Callm MSP.com. Callms msp.com and you can bet on this. You can bank on this. MSP is going to do the job for you. You know who isn’t duckless, Jud? The Miami Dolphins cuz they roster Storm Duck. Wow. Cornerback. It’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable. It’s phenomenal. It’s week one. Like it’s like you came out of the like like we started you up. It’s week one and Thor is just ready to go. Yeah, I’m ready to go. Are you Are you ready? It’s been months. I I mean it’s like you’ve been wound like a toy from me like ah football and how long I had to wait for my son JJ McCarthy to take the field. It’s been a long time coming, baby. I’ve been waiting for this weekend for a year and a half. Okay. Well, let’s let’s find out how confident you are in JJ McCarthy. You got the Vikings winning the division in the NFC North. You’ve got him as the two seed. Mhm. Make your Super Bowl matchup pick. And so, who plays in the Super Bowl and who wins the Super Bowl? Well, I’m going to go with the title games first. NFC title game. We have the Washington Commanders against your Minnesota Vikings USA Stadium. Or no, it’s it would be in Washington. It would be by my predictions, it would be in Washington. And the Vikings and JJ McCarthy spur the upset there and qualify for the Super Bowl by upsetting the Washington Commander. Marty, watch out. Watch out. I got to get this out. Party, give it to me. There we go. I thought you going to wave the dog. I thought it’d be too. There’s the flag. No, I got I had the flag and I did didn’t didn’t want it to accidentally fall into his cage. I had to get it out there for Thor. Wow. It I mean, incredible roster on both sides. You’re awesome in the trenches, the weapons, the coaching staff. I I would take O’Connell as an offensive play caller and Flores as a defense player over literally anyone else in the NFL. Uh, and you guys know my opinion about JJ McCarthy. The people that are lower on the Vikings, they’re all like, “Oh, we don’t know anything about JJ McCarthy.” and and I’ve seen the guy play. Uh I’m pretty confident. So uh and then in the AFC, I’m going I’m going with the Buffalo Bills over the Baltimore Ravens. Setting up the most epic Super Bowl matchup in the history of football. The Buffalo Bills against the Minnesota Vikings. Mhm. I am going to call for the Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl. It might be a little bit premature crowning the Vikings uh this early in in that way. JJ McCarthy’s first year as a starter. They lost to TCU in a firefight in the college football playoff. The next year they ended up winning the natty. I will call for the Bills to beat the Vikings in the Super Bowl. Dude, what a Super Bowl that would be. I I was thinking about this, too, cuz this would divide the nation because you you have to pick your allegiance of which franchise that has literally been waiting for it their entire lives. I I I think the majority of people would probably lean more Bills. I think the country it’s one of those Super Bowl matchups where everyone would have a rooting interest. I feel like everyone would have an opinion on which of those two that they wanted to win for whatever reason. It’s because the bill the Bills four Super Bowl losses came whatif more recently. So more people are emotionally attached to it and consecutively it happened four consecutive years. Not to mention that everyone just watched the Netflix Cowboys series which had a couple episodes featuring poor Jim Kelly and these Bills players that were devastated. So Scott Norwood Yeah. I mean it’s a Yeah. scarred franchise uh which we know something about around these parts. And Bill’s Mafia is liked. Correct. Yeah. I I feel like they’re liked. I feel like jump through the tables. Yeah, fans would gravitate towards like them and and it’s Buffalo. They’re, you know, that market and they don’t got a lot going and that would be one that would be one of the very few super maybe the first one ever. We’re both the fan bases like before the game would like shake the hand and like if if it’s got to be someone else, we we’re happy it’s you. Yeah. Also true. Yeah. Okay. Uh Jud. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Who plays in the Super Bowl and who wins it? Okay. The Super Bowl is the Baltimore Ravens. So, the Bills don’t make it. The Ravens make it. I feel like the Bills are destined unfortunately for this because keep in mind they’ve had their quarterback now again. Like, they’ve had their guy and he can’t get him over the hump. So, this time around it’s not the Chiefs, it’s the Ravens and they play I’m with Thor on this, the Washington Commanders. Oh, wait. You’re Wait, you’re with Thor on what? Yeah. Well, Thor, you you said that the Vikings are going to play the Commanders in the uh conference championship game. I’m saying that they play in the conference championship game and the Commanders make it. Oh, so you’re saying that Vikings also play in the Yeah. Yeah, why not? Yeah, sure. Yeah, it’s a crapshoot. Who knows? So, it’s the Ravens and Commanders in the Super Bowl, and I’m going with the Baltimore Ravens. Okay. Lamar Jackson and Jaden Daniels just running around. That’ be a fun one. Fun Super Bowl. Defenders. Fun Super Bowl. But yeah, the Vikings, if the Vikings make the conference championship game, it’ll be great. But I won’t be completely shocked at all. Yeah. All right, Declan. Boy, this is Yeah, it’s crazy stuff. This is This is fun. Uh Okay, so here’s mine. He says that he’s rolling his eyes. This is fun. No, it’s fun. I’m not rolling my eyes. This is fun. Yeah, damn right it’s fun. It’s week one. That’s right. Football. Everyone’s having fun. So, I also have the Bills making the play making the Super Bowl. Making the Super Bowl in the AFC. And in the NFC, I have the 49ers. Okay. And in this matchup for the Bills going for their first Super Bowl. For the Niners who have knocked on the door what twice now in the last 10 years of trying to get their first Super Bowl, it was Kaepernick. It was Pretty. They’ve been in a handful of NFC title games too over that stretch. And unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills lose their fifth Super Bowl and the San Francisco 49ers. The winning Super Bowl. God, I was storytelling there. You had no idea where I was going to go. Did you have any idea where you were going? 49ers. Okay. No, I knew I was going. I dramatic effect. Does Perty stand on that stage and flip off America and the world? And with me also from ITV flipping off America because I’m I’m standing with Brock Pury because I’m a Brock Pury stand. So yes, I I I think this is finally this is it. This is it. Wow. Okay. Holy cow. The 40. So you would have 49ers who I think this would would this then tie them with the Patriots for the most Super Bowl titles cuz they have five. So they’d be hunting for the most Super Bowl titles while the Bills would be hunting for the most Super Bowl losses all in the same I don’t I don’t know. That’s a hunt. That’s an unfortunate unfortunate circumstance like these fans would be like, “Okay, it’s all yours.” Wow. Okay. I I will say that I think the NFC representation is really hard to pick because it it just feels like there’s more teams ready to pop and win a Super Bowl in the AFC. I mean, hell, the Ravens and the Bills have been waiting at the front of the line for years, right? Just can somebody please let us into the party and see what happens here? Um, so I do think this is the year for either the Bills or the Ravens. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are alltime generationally great quarterbacks who have just been overshadowed by maybe the greatest of all time and one of the great teams of all time, the Chiefs. So I do think that the Buffalo Bills are the most likely AFC team to gain homefield advantage. So this plays into my logic. They play in a weak division. They have a weak schedule up and down. Uh whereas the Ravens, I think, are going to have a tougher test to get to like the 13 or 14 wins needed. So, the Bills will host playoff games all throughout the AFC bracket and they will get to the Super Bowl. And uh I I’m going to stick with not knowing ball here. I think there’s one more year left in the Lions window here. And I think I think this is the Super Bowl a lot of people have wanted to see the last two years. The Bills and the Lions, two of the most belleaguered franchises in NFL history. The Lions will have been battle tested for three or four straight years. It’ll be a grind for them to get to the division in the playoffs. Um, but you can take that act on the road when you can run the ball that way. So, give me the Lions and the Bills in the Super Bowl with the Buffalo Bills circling the wagons for the first time in franchise history. I got the Bills winning the whole thing. I do think the Vikings might Yeah, they’re like AFC Vikings. They’re AFC Vikings. Yeah, AFC Vikings. Y Okay, we’ll make a couple other picks here. We’ll do MVPs. We can kind of digest some of this stuff here uh in a moment. But uh game so game day men’s health, I’ll tell you after uh after turning 40, I’m a man. I’m 40. That’s right. When you look back 10, 15 years, it was just very apparent for me that I’m not feeling like I did when I was 25. Decreased energy more than usual, mental fog, some stubborn weight. And I’m really fortunate that I found Game Day Men’s Health a few months ago. Modern Men’s Healthcare, where men go to reclaim energy, vitality, no judgment, just solutions. So, my tea number was lower than it probably should be at 40. I mean, it decreases over time, but they can help with testosterone replacement therapy, weight loss solutions, uh, peptides, advanced lab work. Check them out and let me know if you go in for a consultation or you start one of their different plans, uh, Edina Minnetonka and soon Roseville. I’d love to hear from you. So, email me at [email protected]. Go to gamedaymen’shealth.com/purpely. That’s gamedaymenealth.com/purpely. go in for a consultation and take control of your health and your life. Uh and then uh go celebrate at Padres’s after you do that, Jud. Huh? Huh? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because you know what, Padres’s they have beer that you know what? It tastes like beer. That’s This is not a 2025, oh, we are going to try and reinvent the wheel because you know what? The wheel does not need to be reinvented. What it needs to be is perfected. And Padres’s done that. I’ve told you about the red for quite some time here and it is absolutely a great beer and now here is the good news. Padres can be found throughout the metro in Rochester and Mano in liquor stores. So you can try it too. There’s the Red Chimney if you’re watching this. Um their beer, ladies and gentlemen, is a great beer for game day. If you want something to sip on on game day, check out Padres’s. Again, available throughout the metro, Mano, and Rochester in liquor stores. All right, dudes. Give uh just a little more analysis here. So, on the on the playoffs and the and the Super Bowl here. So, we all have the Vikings either winning the division or getting to the playoffs, right? Uh and Thor’s got them going to the Super Bowl. Jud, you kind of we kind of baited you into saying that or you I don’t know. You hinted that they were going to get to the NFC Championship game. Yeah, I said I think there’s a chance they could get to the NFC Championship game. I think that’s a real possibility. Yeah. I mean, they’re built for it. They’re 100%. We could talk about McCarthy all we want, but when you look at what the Vikings have have done, and I think there might be a trade deadline deal for a quarterback, I think if things are trending right everywhere, but they but they basically say, “Okay, but he’s not great.” It would not shock me if if they pulled off. I’m not saying for this player, but I’m saying a Rams Jaylen Ramsay was that 2019 trade. Yeah, I would not be shocked. So, yes, a Vikings Vikings advancing to play on the road in the conference championship game, I don’t think should qualify as a Oh my god, I’m shocked by that. Mhm. Yeah. And Thor, you you mentioned JJ McCarthy uh because yeah, Michigan got to the college football playoff semifinals and then it was TCU that beat them and then TCU went to the championship game. It does feel like there’s a step to take. I’ve kind of circled 2026 all along as if this team crescendos and McCarthy gets a full year under his belt and plays well. It just kind of feels to me like 2026 would be the really open window assuming health for Hargrave and Allen and and a couple of your aging trenches players. I Yeah, I mean that I I I think so, but I also think this is this team is a Super Bowl contender right now, right? Like the the roster just is what it is. is and if McCarthy is even near as good as I I think he is um that you have a contender this year. But yeah, like you know, I think like realistic with the um winning the Super Bowl, yeah, you would probably put it probably put in in the near future as opposed to this year it just being JJ’s uh first year as a starter. There there will be some growing pains. There’s going to be some looks that that he sees obviously that he hasn’t seen before. Um and and so yeah, that like I I don’t necessarily disagree with that, but obviously I’m bullish on this year’s team. Yeah. Okay. Let’s go around the room one more time here. Start with Thor. Judge me. NFL MVP of the 2025 season. I’m going to go with uh I’m going to go with Jaden Daniels. Oo. Wow. Damn it. Wait. You had it. You could thunder stolen. Thunder stolen by Baln. Are you guys like I feel like you guys are blasting the commanders to the moon here a little aggressively. a little aggressive on the command. I go I go both directions with them, but and yeah, he could Jaden Daniels could easily drop off. I have said I would not be shocked if the commanders drop off a bit, but I also like him a lot. And so I’m very wishy-washy, but I’m either bullish on them or I’m sort of out more so than I think they’re going to be o okay, not great. Jaden Daniels though, I mean, he just might be special, too. Yeah, he ran for like 900 yards last year, which I mean, he might just be special that, you know, they might have hit the home run of that draft among those top what, three QBs taken. Drake May I like a lot. I love the stature like in those joint practices. Oh my god, like that stature is perfect. There’s a lot there’s the arm I liked a lot. Caleb, I don’t know yet. And Jaden Daniels might just be the guy providing health. I feel like it is it is pretty clear though that Jaden Daniels would have been the pick instead of Caleb Williams, right? Like if it was if you’re the Bears and it’s and Thor might say that that JJ McCarthy, but like we can have a discussion about maybe reranking those if you look five years down the road. But I don’t know. Oh, I mean, Jaden Daniels is just clearly the more dynamic, better, more accurate passer and player in the first year compared to Caleb Williams. For sure. Yeah. Are you talking about if Washington if they had the choice of the two or or what were you asking? Uh, either way, like I guess environment does environment matters. So, if you were to put Jaden Daniels with the Matt Eber flu Bears last year, he does I don’t think they win 12 games like the Commanders did. And this is where Dan Quinn was kind of a forgotten cast aside head coaching candidate and he’s a defensive guy, but Dan Quinn’s a leader and he can hire people and put together a professional structure that once had a 25-point lead in the third quarter of a Super Bowl. So, um, Dex, so you guys both have Jaden Daniels. Yeah. Okay, I agree. Dex MVP. Joe Burl. I think Joe Burrow is uh even though that defense is still obviously very suspect, uh if if I have them winning the uh winning their division and likely making a big playoff run, I I think he’s going to be a a prime candidate to win the MVP award. I I I definitely like Joe Bro, I think the most of of any other quarterback. I love his Moxy. I love the way he carries himself. Uh so I will ride with Joe Burrow as my NFL MVP. He’s an incredible player. The only thing that concerns there is the offensive line that he’s a crash test dummy behind it every year and and it’s like the management believes in him so much that they’ll, you know, every year they have the this desperate need on offensive line in the draft and then they’re like, “Oh, we’ll take one of our other needs because we got Joe back there and then you see it’s just the crash test dummy thing again.” Um, I I I’m hopeful for him get through the year uh healthy and if he does absolutely would be in play for the MVP. Incredible player. Incredible player. There has to be a certain level of team success to win MVP. And that defense and that offensive line make me really nervous. I feel like, maybe I’ll be wrong, but I think he’s going to put up MVP numbers just like he did last year, but they’re going to win like eight games and they’re going to fire a coach and and then they’re going to start over again. But, uh, I, you know, it’s crazy. So, I have Lamar Jackson winning MVP. This would be his third NFL MVP, which basically, even without a Super Bowl, puts him in the Hall of Fame somewhere down the road. And I think he will get a Super Bowl. But the craziest thing is last year he had compared to the previous season, so 2024 compared to 2023 where he won the MVP two years ago. He threw for 17 more touchdown passes last year. He had three fewer pick. He had 41 touchdowns, four interceptions, and ran for over 900 yardds on the ground. Threw for 500 more yards than the previous year. through his first ever 4,000yard passing season. His passer rating was 17 points higher. It was 119.6 and he led the league in QBR passer rating, yards per attempt, touchdown percentage, and I think rushing yards for a quarterback, too. So, not to say that Josh Allen didn’t also deserve MVP last year, but Josh like dude, Lamar Jackson is putting up numbers that we have not seen from a quarterback ever, and he’s entering his prime at age 28. So, uh, give me the third MVP for Lamar Jackson in 2025. Lamar Jackson should have won it last year. They voted for Josh Young cuz it’s the thing. It’s like, what was that year when, uh, was it they gave the MB in the NBA? They gave it to was it Carl or Charles Barkley or Carl Malone instead of Michael Jordan because they were just sick of giving it to Jordan every year. That’s what happened last year. And honestly, that’s one of the reasons I did not take Lamar Jackson for MVP this year because if they have a reason to give it to someone else, if it’s anywhere close, I think they go to another guy. And and I I ended up choosing Jaden Daniels. And it’s it’s just because the voting block are the people that are writing the stories. If it’s a more interesting story to write, that that sometimes can be your tiebreaker in your vote. Be very careful, Thor. Don’t Don’t insult the business. Yeah. writers will come after you again. Thor Oh my gosh, I love Twitter so much. Thor, nice job. I’m innocent. I, you know, you’re not wrong about I I agree completely. MVPs are based and I think it’s only 50 votes. So, like, yes, it’s it’s it’s based on it’s based on a lot of things, including including the fact that if you’ve won one, they don’t really love or two, they don’t love to give you a third, unless you just have to cuz it like it does put you in a certain historical, but you know what else puts you in a certain historical category? I don’t know. Combining for 5,000 yards in the air and on the ground with 41 touchdowns, four picks, and leading your team to 12 wins. Like, I He’s a historically right quarterback. So, wow. We just picked the entire NFL there, boys. Awesome stuff. Thorne Istrom from fantasylife.com. Uh, who are your your three worst teams in the league? Who? Because we got to finish the exercise. Who’s drafting first, second, and third? I have for the the top three picks in the 2026 draft, the Browns getting the first overall pick, Saint, and our boy Rick Spielman in the three hole with the Jets. Oh. Oh, let’s go. Wow. Let’s go, dude. So, what what separates the Saints and Browns? Because I mean, the Browns are a mess, but the Saints are a dumpster fire as far as that roster, as far as I can tell. Yeah, I think the Saints are a little bit worse than the Browns, but the Browns play the far harder schedule. So, that’s why I ended up sort of going that way. Um, and and I’ll just I’ll just say my if if I had to do the draft right now, my my predicted top three, I would go with Sam Levit with the first pick, which is way out there. Uh, most people aren’t aren’t saying this right now. Arizona State’s quarterback, I think, is really, really, really good. Um, and it does not appear that Arch Manning is going to be in this class or even that he deserves to be in this this coming class. You know, we don’t have to talk about him there. I I think Levit is the red shirt sophomore that ends up emerging. Number two, the Saints, Garrett Nuser. His Garrett Garrett Nuser’s father is the offensive coordinator of the Saints, Doug Nusmeer. Um, and Garrett is a really really good uh pocket passer. Um, we saw that against Clemson on Saturday. And then the Jets at three, I will give them Peter Woods, a Clemson interior defensive lineman. The Jets obviously traded uh the six round pick to get Harrison Phillips. That was a short-term thing. Uh Peter Woods is a is is a dominant interior defensive lineman that you can move around the line. I love that Thor sprinted through the finish line of this exercise, which is why we love Thor. He took he took the assignment, added an amazing extra thing, and did the mock draft in addition to finish it out. God bless. Next week, the entire the entire first and second round from Thor ranked finishes and all of the picks. Yeah, this is all coming together in like full circle offseason blueprint episodes, which maybe we just start those now instead of in in February. So, uh yeah, again, he’s Thor Nestrom from Matthew Barry’s fantasylife.com. You can find his draft musings. We’ll see you again next Thursday where we can actually react to a JJ McCarthy regular season game for the first time Monday night. It’s all happening, baby. It’s all happening. What a time to be alive. Be so much fun. This is Purple Daily. Thanks for hanging out with us, everyone.

Projecting Minnesota Vikings 2025 playoff fate! We pick the playoff teams in the NFC, AFC and the Super Bowl winner; Where do the Vikings fall and how far do they go; Why the Vikings are primed for a playoff run and more Vikings talkers with Thor Nystrom on Purple Daily.

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