Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Darnold drives Vikings to victory in Seattle

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Matthew Coller and Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press talk about the Vikings impressive win over the Seattle Seahawks and what it means that they are 13-2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome into Seattle. Matthew Collar along with Dane Mizutani here in the Seattle Seahawks press box following the Minnesota Vikings win over Seattle in absolutely mind-blowing fashion. I would say to start, we could just point out that this was maybe the most fun game of the entire season, back and forth, both teams, big plays, big turnovers, big sacks, big touchdown passes. It had everything you wanted. And then when we got to the end and the Vikings needed a drive from Sam Darnold. I got to tell you, Dane, if I didn't even say who was here, Dane Mizutani, Pioneer Press, Matthew Collar.

I was thinking they're going to win this game. When Sam Darnold got the ball and had a chance to go put his team ahead in the final moments, he has done it so many times this season that I was actually quite confident it was going to happen. And then when it did happen, it happened in a way that I don't think any of us could have even ever anticipated. So what we just learned in the locker room was that Justin Jefferson kind of

went rogue in the best possible way. As a wide receiver, he did not run the route that he was supposed to run. Instead, he saw space in front of him. He threw up the mailbox, Randy Moss style, and Sam Darnold was escaping and saw him and put the ball right on him for the game-winning score. Not only that, we also learned, Dane,

that the headset went out because we were looking and we were watching them going, hey, what's going on? What's going on? They're trying to figure out, hey, is there something wrong down there? Well, yes, the headset went out on Sam Darnold and he got a play called in anyway and was aware enough that he should not call a timeout, could not waste the time out there, and ends up scrambling on the play where the headset went out and still gaining positive yards. So having the presence of mind to not panic, not freak out when the headset went out, get a play call off the top of his head in that everybody would feel comfortable

with, and then make a positive play out of that, that ultimately led to the game-winning throw from Sam Darnold. My goodness. What a performance from Sam Darnold in the biggest moment as has happened so many times so far this season. And now the Vikings, I'll say it in a few different ways, just like I did last week and then get your opening thoughts here, Dane, but they're 13 and two, they're 13-2. They, my friends, are 13-2 as they go to face the Green Bay Packers in the biggest game of the year. Wow. That's all I got, Dane.

Wow. Unbelievable. And just the continued poise that Sam Darnold shows in these moments, it is incredible. And I think the fact that we werearnold shows in these moments. It is incredible. And I think the fact that we were both sitting there in the press box, you guys were probably sitting there at home on your couch. There were probably some fans at Lumen field here, sitting there in the stands when the Vikings get the ball back with four

minutes left. The fact that all of us are probably thinking like, I think they can win this game. Actually, I think they will win this game. Actually, I think they will win this game. Really speaks to the poise that he continues to show, and I think the evolution of him as a player in this league. He was 22 of 35 today for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and that stat line doesn't even do it justice.

There was a slog in between there um right after halftime until they kind of delivered the knockout blow but the fact even that you can start fast you can have that slog and not be consumed by it and then when you absolutely have to have it chips on the table you're trailing tough environment weather has been kind of crappy spitting rain all day the the lumen lumen field like last week they sold all their tickets to the packers they did not do that this week it was crazy um and the fact that in that moment he can rise and overcome the crowd noise the the elements the headset going out on Kevin O'Connell, and then get the face mask call that it's a little fitting that they get a face mask call against an NFC West opponent.

And then on the very next play, like Collar mentioned, have the presence of mind to see that Justin Jefferson has freelanced and deliver a ball. It's really a microcosm of his growth as a player and just the star that he has turned into this year he is a star at the quarterback position we can go there at this point they're 13 and 2 because they have a star at the quarterback position yeah i don't need to get into the whole thing and we'll talk about that about him and his future and everything else but i certainly thought in that moment when he makes that play once again, off script and once again, finding a way when things break down and that's

what the special quarterbacks in the NFL do. That's what Josh Allen does. That's what Matthew Stafford did in taking his team to a Superbowl. That's what we see Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. They are the ones that can make something happen when nothing is there, when the play has broken down, which it clearly did. And he, I'm guessing that Sam Darnold did not really see Justin Jefferson until he had made his way out into some space there and then has so much arm strength and athleticism. The athleticism about Sam Darnold, it's usually just talked about as in pure speed, but it's also the ability to twist your body or not be in perfect position

with your feet. And with that one, there's no way he was in perfect position with his feet. And he was still able to just snap the ball down all the way down the sideline for that play because he just spotted Jefferson there. And Jefferson didn't want to talk too much about it because he knew that he didn't run the route that he was supposed to run. But he also has the presence of mind himself to know, you know, this play is probably designed for Jordan Addison or TJ Hawkinson. I see that they mess something up in the coverage. I'm just going to run all the way deep and then see if Sam Darnold can maybe spot me. That's another thing where they've become dynamic in working with each other.

And they started building this chemistry all the way back in training camp and in OTAs. And I remember talking about it with you that, you know, if there was one thing that was going to give them a chance this year, it was going to be the fact that Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson were on the same page with each other. And this was the ultimate they're on the same page type of moment. And there were a few times during this season where we wondered, ah, our team's able to take Jefferson out when they put all of their attention and all of their coverage onto Justin Jefferson is Sam Darnold kind of letting them take Jefferson out of it. Well, I guarantee Seattle was doing a lot

of that today, but the couple of opportunities that they got one is a touchdown, which is another incredible throw by Sam Darnold that we were joking in the press box that if Darnold had just walked the ball up and handed it to Jefferson, it wouldn't have been more accurate than the actual throw he made on the first touchdown. So this game, once again, we are walking out of talking about how Sam Darnold has played like a superstar quarterback and is the reason that they're 13-2. And as the season has gone along and the defense has bagged up, they did not have Harrison Smith today. They had Levi Drake Rodriguez in there because they didn't have Jalen Redman.

There were other injuries. Ivan Pace Jr. they don't have. So Josh Metellus has to step up and play linebacker. And they did get worn down. And Geno Smith did beat them with some of his great receivers because they have great wide receivers too. This was always a game that was going to be who comes up with the most clutch play at the biggest time. And that person was Sam Darnold again. And how many times now this season have we been able to say that even when the defense was imperfect,

there wasn't any running game. He had to grind through at times where maybe the, the, the, you know, the rain or the circumstances or even Seattle's talented defense was getting in the way. And yet he continued to overcome and overcome again. And that is something that you expect with a quarterback that has no limitations that you have to put on them. Instead, they are the ones that can lead you to a 13 and two season. And I think that as, as we continue the conversation and we'll circle back to Darnold, we need to talk about what it means to be 13 and freaking two for the Minnesota Vikings. Kevin O'Connell now has two 13 win seasons in his first three years. So I think that maybe some of the, um, tweets and things that everybody had at the end of the first half,

when they were still winning, uh, about how he shouldn't be coach of the year or whatever. Maybe you need to go back and delete those. This is kind of mind blowing success. When you think about where they were stuck in the mud of mediocrity, when Kevin O'Connell got here, sorry, if there's some smashing behind us, they're cleaning up the suites and stuff behind us. But, uh, when he got here, this was just middle of the road.

Every season was up and down, but in the hunt at the end and never really talking about the possibility of a team that could compete for a championship. Now, this is the second time they go into the playoffs with at least 13 wins, an opportunity to get to 15 wins. What Kevin O'Connell has done as the head coach of this team, the way they've come together, the way the defense has come up with big plays, the way the quarterback plays with such incredible

confidence. Now, I don't really know a great way to describe it other than this is what you dream of when you hire a coach. This is what you get when you hire an Andy Reid, a John Harbaugh. O'Connell has pushed himself into that same category among the best coaches in the league. And this is just an unbelievable job to have them here in this position. Yeah, you talk about culture and a lot of times culture can seem like a buzzword. And I think the times that it seems like a buzzword are when you can't see it like manifest in different ways on the field. I think it becomes kind of a punchline because a lot of the times these coaches come in, they talk about culture, and then they just kind of middle away

throughout their or meander their way throughout their coaching career. Like there is a tangible impact that the culture that he has worked so hard to establish since he started taking over with the Vikings. There is a tangible impact, not only in the locker room, outside of the locker room, but that also translates onto the field. And I think it's why you can have a guy like Sam Darnold come in, who everyone has written off, and he can still find ways to to win games early in the season and then when he it looks like he's maybe or people have started to

write him off like it's he can push through and continue I think it's because there is this culture this this belief that Kevin O'Connell has still instilled throughout the team um that can't really be quantified in enough words. It's just, it's a feeling, it's a vibe. These guys truly want to pull on the same rope. They want to win for each other in the locker room. And that's not always the case in the NFL. So I think when you get a guy like that as the leader of your team,

who is just so steadfast in his message um you start to see it really come together um sorry about the noise hopefully these mics are are doing a good job drowning it out but seriously with kevin o'connell we ask him every week about like going you know have you let yourself think too far down the road have you let yourself think about winning the nfc north the eagles lost today have you let yourself think about winning the NFC North? The Eagles lost today. Have you let yourself think about that? If you go to a no the next two weeks, you're the number one seed. No questions asked. No tiebreakers needed. And he has just continued to say like one to know each week, one to know each week. It's a cliche until it isn't like now it's just a mindset. It's

a reality that he has instilled, almost a reality he has invented inside this locker room where all of these guys they truly aren't looking any further than the game in front of them now deep down like do some of these guys feel like if i'm sure they're thinking if we win the next two games we're the number one seed in the nfc but i think the way they prepare like they aren't letting themselves think much further than Green Bay now because of this, this culture, this reality, like this vibe that he has fostered and worked so hard to foster. He's the coach of the year with a bullet for sure for me. But he is truly three years in already establishing himself as one of the best coaches in franchise history. And I don't think that's

an argument. It's funny because I thought that I would be coming out of the game when we were starting to walk down to the locker room. I thought that we would be coming out of the game talking only about that touchdown pass, but I didn't realize that the headset had gone out. And I feel like when you're trying to distill these moments of what makes someone a great coach. That's one that I think you could really point to because when the headset does go out and there is chaos and there was a really good amount of Vikings fans here, but judging by last week and the go pack go thing, they were not going to sell all their tickets this week. And it's a long flight, which I have to take home at midnight tonight. But, uh, you know, this is a place that was ready to kind of prove behind its team that was fighting for the playoffs.

Hey, we can get loud still. And we're still the 12 and all that sort of stuff. And it was extremely loud in that moment. And here's Sam Darnold, well coached, not freaking out and calling a timeout because the headset went out, which it probably wouldn't have made a difference at the end of the day, but he understood that that was something that he couldn't do, that he was prepared for that. And the fact that they were able to take on their own, basically like KOC is headsets out. There's not a bunch he can do right there. And Darnold has to say, I'm the leader of this team. I'm not going to wait around to fix the headset. I'm going to make a play here.

I'm going to get everybody on the same page. And then off we go and was able to make a play out of that. That just says about how prepared they are and how ready they were. And even on the defensive side, there were some really tough moments in this game. But to have someone like Theo Jackson come through, someone we've been talking about since training camp, it just hasn't gotten much opportunity. And then they start Bobby McCain, which I suspect is because he plays the same position during practice, whereas Theo Jackson plays more of a Josh Metellus role. And McCain is a good communicator. He's been around longer than Theo Jackson.

But as the game went on, we saw more and more of Theo Jackson in the game. And then he's the one that comes up with the big play. This is sort of checking all the boxes of what a great football team has, right? Multiple different ways that you can win. Many people who have to contribute to a game. Will Riker deserves a shout out for this. It's not easy to kick 53-yard bombs in the rain and here in this weather. And yet Will Riker came through as well.

A lot of different contributors. Ryan Wright pulled off a really good punt at the end that pinned Seattle back. Then they jump offside, and then they're panicking right from that moment, and Geno Smith ends up throwing an interception. So this was one where you could go through and pinpoint all the different moments of the different performances where somebody had to step up to lead to where they were with Sam Darnold to make that play to Justin Jefferson. And I feel like there's been a lot of games that have happened that way, but this was an important one to me because you can bring out the thing about, well,

they haven't beat anybody, that kind of deal, which if you look at the league and the standings, there's not a lot of teams that have tons of wins against other teams that have 13 wins because the league is just split right down. Well, not the middle, but split to the great teams. And then there's a couple who are fighting for spots. It's not many, mostly in one division. And then it's a lot of bad teams. Like every single team's record might be a little inflated by how bad two thirds of the NFL is. But this was a difficult environment against the team that was fighting for its life and has a ton of talent. Jackson Smith, Najigba is going to be good for many years. DK Metcalf can still play. We saw Tyler Lockett show up. They've got like five tight ends that make plays. They have a defense that makes plays. They have corners who are good and pass rushers who are good and they stopped the run very well today. So I really wanted to see, well, how do

they match up against the team that they actually could see in the playoffs under certain circumstances or that is of the same caliber of playoff teams and they were they were a play better than that and uh in this environment on the road to have them come out like that and make the big plays at the biggest moments i think says a lot about them as they continue to prove each week how strong they really are yeah and like i hesitate to make too much out of one win because there's 17 of these things i get it one win does not mean you're going to now win the super bowl but i thought what justin jefferson said after the game really kind of hit home it was he said these type of games are what make championship teams and i think that's fair. You have to find a way when certain things aren't going your way,

or you have to find a way when stuff gets hard during the game, or you have to find a way when maybe some other teams might pack their bags and say, you know, not our day. Our offense is stalled out. Our defense is tired. We're now trailing in the game. You have to find a way. And the Vikings did that.

So I'm not going to sit here and say they've beat the Seattle Seahawks in week 16. They're now going to win the Super Bowl. But I think these are wins that if they do go on a run, you look back at that Seattle game in December, three days before Christmas, and you say that was a huge character moment for this team. I think it was, and I think every time now they step onto the field, I mean, they've won 13 games. Of course they're going to feel like they can win, but I think there is just a growing confidence

that you're seeing within this team, and they're still at the same time preaching that message that Kevin O'Connell continues to preach, which is let's go one and oh this week. So it's kind of like a duality of they're, they're growing and you can see the confidence growing. Um, but they're still very, very focused on the task at hand. And I think that is going to translate come playoff time. Um, and maybe in the next two weeks when, when, I mean, there won't be two bigger games on the NFL schedule over the next two weeks, um, with the Vikings facing the Packers and the

Vikings facing the lions. Um, so to see kind of it all coming together, like it is pretty incredible how they've managed to start the year with so little external expectation, kind of lean into that. And as things have steadily grown and as more people have hopped on and as more believers have been made, they're still kind of operating the same way they have since back in July. It goes back to what we were talking about with Kevin O'Connell. But really now I think this team as a whole has just hit another level in terms of what they feel like they can do. Let's go back to the beginning of this game though, and kind of pick it apart a little bit. Cause that's the big picture. The big picture is your football team. The Minnesota Vikings are very much true Superbowl contenders. I mean, even if they do not win the next two games,

they still have 13 wins in this season, which is really remarkable. Think about Detroit had a pretty easy day today. Philadelphia lost, which isn't super relevant to the Vikings. We always knew that they could just win three and then they would get that one seed. But there were some circumstances where maybe there could be a tiebreaker for Philadelphia, but now there are none for Philadelphia because they lose against Washington and Jalen Hurts got hurt, which might or might not end up being relevant as we go down the stretch and into the playoffs for Philadelphia. But it's right there in front of them, win two more games,

and you get a bye week and home field throughout the playoffs, which is a gargantuan advantage. And they were able to check off another box and we'll see, but maybe the toughest box to check, I guess, depending on what happens next week, next week might be harder against green Bay, but at least it's in your own building. Uh, whereas this one took a lot of travel and everything else. So, uh, going back to the beginning of the game though, it looked like Darnold was pretty sharp to start the game. And it also looked like there was going to be a running game for the Vikings. They got the ball there in Jones quite a bit. He threw underneath and the opening script, so to speak, even though it's not exactly a real thing,

but the opening philosophy to start the game appeared to be that they wanted to stay on the field a lot more. And that has been an issue throughout the year, the time of possession, having opponents have the ball a lot more, but that petered out as they went along, but to be able to start out running the ball, a couple of successful drives and they get up in the game, cause a turnover. Uh, I thought that there was a moment there where they could have run away from them. Dallas Turner gets an interception. I believe, did they turn that into a turnover or into a field goal or a touchdown? One of them, there was, yeah, it was a field goal, right? That was one of them that I thought, ah, that was one where you kind of look back at, ah, you can't open the door

too many times. But Dallas Turner coming up with another big play, which is three, four, five weeks in a row now that he's gotten a lot of reps and has come up with some big plays on the defensive side. But then the end of the first half where they had outplayed them for the first half, Darnold throws the dime for a touchdown. They went three and out, gave Gino the ball back. He drives down to make it 17-14. That is where I thought you really need that one more drive today. And it just didn't come easily to them. Even the game-winning drive did not come easily.

They had to get face-masked for that. And there were a lot of different even looks that Seattle gave them that seemed like maybe Darnold wasn't quite as sharp. There were some pressures that got through against him. The end of the first half, though, was an opportunity for them to really extend the lead and get way out ahead. And they weren't able to do that. I'm not trying to make that into some bigger point, just that that's how this game played out, that it ends up being as close as it was in the end because they were not able to take advantage of the end of the first half. Yeah. And that, I guess that is fair. Like

as soon as Dallas Turner gets that interception, say he runs that back, obviously the game is way different, but you're often struts back on the field to that point had had a lot of success or a decent amount of success. You'd already put 14 points up on the board you get that interception right out and then you go four plays for negative three yards leaves something to be desired a little bit and then you you punt it away and you allow the Seattle Seahawks to go 88 yards and five plays just kind of gashing your secondary yeah you would like a little bit more of a killer instinct there if you're nitpicking this game but at the same time like that's a team on the other side that's fighting for their lives and i think when you see kind of the conversations being had on twitter at that time or on social media like you can almost tend to forget at times like the other team gets paid and like the other team is going to keep

playing football. So it didn't surprise me this game became close. I did think, like you said, there was an opportunity for the Vikings to just kind of do what they did last week against the Bears and just put this thing away. Maybe by the middle of the third quarter, the Seahawks are kind of dipping their shoulders, hanging their heads. It did not play out like that. And really, it was kind of a slog.

I mentioned it earlier. Neither team really looked like they wanted to take control of the game or if they were capable of taking control of the game. Some of that has to do with the Vikings defense before they got tired, stepping up the Seahawks defense, stepping up in moments, kind of a punt fest there for a little bit. But I keep going back to it when, when all of a sudden the game has played out in a way where you thought you were going to run away, you did not. And then you find yourself trailing on the road late in the fourth quarter. You would like a less stressful win. But I think you learned a lot about yourselves,

and we learned a lot about this team because of the way it played out, regardless of the fact that, yeah, had a couple things gone differently, they could have run away with this thing right from the jump. So overall, there are going to be areas that I think when they go back and watch the film, they can point to and say, like, we can fix that. We can fix that. We need to do this better. We need to do that better.

But at the same time, that's a good place to be sitting 13-2, still feeling like your best game's out there. Not bad because you're going to need your best game here over the next month, month and a half. Gifting is hard, but here's a hint. Give the gift of connection from U.S. Cellular. Not sure what that means? Here's a slightly more specific hint.

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I thought that it was just Kevin O'Connell trying to score at the end of the half, which he always does, but the fact that Seattle was getting the ball back at the start of the second half, it made it even more obvious to try to be aggressive there. Seattle had timeouts, and when they had their drive, they cruised down the field on that one. And that's where if we are nitpicking away a little bit though, I would say that I don't have any problem with the way that O'Connell handled that, but the consistency of

the running game has been very all over the place. There have been some games this year where I thought the other team couldn't stop their run and they didn't run enough. And that was against Chicago, for example, where they could have run it all day long and Chicago wasn't stopping it. They didn't feel like playing football anyway. So they, you could have just continued to hammer away at them and, you know, they kept passing and passing and passing. Okay. Fair enough today though, there just wasn't a lot of success in the ground game. They were able to get a couple yards here or there, but there weren't really any explosives, and they have been lacking an explosiveness in the run game in general that has put a pass on that same drive to Jalen Naylor where the cornerback jumped on his back and wrote him for like five yards. But there just wasn't a lot of flags when it came to that today, the pass interference. They were letting both teams

get after it a bit. But I don't know if there's really any sort of answer to the run game being what it is. They're just going to have to do enough with it to set up the play action plays and let Sam Darnold cook. And that has been the case for, I think, a long time. The day that Christian Derisaw went down, it was pretty clear that they were not going to just be able to hand off and dominate any teams on the run game. I didn't think that Jones looked bad. It just felt like there wasn't a lot of places to run the football against the team that is not generally that great at stopping the run in Seattle. So that right there, as they go into these last three games, Green Bay is really good at running the ball. Detroit's really good at running the ball. I think there needs to be an

answer. I just don't know what it is though. You can't really replace the Christian Derisaw's loss or right guard. You're not the best there. I think Blake Brandel's struggled really over the bit more today. And there's a few times where I also felt like Sam Darnold has to understand that his checkdowns are open all the time. With defenses getting pushed back by Justin Jefferson and deep routes, there were several opportunities where he could just check it down. And there were a few times during the game where it wasn't that his accuracy so much was off. It was maybe the timing, the location of the ball, where somebody thought it was going to be that just didn't quite work out. So I don't know if there's something that they are supposed to do differently when it comes to the run. I know everyone wants them to run more. At the same time, passing is more efficient than running, and they have an efficient

offense that just scored a bunch of points again, and it just makes it hard to kind of over focus on a run game it just feels like it needs to be competent rather than where it was today which i just thought was kind of a non-factor yeah it got going early like i think aaron jones had success on that first drive there were a couple chunk runs i think probably what it boils down to is what we talked about last week after the vikings beat the bears is that this offensive line is probably the 11th best offensive line in football the 12th best offensive line in football i don't know that to be completely true but like right in that ballpark they're not a top five offensive line and i think when you're not a top five offensive line. And I think when you're not a top five offensive line, like sometimes you're going to have to sacrifice in certain areas.

And I think that the run game probably is it. So I don't know if there's a quick fix right here over the next month before we head into the playoffs. But what I will say is that at times today, it looked pretty good. And then it started to stagnate and then it kind of disappeared completely. If it can look pretty good in the early stages of the game and help you set up play action, that might be all you need in the playoffs.

I, in a perfect world. Yes. Would you like to run the ball as effectively as the Philadelphia Eagles have proven to the Green Bay Packers have proven to absolutely like you want to control the line of scrimmage when games get hard in the playoffs, like to have a dominant running game can be a cheat code at times but i don't think we're going to ever get there with this team but they need to show they can be a competent running game which i think even today in in certain chunks of the game they've proven that they can be but i don't know if there's a

fix out there right now because i think it kind of comes down to the personnel, like the interior of your offensive line. I still think they deserve credit at times. They've shown the ability to hold up in pass protection. Since Ed Ingram has gotten benched, you're not getting beat in one second, which is allowing an extra second, an extra two seconds sometimes for Sam Darnold to throw the ball. So we're always going to point to that offensive line as kind of the inflection point when things

aren't going well up front. It's just kind of the nature of the beast. So while I'm saying like, they're never going to be a dominant run team this year, I don't think they will be because of that offensive line in the same breath. I'll say like they do deserve some credit because Kevin O'Connell drops back to pass a bunch. And those guys, I think for the most part, have been up to the task when you just kind of look at the aggregate. There's always going to be plays throughout a game where you're like, that guy got beat. But I think in pass protection, they've risen up and kind of shown their strength. And that's kind of where the strength of the offensive line lies is in their pass protection. But the opposite side of that coin is the running game is probably just going to be up and down the rest of the way.

But here's the most important part about dealing with a run game that half exists and sort of doesn't, is the fact that Sam Darnold once again came out of this game without turning over the football. And the coaches say it all the time to the point where you just kind of okay i know i get it it's like your parents saying you gotta eat your vegetables like don't turn the football over teams that will lose the turnover differential lose the game right but the facts are the facts when it comes to that. And really the key, if you were to boil it all down, what is the one reason the Minnesota Vikings have won eight games in a row? It's that Sam Darnold hasn't turned the ball over.

And I don't expect him to never turn it over again. Today there were maybe one or two dicey plays there. He got strip sacked but fell right on the ball, or Reisner fell right on the ball. And then there was a throw that either got tipped or he was hit while throwing that almost got intercepted. So they did lock out on both of those plays. But Darnold has been so much safer with the football that even when he misses a pass, it's usually missing location a little bit low or a little bit over somebody's head. That's away from the defense, sort of throwing the football away from where the defense might have an ability to get a hand on it or potentially create a tip or

an interception. And his ball location has not been flawless, but where he's missed has been good misses, kind of like a baseball pitcher on a two strike count that misses a little bit outside or something like good miss. That's a good place to put it. So he misses TJ Hawkinson a little low and outside on a third down, but at least you didn't miss in a place where it might go off Hawkinson's hands or it might get intercepted. That is the number one factor because you look at these wins. If he's got turnovers against Arizona or against Atlanta, even, or or in this game they're losing those games but instead the narrative changing about Sam Darnold well when Sam Darnold wasn't throwing interceptions before in his career he was really good at times but it was always just the turnovers

that it kept coming back to time and time again and he has been able to completely stop that from happening and keep them on the field. So you don't need the quite the level of run game and things like that. If your quarterback is protecting the football and completing underneath passes, which I thought he did a good job of it. It's almost funny that the game winning play is this deep throw, but there were very many deep throws today by Sam darnold and there weren't really last week it's a lot of taking what the defense has given them and not turning the football over and and that's been i think what has helped them survive having a pretty mediocre run game

on the defensive side though let's talk about that today because they were missing a lot of people at one point levi drake rodriguez is coming in and making a goal line tackle and tipping a ball. And had they not converted that touchdown at the end, Levi would have been one of the heroes of the day for making a couple of plays there inside of the goal line. Theo Jackson, Bobby McCain, Josh Metellus is becoming a really excellent linebacker over the last couple of weeks I saw him multiple times on blitzes and rushes but you'd rather have Ivan Pace Harrison Smith and all those guys back that adds to the performance to me rather than taking away they didn't get after Gino early but he was really good at moving in the pocket and getting rid of the football to be able to grind out just enough on defense when you were missing so many key pieces today. Jalen Redman was key missing

him because he's given guys a break. He also is really good in pursuit, tracking down quarterbacks, tracking down screens, and they just were missing a lot of bodies, uh, to be able to survive it. I thought was a positive for them at the the same time, they need to get healthy. They need to get much healthier next week against Green Bay because Green Bay doesn't make quite as many mistakes and they do run the ball better than Seattle was able to run it today. So they're getting guys onto the field that are going to be part of the future for some big moments here.

But if they're not completely healthy going into the postseason we're going to see something like this where the other team does have big drives and does hit on some explosive plays and can run the football at times because they really really are starting to miss people like pace junior yeah i think in technically i haven't faced junior is eligible to come off ir ahead of this Packers game, I believe. So you might have him this week. We'll see. I'm sure they'll open his window. I'm sure they'll see where he's at. It's a hamstring. You never know. But you want him back. If you could choose, you'd like to have him back for that game in particular. But same with Harrison Smith. And

I think that kind of goes off of what you you were saying with like you want this defense to be healthy in the playoffs I think that's why Harrison Smith missed the game today I think it was just being safe with a guy who's 35 years old and will be 36 in February foot soreness that that didn't turn over quite in time is basically how Kevin O'Connell described it and I think that's an example though of being smart with the the player, almost holding him back. Because if you were like Harrison, do you want to play? He would say, yeah, I'm going to play. It's kind of in his DNA. So I think being smart in a game like this, even though you had to have it, knowing there's something further out there, I think it's why Harrison missed today. But for example, if he plays today, gets hurt, aggravates it, then you don't have him for the long haul.

It feels like if you just project out this defense is getting healthier because pace is on his way back. I think Redman will return from his concussion this week, assuming he can clear the protocol. Even a guy like Fabian Moreau, he missed the game with a hip injury, but he proved when Stephon Gilmore, who also is back, by the way, Fabian Moreau proved he can be a guy, I think, in coverage. He's stickier in man coverage than I think a lot of guys on this team.

And then Harrison Smith, obviously, I think he'll be back too in short order. You're seeing kind of the vision of there is something further out there, but I think the defense as a whole is getting healthier. The fact that Harrison Smith misses today and Theo Jackson comes up with the big play that kind of seals the game, though, I think is kind of emblematic or a perfect way to sum up this defense is that they're deep. They have options, and maybe in a playoff game,

you don't want Theo Jackson and Bobby McCain being your only safety. But if they have to be, they've shown and they've proven that they can kind of make it work. Brian Flores can make it work with whoever's out there. Stephon Gilmore goes down three weeks ago. Fabian Moreau steps up. Ivan Pace Jr. goes down four weeks ago. Jamin Davis gets a sack.

Josh Metellus now plays linebacker. You're seeing kind of a culmination of what this depth looks like, this depth that they talked a lot about in training camp, this depth that exists because you aren't paying a quarterback and the quarterback isn't taking up 25% of your salary. You get these options now to be able to fill in a position of need um you know in a week where maybe your veteran harrison smith isn't there isn't available um but huge play by theo jackson at the end um not to shade blake cashman but the ball hit blake cashman in the

hands and he did not catch it the ball hits theo jackson in the hands and he does catch it so you you have to make that play in that moment. If Theo Jackson drops that interception, who knows, maybe the Seahawks go down the field and kick a field goal. The fact that he was able to make that play in that moment, um, kind of just speaks to, you know, his ability, the fact that he was ready, his preparedness, um, and just kind of the defensive identity as a whole that they've built this season. And you, and you mentioned like even going back to training camp, that we started to see some people, even like Levi Drake Rodriguez,

Dwight McLaughlin was another one, make a name for themselves a little bit. There was nobody higher on that list than Theo Jackson. And the reason Theo hasn't played is just because of the health of the team. I think that if Josh Metellus had ever gotten banged up throughout the season, you would have seen a lot of Theo Jackson because he's cross trained to be at that position. But he's somebody that during training camp, we saw get interceptions almost on a daily basis. It was almost, we were laughing about like, here's Theo Jackson again, having another great practice. And then a few people have asked throughout the year,

Hey, where's Theo Jackson's like, well, everybody's healthy today. Everyone is not healthy. And he comes up with the biggest play at the biggest time to put them over the top and close out this game. And that does speak to the players that they have been able to find and develop. Jackson was a random guy. They picked up after Louis seen got hurt two years ago, and they develop into the point where if they're missing their superstar player, they can bring him in to be able to rely on him when they need absolutely need a final stop. At the same time, they still are not the same defense as they are when they're at full strength. And I really think that Ivan Pace Jr., where he was missed deeply in this game,

was the blitzes and chasing around Geno Smith. He is so good at that. Metellus did a good job of it. Blake Cashman occasionally. And we saw Andrew Van Ginkle get a couple of sacks today. Van Ginkle, another guy who just continues to step up. I don't know what his career high in sacks before this year was, but I'm sure he's blown that out of the water at this point. So he gets a couple of more today. And I thought as the game went along that they wore down the Seattle offensive line with just a lot of Jonathan Grenard, a lot of Andrew Van Ginkle, some blitzes mixed in there, and they were able to just pressure him a little more, a little more, a little more, and eventually broke Geno Smith to the point where they get a huge sack

to push him back, and they can't kick the field goal. They had to try a 60-yard field goal, but they weren't able to make it because they don't have Will Reichard, obviously. I was thinking about when that kick went short. I was like, man, I don't think we've ever seen Will Reichard, obviously. I was thinking about when that kick went short. I was like, man, I don't think we've ever seen Will Reichard have a kick go short. If it was 60, I would have believed that Will Reichard would have put it through. Kind of shows you how rare he is. But the point just being that there are times in this game where you can really pinpoint, okay, they need to be a dominant defense, every single player healthy. And I thought that Stefan Gilmore had

a tough game today. He was getting trash talk quite a bit by DK Metcalf, which did not get flagged despite a gritty being flagged. And there were some gritty flag defenders in the press box. I don't understand that one because he was looking at someone while gritting the explanation for Kevin O'Connell. He didn't want to go there when I asked about it, but he did say we'll have to be more careful about which direction we're gritting in for Justin Jefferson. I actually did not see what his celebration was after the go ahead touchdown touchdown if he decided to just forego the gritty at that point by for any fear that he could get a taunting penalty but there's a ton of taunting that goes on every single game so i don't know why the heck that flag decided to be thrown at that time but we do

need to give a big shout out to the referees face masking is a call that you can make when someone's head gets grabbed, unlike on Thursday night football earlier this year. So Kevin O'Connell did thank the referees after the game for calling that. So I don't know that, Dane, that we need to give out a ton of different grades here because, I mean, they're 13-2 now now finding a way to win this game just gets the super high grade for everybody for Sam Darnold, for Kevin O'Connell, for the defense coming through. But I think that talking about what is in front of them coming out of this is really the most important story for the Minnesota Vikings. They will go home to play the green Bay Packers. And at this moment, you don't really need to think too much about playoff scenarios.

You don't need to think about what other teams are doing or anything else. It really comes down to, can you beat the Packers? Can you beat the Detroit Lions? And I am impressed by this win. I don't think it's one of those, oh, they got away with it. I think this game was played 50-50 and the Vikings won on the things that they do well. Their quarterback is a freak athlete. They have the best wide receiver in the world, which we can never stop talking enough about how good Justin Jefferson was. He dominated

this football game. He took it over. I don't know. You had the box score up. What did he end up with? Because it felt like this was a game that Justin Jefferson was the offense for the Minnesota Vikings today. Yeah, it's 10 catches, 144 yards, two touchdowns, the biggest play of the game. Yeah, like when you have a guy like that, it's kind of funny. We're like a month and a half removed from being like, you know, Chicago took you away, two catches for 27 yards, and then he snaps off for 144. Like, this is who he is he can take over a game and he did to your point is this the time where i can snark about the people who wanted

to trade justin jefferson away okay i guess that's why they didn't trade justin jefferson for draft picks my friends because he's the greatest in the world at what he does. So I don't even remember what the point was, other than I just wanted to stop and say, what a showing by Justin Jefferson, that you're right. He is so good that every time he doesn't have this game, we have to ask him why, because he does this so often. But I think that this was Justin Jefferson's best and most complete game of the year,

including going off script there. So we know what they do well. We know what they can overcome as a team. My question to you, Dane, is can they win these last two football games and go 15 and two? Is that possible to you? Yeah, I think so. It's not going to be easy. I think the Packers are playing as well as any team in the NFL right now with the way they've kind of discovered a running game kind of serendipitously because Jordan Love went down earlier in the year. They played with Malik Willis. They got a little creative with their run game. It's not like Matt LaFleur invented the new run game in those two

weeks, but I think they had to rely on it. They had to lean on it and they realized they could, um, and they've really started to come into their own. That's not going to be easy. I know the Vikings stopped the run pretty well. Um, but when a team runs the ball very well, usually the team who runs the ball very well has the upper hand in that matchup, but can the Vikings beat the Packers? Yes. It's at home. Yes. The Vikings, the Packers are playing as good as any team in the NFL. So too are the Vikings. So I think that one's going to be a close's at home. Yes, the Vikings, the Packers are playing as good as any team in the NFL. So, too, are the Vikings. So I think that one's going to be a close one at home. And then you take your chances, Detroit on the road. But I in some ways, I think the Packers game is going to be harder.

The Packers are playing at a level right now where they seem to be rounding into form. The Detroit Lions, they beat the Bears today. They kicked the crap out of them. So the Chicago Bears have quit on this season, it appears. But the Lions are banged up. They're going to be without David Montgomery in that game in Week 18, whatever it means for both teams. Their defense is going to continue to be decimated by injuries.

These guys aren't coming back anytime soon. So who offers a harder challenge in a vacuum? I think it's the game next week. But I think that also kind of falls in line with the way they think anyway. It doesn't matter if they can or cannot beat the Detroit Lions if they don't beat the Green Bay Packers next week. So yes, I think they can win both games. I think they can win multiple games in the playoffs. I think they can go on a. I think they can win multiple games in the playoffs. I think they can go on a run. I think this team is good enough to win the Super Bowl with what we've seen over the course of these last three, four months,

largely because of the quarterback they have playing as good as any quarterback in the league right now. So everything they want to do is right there. You can almost taste it. You almost don't have to start, keep saying 1-0 each week because we're almost to the point where like, duh, like you go home if you don't go 1-0 that week. But I think they're going to be able to lean on that too.

It's the way they've thought about this year as a whole. But absolutely, do I think they can go 2- O to finish the season and finish 15 and two? What a crazy thing to even think. But yes, I do think that they can, they could do it. I did reach a point today where I became annoyed about the playoff structure. It's crazy because the Vikings could go 14 and three and then have to go on the road

to play someone who's a nine and eight, which just seems like pure idiocy. Uh, I think it would have to be the largest gap that's ever happened, right? There was, uh, the time with the saints where they lost to a seven and nine Seattle team here in the, uh, beast quake game. And that was just as ridiculous as the fact that the Vikings, if they don't pull this out, would have to go on the road. And I think if they don't win next week, there will be a lot of, well, that proves that they're not good enough and so forth. And I don't think that that is really the way I'm looking at it. The way I'm looking at it is that there is a

difference here between a team that I think can be very interesting in the playoffs and the Vikings, and they can match up with anyone and they should end up in the divisional round. And anything short of in the divisional round is disappointing, but the divisional round might mean going to Ford field and playing the lions. Then who knows that's if they don't get it, if they do get it, if they do pull off the number one seed in the nfc then anything short of reaching the super bowl is a disappointment and that's a crazy reality right that i mean that just sort of like let that hit you right that if they win next week i'm gonna feel that way i'm gonna feel like go to ford field win that game

against the banged up lions team and then go be a Super Bowl favorite because why the hell not? I have not thought over these last few weeks, wow, the Vikings look like they're just blasting everyone and they should be considered the Super Bowl favorite at this moment. But you look around and go, well, Philadelphia lost today and they lost their quarterback to an injury today. And Detroit, they had a preseason game today against the Bears, but still Caleb Williams still registered a bunch of yards today and had some big plays against that banged up Lions defense. So it's either one of the two things. It's either a bunch of really good but flawed teams going at it, or I'm going to feel like

the Vikings should be the favorite if they could play at u.s bank stadium for two and then you're two games away from reaching the super bowl and again the level of insanity of that uh considering where we thought they would be but as you've seen it come together it becomes less and less surprising and at this point uh i expect it to happen for them to win these games because the, the, what, the way that it's played out has proven the amount of talent that they have veteran talent is what will come through in these big spots. Like having Justin Jefferson is a cheat code that not everyone has, where you have someone who is truly special.

And on the defensive side, it wasn't Grenard today. It was Van Ginkle today, where you have someone who is truly special. And on the defensive side, it wasn't Grenard today. It was Van Ginkle today. But you have these guys who are Pro Bowl caliber talents, who are veterans, who have been around and done this a long time. And I think that the most underestimated part of this is that young teams don't win in the NFL that often. It's usually veteran teams. And when you look at the Vikings and their key positions, yeah, Theo Jackson comes through

or Levi Drake Rodriguez tips a ball or something, but it's usually the veteran players and they have a good enough amount of veteran players to play with anyone in the NFL. So it's either going to be a great season or a indescribably great season for the Vikings with what is coming next. So, Dane, your final thoughts on this win, which I would call I'm trying to think I would call the most fun game of the year. Would you say that? Would you say it was the most fun of the year? I think it was. I think it was the best game that we've seen in terms of just like competitiveness, in

terms of just it felt like a playoff game. And in some ways it was because I think the Seahawks were playing for their life, it feels like. But yeah, I think when you look back on this game, you'll remember it as one of the more entertaining games, one of the more tense games. And that's really kind of how it is at this time of the year. My final thought though, walking away, it's's like I just have to keep tying it back to Sam Darnold and like we've we were way past that stop sign of saying is it what's his career what's his story gonna be like is is this sustainable like like yes it's sustainable

he's sustained it now throughout an entire season he's been one of the best quarterbacks throughout an entire season but like the way that his teammates celebrated him. After he climbed the pocket. He threw that ball to Justin Jefferson. And the Vikings effectively take the lead. We asked him about that. And this is my final thought. Because this is what sticks with me.

In that moment. What was Sam Darnold thinking? Shoot we got to go get another stop on defense. And I got to get ready. Just in case Seattle goes down the field. And kicks a field goal. That's the guy leading your football team right now. That's the guy like who in that moment of euphoria, he's thinking like, okay, it's like chess. He's thinking how many moves are left?

How many times do I still have to go out onto the field or what are we going to need? Or what do I need to do in that moment? If the, you know, the moment calls for me to step up again. If he would have just said, yeah, when my teammates mobbed me after that touchdown, it was the best feeling in the world. I would have taken that at face value and said, yeah, I believe you. It was. But the fact that he's thinking that far forward, I think in a vacuum or is a microcosm of how special he's become as a player and how special this season could be with him at the forefront.

So each game, it feels like I just am thinking about Sam Darnold as we walk towards the locker room, as we walk out of the stadium, largely because of the story that he's kind of rewriting, but also because he's just a really damn good quarterback who I think could take this franchise to a place it's never been. It's a great point. There's a part of me that wants to only talk about how amazing it is what he's been through because it was so much throughout his career.

And then there's another part that just wants to say, look, he's just really great at football. And that is a phenomenal quarterback you have on your hands who is not only great at throwing the ball, but when he was coming out in the draft, there is a thing that I think has been sticky throughout his career that is, that is stuck with him and has been true the whole way, which is his character. His character received such high marks that NFL.com, you can go look at it, compared him to Andrew Luck when he was coming out. They believed that he could be a leader. They believed he was the guy that would come through in the biggest moments.

And if you go back and watch him at USC, it's this quarterback. It's this guy overachieving. It's this guy making plays at the end of games, no matter how much he's beat up or however inaccurate he might have been from this time or that time throughout the game, that at the end, he's always in command and in his element. And he just, even as it's chaotic, he doesn't look like it's chaotic. We were wondering if something had gone wrong when really it's calamity over there and the things going out

and the headset and everything else. And it was like, oh, I wonder if there might've been something that happened on that play because it just wasn't anyone panicking or freaking out. And through this whole thing, after you get five and oh, it's very easy to get a little too high. If you lose two games, it's easy to fall apart after a three interception game. It's easy to let everyone's narrative about you get inside of your head. And he has done none of that. And it has truly been week after week after week, just rated games, 12, 100 quarterback rated games. I don't know if I've ever seen that in my life. Someone have to let me know if that's ever happened before, but

the way that he has been consistent from weekend and week out in being accurate and being a leader and all those things and never letting it go off track in any way has really spoken to who he is. And when you're going into the playoffs, feeling like your quarterback has some of the best physical talent out there and some of the best leadership out there, you have a chance to truly compete for a championship, which is where this team is coming out of Seattle. So what a day here and an enjoyable trip outside of my walk to the stadium, which became quite wet, quite wet. And we saw someone fall off a bus. It was kind of disturbing. Honestly, we are just when we were walking to the media thing, I didn't enjoy that, but it was so my

feet are cold and they're wet, but that's my problem and not yours. So I'll probably have my feet smell bad on the flight back. Hopefully you all enjoy the show and the football game. And we will catch you when we're back in Minnesota. So, Dane, this turned out to be a worthwhile trip. This wasn't originally on my list to do this. Thank God you came because, yeah, you needed to be here for that one. I would have been very upset if that did not happen. So anyway, thanks, everybody, for watching.

Really appreciate it. Slash listening. And we will catch you all very soon. Football.