Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Are the Vikings really going to win 15 games?

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

Matthew Coller and Manny Hill pick all the NFC games to look at different Vikings scenarios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Manny Hill as we get closer and closer to Vikings and Seattle Seahawks and a little bit of, I want to say, breaking news-ish. The official injury reports do not come out for west coast teams until later in the afternoon and about an hour ago or so the report came out with the vikings and the seahawks and uh harrison smith was a dnp today did not practice he was limited yesterday but veterans are often limited today did not practice on a Thursday, a little bit surprising there with a foot injury. So that will be something that we are keeping an eye on

to see if he is going to play. It would be pretty shocking based on his career if he did not play, but that's worth bringing up. Jalen Redman was uh was not uh practicing today i believe hold on let me just pull it up here um to get the official report here yeah jaylen redmond fabian morrow and then harrison smith as well were the three to watch and redmond has been a huge contributor really for them uh our goal tonight is to have manny pick the schedule because he did not on monday but you're not going to pick one team. You're going to pick a lot of teams. I've got the playoff machine all jazzed up and ready, but I do have to ask you about one story that came out today, Manny,

about the New York jets and their owner, not wanting to do a trade because Jerry Judy's Madden rating was not high enough. That came from the athletic. And here, here was my first thought, my first thought you and I both absolutely guaranteed judged players for back of the day, based on Madden, somebody, and what they thought was a better authority than us watching an afternoon game and seeing a guard play, right? It was like, okay, this is, and a lot of times if it was pro bowlers, all pros, they were pretty good in the middle. Maybe it wasn't all that accurate, but as far as the best players, I think they identified

them pretty well, but I didn't know that just me on Madden 05 developing players in the training camps with the drills and going into free agency, signing players, managing the salary cap. I had no idea that I was qualified by playing Madden 20 years ago to be the general manager of the New York Jets. So I am awaiting my interview with Woody Johnson. I'm ready. Kind of reminds me of back in the day in 2001, I used to think Trunk Candidate was like one of the best players on Madden because he had a speed of like 95 or something. His overall was like 76. You know what I mean?

He was like just a guy, but his speed rating was like 95. So it was like, I'm going to have that guy as my starting running back and just throw the ball to him out of the backfield a lot because he's really, really fast and he makes guys miss. But for a billionaire owner to use Madden as a reason why they don't make a move is why they do or don't make a move is pretty wild to me. It's really strange, but I can't,

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised because it's Woody Johnson. It's the New York jets and nothing that they do nowadays should ever shock anybody. I just, the thing with Sam Darnold is that Sam Darnold has done a great job this year of never even hinting that he got screwed over in his career. He's let everybody else do the talking. I'm sure you heard you had somebody in your life say that to you at some point.

Hey, let everybody else do the talking. You just go about your business. Well, that's what Sam Darnold has done. And everybody else is doing the talking and going, oh, maybe this is why Sam Darnold is now good with a good organization and was bad with some bad organizations. We've usually pointed to the receivers and the coaches of the organizations. And I know that it wasn't David Tepper. Well, maybe it was the end of Tepper.

I don't know if it was Tepper when he was playing. I don't think it was, or maybe he was just buying the team. But remember, Jerry Richardson was run out of the ownership there for doing sexist and racist things. I mean, these are the organizations that Sam Darnold had to play for, Mr. Men Rating Owner, and apparently as part of that story as well, his teenage sons are essentially running the team, which is also hilarious because that's how old I was in Madden 04.

And I remember trunk candidate quite well. The modern trunk candidate was Dree Archer, by the way, he just like quit football, but he had a 99 speed. So you could get him on Madden, like 18 and throw them out there. There's always been that guy in the league. But the point is that, uh, this is how the jets were being run and the Carolina Panthers, how they were being run. And that's who Sam Darnold had to play for. I just imagine him eating his lunch today going, oh yeah, oh yeah. And everyone's saying, Sam, was that how it was?

Oh yeah, that's how it was. And that also makes me think a little bit about Sam Darnold's future, doesn't it? Doesn't it make you think a little bit more of, yeah, this is probably who he is. He probably is just a really good quarterback who didn't get opportunities because he was playing in such bleep show places that were run like this from woody johnson and also thank your favorite minnesota viking billionaire today the wilfs just look better and better by the day like Like, oh, we're not insane. So great.

The worst thing we would accuse the Wilfs of is, hey guys, I mean, maybe it's time to just let it go and just sink to the bottom and draft high. And they were like, no, we want to win. And that's, that's all I got. That's the worst thing that we ever criticized the wolves for but i don't think we can ever overstate how much having owners that have their heads screwed on correctly is the reason one of the main reasons the vikings are where they are at this moment you know with the on the jets it's kind of it's kind of ironic that Sam Darnold and Geno Smith,

potentially Geno Smith, I don't know. We don't know the status of him yet, I guess. Looks like it, though. He practiced in full today, so it looks like it, yeah. Yeah, so it looks like we're going to see Sam Darnold versus Geno Smith on Sunday, right? Well, do you remember back in 2017 when the Vikings played the Rams and it was Case Keenum against Jared Goff,

and there was the picture of them embracing after the game was over. And somebody took that picture and put and tweeted out like a caption that said, don't worry, Jeff Fisher can't hurt us anymore. I wonder if somebody will do something similar for Sam Darnold and Geno Smith as they embrace after the game is over, regardless of the result. And somebody will just say, don't worry. The jets can't hurt us anymore.

And I do respect. I do respect that Gino Smith has not taken the Sam Darnold approach he did for the first year where, but once he got that contract, he has pimped the home run and just been like, I'm good. I don't know what you guys were thinking. He tweeted, and it's just hard to explain the meme if you don't know, if you're not

online enough. But when they beat the Jets, when Seattle beat the Jets, he tweeted a meme of a guy who had essentially claimed to have gone to his enemy's funeral to make sure he was actually dead. And just classic, classic Geno Smith. He is maybe after Sam Darnold gets the, he probably won't, but if he gets the bag, then he will open up a little bit about what happened with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. But it's just your weekly reminder that this man had to go through Shawshank redemption miles and miles of crap to break out and have KOC very likely coach of the year. Now

all the betting favorites coach of the year, Justin Jefferson, Addison, Hawkinson, offensive line owners that aren't nuts general manager who finds good free agents and has a plan and all the stuff it's wild to me manny let me let me quick before we start picking these games let me make a holiday baking championship connection to the minnesota vikings so those of you out there who enjoyed the holiday baking championship know exactly what i'm talking about and if you didn't you'll get it anyway. They give the challenges to the bakers. And what happens sometimes is they just decide,

I need to do something crazy. I need to go way over the top. And what they miss is what's right there in front of them, the simple challenge to just make a nice-looking freaking cake. And that's how you're able to win. And I think that with the Vikings, all they've done to get here is just done stuff that made complete sense. Move on from a 36 year old quarterback with an Achilles, the free agent quarterback bridge quarterback you get has some ceiling to him as a good human being drafting a quarterback who you could develop finding free agents with the cap space that your defensive coordinator is going to like crazy crazy doing all this

analytics. Not really. The other teams just fall in the ocean of stupidity while you do normal stuff and win 12 games. I think what this Woody Johnson thing really tells you that before the race even begins, half the owners in the league pull out a bazooka and shoot themselves in the foot with it. And you're like, okay, we ain't running against 32. We're running against like 18 because the other ones have blown off their limbs by trading everything for deshaun watson or something you're like okay don't have to worry about them

the bears no no you're good they're gonna keep eber flus and you know so far okay you're all set with them i mean half the teams in the league just have no clue what the heck they're talking about. Let's give $100 million guaranteed to said 36-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles injury. And, you know, although, you know, that decision that people thought that the Falcons were crazy for, for drafting Michael Penix after giving Kirk that contract, looks a little bit smarter and smarter. Now, we'll see how things turn out with Michael Penix, after giving Kirk that contract, looks a little bit smarter and smarter. Now, we'll see how things turn out with Michael Penix. But maybe that drafting him doesn't look as crazy as it did maybe, you know, six months ago or whenever, you know, that kind of thing. But, yeah, I mean, that's but that's part of why. And, you know, we maybe see this in the NBA a little bit more. But in,

in the world of professional sports, sometimes, you know, a team's success that they are able to sustain over, you know, a three to five year period can sometimes be, you know, yeah, a lot of it is good coaching, good, good front office work, good ownership, good culture, all those things. But also some of that stuff can be aided by pure stupidity from some of the other teams, from some of the peers. And we're kind of seeing that in the NFL now, where teams are sort of going all in on quarterbacks that don't work out. And they're paying them all this guaranteed money and it's not turning out the way that you want it to turn out. I mean, the Broncos had a similar situation

where giving up a lot for Russell Wilson, who was kind of up there in age, giving him a lot of money. They're still, I guess, essentially paying him a lot of money this year to not play for them and win games with the Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, but the Broncos are doing OK. They've recovered nicely with Bo Nix and Sean Payton and everything. But but yeah, man, I mean, it's kind of wild to me that we see this many teams make very similar mistakes that some of the other teams around them are making. And that's where I think you really have to give Kweisi, KOC,

the Wilfs, a lot of credit for kind of doing the smart things that, you know, people like you have told them, like, this is, this is the right way to go. This is the right moves to make. And here you go.

You, you fast forward three years since this regime came in and the Vikings are in great shape. I think it really just tells you that for a lot of people, just because you succeeded in a certain area of business, whether it was because you were a genius or you fell backwards into it, it doesn't mean you're good at pro sports it's a different world and these people can be reactionary or they can listen to the wrong people or whatever and the fact that it seems like the wilfs and they trusted see we always thought it was a criticism that they trusted zimmer and spielman too much that especially trusted trusted Spielman too much to keep bringing back

Kirk and watching it not work. But now they trusted Kweisi Adafo-Mensa and Kevin O'Connell to move on from Kirk and that they would have the right direction here and they would make the right decisions and they would spend the millions and millions of dollars on Derrissaw and Jefferson and the free agents and so forth and make the right moves. Their trust for the right people has ended up working out. But sometimes there are just in any other, wherever you work, I guarantee there's somebody where you're like, yeah, that guy's just a grifter, man. He's just not, he's not the real deal. He's just stealing money from this company. There's people like that in the NFL, just the snake oil salesmen, the people who are

better at selling owners than they are making football moves and things like that. We've seen a lot of them become coaches in the league. We've seen a lot of them become executives and that is just not the case for the leadership of the Vikings. And so you have to think, well, it's the same thing with the Steelers where you go, man, them Steelers, they just keep making the playoffs every year. Yeah, because their leadership's not insane.

And it gets you most of the way there. You got a good coach. You got great, fantastic ownership there. You have a good management that makes good roster decisions. And I don't even think the Steelers are special or have been special since Roethlisberger. And they've either had a winning record or made the playoffs every year. And at least you get to play in that sandbox and not Cleveland or the Jets or

the bears where there there's no answer at that point because whoever's in charge, is it in charge? That's the problem is that like you don't have an answer if you're in the media they're talking about the jets like do we criticize the gm who they hire or just say it's the owner's teenager who's going into the locker room and handing out game balls according to this story it's a hell of a read by the way over uh at the athletics so um somebody i forget who uh when diana racini got her job there was like i don't know they're paying her a lot but this this story alone got them probably as much as uh her salary is for a year so shout out to her and the other

reporters there for a heck of a gem on that one uh let's uh let's answer a couple questions and then get into picking some games. KMac850 says, has there been a bad move from the front office this season? However, it ends what a year from Kweisi and company. I honestly don't think so. The only potentially bad move would be giving up the draft capital to move up for Dallas Turner.

That is the only potentially bad move. But then after the sack that he had last week and the hit he put on Kirk the week before you go, ah, let's, uh, assess down the road on that particular move. Um, but you know, I mean, you could say just in this vacuum for this year, if you draft Jared verse, he's playing next to Jonathan Grenard and is probably amazing. So I don't know. I mean, that's the best I can do. That's very nitpicky.

But other than that, I mean, Shaq Griffin has been good for them. Fabian Morrow came in the other day and played pretty well. I mean, I don't know. Um, a couple other interesting things. Jason says the crowd is what always made Seattle a tough place to play, but here's the thing, Jason, this is what I learned today from someone who covers Seattle, Matty Brown.

He told me that your past tense here, the crowd is what always made them Seattle a tough place to play. It apparently is past tense. That's what they're, they are arguing on their sports radios and their podcasts about the Packers taking over that stadium last week. Did you see that on TV?

They were saying, go Pack, go. And they're selling their tickets. And it was a way, way bigger Packer crowd than they have ever seen there before in Seattle. So that might happen with the Vikings too. It might not be anywhere close to what it used to be. Well, and you know, and I'm looking at the standings right now and the Seahawks are eight and six.

They're only three and five at home this year. So this is not the same sort of, excuse me, I know when I've been picking the schedule, I've kind of consistently had this game down as a loss. And some of that has had to do with just the fact that it's a road game

going out to the West Coast in a historically difficult place to play. But if you really think about it and analyze it, that really hasn't been a very difficult place to play. The Buffalo Bills went in there and blitzkrieged the Seahawks and blew them out of the water. We saw what the Packers did last week as well so you know this could actually bode well for the Vikings if you know if you get a decent crowd out there that travels out there in purple jerseys and things like that then you know this could actually end up you know working in the Vikings favor at least not working against them as maybe we initially thought.

Just a dude says, Teddy for quarterback coach if McCown gets hired away. I saw Teddy say on NFL Network, I don't know if he was kidding, that he wants to come back and play, and he's not very old, and he probably could do it. Teddy, man, who was surprised? Not me, that Teddy went to his high school and won the state championship. Not me. Anything that guy does, I would never be surprised in terms of his success. By the way, he's still the most recent best Broncos quarterback. Bo Nix is coming along,

but it's still maybe Bo Nix finally takes that title, but him going seven and seven there was pretty good compared to their other quarterbacks. But, uh, yeah, I don't, I don't know.

I don't know what Teddy's plans are. I haven't thought about McCown getting hired somewhere, but when you do get this much attention, uh, you do end up having your coordinators and coaches poached off of your, uh, coaching staff. And as far as comp picks,

uh, just to do to also ask you about comp picks for coaches, because you guys love as comp picks uh just a dude also asking about comp picks for coaches because you guys love your comp picks um you do for minority coaches if they're hired for to other places there is a system in place yes but um you know i don't know like if florist gets a job or kena mccardle gets an oc position or something like that, then maybe so. But how about Teddy, man? Unreal. He's a winner, man. That's just, I think that's the only way you can really describe it.

Dude's a winner. Won at Louisville, won while he was here. And, you know, he was at least competitive or at least like a 500 quarterback on some lesser teams that he played for after he left here. And actually, you know when he played for sean payton in new orleans he won some games for them when when drew breeze had to miss some time so dude's a winner went five and oh yep went five and oh off the bench and then uh carolina matt rule got him too uh him and uh darnold could share some stories there. Kai says, who's having the biggest game for the Vikings on Sunday?

I want to say Aaron Jones on this one. After watching the way the Packers ran against Seattle, it feels like Aaron Jones is going to be huge for them. Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too. Aaron Jones just having another big game, much like what he did last week as well. So, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Purple Jesus says, is watching some Seattle YouTube earlier.

They're apparently expecting a lot of Vikings fans. There you go. Yeah, I mean, Sun Country, they got a few rides out there. You always know when I go to book my travel because I'm a late booker. I just can't think more than four days ahead. And so I'll go and look and it's like,

oh, Sun Country's got a bunch of uh flights going out there they must uh they must have a lot of reason to do that um let's see uh kanito do you feel like you can predict this team easily i feel like this is a hard team to gauge but they win in a lot of different ways i mean this year i yes and no like i think we predicted a lot of wins and only after they had lost two in a row and then played terribly against the Jaguars did, I think you Manny, drop them down to maybe 11 wins. It's possible that it was 10, but I think 11 is maybe as low as we got. So we have felt like we understood who they could beat in terms of the mediocre teams. What we're about to find out is how strong they are right now against the teams that are actually good. And

I'm putting Seattle in that category of teams that are actually good. Yeah, me too. And, you know, I know I just said that they're three and five at home, but it's still a team that has talent. And if Gino Smith is going to play, you know, he's a talented quarterback that has talent and if Geno Smith is going to play you know he's a talented quarterback that has played well at times for them over the last couple of years and you know they've got you know he's got receivers to throw to they've got a couple players on defense that could maybe be a be a little bit of a problem it's not a team that you want to just assume that you're just going to go in and and walk over I mean that this is the stretch of the season now where you can't coast through you know a three interception game in jacksonville you know

like you did against the jaguars and win 12 to 7 that's not going to fly against the seahawks they've got they've got some dudes they've got some players head coach is probably pretty good i don't know we'll find out over the next couple of years, but it's a team that you don't want to take lightly. And they're in the middle of a race for their division right now as well. They're fighting the Rams for the NFC West to try and make the playoffs. So that's a team that is every bit as motivated to try and win and compete as you are. Phil asked, will we see LDR this year,vi drake rodriguez i'm not sure i mean he could be active uh against seattle because it doesn't look like jaylen redmond's going to play so if redmond doesn't play then it's possible that he mixes in they need redmond i mean he has become

all of a sudden a key part of the defensive line. I think that they played Tillery a lot early in the season, and he might have lost a little bit there as he's gone along. You know, guys play through things and stuff like that. And Redmond has given everybody a rest because they can rotate him in and out. He gets into the backfield, and you go, like, okay, they did it again. They found a random who is actually pretty good. Sean says their chances to win out are solid three top teams you can argue they should be the favorite in all three games except going into detroit

because of uh or including detroit because of their defensive injuries i mean i can't disagree with that um i don't i would assume that they're favored against Seattle. Green Bay has been playing extremely good football, but U.S. Bank Stadium, they would be favored. And then if they won both of those games, and so did Detroit, maybe that's a pick-up type of game. That's where I would have it. I would not say, well, they've got injuries, so they're just not up to the task against the Vikings. I think their offense is so good that they can play with anyone. I mean, they played with Buffalo that whole game. Buffalo has had most of the season, a pretty good defense, but they got some injuries and, uh, you know, Detroit put up huge numbers

against them. So I think that would be probably more even, which Manny seems like a good lead in to picking the rest of the schedule, but you're going to have to do more picking than just let's get us into the corner there are little boxes uh you're gonna have to do a little more than just the vikings so i've got the playoff machine here up on the screen and our heads are blocking out where the vikings are currently let me remove our heads so you can see where they are right now not my favorite matchup on the list. The Vikings, the way things stand at this moment, if it finished exactly the same would face the Los Angeles Rams of Los Angeles, which is the team that nobody wants the Vikings to play. So let's go through and pick the

relevant games to the Vikings. And I will say that there's more relevant games than we're going to even pick because strength of schedule starts to play into this. Uh, I also think it's funny, Manny, that in the wide view, we can see what he got a Yule log going on back there. Yeah. It's just a, a YouTube, uh, fireplace, generic fireplace action going on. That's extremely pleasant. That, that makes me feel great, man.

He makes me feel like man he makes me feel like you're enjoying the holidays it's this time of the year it is that time of year okay the nice thing is it doesn't make my apartment super super hot either so that is what fire would do had it been real uh okay let's so let's start out with this week week 16 in the national football league and the vikings and seattle seahawks all year League, and the Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. All year long, you have picked the Seattle Seahawks to win this football game. Are you staying with that? I think that if Geno Smith is playing in this game,

and I know he might be a little bit hobbled with that, with the leg injury. I think it's a knee, right, that he's dealing with. I think if he plays, even if he's going it's a knee, right. That he's, that he's dealing with. I think that if he, if he plays, even if he's going to be a little bit hobbled, I think that increases Seattle's chances in this game. I think it gives them a better chance. If this were Sam Howell or gasp, Jaron Hall.

Oh, that's right. Revenge game. Yeah. If, if it was one of those two guys, I would love the Vikings chances in this game, but I think, I think Gino Smith can give them a decent chance in terms of Seattle. So I'll still, I'll stick with my guns here that I have been for all season long. And I'll give the Seahawks the win here just because the Vikings have already won seven games in a row. You know, they've already had two five game winning streaks this season now um an eighth win in a row is is asking a lot especially

coming up going out west on a short week so I'll give the Seahawks the win here I've been hemming and hawing over this one because I felt the same way as you but then after talking to my Seattle Seahawks guest, he was completely convinced that the Vikings would win this game. I've had very few guests. The only other one was Tennessee, where the other person basically said, yeah, we're going to lose. I mean, I was like, oh, okay, they are not feeling great.

Although the way that the Packers played against them the other night, I can understand why. But at least Matty Brown felt like the coaching situation was significantly leaned toward the Vikings. But fair enough on the explanation. It's just so hard to win this many games, short week, and so forth. I think I've swung a little bit back toward I think the Vikings will win, but we'll go with seattle for your picks now we'll rapid fire through the other possibly relevant games green bay and the new orleans saints who wins that one i'm gonna go with green bay it's not spencer rattler all the draft analysts favorite quarterback oh it's a shame yeah not a believer in spencer okay that's fair enough uh We got Carolina and Arizona.

Oh, this is interesting because Arizona, it's, hey, just don't. You know, the Cardinals played well enough to beat the Vikings a couple of weeks ago. And, you know, Vikings kind of struggled in that game. Arizona is just, again, that team, they're kind of the typical seven and seven what are they seven and seven now mandy this is not rapid fire they say you are not rapid firing you need to rapid fire gotcha all right uh i'll go i'll go cardinals cardinals win okay you know why because you have a list of your five favorite seahawks and i want to make sure we get to that list uh giants and falcons uh falcons i think pennix is going to play well and i do want to make sure we get to that list. Giants and Falcons.

Falcons. I think Pennix is going to play well. And I do want to say, I love your tendency to just start breaking down a Carolina Arizona game week 15. I just need NFC answers here. 49ers and Dolphins. Dolphins. Okay.

Washington and Philly. Ph uh rams and jets rams all right and chicago detroit chicago detroit i think that's our last one um uh detroit it's gotta be it's gotta be the way that they just played okay there's our nfc games now john uh the packers and vikings game of the year december 29th anyone who's listened to the show has heard me bring this up on literally every show because it is that big of a football game next week who do you believe wins between the vikings and the packers. Vikings ride the wave of being at home and they come through with a win. Okay. And at that point, the parade route will start being planned and the energy will be at an

all-time high probably since 2017 at that point. Bucks and Panthers. Bucks. We got Seattle and Chicago. I'm going to go Chicago. Okay. This is week 17, by the way. We have Dallas and Philly.

Philly. Arizona and LA. Big game there, potentially. That's huge. Yeah, I'll go with the Rams. All right. Washington and the Atlanta Falcons? game there potentially that's huge yeah i'll go i'll go with the rams all right washington and the atlanta falcons i'm gonna go atlanta i think panics is gonna play well all right okay

upset there and detroit and san francisco this is what i don't know i'm gonna go with san francisco here okay all right so then week 18 is for at very least the nfc north did i get the i get the eagles yeah i did okay week 18 let's start off with the lions and the vikings vikings oh you have to. You just have to. Come on. All their players are hurt. KOC shreds that defense anyway. Vikings in week 18. Packers and Bears. Packers. 49ers and Cardinals.

Niners. All right. Let me see. Eagles and Giants. Eagles. It's a bye week for Philadelphia. Yeah. Washington and Dallas.

Washington. Falcons and Panthers. I'll go Panthers because even though I think Panics is going to play well, I have a hard time thinking that he's going to go 3-0. Okay. And Bucs and Saints. Bucs. have a hard time thinking and he's going to go three and oh okay and uh bucks and saints uh bucks and seattle and the rams i will go i'll go seattle okay so here is our playoffs should it play out the way you just

projected it wow philadelphia out of the playoffs oh yeah yeah so if let me see if it goes that would be for the west then right yeah okay yeah this is a swing game yep swing game potentially because you had the Vikings losing this week so it could end up this way either way so we'll we'll flip around a few of the things and see what they say but in this scenario the Philadelphia Eagles would have the one seed. The Vikings would play at home in a 1987 revenge game against the Washington commanders who would be the seven seed. The Packers would face Tampa Bay, Tampa, a three seed at 10 and six. Oh, they paid Baker Mayfield. Oh no. While they're a three seed, uh, the Packers,

a six seed. So I got to pimp that one after it actually happens. Not while we're just picking games and the Seattle Seahawks would be the four and the lions would be the five. So the matchups are Minnesota, Washington, Tampa Bay, green Bay, and Seattle and Detroit. And if the Rams were to win that week 18 game in this scenario, that would mean that the Rams would end up with an incredible run to the three seed, which would be wild because they were losing in the middle of the season. And if we go back to your first pick and the Vikings beat Seattle, that would move them to the one seed Philly to the two and the rest of the way. So this is the big swing game of the week. Okay. Need to

unscreen share and then we'll be back on your screen and we're back. So, okay. Yeah. Wow. Manny picks the schedule, got super convoluted on your face right there. But I think home against Washington is a phenomenal outcome for the Minnesota Vikings. This is one where if the Detroit Lions lose that game in San Francisco, it gives a little bit of breathing room for the Vikings. The problem would be if Detroit has the same record as the Vikings that they end up still getting the North because of the goofiest tiebreakers where them losing to an AFC team mattered as opposed to the Vikings losing to two NFC teams, which is exactly how it is in the Bible. So I guess you have to keep doing it. I don't know. How do they decide on this? Who decided that? I don't, I don't know why it isn't just point

differential or something that would make sense, which of course would still go to the lions. I just mean, when we're down to the level of Eagles and Vikings will be figured out by strength of schedule. And then you got to root for the Texans or something. I don't even know, but that's where we're at. That would be one heck of a scenario for the Minnesota Vikings. If they could play a home game against the seven seat. Yeah. Well, and I think it just highlights like you said it it it really shows how big even this sunday's game is going to be and the difference in what that could mean you know between a win or loss with the vikings um this is going to be fascinating to watch i i just i love the fact that the vikings are right here in the mix still for the number one overall

seed and potentially a first round buy and we'll see what happens with the eagles the eagles have seems like a pretty easy schedule to finish out with these last three games for them um if they end up with the number one seed they would basically have two buy weeks in a row because they would be playing the giants in week 18 which is essentially a buy week um so uh but yeah, this is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to just see how these games play out. And we're going to learn, not only are we going to figure out exactly where the Vikings are going to fit in in the standings, but we're going to really, I think, figure out,

you know, what sort of run they could potentially go on in the playoffs just by, you know, how they play in these games. I mean, if they really struggle against some good competition with Seattle, Green Bay, and Detroit to end the year, then it kind of makes you a little hesitant to be confident in them and what they can do in the playoffs. But if they win like two out of these three and finish 14-3, even if Detroit still wins the division with the same record, I would still feel pretty good about the Vikings' chances because of what we saw in these last three games.

I will give you a little NFL research from the past that I ran across, and maybe if someone can find where this article was, I don't remember. But the most predictive part of the season for the playoffs is actually not the end of the season, which I think is interesting because that's how we're always going to evaluate it. But I mean, even think about teams that fight their way into the playoffs. That's probably what skews these statistics is teams that go crazy fighting their way into the playoffs. And then they run out of gas in the first round, the Cleveland Browns with Joe Flacco. Uh, you're not going to beat playoff teams with Joe Flacco, but you can certainly win random regular season games against losing teams. Uh, of course they

couldn't do that with Deshaun Watson or their other myriad of quarterbacks, but they could with Joe Flacco. So, uh, it's usually been the late middle part of the season, of course, which is when the Vikings have played very well. Yet it's fair in this instance, because the late middle part of the season for the Vikings, not trash teams. When I hear people say, well, they haven't beat anybody. I'm like, okay, well, Arizona's pretty good. And Atlanta was, you know, struggling with Kirk Cousins, but it's not a terrible team.

It's a team that's in the race still. Chicago's pretty freaking bad. And the other ones are pretty bad. But I don't think, I mean, the game that they had against Chicago was before Ibraflues got fired. That team still had a positive point differential when they beat them in overtime and they beat them pretty handily before some special teams buffoonery. But aside from that, I don't know.

I think that that's a little unfair. Actually, when you go through every team, I did this the other night, you go through every team and try to find their wins against playoff teams. There ain't that many. You know why? One, there ain't that many playoff teams. The other thing is that there ain't that many good teams in the whole league. So the Vikings have four wins or

maybe five against winning teams well so do the eagles because there's a lot of bad football uh this year so anyway that's the that's the whole schedule rant uh one of our favorite listeners blunts and boobies says uh what if sam the dart slinging darnarnold? Oh, Sam the Dart sling. What is that? Like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer loses in the playoffs because Josh Allen does Josh Allen things. Would it be worth bringing him back and let J.J. McCarthy get 100% healthy?

Buddy, if he goes to the Super Bowl and loses to Josh Allen, he is freaking back. Oh, yeah, he's back. He's absolutely freaking back. Yes, If he goes to the Superbowl. Now, let me throw a scenario at you, Manny. So I tossed this, I tossed this at Andrew Kramer today. And I'm curious of your answer. What if Sam Darnold wins these next three games, finishes 15 and two, and then loses in the playoffs, let's say in the divisional round to whoever won a wild card round but plays okay say he's not like a megastar in the game he just plays okay and they lose to

the bucks 28 24 is he back if that happens if they got the one seed 15 and two but then they lose in the divisional round would you bring him back i remember earlier this year we talked about you know i think you had asked me the question of like under what circumstance would you bring sam darnold back and i think i said something like he'd have to win the super bowl mvp or something and i think i largely said that because at that time the idea of sam darnold winning the super bowl mvp just had never crossed my mind but like now the team is 12 and 2 and he's been playing so well this year it's not far-fetched to think that he could do this um and so i i think based on what we've seen this year and how the team has played if if that scenario that you're talking about plays out

they lose to the bucks in the second round and sam plays really well i would not have a problem with them bringing him back i think you do have to explore bringing him back and here's the other thing too with jj mccarthy and again my feeling on this is kind of evolved over the course of the season jj mccarthy is only 21 years old. He's going to be 22 years old next year. He doesn't necessarily have to start next year. He doesn't have to start next year. Other guys we've seen like the Jordan Love sat for three years.

And I'm not saying J.J. McCarthy has to sit for the next, you know, sit for two more years after this year. But I don't think that if Sam Darnold plays well enough and you can bring him back on a deal that works for you, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing or necessarily a wrong move to make because I don't think you have to rush J.J. McCarthy out there to play. There's still an opportunity for him to develop and still eventually be your guy of the future. I was thinking about this and maybe your big NFL history brain can tell me the answer. Let's just say that they win 14. That's how you have them,

which like just stop and take a deep breath and think about that for a second. But I mean, just a four, how many quarterbacks now we know Randall Cunningham is one of them. How many quarterbacks ever won 14 games in the NFL and then words good, like did not continue just one 14 games. And then just not as good. The answer can't be many. There can't be. And I know there's 17 games, even 13 games. Okay. You've got case Keenum. You've got Randall Cunningham.

It's a different story with Sam Darnold. That one year that Kyle Orton won 13 while throwing like nine touchdowns. I think Kerry Collins did the same thing once, but this team has had a really good offense. In fact, they are in the top 10 and passing expected points at it. Their success has been driven by their passing game with this quarterback. I can't think of too many quarterbacks that just won 13 or 14 games in NFL history before

that were not for the Vikings that just didn't turn out. Oh man, no, nothing there. Carson Wentz, I guess guess would be one of them but wentz had that catastrophic injury and then was never really the same after that so we're not talking about that i don't know i can't i can't think of too many that just fell off the face of the earth after winning 13 games and what's interesting about sam darnold too is that he's only 27 years old like we may not i mean he's played so well this year we may still have not actually seen the best from him yet you know what i mean because a lot of quarterbacks they play their best

football when they're you know maybe 29 maybe they get to that 29 30 30-year-old mark in their career. And it's possible that we have still not seen the best from Sam Darnold yet. And if that's the case, I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing him back. I think what we've seen from him this year is legit and totally repeatable. The question obviously is going to be, you know, next year, is it going to be in a Vikings uniform or with somebody else? But I think if you're Sam too, you got to think like, Hey man, I came here and revitalized my career. Got these weapons, got two of the best receivers in the league. One of the best tight ends in the league, good head coach that believes in me and empowered me all season long. And it's helped me, you know, regenerate my career.

I mean, there might be some incentive in Sam just wanting to come back because this might be the best kind of situation for him going forward. I've never seen anything in my entire life, like a quarterback winning this much and playing this well and being this age and the fan. And so many of the fans not speaking for everyone being like, please leave. I just, I like guys you use over the cap.com too much.

And I love Jason Fitzgerald. Great guy who runs that site. He's in my book. You, you just use over the cap.com too much. I don't know. I don't know what else to say. This is incredible quarterback play.

We're really going to see it tested. And I want to get to the end before we really know. I'm just making the point that I really think this same point has been stated so many times. Rookie quarterback deal. Rookie quarterback deal. Rookie quarterback deal. That we think that it just applies to everything all the time, no matter what. And then you look around and go, didn't they pay Jalen hurts?

Didn't they pay Jordan love? Didn't they pay Matthew Stafford? Didn't they pay Jared golf? Didn't it like all these teams, didn't they pay Baker Mayfield? I thought Baker Mayfield after he got paid, just had to lay down on the turf and die and lose every game. After that happened.

I thought that his team had to actually shut down the stadium and not field a roster of 53 because Baker Mayfield got a contract. That's just not how it works. So I think, I mean, for me, if they get to 15, I am not letting a quarterback go one 15 MF in games. Are you serious? What is the goal here? I mean, okay.

If I was going to losefferson because of it but last time i checked number 18 sticking around i don't know that was that's crazy to me and yet especially when that especially when that quarterback's like 27 28 he's gonna be 28 years old next year like he's he's in the he's at like these are the prime years of san bernard's career this is he's probably where he's gonna play his best football so you know you know, he's, he reminds me of right now is a Carson Palmer in Arizona. He's not perfect,

but everything is right. And the guy is maximizing everything he's got. Take your shot in the window and then you can move on if you want to, or however it ends up playing out. It's just wild to me. How many people are dead set on, please get this person out of Minnesota as he's won 12 games already. however it ends up playing out it's just wild to me how many people are dead set on please get this person out of minnesota as he's won 12 games already we just i don't want to look at him

i want him gone even though he has she's put you in position he is the first quarterback to put you in position to be a real super bowl contender in seven years and that guy you know we all like case keenum but we all knew the deal with case keenum yep no one's played quarterback like this since 2009 and it's just get out don't even look at us on the way you turn and you walk out of here because you want some money anyway i don't know it's crazy to me that's why they that's why they make a cap that is manipulatable so teams can keep their windows open but that's you know a discussion we're going to keep having i just think in that scenario even two out of the next three how do you say goodbye to a guy who could win 14 games what the literally the last time you won 14 games was 1998 and again i'll say it one more time jj mccarthy doesn't

have to play next year right yeah i mean just yeah you could say he doesn't he doesn't have to play next year it's okay you still you still you're still gonna have him if if you if you bring sam back and he's not as good and you need to cut bait you got jj mccarthy ready to go in 2026 it's okay i also think that the the general the general premise that well if darnold could be good then just literally anyone can like of course well of course mccarthy is just going to work pretty flawed pretty flawed i and i like the heck out of what i saw from mccarthy nobody was higher other than kevin o'connell on what i saw from him from otas to camp and the preseason i was very very impressed he looked like somebody who's on the right track but and oh no you you all of you

folks are you go on a game show and i'll stop ranting and then get you to this the seahawk top five seahawks and i got to get some great super chats appreciate appreciate you guys get you in a sec but you guys would go on a game show and they would go behind door number one is a new car would you take that or door number two you guys door number two i don't even want to think about that new car give me door number two that's what you're doing right now. And I know door number one is more expensive taxes wise, I guess, uh, in the analogy, but it's just give, give me the other thing. That's amazing. Uh, man, anyway. Okay. Uh, Dane says, uh, why doesn't anyone talk about Mike Tomlin success with minimal paid quarterbacks? He proves every year overpaying a mid quarterback is a bad choice. See that last part is the most important part, a mid quarterback.

Sam Darnold this year has not been a mid quarterback. This has always been the point. The reason you couldn't do it with Kirk is because he's a mid quarterback. Your quarterback hasn't played that way this year. Will he always play that way i don't know but it's we're growing on the sample size and also mike tomlin did his best work with a quarterback they paid named ben roethlisberger who was wait a highly drafted big giant guy who was pretty tough and threw into tight windows and had good receivers and was pretty tough. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying a purple Jesus says, apparently he has be has to, because the only way you can win a super bowl is with your quarterback on a

rookie salary. Just a little sarcasm here, right? I mean, that's, it's just, it's just not the case. It is helpful.

It is very helpful to building your roster. It's not an impossibility to continue to be good. That's the only point we don't need to talk about it all night long. I mean, even here, like Jason, he's not consistent enough. He has 11 of 14 games over a hundred quarterback rating and is a top five, six, seven quarterback in the league by PFF grading system. And I'll like, I don't know, go back to 20, go back to 2022. And I believe he is 17 and five since then. I don't know.

I don't know. You know, I mean, yes. Luminous grin. I understand what you're saying. More concerned about this Sunday than what they may do with Sam. Totally understand. Totally understand what you're saying there. But it's also, you know, a big discussion. And as we're picking the Vikings, we got to throw out at least one scenario like that.

Okay. Two things to still do in our lives. Number one is to remind everyone that gifting is hard, but you can give the gift of connection from US Cellular. If you're not sure what that means, here's a specific hint. You could choose four free phones and four lines for $90 a month with US Cellular. Your family wants new phones. How do I know? They told us in the chat. And the good news is that compared to wrapping presents, you're great at taking hints.

So here's a hint. Get four free phones and four lines for $90 a month. U.S. Cellular built for us. And we will get Manny's favorite Seattle Seahawks of all time and then look at the underdog fantasy hires and lowers for this game. So let me first dial up some epic music for us here for manny to give his list of favorite seattle seahawks this is this is a good one man this is a good random team to talk about your favorites so where would you like to begin

all-time favorite seattle seahawks five, the maybe going a little chalk here, but number five, the late, great Cortez Kennedy. Just an absolute menace of a defensive tackle. Pass rusher, could stop the run. You know, played on some not-so-great, mediocre Seattle teams in the 90s, but was just an absolute monster on that interior defensive line. So Big Tez, I think as they called him sometimes, Cortez Kennedy number five on my list.

Love him. Hey, now there's a guy, it's a great example of a guy that I knew of his excellence through the Madden video games. He always had like a 90 rating and you're always wanting to play with Cortez Kennedy because he'd get in the backfield instantly. But one of the beasts of the entire generation and really a modern defensive tackle, like ahead of his time type of do it all player that would have roasted the Vikings.

Who's number four. Yeah. Number four on my list. I believe former teammate of the aforementioned Cortez Kennedy, Joey Galloway is number four on my list. One of the speediest deep threat wide receivers that you could have out there. I think one season, he averaged 20 yards

a catch if i'm not mistaken i have to go back and look at those numbers but um obviously very explosive as a player and uh now it's turned into a pretty good college football analyst for espn now too so it's one of my favorites so uh joey galloway number four he was one where if rick meyer hadn't been their quarterback for a couple of years, the numbers that Joey Galloway could have put up. But one of the fastest players I have ever seen in the NFL just ran by people. Yep. Number three, going a little chalky here, too, but more so.

I mean, obviously, he was a terrific player, but, you know, since he's been done playing, I've come to love more of his personality and everything, but it's, it's beast mode. Marshawn Lynch, just, just, just great. Just, but, uh, but seriously, like as a, as a player too, just really one of the, one of the best running backs in the NFL at his peak. And, uh, obviously with the personality and everything too, just makes him one of the most likable guys in the league. So beast mode, number three on my list. As a reporter,

I did not enjoy the, I'm just here to, so I don't get fine, but I don't know if he did that with the, with the local media. So, but he was a player that played with joy and fun, which is hard to find in the NFL.

I mean, it's a very serious game and everything else. And if someone could play it at a high level and be super fun, which is hard to find in the NFL. I mean, it's a very serious game and everything else. And if someone could play it at a high level and be super fun, that's a very memorable combination. And you would be surprised. I have talked to former teammates of Marshawn Lynch, and they will tell you he was one of the smartest football minds that they ever ran across, that this guy would talk X's and O's with Pete

Carroll and schemes and break stuff down with the absolute top level of NFL players. So a lot of Marsha. Another thing was too, he lived off of his endorsements and put all of his salary away. Money-wise sometimes he's aloof, like a you know you might think oh this guy must be just a silly goose but i don't think that's the case for mr lynch i think he's pretty bright dude he did go to cal berkeley he did yeah i know i mean cal berkeley but but also rode around a cart like this coolest dude ever man hey you can be aloof and uh very smart at the same time not that any current parties would know anything about that but uh who's number two on your list number two is another running back and it's not the seattle seahawks running back that you may be thinking of i went

way back to the 90s again, my guy Chris Warren. Okay. Chris Warren. That is who I was thinking. Chris Warren was kind of all around back. I mean, I was thinking maybe Ricky Waters he would go with there. Wait, right? Ricky Waters. Yeah, he played out there, right?

So I was thinking maybe him, but Chris Warren was there before him. And what I loved about Chris Warren, so random, he had this really cool face mask and i i just thought he looked awesome like there are running back awesome aesthetics from that era and chris warren was one of the tops he had like this high running style you know he's a big guy yes yeah he's like six six two two two twenty five two thirty uh really fast too but yeah and he the first time i saw chris warren the first time i really like fell in love with him as a player uh was actually the 95 pro bowl really oh yeah used to watch the pro people used to enjoy the pro bowl believe the pro actually folks for some

of you younger folks the pro bowl was actually once upon a time, fun to watch. Oh, they played hard. They tackled. Yeah. That's one of those, we're old, and if there's a young reporter who joins the beat or something, you're like, they used to watch the Pro Bowl. Or they used to play the Pro Bowl, and we would watch, and they would hit each other. And it's like, really?

Now they just have a fun festival or whatever, which is fine, I guess. I don't care. 14 carries, 127 yards. Oh, my gosh. In that Pro Bowl. And did not win the MVP of that game. Went to some young guy from San Diego State that played for the Indianapolis Colts named Folk. Ran for $1.80 in that game for the AFC.

Otherwise, Warren probably would have been the MVP of that game. I like that you had the Pro Bowl box score ready with the stats. I did look up the stats earlier today. That's aggressive, even for this show. Number one, going a little more chalk here, but my favorite Seahawk all time is Richard Sherman. Obviously just a great player, great corner, and another one of those guys with the personality and the smarts as well,

just like Marshawn uh stanford guy really intelligent great football iq and uh and a great player sort of the leader of that uh legion of boom zeox team it's a great list i will add on to it uh cam chancellor one of the most fun players to watch if he's one where if you know if you look at the defense like take your eye off the ball watch the defense watch him it's like with harrison smith i make the same suggestion you'll understand why everybody talks about the guy this way if you really focus in on him and don't just look for the explosive plays camp chancellor was that way walter jones one of the best absolutely one of the best how about uh brian blades wide receiver

i'm sure the uh the ogs want a little steve largent in their life who was the who was the quarterback the left-handed quarterback jim's on oh yeah jim's on right yep yep was the head coach of the washington team a of years. It was a mess, but yes. There's also the running back, Kurt Warner. Yes, and John L. Williams. Yeah. Fullback John L. Williams. There's good history. They're a fun team.

They are a very fun team to talk about. I don't think the Vikings, Vikings fans don't hate Seattle, right? It wasn't their fault that Blair Walsh, you know, that thing. That was 27 yarder. He's got to make that kick. Yeah. That's not as Mike Zimmer said after the game, Mike, never wrong, but always inappropriate.

Dane adds that he was not saying Sam has been mid this year. No, I understood. You meant, you meant Kirk like paying Kirk and, and that's, and that's what I'm saying. Like that, that was the point is it's really if you can't get top five top seven quarterback play and you're paying for it then you're in trouble uh also Benny Blades Brian Blades and Benny Blades same team great point um they had the Boz on back in the day I mean and also just what a trash bin they played it I mean that thing is a garbage.

The King goes, just a garbage. Imagine being Ken Griffey jr. Like the goat. And that's the place you have to play in. Although at the time it may have seemed modern anyway. So let's, let's finish up the show with our friends at underdog fantasy.

As we always do every Thursday night, we take a look at the hires and lowers. And if you want to play along with our pickums, check out the easiest app in the industry, the fastest growing, the easiest place. And when I, when I say that, I mean, that's really true. It is insanely easy to play on underdog fantasy. So you can do the pickups along with us, tons and tons of different options for drafts. You can jump in at as little as, I think, $3 is the cheapest. If you want to jump in with a very little risk or if you're more confident, you can do more than that.

But super easy to draft, super easy to do pick-ems. Sign up with the code PURPLE. Helps the show, plus you get your special pick and first-time deposit offer up to $1,000 in bonus cash. You must be 18 or older. Terms apply. your special pick and first time deposit offer up to a thousand dollars in bonus cash uh you must be 18 or older terms apply concerned with your play call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit ncpgambling.org so vikings and seattle seahawks aaron jones higher or lower 66 and a half rushing yards. Isn't Seattle run defense kind of bad? A little shoddy last week against green Bay.

Yes. I think that they are known for having some struggles up there. I will say higher. Okay. Sam Darnold higher or lower 245 and a half yards. Higher. lower 245 and a half yards higher I think Vikings are going to move the ball on Sunday yeah I like that too I like that too my only question is if they get ahead will they slow it down a bit run the ball I mean even think about last week where they're not you're not trying to go for 400 yards with Sam Darnold.

You're trying to just win the game. And the Packers last week, for example, got ahead and they just pounded away at Seattle with Josh Jacobs. 245 and a half is such a good mark to set. I think I might go higher on Jones, but lower on Darnold there just a little bit, maybe two 20, two 30, something like that. But you know, we were talking about how, if you're picking Seattle to win, they might have to throw a ton. It's tricky. Okay. I might go on. I might go lower on this one. How about will Reichard higher, lower 1.5 field goals made. you would you ask will the thrill to boot two field goals through the goalposts in seattle i'll say higher

yeah i think so i mean they have had i don't know they've done pretty well in the red zone but they the thing is they trust him from anywhere so even even if they get to the 40-yard line, it's field goal position. I like that. Putting your money on two field goals seems a little bit dicey, but why not? There's no consequences. Geno Smith, higher or lower, 226.5 yards. I'll go higher. I think so.

I think he's going to have to throw a lot against the Vikings. And we've seen a couple quarterbacks rack up a ton of yards without really actually getting anywhere. And a techno Viking higher, lower 2.5 diet. Dr. Peppers on Sunday. I will be at wait,

fair catch kick alert. Oh, is that happening? Oh, that never happens. You know, that rule where you can do the fair catch and then get a chance to kick a field goal? Is that at the end of the half that people usually end up doing this?

Okay, I don't have the game on. You're going to have to let me know if that's happening. But I will be in Seattle. I am excited to go there. It'll be my first time at Lumen Field because the last time was 2020. Was it 2020? No, 2021 they played here. So 2020 was the last time they played there.

I did not travel for that game. So I am excited to be out there for this one with the Vikings chasing the entire freaking NFC. What a time to be alive. You can't say it enough. It should be a fascinating game to watch. And on Mondayay we'll do that whole exercise again where we pick all the scenarios and try to figure out what ends up happening in the postseason so manny hill thank you as always and uh i will talk to you on monday

you got it football and thank you all for watching slash listening and i will talk to you all probably a lot more before monday we got maddie f brown from seattle he uh did the podcast with me earlier so that's up andrew kramer we recorded today out at tco performance center that will be up tomorrow night and then i will be in the press box in seattle after the game with dane mizzutani so a lot to come on the show thank you so much for watching and listening and we'll catch y'all later. Football.