Have you tried Cowherd's Schadenfreude this morning? It's delicious. 

Running the ball out of the end zone 8 yards deep was the decision that ultimately sealed the game.  We had to get the clock past the two minute warning as it was the difference between them getting the back with an additional 40 seconds and put them in a position where one pass could get them into FG range.  Aikman kept talking how important it was for Bears to score before the two minute warning and talked about Bears kicking it to end zone, but never brought up option for Vikes to run it out.  In the past, not sure our coaching staff would have even been thinking like that or would have taken the conservative approach to kneel on it that deep.  Good to see us playing the game the right way there.

Thats a big one and my heart fell when I saw him gimp off the field like that.

Edit: MRI today, we should know more by end of day.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1965408144936300747

They are talking about it on Get Up on ESPN, Mike Greenburg said this is his guy. Just fluffy stuff on a very fun Tuesday victory morning. Just think of it as a little candy and don't buy in too hard.  But all KOC has done is win a lot of games with whatever QB he's had in Minnesota. Now he's got his piece of clay.

Oh by the way, I'm going to be the Candy Man today on this board. Better get your insulin shots if you are going to open a thread of mine today.

My head’s still spinning. And not from the 5 Modelos I stress-slammed last night. Such a wild, weird and confusing game with so many good and bad performances. But my two biggest takeaways are this.

1. Early on Caleb Williams was running around like a greased chicken, breaking ankles and killing our defense every time he had the ball. But then the Vikings made some kind of adjustment on defense that forced Caleb Williams to play more from the pocket, which he’s clearly not very good at. That was huge. 


2. After the pick 6 I told my son it’s snowballing and it would take a special performance from a QB with a lot of mental toughness and a little amnesia to come back from this, and I’m just not sure we can expect that from a kid who’s 4 years older than YOU and playing in his first NFL game. And then it happened. The focus was unreal. He never showed comeback savvy at Michigan only because he never had to, not because he didn’t have it. He's going to make mistakes. He'll throw more picks, even another pick 6 or two, but I think we got our guy and that feels really good.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6612507...-mccarthy/

Alec Lewis
@alec_lewis

Pandemonium?

In Week 1?

You best believe it.

What it meant for the Vikings’ sideline to erupt like it did for J.J. McCarthy, and what the conversations were like as the QB ignited the thriller.

Impressed by Myles Price.  Only one game, but he definitely looks like our punt returner from here on out.  Great wiggle and vision.  Knew nothing about him before this game.  Another great UDFA by Kwesi.

Also impressed by Mason Jordan.  Knew he was a good player already, but he looks even better than I expected.  Great 1-2 punch.

Eric Wilson had a heck of a game.  Stud on special teams and stepped up on D when Cashman went down.

Obviously JJ too.  Took him a minute, but what a cannon.  That pass to Thielen for the 2 point conversion, tagged him right between the numbers.  Seemed like it surprised AT with that.  And the poise and leadership. 

Also that drive to get the FG before half, that was clutch! 

One game, but excited about the rest of the year!

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6610932...the-pulse/

"I can’t say enough about McCarthy and, by proxy, Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell. The coach known as a QB whisperer took a broken, rattled McCarthy and turned him into a gritty veteran in one half. McCarthy, 22, led three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, two via pass and one he ran in himself. It was arguably the most impressive performance of the weekend."  - Chris Branch, The Athletic.

In his NFL debut, McCarthy ignited a furious fourth-quarter comeback. Chicago and new coach Ben Johnson, meanwhile, showed they have a long way to go in the franchise's latest attempt at a rebuild:

https://www.si.com/nfl/jj-mccarthy-vikin...-fall-flat

"Johnson was a brilliant offensive coordinator with the Lions over the past three years, twice overseeing an attack ranked in the top three in yards per game. But on Monday, he was outcoached down the stretch by O’Connell, a more experienced hand who kept plugging despite nothing going right.

There will be better nights ahead for Williams and Johnson.

But this night belonged to McCarthy, who overcame a brutal moment to create a memorable one. "

'J.J. McCarthy’s awakening showed why the Vikings took this leap of faith':

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6612586...ack-bears/

“What we preach is that when it gets hard, when it gets really hard, lean in even more, and you’re going to figure it out. When you’re bringing along a young quarterback on the road in the NFC North, and the place is absolutely electric, you’ve got to find a way to weather the storm. As ugly as things may have looked during the first three quarters, O’Connell didn’t hate what he saw from McCarthy. He liked the young passer’s demeanor and the way McCarthy got the Vikings into the right protections, and into the “cans” that serve as alternate play calls in O’Connell’s scheme. “What I was most proud of,” O’Connell said, “is early on in the game, J.J. might have been one of the most poised players in the huddle.”

That wasn’t all O’Connell wanted to talk about afterward, however. He was frustrated at his team’s overall performance that preceded the final-quarter flurry, saying, “There are a thousand things we all can clean up, me included. Trust me, I could do with way less epic and more, just, 60 (cohesive) minutes. But there’s a lot that can come from moments like that where we just find a way.”