Week 13 Thoughts

Boy, was I wrong.
The Vikings decided to wake up, choose violence, and crush the Commanders 31–0 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Honestly? Did anyone see that coming? If you were hoping for a higher draft pick in 2026, Sunday probably felt like stubbing your toe on a table you’ve owned for 10 years—you knew it was coming eventually, but you’re still annoyed it happened.

Am I upset? Absolutely not. I’ve followed this team long enough to understand their signature move: win the games that don’t matter and create maximum emotional confusion. This was classic Vikings chaos, and honestly, kind of beautiful.

As for JJ McCarthy—he was… fine. Not terrible, not amazing, just fine. For the folks who defend him like he’s their firstborn child, Sunday was basically Christmas morning: 3 touchdowns, all to tight ends (and shoutout to Josh Oliver for pretending he’s Travis Kelce for a day). But let’s pump the brakes a bit. JJ isn’t out of the woods yet. He played well—but he also played a Commanders defense that looked like it forgot the game started at noon.

I truly hope he turns into the franchise guy. I really do. But we need more than one feel-good blowout to declare the future fixed. We’ll see how he follows this up next week, because consistency is the thing that’s been missing.

More thoughts coming Tuesday in the recap. As always, shoot me your feedback at purplepeoplenetwork@gmail.com—or drop your favorite overreactions from Sunday’s win.