What can Vikings fans expect from Carson Wentz? | Bercich Breakdown

What can Vikings fans expect from Carson Wentz? | Bercich Breakdown

Welcome to the Bersich breakdown. Pete Bersett joins us now. And boy, do we have a lot to break down, Peter. It was something that we saw on Sunday that I think took everybody by surprise as how that game played out. You called it. You’ve had some time to think about what you analyzed live. Now, what do you take away from that Sunday night performance by the Vikings? Uh, I think, Jim, what’s what stands out most is is the Falcons came in and they look like a team that lost a close game the week before, right? They were fired up. They wanted to fix everything. They were angry. And the Vikings look like a team that just got done winning a Monday night football game. Um, meaning for the first about quarter, quarter and a half or so, Atlanta really controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage, their defensive front, um, their they they jet, meaning they go vertically, they shoot, you know, they they they launch themselves off the football, they were able to get in our back field, and then defensively, uh, you know, we just didn’t control the line of scrimmage like I thought we should have or could have. So, it took a little while. Being at home helped a lot, I’m sure. Um, but, uh, you know, once that once that evened out, what we weren’t able to overcome is just the lack of possession by our offense. I mean, um, under 50 plays two weeks in a row. It’s the least amount of plays this offense has run with Kevin O’Connell here. and just the ability to stack a few plays on top of one another and move the chains and and extend a drive. It just that part of it eventually caught up to us. The defense gave up gave up some yards on the ground, but you know, again, the the the uh the Falcons are a good running team. They didn’t they weren’t great against uh uh uh the Buccaneers, but they kind of turned it around. And you know, I talked to Tony Dunie after the game and and he had met with Raheem Morris. And what Raheem Morris told his team was, “We just got to get back to the basics. We got to get back to blocking, tackling, right? Controlling the line of scrimmage, and stop with all the penalties, stop with the mistakes.” And that’s exactly what they did. I mean, hate to make it so simple, right? Um, but no matter what you draw up and what plays you try to run, um, when you’re not executing fundamentally and you’re not controlling the line of scrimmage and you’re turning the ball over four times, penalties, you know, those kind those things, those mistakes that you can fix, they’re easily fixed. what I what I call like procedural penalties, false starts, illegal emotions, those kinds of things. Those have to be fixed. They you have to get them fixed yesterday. Uh Atlanta, I think, did a better job of fixing what went wrong in week one, more so than the Vikings did. All right. How much of this can we put on the injuries, especially for the offensive line, as they’re trying to gel? And everybody talks about how an offensive line needs time together and how they read off of each other. They they can’t play it really as five individuals. They have to play it as a unit. How much can we pin what we saw Sunday night on the injuries and the unfamiliarity of each other? Well, I’m offensively with the I mean I I think there’s a there’s a little bit of that there. Um, you know, obviously the the Vikings knew that Darasaw wasn’t going to play. Justin School was going to go in and play left tackle. Got a lot of the snaps throughout the week. Uh, Michael Jurgens being kind of thrust into the whole thing. Uh, that’s unplanned. I mean, and that’s those are the injuries that, uh, affect you the most is when you have someone who’s taken all the snaps all during the week and then you lose them early in a football game. And that means the backup has to come in without much practice, right? And and and you can’t, you know, if you if you have somebody in there, let’s just say like Justin school, you can game plan, you can help him out. You can put a tight end over there. You can, you know, chip on the way. Do you can do a number of different things to help a guy out if need be. um doing that midame that you know that that’s tough to do but um every single game already thus far you know we’ve had different guys in there on the offensive line and continuity. Yeah, that’s that’s important. And then consistency is important too, especially out of guys like Donovan Jackson who you played very well on Monday night and I don’t think played didn’t have the game against Atlanta that he had Monday night against the Bears. So, just getting more consistency with the younger players. Uh Will Fry, I think, would fall into that category, too. I’m sure uh he left a lot on the table. So, that group in general needs, you know, they just need to, you know, buckle down and get her done. And they can. I mean, it it they have all the talent that they need. They just um you need to get a good week of practice in and, you know, not having a full week, new bodies. There’s a lot of things that quote unquote happened. um don’t want to make excuses, but right, you think of it this way so you don’t go into panic mode and say we just don’t have the guys and it’s going to look like this every week. Well, it it’s going to get better. Yeah. Well, that’s the next point I wanted to bring up was Adam Theland when he spoke to the media this week brought up the fact that, you know, this isn’t all on the quarterback, but that’s how the media and the perception of the fans are now is that if a team stinks offensively, it’s one guy. And if they win a game, it was because of that one guy, right? and and Adam wants to make the point that, you know, yeah, JJ may not have played great, but we didn’t play great as a unit, and that’s more of the bigger problem. Uh, with his statement and what you watched with JJ, what did you come away with watching his performance and now he’s going to be on the shelf for some time, but yeah, I mean that and that’s unfortunate because it just slows the the development. We’re back in neutral. Exactly. Right. And um meanwhile, we got Carson Wentz in there who if if you look at the the height, weight, and the arm strength, I mean, he fits this offensive scheme just as well as Sam Darnold did. So, you know, I don’t want who knows what’s going to happen this Sunday. he could come out there and we I mean, you know, Kevin Oonnell sitting there after running the least amount of passing plays that he’s run in the beginning of a big beginning of a season ever. Um, least amount of passing yards ever. I mean, he’s going to feel I I just I can picture them and just him opening up this offense. Carson Wentz operates better um in empty um short passing game, that kind of thing. He might just oblige him. It might it’s been it’s been a while and you might be missing Aaron Jones. So you’re you know your running back room isn’t as deep as it was. Another reason why you just might throw it a ton. Um, for JJ, it’s really the things the things that that, you know, what bothers me the most is you get a couple of really good plays, couple really good passes, and you get down to first and goal from the two. Right. Right. Then you fumble, right? You fumble um fumble the snap on fourth and one when you’re hurrying up. Uh you fumble on the on the first and goal from the two. Then you get a penalty. Then you get a mental error on somebody in the with the offensive line. you get a sack and then the next play you get a sack. So, as much as you’re stacking good plays on top of one another, you’re you’re defeat you’re you’re hurting yourself. And I guess that’s that’s what you want to see improve as quickly as possible. Just don’t put the ball on the ground, right? Get the guys lined up. Get them off on the at at the right time. Control that group. Run that group. run that offense and then, you know, then we can start worried about worrying about the accuracy and the timing and and everything else. So, um, yeah, by no means is is this is this a two-game experiment. I mean, you know, he’s he he’s our quarterback and will be. He was a top 10 draft pick. Um, get used to it, you know, you know what I mean? So, he’s not going anywhere for a while. And um you know I coach Okonnell did say last week that when you have a young quarterback everybody else around them has to elevate their play. And I don’t know if if that’s happened meaning the guys around them have to play even better than you would normally when you have a veteran quarterback. You got you know you have to go that extra mile to make this thing work. And um you know, right now it’s worked for a quarter. I mean, think about it. We scored 21 points in the fourth quarter of the Bears game and outside of that we’ve scored 12. No touchdowns, just field goals. So, um you know, the the the again time of possession and number of plays. I mean, there’s a lot of things there that need to get fixed. Yeah, no doubt about it. All right. Now, if you’re watching the Burich Breakdown for the first time here on the Fox 9 YouTube channel, there’s also more in-depth stuff that Pete does right here on his own, right back here. Redemption or delusion looking ahead to this Sunday’s game against the Bengals. And Pete has NFL film of Carson Wentz, of Jake Browning, breaking down what these two backups now will attempt to do to lead their teams to victories. And you can see that eye in the sky is the name of his YouTube channel. And it’ll also pop up right at the end of this video. So you can just watch it, click right to it, and you can see more of Pete’s dynamic stuff. Now, all right, Carson Wentz, what did you see in the video? You said you looked at last year, the one game he started for Kansas City was the final game of the year with nothing on the table. So, what were you able to glean from looking at Carson in that situation? Well, the first thing is is that you’re going to be worried about is, you know, the arm the accuracy and the arm strength, right? And uh there are a couple of throws that he makes in that g in that Kansas City game against Denver um that will show you that he still has that he still has a strong arm and he still is pretty accurate. Um but again it’s only one game. Um keep in mind Carson Wentz hasn’t started multiple games since 2022. So wow that’s that’s a while ago, right? Okay. So, I mean, he’s he’s going to be the first quarterback in the history of the modern era, that means post 1950, to start at quarterback for six different teams in as many seasons. Okay. So, this is his sixth team in his in six years. I don’t know if that’s a good record or or Well, it’s it’s a it’s a that’s why, you know, that’s why um I was talking about delusion versus redemption. And you have one quarterback who refers to himself as delusional in the fact that he could lead a fourth quarter comeback uh with his team, the Bengals, after throwing three interceptions in the previous two and let’s call it two and a half quarters. Um but yeah, he says, “I got to be delusional to think I can do that.” And he did a 92 yard 15 play uh 3 minute and 20ome second drive to to go ahead. Now, did Jacksonville completely blow it? Yes, you get a turnover on 13 yardd line and come away without any points, that’s called blowing it. Um, but for Carson Wentz, uh, so that that’s what you’re looking for is is the is the arm is the accuracy and the strength still there. I went back to the prior season when he was with the Rams because again, similar offense, similar, you know, fundamentals, sim similar passing tree. Um, okay. And was very impressed with his reads. He he he’s very good at seeing the defense and making quick reads and delivering the ball quickly, which translates into a quick passing game. Um, will the Vikings because of these skills be more spread out? We we’ve seen a lot of tighter, you know, multiple tight end, tight formations, that kind of thing. Um, we could be a four and five wide look uh on Sunday. Cincinnati hasn’t seen it from us, so that would take him by surprise. And then you have a guy who can play in the shotgun, and the pistol um and be effective. So that could be the route that the Vikings take. So in that regard, you have film um you have film on on Cincinnati and with Jake Browning, but you don’t really have any film on Carson Wentz with the Minnesota Vikings. So, that right there is it’ll be an early advantage on Sunday. All right. How about you talked about chemistry, we talked about it with the offensive line. How about for Carson and the receivers and the offense to get his cadence and to be in sync with with a new guy? How how big a deal is that? or is that overblown by uh the media on the outside looking at the operation? Well, it’s an it’s an important part. Um you know, they have they he practiced Thursday of last week when uh JJ u when he was having his baby. Correct. Um so he had that day and you know, coach Okonnell said it was a great day. He thinks maybe one football hit the ground the whole entire practice. now he’s got this entire week. So there’s some there’s that’s again that’s the difference between let’s say Carson Wentz going in in the second quarter versus getting an entire week of practice. The the receivers and the tight ends should have a much better feel for you know what Carson Wentz what he is uh how he throws the football the velocity the spin the whole thing. So, you know, four weeks in an offense, week of practice, um, you know, I I’m not uh going to ratchet down my expectations too much because I think that’s enough time to get at least a good solid foundation. How about the the running game? Uh, Mr. Acres comes back for the third straight year. As you mentioned already, Aaron Jones is on the shelf now for at least a month of games. So, how do the Vikings move forward? Can they try to continue what they started in these first two games trying to build a running game or like you said, we may see four or five wide outs and Carson by himself in the back field? Yeah. And depending on the number count, you could just hand turn around and hand the ball off to Jordan Mason. I mean, Jordan Mason took a vast majority of the running plays for the 49ers last year um when when he was elevated the starting position in the first seven or eight games of the season. So, you still have him. Um Aaron Jones hadn’t been carrying the football all that much. I don’t know how many carries he got against Atlanta, but he only had eight versus the Bears. So, he was he’s been used more as a in not a utility role, but in a in more of a hybrid running back, getting out in the flat, running go routes, you know, as a wide receiver. Uh, so, you know, he’s not the bread and butter, I think, of the running game. He’s a dynamic athlete. So, is it are we less off because we’re not we don’t have him? Absolutely, 100%. Uh, but I don’t necessarily think it’s it’s going to alter the run game that much because Jordan Mason on a on the, you know, running downs, running situations is the guy, uh, third and shorts, the the deep red zone, everywhere else. Jordan Mason has become that guy. So, we still have him, and I expect that they’ll use him quite a bit this Sunday afternoon. All right, Jake Browning, he obviously had some time here with the Vikings. um what can he bring to the Bengals and how can Brian Flores fluster this guy who’s just been thrown into the starting job? Well, you have the thing with Jake Browning is you have to be prudent. Okay. And the numbers from the Jacksonville game are are pretty crazy because once once uh uh Joe Burrow came out and he went in um it you could you could just see that the that the Jacksonville defense just kind of lined up, didn’t disguise and just tried to play zone and and Browning really kind of picked him apart. Then they said, “Okay, well, we got to start blissing this guy.” Well, if you’re you want to get pressure on him, but if you blitz, you better get there because you look at his numbers when being pressured or being blitzed by Jacksonville. When he was blitzed, he was seven for eight. Um, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, andund was it 158.3 passer rating. That’s perfect, by the way. Okay. Yes, it is. That’s that’s when Jacksonville blitzed. Now, to Cincinnati’s credit, they blocked it up each time. So, that means you have less defenders downfield. And whenever he sees or just gets a sniff of press coverage on the outside, he, you know, he he’s got Chase on one side and T. Higgins on the other. He’s just going to throw a fade and he’s very, very good at it. That’s how he got explosive. He threw a 47 yard fade route to T. Higgins. That was a thing of beauty. Now, when not being blitzed, he was 14 to 24, zero touchdowns, three interceptions, and had a passer rating of 31.3. So, the complete opposite of almost every other human being that’s ever played the position. So, my point though is he on a lot of those, especially those interceptions, was pressured. It was a four-man rush, but he was pressured. So, if you’re going to blitz, you better get there. You can’t be sending five and le, you know, leaving a zone open and not getting to the quarterback. You have to get there. So, whatever whatever that means, I’m just saying just number one, don’t show it. Don’t show the blitz. Don’t give it away. Uh he knows what he’s doing with the football. He’s got some weapons on the outside, so you got to be careful. Um, and then get everything you can out of a four-man pass rush because if you do get pressure on him, especially get when getting him out of the pocket. You get him out of the pocket, he wants to just get rid of the football and he’s made some mistakes that way as well. Um, but that’s kind of the that’s kind of the book. He but you can’t count him out is if he looks horrible for three and a half quarters, you can’t think that he’s going to look bad in that last half of the fourth quarter. He’s a very resilient quarterback. All right, Pete, thank you so much. Now, stay here on YouTube if you’re watching because this video is going to follow right here. Pete’s going to dive into what Mr. Wentz does, Mr. Browning does. Also, catch Pete Sunday morning on Fox 9 for Vikings game day live. And then you’ll be right in this same studio 10:35 for Vikings postgame tonight here all on Fox 9. I know. I know you’re excited for Sunday night at 10:35. You haven’t been in studio all season. This will be your first first Yeah. be the first time during the season. Yeah. And I haven’t seen Pierre in about eight months. So, uh which is good. Which is good. It’s a win. So, that streak’s going to unfortunately be broken. And and uh they I I it it’s going to be a very interesting game. This is the first time Cincinnati has been 2-0 under their current head coach. Um, I can’t even remember the last time they started a season 2 and 0, but because of Burrow’s injury, they they definitely don’t they’re not feeling the momentum. You know, they’re number one in the division, right? They’re the only 2 and 0 team in their division. So, that’s that those are the facts. Now, will they be riding that wave? I don’t know. you know, losing Burrow it seems like every other year for him. Um, I imagine is getting old, so maybe you can catch him without some momentum. We’ll see. All right, Pete Burs, thank you so much. That’ll do it for the Burst breakdown. Again, we’ll check you out on Sunday for game day live and postgame tonight. Thanks for watching.

In this week’s Bercich Breakdown, Vikings analyst Pete Bercich joins FOX-9 Sports Director Jim Rich to discuss what Vikings fans can expect with Carson Wentz as he makes his first start and what went wrong for J.J. McCarthy. Was it the injuries that had stopped the Vikings’ offense, or was it the play of the young quarterback? And what happens to the running game with Aaron Jones going on injured reserve? Those answers and much more on the Bercich Breakdown. Let us know in the comments if you have suggestions or questions for Pete moving forward.

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