Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Bashaud Breeland released and the Vikings need this win in Chicago

Episode Date: December 19, 2021

It wouldn't be a week of Minnesota Vikings football without something weird happening and this time it came in the form of cornerback Bashaud Breeland being released two days before the Vikings game against the Chicago Bears. Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom then get into a hardcore preview of Vikings-Bears looking at John DeFilippo calling plays for Chicago, what to expect from Justin Fields and the things Vikings fans will be worrying about with matchups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. You will never believe this. Some Viking news broke after we recorded our podcast. So in just a minute, Sam Ekstrom and I are going to do a hardcore breakdown on Vikings and Bears, what it means, how it's going to look, all those things. But of course, Chicago Bears week had to throw us for a loop a little bit with some very strange Viking news. It wouldn't be the Vikings and Bears if it was any other way. So on Saturday, the Vikings announced that they had waived Bashad Breeland.

All of a sudden, the email shows up in my inbox. The tweet is sent out. We've waived Bashad Breeland. Now, look, Bashad Breeland has had about as bad of a year as a starting corner as you can have. He was ranked in the bottom five by Pro Football Focus. It's been a tough time. He's been injured. He was sick in the last game. Very bizarre season for a guy that has had a pretty good NFL career. And then of course, shortly after

it comes out that Bashad Breland got in an altercation with coaches and his teammates, and that was it. And they decided they were just going to let him go because he couldn't get along with the rest of the team. And so, I mean, we have to say what a signing this has been and what a roller coaster it's been with Bashad Breland all year from you know spatting with fans on Twitter to giving up game-winning plays and and uh you know passes into his coverage and clutch spots and all those things and you can't help but wonder um if they had been starting Cam Dantzler the whole year maybe if some things would be different so now that's how it's going to go is that Cam Dantzler is now the starting corner and of course I've seen a lot of people saying look this is addition by

subtraction by breezy and and that is not wrong because he's been so poor the only concern would be if anybody gets banged up, that's a guy who's got a lot of experience and has played in this system since the beginning of training camp as a starter. And now you're going to somebody like Ty Smith, for example, off the bench. If there is an injury to anybody in the secondary, and that was an issue with cam dantzler last year that he had a few injuries so that is concerning also uh what is happening in practice that would cause an altercation that ends so badly that the player is just cut not exactly what you're looking for on the casual saturday practice before a monday game i normally these, it would be the equivalent of a Friday practice, but normally the final practice of the week is pretty laid back. And so you can

only wonder what happened at practice to cause such an altercation. Uh, but Bashad Breeland, the experiment is over and he is no longer a part of the Minnesota Vikings. Now we have some other things just quickly to update you on. Adam Thielen is listed as questionable, but it's going to be a tough one to go and play on that turf with a high ankle sprain. Not exactly the easiest ask for Adam Thielen, but he's a guy that in the past has pushed it to come back and it hasn't always worked. Remember in 2019, he tried to play against Kansas city with a hamstring injury injury and eventually actually maybe it was on the first drive. He tweaked it and ended up not being able to play the rest of the game. So you don't want that from Adam Thielen.

I think you want to go into this game with KJ Osborne and Justin Jefferson is your top receivers. And then if Adam Thielen can offer anything, you try to work him into the mix. But I wouldn't say that it's a guarantee. It does sound like, and we allude to it later in the show, that Christian Derrissaw is likely to start at left tackle and Ole Udo go to the bench. As for the Chicago Bears, some of their players are going to be able to come back

that were on the COVID list, including Eddie Goldman. Not exactly what you want to hear as a Viking fan. He's had a tough year, but he has generally dominated the Vikings. Akeem Hicks is going to play. Jason Peters is not going to play. So this leaves some opportunity for the Vikings to get some pass rush off the edges with Jason Peters out. So there you have it. Bashad Breland. It's like the election time, the October surprise. Well, it's the every week surprise with the Minnesota Vikings, but we are always here for you to break it down. So, all right, our preview of Vikings bears and Sam and I will be in Chicago. So look forward to our written work from there, our podcast from Soldier Field right after the game and everything else. So thank you all for listening. Here is our preview.

I was just thinking about this, Sam, how if the Vikings do not win this game against Chicago, which I will maintain that I think they will and delete this if they don't. But if they don't, if they lose, this could be the last game we get to kind of hardcore break down because their playoff chances will take such a severe hit if they lose this game. And then we're talking about Los Angeles. We're talking about Green Bay. If you can't beat Chicago and you lost two weeks ago to Detroit, then I'm not going to believe that you're going to take down those two teams. Um, so I think that, uh, we should make the most of it. So we should make the most of a matchup where the Vikings

should be better than the Chicago bears, but you also just never know. Cause it's the Chicago bears. And the place to start with our hardcore breakdown is that the chicago bears don't have any coordinators because of covid all of the sudden do you realize what this means have you have you realized the juiciness of what this means who do you think is going to replace them as offensive coordinator maybe i don't know john d filippo no it has to be what he's got experience in multiple teams he's the quarterback's coach it It's got to be DeFilippo. This is the DeFilippo revenge game. Okay, it's too perfect.

For every game that the Vikings lose in shocking fashion, there's always a, it was this, it was that. It was the Jared Goff player of the week sort of game. The Detroit had no wins game. And then they get this win, and of course everyone talks about it for a week. I mean, this would be it. This is the revenge. And there's no question then if John DeFilippo ends up calling the plays,

which Chicago has not ruled out that these coordinators could test negative a couple of times and then come back, so that's possible. But DeFilippo, no question, will run for 200 yards against the Vikings right like there's no doubt he will dial up the greatest run scheme that has ever been used against the Vikings and beat them entirely on the ground he might actually take from the New England Patriots when they pass three times in the crazy weather game just to show Mike Zimmer that he knows how to run the ball right Khalil Herbert and Damian Williams are gonna have the games of their lives it's going to be unreal I'm actually really I hope Bill Lazor is fine and like lives and is healthy but I hope that he's not I hope

that I I want this scenario to play out so badly yeah uh right we don't wish covet illness on bill laser so don't take it that way uh the other thing is too that like suddenly special teams is a part of this conversation because the bears had such a great special teams night against the green bay packers so i was watching that game thinking oh we'll have something to ask ryan fickin about like that you know this team is really good on a botch kickoff a botched punt return which isn't legal and an onside kick return which isn't legal so basically two illegal touchdowns that were awesome that weren't actual plays yeah uh and then uh you know they had the one that did count right in that game and then a couple of good kick returns as well um all right well let's that's a good place to start with our hardcore breakdown is the chicago bears offense and we've talked a little bit about just

you know justin fields and so forth there's a couple of interesting justin fields conversations to have uh one of them is as you watch justin fields are you going to be thinking about what he would have looked like in the Vikings offense? Because every time I've watched Justin Fields, I've thought that like, think about these plays that the Vikings dial up that are play actions that send somebody deep down the field and Kirk cousins makes a great throw on a bomb. Right. And like, that's Justin Fields, his thing. And you almost never see that from Chicago's offense. Like Chicago's offense is just sort of janky, and they don't have a very good offensive line. He doesn't know how to really set the protections, and they've got him out of the shotgun all the time,

which I totally understand he was out of the shotgun in college, but these play actions and these deep balls and these schemed plays that open up wide receivers, those just don't really seem to exist in Chicago. play actions and these deep balls and these schemed plays that open up wide receivers. Those just don't really seem to exist in Chicago. What they've asked their quarterbacks to do, whether it was Mitch Trubisky or Nick Foles or Andy Dalton or Justin Fields is just like operate the whole thing as if they're Peyton Manning back there. And it's really interesting the comparison between the two teams. I get the criticism for Mike Zimmer with offense, and some of it makes sense. But everyone who's played quarterback for Mike Zimmer has had a career year, whether it was Teddy putting up his best year or it was Case Keenum having a magical season,

Sam Bradford sort of proving the haters wrong that he could actually play NFL quarterback, and Kirk Cousins has had the best years of his career here. They've been even better than he was in Washington. And yet with Chicago, it seems like it's the opposite. It's like Andy Dalton has been better than this, but look how horrible he is. And Nick Foles had been better. Look how terrible he is. Look how much Mitch Trubisky struggle. Look how much Justin Fields is struggling. And it's like the two opposites offensively of how they play, where one offense says we're going to do everything we can to help the quarterback. And the other offense says, hey, quarterback, you're the guy. Just go do everything. instance of a coach in Matt Nagy who doesn't truly understand how to maximize what his players can do. And this is a big help to the Vikings since their defense has struggled so much, especially to cover people. Yeah. I feel like if you feel like the Minnesota situation is hopeless with maybe a

coach being on the way out or whatever, it's got to feel way more hopeless in Chicago with a team that has basically been on the decline since the really good first season that Matt Nagy had. They do have a rookie quarterback that they don't want to waste. I mean, they want to start maximizing him as soon as possible. This is already a lost year, maybe even a lost year for fields if they have to change systems on him and change coaches on him. And it's not really like a Justin Herbert situation either, where you saw good things from Herbert and then changed coaches. You're not seeing a whole lot of good stuff from fields other than the raw mobility. That's really about it. And it's a great point you make about quarterbacks going to Chicago to die. And I made this point in the

draft, like whoever goes to Chicago steps into a location where it's just a little bit harder to play quarterback too. You have to have a certain constitution to play in the cold, to play in the wind. It's a black and blue division. And the Packers have been blessed with this quarter century of two quarterbacks that were just able to dominate in the cold, but that's a little bit rarer. So Justin Fields, you know, he, he brings to the table, this incredible athleticism, but he hasn't really been able to harness it as well as you'd like him to, because, you know, like Lamar Jackson's mobility works so well because he does provide that deep threat,

right? He's able to sort of provide the stretching of the field possibility. Field doesn't have like a big depth of target. His sack rate is 12.5%. That's horrible. His offensive line isn't protecting him that well. They do have a lot of speed, so it's going to be a lot of shorter routes, trying to get a lot of yak yards. But this is still not a rookie quarterback that I'm particularly nervous about, I don't think, if I'm the Vikings. And you're getting reports, too, about that locker room being fractured. Matt Nagy was reportedly fired one week, and then he won on Thanksgiving on a last second field goal. So it seems kind of diseased in Chicago right now. I know Alan Robinson is kind of getting back and healthy

and maybe he's got a little bit of something to add to that offense, but I'm not inspired particularly by what I saw from Chicago, even in that first half against Green Bay. Those were just a handful of huge plays that I don't know if is indicative of a sustainable offense. Right. The only thing is that the Vikings do give up huge plays and that would be what you're worried about. It was so interesting last year to see Chicago change to this wide zone bootleg offense that worked really well for Mitch Trubisky for a handful of weeks. And then they were just like, nah, with fields, we're going back to my Matt Nagy offense. And this is like the true sign of a coach who doesn't know what he's doing.

Because the bootleg play action type of offense, I think is perfect for Justin Fields. Like he's not this mastermind at the line of scrimmage. He's not like Mac Jones, where he's just super decisive and he can pick out exactly where the ball is supposed to go and then just lets it go. That's not like Mac Jones where he's just super decisive and he could pick out exactly where the ball is supposed to go and then just lets it go. That's not him. Like you, you didn't see that at Ohio state. He needed time to throw the ball. And then when he did and he had time to throw it, could set and throw much like Kirk cousins

in from a throwing standpoint. I mean, it just brilliant when he had those right situations and he had space to throw. But when things went wrong, Justin Fields really struggled. I never looked at him as this playmaker like Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or somebody who, when things go wrong, all of a sudden, that's when they're at their greatest. That's not Justin Fields. So what type of system is perfect for that guy? Well, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill,

all these guys have the same sort of issues, right? And they're perfect for these play action and bootleg offenses. And yet here's Chicago saying, Hey kid, just go back there in the shotgun and, and sit back there. And it also, I think it requires, and this is where it would scare you for the Vikings. The system that Nagy has requires receivers to get open one-on-one and then a quarterback to make the right reads and right decision to that one-on-one matchup. And if it's not there, then it's just over the play fails. That's why it's bad coaching. Because you don't have Peyton Manning to go back from one to two to three to four, back to one or something on the progression. Like Matty is dialing it up uh but i i would not look at justin fields and say oh see this is why you wouldn't have wanted him if you were the

vikings because he's having this bad year for chicago i think it would have been totally different with the vikings had justin fields been here uh because the offense would have been better but also there is that one that's just that one thing in the back of your mind that no matter who's been playing quarterback, Matt Nagy's system seems to work against one team and one team only. And it's this team. It's unbelievable how that's happened over the last few years. Yeah, you're not, you're not kidding. And I don't think the Vikings are going to go and light it up on like a 30 degree night in Chicago. I don't think they're going to score a lot of points. So if Chicago has any semblance of offensive productivity, um, I don't think that that cousins is going to hang a 45 burger like Aaron Rogers did. Right. I mean, Darnell Mooney is a

good receiver. Alan Robinson has bad stats this year, but he's, he's a number one type of receiver. Um, now they're not like a Cardinals type. That's going to spread you out and challenge you that much. I mean, they're still going to use, you know, the tight end command. They're going to use their running backs a little bit out of the backfield. They do have speed. Um, but the Vikings and bears have played ugly games in this, in this facility. I don't know, like, I don't know if you buy into sort of that trend continuing, uh, you can't always rely on past results to dictate future outcomes. But I was looking at the combined points in the last five games at Soldier Field. So if you were setting like a Vegas over under, 33, the last five games combined is the average.

That's crazy. They've played these low, tight, defensive games with a myriad of quarterbacks. It was Chase Daniel. It was Mitch Trubisky's debut. And Nick Foles last year. And Tyler Bray, I think, made an appearance at the end of that game. And now it's Justin Fields. If the Vikings can sort of establish the run early and get that early offensive rhythm, it feels like a game where they

could maybe pile on a little bit, but typically these things are close. So in a freelancing situation, if it comes down to a final drive, there is something about a Justin Fields where, okay, that's probably what he's good at, right? If he's asked to just make plays on third down and get out of the pocket, I do worry about that a little bit. If the Vikings are in the type of game that they're always in, is sort of that freewheeling ability that he presents going to tax them, and then you've got to defend guys down the field for four to five seconds,

and the secondary's not really cut out for it. So I can feel your concern in a certain type of environment where this could be a challenging game. Folks, have you ever thought about taking a bike to work but figure it's too far or that the hills are too steep? Or heck, who wants to show up to work covered in sweat? Well, that's why you need to check out the electric cruiser bike from my friends at Boogie Bikes.

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basket as well. By the way, there is no risk within the first 15 days. You can try a Boogie Bike and Boogie Bikes have an industry-leading five-year warranty as well. Again, go to boogiebikes.com. Check them out today. And Chicago's running game is not good, but it's also not like the worst thing ever. And we've seen that running games that are just not the worst thing ever have their best days of the year against the Vikings. Now with Pearson Tomlinson back, that's a little bit different than it would be say against the lions when they had nobody up front. But running to the edges, the Vikings have two of the worst tackling

cornerbacks in terms of missed tackle percentage and Patrick Peterson and Bashad Breeland. They have defensive ends who aren't really pass rushers, but they're definitely not run stuffers. And you're relying a lot on your linebackers to chase people down. But if they get caught up in the shuffle, then, you know, we've seen a lot of big plays and that's what San francisco is very clear san francisco understood that running to the edges was going to be really successful and it always drives me crazy to see teams run out of the shotgun and just hand off and go up the middle for two yards and stuff like that but some of the shotgun runs

that go to the edges that's where there's always that potential to have success. So if you're talking about like what could go wrong for the Vikings defense that goes right for Chicago, it would be, can they control the ball through the ground game? But Chicago has just struggled so much to do anything, especially on third downs that it's not like with San Francisco, where we knew there's a 10 minute drive in here somewhere. That's just not really the case for Chicago. Now on the offensive side, I think the offensive line has become an interesting discussion because Garrett Bradbury is back. Mason Cole has played pretty well, which you were kind of on this from the beginning, actually even training camp. I remember talking about like,

should Mason Cole just be their right guard instead of only udo and maybe that should have been the case and i think if derisaw comes back it would be wise to just put derisaw in udo to the bench keep mason cole at right guard but we talked to garrett bradbury and he has some really interesting comments about how when he sat out those two weeks or when he was benched for those two weeks that he went back and watched all of his tape and he just didn't feel like he was giving enough that he talked about sort of being complacent a little bit, um, not being as aggressive as he should have been being a little passive. It was about the most honest commentary you'll ever hear from a player about themselves. He's played well, these last couple of games, never going to be a great

pass blocker, but has done a good job in the run blocking. They were terrific against the Steelers, but now it's the potential for Akeem Hicks. He could come back from his ankle injury and then Aaron Donald and then Kenny Clark. So if Garrett Bradbury, and I don't think this will be the case, but if Garrett Bradbury wants to make any argument to be the center of this team for next year, he's got exactly four weeks to do it against four of the best players in the NFL. And this is the matchup.

Like this is the one where if you're saying, what are you afraid of is for Vikings fans? It's that guy is one of the biggest beasts in the league who is mauled your center. Every single time they've played against each other. That's the big concern that you have right there is Akeem Hicks eating Garrett Bradbury alive again. And him getting hurt in last year's Monday night game was the difference in that. Yes, it completely changed in the second half. The Vikings, I think, had a early fourth quarter

touchdown drive to win the thing. And Bradbury, yes, played better against Pittsburgh. And a lot of that success in the run game was reminiscent of what we've seen in the past. But you're up against a different beast now. I mean, it's going to be a battle in there. I'm already nervous about Donald. I mean, the Donald, and I think even if it was an elite center, I think you're nervous about Donald. But as far as the offensive line is concerned, Cole, I think, 100% needs to replace Udo. It looks like Derrissaw is going to be active. He was at practice today, so you probably get him back. And you probably roll with that interior group, you know, unless Mason Cole can't do it or Bradbury can't do it. And then I think you have a

discussion about who needs to play center in these potentially must-win games in weeks 16, 17, 18. But Bradbury's comment actually puts something Mike Zimmer said in even better context, where Zimmer commented after the Pittsburgh game, I told the offensive line that stalemates aren't good enough. You actually have to push some people around. And I think that's exactly what Bradbury was referring to, that he was playing defensively to not make a mistake, but not really exerting himself, not attacking were his words. He was playing defensively.

And I think we saw a little bit of that in the Pittsburgh tape. So if this is like a new Garrett Bradbury, who's had this enlightenment after a period of being benched, having COVID, missing about a month of time, that's a good thing for the Vikings. I don't know if he physically has it in him to compete with a lot of these big guys. I think that certainly his mentality can be in the right place and you can still not be able to do it. So that's going to be a problem. But the line as a whole might be the best arranged it's been all year because you've now gotten rid of a struggling Rashad Hill, a struggling Ole Udo, I would assume. You've got Cole, who's really only played one bad game, the Packers game, and Bradbury,

who's playing better now at center. I think this is probably the best group they've had. It's still not an elite group, but they at least, I think, have the potential to protect pretty well and run block pretty well. I think that there's a high ceiling to this group, at least. Yeah. Now with Quinn having a great year and Hicks potentially coming back, that's going to be tested because those are the two guys that can game wreck against the Vikings. But I was going to say that if Bradbury even plays a little bit better, even does the thing that he's supposed to do,

that was the biggest criticism that I had. I know that he's never going to be a great pass blocker just because of his size. That's the reality of the thing. But when you're not good at what the thing is that they drafted you for, that's when it's a real problem. It's like, they can't even use you so much as an asset. And there were times through the years that we saw him with some great run blocks and some great screen blocks. We just didn't see that really at all this year. I felt like there was very little to write home

about. And the Pittsburgh game is the first time we saw that. However, what I would say is that we've been through this so many times with first round busts. It's like, you know how they've got the, what is it like the four stages of death or whatever, you know,

you've heard of that, like the stages of acceptance or whatever, you know, that kind of pleading with God, that kind of denial. This is the like denial pleading with God part for first round draft picks who fail. I mean, it's always they start out and they think I'm going to set the world on fire. And then the NFL punches them in the mouth, the ones who don't make it. And so then there's like the down of, oh, this is a bust.

The guy's really bad. And eventually he comes out and talks to us and tells us all the reasons he was bad and how he's going to fix all those reasons. And that was the problem. I've discovered it and now I'll be fine. And then it usually doesn't happen. It almost never happens because if we've gotten to year three and you're still not good, you're not good.

Like that's just the NFL. Sorry, man. There's outliers good like that's just the nfl sorry man uh there's outliers but that's most of the time and so it felt like that it was very honest and i appreciate that for bradbury but there have been so many times where it's laquan treadwell now i've figured it out kind of oh i all i had to do was learn route running like i'm sure you could go through this with lots of with mike hughes player of the week defensively uh but it was like all i need to do is stay healthy now he was actually right uh but it was not a question of talent in his issue we've just seen this many times all i need

to do is dot dot dot and i just don't see it i just don't see that there's some snap fix what matters though is the final four games or how many ever they're in the playoff race. That's what really matters. Can they get an inspired Garrett Bradbury? I say, no, I don't think so. I think it's entirely about competition. Who you play matters the most at the offensive line for your grades and things like that. If you're not good. And this, this next couple of weeks, I think are just going to probably he's the one that every team is going to attack yeah no doubt and you can only rely upon so many double team blocks to to help them out especially on the interior you know if teams are are bringing any kind of pressure up the middle and if they're

smart they would be they would be bringing pressure up the middle, um, you know, flush the quarterback from the pocket cousins can't really get away and your ends swallow him up like that. That's the formula. And we've seen games particularly against the division rivals, you know, Chicago and green Bay, that's three of your four remaining opponents. And that doesn't include maybe the best of the bunch in the Rams front four, where Cousins just gets eaten. Like they scored six points against Chicago a couple of years ago. They score 16 points against the Packers or 10 points against the Packers.

Those are games where Cousins gets so flustered that he isn't able to do anything, protected or not protected. So you fear that this might happen to be one of those games. There's probably, what, a one in four chance that it ends up being that way. And you wind up in this dogfight with the Bears. And I could very well see, again, where maybe the quarterback plays not great on the Chicago side. Maybe your defense is even playing well and you have no business being in the game, and yet your offense just can't get going enough that you wind up in this tense situation in the fourth quarter. I mean, that's worst-case scenario for the Vikings.

And that's been the case so many times with this team, where 30 minutes out of the 60 minutes, the offense is just MIA. And the thing that I think you'd be concerned about, and Cousins played phenomenally well last year against the Bears. He was really good, I thought, in that game. A lot of third-down conversions, big throws to Justin Jefferson. He really trusted Jefferson in that game. Didn't they have a couple weird fumbles that prevented them from –

Rudolph, I think, maybe Thielen. Yeah, I believe couple of weird fumbles that like prevented them from scoff. Rudolph, I think maybe feeling. Yeah. I believe there were two fumbles that kept the office, but the numbers were really good. And it was one where it wasn't, the numbers were good because you were down 20 or something. It was the numbers were good because you were good. I think that that's more of what we'll see.

But the one thing about cousins and it really struck home for me against Pittsburgh, is that there are just some days where it's not there. And it's not so much even that he's fumbling or, you know, even time. Like, we know what it looks like when he's got the happy feet or looks shaky. That's because of the pressure. There wasn't even like that much pressure from pittsburgh because tj walk got hurt early in the game and they were running so effectively he was just throwing the ball very badly i mean under 50 completion percentage of the nfl today is something you only see from a bust first round pick or something like zach wilson or a backup quarterback

you almost never see less than half the passes getting completed. And it was almost entirely just accuracy, just overthrowing guys or, or, or just missing left or right. And in the recent weeks, that's kind of been the case for cousins. I think that's the thing that you go in to the game with him almost always not really wondering like, where is that going to be For a guy who sort of has always rested so much on his accuracy, there are times in full games where it just is not there. San Francisco is the same way.

It's just not there. So let me ask you this. Ever since the Los Angeles Chargers game where they kind of changed their approach to be more aggressive, in that game, Cousins was actually quite inaccurate on downfield throws. He was like one of seven. It was the intermediate throws where he was feasting. And I think inevitably downfield throw percentage is going to be less, and we saw that against the Steelers as well,

where he was a hair inaccurate to Jefferson three, four times downfield. One of them was picked. And I think the process is still good, right? I wouldn't change any of that. On a number of those plays, Jefferson was open or had a step or in some cases had nobody around him. And a well-delivered ball gets there and it's big yardage. Um, do you think then that like, it's good to sacrifice a little bit of accuracy in the name of attempting to get the ball downfield? Like, do you still like the process or the, the, the throw selection? Are you still good with that? Oh, I definitely do. And I don't think it's just been the downfield passes where he's been inaccurate.

I think it was kind of everything against Pittsburgh that was very spotty. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn't. And I wouldn't blame him for the interceptions because they were both kind of weird. One, K.J. Osborne acknowledged he probably should have made a better play on it. The other one just bounced off of Justin Jefferson on a fine throw. So those were more bad luck, which is sort of funny because there have been others this year that he's thrown it right to the defense and they've dropped it. So like that's interceptions for you. Yeah.

But it's the really the last couple of games. It's been more hit or miss than it was earlier this season. It's been like the first half of the Lions games. Something's not quite there and san francisco after the interception which was really a mental interception not a physical one but after that they seem to go in a little bit of a hole like oh okay now he's off today or something's not quite right and we can't push the ball downfield as much i don't think you need to throw bombs all the time i i think that cousins statistically for his career, where he's been absolutely at his best is throwing

between 15 and 20 yards, like those intermediate play actions, guys going across the field and things like that. And then he certainly hit on a number of deep bombs to digs and Jefferson and Thielen, um, throughout the seasons. But, uh, there's just those days. And I know we've called it good Kirk, bad Kirk in the past. And you always know that like when there's a MVP game, there's another one around the corner where it just doesn't happen. But if we're talking about things that sort of give Vikings fans nightmares, as you're going into a game like this, that you absolutely should win. That's at the top of the list. The other thing is too, that KJ Osborne, I think has been terrific. He's been the best third wide receiver they've had since Jarius,

right. Might be better than Jarius, right. You know, the 2017 team had a lot of success. So Jarius, right. Gets a lot of credit, but I think he may have only had like 17 catches that year. So, you know, he's done a lot, a lot. He's had a lot of clutch catches throughout this, this season, including the 62 yard touchdown. this defense is not good at covering anyone in chicago but past jefferson and osborne feeling was not practicing today when we were out there doesn't look like he's coming back if he does it's hard to be effective on a high ankle sprain that goes under the category of like, does someone stop Jefferson? Like, is there, is there some thing that happens where he can't individually take over a game when, you know, Chicago sort of playing with nothing to lose. They could go all out and

double them the whole game. The Vikings tend to play tight when everything is on the line. We've seen that a number of times and you just, I strongly feel like they'll win this game. But when you go through the number of potential potholes, like that's another one of them because DD Westbrook is on the COVID list. And now you're talking about Amir Smith-Marset who hasn't played and a bunch of other randoms who they've brought in off the practice squad. You're just very thin there. Yeah, if there was ever going to be a Chris Herndon game, it has to be this. If you want to get your money for a fourth-round pick, you better be able to go back to a little bit of two-tight end this week.

Because, yeah, you're going to use Amir Smith-Marset certainly, but you're not going to use him as much as Osborne. I just don't think you're going to want him on the field for that many snaps. I think this is a perfect game to be able to rely on two tight ends. If it's not Herndon, it's got to be Hamm. It's got to be Stocker. They were just praising C.J. Hamm for his versatility. Maybe he's in line a little bit more this week.

Maybe get to know Myron Mitchell's name a little bit. That's the practice squad receiver that's been here the whole year who I would assume would be called up if they needed more help. They were hopeful, quote-unquote, that Thielen could play. I'm not convinced of that. So it's going to be dicey. Osborne, though, you wrote a story on him this week, continues to have an impact. And I think he's going to triple Chad Beebe's wide receiver three yardage from last

year. And yeah, he's certainly been adequate. And I think you trust him as your number two. That's a big thing. But yes, you can't go 11 as much. You can't go empty as much. You are limited more in what you can do. So you kind of have to go back to the Gary Kubiak style. You got to go heavier, I would think, and we're probably going to see more tight ends. I don't know about you guys, but I've gotten very good in my life at admitting when I need some help. If you are struggling to figure out how to navigate workers' compensation and disability laws, I've got a team that can lend you a hand.

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but I guess you're not cursed anymore. I think that curses can exist for crazy long stretches of time that make no sense, but they're not predictive. It's not like, oh, Boston lost for a really long time. Like, okay. They were cursed during that time, but that doesn't mean they'll never win. And eventually they did right in 2004. I feel the same way about soldier soldier field. Like the Vikings have been cursed. That's right there on paper,

but that doesn't mean that this game, they lose to a really, a really weak team that has no secondary that can really stop even KJ Osborne. I don't think, I don't think, um, but you never know if they win, we just sort of say, okay, now it's the big one. Now it's the big Rams game because more likely than not, you need one win against either the Rams or the Packers. The Rams look like they've gotten it together the last couple of weeks after some downtime. Matt Stafford is somebody that Zimmer knows extremely well. That sets up to be a great game.

And then it's like, all right, well, let's put all the conversation about firings and everything else aside because we don't know what's going to happen there. And then it's another like hardcore breakdown week. It another like build up to playoffs looking at scenarios looking at odds all those things and then it sort of becomes your super bowl to play the rams that's the what if they win uh did i miss anything about what if they win like what are we feeling about what are we feeling about everybody if they win handily is another question. About, like, big picture? Is anything different?

No. No. I mean, you got to prove yourself in a game of more importance than this. I mean, this is just the roller coaster. This is the two games up, two games down. If they win, it's the fifth consecutive two-game streak of some kind. Each of the five has been its own little two-game saga where we've bottomed out, and then they've built themselves back up.

They've gone up the roller coaster and down. And, yeah, I'm ready for a changeup, right? I mean, and the Rams presents an opportunity for a changeup where they could actually continue ascending and get over 500. So if they win, they should win. That's not unexpected. It's what a decent team should do against an awful team who, by the way, has not won a non-Lions game. Let me get the date. I think it's in September or maybe very early October. It's a long time ago. Oh, my page.

They're super bad. They're not good. They're super bad. Okay. So if they lose, then it's sad because we don't get to actually hardcore dig into a Rams matchup that would ordinarily be super fun. I think then we're talking about, oh, there's that two-week coaching interview window at the end of the year. That think then we're talking about, oh, there's that two-week coaching interview window at the end of the year. That becomes almost the bigger talking point. Right. That's what I was going to say is that they have just approved this where teams can start talking to coaches to

replace their present coach two weeks before the end of the season. Because I think, I'm guessing that teams got tired of having their offensive coordinator preparing for the Superbowl and being interviewed, right? Like I, I would guess that that just doesn't really, um, excite teams that, you know, like, okay, we're ready for the Superbowl and, and we've got five teams that want to interview Eric B enemy or something, right. That's gotta be super annoying. Um, I think Zimmer with kevin stefanski going into the the playoffs when stefanski was getting interviews or pat schirmer it must have been right both yeah both right so uh that window changes things it gives us the answer before but we'll have the answer anyway like if they let's say they they beat the

bears and then they lose to the Rams and they start interviewing people. Well, we're probably going to hear about it is my guess. And they're not going to want to wait. If they've already made this decision, it sort of accelerates when the decision has to be made. But, um, that would be kind of odd though, if that they went the next week and beat green Bay and then make the playoffs or something. And they were interviewing potential replacements. Like the awkwardness level is a 10 out of 10 for this thing. But if they lose the Chicago, it's entirely, who do you want as your next coach? Who potentially do you want as your next quarterback? Because in order to lose the Chicago, it would take another cousin's no show in Chicago. And at that point,

it would just be hard to defend. I mean, for even people who want Cousins signed to an extension, it would be hard to defend. If you lost to the Lions and the Bears with your season on the line, no matter what is going on in your defense or offensive line or third receivers or anything else, that comes down to the quarterback. And yeah, it would just be this thing didn't work it's official sign seal delivered i think that detroit largely did that like detroit put the coffin lid on this would be nailing it on like so it's over this season is over this iteration of the vikings is over if they lose to chicago and for so from that perspective it interesting. It's like one of the reasons that I wanted to go to Chicago, cause you and I are going to go and we'll be there reporting from a soldier field, but like that could be the end of the season. That could be the end of this era, I think. And that's, it's like how different the win or loss is for this

game is the difference between, all well everybody's still intact you still have a chance to save this thing versus like oh it's it's not just over it's over over yeah no kidding i mean you you do i think have to allow for the possibility of one more loss you know it to and they would still have a chance in theory but if that loss happens against chicago they're not beating the r and Packers, right? I mean, the loss would have to be in one of those two games. And just think about two, if they lose to Chicago, that essentially seals for Cousins three of four non-playoff seasons, win totals of eight, seven, 10, and then this year, no better than nine, probably eight.

That is a tough looking resume for the amount that he's been paid and entrusted with. And for this coaching staff, that is not a good looking stretch with the amount of talent they've had. Right. And whatever percentage everyone wants to put on the quarterback for those win totals, a good looking stretch with the amount of talent they've had right and whether you know whatever percentage everyone wants to put on the quarterback for those win totals there are reasons to say this or that played a major factor in it certainly the defense over the last two years has been a major factor but as a whole as a franchise you can you can deliver it. You can close, close the box on it. Like it didn't work over a four year sample. It just flat out did not work. If you win eight games this year, it's or if you don't go to the playoffs, it's like really that simple.

So let me ask you before we wrap up, what's your favorite thing to do in Chicago? Yeah. So I went there with my family when I was about 15, did all the museums, had a good time. Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Planetarium did the hits. Willis Tower went to the top of that bad boy. Oh, you ever been? Yeah. Yeah. No, very cool.

I have not been there to have fun as an adult. I've been there to cover the Big Ten tournament. I mean, that was cool from a work standpoint. Covered probably three Vikings games now, right? So I've been to a White Sox game. So I guess the sports are really the only thing I've kind of gotten to experience in adulthood. I mean, the pizza, eating the pizza. Can I count that? Yeah. I think downtown Chicago has one of the coolest atmospheres of any major metropolitan area. Just walking around. I would love to play one of these games. The Vikings always play at Chicago in like late November, seems like early December. It's a little bit miserable to walk around. Chicago in the fall is awesome.

So I would love for them to play there a little earlier sometime, someday, and get to experience it a little bit more. Because like Navy Pier is sweet, walking down by the water. I love that stuff. The Chase Daniel game was in week four, but it was so miserable that day. It was like raining and ugly and cold and windy is like not a fun time to do stuff around chicago monday night is a little weird because we're going to get in early but you know there's enough time for lunch or something and then kind of got

to get over to the stadium uh so you know can't do a whole lot of stuff but i i went uh with a buddy who lived in Chicago, um, you know, a few years ago and we just did touristy stuff just for fun. Uh, and so we went to the planetarium, which it,

people enjoyed my South park references last week. If you liked that, the planet area, which is a, you know, the South park watchers. I know South park, but I don't know it intimately enough to get that.

Okay. There was an episode where the planetarium was brainwashing people and just, you know, whatever. You can figure out the rest. But, yeah, I mean, it's a super cool city. I think there's just something about New York, Chicago, and L.A. where everything, maybe because you've seen it on TV so many times feels super familiar to you. Even if you don't know it, like it just sort of has this, um, this like weird feel, uh, when you're there that I love. So I'm looking forward to going and hopefully the weather is not horrific for us.

Cause we've got like a 15 minute walk to the stadium. So we'll see. But anyway, well, we will, uh, we will be there for you and find out what happens next. We will. And I guess until then, everyone, just do you believe in curses? That's the whole preview. So anyway. That's the great Al Michaels call. Do you believe in curses?

Well, the Vikings lost 7-2 to Chicago, and their playoff hopes are over. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your time, Sam.