In the immediate wake of the Vikings’ 26-0 loss at Seattle on Sunday, there was a general sense that the game was lost as soon as Max Brosmer threw a pick six late in the first half.

Asking Brosmer, an undrafted free-agent rookie making his first NFL start, to make a play instead of settling for a game-tying field goal, if not insane — the narrative goes — was a dereliction of duty.

And truth be told, Brosmer responded by throwing one of the worst interceptions in Vikings history, a panicked, underhanded heave that had about three Seahawks defenders lining up for an interception. Ernest Jones IV got there first, but to be honest, it was thrown right to him.

Jones completed the play by running an official 95 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. And, yeah, the game was over. It was the ugliest play in a game full of them.

But, c’mon. This team was completely outmatched on Sunday. Its best chance to win was by forfeit. They didn’t lose 14-10, they lost 26-0. They weren’t just shut out on Sunday, they were no-hit. It’s hard to imagine anyone watching all four quarters of that game and pointing to any single Vikings mistake as the deciding factor.

The Vikings turned the ball over six times, four interceptions and two fumbles. The defense was called offside — the dumbest penalty in football at any level — four times. Aaron Jones ran six times for three yards and left with an injury.

The Vikings’ once-lethal passing game is officially beached. Brosmer was sacked four times. Star receiver Justin Jefferson caught two passes for four yards, Jordan Addison caught five and dropped two.

It’s difficult to go back and determine what this team’s best-case ceiling was at the season’s onset, but it has become a bad football team — now 4-8 and last, by a long shot, in the NFC North.

Is it all just because they don’t have a quarterback?

Clearly, the expectations for J.J. McCarthy were optimistic, if not officially delusional. But blaming this all on one position seems too easy. Still, there’s no doubt the team’s inability to field one reliable quarterback — in three tries — has been the team’s biggest weakness.

The defense is fine. It can wreak havoc on quarterbacks, and has respectable numbers against the run and pass. It’s not great, and doesn’t force enough turnovers — only three interceptions — but it could help a better offense win games.

But the offense is on its third quarterback and still hasn’t found a reliable one. The decision to roll the dice with first-year starter McCarthy has worked neither competitively nor developmentally.

The Vikings lead the NFL in interceptions (15) and can’t consistently get the ball into the hands of Jefferson, who has been one of the two or three best receivers in the NFL since his rookie season in 2020.

After Sunday, Jefferson had 60 receptions for 795 yards with two (!) touchdowns in 11 games. He finished higher in each category in 2023, when he was limited to 10 total games because of a hamstring injury.

Who will make the team’s best player happy again? Jefferson has to be wondering if he’s wasting his prime on a team that seems a long way from the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance since 1977.

There was some hope that Brosmer, who parlayed a combination of accuracy and preternatural processing skills into a roster spot out of training camp, might surprise everyone by running an efficient ship on Sunday. But when set upon by an unblocked DeMarcus Lawrence, he made every bad decision in five seconds.

This team has a lot of big decisions ahead of it, and we can take only one certainty from Sunday’s game: If McCarthy returns from concussion protocol this season, he will regain his starting job.

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A five-game winning streak late in the season was enough to earn the Gophers a top-16 seed nationally required to host the opening weekend in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. In the process, they helped out St. Thomas.

Minnesota is the No. 4 seed in its quadrant and will host first- and second-round action at Maturi Pavilion starting with a date Friday at 7 p.m. against Fairfield. That match will come after the conclusion of the other first-round matchup at the site at 4:30 p.m. between fifth-seeded Iowa State and the Tommies.

St. Thomas is making its inaugural Division I NCAA appearance in their first year of postseason eligibility after winning the Summit League Tournament crown. The Gophers earning opening weekend hosting duties gave the committee a local site to put St. Thomas in, as well.

The winners of the two first-round matches will meet in the second round at 7 p.m. Saturday back at the U with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

In the unlikely event the Tommies upset Iowa State, it could set the stage for a rematch between St. Thomas and the Gophers. Minnesota won the first matchup, 3-1, on Aug. 31.

Pittsburgh is the No. 1 seed in St. Thomas and Minnesota’s regional and will host the Regional semifinals and final in Pennsylvania.

The Gophers, who have struggled with an array of injuries this season, were one of eight Big Ten teams to make it to the dance. Minnesota was never in danger of missing the tournament, but the strong finish, which included a win over No. 11 Purdue on Wednesday, was required to secure a weekend at home.

“It’s special to be able to bring the NCAA Tournament back in front of our fans at Maturi Pavilion,” Gophers coach Keegan Cook said in a release. “It’s a testament to the work the team has put in all season long. Not a lot has gone to plan this year, but being able to host the NCAA Tournament was definitely a goal of ours.”

St. Thomas junior Morgan Kealy (5) and senior teammate Ella Voegele (4) celebrate a point during their match victory over South Dakota State in the Summit League championship game Nov. 25, 2025, in Brookings, S.D. (Dave Eggen / Inertia)

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On St. Paul’s East Side, the Theodore Hamm Brewing Company Historic District is gearing up for major changes.

Volière Spirits and CrowBar, a new distillery and cocktail lounge, opened Friday in what’s labeled on maps as building No. 13 — a former machine, blacksmith, millwright and paint shop inset from Minnehaha Avenue and built around 1911. A developer’s plans for affordable housing and commerce are coming together around them.

A map of St. Paul’s newly-designated Theodore Hamm Brewing Company Historic District, which depicts historic buildings officially contributing to the district in green and non-contributing buildings in red. The St. Paul City Council approved the local historic designation on Nov. 5, 2025. (Courtesy of JB Vang and the City of St. Paul)

Following years, if not decades, of research and debate, the 23-acre Hamm’s campus off Payne and Minnehaha avenues was recently recognized by the St. Paul City Council as a locally-designated historic district. The designation opens up the likelihood that developer JB Vang will qualify for state and federal historic tax credits as he seeks to redevelop four adjoining buildings along Minnehaha Avenue for housing and commerce.

The buildings, labeled on historic district maps as No. 23, 2, 18 and 6, include the laboratory/wort cooler (built in 1883), brewhouse (1892), stockhouse No. 2 (1901) and grit storage (1893). If the city approves a site plan and financing comes together next year, remodeling could start in 2027 to install 86 affordable art lofts attached to a 2 1/2-story indoor marketplace, which will include a mezzanine.

The “new brew house,” a smaller adjoining building labeled No. 56, was constructed in 1955 and not included in the historic designation. Depending upon how discussions go with state historic preservationists, it could be demolished.

“Removal of that building would improve the flow between spaces and allow for more natural light in the loft-style units,” said a spokesperson for the developer in an email. “There are still some hoops to jump through, but JBV is cautiously optimistic.”

An architectural rendering of planned East End apartments at the former Hamm’s brewery facility. (Courtesy of JB Vang)

Large rounded openings throughout the four buildings once held giant vats for the brewery, and as a result of the historic designation, any efforts to redevelop the buildings will likely require preserving some of them. That unique feature may allow for light, space and views between floors. Some holes may be infilled or covered to create more floor space.

In a separate project not eligible for historic tax credits, JB Vang hopes to fill in part of a shared parking lot along Minnehaha Avenue to the east of building No. 17 — otherwise known as stockhouse No. 3 — with 110 affordable apartments spanning one to three bedrooms, above two levels of underground parking. All the JB Vang units will be income-restricted to families earning 30% to 60% of area median income, according to the developer.

An architectural rendering of the planned West End Marketplace at the former Hamm’s brewery complex. (Courtesy of JB Vang)

To the south of the future JB Vang art lofts, St. Paul Brewing serves pizza, beer and holiday cheer from a former brewery keg house and racking room dating to 1893, labeled building No. 7 on maps. Its distinctive back patio and biergarten were once the Hamm’s horse stables and carpentry shop and remain surrounded by their ruins.

St. Paul Brewing owner Rob Clapp sued the city of St. Paul this year, accusing the city council of resorting to illegal “spot zoning” to rezone portions of the 23-acre campus specifically for the JB Vang development. Clapp and the city remain at odds over the prospect of filling in the shared parking lot with housing.

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SEATTLE — As heavy underdogs on Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field, the Vikings had a chance to pull even with the Seattle Seahawks shortly before halftime. A chip shot field goal by kicker Will Reichard would’ve tied the score at 3-3.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks hug after Seattle’s 26-0 victory at Lumen Field on November 30, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

Instead, head coach Kevin O’Connell opted to roll the dice, perhaps believing the Vikings needed to be aggressive if they were going to upset the Seahawks on their home turf.

The decision was defensible. The play call was not.

Though the Vikings only needed about a yard to move the chains, O’Connell dialed up a play-action pass, asking a lot of rookie quarterback Max Brosmer, who was making the first start of his career.

It proved to be a disaster of epic proportions.

A fake handoff to fullback C.J. Ham fooled nobody, and Brosmer was under immediate pressure by edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. In an effort to not take a sack, Brosmer wildly chucked the ball to nowhere in particular, and it landed in the waiting arms of linebacker Ernest Jones IV. The rest was a blur, as Jones raced 85 yards the other way for a touchdown that turned the game upside down.

That was the beginning of the end for the Vikings in an embarrassing 26-0 loss to the Seahawks. It was a brutal performance from Brosmer as he finished 19 of 30 for 126 yards and four interceptions.

The issues for the Vikings go much deeper than the struggles of an undrafted free agent, however, as the offense that once thrived under O’Connell has completely lost its identity.

After the offense looked lost last weekend in the loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings were even worse against the Seahawks. They couldn’t do much of anything when they had the ball as gaining positive yardage started to feel impossible.

The struggles of the offense spoiled a pretty good showing from the defense on the other end. The scoreboard is rather misleading from that perspective, as the Vikings managed to keep the Seahawks out for the end zone for prolonged stretches.

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Frederick: History suggests Max Brosmer’s first NFL start won’t go well. Our eyes say otherwise.