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The Minnesota Vikings will use Sunday to determine if they are the winning or losing team in 2025, taking on the Green Bay Packers while owning an 8-8 record. Every week, before Minnesota’s showdown with an opponent and even in the offseason, we uplift wild, false, and outlandish items within the purple team’s orbit.
Week 18 brings familiar noise: Flores speculation, Green Bay hype, and another round of AP drama. Some of it matters. Most of it does not.
We call them “nopedy nopes,” and publish them every Sunday. Here’s this week’s edition.
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Flores-to-Detroit Noise, Packers Reality, and Other Week 18 Myths
It’s the Vikings Week 18 Nopedy Nopes to close out the season.
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter on Oct. 11, 2020, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, against the San Francisco 49ers. The image captured Flores in a late-game moment of evaluation as Miami managed a difficult road environment during a season focused on establishing defensive identity and organizational direction. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports.
The Nopedy Nope: Brian Flores will leave the Vikings to defensively coordinate the Detroit Lions.
It won’t amount to much, but one radio voice in Detroit claimed this week that the Lions should hire Flores.
Mike Valenti pushed the idea into the spotlight this week on Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket, framing Brian Flores as a solution to Detroit’s problems.
He said, “You know who doesn’t have a contract next year? There’s an elite defensive coordinator who’s got head coaching experience, who would bring a new voice, new eyes, new approach.”
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“He happens to be in your division. Brian Flores is available. Make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league and hire him.”
Flores will likely enter the head coach carousel next week, but a move from defensive coordinator to defensive coordinator doesn’t add up, especially within the same division. If one assumes the Vikings would match any salary offer, why would Flores leave for a DC job?
The Verdict: Flores will not leave the Vikings to a division rival just for a lateral move; he wants to be a head coach.
The Nopedy Nope: The Green Packers are a serious Super Bowl contender.
Mike Tice watched the Packers lose to Baltimore and didn’t bother hiding his reaction. The former Vikings head coach, who ran Minnesota from late 2001 through the end of the 2005 season, came away unimpressed and let it fly.
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He postedo on X, “The Packers are FAKE. Zero toughness. Bad Loss. The Packers are lucky the Lions crapped the bed. One and Done at Best. They do not deserve the playoffs but in today’s NFL that is what we get.”
The tweet didn’t last long. Tice pulled it down, but the damage was already done. Why he deleted it is anyone’s guess. The tone was sharper than his usual online presence, and that alone made it stand out.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson secures a first-down catch late in the second quarter on Nov. 23, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine in coverage. The play highlighted Jefferson’s reliability in traffic as Minnesota leaned on timing and precision in a critical divisional matchup. Mandatory Credit: Dan Powers-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images.
Without Micah Parsons, the Packers are apparently fraudulent, according to Tice.
The Verdict: Tice said nopedy nope to the Packers.
The Nopedy Nope: The Atlanta Falcons made a huge gaffe by not allowing Bijan Robinson to top 200 rushing yards.
Bijan Robinson nearly ran the Rams into the ground, and the box score still looked incomplete to Adrian Peterson. In the upset over the Rams, Robinson carried it 22 times for 195 yards and two total touchdowns. That five-yard gap mattered to Peterson, enough to trigger a public reaction.
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He said in a video posted on social media: “Towards the end of the game, you see Robinson ended up with 195 yards. I’m sitting there wondering why on the last run of the game they give the ball to somebody else. This kid has been balling all game. Play after play. Big play after big play. You guys are just handing the ball off to get a couple more yards to get a closer field goal.”
“Why not give it to the kid and let him get his 200, or a chance to get 200 yards? I don’t know, make it make sense to me. I was pissed off about that. Good win. A win is a win so I’m sure they’re happy about that. But as a running back, I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t give the kid a chance to get in the end zone or go after 200 yards.”
The context matters here. Two hundred rushing yards carries weight, but it isn’t mythical. It’s happened 168 times in NFL history. Peterson did it six times. O.J. Simpson did it six times. Leaguewide, someone clears 200 rushing yards roughly two or three times every season.
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner brings down Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson during the second half on Sep. 14, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tackle reflected Turner’s closing speed and physical presence as Minnesota worked to limit explosive runs and maintain defensive control during a competitive nonconference contest. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images.
Robinson finished five yards too short, his team walked away with a statement win by its standards, and the standings didn’t budge because of a round number. The fixation only entered the conversation once Peterson elevated it. Until then, most viewers just saw it as a dominant performance.
Robinson had 195 and a win. Peterson’s outrage over the missing five yards feels a bit weird. Who cares?
The Verdict: Nobody cares about 200 rushing yards in a game. It happens all the time.
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