Questions Answered: Injured Viking’s Status, Vikings-Bears Score Prediction, a Darnold Discount
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the December 12th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Injured Viking’s Status, Vikings-Bears Score Prediction, a Darnold Discount
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Do you expect Stephon Gilmore to play on Monday night?
Answer: No.
Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling tweeted Thursday, four days before Minnesota’s tilt with the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium: “The Vikings held a walk-through on Thursday after a padded practice on Wednesday. Stephon Gilmore (hamstring) was still listed as a DNP in their first injury report of the week.”
Gilmore’s absence from a walk-through is wildly discouraging and an indicator that fans should expect a second consecutive missed game for the five-time Pro Bowler.
The Vikings won without Gilmore last weekend over Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons, though Gilmore will be needed before too long, especially when competition heats up against the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions in 10 days.
If Gilmore practices on Friday, the narrative can change, but for now, a DNP at a walk-through is an awful omen.
On the whole, it’s probably the Fabian Moreau show again.
Q: What’s your prediction for Vikings-Bears on Monday? A win?
Answer: A win, indeed. Let’s say Vikings over Bears, 34-17.
Minnesota is hot, and Chicago is not. This game could teeter on fierce NFC North tropes — the ones where you “throw win-loss records out of the window” — but the purple team shouldn’t have a problem at home against the Bears.
If Minnesota loses, it will feel like “back to the drawing board.”
Q: Any chance Sam Darnold would take a discount to stay with the Vikings?
Answer: We don’t think that will happen — and he might be silly to do so. Unless he doesn’t care about money, which would be a little strange.
Darnold has at least one big chance — so, three months from now — to sign an NFL contract that will set him up forever. We’re talking like three years and $120 million from some team.
That offer could evaporate if he returned to Minnesota for cheap and J.J. McCarthy took his job.
Darnold must strike while the iron’s hot and get the bag from an eager, quarterback-needy team. And he will deserve the big day.
Of course, if he absolutely insists on returning to Minnesota for $20 million per year or so, the Vikings should pounce. They’d have the best of both worlds. It’s just that he probably won’t do that.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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