Around the NFC North: 2024 Wildcard Round
I knew it.
By Mike Price
They played better against bad teams all year - using their zone running scheme and play action passing to move the ball at will. Sometimes the quarterback looked good and sometimes it seemed like he didn't know what a nickle defense is. So, of course, in the playoffs he melted down and committed a turnover that contributed to a crushing double digit loss.
Am I writing about the Packers? Or the Vikings? The two teams had a lot of echoes of each other this season. From the young play calling genius head coach to the supposedly blitz and man coverage heavy defensive coordinator who prefers cover-2. There were some key differences that led to the Vikings superior record, namely the two pro-bowl-level wide receivers and several defensive linemen who can actually pressure the QB (revolutionary), but all in all these two teams were incredibly similar all year and they both left the same pile of refuse in the bed in the wildcard playoff round.
Vikings
The Vikings were embarrassed by the Rams, 27-9.
Game Notes
- The Sam Darnold chatter prior to week 18 was all about whether the Vikings would trade JJ McCarthy (first-round drafted QB last year) and keep Darnold at a likely $50mm+ per year contract. Here's what I said after the Vikings beat the Packers in Week 17:
The whole thing begs the question on the Vikings side: if good quarterbacks can still carve up this defense a little does that mean Darnold is a good QB? Should they franchise him or give him a big extension? I'm not close to smart enough to know the answer but I will say that in this tree we've seen this issue a hundred times with Jimmy G, Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan, hell even Matt Schaub and Brian Hoyer. I don' know how many of those guys were worth $60mm a year or whatever the next step up is but I know that none of them won a super bowl. The scheme and surrounding talent can prop up a guy but once you pay the guy and the talent goes down you're stuck in purgatory.
- Darnold followed up a 16/41 travesty against the Lions in week 18 with an even worse performance in the playoff match-up. Darnold was sacked nine times and couldn't get any of his superstar weapons over 70 yards. I don't know how you could possibly pay him when he starts seeing ghosts in any big game.
- So now the Vikings could be back to square one. Do they try to find another veteran bust to throw in the ring? I'm sure they could get Zach Wilson or Trey Lance. Will JJ McCarthy even be ready to start after he injured his knee in the preseason? It gets even worse when you start to look at their offseason situation.
- 37 players will enter free agency from the Vikings and they have just three draft picks (a first and two fifths). They have plenty of cap space but for what? Moderate improvements at positions that were already fine? Depth with players on second contracts?
- I don't think they can really spend to improve their weapons. Jeffferson, Hockenson, Jones, Addison is probably the best line-up in the NFL already. They just need to play better.
- The defense could be facing big changes. Brian Flores has several HC interviews and a lot of these players are typecast for a Flores scheme. What do Ivan Pace Jr and Andrew van Ginkel do if they transition to a 4-3 soft zone scheme? Does Harrison Smith just retire? Is Jonathan Greenard this much of a monster in a more static scheme?
Bears
The Bears are actively interviewing head coach candidates including Ron Rivera (LOL), Thomas Brown (LMAO) and Mike McCarthy (oh come on!). We'll have more in depth analysis once they make a hire.
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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Comments (16)
ricky
January 14, 2025 at 11:05 am
The Bears have asked to interview Adam Stenavich, the Packers OC. Good idea.
fireball
January 14, 2025 at 11:16 am
And don't forget the Packers are stuck with a boom or bust quarterback by the name of Jordan Love being paid 55 million dollars a year who " could be a winning hand that leads a team into the future or a siren's song of erratic play and unfulfilled potential. "
Sam Darnold, indeed. How good would Love be if he played for the Vikings?
How about if the Packers trade Love to the Vikings ( at least to get rid of his monstrous and mostly unearned contract ) and see what they have with Malik Willis?
splitpea1
January 14, 2025 at 11:26 am
Rams--Vikings: That was a fun game to watch with the 9 sacks...Give the Rams credit for getting to have their cake and eat it too by trading away lots of draft picks, winning a Super Bowl, losing their best defensive player to retirement, and building a playoff team again in short order.
Vikings: Well, their decision AT QB got a whole lot easier, didn't it? They can save themselves a lot of money. But they'll need a more mobile QB with that offensive line, which form a pass protection standpoint is a sieve. McCarthy might take a while to develop, so they'll probably be in the market for another journeyman.
Bears: MM might help them a lot in developing Williams and fielding a respectable offense for once, so it's not so far fetched. The Saints are also interested in him.
Cheezehead72
January 14, 2025 at 12:02 pm
MM going to the Bears does not scare me. Actually I hope the Bears do hire him.
T7Steve
January 14, 2025 at 01:57 pm
I think I heard that Mike M. is the new head coach of the Saints on ESPN. I will have to verify if I heard correctly later.
Leatherhead
January 14, 2025 at 11:54 am
Quite a bit of conversation in Texas about McCarthy and the Bears. People say there is a mutual interest.
The Vikings have a history of seasons where a lot of stuff goes right, and this was one of them. The end was bitter, for sure, but it's not the first time. People should expect this. Lucy always pulls the ball away.. This was the best regular season the Vikings have ever had, they don't even get a home game, and then they get thumped and their season ends the same weekend as the Packers. Is there a single Viking fan that thinks they're going to win 14 games again next season?
Remember the dominant NFC North? Only one survived Wild Card weekend, and that was the one that didn't play.
crayzpackfan
January 14, 2025 at 01:28 pm
I think they had a 15-1 season a time or two? I haven't double checked though.
grbfrog
January 14, 2025 at 03:11 pm
I think the 15-1 year was when they had Gary Andersen as their kicker and he was perfect the entire season, but in the NFC championship game missed a FG to send Atlanta to the Super Bowl. A classic Vikings moment.
Cheezehead72
January 14, 2025 at 11:59 am
I said three weeks ago the Vikings would only keep Darnold if they could get him cheaper than the going rate. They drafted JJ and they have Danial Jones. Some other team will sign Darnold to a big contract even after these last two weeks. Yes the Vikings could tag him but do they have the money to do that and what happens next year. If the Vikings do not tag him they go with JJ and Jones. Too early to say who will start but if JJ is healthy at the start of off season practices then he will be the starter.
T7Steve
January 14, 2025 at 01:59 pm
I think they'll tag and trade him.
crayzpackfan
January 14, 2025 at 02:24 pm
T7
This makes sense a couple of weeks ago. I "think" the tag number is in the mid to upper 40 million range. After the recent return of Darnold's ghosts, I'm not sure a team would want that number on their books for a QB who sees dead people, even if only for a year. I'm definitely not an NFL contract guy, but I suppose if the dollars could make sense, then I agree with you, a sign and trade makes perfect sense for the Vikings anyway. Sam Darnold and trade bait seem to be an oxymoron to me, but here we are.
Cheezehead72
January 14, 2025 at 02:50 pm
That's breaking the rules. Yes everyone does it.
Bearmeat
January 14, 2025 at 12:18 pm
Go COMMIES and Go Rams.
canadapacker
January 14, 2025 at 12:34 pm
"""""Two blowout losses to end one of the most surprising success stories in Vikings history."""
"""And this rare predicament: A 14-win team that failed so utterly under pressure that it has no choice but to dump the quarterback who won those 14 games.""""
Yes they need to dump Darnold unless they can sign him to another 1 year deal and let McCarthy develop . But they probably wont and the Vikes fans who have won what - HOW MANY SUPERBOWS ??? none
With the number of negative ninnies on our site - I think that I am going to take a break from reading or posting here until the end of the playoffs - sometimes it gets too depressing to hear - fire this coach fire the GM - trade the QB etc etc - ONLY BEARS and VIKES fans do that
Starrbrite
January 14, 2025 at 01:41 pm
Ha—Vikings—did anyone believe in their 14-2 record? Each week they won by a thread and the media was fawning over them —until they sucked. Last night, Aikman couldn’t stop criticizing Darnold; a few weeks ago, it was nothing but praise.
Let’s see how many times the big dufus, Dan Campbell, chooses to go-for-it on 4th down. …and we’ll see how great the Lions are next season when Johnson and Glenn are elsewhere.
In another post I mentioned Phillys criminal fan base—on the Colin Cowerd, I just heard a story (didn’t catch it all), about a Philly fan abusing a female Packer fan.
That’s also why the corrupt officiating couldn’t/wouldn’t reverse their lousy fumble call or the helmet to helmet hit—afraid for their lives.
Go Packers!!!
crayzpackfan
January 15, 2025 at 03:55 pm
It was the girlfriend of a Packer Youtuber that took the abuse. He has a fun channel, you should check it out @ Basaraski Productions on Youtube.