Carson Wentz’s Monday Collapse Might Actually Be Good News for the Vikings

A performance that raised alarms

Minnesota has endured many struggling quarterbacks over the years, but Wentz’s showing against Buffalo stood out as especially poor. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket and struggled to complete passes, including when he had time.

The defeat made the quarterback problem harder to ignore. The article argues that Minnesota must pursue an upgrade before the trade deadline rather than continue with its current options.

Possible trade targets

The story urges general manager Nolan Teasley to contact the Raiders about Kirk Cousins, suggesting Minnesota could offer less than a first-round pick. Cousins has thrown for 2,340 yards and 20 touchdowns, the latter total second only to Joe Burrow.

If Cousins is unavailable, the article proposes asking the Jets about Geno Smith, who has 2,078 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. It also raises a more ambitious possibility: checking whether the Chargers would consider trading Justin Herbert, despite the likely high cost.

Other options and the stakes

The article also names several veteran alternatives: Mitchell Trubisky, Joe Flacco, Justin Fields and Marcus Mariota. It argues that any of them would represent an improvement over Wentz’s Monday performance.

Minnesota’s defense, coordinated by Brian Flores, is described as championship-caliber. The Vikings are 6–2 and have a crucial divisional matchup against Green Bay next week, followed in two weeks by a game against the one-loss 49ers in Mexico City.

A narrow window to respond

Kyler Murray and Wentz have combined for eight touchdowns, five interceptions, a 60.0% completion rate and 6.3 yards per attempt, according to the article. It characterizes those results as noncompetitive and warns that the team’s postseason hopes depend on addressing the position. The piece says Minnesota could contend for the NFC North and the conference’s top seed, but that failing to make a significant quarterback move could leave the season without a meaningful playoff run.