By Brandon Simmons
Is it Okay to Trust the Vikings Now?
The Minnesota Vikings are at the top.of the NFC North at 9-2 and might have proven to be a serious contender. The last 3 games, the Vikings have gone 2-1, which includes an overtime win over the Buffalo Bills. The game against the Bills was important as it was over an opponent that was over 500, something that Minnesota has struggled with this season. However, in this 3 game stretch all of their opponents were above th3 .500 mark.
With this small sample size, it seems to be enough for the world to really get behind the Vikings. The most impressive part of the run is how Minnesota has won the close games. It shows they have willingness to compete and make the big plays when needed most, such as wide receiver Justin Jefferson’s one handed catch in the 4th quarter in the win against the Buffalo Bills. When you combine those things with a talented roster they have a real shot to go deep in the playoffs. However, their main concern could be their pass defense which ranks last in the league, but the silver lining is that the rest of their schedule features 2 of the top leaders in TD passes – with one of them potentially being out (Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers) – so not a lot of damage would be done. While many have questioned how tough this team would be, at this point of the season, they look like one of the stronger squads en route into the postseason.
It’s Time for Jordan Love
The Green Bay Packers should just go ahead and put Jordan Love in for the rest of the season. The backup QB – drafted 26th overall in 2020 – has been the most anticipated singal caller on the bench, considering he is the heir apparent to QB Aaron Rodgers. Sunday, Rodgers went down with an injury and Love replaced him, throwing 6-9 for 113 yards and a touchdown, which sliced a 2 touchdown deficit to 7. Regardless of his failed effort to win the game, it’s time to shut down Rodgers for the year and put Love in. The Packers are 4-8 sitting behind the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings in their division. Their road to get into the postseason is going to be a rough one. If they go with Love, the Packers have nothing to lose, while not having much to gain either. They will be examining whether or not he stays with the team in the wake of Rodger’s inevitable absence or if they go back to the drawing board for a franchise QB. Most of Love’s experience has only come in the preseason and one start last season when Rodgers was hurt.
Unfortunate Truth about Jerry Jones
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came under fire this past week for appearing in a 1950’s photo of a mob of white teenagers preventing black students from entering the school. The picture made its rounds on social media and sparked plenty of outrage, which was parallel to the Cowboys beating the New York Giants on Thanksgiving. While it seemed that the game garnered more attention than the photo, the sports shows did not hesitate to include their 2 cents in, especially ESPN First Take’s Stephen A. Smith – a premiere Dallas Cowboys hater – surprisingly defended Jones in the photo. But the surprise of all of this is that Smith’s sentiments is not out of the ordinary.
Jerry Jones has been a polarizing figure in the sports world but has garnered same level of respect in that same manner. Many people are engulfed by his business acumen and ability to build his fortune through “America’s Team”. Former Dallas Cowboys players have always sung his praises, especially wide receiver Michael Irvin. In other words, Jones is Mr. Teflon and this is something that would not even scratch the surface of tarnishing him or warranting him any punishment. This is no way defending what he did but pointing out that there is much reluctancy in not defending him. People bring up his age at the time, but he didn’t appear any older than the other boys who were front and center making threats. Jones has been caught in some questionable acts before, even as recent as early this year when he was involved in a car accident where some alleged “street activity” occurs or when he was caught on a photo fondling a woman. This happens to be another immoral act surrounded by a wall of circumstances that protect Jones’ reputation, whether we want it to or not, which is common in regards to the “cancel culture” Stephen A. alludes to. The only public figures that get cancelled are those that people feel they can pick on, which are coincidentally never worth close to the wealth that Jones has.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Cleveland Browns for beating Tom Brady when it mattered. Sunday, the Browns beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-17 in overtime. It started with Brown QB Jacoby Brissett throwing a TD to tight end David Njoku to tie the game at 17 with 32 seconds left. Then Brown running back Nick Chubb rushed into the end zone for 3 yardsin overtime.
Shut out to KHOU CBS for cutting into the thrilling finish of the Bills/Lions Thanksgiving game. The Buffalo Bills were leading the Detroit Lions late in the 4th quarter before the Lions tied the game at 25 with 28 seconds left in the game. Suddenly, the audience in Houston saw their screens cut to a weatherman describing a tornado warning that would last for 15 minutes. The problem is, he took up the whole 15 minutes of that warning, all while the Bills were able to get the ball back and get into field goal range thanks to Buffalo QB Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs connecting on a play. Bills kicked the game winning field goal with 2 seconds left. Fortunately, no tornado actually appeared but KHOU’s mentions suffered hail-sized profanity.
The leftovers are gone so now it’s time to feast on what Week 13 has to offer. The Miami Dolphins are going traveling to face the San Francisco 49ers in a battle of the Dolphins’ offense against the stout Niners defense. Later on, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs will be squaring off for position in the AFC playoff picture. It’s a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game and could be a potential preview of the sequel, but until then…I’ll holla.