Monday Open Thread: October 22, 2018

Merry post-win Monday, everyone!

Hey, a record of 4-2-1 and division leaders is a lot better than 1-2-1, isn’t it? That was only a few short weeks ago, and the team has rid itself of the anchor it was dragging, and is picking up a head of steam as they approach mid-season. They have another tough one coming up, as the Saints come to town, and the two will square off in Sunday’s late game on Sunday Night Football.

Yesterday’s game was very dull for two quarters, the offense did very little, with the exception of a beautiful throw and catch from Cousins to Thielen. The rest of the half for the Vikings’ offense was a lot of three-and-outs, very little from the run game, and I was starting to think of the yard work I could be enjoying. The defense was solid, and gave the offense a lot of opportunities, and the offense used those opportunities to give the punter a workout (it’s nice to have a punter with a leg like that, isn’t it?).

The second half saw much of the same from the defense, as they dismantled Darnold and the Jets offense throughout the game. They got pressure on Darnold all day long, which translated into turnovers and a very frustrated Jets offense. The Vikings offense got it going somewhat, and although the team finished with 37 points, the offense never looked like they were firing on all 8. Cousins had a pretty good game, and Murray had a couple of nice runs and two touchdowns, but I still want to see improvement. In the end, the team got its first win ever against the Jets in New York Jersey (yep, first time in history they’ve beaten them on the road), and improved to 4-2-1 and first place in the NFC North. The Packers play tonight, so they could be co-division leaders if the game doesn’t go right, but we’ll just say division leaders, because it really doesn’t matter until week 17 anyway.

Those of you who watched yesterday’s broadcast will know that there was a rare atmospheric event in New Jersey yesterday called “wind”. Yes, wind. The announcers talked about it non-stop for much of the broadcast. I’m not really sure what it is, but from what I’ve read, something in the atmosphere makes the air move. It’s supposedly kinda’ like if you stick your head or hand out of the window while you drive your car with the windows down, I really don’t know much about it, only the little I could find online, as this is a very rare occurrence, but I’m very shocked that the NFL allowed the game to go on. I looked on the National Weather Service site, and it reported this “wind” in East Rutherford was 19 miles per hour, and the maximum gust was 25 miles per hour. Now, that’s quite a bit lower than the 40 mph gusts they put up during the broadcast, but I’m sure that was a simple oversight by the crew. I’m sure it was hard to concentrate on getting the details right when they were just hoping to go home alive. I mean, we could be seeing the beginning of Armageddon, and they play the game? I’m disappointed that the NFL put everyone’s lives at risk, and I hope there is a full investigation. While I know that it will be another several centuries or more until this “wind” happens again, they should still understand that something so rare carries with it many unknowns, and they really don’t know what could have happened. They’re just lucky that everyone survived.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Ted dropped by and delivered the latest Stock Market Report: Jets.

Chris has the post-game wrap-up.

Thielen tied a record that was set back in 1961, from Lucas Ailport.

Could Thielen break the team’s single-season receiving record, currently held by Randy Moss? Vikings fans think so, per Chris.

Vikings news from other sources and news from around the league:

Over at Vikings.com, see all the highlights from the game, catch Coach Zimmer’s post-game locker room speech, hear the head coach talk with the press after the game, and there are lots more interviews and clips to look through in the media vault.

Catch up on all the NFL week 7 scores and highlights, courtesy of ESPN.

DeVante Parker’s agent called Adam Gase (Parker’s head coach) incompetent, per NFL.com. The agent insisted that he was not trying to get Parker moved from the team, but I can’t imagine which other goal he would have in mind.

NFL.com has a list of week 7 injuries to keep track of.

We come to today’s media selection:

I love it when I get to play this one, our DN tradition for the day after a win. STRIKE UP THE BAND!

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

• No discussion of politics or religion
• No feeding of the trolls
• This isn’t a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
• Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
• Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
• No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
• If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
• While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the knoephla soup.