Playoffs becoming more unlikely for Vikings after third straight loss
Devonte Wyatt (95) of the Green Bay Packers sacks J.J. McCarthy (9) of the Minnesota Vikings during the second half of an NFL football game at Lambeau Field on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.
Todd Rosenberg | Getty Images
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Audio transcript
CHRIS FARRELL: You're listening to Minnesota Now. I'm Chris Farrell, in for Nina Moini. Some households, friend groups, and workplaces in our region are divided today over their feelings about Sunday Night Football, and more specifically, the absolute thrashing that the Green Bay Packers gave the Minnesota Vikings. As the Purple pick up the pieces, sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson join me to talk about this and other sporting news. Well, welcome to both of you.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Chris. How are you?
ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah. All right, Wally, I don't-- I guess the only way I can phrase this is, what happened? What happened in last night's game?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Well, I was at Lambeau Field, as a matter of fact. And so I experienced it in person. And it really was a disaster almost from the get go. Now, the Vikings did score on their first possession. They came down. They kicked a field goal, but really, all downhill after that, unfortunately, another really tortured performance by quarterback JJ McCarthy. The Vikings as a team, only had 4 yards of offense in the second half. It was brutal to watch. They couldn't move the football.
CHRIS FARRELL: Did you just say just 4 yards?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: 4 yards total offense in the second half.
CHRIS FARRELL: Oh, boy.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: That's hard to-- actually, sitting in the press box, I didn't have that information. And Eric texted it to me late in the game. He said, do you realize they only had 4 yards of total offense? I said, oh my goodness. Yeah, it was painful to watch. The Vikings now drop further into last place because everybody else in the division won. So they're 4 and 7 now. Playoffs are just-- that's not going to happen, not with this team. And afterwards, KOC, Kevin O'Connell, still believes in his quarterback. I think he's going to go to the wall with him. And unfortunately, this is going to be, really, a lost season.
And as I have said all along, Chris, I think that the problem with that is that you're wasting maybe one of the prime years of one of the best players in the NFL, Justin Jefferson, one of his wide receivers. And you're wasting a year with Aaron Jones, a running back, maybe one of his last good years in the NFL and Jordan Addison. You've got a lot of weapons. And a lot of folks that I talked to and saw at the game and heard, they're saying the same thing, is his performance, JJ McCarthy's performances, have actually gotten worse rather than better over the last few weeks. And that's frightening.
CHRIS FARRELL: That is frightening. So, Eric, what's next for the Vikings? Sunday, what, in Seattle is against Sam Darnold, right? That's who they're going to be going up against? I don't know if the right word is irony. But what's next for them?
ERIC NELSON: I think it's bitter irony, Chris, to be blunt. They're going to go eyeball to eyeball with the guy who led them to the playoffs last season, Sam Darnold. And then he hit free agency this past March. And Minnesota made the decision, we don't want to fork out the money to keep him. We're going to commit to JJ McCarthy, the high draft choice in 2024. So Darnold went into the free agent pool, and what a splash he made. He won the NFL lottery. Seattle signs him to a three-year, $100.5 million contract, $55 million guaranteed, cha ching. And Darnold is earning every penny this season.
CHRIS FARRELL: He looks good.
ERIC NELSON: The Seahawks-- he's very good. And really, what he went through, everything JJ McCarthy is going through now. He struggled early with the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers. And then he had to go to San Francisco before going to Minnesota. But it takes a while in the NFL. Very few young quarterbacks ever hit the ground running.
And now, Darnold's in a great spot. The Seahawks are 8 and 3, second place in the NFC West. He's throwing for 2,785 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 picks. On Sunday, he had two touchdown passes against Tennessee down in Nashville. Seahawks won that 30 to 24. And making things even more difficult for Minnesota is, they'll go into one of the toughest venues to play in on the NFL map.
The Seahawks have a fanatical fan base. I've been to multiple games out there. And they call their fans the 12s, as in the 12th member of the team. They have flags all over the stadium, all over the city, all over Washington State, bragging about the 12s. And they show up with incredible energy and passion to Lumen Field in Downtown Seattle. So this is going to be a daunting place to play for a young quarterback JJ McCarthy, huge challenge for Minnesota. I would say this, though-- Look, this is how you learn. And he's going to have to learn the hard way, as they face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
CHRIS FARRELL: All right, Wally, let's [INAUDIBLE] for a moment. Let's move away from football. Let's talk about basketball, all right? Basketball. So the WNBA draft lottery yesterday, at least in my uninformed opinion, bright spot for the Minnesota Lynx fans. And so what do we about the potential draft pick for next year?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yeah, the ping pong balls went Minnesota's way yesterday. And despite the fact that they had the best record in the WNBA this past season, they end up with the second overall pick. And that's a good thing. The 2026 WNBA draft will happen on April 13. Who that might be, if the Lynx might think about trading that pick, perhaps-- there are a lot of pieces in place here, a lot of moving pieces, I should say.
They actually entered the lottery with a 28.5% chance of securing the number two pick. And it marks just the third time in franchise history that they will draft that high, in the number two spot. They actually got Diamond Miller a couple of years ago in the number two spot. So this is a good pick for them. And they will hopefully be able to make do with it and hopefully vault them to another WNBA title because that's the goal.
On the flip side, you said you wanted to talk basketball. Your Wolves are back in action tonight. The Timberwolves play in Sacramento. This is not an NBA Cup game. That's an in-season tournament that they've got going on. They'll resume NBA Cup play Wednesday. And get this, they have to play-- the Timberwolves on Wednesday, they have to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those would be the defending NBA Champions, who, oh, by the way, are 17 wins and just 1 loss coming into this week, so a daunting task, to say the least, for the Timberwolves.
CHRIS FARRELL: Eric, let's shift to soccer. So--
ERIC NELSON: Yes.
CHRIS FARRELL: --tonight, it's a big night for Minnesota United, Western Conference semifinal. They'll be in San Diego. What do we need to about this game?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, yeah, huge match, obviously. If Min U you can win, they're off to the Western Conference Finals for the third time in franchise history, Kick off 9:00 PM from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. How about that? Temps will be in the mid 50s in San Diego, so I think perfect conditions for both teams to play in.
Capacity at Snapdragon is 32,000. And the venue is built right next to Qualcomm Stadium, which got blown up a few years ago. But that used to be the home of the Chargers and the Padres. It's in the Mission Valley part of San Diego. This will be the third meeting between these clubs. Each team has won once. And if you're a fanatic, there's a lot of watch parties in the Twin Cities. The Loons' official watch party is at Brit's Pub, which is really a soccer hub, Downtown Minneapolis. And there's going to be a lot of other spots, as I said, in the metro area.
Now, San Diego FC is paced by right winger Anders Dreyer. He's one of the top players in MLS with 22 goals, 17 assists. They have a left winger, Chucky Lozano. He's an MLS All-Star for San Diego. And how about this, Chris? This is the first season for San Diego. They're an expansion team. And yet, they finished on top of the Western Conference.
Now, Minnesota has had outstanding offensive seasons from Kelvin Yeboah and Joaquin Pereira. And their goalkeeper for Minn U, Dayne St. Clair, he was sensational against Seattle in round one of the playoffs. He plays for the Canadian Olympic team. I think if the Loons are going to win tonight, Chris, it'll probably be Dayne St. Clair turning into a human stop sign. Minnesota's not as high-powered as San Diego offensively. They need to keep this thing in the 1-0, 2-1 range, I think, to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
CHRIS FARRELL: And then quickly, Wally, catch up on hockey, the Wilder winning, and the Frost season just started.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, Frost lost their opener on Friday. But I think that the celebration went on because they celebrated their championship from last year. And yes, the Wild are on a roll. They knocked off the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg Sunday 3-0, fifth straight win, second straight shutout because they shut out Pittsburgh on Friday 5 to 0. So the Wild have moved all the way up into third place in the NHL Central Division with 28 points. So hockey-wise and basketball-wise, we're doing OK. It's the football we got to worry about.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much, sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Chris. How are you?
ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah. All right, Wally, I don't-- I guess the only way I can phrase this is, what happened? What happened in last night's game?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Well, I was at Lambeau Field, as a matter of fact. And so I experienced it in person. And it really was a disaster almost from the get go. Now, the Vikings did score on their first possession. They came down. They kicked a field goal, but really, all downhill after that, unfortunately, another really tortured performance by quarterback JJ McCarthy. The Vikings as a team, only had 4 yards of offense in the second half. It was brutal to watch. They couldn't move the football.
CHRIS FARRELL: Did you just say just 4 yards?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: 4 yards total offense in the second half.
CHRIS FARRELL: Oh, boy.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: That's hard to-- actually, sitting in the press box, I didn't have that information. And Eric texted it to me late in the game. He said, do you realize they only had 4 yards of total offense? I said, oh my goodness. Yeah, it was painful to watch. The Vikings now drop further into last place because everybody else in the division won. So they're 4 and 7 now. Playoffs are just-- that's not going to happen, not with this team. And afterwards, KOC, Kevin O'Connell, still believes in his quarterback. I think he's going to go to the wall with him. And unfortunately, this is going to be, really, a lost season.
And as I have said all along, Chris, I think that the problem with that is that you're wasting maybe one of the prime years of one of the best players in the NFL, Justin Jefferson, one of his wide receivers. And you're wasting a year with Aaron Jones, a running back, maybe one of his last good years in the NFL and Jordan Addison. You've got a lot of weapons. And a lot of folks that I talked to and saw at the game and heard, they're saying the same thing, is his performance, JJ McCarthy's performances, have actually gotten worse rather than better over the last few weeks. And that's frightening.
CHRIS FARRELL: That is frightening. So, Eric, what's next for the Vikings? Sunday, what, in Seattle is against Sam Darnold, right? That's who they're going to be going up against? I don't know if the right word is irony. But what's next for them?
ERIC NELSON: I think it's bitter irony, Chris, to be blunt. They're going to go eyeball to eyeball with the guy who led them to the playoffs last season, Sam Darnold. And then he hit free agency this past March. And Minnesota made the decision, we don't want to fork out the money to keep him. We're going to commit to JJ McCarthy, the high draft choice in 2024. So Darnold went into the free agent pool, and what a splash he made. He won the NFL lottery. Seattle signs him to a three-year, $100.5 million contract, $55 million guaranteed, cha ching. And Darnold is earning every penny this season.
CHRIS FARRELL: He looks good.
ERIC NELSON: The Seahawks-- he's very good. And really, what he went through, everything JJ McCarthy is going through now. He struggled early with the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers. And then he had to go to San Francisco before going to Minnesota. But it takes a while in the NFL. Very few young quarterbacks ever hit the ground running.
And now, Darnold's in a great spot. The Seahawks are 8 and 3, second place in the NFC West. He's throwing for 2,785 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 picks. On Sunday, he had two touchdown passes against Tennessee down in Nashville. Seahawks won that 30 to 24. And making things even more difficult for Minnesota is, they'll go into one of the toughest venues to play in on the NFL map.
The Seahawks have a fanatical fan base. I've been to multiple games out there. And they call their fans the 12s, as in the 12th member of the team. They have flags all over the stadium, all over the city, all over Washington State, bragging about the 12s. And they show up with incredible energy and passion to Lumen Field in Downtown Seattle. So this is going to be a daunting place to play for a young quarterback JJ McCarthy, huge challenge for Minnesota. I would say this, though-- Look, this is how you learn. And he's going to have to learn the hard way, as they face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
CHRIS FARRELL: All right, Wally, let's [INAUDIBLE] for a moment. Let's move away from football. Let's talk about basketball, all right? Basketball. So the WNBA draft lottery yesterday, at least in my uninformed opinion, bright spot for the Minnesota Lynx fans. And so what do we about the potential draft pick for next year?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yeah, the ping pong balls went Minnesota's way yesterday. And despite the fact that they had the best record in the WNBA this past season, they end up with the second overall pick. And that's a good thing. The 2026 WNBA draft will happen on April 13. Who that might be, if the Lynx might think about trading that pick, perhaps-- there are a lot of pieces in place here, a lot of moving pieces, I should say.
They actually entered the lottery with a 28.5% chance of securing the number two pick. And it marks just the third time in franchise history that they will draft that high, in the number two spot. They actually got Diamond Miller a couple of years ago in the number two spot. So this is a good pick for them. And they will hopefully be able to make do with it and hopefully vault them to another WNBA title because that's the goal.
On the flip side, you said you wanted to talk basketball. Your Wolves are back in action tonight. The Timberwolves play in Sacramento. This is not an NBA Cup game. That's an in-season tournament that they've got going on. They'll resume NBA Cup play Wednesday. And get this, they have to play-- the Timberwolves on Wednesday, they have to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those would be the defending NBA Champions, who, oh, by the way, are 17 wins and just 1 loss coming into this week, so a daunting task, to say the least, for the Timberwolves.
CHRIS FARRELL: Eric, let's shift to soccer. So--
ERIC NELSON: Yes.
CHRIS FARRELL: --tonight, it's a big night for Minnesota United, Western Conference semifinal. They'll be in San Diego. What do we need to about this game?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, yeah, huge match, obviously. If Min U you can win, they're off to the Western Conference Finals for the third time in franchise history, Kick off 9:00 PM from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. How about that? Temps will be in the mid 50s in San Diego, so I think perfect conditions for both teams to play in.
Capacity at Snapdragon is 32,000. And the venue is built right next to Qualcomm Stadium, which got blown up a few years ago. But that used to be the home of the Chargers and the Padres. It's in the Mission Valley part of San Diego. This will be the third meeting between these clubs. Each team has won once. And if you're a fanatic, there's a lot of watch parties in the Twin Cities. The Loons' official watch party is at Brit's Pub, which is really a soccer hub, Downtown Minneapolis. And there's going to be a lot of other spots, as I said, in the metro area.
Now, San Diego FC is paced by right winger Anders Dreyer. He's one of the top players in MLS with 22 goals, 17 assists. They have a left winger, Chucky Lozano. He's an MLS All-Star for San Diego. And how about this, Chris? This is the first season for San Diego. They're an expansion team. And yet, they finished on top of the Western Conference.
Now, Minnesota has had outstanding offensive seasons from Kelvin Yeboah and Joaquin Pereira. And their goalkeeper for Minn U, Dayne St. Clair, he was sensational against Seattle in round one of the playoffs. He plays for the Canadian Olympic team. I think if the Loons are going to win tonight, Chris, it'll probably be Dayne St. Clair turning into a human stop sign. Minnesota's not as high-powered as San Diego offensively. They need to keep this thing in the 1-0, 2-1 range, I think, to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
CHRIS FARRELL: And then quickly, Wally, catch up on hockey, the Wilder winning, and the Frost season just started.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, Frost lost their opener on Friday. But I think that the celebration went on because they celebrated their championship from last year. And yes, the Wild are on a roll. They knocked off the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg Sunday 3-0, fifth straight win, second straight shutout because they shut out Pittsburgh on Friday 5 to 0. So the Wild have moved all the way up into third place in the NHL Central Division with 28 points. So hockey-wise and basketball-wise, we're doing OK. It's the football we got to worry about.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much, sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
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