THE HERD | Colin Cowherd WORRIED Minnesota Vikings Will STRUGGLE At QB | NFL

THE HERD | Colin Cowherd WORRIED Minnesota Vikings Will STRUGGLE At QB | NFL

The Vikings love all their players around the quarterback, but have no idea who’s going to lead him the next 10 years. They flirted with Aaron Rodgers. They settled for Carson Wentz. They had Daniel Jones in the building. They wanted to keep Darnold, but wouldn’t pay for him. So, whatever’s happening with JJ McCarthy, the messaging is weird and he’s never available. So, quarterbacks stabilize a franchise. So last night, the Chargers finally get Joe Alt back. What a what a shocker. They can run on the left side. What a shocker. The Blitz packages by the Vikings didn’t work. So the Vikings love their coach and their defensive coordinator and their left tackle and their weapons. And the Vikings love everything around the quarterback, but the but the franchise has it’s not stabilized because they don’t know what’s going on with JJ McCarthy. The Chargers are the opposite. They’ve got the most important part of this league. Quarterback one, coach two, and they’re both going to be there for as long as they want to, foreseeable future, decade if they want. Harbaugh may retire eight, nine, and Jim’s got great energy. They just can’t keep anybody healthy for any extended period. So, as I watched last night, a thousand out of a thousand times, I would take the Chargers situation. They’re making Justin Herbert throw more than any quarterback in the league because that’s what they have right now. And slowly but surely, Joe Alt came back and they were good. But the Chargers know the truth in this league is that Joe Burrow got to a Super Bowl with a bad O line. And Justin Herbert doesn’t need both tackles. He won’t have Slater this year. Just give him Joe Alt and they can blow out anybody at any time. And here is Jim Harbaugh after the win. Well, I want to focus on the Minnesota Vikings, so we don’t got to listen to Harbaugh. Um, yeah. You know what Colin is saying here is that, you know, the Vikings clearly have the better team, but they’re lacking at quarterback and the Chargers kind of have injuries and things all messed up, but they have the great quarterback. And so, you know, which team can be more resilient here. Um, I don’t know if you have a better quarterback in this situation. You just you you win this game. I’m not convinced of that. Carson did not play great, but he was also pressured just nonstop. It was it was pretty relentless. Um, and of course, yeah, you know, he missed some throws and he’s disrupted, but uh, you know, you that’s what you’re going to get with a a 32-year-old quarterback at this point. And listen, it’s it’s fascinating to me because, you know, I see a lot of the conversations right now where we’re seeing Sam Darnold and uh, Daniel Jones look great, then they do. And you Vikings fans should know that I had been incredibly high on Sam Darnold. And I pushed before Sam Darnold ever took a snap with the Minnesota Vikings. I said, “Sam Sam Darnold and the Vikings are going to be great.” And they were. Um, and now you’re continuing to see Sam Darnold be great, and you’re continuing to see Daniel now you’re seeing Daniel Jones be great. But here’s the reality of all of this, though. We’ve seen both those quarterbacks, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, not look so great when they’re not protected, when they don’t when they don’t have, uh, you know, a great O line. Um, like we see many quarterbacks not do. Uh, and so it’s it’s not clear to me that in this situation that even if you had Daniel Jones, if you had Sam Darn, if you just had a better quarterback, that you would be reliably uh that you’d be able to succeed under these circumstances right now. Now, to be fair, Daniel Jones is still being pressured with um with uh the Indianapolis Colts, but um him and Shane Stiken are so connected like I always talk about, he has a solution to the problem of the pressure again and again and again and again and again. Um, and throughout the course of the season, Sam Darnold did too, but then at the end of the season, none of those answers were to be found. So, a lot of that still does, you know, does depend on coaching, you know, and it’s like, you know, uh, could have Kevin Oonnell done a a bit of a better job in this situation? Uh, it’s hard to say. It’s it’s it’s hard to say because things feel pretty messy right now. They they really do. um really messy, but I mean, you know, you ran the ball 11 times and I’m sorry, you know, like I don’t agree, you know, even though you’re down a little bit, like it’s not actually written anywhere that if you’re down that you can’t run the ball. That’s not written anywhere. And actually, there’s the real argument, and Kurt Warner has talked about this. I’ve been talking a lot about Kurt. Um, even when you’re down, you shouldn’t really change the way you play. You still have to just do the right play. You still have to have the right game plan. Um, and you know, I don’t know. Your your your quarterback is getting walloped nonstop and yet you keep just having him drop back and and and putting him on an island. you’re not giving him these these these quick routes and and and and and getting the ball out of his hands. I mean, he’s he’s getting sacked fives. I mean, he was just getting crushed. He’s in he was in such pain, too. I mean, like, that’s the thing, too. You could see Carson is is screaming in agony. He’s literally in pain. And that’s and that’s what I kind of take issue when everyone just kind of wants to pile on Wentz because it’s like, dude, this guy is getting house. He’s getting crushed. He’s injured. He’s banged up. and like where’s the support in that regard? And he’s getting the ball to Justin Jefferson, 11 targets, seven catches, 74 yards. Jordan Addison three for four. Like, you know, like he’s he’s doing what he can. And again, he was not perfect. Like I am not I am not, you know, saying that, hey, Carson played really good or hey, you know, it was all the O line. Like I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that at all. It’s just right now I don’t watch a game like that and just think, oh, if they had a better quarterback, they win. this game would have been completely different. Like I don’t know, you know, maybe if you had a hyper mobile 25-year-old quarterback who could just start running and ripping off runs and can now make make up a huge part of the run game, maybe that then sure, but even Justin Herbert in this game had to run a ton. You know, he had to run a ton. Um, and there was just too many moments when when when Carson Wentz just got bottled up when you’re just like, “Ah my god, this is this is this is a tough one right now. This is this is tough.” So, um, but it but it is interesting. You know, you you have Daniel Jones leading uh technically the most successful offense in the history of the NFL. Okay. Like that’s that’s a real statistical truth right now. They’re doing things that the 2018 Chiefs didn’t do and they’re doing things that the uh undefeated Patriots didn’t do, right? And that that’s what Daniel Jones that that’s a real thing that’s happening. And Sam Darnold has undeniably elevated the Seattle Seahawks and he’s been playing awesome. And now you’re and now the Vikings who are well coached on both sides of the ball, great coaches on both sides of the ball, a great roster, some injuries, some limitations right now undeniably, but you know, still should have still enough to kind of make do to a degree that if you really nailed the quarterback, you’d have a lot of success. And I would make the argument that Daniel Jones and and Sam Darnold would be better in this situation right now, even with all the pressure. Um cuz I do think there’s fundamentally an an evolution to their quarterback play. Um which I you know I think we’re especially seeing with Daniel Jones because it’s obviously the most uh turnaround right now. Sam Darnold has already now had some time under his belt. So it’s you know not as surprising. But you know I I don’t know if we see a fully healthy JJ McCarthy in this situation thrive. I I I really don’t. Uh especially with all the pressure, young quarterbacks, they just they just notoriously break under the That’s why with young quarterbacks, the name of the game is always just get after him. Get after him. Get after him. Get I mean like that’s what all the defensive coaches do against these young just like nope. Just an onslaught. We just want to pile on the we’ll give up throws at the back. It doesn’t matter. Just put it just put the pressure on them again and again and again. And the bet is just you’re not going to be able to make the throw. You’re not going to make the right decision. You’re going to be overwhelmed. You’re going to be sped up. You’re going to be lost. You’re going to be confused. Will you just get after you? Um, and we saw a a chunk of that with JJ McCarthy already this season. We saw it. So, um, but yeah, it’s a weird situation right now with Minnesota. It is. It’s And I think that’s totally fair to admit that. Um, I don’t think that the season is just automatically lost. I think this was obviously a a rough game, an ugly game, 37-10. You only felt like it was competitive in the very beginning. Um, the Lions, that’s going to be a tough game. The Ravens, especially now with Lamar Jackson back, that’s going to be a tough game. The Bears will be fascinating. The Packers should be a tough game, but you know, we’ll also be interesting. And then you’re going up against the Seahawks. Like there’s going to be a lot of energy in that game with Sam. Like that’s that’s going to be a more intense game than um than than Vikings fans would want to admit. But there’s I’m telling you, I I’m on this all the time. The Seattle Seahawks are going to rally behind Sam. Everyone from Seattle is going to want to beat Minnesota. Like it’s going to be it’s going to be an intense environment, intense energy. Uh the Commanders, they’re really banged up right now. Uh but by December 7th, you know, uh you know, maybe Jaden Debo, Terry McCor, they’re finally all playing together. You know, the Cowboys have been a fascinating team. Great offense, terrible defense. See what happens there. You know, the Giants, the Vikings, the Lions, and the Packers. Like, this is this is this is not an easy schedule ahead of them right now, uh by any stretch of the imagination. And some of the games that you would have really needed to come away with with the wins um you know would have been um the Falcons would have been against uh this banged up Chargers team that has not been playing their best brand of football. Uh you know like you you really needed to be able to come away with these wins and unfortunately for them they haven’t. And now it’s like there really aren’t any easy wins in this moment of time. Um, the easiest game you technically have is against the New York Giants, but you know, Lions are going to bring it, the Ravens are going to bring it, the Bears are going to bring it, the Packers are going to bring it, the Seahawks are going to bring it, the Commanders. Like I said, depending on maybe Jane Daniels is shut down, you know, I I have no idea. But, um, you know, if they’re actually kind of healthy and and playing, then they’ll probably also be fighting for for potentially a playoff spot, the Cowboys offense at the very least is going to bring it. Um, so it’s a it’s a tough one. It is. It is absolutely a tough one. And unless you can enter an elevated JJ McCarthy, right? If if JJ McCarthy can prove to be that dude that can overcome some of these things, some of these issues that they’re facing offensively, then sure. Um, but, you know, he does not have enough time under his belt at this point. And we see quarterbacks struggling all the time to think that JJ McCarthy now can just enter at this point with such limited amount of actual NFL playing time and that he can just hit the ground running. I I don’t again and this is not a this is not a value statement or a value judgment on JJ McCarthy. I could truly believe in my heart of all hearts that JJ McCarthy is going to be an elite all-time great player. And I could also believe that this season we’re not going to be able to actually see that because it’s just there’s just quarterbacks need to develop. Drake May needed to develop. Caleb Blimps needed to develop. All these quarterbacks need to develop. It takes time. And at this point with how this season is going, how this offense has been dealing with all of the things that it’s been dealing with, the O line, etc., it’s just it’s just hard for me to see how JJ just gets entered into the equation. And it’s just like, all right, baby. Let’s go. Let’s let’s let’s get after it. Um, especially with now the fact that he’s been banged up. Like you can make the argument that like Jackson Dart added a little bit of juice and whatnot to that Giants offense and it’s and it’s true. But like again being able to rely so much heavily on just energy and mobility and scatoo, right? Like it’s just it’s just a it’s a it’s a it’s a different sense right now. That’s not this that’s not what JJ McCarthy is is going to to bring. Uh, so yeah, I don’t I I honestly am curious to see where the Vikings go from here and and and how it all unfolds, but it’s it is they it is tough ahead of them. It is tough ahead of them. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. Those are just my thoughts. I’d absolutely love to hear yours. What do you guys all think about the Minnesota Vikings? Uh, do you think this is just a quarterback issue that if once you insert a great quarterback that the Vikings will be successful back to where they were last season? Or do you think this is more of a team issue, coaching issue? Let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment. So whether you agree with me or disagree with me either way, let’s get in some discussions. Let’s get in some fights. But ultimately, let’s just have some fun. And please do consider subscribing. We are building an amazing community here and absolutely love to see you part of it. I want to build something that we all generally feel connected to, something that we’re really excited to be part of. I think we’re on our way to doing it. And please don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up as it really does help the visibility and the algorithm. Thank you so much. See you next time.

THE HERD | Colin Cowherd WORRIED Minnesota Vikings Will STRUGGLE At QB | NFL
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