Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Are the Vikings and Detroit similar at QB?

Episode Date: November 7, 2020

Matthew Coller talks with Jeff Riger of 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit and break down whether the struggles of the Lions are Matthew Stafford's fault or the team around him. Are Detroit fans rooting for their team to lose? Is Matt Patricia done if the Lions fall apart? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. I'm Chanae Ogwumike. Golden, Colorado, and as always, like Emmanuel Acho. People that show love to me, I forever got their back. Vivica A. Fox. If the foundation isn't right, then the rest of it's going to go wrong from there. And more. Subscribe to Front and Center today. Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collins here and joining me from the Motor City, Jeff Rieger from 97.1 The Ticket. What is up, Jeff?

What's going on? I'm sitting here in my basement and, you know, looking over all the news as we get ready for Vikings, Lions, who cares? Not to sound very negative, but yeah. And that's the podcast. The podcast is Who Cares? And you know what? Now, I think that sometimes it's a little cheese ball to be like, let's check in with the other teams, guys. What's going on with your strong safety situation? But here's why it's interesting at least

to check in on another nfc north team is um detroit is bad and they were supposed to be but they were supposed to be not this bad and and your signature win for the season is another team scoring at the wrong time against you when you were trying to let them do it on purpose. Like that's your best win outside of, uh, you know, the game at Arizona. But I mean, what in the heck has gone wrong every year? It seems like we go into a season, Jeff, and we go, you know what Detroit, they're like a sneaky team. Um, but I feel like even this year I fell for it a little like, Hey, if Stafford, you know, plays like he did last year for a full season but it's just not the case uh is it time with Matt Patricia or what I mean there's a bunch of stuff there that you hit on number one I think the people in Detroit never believed this was going to be a good team and listen I'll give the Lions credit they went out they got some pandemic players and

what I mean by that is they got a bunch of guys that know the scheme because the pandemic, of course, cut out training camp and it cut out OTAs. So they got a bunch of guys that hopefully they felt were going to be able to just jump right in. And it just hasn't worked out. Now, Jamie Collins, they got from New England. He's been very good. You look at pro football focus, he's like the 10th best linebacker. Deron Harmon, safety, he's been very good. You look at pro football focus, he's like the 10th best linebacker. Deron Harmon, safety, he's been playing lights out. So some of the players have worked out, but

in reality, this team stinks under Matt Patricia. It's just that simple. Whether it's inability early on in the season to stop the run, whether it's last week where your 12-year vet decides to cough up a fumble then a minute 20 later throw a pick six and you're out of the game against the Colts your time to you know prove that you were legitimate it's just a mishmash of awfulness like it always is and it's unfortunate too because you know this was supposed to be the year they could save their jobs, talking about Quinn and Patricia. And now they probably still find a way to save their jobs. The NFL is talking about 16 playoff teams. Maybe the Lions win just enough to be in the running for one of those teams and Quinn and Patricia come back.

But in reality, they're just a bad football team like they've always been a bad football team. And I think they blew a 17 point lead in game one to the bears 17 points they lost the mitchell trubisky they allowed mitchell trubisky just throw three touchdowns against them in the fourth quarter i think the next game he was benched if i'm not mistaken against atlanta maybe it was two games after that you know they were up by 14 nothing on the saints they choked that one away they were up 11 points on the pack. They choked that one away. They were up 11 points on the Packers. They choked that one away. And it's funny because this year, and it's so hard to take them seriously, but this year they came up with this new slogan. They called it dagger time. They were going to shove

the dagger in your back. They weren't going to let you come back on that. The first freaking game of the season, they blow a 17.4th quarter. Like, this is the Detroit Lions. This is what they do. So it's unfortunate as well. I keep using that word. And I don't know what things are going on in Minnesota. I don't know what people think about Zimmer. But I can tell you here in Detroit, more fans want the Lions to lose than to win in hopes that Patricia and Bob Quinn, the GM, get fired.

I mean, that's pretty much where we are here in Detroit, unfortunately. I was entirely unaware of dagger time. That is amazing. That is amazing. It is so laughable. I remember when it came out, TJ Hawkinson, the tight end, on a Zoom call, he's like, yeah, we got this new thing. It's called Dagger Time. Apparently Matthew Stafford thought of it, I think.

And he brought it out. And I remember I was filling in on the morning show in Detroit. And I'm like, guys, we got to talk about this Dagger Time. Like, you know it's going to go bad. So we ripped it for about 45 minutes. And sure enough, the first game of this season they blow a 17 point lead i mean that's detroit lions football at its finest yeah there was a similar thing that happened to the twins a few years ago where they did this is how we baseball like to sort of sound all internet and

whatever and but of course like everything went wrong that season and every dropped fly ball every error every mistake like that's not how you baseball nope that that wasn't it like you're really walking right into that one when you make up your own slogan before the season um i i want it works out i want to by the way if you guys could not re-sign nelson cruz and send them over to detroit that'd be nice well uh aren't you guys gonna know the pitches that are coming anyway well yeah listen when you're in detroit the wings were the worst in all the game the pistons were pretty close to being the worst in all the game the lions i mean they've been the worst for my entire

lifetime one playoff win since 1957 so how dare you judge us if we hire a manager that might want to bang on the drums all day, understand if it's a changeup or curveball? I mean, how dare you? How dare you? We deserve an edge, don't we? Okay, fair enough. I feel like this could be like a rap battle of these two cities or markets having things go tremendously wrong.

Like, well, here the Timberwolves thought they traded for a really good player. And then he was like pointing his gun at his neighbors or something. And you, you know, just, you know, you can go on down the line that the twins have lost 18 straight playoff games. That's impossible. It's like statistically impossible to lose that many games, but in the twin cities, anything is possible. And it is also the Vikings and Lions looking at each other with their fan bases wanting to lose. But let me ask you this, Jeff. Are your fans there, like the ones here,

focused on the quarterback position? Because here, everyone is saying, all right, we've seen enough Kirk Cousins. Let's move on to Trey Lance or something. Getting a lot of that conversation. Is it about Stafford or is it just about Patricia and Quinn? Well, it's funny. I'd say public enemy number one is Patricia and Quinn. People are driven nuts by Matt Patricia. Not so much Bob Quinn, even though you have every right to be mad at Bob Quinn. I mean, Bob Quinn is a terrible drafter.

He is a terrible trainer. He is a terrible maker of a football team. I mean, go down, if you ever just want to have a good laugh, like maybe you're, I don't know, doing some business in the bathroom, just pull up Bob Quinn's second round picks. They're absolutely horrendous, and it's really a sad sight to be seen. So Bob Quinn, in five years, has not done a good enough job. Not to mention, he fired a coach in Jim Caldwell who was 9-7 in two previous years.

He said, we've got to beat the good teams. And he hires his boy Matt Patricia, and Matt Patricia won 6-10, 3-12-1. Now he's 3-4. And ask me how many good teams they've beaten. Maybe the Cardinals this year seemed like a pretty good team. They beat the Seahawks, and they beat the Patriots the first

year of those two together. So two good teams in the span of two years and six games? Six games now. Yeah, seven, whatever it is is so they've been awful but i do think most people want matt patricia gone most people are willing to give up wins to have matt patricia gone i mean this is a guy that started off awfully i mean he alienated every veteran on

the team he decided to alienate everybody at otas so much that a local newspaper columnist said, Matt Patricia, before they even played a game, lost the team. Then they got a layup. They played the Jets on Monday Night Football. Sam Darnold was a rookie making his debut. And you're like, oh, my God, Lions are going to crush them. And it started off with Quandre Diggs getting a pick six. And the Lions lost, I want to say, 42-17 that game.

I remember that, yeah. Yeah, this is also a guy that decided to, you know, yell at a reporter because he had bad posture. He shows up late to meetings. You know, it's funny, too, because, like, Matt Patricia looks like an unmade bed, but yet he wants to yell at other people for bad posture. And then it just only got worse last year.

And then this year, it just got even worse. So I think it's interesting because the Lions had a coach, Rod Marinelli, that went 0-16. I truly believe, I haven't done the polling, but I truly believe fans want and despise Matt Patricia more than ever they did Rod Marinelli. So I think public enemy number one is Matt Patricia. The fan base would like to see anything that needs to happen to get rid of that man. I'm not quite sure it's going to happen.

But then Matt Stafford, yeah, I mean, some people don't like him. Other people love him. He's very divisive. He's very polarizing, I guess is the better word. And it's funny because I think a lot of Detroiters would say, give me Kirk Cousins over Matthew Stafford because he's got a playoff win. While other Detroiters would say, you're a moron if you want Cousins, we'll take Stafford. Cousins blows. So that's pretty much where we're at. I think that they're the Spider-Man meme. I think that they're just the same guy, but with different traits. Like Matt Stafford clearly has a better arm

than Kirk Cousins, but he also makes kind of unbelievable mistakes. Like you were talking about of two turnovers and just ruining your chance to win. Uh, Kirk Cousins does that to some extent, um, but Cousins throughout his career has not necessarily been that guy. It's only at the worst possible time that he finds a way to turn the ball over. Stafford has a little more mobility. I think people think of Stafford of like the high-end throws, and they forget about the ones that are not that great and the games where you just go, hey, where was Matt Stafford today?

Disappearing act, you know? But when you look at the end of the day, both guys have a huge sample of being starting quarterbacks and both are about 500 quarterbacks. The difference is Stafford has had some really, really bad management and really bad people around him where cousins has often had great things going for him in terms of weapons. And even as an organization, when he got here, but now he's taken them from Superbowl contender to two and five. So not all his fault. Of course not. It never is. But that's the other thing, right?

With these two guys, it never is. It's never all their fault. And yet you get the same results, though, almost no matter what you do. Matthew, it's pretty interesting because I think Detroit fans feel the exact same way about Matthew Stafford. Like a lot will say, what do you blame this guy for? He plays on the Lions. I mean, it's the Lions fault. Then there's morons like me that will say, hey, 2016, Matt Stafford hurts his pinky and loses against the Giants, the Cowboys and the Packers and in the bits coughs up the

division. What about 2015 where final game at Lambeau, Aaron Rodgers gets injured and Matt Stafford can't get the job done. I mean, go back to 2013, had to win like two games out of the final six. Matt Stafford was horrendous. So it's interesting. We are totally divided. There's no question about that. I think both Cousins and Stafford, as you mentioned, very comparable. But you guys have one thing that Detroit would kill for. One thing. And that's a playoff win. Yeah. Kirk Cousins has a playoff win.

And here in Detroit, the bar is not a Super Bowl. The bar is not the NFC North. The bar isn't even hosting a playoff. They want a playoff win. If Matt Stafford, Matt Patricia, whoever, wins a playoff game to Detroit, there will be a statue at Ford Field. That's where the expectations are. And the fact that you can't even meet those expectations pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the Detroit Lions and what it's like to be a Lions fan.

So, I mean, listen, you guys had unbelievably great victories in the postseason. The Detroit Lions have no idea what that's like. And literally would go out and tip over cars if they ever had any of that success. So while I think the Vikings this season, I'm surprised by how bad they are. I know they're an older team. But I mean, this is kind of a blip on the radar for you guys. It's this, you like this every year in detroit unfortunately i want to remind you to go to soda stick.com to get your original minnesota sports inspired goods for all of you hunters out there soda stick has some very cool hunting gear available

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Original Minnesota sports inspiredinspired goods, code PURPLEINSIDER for free shipping. And that's Stafford's entire career is, like you mentioned, getting somewhere close to kind of flirt with, hey, all we need is that defensive head coach. All we need is that drafted wide receiver. All we need is whatever. And yet you never can quite get over the hump

because I think when you have someone who relies a lot on what's around him and what's around him is a bunch of buffoonery half the time, you end up with what you've got for Stafford's career. So I wonder if you think that his record and lack of playoff wins, like what percentage do you put on him as being a flawed quarterback and what percentage do you put on him as being a flawed quarterback and what percentage do you put on everything around him it's almost like we're doing a radio topic in Detroit because I feel I've asked this question before um listen I would lie to you if I said

it's all a Matt Stafford because it's not I mean playing for the Detroit Lions there's all kinds of hurdles that unfortunately you have to jump over. And I don't necessarily blame everything on Stafford because he can't. Like, that's why I think so many fans, including myself, wanted to a tongue of Iloa. And I know he didn't look great in his debut, but the Dolphins still won. But they just want to change. They're looking for the unicorn that in Detroit where the organization is bad, they're looking for the one guy that can maybe somehow put up with all the crap you get for playing with the Lions and to find a way to turn it around like Drew Brees did with the Saints.

Like, unfortunately, that's what it's going to take. Like, let's not forget this is an organization that saw the greatest player in franchise history fax his college newspaper that he was leaving and not going to show up for training camp. This is the same team that lost Kelvin Johnson in the prime of his career because Kelvin wasn't happy either. Like, this is what the Detroit Lions are. And unfortunately, the Lions decided to, you know, make both those men pay them the signing bonus back like quality organization so when you ask that question like it's real easy to say the lions are mostly to blame and i might even say the lions are mostly to blame but matt i watch stafford on a day in a day out basis and

he's a great dude and he's great in the community and he's got a great family. And I don't have, nor should I have, a bad word to say about him personally. But 12 years of the same mistakes, 12 years of the garbage time yards, 12 years of taking a cat nap in the middle of games in the second and third quarter only to come out raring in the fourth quarter for one of his classic Matt Stafford comebacks. Like, I'm telling you, I do think it's close. I think it's 50 50, but people will hear this and say,

I'm a moron because the lions are so bad. So I'll say 56% of the blame goes on the lions. 44 goes on staff. I like it. I think that's a good ratio. And I would say the same thing for the Vikingsikings and where they're at um coming off of 2017 where they get to the nfc championship and then they bring in cousins and why they haven't had more success than one playoff win which i know to you guys is oh my god what are you talking about

but that's not right but that's not what they expected they didn't expect one playoff win they had a team that could have gone farther probably with the talent that they had, and Cousins' 2018 season was very poor. 2019 is decent, but an easy schedule helped them out, and they lost pretty much every game against good teams. I mean, it's like talking to a mirror here. It's like the same sort of stuff. But do you think that they make a change?

Because his contract, if i'm not mistaken correct me if i'm wrong it feels like his contract sort of lines up for that they would might try to trade him after the end of this year see that's the million dollar question i mean let's not forget that matt stafford literally has ford in his name but he does and the Fords that own the team they loved him yeah so there'll be a lot of people that will say like okay get rid of him this is it he can't take any more losing he should have a chance to win someplace else and there's going to be a rebuild in Detroit again so Stafford can't be part of that but I take a different different, I guess, viewpoint on that. And I don't think anybody really knows. Dan Orlovsky, his good buddy, came out a couple of weeks ago and said,

listen, the Lions have taken the energy and killer instinct away from Stafford. Then Stafford disputed that. I don't think he has any reason to leave. He's signed three contracts in Detroit. At any point, he could have got out. He could have told his super agent, Tom Condon, I want out of Detroit. Find me another home. And nobody would ever blame him. He's decided not to do that. Now, some people will call that, though. He can stay in Detroit because the expectations are so low, because the accountability is non-existent, that most of the fan base says Matt Stafford, the greatest we've ever had. So unless you truly have a desire to win, unless you are Peyton Manning or Tom Brady

and you're constantly thinking about your legacy, why would you leave? You could pay $27 million a year. Now, he restructured, so it's a little less this year, but he's going to get that money. You get a ton of money. You are raising a family in a great area. And for the most part, you're an NFL quarterback that's living the dream. And could you imagine if he went to Pittsburgh to replace Roethlisberger? Or if he went to Dallas to replace Dak? Or if he went to Pittsburgh to replace Roethlisberger or if he went to Dallas to replace Dak or if he went to Denver even to replace – like could you imagine the media scrutiny? What if New York decided Daniel Dimes is not the guy traded for Matthew Stafford? Like Detroit's media compared to those other cities that I just mentioned, I mean they're pussycats.

They really are. So I can't imagine Stafford being in that situation. So when you ask if he's done after this year, I mean, I don't know. I've heard a lot of people say yes. I tend to think I'll believe it when I see it. Now, he's got two years after this year. Patricia's got two years after this year. Bob Quinn has two years after this year.

So all three men who are really tied together have the same exact tenure or term rather left on their contracts. The crazy thing is the Ford family came out and said, listen, you got to kind of, you know, be a little better. Play meaningful games in December to stick around. So if they decide to make the move and fire patricia and quinn which i don't think they're going to but if they decide to do that then yes maybe matt stackard would be gone new coach comes in with the rebuild you trade him you get some picks for him but if they're coming back he's coming back even though sports took a break your business didn't you have to keep moving and that means hiring is more important than ever indeed is

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You got to run, so let me finish on this. Which one of these two teams, if I were to tell you, hey, I'm looking at meaningful games in late December, and it's either the Vikings or the Lions, which one would you say has the better chance to be playing those meaningful games? I think my connection is awful. I mean, I don't know if I heard the question. No, it's a tough question. Here's the deal. I would probably say the Vikings. Now, I know the Vikings are off to a really bad start, and they showed some l with delvin cook obviously and you beat the packers last week something the lions would only dream to do so i would probably say the vikings

because offensively you're still a talented team and defensively you're not as awful as the lions you're two and five the lions are three and four so legitimately you're one game back there could be eight playoff teams in each conference meaning no team is really out of it like if i look at the playoff standings right now the lions have the 10 seed and the vikings have the 13 seed but in all reality a couple wins and boom you're right there so if the question is what team is the better chance to make the postseason, I probably go with the Vikings because Stafford is on the COVID protocol. I don't know if he's going to play against you guys. I know Trey Flowers isn't going to play against you.

I know Kenny Galladay won't play against you. And I know Everson Griffin, he says he's very angry that your coach called him a good player but not a great player. But I don't think he fills the void that Trey Flowers not being there uh has so I would say you guys but I'm not 100% certain about my answer it's a tough question what would you say I would also say the Vikings but I would also not be confident in it because even though I think their offense does have a lot going for it their defense is still one of the very worst in the NFL and whoever plays whether it's Chase Daniel or Matt Stafford they will have time to throw I can guarantee you that and they will have open receivers to throw to that has become a

guarantee so when you're putting it on the shoulders of Kirk Cousins to say carry us to the playoffs I mean how's it going so far um so I, I don't think either team makes the playoffs or even plays meaningful games in December, but I think also looking at the lion's schedule, the Vikings have an easier path to possibly get there. If they win this game, then maybe they get themselves in it. So, you know, you, you are right. Like the Vikings.