Bill Simmons does not take 4-0 Vikings seriously, bashes ‘terrible’ Kyler Murray

At 4-0, the Vikings are one of three remaining undefeated teams through the first month of the NFL season. Bill Simmons isn’t buying them as a contender. Not even a little bit.

The Vikings have so far been carried by the league’s most dominant defense. Brian Flores’ group is blitzing at an unparalleled rate and leads the NFL in all kinds of efficiency and production metrics. Paired with a strong special teams unit, the defense is making up for an offense that is still trying to find its groove, to put it kindly.

“Their offense is just abysmal,” Simmons said on his podcast earlier this week. “And I don’t understand this blitzing thing, how it’s going to work when they actually play a really good team. It’s a gimmick. They’re getting away with it, but I do not take the Vikings seriously.”

Is it a gimmick? Or is Flores really good at dialing up complex pressure that creates problems for opposing offenses? There’s a multi-year sample size that indicates his unique strategy works. Ever since his first year as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, when the scheme was still a work in progress, he’s led an elite unit.

Simmons continued by poking holes in the Vikings’ 4-0 resume based on who they’ve beaten and the circumstances of the wins, which is fair.

“Minnesota beats Green Bay week one, 39-22, in the game that Green Bay’s up 22-10 and the entire game completely craters on them. There’s that weird drive that seemed like the game was fixed for Minnesota and all kinds of dumb s—.

“They beat Chicago in week two in the game with the 20-mile-an-hour winds where Chicago scores three points in the weather. It was just a perfect game for Minnesota. Last week, they beat Tampa barely in Baker Mayfield’s last start, and now we know Tampa is terrible.

“And then they beat Miami by five. They’re probably going to go 13-4, and we will not be able to wait to bet against them in round one, is where we’re heading with the Minnesota Vikings.”

It’s hard to push back against that too much. The Vikings did catch some officiating breaks on a key drive in their comeback against the Packers. They did benefit from the weather mucking things up in Chicago. They have since beaten a couple then-winless teams in the Buccaneers and Dolphins, although Tampa Bay finally got a win on Thursday night in Dallas.

Simmons’ take on the Vikings seems to reflect the larger national narrative around this team. People aren’t taking them seriously right now, and a lot of it has to do with their quarterback, who doesn’t have the strongest reputation as a winning player.

“I like their fan base,” Simmons said. “God bless them. They’ve had a lot of agony and pain over the years. But Kyler Murray is terrible. Like you’re not doing anything if he’s your quarterback. It’s hard for me to believe they traded (J.J.) McCarthy. That means he must be awful. And I don’t really know what they do.”

“I guess we should be happy they finally had positive yards in a matchup that they won,” said Simmons’ co-host, Cousin Sal. “But it is about the worst 4-0 team I’ve seen, I think.”

These are the kinds of narratives the Vikings can only change by improving on offense and continuing to win games. Murray doesn’t have a playoff win in his career. Neither does Kevin O’Connell. Until that changes, there will be skepticism around this team, no matter how well the defense is playing.

But if you’re the Vikings, outside narratives are meaningless. You have to feel pretty good about being 4-0 despite barely getting the plane off the ground as an offense. Murray seemed to start turning a corner late in last week’s win over the Dolphins, and the Vikings will look to build on that performance this week against the Saints.

This article first appeared on Bring Me The Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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