Nick Olson

The other funny thing about firing Kwesi for the QB situation or the drafts is like… you kept everybody else in the building If there were a player evaluation problem, firing the non-scout GM and leaving all the other existing decisonmakers in charge is not exactly reassuring!

The depressing thing about the Kwesi firing is Kwesi always (rightly) emphasized ex ante thinking -- did we make the right choice at the time knowing what we knew then -- and almost all the justifications I'm seeing are 100% ex post

More additions for the #Vikings: Gerald Alexander will become the defensive pass game coordinator and DBs coach, while former #Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen comes on as D-line coach and defensive run game coordinator, per me and @TomPelissero. Daronte Jones left to be Commanders DC.

The Vikings are hiring former Miami Dolphins OC Frank Smith, per source. It is my understanding Keith Carter will also have key role on the staff. Smith is soft-spoken, definitely sharp when it comes to run scheme, design and fundamentals. Has ample experience.

The #Vikings announce General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been relieved of his duties.

The Vikings fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, per sources.

Source: Commanders are finalizing a deal to hire Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their defensive coordinator. Jones has been one of Brian Flores’ most trusted defensive coaches the past three seasons, and he also has coached under Vance Joseph and Mike Zimmer.

mood af

The Vikings have signed defensive coordinator Brian Flores to a new contract, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Flores is still a candidate with the Steelers and Ravens head coaching jobs. But if he doesn’t land one of those, he’ll stay in Minnesota.

Kevin O'Connell offensive ranks since joining MN as head coach 2022: 18th in EPA/play, 20th in DVOA 2023: 18th in EPA/play, 23rd in DVOA 2024: 14th in EPA/play, 15th in DVOA 2025: 28th in EPA/play, 29th in DVOA

@ack_73 He's always been an interesting player with lots of both highlights and lowlights. Huge impact as a blitzer, but lots of missed tackles. PFF dings him a lot for coverage but Flores' coverage assignments I don't think translate well to PFF grading.

@NickOlsonNFL Surprised by E Will’s number being that low ngl, seemed like he was so much more impactful

Final Vikings PFF grades for their 2025 defensive starters Somehow this unit finished third-best in both EPA/play allowed and defensive DVOA

Vikings finish the season with 9+ wins in back-to-back years for the first time since 2008-2009

Ham

Jaxson Dart had 13 net passing yards on the day. Brian Flores with absolutely no chill.

@willmacaskill I donated $3005 to GiveDirectly!

To kick off Giving Season, I’m matching donations up to £100,000 (details below), across 10 charities and 6 cause areas. If you want to join, say how much you’re donating and where, as a reply or quote! I’ll run this up until 31st December. The charities are in replies below! Details of the match: **I’ll give this money whatever happens, so this isn’t increasing the total amount I’m giving to charity.** However, your donations will change *where* I’m giving. I’ll allocate my donations in proportion to the ratio of donations from others as part of the match, with two bits of nuance: 1. I’ll cap donations at £40,000 to any one cause area 2. To prevent extreme ratios, I’ll treat every charity on the list as already having received £1000. The aim of this match is to encourage public giving and public discussion around giving, so I'll only match people who publicly state that they are giving on here or other social media, as a reply or quote. I'll also tweet at more length about the top-3 charities as we're coming to the end of the year.

J.J. McCarthy is figuring it out. He looked like a franchise quarterback on Sunday night against the Cowboys. Highlights from his 250-yard, 3-TD game:

“What is an individual thing? They roll Like a drunken fingerprint across the sky!”

Just run duo man. It's been working all game

U.S. Bank field goal posts today