Vikings QB carousel a New Year’s dud

IT’S ALL a con, continued: On the tail of the absurd “Tommy Cutlets” instant media overkill, NBC gave it a shot in its badly overdone open to New Years Eve’s Packers-Vikings telecast.

After all, not even Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, in New Year’s Eve tuxedos could feed the feel and fanfare of mediocre teams still alive for playoff spots. So, at the top of the telecast, we were told this night and game belonged to Minnesota’s starting rookie QB, Jaren Hall, who until then had played just small parts of two games.

NBC sent it down to excited sideliner Melissa Stark, who stepped on an empty can of hype:

“[Vikings coach] Kevin O’Connell told us that he saw something immediately in Hall: his work habits and professional preparation when no one was watching. He never gets too high or too low, and has the right temperament for this moment.”

Stark might have added a few more pertinent things, such as, depending on how you look at it, Hall was either the Vikes’ second-string or fourthstring QB. After starter Kirk Cousins was injured in late October, he started Week 9 at Atlanta but was quickly lost to a concussion.

He was then replaced by new acquisition Josh Dobbs, who then lost the gig to Nick Mullens, who was replaced this night by Hall, who was benched at halftime for Mullens.

The truth is, NBC, as a matter of good faith and self-protection, should’ve declared the truth:

As the latest yourguess-is-as-good-as-Colin Cowherd’s, Hall was the latest thrown into the 2023 season’s “Who the heck knows” cauldron. And O’Connell, like so many head coaches this season, was desperate enough to start the team dentist if he could throw a Joe Kapp spiral — Kapp being the late Vikes QB who succeeded despite his natural habit of throwing wobblers.

Left unspoken is why Hall, blessed with such attributes, was among four

Minnesota starters this season — along with Cousins, Dobbs and Mullens.

Anyway, Hall on Sunday night was pulled after 10 passes, one for an interception, and a total of 67 passing yards in a 33-10 must-win loss. He was replaced by Mullens, who then became either the fifth-stringer or restored third-stringer?

But the come-on con by NBC to watch a game we already were in place to watch will be entered into the Annals of Good Tries.