Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - An airing of grievances after Vikings lose to 49ers

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

Matthew Coller and Brian Murphy let loose on the Vikings' loss to the 49ers on Sunday, starting with Kirk Cousins's worst graded game of the year by PFF. We look at who Cousins compares to by historical metrics and make the point that asking him to carry the team is too much. Let's also complain about the refs. They have been a huge problem this year and not overturning Adam Thielen's catch was a highlight of their horrendous job. Also the defense's construction was bad from the start and low and behold it's gone bad. Now what? Are they making the playoffs still? Check out TickPick.com/Insider for tickets to upcoming home games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to remind you before we get started, the TickPick is the exclusive ticketing partner of Purple Insider and the Blue Wire Network. TickPick should be your first choice to buy football tickets because they save fans money by never charging service fees ever. So welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Brian Murphy for some Monday morning Murph. You can check out his column, by the way, at purpleinsider.substack.com. A cold day in the bay breaking down the Minnesota Vikings loss to the San Francisco 49ers. How are you this morning, Murph?

Bewildered, betrayed, disillusioned. Once again, perplexed about this club. Just, I don't think we're going to figure them out at all. You have a wonderful vocabulary, Murph. I don't know if I've told you that. It's very impressive. I'll tell you where I want to start with this because we'll get into a lot of the game stuff and your reaction to different things.

But the bigger picture from this one is always more interesting to me. I was messing around with something that's called the Hall of Fame monitor from Pro Football Reference. Okay. So what this monitor seeks to do is make player comparisons and give you an idea of whether your guy belongs in the Hall of Fame. So I'll give you an example that Harrison Smith is a Hall of Fame kind of talent. I think we all look at him and go, wow, he rises above the rest. But when you use the Hall of Fame monitor and their formula for figuring out who's actually in the Hall of Fame at the guy's position and compares it to the rest, you go, oh, okay. Yeah.

He's got a lot of work to do, actually, if he's going to make the Hall of Fame as great as he's been as a Viking. So it's a good gauge to say, should we really be talking about this player for Hall of Fame? And I'll give you the top quarterbacks ever by Hall of Fame monitor standards. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Drew Brees, John Elway. So there you have it.

Those guys. I don't think anybody's going to argue with that. Right. Clear cut, clear cut Hall of Famers. But sometimes it'll tell you when you go, oh, I don't know, is Phillip Rivers a Hall of Famer? And then you look and go, well, it's got him pretty close, you know, so maybe he will be. So that's kind of how I use it.

Kirk Cousins comparisons. Of course, Cousins is nowhere anywhere in the universe of Peyton Manning or anyone like that. His comparisons, though, are Ryan Tannehill, Ken O'Brien, Jake Plummer, Mark Rippin, Jim Harbaugh. Derek Carr is kind of where the Hall of Fame monitor puts Kirk Cousins. And I think that it puts it into good context of what you have as a quarterback. And then it connects to sort of yesterday that the players we were talking about at the very top of the Hall of Fame monitor, those players are right now with this Vikings team, probably like one loss or two loss quarterbacks.

They're just that good. And then there are quarterbacks higher on this Hall of Fame monitor that you would trust more, like, say, Drew Bledsoe or Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer, players like that that you would think, okay, Tony Romo is quite a bit higher, players like that, Mark Brunel for those from the nineties, players like that, who you'd think, all right, those quarterbacks would probably have this team in the playoff race. And then I think the ones that I named have your team exactly where they are with who they are. So when you are flawed and your defense ranks 30th and yards allowed, you're five and six. Because there's only so many times that your quarterback that you have, Kirk Cousins, is going to come through for you in a given year.

He did it against Green Bay. The very next week, he lines up under the guard in the biggest moment. Like, this is kind of who you have. And so we can look at a lot of other things and we will, the refereeing, the defensive injuries slash COVID slash Everson Griffin, all these different things that happen. But ultimately what it comes down to usually in the NFL is do you have the guy that can make a play every single week? And if you rely on him to make a play every single week, you get it about half the time. So I just wanted your thoughts on that because that was how, that was how I came away from yesterday thinking like, yeah, this is like Ken O'Brien or Ryan Tannehill. It kind of goes as the rest of the team and franchise makes it go. Give me the A-listers again, real quick.

The very first list you had of the obvious Hall of Famers. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Drew Brees, John Elway, Dan Marino, Fran Tarkington, Steve Young. Okay. Everybody except Tarkington has won a Super Bowl. Although Unitas might not have won.

I think he did. Didn't he win Super Bowl V? Regardless, every name you mentioned, every name you mentioned, every name you mentioned, any casual NFL fan, diehard NFL fan, or drive-by NFL fan knows those names, knows that if you want to win a game and the ball is in their hands, you feel pretty good. So the second list that you named, kind of the plumbers and the construction workers and the grinders, you may catch lightning in a bottle once in a while, but when the stakes are highest, you don't want them anywhere near the ball. And there's a reason that they're on the outside looking in. Yeah, Cousins is that guy. Cousins is that guy.

Cousins is you look at him through that face mask, and it's either deer in the headlights or I just shotgunned a gallon of sour milk. There's not a lot of confidence. There's not a lot of inspiration. There's a lot of hand-wringing. And as we've said a million times, if it's not perfect, if the conditions aren't perfect, if it's not sunny in 72 with no wind and not a cloud in the sky, he may not succeed in a given moment. I don't know exactly why Justin Jefferson was lining up on the right side as opposed to the left side or why Kirk Cousins felt like he needed to rescue him from that scenario. But on fourth and goal from the three, you have a defining moment in front of you. You put that ball in the end zone on the road with a battered team

against a playoff pursuer. That's a legacy moment. And he ends up lining up behind the right guard and calling timeout. And coming out of that timeout, an awful throw to an open receiver in the back of the end zone. I don't, you know, your honor, I rest, I rest. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I feel confident you're going to come back with a conviction that says Kirk

Cousins is not a big game, big game quarterback. And I think this is where we are. And that's been the thing all year is like last week against Green Bay, he played great and he came through in the big moment and uh though he made a throw that if the cornerback is looking maybe he runs the other way for a touchdown and uh and that really could have been a couple of overturned interceptions that he did not uh benefit from yesterday right and this was the thing i think i brought this up to you last week that there were 11 turnover worthy plays and he only had three turnovers all year, which made you

go, that means that some of this is going to come back on him and it happened. And Cousins is not by any means a perfect quarterback. He's been very, very good this year. There's no doubt about it. He's been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL this year. But when your quarterback has numbers that say he's been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL this year and you go five and six, you say, well, what exactly is missing? And I noticed from yesterday there's a stack called QBR that ESPN invented that works to sort of use game situation. And is your quarterback driving the success of your team. And what's been interesting about Kirk Cousins is though his quarterback rating, his traditional rating and his PFF grades have been good. Since he's been a Viking, his QBR has generally been pretty meh. And this year, I think it's updated after yesterday, he's sitting at 11th

in the league next to Carson Wentz, Ryan Tannehill. And that sounds about right to me rather than PFF that has it at like second, because sometimes Cousins in the Biggest Moments has been absolutely miraculous. I mean, against Carolina, two potential game-winning drives, and there's been a couple of them this year. And then there's been plenty of others where hey you know you need a big play you need a big drive and it just doesn't happen and that's who you have as your quarterback and there are other things too it's it's not just this there are other moments too and this is why like i remember feeling this way after they gave up 52 points to new orleans last year where it like, if you had a quarterback who put the foot on the gas and was unstoppable, like the ones that we mentioned,

the great quarterbacks, then you win this game because there were opportunities when you looked at under a micro microscope to get ahead in the game and then stay ahead. But instead they fell back. And then new Orleans just punished them for doing it over and over and over again. So, so when you look at it at the end,

you go, well, you gave up 52, you can't win that. But early in the fourth quarter, there's a chance to stay in the game as an offense. You see what I'm saying? And that was yesterday. They're up 14 to seven. They have the ball.

This is it. Get up by two touchdowns here and you've got them. Not that this team can't blow a two touchdown lead, but like you're Jimmy looks like he's all messed up. I don't know what the hall of fame monitor says about him, but he's not very good. And Kyle Shanahan is, is screaming at him on the sidelines after that initial pick. Yep. Yep. I mean, that was a simple robber coverage that teams do all the time. I mean, good call by Mike Zimmer to know they were going to go to the middle of the field there. But like, you can't throw that pick.

That is a very common coverage that you should not be throwing it right to the safety. Anyhow, the point just being that, you know, with with Cousins, these circumstantial things, they kind of happen half the time with him. And there are opportunities within games to put the knife in the back of the other team, of which there have been all year long in these losses. Like, get this drive, go score right here, and they are done. And he gets sacked. It happens. Can't overcome it. Punt the ball away.

And then here comes the nine-minute drive. And then here comes the nine minute drive. And then here comes the five minute drive. And so when you look at these things closely, I can really see how this team ends up being who they are and why they are. And so, I mean, I want to get your thoughts on other stuff, but I just think like, let's not go, you know, trees instead of the forest here with what has happened with this season. I mean, I'll be brief. I think it's been his detriment going back to Washington. Casual fans, like casual football guys like me, I don't know strategy that much.

But I know the eye test. He does not pass the eye test. He does not pass the eye test. He does not pass the eye test as a guy that can deliver the dagger, that can seize the moment. And you sense that. I mean, you can feel it. You sense it in his comments. You sense it in the way the team responds. You sense it in the way his body language is. That is who he, you know, we, how many times has this phrase been uttered either in this podcast or on air elsewhere or in print? He is who he is. He is who he is. And I think people keep expecting somehow at 32 years old to break him to break through that and emerge as uh not just an elite quarterback but a

a leader an assassin as it were you know somebody that can go out and steal another team's soul he's not going to be that guy he's not and and they're five and six right and uh that's you know the frustrating thing too is how many times we've had games where we've built up as the season on the line here this is the one where the playoff odds swing this is the one that you just need to go win and hey there's some things working against you but go do it anyway and like don't mistake me for not blaming defense on this. It's just, you knew what it was going to be though. You know, like if you're playing, I don't know, a video game. And if you're an adventure game player,

like the first level is going to be pretty easy. You're going to have Mario jump over everything and he's going to cruise to the end of the board. But eventually there will be some ones where there's the flaming dragon and there's a lot of stuff being fired at you. And Mario's got to do a lot of work. Like Mario three, he's got to fly over some stuff or whatever. Like that's how it is. Like you knew what the board was that you were going to have to navigate here as the Vikings offense. You knew it was going to be on you. Did you think Patrick Jones and

something called TJ Smith were going to stop the 49ers? Of course not. You knew that you were going to have to score. You knew you were going to need a great performance from your quarterback. And it just wasn't there in a game that could have convinced, I think, everybody you're a real team. And we could have put some of the other stuff behind, like, oh, well, the early season stuff. And I think that's the part that if you're a Vikings fan watching that game, you go, okay, I knew you were this. I knew you weren't the other thing. I knew you weren't the competing team with the higher quarterbacks on the Hall of Fame monitor

that puts pressure on the real teams to say that you can win, right? Like Tom Brady got down yesterday, started out terribly in this game against Indianapolis. It was a really good team. And what does he do? Comes back, wins the game. Like that's just, there it is. So, you know, and I think this will end up being in the dustbin when we autopsy the season in January, whenever it ends. You had two kickoff returns for a touchdown this season. And we all know that kickoff return touchdowns can really, really, really juice a team. Oh, yeah. And be just huge momentum swings.

And the Vikings in Baltimore, and certainly yesterday, the timing of those returns were just perfect. And you're 0-2 because of it. Or you're 0-2 as a result of that. I mean, wasting just free momentum, free points, gone. Not even going to be acknowledged and probably long forgotten in a couple of months. Just inability to seize that moment. You know, when you're deep, you know, the saddest part was it brought the defense back

on the field and they were wheezing all afternoon. Yeah. Turnovers, long drives, the big turnaround with the kick return. It was a war of attrition. I hate using that term, but it really was. And they are, they're just in no position to win that kind of game defensively. So here's just the last thing I want to say about Cousins. And this just sort of encapsulates a lot of his career as a Minnesota Viking. That game yesterday by the pro football focus grades was

his worst game of the year. And this sort of reminds me, if you go back to 2019, they're in the hunt, they're in a playoff spot, but they're fighting with Green Bay for a home playoff game, 2016. It's his worst game of the year against Green Bay in terms of PFF grade. It felt very similar. Like, yeah, you still get- The Monday night home loss? Yeah, the week 16 Monday night home loss where once again, hey, if you just keep doing this and you can do something special here. But three, four games, asking him to come through when it's really hyped up,

when there's a lot on his shoulders, it's just not something that you can really do. And it's year over year. And once again, you have not been over 500 as a team since the last time you were in Santa Clara. That's rough. That is rough. I think anybody who's upset about that game is right.

Like there have been other games this year where I kind of went like, oh, I don't know. That was a tough one or whatever, you know, and you should, okay. Oh, and two isn't good, but you played really well against Arizona. If you keep doing that, okay. The offense looked good. If you keep doing that, you'll be a good team. You'll be in the playoffs. This one, I think that you have a right to go. I don't know.

What can this team really do? I mean, who's coming back on the defense that's changing anything? Anthony Barr is hurt again. And now Delvin Cook is hurt, which by the way, great contract extension. Honestly, great contract extension. The one that we all knew was not going to work out for delvin cook sorry now i'm now i'm just now i'm just firing off rockets yeah i mean you're taking out a lot of guardrail here but it's all worthy so let me just ask you about other

stuff from the game like what else was on your mind because Because I didn't have – everything else seemed like deck chairs to me from the big picture. So tell me observations you had. We can talk about them. Well, I am loathe to ever nitpick or hang my grievances on officiating. I just think it's cheap. I think it's lazy. I think it's a cliche.

All teams get screwed by calls here and there. The Vikings are not in the crosshairs of officiating going back to Drew Pearson's push off in 75. I found it personally insulting on the Adam Thielen no catch that the NFL, well, a combination of things. Obviously, it was a key drive. It was a key moment in the game. Adam Thielen, I'm just always been very impressed. And he keeps getting better at he's the modern day Chris Carter. I mean, you throw it in his direction, he's going to make a play. And what he was able to do, scooping that ball without it hitting the ground and pinning it to his face mask for a key conversion at that moment, I thought he deserved so much better.

Now, you know, you look at it in the grand scheme of things, they immediately hooked up with Ty Conklin and converted that first down anyway. And then you had cousins clown show at the goal line. So in some ways it is all negated. However, Zimmer was right to challenge. He does challenge. And another thing that annoys me as a viewer, and we've dealt with this a little, a lot with Fox, it seems like this year, their commercial breaks have been horrific. And again, they went to commercial. So I'm looking at Twitter, little a lot with Fox it seems like this year their commercial breaks have been horrific and

again they went to commercial so I'm looking at Twitter which is of course on a 30 second advance I'm watching the game with my son and I'm kind of telling him I know what's going on here do you want to know he's like no no I watch I I he knew I was I my jaw dropped when I saw on Twitter that the call was upheld. I could not believe it. And there was no explanation. We missed the announcement, if there was one, by the referee because they're selling Verizon like it's going out of style. I mean, I love Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live,

but I cannot stand looking at her anymore. See, I prefer the guy who gives his wife two trucks for Christmas. Yeah. I mean, it's the same ads over and over again. Let her pick out the color. You watch football all weekend. You're college and pro. You're seeing the same ads.

But real quick. I'm sorry. Real quick. Rescue 911. Stop it. Okay. The person dying in their car like a thousand times during the day. Most 911 calls are get my cat out of the tree come

on man like they can do whatever they want with the show but can you make the promo a little less i mean every week these people are pulling dead bot near dead bot i get you um yeah we come so we come out of the break we don't see the referee's announcement we don't have mike perera we don't have you know where where is the give us us the content. No, we're immediately running plays. And it was just sort of this, wait a minute. This seemed obvious to everybody that this was a catch. How is this not being explained or whatever? And then, of course, on Twitter, reflexively, the NFL, covering its ass as usual, has a

reflexive, there was not enough visual evidence, which is an absolute insult to anybody with intelligence, that that was a cheap cop-out. They blew the call on the field. They didn't want to overturn it, and they looked the other way. Then, of course, there was the pass interference on K.J. Osborne later, which, you know, pass interference is just the most subjective, unexplainable rule. We'll never be able to solve it. This did not cost the Vikings the game. It made their comeback efforts much more difficult. Had they had that extra time, you know, Cousins burned the timeout with his clown show.

Zimmer lost the timeout with his correct challenge. Might they have been able to get down the field and do something more with two minutes left? Perhaps. Cousins was pretty erratic during that drive anyway. So again, I am not going to pin the game on officiating. But you asked me what stands out about that game. It was an insulting officiating performance to our intelligence. And that, I think, is grievous enough. So that stands out. But also, we were talking earlier, their body count right now on defense. They have no depth on defense. And that was a decision. You know, they spent a lot of money to shore up the defense. And, you know, I keep hearing how great Michael Pierce is.

But, you know, the guy took a year off to deal because he was afraid to play with COVID in the air. That's fair enough. He's pretty much been a non-factor. They lose Daniil Hunter again. Everson Griffin has his ordeal he's dealing with. Sheldon Richardson seems to be playing out of his mind right now in a variety of roles, but they are just incapable right now of keeping pace. And I think the key too is it's not exactly that the Vikings have to score on every offensive drive, but it always seems like their rare turnovers or their random three and outs come at the worst possible time for their defense. And it has been all season.

Yep. I agree with that. You know, you don't have to get eight first downs on a drive, but get two. Buy a little bit of time. Let Fox sell some more Verizon ads so that your defense can catch a break. And it just feels like the Vikings put their defense in awful positions. They're undermanned, and they are not going to be capable of maintaining the stoutness you need in the third and fourth quarter. You know, look, next week's a gimme right if they lose to Detroit uh they should just disband I don't I think the franchise if you lose in Detroit next week nobody gets to come home everybody gets to walk home

um so I I just um I I just worry so much about the defense at this point. I don't see how it's sustainable. And if the offense can't give them a break once in a while, uh, they're going to collapse in the, in the, in the second half, the rest of the way. Hey, everybody, Minnesota football is in full swing and there is no need to exhaust yourself searching all over the internet for Minnesota football tickets because TickPick, that is T-I-C-K, P-I-C-K, is the original no-fee ticket site. It's the only one you'll ever need as your go-to for football tickets. TickPick got rid of all those awful service fees that the other ticket

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Again, that's S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Perfect for gifts. And you can get that shipping free by using the code Purple Insider. What I have really discovered the last few years as the game has shifted, points per game has gone up, passing effectiveness has gone up, all those things, is how much offense affects defense. And that is a great point where the defense can stay off the field for the 49ers.

And at the end of the game, they're sharp and your defense isn't. The Vikings did make a big stop to set up that field goal that Robbie gold missed because Robbie gold is still in the NFL. Like what is he like 108 years old? Is he, is this, is this like Gary Anderson?

It was funny. I, that was one that I, Anderson. Yeah. Yeah. They both, they both did right.

They both played until they're like late forties. Adam Vinatieri. What is with these old kickers coming out and missing field goals against the Vikings? I guess we do that now for, for many years, nobody ever missed a field goal against the Vikings. And now all of a sudden they do in the year where you keep blowing it. So weird. I want to circle back to the

refereeing point because there is like this rage in the pit of my stomach for refereeing in football that is a different level. Like with all the stuff with the team, we break down on a kind of like cold hard facts type of level. But with the reffing, it's not just against the Vikings or not. This is in every game I watch. It just makes my brain implode. To watch the Thanksgiving Day game be decided by an underthrown pass where the corner is fine and did nothing to disrupt that other than just be in the way and have that be the thing that cost Dallas. The game was crazy for last night. Even you're watching the Ravens and Browns game, and here's the Ravens ready to close out this game and win

16 to 10 or whatever. And the refs make sure that Baker gets one more shot on national TV with this holding call where you go, what? I don't know. Like, well, how is this different than any other block? The Adam Thielen catch is just flat out preposterous how you could not rule that a reception unless you're looking at some different angle, but it's not, we were looking at a different angle. It's there's not enough visual evidence to say, even though every one of us, like, what are your eyeballs different like what what what do you mean there's not enough and that's what i that right that it angers me it was it was pure gaslighting right and you blew the call and you didn't want to change it is kind of

how it came across and this is the thing that the things that we just don't know about any of these decisions we get no explanations and anytime there's a pool reporter necessary the ref acts like an arrogant you know what and you you never get any explanations from them just like when in 2018 they called the review that said delvin cook was committing pass interference remember this against the passers and then the who i think mark craig was maybe the pool reporter who was forced to do the duty of interviewing that ref. And he was just like, I don't know.

That was the call. Why are you not accountable? Why can you not explain this? And they put out this bogus video anyway. So it's, it has always been frustrating in the NFL. I feel like because now we can all see it at the same HD 4 4K, whatever, it has increased in its obnoxiousness. And holding, Kevin Seifert from ESPN is doing a great job of tracking this, by the way. Holding has doubled in the NFL this year.

I guess everyone just grabs more. No, the NFL made a conscious decision last year to not call it. So offense was good. So everyone would keep watching during like the worst year of everyone's life. Right. And during the election, everything else, they tried to increase the entertainment level of the games by not calling holding. It's a little transparent.

And I just wish that there was some understanding of why they do the things they do because it impacts games so much. And the TV guy who tells us whether the refs on the field got it right or wrong, he's useless as hell too. Can you help them? Like guy in the booth, could you go to another booth and call down to them and help them? Because they're getting it wrong so often. And I know it's a tough sport, but they're getting it wrong so often that I don't know what anything is. I don't know what a catch is.

I don't know what interference is. I don't know what holding is. I feel like a sport that has $11 billion in TV revenue would at least figure out how to explain to us what stuff is. You need a Latin dictionary and a law degree half the time to figure it out. I mean, they have inserted so many clauses and provisions into their definition, you know, the act of completing a catch and compelling or overwhelming visual evidence. I mean, you know, these are lawyers. They have lawyered the game to death. And because of that, you can't believe your own eyes anymore

you know it's almost like our political environment like you can't believe facts anymore you have to believe somebody's interpretation of the facts it's it's mind-blowing and again that didn't cost the vikings the game it made it more difficult for them. But it's embarrassing and insulting to the viewer and the fan to say 99.9% of the viewing public says, that's a catch. Not only is it a catch, it's a hell of a catch. We may never see anything like it again. Thank you for the nice high-def replays. And then, eh, no, well, you know, it's not quite enough to overturn what they saw in the field.

What? And this has long been my case against replay, is they get it wrong on the replay so often that I wish they would just move on with the game and not have the extra commercial break, but I'm sure that they love that. So I'm sorry for spending this much time ranting about it. No, but you asked, you know asked what else was on my mind.

That was it. Their defense was just dropping like flies and an insulting officiating performance. Yeah. And the defense yesterday, well, let me ask you about this. So, of course, it was not a good performance by the defense yesterday. And I'm looking at the PFF grades and all that of course Harrison Smith grades fine and everybody else hey to Sean Bauer is back though if you remember him uh and he graded okay I guess they got after Jimmy Garoppolo

a decent number of times uh from Armand Watts who had six pressures yesterday I thought he did a nice job but also got steamrolled in the run game, as is Armond Watts, who is more of a rotational player than a full-time player for that reason. But when we look at the rest of the season here, Murph, a lot of these guys are going to have to play. And last year, they were in this very same position, five and six in the playoff hunt, kind of right there. Just win a few of these winnable games. And they lost a big game to Chicago in which they just got run over. And I'm looking at the future schedule here and saying, well, come on.

I mean, you got Big Ben, who is big washed, and you have Chicago twice. They have no idea what they're doing and their coach is about to get fired. And like you mentioned, you have Detroit here. But is there a scenario where this thing, where they just have a bunch of disappointing losses because they cannot stop anyone on defense, even the worst teams in the NFL? Or is that an overreaction to seeing 200 yards put on them and watching someone named TJ Smith play and other guys that just have really no business out there on an NFL field playing 50 snaps. James Lynch is playing nose tackle for the first time in his life, played 55 snaps yesterday and no surprise had a 41 PFF

grade, the third lowest on the team. Like, of course the guys are rotational. Like you want them 10 snaps a game. I was thinking after the game yesterday, like, yeah, their offense should be able to just beat anybody and of those bad teams. And you should cruise into the playoffs. And I said that that should be your expectation. I tweeted that like, look, you should still make the playoffs here, but am I wrong in thinking that because of this mash unit that is being thrown out there on defense? You're not wrong, but I think it is now really incumbent upon the offense to play defense. And by playing defense, it means preserving your defense. It means keeping the chains moving. It means holding onto the ball. You know, they've been great on turnovers this year. I mean,

I don't know what their plus minus ratio is. It's got to be pretty high plus. They've done really well protecting the football, but boy, those were devastating turnovers. I mean, God don't know what their plus minus ratio is. It's got to be pretty high plus. They've done really well protecting the football. But, boy, those were devastating turnovers. I mean, God, the fumble that Cook had, I mean, it may cost him his season, and it cost the Vikings terrible field position and seven points. Cousins' interception was just a dagger because of the timing of it coming out of the second half. You also have, again, you have their three and outs.

They don't seem to have a ton of them. I don't know the numbers, but when they have them, it's coming off of a nine-minute defensive drive that they just came off of. You had a kickoff return for a touchdown, which you would never, ever, ever want to say, maybe we don't need that right now, but it was really a tough time to have it because the defense was so gassed. That being said, I mean, obviously, I mean, again, kickoff returns are gifts. You can never look the gift horse in that mouth, but I just, I think the offense is going to be responsible now for how the defense survives in the coming weeks.

So that's even more pressure on them to produce, to sustain and extend drives, as much to keep their momentum and to keep their ability to score points at a high percentage, but also to preserve their defense and keep opposing offenses off the field. And you have to just be ahead. Like you have to play from with the lead. Yes. Or right.

And that's where yes, they do every week, which is true. And they have not preserved a lead all year. And that's what I'm saying, though, about the offense always has the chance to put the dagger in the back. And when they're up 14, seven with the ball, it's like score here and it's over and they go three and out. So you're exactly right. There've been so many times like that this year where you have the ball and you control your destiny in a lot of ways because you get up by two touchdowns. It's going to be a lot harder for San Francisco to come back and you just don't come through. And that's what they've done. Does this make a difference to you? Mike Zimmer year by year in

terms of points against, all right, 2015, fifth, 2016, sixth, 2017, number one defense in the NFL, 2018, ninth, 2019, fifth, last two years, 29th and 24th. Does that say anything to you about Mike Zimmer and the defensive prowess? Or does that say something to you about Rick Spielman and the defensive, you know, organization or whatever, how they've put it on the field? Is it bad luck because Daniil Hunter has been hurt both years? Like, give me, you want to do a pie chart? You should do a pie chart. You don't do a pie chart.

I'll go 70 percent spielman no i'll go 60 percent spielman 20 percent hunter 20 percent zimmer i don't well i may even go 15 percent zimmer and i i don't know make the the other five percent just go general injuries or bad luck um i don't think z Zimmer's become a worse defensive coach. I think, if anything, offenses continue to get better. I think they've invested heavily on risky players and also depreciating players. And generally, skill level has dropped on defense. They're getting older.

I hesitate to think that Zimmer is losing his defensive genius, if you want to call it that. Yeah. I think it is more about personnel, and it's where they've decided to invest. And that's the nature of any team. I mean, this is the eighth season of Mike Zimmer's reign. You can't preserve your roster over eight years. The salary cap system does not allow that.

So the pendulum is going to swing back and forth depending on where players are up as far as their deals, where you're going to invest, where you're going to put your money. You mentioned the extension to Cook. That chews up a lot of salary. There's going to be more money they're going to have to money. You mentioned the extension to Cook. That chews up a lot of salary. There's going to be more money they're going to have to pay Thielen and Jefferson coming up. The money they already gave to Anthony Barr or have taken back from him. The money they gave to Harrison Smith. The drafting decisions that they've made.

Jeff Gladney is a complete waste. I just wonder, you know, and are the offenses they're facing continually upgrading in terms of skill set, creativity, innovation, and the ability to generate points has been increasing steadily since 2014. So Zimmer can't keep pace. The roster can't keep pace. Poor decisions are being punished. Bad luck with injuries is being exploited. I think that's where we're at.

Sam Ekstrom here wondering if you're stuck on your company's injury report. In an unfortunate situation like that, it's good to have someone in your corner. That's where Kemet Sanford and Kramer Law can help you understand your rights under Minnesota's workers' compensation laws. There's enough uncertainty in our lives nowadays that the last thing you want is to feel helpless if you wind up in a bad situation after a workplace injury. Kemet, Sanford, and Kramer will fight for you if there's been a wrongfully denied work comp claim so you can get the benefits you deserve. If your claim has been accepted, they help with rehabilitation disputes, medical disputes, help you get a second opinion, and ensure you're getting all the benefits you're entitled to on an accepted claim. Kemet Sanford & Kramer will provide you a dedicated and experienced disability attorneys that have secured their clients tens of millions of dollars. Our good friends Mike, Pat, and Evan will handle all that messy legalese to and from the insurance company about your claim while you focus on what's important, your recovery. And there's no cost involved for reaching out to Kemet, Sanford, and Kramer.

In fact, you don't pay a dime unless they successfully obtain your benefits. You get paid, then they get paid. It's that simple. The website is yourminnesotaworkcomplawyer.com, where you can find a phone number to get a free consultation. This is an attorney advertisement from Kemet Sanford and Kramer, yourminnesotaworkcomplawyer.com. I do think that the bad luck with injuries, specifically with Daniil Hunter, is a huge deal. I mean, there's nobody in the league who can lose a top five player at their position and just say, oh, well, let's replace him. You know Hunter would have made a key play yesterday at a particular moment that may have saved seven to ten points.

Yeah. You just know that. But let's look at the roster who played yesterday and this speaks to your point and your biggest piece of the pie uh let's look i'm just going to go down the pff grades okay so patrick peterson yesterday you know he didn't play all that well didn't play horribly or anything but like let's go through patrick peterson they signed to a contract he was not worth there's no question about it he's been an average corner in the league and they paid him like he was a star. And he's also missed time with a hamstring injury. Correct. Which

older players want to do. Patrick Jones, they drafted. He played 15 plays yesterday. Wasn't good. Nick Vigil, they signed him after letting Eric Wilson go, which Eric Wilson is not, you know, Dick Butkus, but he's a good player. Sheldon Richardson was fine yesterday, but mostly has been a bust of a signing this year. Anthony Barr, they chose to keep around not once, but like four times or three times. They signed him to an extension and then they had chances to move on and they did not do that. And he's injured again. Anthony Barr is out there and that's, that has been a negative contract for them, for Anthony Barr. Xavier Woods over the last couple of weeks has come apart DJ Wanham they drafted and sold as the next Daniel Hunter he was a 50 grade yesterday has turned out not to be very good

Armand Watts has been developed he's a decent rotational rusher that's fine Eric Hendricks is a star Mackenzie Alexander they brought back has not been good. Not even close. James Lynch, they moved positions. Go figure. Rashad Breland, worst player by PFF grade yesterday, has been a complete bust of a sign. Like, these are players you chose. These are not players that were just, oh, off the street, shoot to Sean Bauer. Okay, he's the one that's out there.

And TJ Smith, these are randos who have to come in and play a spot. But most of the guys playing yesterday are players you drafted or you signed. And your defense is 29th in yards allowed and 24th in points allowed. And so I think that you're right in the construction of, we did this little math formula before the season Murph, where we were like, you know, if there's a 50% chance that five different guys work out, they all have 50% chance they work out. What's the chance that all five work out? No, you might get two of them to work out. And that's what's happened, but you needed all five.

And so the construction, I think, and the way that money has been spent is as problematic as anything else we've discussed for why this team remains under 500. Well, and let's not shy away from the, the Everson Griffin resigning as well, because look, I, as somebody who's gone through some mental health struggles, I wish him nothing but the best as he deals with what he's, he's dealing with. But I mean, as far as the risk goes, I mean, you knew what you were getting into with that and he played wonderfully for you. And, but it was really just borrowed time, both probably in a skillset and his ability to, to maintain his mental health. And now you're stuck with a situation where he may not play

another snap for you again, and you've got a glaring hole and a weakness on that defensive line at the worst possible time. So, you know, you rolled the dice and you lost there. So yeah, these are front office decisions that need to be owned. I don't know if Spielman will own them. He'll probably find a way to deflect as usual. But I just, I would be entirely impressed if they can, you know, put it together

with bailing wire and glue for the next six weeks and drag that defensive carcass across the finish line into the playoffs. Yeah. But you're going to need to now be winning, you know, 35 to 30, 40 to 34, and hope you can maintain possession of the ball. That's what it's really going to come down to. And look, you can't get a kickoff return for a touchdown every week. You did get it twice and you're 0-2 in the games in which you did it. So you're really, you know, you're again, the margin for error we've said all year is razor thin.

It remains razor thin in various manifestations, but it is razor thin. Yeah. I just want to make one more comparison on the defense before we wrap up, which is, it's almost like you went into a grocery store with a hundred dollars and you saw some donuts that you really wanted, but they were way overpriced at $50. And you're like, I'm going to get the $50 donuts. Cause I really, I really like those. Those will be a big splash. And then you're like, oh man, I only got $50 left. That's like your Patrick Peterson signing. So then you spent like 30 of it. $50 on donuts. Inflation, right? Okay, I'm not going to go make the next joke. But $30, you were like cookies.

Oh man, these cookies are good. That's like Delvin Tomlinson. You're like, yeah, I mean, I need those. I need snacks. So I'm going to overpay this guy as well. And now you're left with $20 and you go, oh, I have a lot on my list. The expired stuff, Bashad Breeland, Sheldon Richardson, Everson Griffin. We can cook with this.

These dates don't mean anything. And what's happened is they've gone bad. How long have you been working on this metaphor? I used to work at a grocery store. So just right now. I wouldn't have made the donuts $50 and give myself $100 if I had sorted this out a little better. But that's how I look at their offseason. It was like you were hoping that the canned beans were not expired with some of these players,

and it turns out that they were. And I think that's the main cause of the defense. They're still top 10 in third down percentage, by the way, which I think is where Zimmer shines the most. But eventually that just that means more downs on the field and more you know more stress both mental and physical i mean you brought up the uh the key the stop that they made uh to set up the miss gould field goal which did buy them another opportunity because it was a uh well if it ended up going to overtime i don't think they had anything left. Yep.

I mean, they would have had to have won the toss and scored a touchdown. Otherwise you're looking at a Baltimore scenario. They had nothing left in the tank to survive an extra period. Yeah. And that was a game where in a lot of different ways, San Francisco gave them breaks after the Delvin cook fumble. They kicked the field goal. Right.

And they could have really put an end to that game. I want. Okay. So that, that, that I'll'll just i'll just end it there but i want let me just get in one more quick thing yeah how how many wins do you think they finish with nine well no i'm sorry i said that too quickly yeah let me do this we're gonna go right off okay we got two against chicago one against detroit and one against uh pittsburgh no i think they might get uh no that's nine but that asks them to beat chicago twice which and they and they're gonna be it's a night game at soldier field which is always a disaster for them but i i chicago's a mess even though they won the other day i don't don't they're super bad yeah they're awful i mean they're a mess on the field and off the field. I mean, they mismanaged that PR fiasco.

It was embarrassing. Yeah, so they're going to win in Detroit, right? We know that. Pittsburgh, backpedaling, I feel confident about that win. Two Chicago wins, yeah, that gets you to 10. I don't know about the Rams. I mean, they're kind of reeling a little bit, too, and it's a home game, but they're not going to Lambeau to win. So they need to have their ducks in a row before they go to Lambeau,

but now you're still looking at 10 wins. I think, I think nine is nine is a good number. So you're going to, you're splitting Chicago probably, right? There's gotta be, there's gotta be one where we walk out of there and go, Oh, what? Huh? Because every team has those, like even the Buffalo bills lost to Jackson lost to Jacksonville. Yeah, you're right. You're right. You shouldn't expect this team to win four games that they should. That is where we are in this world now. So Murph, good stuff. Yesterday feels like it took an unfortunate turn,

but we have plenty of things to discuss as we go forward. So thank you for your time. And people should check out your column, A Cold Day in the Bay at purpleinsider.substack.com. And we will talk again next week. All right.