Frank Sinatra sang it. “Regrets, I’ve had a few.”
How about some National Football League teams this year. Do you think the Tennessee Titans regret dismissing Mike Vrabel as their head coach in favor of, well in favor of that guy and now this guy, given the struggling franchise is already two coaches beyond Vrabel. And Vrabel, well he is guiding the New England Patriots to the best record in football in his first season with Robert Kraft’s team.
You think perhaps the Seattle Seahawks might have come to regret allowing Sam Darnold to leave without offering him a contract? All the one-time first round draft choice did last year was guide the Vikings to their second most regular season wins in franchise history. This year, now with the Seattle Seahawks, he has that team atop their division with equally impressive stats while the Vikings continue to hope J.J. McCarthy will develop into a topflight signal caller while entering this week with a losing won/loss record, 4 and 5.
Last year, a season ending injury sidelined the rookie quarterback out of Michigan for the season, which opened the door for his projected backup, Darnold, to raise his stock beyond the Vikings buying price. When Darnold stumbled in his last two starts, losses to the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams, the Vikings had an easier time moving on.
Don’t you know that they were hoping Darnold would land this year with a thud, look more like his early career where he struggled with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers and only served as a backup during one season in San Francisco with the 49ers. That could have been the case, Darnold putting together another All-Pro season was no slam dunk given his history … but what do the Vikings have now?
McCarthy, in his second season has not shed the pattern of injuries. He has missed more games than he has started this year due to a high ankle sprain. He has been back for two weeks, looked pretty good in his first start after four weeks on the sidelines. He led a win over the talented Detroit Lions, but his bright week was leveled last Sunday in a home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
This week, the Vikings host the Chicago Bears to try to stay in the thick of the NFC North Division race, a grouping of four quality teams. Ahead of the four wins and five losses the Vikings have accumulated this season are the Lions, Green Bay Packers and this week’s opponent, the Bears.
This is the second meeting this season between the Bears and Vikings. In the season opening Monday Night game the Vikings and McCarthy staged a furious fourth quarter comeback to edge their Soldier Field hosts, 27-24. In that game, McCarthy struggled for three quarters and then put on a show in the final period that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
I thought the award was a bit bogus, and I wasn’t alone. There was plenty of chatter both in the media and behind the scenes that promoted other players seemingly more deserving of the award that put together games for four quarters. But, everyone loves a comeback, and the Vikings road win that featured 21 fourth quarter points got enough attention to have McCarthy win the award in his first pro start.
Since the Vikings beat the Bears to open the season, and Chicago lost a second week contest to the Detroit Lions, no team has a better record than the one coached by first-year mentor Ben Johnson. The Bears have won six of their most recent seven games to elevate themselves to the middle of the battle in their talented division, tied with the Lions and one-half game ahead of the Packers.
The Vikings are still not out of it. They are two games back of both the Bears and Lions and you know what, that couldn’t be a more perfect spot to pick up a win. When a team with comparable talent meets a team they are trailing by two games we have the situation where the loser is either going to be three games or one game ahead after the action. The motivation to pull within a game is far greater than the wish to pull three ahead.
Regrets? If McCarthy develops into the QB the Vikings are hoping for, they won’t have any. And Sunday appears a perfect spot for him to take a step in that direction.
Qoxhi Picks: Minnesota Vikings (-3) over Chicago Bears