Quick question: What’s better than skipping church, sitting on the couch in a dark room watching the Red Zone channel for 12 hours avoiding all real world responsibilities, and gambling on grown men who probably have CTE? Doing it for the 11th straight week. Welcome to NFL Sunday.
"Do you know what my favorite part of football is? The opportunity to play." - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The NFL is officially in ‘playoff picture’ mode. Every day if you tune into a show discussing football chances are you’ll see a graphic that shows teams records, who would be in the playoffs at this moment. Which is very important information in the instance our President tweets one too many times about the leader of North Korea and they decide to start a nuclear war. If that scenario were to play out the NFL would probably suspend the season and then you would need to know who would have made the playoffs after Week 10. Other than the nuclear war scenario it really doesn’t matter who’s in the wild card slot after week 10.
If our country did happen to get into a nuclear war between now and Sunday one of the teams who would make the playoffs would be the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings started the season on Monday night football demolishing the Saints 29-19. In that game their offense looked great, with QB Sam Bradford looking like the former number one overall pick he was supposed to be. Rookie RB Dalvin Cook broke the Vikings record for most yards in a debut, formerly held by future hall of famer Adrian Peterson. However after that game things changed for the Vikings dramatically, Sam Bradford hurt his (insert any possible injury here) and is done for the year, and Rookie Dalvin Cook tore his ACL and is done for the year. Two huge injuries like this would derail most teams seasons, but somehow the Vikings are on a 5 game winning streak thanks to their amazing defense who has carried the team week in and week out the unlikeliest of heroes, Case Keenam.
The window to win a Super Bowl can open and close quick on a franchise. Ask the Denver Broncos, 2 years ago had the best defense in the league, a defense who could have carried a team to multiple superbowls. Now they are looking to maybe have an 8-8 season. The Vikings believe they have a defense who is able to carry them to a superbowl. Which is why last season when starting QB Teddy Bridgewater went down with a terrible knee injury, the Vikings went out and traded for Sam Bradford. This trade solidified the believe that the team was ready to make a playoff run. Last season it didn’t happen, but the Defense is still there for Minnesota, their window is not closed. Case Keenam has kept the window open while Teddy Bridgewater heals from an injury that was so awful it had teammates puking on the sidelines.
Case Keenam is a classic journeyman NFL QB about as average as they come. Case Keenum scored an 18 on his ACT. Case Keenum drives exacly 2 miles over the speed limit no matter how late or early he is. Case Keenum only uses Mild sauce at Taco Bell. Case Keenum is in bed no later than 9:45 on the weekends even if he’s not tired. Case Keenum has no idea who 21 Savage is. Case Keenum waited until he’s 21st birthday to have his first beer. Case Keenum knows who was the winner of the last season of the Voice. Case Keenum prefers the middle seat on airplanes. Case Keenum has never been late on his taxes. Also among all these things Case Keenum also plays QB in the NFL.
He has been a member of the Rams and the Texans each twice. He’s started 31 games for 3 different teams but never as the Plan A, primary starter. His name is often thrown around with guys like Brian Hoyer, Matt Schaub, or the Mccown brothers. But Case Keenum is not your average journeyman QB. Unlike those other guys Case Keenum had an unbelievable college career. At the University of Houston he threw for over 19,000 yards, and 155 TDs. How good are those numbers? If I quit my job and played Madden every day for 6 months (which I dream about doing every night before I go to sleep) I still wouldn’t be able to put on numbers like that on a video game. Keenum knows what its like to dominate a game at the college level. Its that skill set that is the reason he has led the Vikings to this current 5 game winning streak.
Now the Vikings have to answer the tough question. Teddy Bridgewater is healthy and was active last Sunday. Do the Vikings stick with Case Keenum who led them to a 7-2 record and has been on fire in that stretch? Or do they switch over to Teddy Bridgewater who has a first round pick and has the ability to lead them on a playoff run.
Absolutely the Vikings need to stick with Keenum. Case has been an underdog his whole career. Finally Minnesota gave him a shot at the starting job and he did not disapoint. The Vikings believe in Case Keenum and have played like it recently. Last week Case Keenum threw for 4 TDs and over 300 yards! He looks like a franchise QB and the Vikings should treat him like one. Give him the reigns to the offense and let him take you to the playoffs. If a team as hot as the Vikings were to switch QBs in the middle of the season and things began to go South there is no going back. The players in the locker room may start questioning why the coaches would make a change when things were going so well for the team. Mike Zimmer and his coaching staff could be in danger of losing the locker room if they don’t keep Keenum as the starter. They have a good thing going right now why change it.
Teddy Bridewater is the savior of football in Minnesota. Teddy needs to start for the Vikings immediately if they want to have any shot at making a playoff run. Teddy was drafted in the first round for a reason, to be the franchise QB for the Vikings. Minnesota has been gifted the opportunity of a lifetime, Aaron Rodgers is out for the year and the division is theirs for the taking. If you’re Mike Zimmer you can’t blow this chance with such a great defense by starting an average guy like Case Keenum when you have a first round talent like Bridgewater on your bench. Keenum didn’t even play that well last Sunday, in the second half he threw 2 picks and almost blew the lead! Stop messing around coach Zimmer. The fans are happy with Case leading the team to a 7-2 record but if the Vikings are going to be taken seriously as playoff contenders they need to get their offense in gear and that starts with Teddy Bridgewater.
Ok so to be honest no one knows what the right move is in this situation. Bridgewater is clearly the better talent but Keenum has played really well and has earned the right to keep the starting job. No matter what Coach Mike Zimmer decides to do he knows he can rely on his defense to carry him. Without Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay the Vikings path is clear to win the NFC North. What they do after that could very well come down to who the Vikings decide to put their faith in. The journeyman QB who got them this far, or the First round pick who is on a comeback mission after a seemingly season ending knee injury.
Week 11 NFL Picks
All lines used from the Las Vegas Westgate supercontest
Eagles -4
Rams +2
Patriots -6.5
Eagles -4
I was way off on the Cowboys last week. I didn’t think the absences of Zeke or the injuries on the offensive line would matter but it very much did. This week Zeke is still out, starting left tackle Tryon Smith is out again (last week his replacement gave up 6 sacks) and now the Cowboys best defensive player Sean Lee is out for multiple weeks with a hamstring injury. The Cowboys are in bad shape and to make matters worse they are playing the team with the best record in the league the Philadelphia Eagles. All the Eagles have done this season is run over teams en route to an 8-1 record. I like the Eagles big in this game.
Rams +2
I really do believe in Case Keenum’s ability…. to throw some bad picks, lose the game this game; then making Mike Zimmer’s decision to bench Keenum for Bridgewater much easier. If Keenum and the Vikings are going to blow a game at home, it will be this one. The Rams are in town and the Rams are for real. The LA Rams are the number one scoring offense in the league and if any team is going to be able to put up points on the Vikings defense it will be the Rams. The reason I like the Rams the most is they are the number one team in the league in DVOA. Have I figured out what DVOA is yet or how it’s calculated? Absolutely not. Am I blindly trusting a stat I don’t fully understand? Pretty much. It’s amazing my record is so bad this year.
Patriots -6.5
The Patriots and Raiders in Mexico City, what a weird game. Mexico City supposedly has a very high altitude, and Bill Belichick being the cheater he always is, had his team stay in Colorado this week after their game last Sunday vs the Broncos to get acclimated to the altitude they will face this week in Mexico City. But this game has nothing to do with the air. This game could be played on the moon and I’d like the Patriots. Tom Brady has this offense rolling, and they face a Raider Defense that gave up 24 points to the Dolphins, 21 points to the Jets, 30 points to the Chiefs, and 34 points to the Bills. Based on those facts I’m expecting Tom Brady and the Patriots to score 90 on the Raiders defense. Can Derek Carr and the Raiders score 84 to cover the spread? Probably not. (also never forget this game is a matchup between two teams who played in the infamous Tuck Rule game that was the single most unfair ruling on a play in the history of football and allowed the Patriots to start a string of cheating that led them to some Super Bowls, never forget the Pats are cheaters never forget.)
Record to date (when games are being played in Mexico): 1-0
Thank you to everyone for reading. Be sure to check out Bart’s Best Bets for college picks and come back next week for more NFL. Happy Week 11 everyone and remember don’t let your life get in the way of your football.
Double COVERage 