Daily Norseman
I was waiting all day for Sunday night.
What a mistake.
My fellow riders on the Purple Pain Train, did you really think we’d end up anywhere else but circling the familiar Doom Loop? Some success appears. Hope rises. Heartbreak follows. Rinse. Repeat. It has defined our existence since the 1970s. I wasn’t around for that, but the ensuing decades made sure the sequels were of equal or superior quality to the original.
J.J. McCarthy is officially out for two to four weeks with a high ankle sprain. That means it’s the Carson Wentz show. Stay tuned below for my thoughts on that.
But first…
The Sunday Night Disaster
I have a strict rule: I never bet on teams I root for. The passion that comes with even mild fandom can cloud judgment and lead to undesirable outcomes. Your wishes influence your thoughts, and you tend to lean toward positive expectations. It’s human nature. The best you can do is recognize this and take proactive steps to balance it as best as you can.
A similar dynamic exists in the predictions game. Many times, I’ve had a postgame mental debrief after a Vikings disaster, only for hindsight to chime in, grinning ear-to-ear and asking, “What were you thinking?” The evidence didn’t support those rosy scenarios I wanted to believe while standing at the corner of Fantasy Drive and Delusion Avenue.
That being said, sometimes you’re just…wrong.
The idea that the offensive magic in the fourth quarter of the opener would carry into the home opener against a solid Atlanta Falcons team seemed reasonable. And I truly believed it. With virtually no meaningful preseason reps, some rust was expected. Plus, J.J. McCarthy hadn’t played in a meaningful game in over 19 months, which supported this view. He appeared to find his footing until…he didn’t.
The same goes for play-calling. Calling vanilla preseason games isn’t the same as handling the pressure and adjustments needed during the regular season. Given the track record, one would have expected KOC to quickly adjust and be ready to hit the ground running in Week 2. Instead, the opposite happened. Whatever Raheem Morris and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich did with those five-man front looks wasn’t effectively countered—neither in blocking protections nor route adjustments. Credit where it’s due, they outplayed KOC. However, the 2025 Falcons defense won’t be remembered as the 1985 Bears or 2000 Ravens, either. They could be good – heck, even excellent. But come on now.
I’m not a football coach – and couldn’t even play one on TV – but after two games, there’s no rhythm or cohesion at all. Nothing seemed to set up anything else. Here, there, and everywhere led to nowhere. An odd commitment to longer-developing routes has been a focus of Vikings-related social media. Similarly, Alec Lewis of The Athletic noted the Vikings have only run three quick-game concepts thus far this season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). A quick game concept is defined as “concepts with pass route...
