Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Assessing the Vikings playoff race after an Eagles win over Washington

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

Matthew Coller and former Viking Jeremiah Sirles talk about how game wreckers like Aaron Donald and Akiem Hicks offer particularly difficult challenges for the Vikings offense and what they can do to slow down Donald, if possible. Does Kirk Cousins have control of the protection assignments? Jeremiah talk about where the Vikings stand in the playoff race and whether they should consider yet another offensive line adjustment. Plus if there is a coaching change, what type of coach would he be looking for? Get your tickets at Tickpick.com/insider 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. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Yes, it is Tuesday morning left guard. It might be Thursday by the time you're hearing this Wednesday late afternoon. I don't know. But you can actually blame schedule this time.

Maybe not so much other times, but Monday night football throws everything off. So you go from a Thursday to a Monday and my brain is just scrambled at the moment. But Jeremiah Searles is here to unscramble it as uh you know i watched the game back and try to figure out how a guard could get abused as much as mason cole did and actually win that football game i mean we won that football game because the bears wanted to lose it more than the vikings wanted to actually win it i mean when, when you watch that game, and I watched it back again today too and wanted to just rip my eyeballs out because it is the worst. It was the worst NFL game to date of this season.

You cannot point to a worse game than that as far as the turnovers, the penalties, the refs just making things up at all times whenever they wanted to. I mean, all around just atrocious football game. But Mason Cole, buddy, his arm's just a little too short. all times whenever they wanted to i mean all around just atrocious football game but mason cole buddy his arms just a little too short he's just a little too squatty and akim hicks is just a little bit too much of a grizzly bear to you put those two next to each other and akim hicks is gonna win and he only played like 40 of the snaps too which is what was terrifying if that

was a healthy akim hicks coming off like playing% of the snaps I think that game would have been completely different you mean like maybe week 18 when he's up to full health as opposed to just coming off an injury well we would get ahead of ourselves but there was a play in particular where Hicks didn't even do anything he just reached his arms out and they were way too far and it was like a child where you put your hand on their head and they just wave their arms. And then he just stood there with his arms out holding Mason Cole, like, okay, you stay right there. And then Delvin cook came like, okay,

now I'm going to move you over here and tackle Delvin cook. Thank you for being a road cone. And like, this is, this is the thing about the Vikings offensive line is that, okay. So they had this bright idea about Oli Udo and moving him to guard. And well, you know, that didn't work because he held everyone all the time. And then they had this other idea of like, okay, so they had this bright idea about Ole Udo and moving him to guard. And, well, you know, that didn't work because he held everyone all the time. And then they had this other idea of, like, well, actually, it's Mason Cole. Remember the guy we traded for?

Great trade. And now, so he is the difference maker. And, well, he's not the difference maker. And here's my secret to building an offensive line, Jeremiah. I've got it. And anybody who's listening listening this is for you and for your future if you ever want to be like an nfl gm you have to spend money on them if you if you pay some dudes it'll work they'll be better that's the way that's i just solved it i fixed it

call up rick get it hot on the presses man send it send it first thing smoking over there and see what he says because you know he's going to say we'll find a tackle find a tackle that can play guard even though that tackle that played guard for 12 plus weeks is going to look at me and go think i'm more comfortable at tackle then i'm going to tell the entire media in the entire world that the guy that i started at right guard for the entirety of the first three quarters of the season won't be back because he's more comfortable as a tackle. And yeah, duh, obviously like this isn't game changing stuff here, but it's just,

you can't win big games in the NFL anymore without big time guards because of guys like Hakeem Hicks and because of guys like Aaron Donald, Grady Jarrett. I mean, the list goes on. Jeffrey Simmons from Tennessee is a freaking rock star all of a sudden. And so it's just showing you, and you know what? People are starting to pick up on it that are covering the games. Grab the broadcasters last night were just atrocious, but they just kept saying the things that you and I talk about all the time, right? How do you make Cousins get off the spot you get pressure in his face up the middle like the book is out on what to do against Kirk Cousins and now teams

are all starting to see it and now the world's starting to see it and I think that this guard spot's going to be more of the glaring issue even more than it already is as we move forward in this season and on to next year well and the Kansas City Chiefs despite their excellence at the quarterback position this last offseason they said you know we probably need to do better than the you know patchwork thing we had going on there and they went out and they spent a bunch of money on Joe Tooney and now their offensive line has not been perfect but you know money is the answer. Like that's how it improves the top guys up there. Zach,

in terms of PFF, Zach Martin, Joel Petonio, Wyatt Teller, like these guys, they get paid the money. And so that's kind of what you have to do. Rookies help to greet Humphrey being a starter.

I mean, you look around the league, you're starting, but again, our rookies have, Dersot has his moments, but he has a lot of rookie a starter. I mean, you look around the league, you're starting. But again, our rookies have – Dersaw has his moments, but he has a lot of rookie moments too. I mean, so we've tried with the rookie route. But, I mean, is it too much to just say, pay a guy?

Like, just go find a guy. And I know we tried, but don't try. Just do, as Yoda says, right? Like, no try. Just do. Like, just send the check and just write it and see what happens. Kick the can down the road. Another few more years. Toonie, by the way, is number one in the NFL and pass block grade.

And Kevin Zeitler, by the way, who was also available this off season, he is fifth in a pass blocking grade. And if you want me to keep going, Andrew Norwell, who got a big contract a few years ago, he's 10th. So there you go. Dude, you got to find where Mason Cole is. Yeah. Oh,

well, yeah, yeah. He might, he might be listed as a center. So I might just have to pull up his grade because when it comes to the ranking, sometimes if a guy plays center and guard,

which as you've mentioned is a great thing for you. It's hard to find. So his pass blocking grade is a 44 out of 100, which is well below a replacement level player. So a replacement level player would be 60. That means if you signed somebody the week before training camp or something, and that player had to play a couple of games. You would expect them to grade a 60. So this is below that. So there you have it.

Not a terrible run blocker though, according to his grades. So anyhow, here we are with a Keem Hicks demolishing the Vikings. It must be a Viking season then. And Aaron Donald is coming to town with the Rams. And I want to push this forward because I just, I don't have the patience or the brain space to discuss the bears game anymore. If there's anything you want to

bring up to reference it, go ahead. But it just, it was sadness. So let's talk a little bit like just about Aaron, Aaron Donald. Uh, I want you to tell me what the most you have ever gotten your butt whipped as an offensive lineman and what that feels like because that's how the Vikings are about to feel against Aaron Donald so for me personally was in college um I was a redshirt freshman making my start at left tackle I was on my 10th start and we go down to Kyle Station uh playing A&M Vaughn Miller happened to be a senior at the time and was uh really really good and i happened to be a 18 year old kid at the time that was pretty bad and i can remember all week they're just like hey great challenge great opportunity for you to see where you're at right like just pumping me up like you got this man like in the back of my head i was like i mean i'll try and block and we'll see

what like i blocked some good guys right first third down we get up and here's 40 standing out there about nine yards away from me in a nine technique and dude ran around me like i was standing still and wham sacks the quarterback and he stands up and does little von miller dance i was like holy and it was the first time in my life that i came to the sideline in my football and i was like hey uh i need help like like just so like first series like i'm defeated this is not good and the rest of the game was chips and running back helps and he still had like two and a half sacks when he just beat the brakes off of me i mean i'll never forget it and i was like holy crap dude like are these really the kind of guys the next level and then like i watched him get drafted number two overall i was like okay maybe i'll be okay but like i just remember the feeling of i physically cannot block

this human being like i can't like my skill set at the time just wasn't where it needed to be to block that guy and it's a very helpless feeling and granted for me i was always big enough that was like okay i can at least reach you versus i've never had what happened to mason cole happen where like you just can't reach the guy or like you're just you're trying and you're just grasping for air um but yeah it's not a fun feeling it's really really terrible and it's really really frustrating when it happens early in the game too because you're just like it's not gonna end like right right there is no like oh we're almost there like there is the pat patricia there is no light at the end of the tunnel right like in so it yeah that was a really really terrible time in my life yeah the um the overall grade for last night was a 40 and i think

that's being a little healthy six pressures allowed alone by mason cole which is kind of preposterous for a guard like i mean I mean, you see, you see that happen against miles Garrett or something, not usually for a guard, unless you're facing Aaron Donald, but Hicks is kind of in that ballpark. Yeah. That was, that's what I was going to bring up too, is that I think one of the reasons that the Vikings have just been so flawed in their thinking about the guard position is because if your tackle is struggling a little bit, I mean, it can really hurt you. I'm not like downplaying left tackle, but you could send a running back over there.

You could put CJ ham over them and just give them a little whack on the way. There is not a lot of help. You can provide a guard. You're just kind of on your own and you know, you know, the center can help sometimes, but then the other guard is somebody is getting one-on-one. And if you're that guy, you got to win that battle. And, you know, last night, Mason Cole didn't win it. They'll line up Aaron Donald all over the field. And this is the concern about like, if you're the Vikings, you're going to win these games, which you absolutely have to win.

It's more than a lot of other teams. One player can just wreck their games individually. And I know they won against Chicago, but it almost happened. I mean, even a decent performance from Chicago, even like a regular bad team performance, and they win that game because one player just game wrecked. Yeah. And every week you come in as an offensive lineman or an offensive staff really, and you come in as a group and you say, okay's the game plan and you put a giant star around whoever in game record can't let this guy make someone else beat us the problem is you you nailed it it's really hard to neutralize an inside guy because they do so much especially now with protection schemes and we're going to

get a little footbally here but the way protection schemes are made in the NFL is a lot of times it's true mic based protections right defenses aren't stupid they understand that the team's going to turn towards the mic so if the mic's left they know the center is going to turn left if it's three by one two by two right you go to the strength so what teams are learning and what teams are doing is like okay well if they're going to line up at three by one to the boundary and we're going to say, okay, put the mic left. Well, let's just put our best pass rusher in a three technique on the other side. And we'll run either a game stunt with the three technique and the DN on the one-on-ones over there, or we'll run just individual straight rushes, wide rushes. Like they'll just play all kinds of games. And I, every week I'm seeing more

and more of it, the way that teams are attacking schematically the way that they rush not just the individuals that they rush but schematically and not with blitz protections but with personnel hey we know all of this we know where it's coming from we know how they're turning we know where the backs are going to go hey we're going to blitz the back here because we're going to eat him up so that he can't ship and he can't help and it might just be a spy rush right we're not actually trying to get there we're just blitzing the b gap make contact with them and stick to them and then you just basically or they call it five rushers but you're really just rushing four and the defenses are getting much much more advanced with these

protections in the way that they get after guys yeah you can even see it if you look closely uh where like if there's a third down or something and you see the center point and then you see the linebacker he points at something else like did you see him point at me now that's where that is now you do that and and it's uh it's quite the cat and mouse game to watch it's like the more uh sort of layers you dig the more you find interesting stuff but it also means that if you're messing around with the offensive line all the time and you're going like well we've got this five and then what about this five and then i think it gets tricky um and then you always wonder about even with cousins where like how much command he has over everything that's going on there because you look at rogers and i know it's unfair to compare anybody to him, but

he's got like five backup offensive linemen and they're hanging tight and he's making plays anyway. And I guess I just wonder about the quarterback's role in all of this, because I, I haven't been able to quite put a finger on it. Anytime we ask, they're like, well, sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn't, I don't know. I'm like, I don't think i've ever heard that about philip rivers or you know drew breeze that sometimes he makes the call or whatever it's like i breeze was on the broadcast nbc and he was saying like oh no no no old drew was making the calls folks yeah like i don't care who's snapping it i'm setting the protections it i don't know if this is a thing with cousins if he if, like, if he has

like full control and he's up there because it just doesn't have that same look before the snap, but I don't know how you would tell watching, you know, I don't think he does. And the reason I say that is because of so many times when you're a center, your job is to come up, make the initial mic point and you go off base rule. And then the quarterback has ultimate Trump card always. I i mean he could go completely haywire and change the entire protection like hey i know it's three by one we're going mike left but hey that's safety off the right side over there mike like okay sure we're gonna turn the whole thing and bring the backside guard with us right like you just he has total trump and you're right rogers breeze brady like they're coming up and you're hearing the communication and even anymore like hey, 56 to the mic,

and then you see the running back point. Like you don't see that a lot with the Vikings offense. And I don't think you can necessarily blame Kirk because if that's not what he's allowed to do, if that's not what was installed to do, then that's just not the way the offensive coordinator wants things to be run. And there is a difference between the O-line coach stalled to do then that's just not the way the offense coordinator wants things to be run and there is a difference between the o-line coach and the offensive coordinator and protections

in the quarterback because i'll never forget when i was a rookie and i was in uh san diego philip rivers would kick out the offensive coordinators and all offensive coaches on wednesdays and run the blitz meeting himself and because he his belief was I'm the one out there that's seeing it these are the guys that are going to be blocking it and I don't want to die like and that was his that was his whole thing was like you guys aren't like things can look great and x's and o's on paper but this is what's actually happening in real time and we'll talk through it and then he would send it all back to the coaches and then they'd send okay and they'd basically sign off on it but I think that in the schemes that we run on offense they just don't really want Kirk to have that control I think they want to have the control over how the protections

and the routes all come together with protections and I don't think it's really Kirk's fault I don't think you can blame Kirk for that. I think that honestly, that's just the scheme in which he is given to run and Kirk being who he is of a team player. And always like, I don't think he's willing to push back enough to say, no, I'm taking control of that.

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It's always interesting when Chicago comes to town. So you're going to want to go to TickPick.com and check it out. And make sure it's TickPick.com slash insider because you can save $10 on your first order for Minnesota tickets. That's TickPick.com slash insider. This is a really interesting discussion i think because it's gone on all year where nobody really wants to say how much control everybody has and i just i can imagine uh going on going over to green bay go down to their uh you know press conference or i guess you'd have to be on zoom with uh rogers because you got to stay socially distanced from you uh but you're like uh hey aaron is uh nate hackett you know calling all the shots here or what i mean he would just laugh in your face right

be like oh no no no this is aaron's offense but uh i mean now he he had to like get you know matt lafleur's offense and it's worked really well for Rodgers. But I just mean, if they told Rodgers that he couldn't change this or that, he would go to Maui on vacation again, right? He'd just be like, I'm out. See you later. And I've always wondered why this would be. Because is it that they don't trust Cousins to handle it? And that's actually what I think.

Because Zimmer made a comment one time at the combine 2019 combine about how John D Filippo's offense was just like asking him to make too many changes at the line of scrimmage. And I think they wanted to simplify things for him with, you know, boots and, and, you know, outside zone stuff and rollouts that were, where you don't have to do a lot of changes that that just happens but it feels wrong though like it just it feels like that doesn't make sense with someone that you pay so much and someone who has such a long career to just be saying like oh no kirk you don't identify that mike my friend you stay away from that you don't even say the word mike if there's a guy named mike you call him by his last name I think a lot of that has to do with because and we'll go back I mean a few episodes back

because we paid Kirk what we paid him we assume he is on the same level as the people that are making the same amount of money as him right and again I don't know where Kirk's football IQ is I know he's a smart guy that's obvious but I don't think it is the X IQ is. I know he's a smart guy. That's obvious. But I don't think it is the X's and O's of how much Kirk can and can't do at the line of scrimmage. I think it's more the fact that Kirk is a yes man. I think that that's what it is. I think Kirk is a yes man and doesn't like to rock the boat. I don't think he likes controversy.

And I think that Zimmer and them said, hey, here's the offense. Here's how we're going to run it. And he says, yes, sir. Yes, coach, because that's just his personality. And I'm not saying this in a mean way, please don't take this as me throwing Kirk under the bus as like, he's just a yes man. That's okay. The NFL is full of them, but there's certain positions that you can't be that if you want to be elite and quarterback is one of them quarterback you have to be willing to understand with a lot of programs coaches will be fired before they get rid of you Kirk Cousins I don't think is that anymore when Kirk Cousins was first paid his fat deal you better believe they would have gotten rid of other coaches in fact they did get rid of other coaches before they said hey Kirk it's your fault but at this point now where we've been through coaches, they've been through offensive coordinators, and it's really just between you and Zimmer now of who's next on the chopping block.

I think it's time for Kirk to say, I'm going to do this whether you like it or not. And that's where this thing has to go in the last few weeks of the season if Kirk wants to try and save his time in purple yeah I wonder if it's just the mentality of a fourth round pick that never leaves you of like this is how you make the team is like you operate it to the exact hey if I remember this whole hilarious back and forth with him and John DeFilippo of like is it seven and a half yards or is it eight and a half yards and Kirk said it was seven and a half DeFilippo said it, is it seven and a half yards or is it eight and a half yards? And Kirk said it was seven and a half. DeFilippo said it was eight and a half. And us were like, are you guys okay? And the answer was no, they were not. But it was like, uh, dude, does everybody know who's

supposed to drop back to where, or it's like week eight or whatever it was week, week four. So anyway, um, you know, that it's a, it's a dynamic that has always just sort of lingered around this season in particular. They've tried to design an offense just over the last few years that protects Kirk. It's an offense that gets a lot out of Jimmy Garoppolo and a lot out of Ryan Tannehill and guys like that. And you know, I think it's sort of by design. It doesn't seem like it's accidental that he's not asked to do those things. And you just wonder like, if he was, you know, is there more there or, or does it get worse? Like, I don't know, because that's just not how they've wanted to do it. Um, but when it,

when it comes to, let me just change the subject on you quick though. Um, like what is going on though? I mean, cause you know, we. Like, what is going on, though? I mean, because, you know, we're talking about the protections and the pressure, and the pressure was a huge deal last night. It was a huge deal in the second half of the Pittsburgh game for why he struggled. But aside from that, though, clean pocket hasn't been good either. Like, what's your eye telling you about what has happened with the offense really over the last four weeks? Yeah, and I know we're harping a lot on it. I mean, honestly, this whole line is as bad as they've been at times.

They haven't given up a bunch of sacks. And I think we need to give them a little bit of credit. I know we dig on them a lot in this show, and rightfully so, but they have, and that's a little bit of holding on that half second longer and Kirk getting rid of the football. But I think a lot of it lately hasn't been as much schematically with blitzes but as much as individual one-on-one matchups and the really it all kind of started when you start shuffling guys when you're Mason Cole at center

okay Rashad Hill at left tackle Derrisson left tackle only at left tackle right you start changing the the cogs in the machine you're bound to get some issues and once bradbury went down with covet or whatever it was and then had to get mason cole that kind of started the trickle effect of things spiraling out of control in my opinion and i think we're still trying to get it back on the tracks i mean we had a whole new lineup again last night right i mean until you get consistency at the offensive line rotating guys in and out is not the answer and it kind of is our only answer right now which is the problem so I think that if I had to put my finger on what's been going on it's the rotating guard the rotating center the rotating left tackle really where you're only consistent has been ezra cleveland and brian o'neill two out of the five being consistent it's not good enough for the national

football league and you add that with not having feeling and you know then it's kind of a we're going to go to jefferson but he's double teamed and then it forces you to get through reeds and then it just you know it seems like you're going to have to dial up all the plays kind of to go to Jefferson. And so it's always then asking him, OK, if it's double teamed, then are you going to throw it into double team? We know that he doesn't. So then, you know, I think it just it like it's like a wheel spinning around and someone sticks a stick in it. It's like, you know, once you lose someone as important as Adam Thielen for this quarterback, this offense, and then if Delvin's not running for 200 yards, then it just kind of comes apart.

But let's talk about like the playoff scenario picture at this moment. So the odds for the Vikings are still about one in three, about 30% after a win by Philadelphia. Is that a stat? Are we doing stats? What's that stat mean what's it mean uh what well what does it mean that they're 30 i think we actually kind of know what it means means they're 30 to make the play a highlight of my week leave me alone there you have it uh but uh right now because philadelphia won that was good for the vikings uh minnesota is in seventh and that would leave them playing the dallas cowboys in the first round if this were to hold if the vikings were to go uh two and one or say yeah two and one in the last three games here

and uh philadelphia i, would probably need a loss. Or New Orleans would need a loss. And the Vikings need to go 2-1. That's how you can get into the playoffs with a seven seed. You'd be playing Dallas right now. Dallas is not playing great offensively. I don't think Dallas is a great matchup for them, though, still. I think that that's one.

No one's a great matchup. I think you really wish it was Arizona, though, and not Dallas. No, I agree. I mean, well, it's Rush playing quarterback. That's the number one question. Yeah, right. Are they benching Dak? Are they benching Dak and bringing the Viking killer in?

Because then if that's the case, then all bets are off. And one of the most shocking moves in NFL history, they're starting Cooper Rush against the Vikings. Sit down, Dak. I got this. He shocking moves in NFL history. They're starting Cooper Rush against the Vikings. Sit down, Dak. I got this. He just walks in Monday morning. This is my team. But anyways, I agree with you strictly based off the fact that I think Dallas,

when they get hot, is the better team than when Arizona gets hot. I think the talent-wise, especially you look on the defensive side of the ball, what Dallas can do taking the football away compared, what Dallas can do taking the football away compared to what Arizona can do taking the football away is night and day. I mean, Trayvon Diggs has 10 interceptions, I think, which is absurd. They got Randy Gregory back now rushing the Packer. Micah Parsons, probably defensive player of the year, maybe not just rookie of the year, but player of the year.

I mean, dude's a freaking animal. And all that i just said doesn't mesh well with the vikings offense and you throw on top of that a vikings defense that is still kind of struggling to find their ways at times i think arizona's inconsistencies are more are like more more likely for us to be able to exploit than dallas's inconsistencies at this moment the defense is extremely scary i mean micah parsons um you know i i kind of said that he looks like if julio jones played defense or something it's just insane so so unbelievably athletic but also instinctual and violent and just scary uh yeah he's an incredible player but randy gregory just kills them every time um and that i just i don't think that matches up super good um as much as Arizona without

DeAndre Hopkins they're just a different football team and it feels like that injury is going to have such a a big impact there and so if we're looking at at that situation there's also this would be a weird one but I think there's a chance that the Rams could end up with that spot if other people fall apart and they, the Rams beat the Vikings, but then the Vikings win the next two. So like it could go a lot of different directions. I think though, this Rams team that's coming here is good, but also like, you're not super scared. None of these teams blow you away.

None of these teams are 85 bears, but you look at Stafford and you go, he's always sort of good for a bad pick, right? Like they're just when, when they're coming here. I mean, I think Aaron Donald game wrecks and I don't know how much you could do about it, but with Stafford coming back to us bank stadium, it just feels like this is one where I don't just write in the Rams because of that factor of Stafford having those bad mistakes in. My wife always says, she goes, Matt Stafford's the worst, best quarterback I think that there is in the NFL. Like, he's good, but he's also just so bad. Like, that's the way she always says it when we're watching.

I'm like, you're right. Like, he is who we think he is, right? At times, you're like, wow, that like patrick mahomes-ish type of stuff and then other times you're like oh my gosh did you really throw that like that that's what you did and i agree with you i think him coming in here you look at the rams and on paper you're like wow this this should be the 85 bears right like holy mackerel i, I know they've lost some guys, but even then, the weapons that they have and the ability to, even on the offensive line, the players that they got up there are good,

and they just haven't really seemed to put it together. And I don't know what it is, if I can't necessarily put my finger on it, but I think it's a little bit kind of a few years back when the Browns put together that like super team and everyone was like the Browns are going to win it all and then they never even made the playoffs like it's it's hard to bring that many personalities and that many stud guys into one organization and say gel love each other everyone be happy even though everyone's not getting the

football all the time like you're used to or all it's all going to come together like it's just not how it really works the NFL the team chemistry piece is such an underplayed portion of what helps you win in the nfl that i think that's a little bit of what's going on in la right now and so no they don't scare me but they have the opportunity to blow the brakes off whoever they play at any time too right and that's where you know they're like a souped up version of the Vikings in a way like the Vikings are the 500 version they're the above 500 version uh where they've got you know Cooper Cupp who's really hard to stop against the secondary that look I mean Justin Fields didn't light them up but receivers were open I mean the throws were there I think that Fields hit a few of them but he also missed a few of them that you would expect a veteran quarterback

like Matt Stafford to make. And that's where I can be swung either way. If someone, if there was, if it was like debate club and I'm the judge and there's two people saying like arguing for why the Rams will blow the doors off the Vikings and why the Vikings will hang with them or beat them at the end, I'd be like, I don't know. It's a tie. I think you can make a case either way, which is kind of this Viking season. Like, will they beat the Packers at home? Like, be like i don't know it's a tie i i think you can make a case either way which is kind of this viking season like uh will they beat the packers at home like yeah i don't know maybe will they lose to detroit like i don't know yeah maybe it would be i 100 agree with you

there and again and me putting my big analytic football cap on, I think that this game comes down to the turnovers. I mean, when you look at those two teams and you go, okay, is Stafford going to throw us one? Probably. Is Aaron Donald going to strip them one? Probably. After that, where's the hidden turnover that changes the game, right? That's kind of where I look at these games and the coin flip goes into it because you can already pencil in a drastically terrible thing happening for both offenses at one point in time just to give it but who does the muff punt who has the blocked punt speaking of i mean those

type of things i think are what changed the game with the rams this week because it's like you said dude it's just a coin flip you just pick one and it's so fun to watch but also so nauseating to watch at the same time because you're kind of just not really enjoying the game you're kind of just waiting for the next bad thing to happen and it's like last night i was like how are we going to do it how are we going to piss this thing away how's it going to happen and then they're driving it down i was like oh it's going to happen it's like oh the bears did the bears thing again but the rams don't do the rams things that as much as the bears do right right that's the problem is like you said if if we had the same performance

against the rams that we played last night we lose by 20 like and that's just a fact and that's the problem is our inconsistencies just don't allow any team to come in here and really feel like they're gonna come in and they're not afraid of the Vikings. No team is afraid of what the Vikings can do to them. The ghost of Jeff over boss snuck in last night and allowed that blocked punt. Right versus left.

A little problem there for old, old Jeff. Red one shoe, yellow bud. It's all you got to do is that what is that what was the call how does that call work right right left left i'm pretty sure that's how that really wow i really do think that's how that works mike prefer said i'm talking about the minneapolis miracle block punt mike prefer said he's never had it happen before ever where the long snapper went the wrong way uh and that in result and this is in my book as you know that is a chapter about jeff overbaugh and how he the the

backup long snapper because uh mcdermott got uh hurt um finger ripped off the week before wasn't it that was 2018 that was 2018 yeah it was which is uh it was horrific just a horrible horrible injury i mean just grotesque um but i think i think it was something else like he broke his arm or something that was when uh david morgan morgan had to snap against the packers i remember he came out for the field goal and i was like heck are you doing here dude he's like just hold on that's literally all he said he goes just hold on i was like oh boy this is gonna get bad and and like what is a what does a normal person look like snapping it versus like david morgan is 70 000 times better of an athlete than all of us so what would we look like snapping the football because his looked like a joke just flying

through the wind it's a very long snappers man unique skill set they're good unique skills yeah and unique people because they look so funny out there you know like oh that must have been the long snapper made that tackle because he's not wearing gloves and he's small well the best is he gets to be the first one that takes off down the field like you know like they usually get to release and also you just watch them just get like that scene from town digging nights was like what was that those are the other cars they're just getting blown by they're always the first one to celebrate pat on the head and uh i love log snappers they're good people but man they're just special dudes they are they are because uh they'll walk around like near the linebackers or something and they're like, well, you're not one of them.

I can tell you that. Unless it's Troy Dye. So, anyway. No. Not him. Anyone but him. Wear some gloves. Or just wrist tape. I'd be fine with even just through the old Dan Bailey. Just the old one wrap wrist tape.

Just something to make it look like your mom didn't forget to buy you gloves for the season i just know so uh let's talk about these other teams of the playoff race here philadelphia new orleans vikings is kind of it i mean now with washington they still are around in this thing but you know it's just not a good situation for them. So between these three teams, that's kind of one third, one third, one third, like assess this for me. I got to go with the Vikings on this strictly out of the quarterback play.

I mean, Jalen hurts is I'm still not sold on him being NFL quarterback. I know he makes great plays with his legs at times, but his, his, the way he has to anticipate where he wants to throw the football is just not there if the guy's not streaking open he's not like okay I gotta fit it in this window or I gotta wait for it to get past the safety into the next window I just haven't seen him do that yet Taysom Hill okay you pay him a bunch of money to kind of be a quarterback kind of be a Tim Tebow-ish guy, but then he snaps his top finger and can't. So I have to base it off the NFL's quarterback league.

You're only going to go as far as the trigger man. And out of those three quarterbacks, Kirk Cousins is the best out of them. The wild card factor in this is the Saints' defense. I mean, the Saints' defense is just when they're playing lights out, I don't know if there's a better defense in the NFL. I mean, DeMario Davis is just all over the field as a crazy person. Jenkins is still locking up with Gronk and making him earn every single piece of it. And then you add on top of it when Cam Jordan's red hot

and getting to the quarterback. I mean, they have so many playmakers at every single level on that defense that that defense alone could be a lot 2017 vikings-esque where you kind of just carry this limping offense at times into the playoffs i guess that'd be more like 2015 2015 vikings-esque so i really bring that that that team that's just like hey punt like against the rams remember we played the rams in 2015 we got the ball and we're like, we'll take the ball in overtime because we know we're going to punt and then we'll get it back. But I think that you can see that scenario playing out where they just play the field position game.

And so I think that it's definitely between the Saints and the Vikings because I just don't see the Eagles being a complete enough team to sneak in there. Folks, it's that time again where you're doing your online shopping for the holidays. And look, if you want free shipping, I can help you out with that. For all of your Minnesota sports-inspired goods, use the promo code PURPLEINSIDER when you go to SodaStick.com. That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com.

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again now that's at washington they just beat them today uh taylor heinicke is the quarterback he when you were talking about quarterbacks who are good to throw you the ball a couple of times like taylor heinicke is definitely that guy um although he is trying to break down the door into the playoffs again am i right breaking down the door he's trying to kick down the door into the playoffs again. Am I right? Break down the door. He's trying to kick the door in the door, which is a regular way to get inside of a house. It's over.

And then they have Dallas on January 9th, which that could be a Dallas game where they're fighting for something or it might not. So if they're not, then they would have to beat Cooper rush. And that would be very funny. If Cooper Rush lost the game to Philadelphia to clinch them for the playoffs, then I mean, some way this ends up ironic. I just don't know what way. Yeah. There's plenty of routes to the irony side. It's just, we're not sure which path takes us there right kevin james comes in and

coaches new orleans and you're like wait wait no you're really coaching and oh my god they're winning all their games with kevin james uh so anyway um what was i gonna ask you okay so like i want to ask you about something real quick because we're kind of off of the now any chance that uh zimmer is fired or anything like that but before the end of the season like now this is going all the way through the end and then it gets played out but I did want to ask as you're watching different coaches that are coming up because that conversation is now coming faster with these new rules uh and and this is definitely cart before the horse but I did want to ask if there if there's someone who stands out to you or if there's a number of people that stand out to you or even a type, if we're talking about the potential.

Because if they lose this week, then you go to Green Bay and then it gets pretty hairy after that. So it can happen kind of quick. I just wonder if you had a thought on that. You know, I don't have a specific guy in mind I do think that if we want to change the persona and the identity of what the Vikings have been and you want to just full pendulum go you got to go offensive head coach I think everyone is so used to Zimmer in his defense right Zimmer in the Vikings defense and they're great they were great for a lot of years that with your your talent and your stars that are young on the offensive side of the football I think it's really important that that's where you feed and water and grow and I think Brian

Dable um a guy I think he's a really good candidate watching what he did with Josh Allen with the young guy right bringing him in the connection between Josh and Diggs. Can you foster that again? And all this is dependent on who plays quarterback, right? Regardless of who. But I do think that you need to bring in a really good offensive head coach that's going to really pour himself into the offensive side of the football because you have enough veteran leaders on the defensive side of the football

that you can hire a really good defensive coordinator and kind of let that system run itself on the defensive side of the football that you can hire a really good defensive coordinator and kind of let that, that system run itself on the field. Do you have any way as a player of explaining how, you know, if someone can be a head coach or not? Absolutely. Okay. Well then go ahead. You can tell if a guy has, can be a good head coach, not based off the X's and O's. It really, it really, a head, a great head coach, in my opinion, doesn't have to be a genius football IQ mind. A great head coach in the NFL has to be a brilliant people person.

They have to be so good at bringing 90 guys from 90 different walks of life into a room and saying, hey, y'all have to find a way to get along and love each other and work together and put this common goal this common purpose in front of everything and it's never going to work where all 90 guys go hurrah yes let's do it right there's tons of bumps along the road there's tons and how a head coach manages all of that is really important and that's why you look at a guy like

Pete Carroll I don't know how genius this dude is on the whiteboard. I don't see Pete drawn up like, here's this, this. But you look at the way he interacts with his players and his players interact with him, and that goes back to that kind of intangible culture that helps you win games in the football. I know it hasn't been winning games in football season. I know it hasn't been as great as it has in the past this year but overall like i look at those kind of guys

or i look at mike tomlin in pittsburgh and i see the way that just the interactions with the players and i'm not saying that zimmer doesn't have this because when you saw davlin thompson or who was it pierce or sheldon richardson came up to last night right and so but there's just something about a coach that hasn't been a head coach before or even been in a big leadership role like Joe Judge. Right. Like, was he really ready? Did he did he understand how that Matt Patricia? Like, I don't think those guys came in and wanted to earn the love and the respect of their players. They were more of the this is the my way or the highway type of aspect. I don't think you can do that in the NFL anymore.

I think so much of the head coach factor in the NFL is about mutual respect, but understanding coach-player relationship. And I think that's what's the recipe for success in the NFL anymore. And that's what you're seeing with Matt LaFleur. That's what you're seeing with Zach Taylor in Cincinnati. And some of these younger coaches, Staley in Chicago or San Diego, like they are the head coach. They are HBC. They have final say, but there's such a mutual respect for their players because they understand

these are professionals and the best in the world at what they do, that those are the kind of programs that are fostering the most right now. That would be the Los Angeles Chargers. They're always going to be the San Diego charges for me. Well, I guess if you have a Jersey that says it, then they can always be the San Diego chargers. There's a blue Jersey right there.

There you go. And what, I mean, it is a chargers are just the best with the powder blue jerseys. The number one jersey in the NFL. You can't convince me otherwise. I'm not going to fight you on that. I totally agree.

But you know, I think there's just a, it's a hard way to describe it, me otherwise i'm not gonna fight you on that i totally agree uh but uh you know i think um there's just a hard way to describe it but somebody who understands how to do things like a pro uh like a pro head coach does not like i mean kicking your players excessive but even just make your kicks just kick them right in the leg genius you say if you're gonna kick a kicker don't do it in the leg i don't know that that helps um you know that'd be like hey i want you to play good poker hands but i'm gonna smash your fingers like i don't know if that makes a lot of sense but um that's that's why byron left which stands out to me just professional experience lots of professional

experience frank reich was a guy that as a kid I followed as a backup quarterback, greatest comeback of all time. And then he went to be a quarterback coach somewhere. Maybe he was Indy, worked with Peyton Manning. He was a quarterback coach somewhere else. Then he's an OC and he just, a guy who was in the league, but just built up and built up and built up this experience. So he becomes a head coach finally, and he gets that chance. It's just a, it's a very professional type of situation. It's a guy who's just been an NFL pro for so long, and he knows how to manage all of the, the Rocky ups and downs. I mean, his teams have a couple of times started out really

bad and then made the playoffs. And I think he just can keep everybody on track with the type of person he is. And Byron left, which actually kind of reminds me of him. So that's, that's the guy that I've kind of leaned toward, but you know, we're, we're not there yet, but I, but I, I feel that way a little bit. The Byron lift, which thing worries me a tad because much like we talked about with Aaron Rod, like it's the Tom Brady show. It is like how much of Byron left,

which influence is Tom Brady show. It is. Like how much of Byron Lefkowitz influence is Tom Brady taking? How much of that is him just suggesting, hey, Tom, let's run this. And Tom says, yeah, or no. And then it just kind of goes. That's my one fear with Byron Lefkowitz is he's actually ready to take on that role of HBC with us not really being sure how involved he is in everything let me throw a counterpoint bruce arians is one of the most accomplished coaches out there right could have had anybody who wanted to work with tom brady right and you think about like when you're picking that guy to be your oc i mean this is your legacy on the line tom brady is coming for you if you screw this

up it'll be like, Oh man, I think the guy couldn't even get Brady to win or something. Right. Like, but you see a ring being slid onto your finger when Brady decides to sign there and you have one guy that you can pick and you go with this guy like that. I mean, to me, that's impressive. Like that's like of anybody he wanted, he decides to go with Byron left, which, and then it's, you know, where did that come from? Where, where was he at before thatron Lefkowitz. And then it's, you know, it's worked out.

Where did Lefkowitz come from? Where was he at before that? Arizona, I believe. I think he was maybe. Was he with AZ? Yeah. I think it was the QB coach under Arians. Okay.

Possibly. And then I think he was briefly their OC during the Josh Rosen disaster. Oh, gosh. But anyway, I mean, that's my case for him. Right. But, you know, they're going to have a lot of different options there. Just don't hire a college coach who's good at recruiting. Please do not.

That experiment has to be over, right? Like two completely failed botched experiments is Matt Rule and Urban Meyer. Like this has to – don't do it, NFL. Please don't do it. Not that type of guy not the career college guy i would say i think that there there's a case for someone who's in the nfl as an assistant or something they go there and then they come back you know but not the career college dude so anyway well um i'm just gonna throw one quick love to see it because we've gone a long time here but

just like one quick love to see it just bowl season love bowl season Idaho potato bowl today uh just you know give me all of them there's a lawnmower bowl I think mixed in I mean all the bowls I want them no I'm with you I'm a big college football guy myself as it is um my love to see it is as terrible as it was Tuesday night football I didn't hate that there was games Tuesday. I liked the double header on what was a Saturday. I think the more games, one game on Saturday, one game,

right? So double header, Monday, double header, Monday, that's what day it is, right? It's my,

it's, it's just between wake windows here with my kid at this point. But as far as I love how there's just football all the time i think that that's one thing that i missed about covid like last year there was football literally every day of the week it was just like thursday something's on somewhere wednesday maxion something but i love how many games there were this week to just be able to fill my evening times yes and uh there will be saturday football again so it'll be uh it'll be a wonderful experience well speaking of wonderful experiences great always fun talking with you and by next Yes, and there will be Saturday football again, so it'll be a wonderful experience.

Well, speaking of wonderful experiences, this is great. Always fun talking with you. And by next week, we will know, do the Vikings have a chance to go 2-1? Will they have to beat the Packers? Will they get an upset? Whatever. And we'll be much closer to understanding the fate of the franchise. So it'll be fun.

Can't wait. Football.