The Big Nopes on Richard Sherman’s Bombshell, a Skeleton Crew Vikings Defense, and IR Trips
Each Sunday, VikingsTerritory maintains and publishes “Nopedy Nopes” for the week.
Not every Vikings storyline holds up this week, or worked out well. Here are the big nopes worth debunking, including the odd Richard Sherman quip.
These are items regarding the Minnesota Vikings that are false, outlandish, wrong, or just too “out there.” The series has run for over a year and a half.
So, this is the latest edition of Vikings Nopedy Nopes.
Vikings Nopedy Nopes | September 14th, 2025
Vikings-themed items that don’t pass the eye test.
The Nopedy Nope: After one hour of Monday Night Football, Richard Sherman claimed J.J. McCarthy wasn’t worth the price of letting Sam Darnold walk.
J.J. McCarthy and his offense played horribly to start festivities on Monday Night Football, nudging former NFLer Richard Sherman to declare that Minnesota had made a huge gaffe.
“Not sure JJ McCarthy is the Answer in Minnesota. This is the danger of letting the guy who you had success with walk for a guy you ‘think’ can do the job at a high level,” Sherman tweeted to his nearly two million followers.
Sherman later attempted to walk the tweet back after McCarthy authored a 4th Quarter comeback.
“I love football. Bad Start by McCarthy solid start By Caleb. Then a total flip in the 2nd half and by the QBs and McCarthy brings the Vikings back. Fun start to the season. New story every week,” he posted to Twitter after the Vikings prevailed.
Of all people, Sherman should probably know that a first-time quarterback could struggle in his inaugural start. That’s what happened, and McCarthy later personally created the game-winning 4th Quarter.
Meanwhile, “the one that got away,” Sam Darnold, dropped a game-losing fumble during his first start with the Seattle Seahawks the day prior.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Minnesota making a mistake by letting Darnold walk in free agency because McCarthy had a slow first three quarters of his career.
The Nopedy Nope: A fully-entact Vikings defense in Week 2.
Minnesota won’t have inside linebacker Blake Cashman (hamstring), Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion), or Jeff Okudah (concussion) this week when playing the Atlanta Falcons.
Safety Harrison Smith is also questionable with a mystery ailment.
SI.com‘s Will Ragatz on the mounting injuries: “Van Ginkel is a big loss. He was arguably the Vikings’ best defensive player last season, earning second team All-Pro honors after recording 11.5 sacks, 18 total TFLs, and two pick-sixes. But the Vikings will feel like they’re fairly well equipped to survive AVG’s absence. They’ve still got Jonathan Greenard as a star at OLB, and the other starter will be ascending second-year player Dallas Turner, who played well in 43 percent of the snaps in the opener.”
“Bo Richter, Chaz Chambliss, and Gabriel Murphy are candidates to see defensive snaps as depth options at that position. Without Okudah, their No. 3 cornerback, the Vikings will likely turn to either Dwight McGlothern or Fabian Moreau for a handful of snaps. Okudah only played 16 snaps in Week 1.”
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Minnesota having a healthy lineup just because the season is one week old.
The Nopedy Nope: Blake Cashman and Ty Chandler would remain part of the team’s plans early in the season.
Sadly, it’s a done deal for the next four games regarding Cashman and Chandler’s availability.
NBC Sports’ Myles Simmons wrote this week, “The Vikings have made some roster moves on Thursday. Minnesota announced the club has placed running back Ty Chandler and linebacker Blake Cashman on injured reserve. Each player will miss at least the next four weeks.”
“Cashman had to exit the team’s Week 1 victory over the Bears on Monday night with a hamstring injury. Chandler made one of the key plays toward the end of the game, taking a kickoff out of the end zone to run the clock down to the two-minute warning. He is now sidelined by a knee injury.”
Chandler is the RB3, and Zavier Scott will take his place for the foreseeable future. Cashman is more difficult to replace, and Eric Wilson will get the nod.
The Verdict: Nopedy Nope on the availability of Cashman and Chandler. Minnesota already has to weather the storm of injuries.
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