The league announced that the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants will face off Sunday in this weekend’s NFL Wild Card at 3:30 PM central time. These two teams played on Christmas Eve, where kicker Greg Joseph booted a Vikings-record 61-yard field goal as time expired to give the Vikings a 27-24 victory over the Giants.
GREG JOSEPH 61-YARD FIELD GOAL FOR THE WIN! @VIKINGS #NYGvsMIN pic.twitter.com/a7JwsbirRX
— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2022
That win was nice at the time, but the regular season is over. Every team has a clean slate and it’s win or go home. The Giants made that crystal clear when offensive lineman Nick Gates started trash-talking. It wasn’t directed at the team but rather at the fans. This was Gates’ first game at U.S. Bank Stadium and he stated that he came away unimpressed with Vikings fans and how loud they were.
“Surprised. Actually, I thought it would be a lot louder. I thought especially when our offense is out there they would be a lot louder out there. But you know, they’re Midwest people. They’re too nice. I can say it because I went to Nebraska. I went to Nebraska. I include myself in that one.”
It’s very brave of Gates to come out publicly in the first weekend of playoff football and call out the opposing teams’ fans, especially when you have to travel to that stadium again this weekend. Vikings fans have been called out.
If you’re headed to the game this weekend, be sure the rest up those vocal cords. Regardless of if Gates was trying to downplay how loud it actually was at U.S. Bank stadium, it’s a perfect opportunity for fans to let him know just how loud we can get.