Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Caleb Williams' magic runs out, Flores gets a second interview

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Matthew Coller is joined by Manny Hill to react to another wild day of playoff action. Caleb Williams and the Bears almost pulled off a late comeback but the Rams outlast Chicago to advance to the NFC Championship game. The Patriots advance in a turnover-filled game on the AFC side. Also, Brian Flores is getting a second interview with the Steelers, what does that signal for his chances of returning to Minnesota? The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here, still on the road, but Manny Hill is nice enough to join me for a recap of an absolutely insane day that saw the Los Angeles Rams advance, just as it was supposed to happen, Mr. Hill, for them to advance to the NFC Championship and a meltdown from C.J. Stroud, the Texans against the New England Patriots, of course, the show. presented by our friends at Fandool who have their work cut out figuring out odds for next weekend's football games as Jared Stidham is going to take on Drake May and then it's Sam Darnold v. Matthew Stafford again. Let's start Manny with let's let's go in reverse of the day and

just start with overtime where it seemed like DJ Moore may have run either the wrong route or stopped running on his route to cause an interception by Caleb Williams. And that comes on the heels of one of the most insane throws. I'm going to say in NFL history by Caleb Williams to find Cole Komet in the back of the end zone for a touchdown where the ball went 45 yards in the air off his back foot. Take me through what you were thinking, feeling, et cetera, at the end of that game and into overtime, as it looked like the Chicago Bears were going to do it again. It was incredible.

The throw to tie it kind of reminded me of the Iron Bowl, Jalen Milrow a couple of years ago hitting Isaiah Bond in Auburn to, and that was like a fourth and 25 or something. Or fourth in goal from the 25 because Alabama had gotten backed up or something like that. But it was the same kind of thing. It was just just to heave it to the back quarter of the end zone and see what, happens, you know, it's just, it's only your season on the line. You know, what the hell? It, it, it was incredible. It's just an incredible moment. And it gave us more football, which was,

which was awesome because it was such a compelling game. And the way that the Los Angeles Rams were able to kind of persevere. They did not play well. They didn't always run the ball with effectiveness. We're kind of getting away from the run game in the first half, relying too much on Matthew Stafford, I think. But Stafford made some throws, made enough throws, made enough plays, and the Rams came away with the win. The DJ Moore thing, I think he just, I don't want to say he quit, but it's like he just stopped in the middle of the route. He was supposed to go across the field and he just stopped and I don't know. I don't know what happened there. If he thought Caleb was going to go in a different direction on that play or what, but that was a

weird thing and it ended up costing the Bears their season. I think that when you have games like that with that level of intensity that are that cold for that long, and let's not forget that DJ Moore did take a nasty hit early in the game that may have thrown him off for the entire contest. But I feel like it really wears on everybody, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally when you're dealing with that. And you see some of those mental mistakes. We definitely saw that in the earlier game where it felt like everybody was making

mental mistakes left and right. But I think when the weather gets like that, that it does tend to take so much out of you as you go through a game like that. and one little mistake or one miscue or just forgetting kind of that you might be a target on the player. Maybe he thought that the play was already over considering how many times that Caleb Williams had scrambled or whatever it might have been that he kind of threw that one like a little bit with some timing there and just fired it up. And, you know, it was a shocking miscue from DJ Moore. It looked like much more than Caleb Williams. But Caleb Williams

had his moments in this game that, you know, so often this season, he has had to come back in games time and time again, make crazy throws, do stuff off schedule, scramble around to make up for being imperfect for the rest of the game. And look, it's very hard under those circumstances against that defensive line to be perfect. But early in the game, you know, we mostly focus in both the Bills game yesterday and then, you know, a game like this on what happened at the very end because that's the last thing we saw and that's what determined it. But Caleb Williams threw an interception right off the bat in this game where they were moving and he makes a clear mistake. And then there are times where they don't convert fourth downs and, you know, they're not

able to get the push with some of the run game that they needed or maybe instead at the goal line toward the end of the game. He could have scrambled into the end zone and he decides to throw it into what looked like pretty tight coverage. The ball gets knocked away. I mean, there's all those many little circumstances throughout a game where Williams had a chance to make a play. But man, when they get the ball and they're moving it and it looks like if they just continue maybe to run the football and wear down a defensive line that they had driven crazy throughout the game sometimes with some success on the ground, but Williams doing his thing, that maybe they would have been able to get into field goal position with a kicker that seemed very comfortable. Like only one of the two

kickers seem like they were comfortable with booting the ball in that environment. And that was on Chicago's side. And yet he took that opportunity to try to push the ball down field and the farther you throw it down the field, the more there's a chance that a mistake could happen. And that's what happened. But we also can't take away from the fact that the interception happens deep in Rams territory and Puka freaking Nekua, man. I mean, for a lot of the game, it was, hey, where's Pooka Nacua? And, you know, we didn't necessarily see Devante Adams make a ton of great catches. He did have one, uh, toward the end, an amazing, you know, diving catch where he got his two feet in bounds. But Nekua was not as big of a difference maker throughout the game as you would

have expected. And actually, Chicago was pressuring Matthew Stafford much more than I would have given them credit for, uh, Jaquan Bristker had an entire sequence where he pressured twice and then had a pass break up. Like they were playing like a much better defense than I thought they were. And then finally the levy kind of breaks with the Kua where I think it was a third down. Maybe it wasn't, but he gets the ball and slams through a defender, gets a first down. And it felt like after that, that this is why the Los Angeles Rams are so darn hard to beat is because even if you do a great job against these wide receivers, eventually they will get you. And it took Caleb Williams going completely legendary on that throw. And I can't imagine, you know, man, you and I have been talking about just texting

through the weekend about how what a nightmare scenario for Minnesota Vikings fans. And can you imagine the nightmare for Minnesota Vikings fans if Caleb Williams was in the NFC championship against Sam Darnold? So at very least it's the guy who beat Sam Darnold last year in the playoffs. At least it's the team that beat the Vikings. I feel like the Rams are kind of, oh, well, you know, you're not really in their ballpark, whereas Chicago, you beat and probably should have beat the second time, it would have felt like a real, you know, kick to the face. But that throw by Caleb Williams is one of the greatest throws I've ever seen in my life. He went backward and there was no other option since they broke through right away, 26 yards, according to NFL next gen stats.

And the ball traveled about 45 through the air. And everyone's saying, well, what was that cornerback thinking? I don't remember who was in coverage. But Mani, who's would ever think the guy could get the football that far from that point. I do think that in a loss, Caleb Williams showed all the reasons that Vikings fans, while you can celebrate tonight, you should still be terrified of Caleb Williams into the future. No question about it because of the wizardry that he showed. And, you know, the, the scary part about it is if you're a Vikings fan or if you're a Packers fan or if you're a Lions fan is this kid is 23 years old. old and he's doing all these amazing things on big stages,

and he's only going to get better because the Bears are really well coached with Ben Johnson. They've got a really good offensive system going with him. And if he stays healthy and if he keeps his head on straight, he's going to get better and better and better. And he is going to be an absolute nightmare for the other three teams in the NFC North, including the Vikings. And if you're the Vikings, like we've talked about for weeks now, You look forward and this situation with J.J. McCarthy is so troubling to try and figure out because how do you compete with that?

You got to go up against that twice a year. And you've got to go up against Jordan Love twice a year. And you're still got to deal with Jared Goff twice a year. So if you're Kevin O'Connell, how do you, and you see Caleb Williams doing that on this stage at this level in the playoffs, it shows that he's built for it. to lead this team and to keep them competitive for a long time. And that's what you're going to have to go up against. And now you've got to figure out how are we going to, we're probably never going to be able to completely shut this guy down.

But how do we compete with that? How do we go toe to toe with that twice a year and with him potentially, you know, leading the way in this division? So it's going to be a tall order. And the Vikings and Packers and lions are going to have to figure out how to contend with this guy because he's not going to. going anywhere. He is here to stay. And I think the biggest thing for me for this game was, well, there's a, there's a few things

in terms of projecting the future. Number one is that a lot of the games this year, you and I both said that Chicago just, how strong can they really be when you have to win every game at the end with Caleb Williams having to play the role of superhuman? Now, they only scored 10 points to that point where he made the superhuman point. at the end. But one of the reasons that I also thought that was because their defense was so middling, so average, so mediocre through a lot of the season and then seemed to come alive a little bit in the playoffs against Green Bay, but not before they got down 21 to 3. And then you think about what happened against the San Francisco. And then their defense really came to play. And a lot of

those players that were here in this game and the weather absolutely impacted everyone. I mean, Stafford is normally unbelievably accurate. He definitely was not in this game. He made some shocking decisions that felt like the pressure and the weather was wearing on him. And, you know, Caleb had the same where there were just misses that we've seen from him all year, but maybe even to more of a degree because of the weather. But still, like, they showed that they have a lot of players to work with into the future that, well, their games did take a lot of times last second.

heroics. I would also say that those are projectable into the future. Now, you're not going to win every single one of them, but it didn't feel super random that a guy who was drafted for his absolutely freakish arm talent, a guy who was drafted for his insane creativity for making plays like that, that he could do it in a lot of big situation. So I don't think that's going to go away. But I was actually impressed by some of the pieces that they have in this game to be able to deal with Matthew Stafford, to deal with Nacuah, to deal with Devante Adams. and to really largely shut down the run game to the point where it looked like they kind of went more to Blake Quorum in some of their big situations because Kyron Williams was just really

not all that effective. And that kind of puts me to next week, Manny, where you have the Los Angeles Rams facing off with the Seattle Seahawks. It is the matchup that we projected. It's the matchup that we dreamed of. The last time was one of the greatest, craziest football games I have ever seen in my entire life. and former Minnesota Viking quarterback Sam Darnold will once again be in the spotlight. Can Sam win the big one?

Stafford is a Super Bowl champion. There's not too many players that are more clutch or who have ever had better drives than he had at the end of the 2021 Super Bowl Manny. But after watching the Rams again, when was the last time that you really felt like the Rams were the strongest team in the NFL? Because coming out of this one, having played it that close with Chicago, I know it's a tough environment, couldn't get a more difficult place. But I think you have to say that the Seattle Seahawks in the way that they destroy the 49ers are going to have about the easiest route.

They didn't play in the first week. They don't have to travel. They barely played a half a game. I mean, the game was over by the end of the first quarter. And here's a team having to go to overtime and then travel back from Chicago, get ready for the game, go up to Seattle and play in that environment. I think Seattle has everything kind of going on their side and now has to slay the dragon. When you think about the Rams path here, and honestly, I mean, they kind of made this bed with the way they, you know, kind of finished the season with a, you know, losing at Seattle in that epic game that you talked about, a sort of weird, bad performance in Atlanta that was just kind of an eye. eyebrow razor, like, where did that come from?

They had the loss earlier to Carolina and had to go through kind of a grueling game against the Carolina Panthers in the wildcard round where they needed some heroics of their own to come away with that win. And then we saw what happened tonight. So it's definitely, this path has definitely tested them. I think if there is a team that can go into Seattle and over, come sort of the difficult path that they've

kind of laid out for themselves. It is this Rams team because they're so well coached by Sean McVeigh. They've got a veteran quarterback who has won at a high level. They've got, you know, other players, high-end talent, talented players on offense and on defense as well.

So the way they play can travel, but you just wonder if like Seattle is just sort of an overall healthier team because of their defense playing so well, because they had the first round by, and because they were so dominant against San Francisco that they didn't really have to put forth, you know, everything that they had to come away to squeak out a close victory like the Rams have had

to do now in the last couple of weeks. And you just wonder how much a team like the Rams can handle the stress because this is going to be a really, really tough matcha from a tough environment. we know how hard it is to go into Seattle and win a game. But like I said, if there's a team that can do it, I think it is this team. It's just going to come down to rather than they have enough gas left in the tank to be able to pull it off. Folks, I know that a lot of you out there getting all of my references to 1990s football.

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Individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral monoxide and venousal and venesteroide. Feature products include compound drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality, prescription required. See website for details restrictions and important safety information. And once again, I feel like people are going to hear me say, this over and over. But when it comes to playoff success and the way that we tend to judge quarterbacks on their playoff success, it is always driven me crazy, Manny, because when you think about Sam Darnold's route last year and how they had to play week 18 while the Rams sat,

and then they had to travel after winning 14 games, everything kind of going against them there. And then a bad matchup versus a team with a great Super Bowl champ quarterback and maybe the best line in football. And then like how the turn tables for the Los Angeles Rams, how now they have to go out to Carolina, play a tough game, go out to Chicago, play an overtime game and now go against Seattle. Well, Seattle's been sitting at home and they didn't have any sort of difficult challenge. And Sam Darnold at the end of the game is rest in his little oblique over on the sideline as Drew Locke finishes out the game. It just couldn't have been any easier for Seattle this time around. And wow, Sam Darnold led a team to the NFC championship.

He must be a totally different guy, right? He must be totally clutch now and his nerves of steel, unlike last year. Now, I'm not trying to rewrite what happened. He didn't play well last year. I think it just speaks to the path matters. And hey, you know what? We should also apply this to the AFC as well, which I do want to get to, but I have a Sam Darnold question for you, Manny.

Now, we know that we've been over to enough times. the Vikings just by halfway through the season already knew and the fans knew, it was very, very clear that Sam Darnold was a very good quarterback and they should have high regrets that they turned the ball over to a quarterback who was not ready in J.J. McCarthy. But my question is, knowing that I think you and I agree about narratives, we've seen Tom Brady play terrible in playoff games. We've seen Steve Young get the monkey off his back, but that means why because he played bad in some playoff games right and jim kelly didn't win those super bowls i guess he wasn't any good you know Peyton manning we've gone through this a million times you and i through the

history there's lots there's lots of this but with sam darnold i will throw this out there stafford is on a different level than sam darnold in my mind as a quarterback who gets multiple chances to win a super bowl i don't know if there's going to be multiple chances for sam darnald i i think that this right here is the best chance he will ever have in his life. Do you think he can do it, manny? I think he can. The question is if he actually will, we're going to find out next week. But I think he can because this Seattle team that is surrounding him is so good on so many levels on defense especially, they just wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball. And they're, they're able to put this offense in really good positions to be successful. Now, Sam Darnold still

has to lead that offense. He still has to make some throws. They still have to run the ball with Walker. They still have one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in JSN. So, you know, they still have to go out and execute offensively. But the way this defense is so physical and so physical, and so fast and the way that they can just smother teams, which is what they've done now to the 49ers, the last two times that they've played the 49ers, they just completely shut them down, shut down Brock Purdy. And obviously they didn't have George Kittle this time around, but they had George Kittle in week 18 and the 49ers only got three points against them.

So this is a defense that is absolutely elite. You can win a championship with it. And I think I texted you a couple of weeks ago. I think it was after the C-Ox Niners game in Santa Clara. All Sam Donald really has to be is Brad Johnson in 2002 for the Buccaneers. He doesn't have to throw for 350 yards and a bunch of touchdowns. Just make some big throws in necessary moments. And don't torpedo your team.

That's really all Sam Donald has to do. And that team is as good. as anybody to be able to win the Super Bowl and get, get past the Rams, go to the Super Bowl and perform really well, winning in the 49ers stadium too. That would be extra salt on the wound for 49ers fans who are really upset right now.

But, yeah, I think he can do it. I think as long as he can make a couple of nice throws, don't, you know, completely sabotage his team, that I think the Seahawks have as good a chance as anybody. Well, and it feels to me if you want a little more modern of an example, because I totally agree with you. And for people like us, those are the examples that we always go back to his 90s, early 2000s, you know. But I mean, you don't have to look as far in recent years in the NFC with Jalen Hertz, where there's always seemingly these debates about how good Jalen Hertz actually is, which is the lowest hanging fruit of football discussion. but also the most interesting is how good is a quarterback, right?

And how much does their supporting cast matter and everything else? And we see Jalen Hertz still where people think that he's not a very good quarterback despite two trips to the Super Bowl. But what no quarterback should have to apologize for is having a great supporting cast. Oh, I'm sorry. My whole team won just like at always does. Consider the fact that Patrick Mahomes is not in the playoffs right now. Buffalo lost to a Denver team, you know,

quarterbacked by someone that certainly isn't Josh Allen. Like this happens all the time because one team is more complete or, you know, referees decide on the rules where there was a Rams play that looked kind of similar. And I, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. We can talk about that. I don't know what the hell of catch is anymore. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, we've never really known. But I think the only thing we know is true is that the people who say, you know, the NFL's ratings are going to be hurt by these past interferences. No, they're not. No, they're not. We do know that. And we always have known that life ain't fair in the playoffs. That is for absolutely sure. But the point just being that, you know, Jalen Hertz and other guys who Jared Gough went to a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams have been there without being the best quarterback in the NFL because this is not tennis. It's not golf. It's not an individual sport. And for Sam Darnold, having the strongest team is not something he has to. apologize for, but it is something we should be asking, hey, wait a minute, I was told that you couldn't build a team around Sam Darnold because that was going to be too hard. And I know it's not apples to apples, but when we look at that Seattle construction of their roster, a complete

defensive line, a complete secondary, a backfield, I mean, they are an offensive line that drafted a first round guard who's become a star on that offensive line. You have to be impressed by the way they built around him and there was no better option in this world for Sam Donald than to land with the Seahawks and it really is shown and now he's got the best chance that he will ever have on the AFC side talk about best chances. Drake May was the guy that there is no doubt in my mind, Manny, that Kevin O'Connell wanted that they wanted to trade up. They were dying to get Drake May.

They would have offered whatever it took and I believe they did. and the New England Patriots, for reasons such as gestures at today, decided not to do it. And to have that Texans defense, you know, you can look at his stat line and go, well, you know, it wasn't really that great. Was it truly, you know, he threw an interception. He got stripped a couple times. He got sacked against that defense, Manny.

It was that great. It was Drake May. They couldn't run having to find a way. And he finds a booty for the long touchdown. He finds Diggs for the tight window touchdown. It's a crazy classic Stefan Diggs catch. Also, Garrett Bradbury snapping in the ball. Boy, the football gods really set this up for Vikings fans to be pretty ticked off,

watching a lot of their former players. But the way that Drake May played against that defense, truly the stuff of legends, man, I don't think there's any other way you could put it. And think about sort of the pressure that. that Drake May is kind of wearing as he is now the guy, the franchise quarterback of the New England Patriots. I mean, he's, you know, it's a few years removed from Tom Brady being gone, but he's still, you know, the legend of Tom Brady and everything that he and Bill

Belichick did with the Patriots for 20 plus years is very still recent in the minds of so many Patriot fans and people that follow that team. So Drake made a step in. into this, you know, position where they win the division, you know, they're a top two seed in the AFC. There's expectations that come with that now. And, you know, I was kind of wondering maybe if the Patriots were maybe a year or so ahead of schedule because they made this dramatic improvement this year, bouncing back from last year. But to wear the sort of the weight of that on his shoulders.

I think he's handled it like an absolute pro. And, you know, to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, there's a certain maturity that I think you have to have to really be able to lead a team to be successful even at a young age. And Drake May has shown that so far. I mean, even his post-game interview with Lisa Salters afterwards was just, it's magnificent. And he spoke like a guy who'd been in the league for 10 years.

It was really, really impressive. And the guy just has the makeup of a winner. And that's what you're looking for. And you see that happen to your point. Now you understand why the Vikings were so gung-ho on trying to get him. But the Patriots looked at him and said, no, we'll take him. We want him too. We'll just take them.

And here they are. And they're going to have a great opportunity. Tough environment to go into to Denver to win, even if it's whether it's Bo Nix or rather it's going to be, you know, Jared Stidham, which it's going to be now. But I think the Patriots have have the makings of a team that can go to the Super Bowl and things go their way too. They can actually win it too.

And that's for Drake made to be a second year quarterback. And if that happens, that's the stuff legends are made of, man. But he gets to go play Jared Stidham. I mean, isn't that, again, making that same exact point of, like, Like, hey, if it was playing Bo Nix, it would be harder. But I don't think it's a guarantee. I don't know what to expect from Jared Stidham, but I think that Denver's defense does make that incredibly difficult now having to travel to the Mile High Stadium, which I'll always

call it, when you've just played against the Houston Texans. But we can't just move on from this without talking about the Texans. And look, I think that well, Drake May is the A1 story here, some of the plays he made, the clutch drive at the end that was really the dagger. The throat of booty is just, wow. I mean, superstar type of stuff right off the bat in his career. Their defense played absolutely great against C.J. Stroud. But also, Manny, C.J. Stroud threw them the football like they were on his team.

I mean, there were several plays where he's just way behind where the guy is supposed to be. One of the interceptions hit the guy in the hands. And that was unfortunate. But last week, we both said, what is? up with CJ Stroud and the number of turnover worthy plays or straight up turnovers that he had against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then he, we said if he plays that way again, they will lose the football game. And he did.

Now the message I got the most for Vikings fans today was, hey, can we trade for CJ Stroud now? And I thought, well, I mean, look, they can't. I don't think after this, I don't like to judge things as you know on the playoffs. But I think of this season as a whole, there was a lot of C.J. Stroud raised the eyebrow. I mean, let's not forget, Davis Mills really helped them get back into the playoff race after that really terrible start. And then Stroud came back and started playing a lot better. But Stroud has had some injuries that really raise a question.

And I thought today that C.J. Stroud's arc kind of looks a little like Tua, where Tua was still making plays sometimes and winning games. sometimes, but something just looked off with him. And that's how it felt with Stroud. And I don't know if the injuries take the toll or, you know, just the confidence starts to wane or if it's just, you know, Nico Collins and not having his guy at 100% that, you know, out there, like that he's had connections with. But even Nico was there last week and he was still doing this stuff. And earlier in the season, he was there and he's still doing this stuff with turning the football over, taking too many hits, being a little bit behind. I mean, I guess I'll ask you. way, like, are you interested in them calling the Houston Texans? I am, I would be very,

very concerned myself. I think the Texans will just keep him and probably slap the fifth year option on him, kind of like Carolina with Bryce Young, where you can't be sold, but you also don't really want to be out on a guy that's gotten you to the playoffs. But I think that his future in Houston has to be a little bit up in the air after this performance. It's such a tough situation for them to be in because they have built much like Seattle and much like Denver. They have built an absolute,

no doubt, championship level defense with the two edge rushers, you know, with Rankins in the middle of that defensive line, linebackers, the corners are just absolutely excellent, led by Derek Stingley. I, you have a defense like that

and we talk so many times about how, the windows for a championship level defense can kind of close at times. You usually will probably get like a three-year window where that defense is at its best. We kind of saw that with Mike Zimmer's defense here with the Vikings, where from like 2015 to 2018 was probably the window for them to win with that core being at its best. and if you don't cash in, then you need your quarterback to really kind of step in and step up and kind of be the number one guy

that's going to sort of cover up for some shortcomings that your defense may face as they get a little bit older and guys start moving on. What are the Houston Texans going to do when they get to that point? If they can't get over the hump, which right now is the divisional round for them, because they've been able to win playoff games in all three years that C.J. Stroud has been with them, but they can't get over this divisional round hump.

And eventually, they're going to feel like they need to get over that hump. And is C.J. Stroud going to be good enough for them to be able to do that. And if he's not, are they going to get put in a situation kind of like the Vikings were in 2018, where they had to go out and spend big money in free agency on a quarterback that, may or may not be good enough to get them over that hump, and then you're talking about all these different salary cap situations, or if they decide to pay C.J. Stroud himself and extend him, which, you know, is a really tricky situation.

So I would not, if I'm them, I'm with you, I would not want to completely give up on him now. But the last two seasons, I mean, he was great as a rookie, but his last two seasons, it's kind of been just this, you know, and maybe you could even argue just doing these last two games, it's gone down a little bit with all the turnovers. So I don't know.

It's a tough situation. I don't know what they're going to be able to do about it. I guess they're going to have to use 2026 to try and figure out, like, is this a guy that we can rely on to lead our franchise going forward? because at some point, this defense is not going to be as good as it is right now. And it's fantastic right now. But at some point, they're not going to be this good because DeNeil Hunter is going to get a little bit older. And once the defense starts to tail off, you're going to need your quarterback to step it up a level.

And we'll see if it's C.J. Stroud, if he can do that or not. We also know that those San Francisco influenced teams like Domeco Ryan's, they tend to get banged up because they play insanely. physical and we saw that from San Francisco in recent years. And they were lucky this year when it came to the injuries. They had most of their players healthy going into the playoff game. You're not always going to have that on a defense. And that can certainly impact a defense's performance if they're not at 100%. It's just one of those again where things kind of lined up for them pretty well. And they got a bunch of turnovers from their quarterback. And most of them were just his fault. They were bad throws. They were bad decisions. And sometimes it was right there in front of him. And, you know, there were good

plays mixed in there. But it felt much more like the first interception is just a total panic. You could throw it at somebody's feet. Oh, okay, that bootleg, we see that bootleg get blown up all the time. What usually happens is a quarterback throws it out of bounds. That's why those bootlegs are so great, man. He is you could just be like, we, okay, all right, play over and go on to the next one. And he just flings it up into the air toward a receiver gets intercepted. And as you're like, And then the same thing happens with, I mean, maybe I'm getting my interceptions like mixed up. Because there was another bootleg where it got blown up. Maybe I'm thinking of that where it gets tipped up in the air for the pick six.

And that's another one where you could just dirt the ball. So maybe it was that one. Both plays under pressure, though, are both just freakouts by C.J. Strout. And that's what made me wonder about some of the hits and the injuries that he has accrued over the last couple of years. For me personally, I would be very, very concerned if Houston was putting him up for sale. You know, if they said, we don't want them, we'll trade them to you. If you're the Vikings, I'd be like, no, that means you know something. Otherwise, this was supposed to be your

guy. But they, they fired Bobby Slowick. You know, they went out and revamp their offensive line because they blamed everybody else except for C.J. Stroud. And he kind of made them wrong on that, because they had a good enough supporting cast to win this game potentially, or at least be in it until the end. They really weren't. So that is an odd situation that we'll be watching. going into the future here. If you could do me a small favor, Mani, if you have a chance, because my situation here recording, I can't really do this. Can you check on FanDuel for me, what the odds are so we can go over that at the end

of the show here? Because there's one more thing I want to get to, just the odds for those, for the championship games, where those games are opening. Brian Flores, there was a significant step in the Brian Flores story that probably got overlooked because of the insanity of this weekend. which was that the Pittsburgh Steelers brought him back for a second interview, which to me says that is not checking a Rooney rule box. That is, we are very serious about potentially hiring Brian Flores.

And if you get to the second interview, most of the time, that means you're a finalist. Like they don't, I mean, they're going to do a lot of interviews and they may have a lot of second interviews with people. But normally, man, it's, they have one interview. If you're just sort of there's someone they're checking in with, or if they already have their idea and they just want to make sure, okay, we're just going to do a few more interviews because we have to buy the rules. But second interview, that means that the Pittsburgh Steelers are very serious about Brian

Flores. And there's some awkward timing here where if you wait around for that answer and Durante Jones goes to the Cowboys or the Jets, I mean, you may end up with having to totally overhaul your defensive coordinator position rather than just kind of hand it off to the the next guy in line. But this is the first time since Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the National Football League that someone has given him a second interview. And I think that's a big deal. And he really does fit a lot of things that the Pittsburgh Steelers have used as criteria in the past. He's hard-nosed. It fits the city. If it's what the franchise wants to be, three, four,

rooted defense. We know that. And kind of has that leadership edge that Bill Cowher had with his snarl or, you know, Mike Tomlin's kind of stoic, you know, on the sideline. I think that Flores has a lot of those traits. I would now not be shocked if the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to do this. I would not be shocked either because it feels, to your point, it feels like a perfect fit. And, you know, Brian Flores is a guy that I would imagine has probably learned a little bit from his last experiences being a head coach from, you know, dealing with the Miami Dolphins and you kind of see where the dolphins have gone since he'd left.

I mean, they made the playoffs a couple times, but they're kind of, they're already going on to a new head coach since then. And so, I mean, he's just, I think because he's such a great defensive mind and he's experienced so many different organizations now, obviously coming up through New England, but also getting the opportunity to coach in Pittsburgh. for that one year with under Mike Tomlin, under an assistant role, and then being here in Minnesota for the last three years. He's been around the block now, and he's still, you know, a young guy that's kind of in his

early 40s, so he still has a lot more, you know, a lot more years of coaching in front of him to get even better. And this, it feels like a Pittsburgh Steelers type of move where, because they've done this so many times before, the last three head coaches they had were young guys. that ended up being there for a really long time, won championships. You know, it's an organization that likes stability, discipline like you talked about. It just makes a ton of sense for Brian Flores. And we'll see how it plays out.

It's going to be interesting. I got to say, the last, and I know Chicago didn't make it, but man, did they put in one heck of a fight. The last several weeks since the Vikings were eliminated, feels like someone has taken a slingshot and just thrown rocks at the faces of all Vikings fans with this organization where it's headed. I mean, Bo Nix, I know he's not going to get to play in the AFC championship game, but that's a guy that your head coach decided didn't want him, wanted the other guy. Sam Darnold's there. Brian Flores on to a second head coaching interview and taking lateral move.

I mean, he doesn't work here now. Like he's a free agent. He could go work wherever the heck he wants. And it seems like he's working fairly hard on not working here next year. And then your other guy that you like is going and interview in other places and knowing Durante probably making a pretty good impression. And you're sitting here asking, all right, that's what you're dealing with with Caleb Williams in the playoffs, probably for the next decade.

Let's just be real. And he's going to improve this offseason. He's going to take this and get better. I will say I was wrong about Caleb Williams in terms of his resilience. because I didn't see it at USC and people change and people grow up. And if you want to make a case for J.J. McCarthy, well, there it is. That Caleb Williams took a huge step. Of course, Caleb Williams is way more talented.

And he was the number one pick and a great draft with all sorts of super talents for a reason. And McCarthy was the fifth quarterback for a reason. So you feel like you're looking at other quarterbacks. Maybe you're thinking about Mack Jones. Maybe you're thinking about, I don't know, Gino Smith. I won't even say the guy everybody doesn't like, even though it's really realistic in Arizona. None of that feels good.

I'm watching Kirk on TV thinking, well, I should be prepping for what to ask him in his introductory press conference when he returns to Minnesota and then finishes fourth in the division because the division is a monster. I don't know how to silver line any of this, man. They have a lot of really good players, but they don't have Seattle. And even though I will tell you over and over, and it's true, that the reason they haven't drafted great is mostly because they haven't had draft picks. But you look at Seattle and you go,

well, there's Emanware and there's Zabel and there's Walker and Charbonnet's pretty good too. And there's Byron Murphy, who's great. And you go, Seattle did a competitive rebuild, but they didn't take all their draft picks and throw them at other veteran players. They didn't acquire Cam Acres multiple times. I don't know. I shouldn't.

They didn't give up anything for Camakers, but you get the point. Like, man, there's a team with so many young talents. And then they mix that with free agents. And there's the Rams who did a competitive rebuild. And look at where they are with their quarterback and how good he is. Oh, they paid him weird, but he's still there because he's really good. And then they went and got Devante Adams, but they drafted Nakuwa. They drafted that defensive line.

They drafted some of their offensive linemen. I mean, it's just tough to look around and go, oh, yeah, the Vikings, everything feels fine. Feels like they're on their way back after watching what we've seen here. And then with Flores leaving, that's kind of your saving grace. That's your cheat code because I don't think they've shown to have a cheat code at the head coach position or the quarterback whisperer position. So what's your cheat code if you don't have Brian Flores? Will Reichard? I mean, that I would agree with.

But aside from that, it looks like, and where's the money to work with? where's the draft capital to work with? It just, I gotta tell you, man, it just feels like all, when all the eggs get put in one basket and that basket does not work out, they, they really, really their best chances still to just that J.J. McCarthy turns it around. That still remains their best, uh, their best chance. So that's kind of how I've been feeling. If you want to add to that, please go ahead.

But if you have those fan dual numbers, I would love to know that, uh, as well before we wrap up. Yeah, I'll just add a little bit. I just think the Vikings need to get lucky. Something needs to go their way this off season. If that's getting Kyler Murray and he just shows up and he's fantastic and he's so much better than what we thought, maybe that's it. You know, it's kind of what we saw with Sam Darnold in 2024. You know, there were low expectations.

The thought was just, hey, bring this guy in to be kind of the veteran guy while McCarthy gets ready, pay him 10 million bucks, and he'll probably start out, but, you know, eventually they'll go to McCarthy and Sam Darnel blew us all away. He was, he was fantastic the whole season. Maybe that's Kyler Murray in 2026. I don't know, but I think it's going to take something like that, I think, for people to feel a lot better. Or it's going to take a huge, huge major leap from JJ McCarthy, which honestly I'm not super optimistic about. But, okay, the fan dual numbers. So for the AFC championship game,

Patriots at Broncos, the spread is five and a half for the Patriots. The Patriots are favored by five and a half and the over and I think. I think that that actually says how strong the Broncos are. That

they're going to play a backup quarterback and it's only five and a half. And it's a lot of respect for their coaching and their defense and And also weirdly, I think Jared Stidham will be okay. I don't know why I think that because I actually have never watched a Jared Stidham football game. I think the last time he played was like two years ago. And I think I may have seen a preseason game that he was in.

This guy has not had very many opportunities. Yet guys who have practiced time, imagine that, they do tend to develop. And I mean, what a stage for him to come out. it feels like though their defense and the atmosphere can keep them in that game. That's my initial feeling is like that's actually kind of low considering that it's a backup quarterback. What's the other game? The other game, the NFC championship game, Ram C Hawks is right now. It's Seattle favored by two and a half.

Okay. We'll see where that one goes throughout the week over there on Fandul. We'll keep track of that. And we will have a hardcore breakdown along with some of our best championship. moments of our life, Manny, to talk about later on this week and whatever develops with the Minnesota Vikings, but I appreciate you adjusting your time around. My schedule had some life stuff to do this weekend and found a way to watch every minute of every game, but it was a bit of a challenge, found a way to rip off a couple of podcasts here, but it was a challenge

and people get the newsletter at Purple Insider dot football, but that's, you know, working on that still. So I really appreciate you, Mani, though, working around the schedule. Thank you for your time and helping me out here. And we will talk again on Thursday. Thanks, dude. You got it. Football. Football.