Bears will beat the hell out of the Vikings...so says this guy...

Finally, it’s upon us. Week one of the NFL season. So, in what is probably their most pivotal season in recent memory, what’s your prediction for the Vikings record? Don't wait to see what they look like in Chicago. Man up. Make your call now.

I’m going to say 11-6. And despite losing three more games this year than last, I think the 2025 Vikings will be a team better equipped for a run deeper into the playoffs.

This may age like milk as soon as Sunday, but why on earth am I seeing so much Packer love lately? I know it's GB and this happens every year but man the Packer hype is overboard.

https://twitter.com/nflonfox/status/1963...17247?s=46

No idea if this tweet^ will properly post since this is Vikefans, but some FOX analyst has them ranked 4th, a spot ahead of Buffalo and 5 ahead of Detroit. Bias aside what am I missing here?

They're offense was trash last year and the offensive line got worse. I think they're catching Detroit at a good time (new coordinators on both sides) so maybe they win this week and do it convincingly and I'm just wrong, but the momentum they have right now hasn't been earned in my opinion. Let's see if they can earn it now. Let the games begin!

Darrisaw, the 315-pound blocker, is more than 10 months removed from the two torn ligaments in his left knee that ended his 2024 season.

 He has “checked every box from a workload standpoint,” O’Connell said, during his ramp up to Week 1.

Darrisaw said playing is a joint decision that starts with the training staff’s clearance. He said “things do feel different” with his surgically-repaired left knee, which was supported by a brace during Wednesday’s practice.

“I got to have confidence in myself mentally, physically,” Darrisaw said. “I know I got to be there all the way. You just don’t want to put yourself in a worse position or kind of like half stepping. When I have that confidence and just knowing I’m ready to rock out, I’ll be out there.”

O’Connell said “we’ll see how he feels” after a heavy workload in Wednesday’s practice.

“Things have been going well,” Darrisaw said after practice. “Better than I expected, better than what some of them expected as well, so things are definitely going in the right direction.”

The endurance of Darrisaw’s left knee would be a reason the Vikings may still hold him out, O’Connell said. Tackle Justin Skule, the 28-year-old journeyman who signed with the Vikings in March, would start if necessary.

“It’s more so just about knowing we’ve got 17 games, including a short week next week, and ultimately our trip overseas,” O’Connell said. 

“There’s got to be a big-picture mindset to a player of Christian’s caliber.”

“What that means for Monday night,” he added, “I don’t know as of right now. I just know what my eyes have shown me, what Christian has demonstrated.”


Strib

J.J. McCarthy may have grown up cheering for the Bears in the Chicago suburbs, but there’s no glossy eyes over playing 30 minutes from home Monday.

“I feel like home is in Minnesota,” McCarthy said Wednesday after practice. “At the end of the day, it’s just a business trip.”

McCarthy makes his NFL regular-season debut Monday night against the Bears 501 days after the Vikings drafted him No. 10 overall out of Michigan.

His wait to take the helm under center included spending the 2024 season sidelined with a knee injury suffered in his preseason debut against the Raiders last August.

McCarthy did all the right things throughout his recovery and returned to on-field work at the top of the calendar year, making a full debut back at practice during organized team activities (OTAs) in the spring.

Now that game week is finally here, McCarthy said he’s “extremely thrilled.”

The 22-year-old QB said he has a different type of feeling than when he stared down his first Michigan start back in 2022.

“There’s just pure excitement, pure confidence,” McCarthy said. “I absolutely can’t wait to get on the plane with the boys and get out there, but at the end of the day, we got a lot of work to do before then.”

He spoke Wednesday about picking up different habits from last year’s quarterback room, as well as considering how he’d compartmentalize information throughout game weeks so he could play free once it came time for him to take the field.

One specific aspect of previous starter Sam Darnold’s game prep that McCarthy said he took to heart was his balance of work and recovery, like not being at the Vikings’ Eagan facility 24/7.

That part might be something McCarthy’s still working on — Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said McCarthy was at TCO Performance Center on Tuesday doing game prep with No. 3 QB Max Brosmer even before team meetings and practices began.

“I feel like [the balancing is] something I struggled with,” said McCarthy, who has previously described himself as a perfectionist, said. “It’s always been work, work, work. ... Little things like that pay dividends down the road ‘cause it is such a long season.”

The Vikings, for their part, have set McCarthy up for success, acquiring talent to fill gaps from last year on offense and retaining important defensive stalwarts to help make sure the offense has as much time with the ball as possible.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for McCarthy in training camp, as those same defensive players often tormented him, especially early on. But he showed nothing to make one question the investment the Vikings made in him.

Last week, his teammates cemented their confidence in him by selecting him one of eight captains — again, before he’s even taken a regular-season snap.

“He knows he’s definitely not gonna be alone out there from the standpoint of the coaching staff and myself right there with him, maybe me too much sometimes in his ear, being able to coach the quarterback system,” O’Connell said. “I know those 10 guys in the huddle, regardless of who’s in the game, those guys are excited for No. 9 to come in and call that first play.”

Running back Aaron Jones’ advice to McCarthy aligned with O’Connell’s read on how teammates are viewing his impending debut.

Jones, also a captain, said he reminded McCarthy the rest of the team’s job is “to make [his] job easier,” and to ask for help when he needs it, though Jones also said McCarthy is “ready for the moment.”

The moment is more than just McCarthy’s first game. It’s setting the table for a season where there are high expectations internally in primetime against a divisional opponent.

O’Connell said McCarthy has a “gamer” trait proven by his successful track record through high school and then at Michigan, where he helped lead the Wolverines to a national title his final season.

That trait, O’Connell said, is how he shows up often at his best on game days.

Still, the Vikings aren’t ignoring the fact that an NFL start is a new situation for McCarthy.

“We’re all aware of that, but that doesn’t mean we put a ceiling over him,” O’Connell said. “At the same time, that doesn’t mean that because of all that success throughout his football journey we raise the floor, either.”

Source: Strib

I don't watch the WNBA but this Angel Reese sure makes a lot of headlines....and not in a good way. 

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/461...mments-sky

Will Ragatz
@WillRagatz
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9m
Kevin O’Connell says Harrison Smith is back in the building but will not practice today. They're hoping he can ramp up over the remainder of the week.
Will Ragatz
@WillRagatz
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3m
Christian Darrisaw will practice today. No commitment from KOC in terms of Monday, but it sounds like he has a chance to be out there.

"We're gonna give him every opportunity to practice and see how he feels, and then in regards to his availability, we'll make that decision."
Kevin Seifert
@SeifertESPN
·
1m
Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw, recovering from torn ACL + MCL, "checked all the boxes" during training camp. Kevin O'Connell isn't yet committing (publicly) to Darrisaw playing in Week 1. Team will "give him every opportunity to practice and see how he feels," per O'Connell.

Can't throw a dead cat and not hit a new JJ McCarthy article the last 3 weeks. This is one of the best writeups I've seen of McCarthy. NFL media knows he's a different cat in the best way, he's got a chance to be a face of the NFL:

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/ma...er-offense

Hard not to fall in love with this kid. I'm beyond stoked to his rapid development this year, because the JJM you see this Monday and the JJM you see in mid-December is going to be a much better QB. If he can take the team to the playoffs, this kid is ice water. For real.

Growing up in suburban Chicago, J.J. was destined to become a diehard Bears fan, just like his dad and so many relatives. Jim painted his son’s bedroom in Bears colors before he was born so that when they brought him home from the hospital, he would be appropriately indoctrinated, a fan from birth.

J.J. wore his favorite player’s jersey to the game that day at Soldier Field. No. 54, the great Brian Urlacher. Young J.J. had a Bears baseball hat turned backward, and a foam Bears claw on his hand.

He was ready to Bear Down.

The opponent? The Minnesota Vikings.

“Surreal,” Jim said recently. “Everything about him being where he’s supposed to be, he’s always manifested a way. But my gosh, how the stars line up to do this.”


Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, age 4, at his first NFL game at Soldier Field on Oct. 14, 2007. He's wearing the jersey of his favorite player Brian Urlacher. (Jim McCarthy)

On Monday night, J.J. will be back at Soldier Field, 22 years old now and starting his first NFL game against the team he grew up cheering.

This isn’t a story line. It’s a Hollywood script.

Strib

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6592829...sive-line/

Alec Lewis
@alec_lewis

"This offseason was a turning point for the Vikings.

They said enough.

They fortified both trenches.

Many men embody what they want to become, but perhaps none more than Will Fries, who has some snarl to him"