On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Chargers dominated the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 to improve to 5-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Vikes are now 3-4 and sit in last place in the NFC North. With that game in the books, we have one takeaway for both Minnesota and LA.
MIN: Kevin O'Connell did Carson Wentz dirty.
There has been an ongoing conversation surrounding the Minnesota Vikings and second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy. After McCarthy put up two stinkers early in the season, rumors swirled that the Vikes embellished the severity of McCarthy's ankle injury as a way to justify benching him for a few weeks. When first reported, it was believed that McCarthy's injury would hold him out for two to four weeks. However, he has now missed six weeks of action, which has everybody wondering when he will retake the reins from backup quarterback Carson Wentz. Last night seemed like the perfect opportunity for McCarthy to get back onto the field, but head coach Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings' brass decided to start Carson Wentz one more time and make rookie Max Brosmer the second-string QB. What followed was a feat of coaching malpractice the likes of which we have never seen.
With Carson Wentz coming into the game already dealing with a shoulder injury, Minnesota did a horrible job of providing its veteran quarterback with protection. He was sacked five times and was pressured on 13 of his 32 dropbacks. There were several moments last night where it looked like Wentz had aggravated his shoulder injury and was done for the evening, but he was sent back out there to take another sack and not effectively move the ball. Kevin O'Connell clearly saw that Wentz was in pain. In fact, EVERYBODY could see Wentz was in a bad place. However, Max Brosmer didn't take the field until there were less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the game was completely out of reach. Fans are claiming that Brosmer didn't go in sooner because if he had played well, it would've created a quarterback controversy between him and McCarthy in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Regardless of the reasoning, KOC showed no care or concern for one of his most important players, and he looks like a complete fool today because of how he handled the quarterback situation last night.
LAC: The Chargers are back... for now.
The Los Angeles Chargers have been one of the streakiest teams in the NFL this season. They looked like the class of the AFC through the first three weeks of the season after starting the year 3-0. Then they came crashing back down to Earth after two straight losses to the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders. They looked poised to rebound after beating the Miami Dolphins, but were embarrassed at home by the Indianapolis Colts, which had everybody bad-mouthing the Bolts in the days leading up to last night's game. Following that win yesterday, everybody is back on the Chargers bandwagon. They're 5-3 and look like one of the best teams in the NFL. But how long will our love affair with Los Angeles last?
Based on the way that LA has played this season, it's only a matter of time before they suffer a tough loss and are deemed chokers or losers. But for now, the immediate future is bright in LA. They have an extended period of rest and then have a layup game against the Tennessee Titans, whom they should easily beat. That means that for at least the next two weeks, the Chargers are back and will be viewed as a top team in the AFC. Then again, that will likely change when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars in back-to-back weeks. But until then, we are all going to heap praise onto the Los Angeles Chargers and assert that they are one of the best teams in the NFL.
