Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Darnold falls apart against the Rams

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

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Hey everybody, welcome inside State Farm Stadium. Matthew Collar and Dane Mizutani here with you for the Minnesota Vikings post-game show. And folks, the season is over. And what a journey that it was only to be incredibly disappointed, which yes, a lot of you predicted along the way. And so you were correct. That is exactly the way that the Vikings ended this with a massive disappointment and a complete no-show here in the desert. So I want to start off by saying this, that if you go back to a couple of weeks ago, we're talking about after the Green Bay Packers game, the Vikings are for real.

You should believe in them. They are an impressive football team with maybe a guy who might end up being your future quarterback. But here was the caveat along the way. And as we've talked about this thing over the last couple of weeks about Sam Darnold and the future of the quarterback position, there was always one thing that we added into every discussion, which was, look, the playoffs can change everything. Now, I don't know if the playoffs have changed everything. I know that a lot of you have decided that they have. And listening to Kevin O'Connell tonight, I didn't really get any hints one way or another whether the Vikings are considering

bringing back Sam Darnold for next year, whether that ship sailed right off into the desert here this evening with one of the worst performances you're ever going to see in the playoffs by Mr. Darnold, and then added that with what happened last week. But I can say that as more information comes in, opinions change. That happens with us. That happens with the Minnesota Vikings, their decision makers. And I don't know anybody who's going to get on a plane and head back to Minnesota feeling really good about the idea of Sam Darnold as a quarterback who could take them deep into the playoffs after what happened here. It was a total no-show, a choke, a meltdown. It was almost as if a completely different person showed up. For Space Jam fans, the Monstars arrived and stole Sam

Darnold's talent over these last two weeks. And I know a lot of people are going to say, we turned into a pumpkin. This was the real Sam. But what I can't get over, Dane Mizutani, the Pioneer Press, what I can't get over is the shock of how different it is in two weeks. Because last week you could say, well, it was one game and maybe the circumstances overwhelmed Sam Darnold. But to have it happen again, to have that same look, to have that same flustered frustration of his where he's hanging onto the ball and hanging onto the ball, taking big hits, getting sacked, not getting rid of it, not getting it to his playmakers. This was a completely different person than we saw for the stretch run that got them in position to fight for the number

one seed. And then here in the playoffs with 14 wins, it is startling. I know that a lot of you will say, well, I saw it coming. I've watched the Vikings for 57 years and that, okay, fair enough. Fair enough. You get that tonight. I'm not going to give you any hard time about that tonight. You get that tonight. But I mean, if you watch every game of this season and you travel all over the freaking planet, like me and Dane do following this team around from training camp to joint practices, to Seattle, to some people went to London and then here to a place where they weren't even supposed to host the playoff game.

It is shocking with so many playmakers and a coach that has been such a good play caller throughout the season to have them as a top 10 type of offense and have him as a top 10 type of quarterback. And for me, Dane, it's really hard to figure out what the hell happened to the offense and Sam Darnold over these last two weeks. I have no idea. If anybody knows, let me know and let Sam know because I'm sure Sam Darnold is wondering the same thing deep down. We weren't lying to you. He was playing quarterback at an elite level. He was doing it not just against the cupcake teams, the garbage teams. He did it twice against the Green Bay Packers who boasted a top five defense this year.

He did it in Seattle on the road. He did it against the San Francisco 49ers early in the year before all their injuries happened. Sure, we mix in an AFC South run, three straight road games against the Jaguars, the Colts, and then the Titans. And I think people want to hold on to that, but this was not a cupcake schedule all year. I think they probably raked out at 14th strength of schedule and he was dominating for large portions of it. He was playing at an MVP level for large portions of it. That was not us lying, making up things for our own narratives. He was at one point, not too long ago, playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the league, which is why the past two weeks make absolutely no sense. I will try to theorize what I think went wrong.

The pressure got to him, literally and figuratively. I think literally the blitzes in Detroit last week offered some sort of a blueprint on how to speed this guy up. You play physical man coverage on the outside. You dare the officials to throw the flag. Last week was a playoff game, essentially. So generally speaking, the playoffs, you know, the whistles get swallowed a little bit more. And I'm for that.

Let the players decide who wins. So you play physical man coverage on the outside and you blitz the crap out of him. And I think that sped him up to a level where he wasn't trusting everything that got him to where he was sans last weekend. So the literal pressure got to him. And then I think it's fair to say the figurative pressure got to him. Last week, chips on the table. You win. You're the number one seed.

You win. You get a buy. You win. you're the number one seed you win you get a buy you win you're the nfc north champions on the road in detroit loud environment he crumbled okay that's just one small sample size maybe you will be able to respond this week weird week you're heading into a you know an environment that is no longer a road environment. There's fans from both sides of the spectrum on the field. Can you respond? And once again, the literal and figurative pressure, I think, got to Sam Darnold. The Rams had a plan that worked.

He looked from the jump uncomfortable. He admitted it. The nine sacks he took today, most of them his fault. We've seen in the past this line get to beat clean right away. Held up pretty well today. I know people will say, well, they allowed nine sacks. Sam Darnold needs to get the ball out of his hands. So the literal pressure got to him,

and then I think the figurative pressure got to him today too. You have an opportunity right now to respond to the game that you had last weekend, to prove that was an anomaly, to prove that you can still be a franchise guy. I think it all was a lot for him, and I think once it started to snowball, the snowball got very, very big, very, very fast, and he could not keep up with it. It's sad. It's sad to watch it all fall apart because this guy put together a body of work that like i said had him in the mvp discussions rightfully so rewrote the narrative of his career and fair or not fair like fair it's it's all gone in two weeks who knows what his future has in store

for him now after these two weeks. And that's fair because when the chips are on the table and the biggest games of the year, you have to perform. If you're a franchise quarterback, he did not look like a franchise quarterback for the past two weeks. I think in what the one thing that's really crazy and we'll go down as one of those classic Minnesota factoids is that they lost four games this year and they were both to the same teams that just had the answer. I remember us saying, look, if they face the Los Angeles Rams, that's the team you need to be afraid of because they have a couple of things that are answers to the Minnesota Vikings.

One, they have one of the best coaches of all time. I'm willing to say it with what McVay has done over the last couple years. He's won a Super Bowl. He's been to another Super Bowl. Sean McVay knows how over the last couple of years. He's won a Superbowl. He's been to another Superbowl. Sean McVay knows how to win playoff games. We've seen that repeatedly throughout his career. He's gotten even better at it. He's got a quarterback that very well may go to the hall of fame someday. And I was ready to put him there after about the first drive for the Los Angeles Rams. I was so impressed with how Matthew Stafford once again, picked apart the blitzes in the defense, which we will discuss a little bit later because the same problems again with the the world happened to, say, Justin Herbert just the other day? The answer is almost always the defensive line won.

And that's what happened here. We saw it for San Francisco when they went to Super Bowls. We saw it when Aaron Donald played for this football team against the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl and Joe Burrow and the way they knocked him around. And we saw it with the Houston Texans and our old friend, Daniel Hunter, and all of his pals, Will Anderson in Houston. That was a mediocre team all year, but they had the D line that could get to Justin Herber and it caused him to be a totally different quarterback. And I think that's exactly what happened here to Sam Darnold is that early on he realized they are winning and they are winning fast.

And that's exactly what happened last week. And the offensive line from the middle of the season, where they were one of the maybe five to seven best pass blocking teams to the end of the season was an enormous gap. And I think what happened is that opposing teams figured out what gets to this line. And after the game, Kevin O'Connell called out the interior of the offensive line and basically said, this just can't be how it is next year. And I think Garrett Bradbury is now under the gun for next year. And they may decide to move on from him after a second half that was not up to par for him. I thought he had turned a corner midway through his career, but then this season

fell off. The guard play, the Blake Brandel experiment was a huge mistake, and they decided not to bring in any competition for him. The only competition was at right guard. They just gave Brandel that spot for the entire season, and then Reisner kind of saved things at the right guard position, but he's not a star. He's kind of just a guy. And at left tackle, Cam Robinson did his best, but over the final four weeks of the season was one of the worst tackles in the league. And you see why the Jacksonville Jaguars were not

willing to extend him. And then even the communication and pass protection in the back field was not what it has been at times in years past. There seemed to be a lot of struggles with that, including a free runner that ends up hitting Sam Darnold, but ultimately it does come down to the quarterback. And this is the Achilles heel of Sam Darnold. And it will always and forever be that Darnold is a playmaker. And if you go back and watch, and I'm not saying he's Brett Favre, but if you watch Brett Favre and any game that he ever failed, what's the problem? He's always trying too hard to make plays. And we've seen all the playmaking quarterbacks in history that think I can get a

little bit more of this. I'm not afraid. And Matthew Stafford, this was Matthew Stafford's problem for a major part of his career. It's only recently that he started to get rid of the football quicker and check down and throw the ball away. And when Sam Darnold was at his best this season, he was checking down. He was throwing away. And even he had one good drive in this game where it was a check down to CJ Hamm. It was a check down to TJ Hawkinson. And I actually thought, oh, he's kind of adjusting.

He's kind of getting it that he's just got to get rid of that football. And I actually thought, oh, he's kind of adjusting. He's kind of getting it that he's just got to get rid of that football. And yet here's another thing too. And Kevin O'Connell put some of it on himself. I have to adjust as a play caller. The problem is we've heard that from Kevin O'Connell every single time this blueprint works. I've got to adjust. I've got to adjust. When exactly is that going to happen because even when Kirk Cousins checked down on fourth and eight in the last playoff game go back and look at that play that he was given by Kevin O'Connell where was Kirk supposed to throw the ball and I've thrown my own arrows at Kirk a bunch of times for that check down but it was a play where he's sending

everybody 100 yards down the field on where they need eight yards. And how many times did we see that even today where I'm looking up and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and Jalen Naylor are 20, 30 yards downfield as Sam Darnold is getting hit. And you're just wondering, is there an answer shorter underneath quicker? They tried some screens. They didn't work. They haven't worked all year. They haven't worked in three years. And then unsurprisingly, they get the running game going. They get away from that pretty quickly, even though it was the only thing that was working. And it all tumbles down in the same exact fashion that every KOC bad game happens. So of course, Sam Darnold is a hundred times more responsible for what happened these last two weeks than anybody else. Not getting rid of the ball, being inaccurate, missing throws. Gosh, he missed one to Jalen Naylor that they had a chance to get back in this game in the end of the half hangs onto a too long strip sack. I mean, it's on the quarterback. No one's going to debate that. Not even Sam Darnold, but was he given a lot of assistance from the blocking? Was he given a lot of assistance maybe from his head coach in the

play caller that just keeps going back to the same buttons to push over and over? No, I don't think so. And as we evaluate it for the future, which I know is what everyone wants to talk about. And this is your day because we've arrived at the moment that we now have the full picture on Sam Darnold. Dane, I don't know any way we could walk out of here and say, oh, nothing's changed. Nothing's changed from two weeks ago. Of course it's changed. And everyone is reacting and saying, oh, well well it's over. He's not going to

play quarterback here anymore. They're not going to get anything in a trade for him. He lost himself a gazillion dollars, all those things. And I get all that. And that might be right. I actually don't know what they're going to do. It might be right. Things have definitely changed after this because now they know you might have to go pay Trey Smith or somebody on the interior 20, $25 million a year. And I think that's what KOC was campaigning for. Kweisi Adafomensis in the back of the room and he wasn't staring daggers at him, but I think he wanted to about the interior of the offensive line, which was a problem and has been a problem for so long. But as we try to pick apart this decision, I don't know how they're going to work through this because we know that they want JJ McCarthy to be their franchise quarterback. We know they've always wanted that. And I don't think any, anyone has ever been down on that idea or anyone has ever been down on JJ McCarthy since we covered every training camp practice and we reported on how good

JJ McCarthy was and what a good draft pick he was and his relationship with KOC. So everyone knows that. Everyone knows that. It's really when and how and whether you want to still have space for McCarthy to potentially take that job next year, but also with the fallback of Darnold, or do you push the chips to the middle of the table? And I think that if you wanted to all along, like maybe Kweisi Daffomensa did anyway, this makes that a lot easier for them to just say, Hey, it was a great season, great coaching job. We get it. But you saw

the shortcomings of our team show up in that playoff game. And this is why we got to go to McCarthy on the other side of the coin. And I want to lay this all out for you, Dane. So you can tell me what you think. JJ McCarthy hasn't thrown 500 passes since he got a driver's license. So that's a lot to ask for JJ McCarthy. And I think they have to always consider what's best for him as well. So I know tonight everyone wants Darnold put in a rocket ship and sent directly at the sun, but we don't really know how they're going to manage this decision now with all the data points. No, we don't know. But if I was making the decision, and I've been a Sam Darnold defender all year saying, you're getting elite quarterback play, you cannot let that walk out the door. So I'll wear this one. I was wrong about the fact that he could not sustain it to the level he needed to sustain it in the playoffs. But when I was kind of standing on the table saying, you got to bring this guy back, he was playing at an elite level

where the decisions get made, though, are in the playoffs. And Sam Darnold said as much today, too. I asked him about how do you reflect on this season, and he said as good as you are in the season, like it all comes down to the playoffs. And I was not good enough today. That's true. And then that statement alone, I think could be what changes kind of the course of what the Vikings do at the quarterback position. I don't know for a fact that they were going to bring Sam Darnold back after, say, the Green Bay Packers game.

But I think they probably were leaning more towards, yes, how could you not? He just went out and in a big game against a good team, carved up a very good defense. His teammates lifted him up on the shoulders after the game and they had a big celebration, showered him with water bottles. And, you know, it just it felt like a moment there but after the last two weeks i don't know how you look at at the performances in the big moments and say like we have to commit large sums of money large sums and chunks of the salary cap to this guy who when the pressure got dialed up he crumbled under the weight of expectation so i i get all of that and when you look at the

big picture like the 14 wins that that he led like we they don't just get wiped off the map this guy doesn't just go from being a potential you know three weeks ago three years hundred million dollar quarterback to now a one-year quarterback that nobody will sign like somebody's going to give him an opportunity somewhere will it be with the Vikings like I find that hard to believe after tonight because of what happened on the field today and what happened on the field last week I think if you're kind of looking at other seasons past like 2017 felt like a horseshoe year felt like you were probably getting more than you could expect down the road out of case keenum and while i think sam donald is exponentially more

talented than case keenum in some ways that same story played out right now before our very eyes over the last two weeks so if you kind of zoom out and look at this season, I don't know how you could say like, yeah, we're really close. Um, if we just continue to run it back and invest a lot of money into this quarterback who did not get it done two weeks in a row when, when the chips were on the table, now zooming out the other way, like if you decide to let him go, if you make that hard decision to let him walk, you do have a lot of money and you are set up, but it is not a guarantee. Like you said, that JJ McCarthy will come in and be as good as Sam Darnold was this year. I know a lot of people who have kind of been in on the McCarthy from the jump. And I have too,

like I saw him throw the piss out of the ball in training camp. He, he has, he has the arm talent of a guy who can go in the top 10. But it is unfair after Sam Darnold won 14 games to just say, like, McCarthy is going to do that again because what Sam Darnold did has never been done. No quarterback in their first year with the team has won 14 games. So I think there is just kind of this unrealistic expectation on McCarthy all of a sudden people want the cap space. People want to move forward. People want the shiny new toy, the top 10 pick. And I get it. Like I want to

see him play too at some point, but do I want to see him play next year right away? Week one? I don't know. Have you seen the, like the videos of him, like on the sideline last week, like a big meme on the internet was like, who is that? It's because it doesn't look like JJ McCarthy right now because he might weigh 175 pounds. The guy is not ready right now. And it's understandable. He's been on injured reserve. He cannot practice all of these things as he's rehabbing his knee. Like he can't do the things that his body needs for him to put on weight, keep on weight. Um, and, and when he gets an off season to do that, he probably will. But all of that's to say, like, I don't know if

this guy's ready to be QB one next year, week one. Um, so I don't know if that means bringing Sam Darnold back. I don't think it does at this point. Cause I still think he's probably going to be too expensive for what the returns are that you'd be getting. But just to think that you're moving on, you're going to use all this cap space to build out a roster, and then boom, J.J. McCarthy inserted, locked, loaded, ready to go, and we're back in the playoffs. I think that might be a little foolhardy to think, too. So it's a difficult decision that the Vikings have on their hands,

but I think Sam Darnold, at the end of the day, made it a little easier over the last two weeks. I think I said this to you downstairs, like at least he showed you he was over the last two weeks, or at least this happened now. Because I guess if you go into next off season or this off season, you tag him and then he starts to look like this next season. Then I think you could have a little problem on your hands with what you did with the money where you allocated those funds. So it's going to be the talking point over the next couple of months. It just is going to be that. And in a way, I'm a little bit bummed out for Sam Darnold that it's happening. I know Vikings fans are going to say, well, it's his fault he didn't perform. But just looking at this guy as a human, like he had like the peak of his moment in the NFL and immediately came

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that's rocketmoney.com slash purpleinsider, rocketmoney.com slash purpleinsider. Well, that's what's so tough about the evaluation on the whole about Sam Darnold. I mean, I know for a lot of people reading their comments and so forth, they've made this into a very simple and a very easy thing. And I think that that is very easy to do. And, you know, when people get in arguments on the internet or TV, they make things very simple because that's the easiest way to yell at each other and to start fights and so forth with everybody. But I think when you really peel apart the layers, it's a little more complicated than just he played bad in two important games and now they must move on from him because we don't know the status of JJ McCarthy's recovery. And we also have to give them the benefit of the doubt

that they do and that they understand what type of timeline he's going to be on. The other thing is that they have to make sure that if now we're pretty sure that this is like an Alex Smith caliber quarterback who can only get you so far, or even a Kirk Cousins caliber quarterback that can only get you so far, which for years we talked about the rookie quarterback contract, the quarterback who's the 10th to 12th best in the league that never can really get you over the hump. And that is now what the whole body of work looked like for Sam Darnold. Had he played great these last few weeks, even if he had played the same way he did against the lions and Rams last time, we would have been saying, I don't know, that's pretty good. That was good enough, but the defense let him down. The line let him down. No, it was him this time, but that was very similar to what Kansas city saw with Alex

Smith, which was someone who could kind of get you there, but then loses to the Titans in a no show in the playoffs and blows a lead or something like that. And that's kind of what happened here with Sam Darnold. It was good enough to get them a lot of wins in the like that. And that's kind of what happened here with Sam Darnold. It was good enough to get them a lot of wins in the regular season. And it was a great bunch of performances down the stretch, but it's probably not good enough to get you over the hump unless you have a unbelievable team, which is no doubt harder to put together if you don't have the cap space to spend. So we all, I think we all agree on all those facts, but even if tonight is the night where you say, all right, we know for sure that this guy's not going to be our 10 year quarterback. Okay. Well, we have that information, but as far

as next year goes, if they don't feel like McCarthy is ready to take on the weight of a franchise that just won 14 games, it would be a better idea to have Sam Darnold play or even just have them compete in training camp. And this might be something that they consider is let's see where JJ McCarthy is. And if he wins that battle, I guarantee you there will be a team that is willing to trade for Sam Darnold after what they've seen this year. They could also franchise tag him and see if anyone wants to give them a high draft pick for Darnold. Because even though it was bad here, if you're the Raiders, if you're the Steelers, if you're a team that has had miserable, horrendous quarterback play, of course, you're going to be interested in 35 touchdowns, 102 quarterback rating.

And we have to remember that too, that this team went into this year competitively rebuilding. They were far ahead of just competitively rebuilding. They were full on competitive until the moment they truly needed to be. But Sam Darnold was at the helm for all of that. And I think it will stick with this team. I think those moments will stick with him. And I wouldn't be shocked if next year that's how it played out. Him and McCarthy had a competition. McCarthy

wins it. They trade him away. That is all very possible. But what I'm saying is that there's so many more layers to this thing to make sure that you're in a best position long-term with J.J. McCarthy. And he has to be a big part of it. Even if you've decided today, all right, Darnold's just not going to be quite good enough. But I also think too, and Kevin O'Connell was trying to remind us all of this in the moment as well. When you talk about, well, he wasn't, he wasn't good in the big games. Well, it's true. And Holy cow, was it true tonight? But he certainly was good in Seattle to win the game. And he was certainly good against green Bay to win the game. And he was certainly good against

Atlanta to win the game. And he was certainly good against Green Bay to win the game. And he was certainly good against Atlanta to win the game. And he was certainly good at the end of the game against the Arizona Cardinals to drive for a game winner. So it's not like this quarterback had no good moments in every single time it was on his shoulders. He melted. I think what it was is there's a kryptonite to this quarterback. And I think that even though he's way more athletic and he's bigger and his arm is stronger, his kryptonite's the same as it was for Kirk Cousins. And if you say, yeah, if you, if you, of course, if you take up 50, $60 million on the salary cap every year, you're not going to be able to build a good enough team. But I also think there's another nuance since we're just having this conversation night, because who wants to talk about when they hand it off at the end or

whatever, which was insane, like running the clock out on themselves, but no one wants to talk about that. The salary cap for one year can be worked around for one year to sign the players that they need to sign the same way they did this year with Grenard, Van Ginkle, Cashman. They could continue to build around it for a year and then plan a year out. Teams are always thinking in windows. And now that this group has proven that they are the long-term answer, Kevin O'Connell and Kweisi Adafo-Mensa, they can think over multiple years of how they want to handle this. So even though prisoner of the moment says, do not ever let that man walk back into TCO performance center, us bank stadium, because of the way he played, that may be more complex for the Vikings. That's my point. It's

actually always been my point, even though there seems to be some people who love to misrepresent that to take shots at me, but you can do all you want with that. I'm not too worried about clowns on the internet. So anyway, let's talk about Kevin O'Connell when it comes to this. How about two 13 plus win seasons and then against a bad New York Giants team, they lose in 2022. And then in big games last year, and I know that Nick Mullins was the quarterback and Josh Dobbs was the quarterback, but they could have made the playoffs last year and didn't. And then this year they win a big game against green Bay and the other teams out schemed and outperform them on both sides of the ball, but the head coach is responsible for all of it.

I don't like as, as a historic fan of football, Dick Vermeule was the guy who couldn't win it. Marty Schottenheimer was the guy who couldn't win it. Mr. McVay over there, the guy who couldn't win it. He got out schemed by Belichick in the Superbowl can't win it. And then he did. I don't love that. I don't love andy reed was that guy oh he can only get you to the nfc championship and then he can't win it i don't love those narratives however when you have this happen two times i think you do have to ask dane can they play with the big boys at the head coaching position yeah i think they can i I think right now the biggest thing is we want to look at kind of what – Collier just slammed a window for those listening at home. I'm sorry.

There's like some banging behind us, and we had the whole incident in Seattle with somebody smashing glasses or something. Let me try this one. All right. That should quiet it down a little. Well, that's a lot better a lot so but but going back to kevin o'connell like i i think like i understand if people want to be critical probably should be critical because two times now after we'll just write off

last season as uh your quarterback got hurt um and you did as much as you could and probably could have done a little bit more, but I get it. Last season, Kirk Cousins blows us out as Achilles. You get a pass from me. But now 2022, when you win 13 games in 2024, when you win 14 games and then you get immediately bounced in the first round of the playoffs, it does leave a lot of room for self-reflection. And I think a thing about Kevin O'Connell that is good is that he is willing to be reflective and take blame and take ownership and take accountability. But I do think that there are things within kind of this scheme

that he runs that need to be improved. Chief among them, the running game. I'm not sure, as much of an offensive savant as Kevin O'Connell is, if he has a full grasp on what makes a very good running game. That is what a running game coordinator is for, and I think that's probably something they need to consider. That's something I think he needs to consider he's a genius at scheming guys open downfield when they're throwing the ball and

pushing the ball downfield but far too often in over the past three years the running game has just gone dry in big moments so I think when you look at just like the fundamentals of the way he coaches maybe that's something for improvement. Defensively, I actually give him credit for saying that is not my expertise in hiring and bringing in a guy like Brian Flores, who it is his expertise. And I think today you saw live by the blitz, die by the blitz. There were times today where they could have got to Stafford and they didn't. They were one tick away.

Instead, Stafford stares down the barrel of the gun and delivers pretty much the antithesis of what Sam Darnold did. So I think when Kevin O'Connell is putting together a staff, when he's putting together the scheme, there are things to improve. But I think the biggest thing at the end of the day is the culture. And I know people probably don't want to hear about the culture right now but I think that is a foundation that you can lean on to have success so people who are going to be a little bit up in arms about well maybe this guy can't win in the playoffs I guess fair because he has not won in the playoffs yet but I would pump the brakes on that I do think like when you look at like the big picture Kirk Cousins quarterback play in that game good not great check down on fourth down

you can chalk a lot of the loss up to that rather than just the bigger picture coaching today same thing like could Kevin O'Connell have been better yes but at the end of the day who lost the game the quarterback so there are things that he needs to improve on as a head coach he's still figuring it out along the way but i think the vikings are in absolute good hands with him and in the culture he's established but there's always going to be room for improvement and then when you come out after games and you say it starts with me, well, it has to start with you. The improvement has to start with him.

So I will be curious how it looks next year. Are there changes? Are there systematic changes that we see, marked differences on the field? Does he play differently in certain moments when we look back and he, he actually said, I should have done this better.

I should have done that better. Are there differences? That is something I'll be looking at. But overall, like I think he's one of the best coaches in the league. And I don't think that changed because they lost the game tonight. I don't think that we have to downgrade where we think he is as a coach in order to say, what's the deal with this? What's the deal with making the same mistakes over and over? Hey,

at least there wasn't a trick play tonight. I mean, we, uh, you know, you never know. It's what, maybe they needed one. Maybe that's what I should be criticizing. Hey, they should have run some trick plays. They should add Jefferson, throw the ball or Ryan Wright. It couldn't have been worse than what happened here. So I think that there's, there's two worlds of this, this gentleman, their Vikings head coach just went from a six and a half win, win total to 14 wins. It's one of the best seasons in the regular season that's ever happened. That's kind of Marty Schottenheimer like where I think it was a 14 and two season with the chargers and he got fired after because he didn't win in the playoffs and

all that sort of stuff. But, uh, with Kevin O'Connell to get 13 and 14 wins takes so much. It's so hard. And he has been a great clutch coach with his quarterback to be in his quarterback's ear when they need game winning drives and all those different things that he's come through with so many times and with how he's connected with his players and the speeches that he gives and the freedom that he gives his leaders and all those things. They all deserve all the credit. They don't go away because of this result, but this was terrible. And it was terrible. Again, it was terrible when they lost to the giants because he didn't fire at Donatello halfway through the season. And this was a terrible, terrible no-show, a joke of a coaching performance to have them come out here and score nine points and also get outcoached in Detroit. And I think what it says is that some of the coaches in little bit. He'll say, well, it's on me, but our interior line, it's on me. But just because you could draw it up on paper, it doesn't mean there was a little bit of

it's on me, but they didn't do it, which is then you mean it's on them, which is true. They didn't block. They didn't get rid of the football and so forth. But also did Sam Darnold have routes underneath in the middle of the field in front of his face that he could throw to? He was the best at attacking the middle of the field in the NFL this year. And I just didn't think anything was there for him. There were a few screens that they tried. It's never been a strength. So go back to it over and over again in a game where they just didn't do it all season. They didn't run screens. And then they ran four or five today. that were a total mess. I do think they got out schemed out coached by two better coaches in Dan Campbell and

his staff and by Sean McVay and his staff. And let's also not get it twisted here either. They lost to a much worse team from the regular season. The Rams have been playing well. I get that. That's a 10 win team that was mediocre on offense and mediocre on defense. And you let them run you out of the building like they were the Kurt Warner ramps. That's what it looked like tonight on offense and defense. And with Brian Flores, again, all the regular season

credit that he deserves. However, you face the same two teams and they did the same two things and they beat you. And look, Brian for, he could have been, you know, buddy Ryan today. It wouldn't have mattered because of course, Sam Darnold's given the game away, but right from the start, the momentum is on their side, drops back, bang over the middle, the Puka Nakua. I could have told you that. I mean, do you need me to play middle of the field safety to go pick that pass off? I mean, where, where was the ball going and to who? Puka Nakua over the middle. Everyone in the dang stadium that saw the last game knew that's where it was going. And when you say, well, you know, we almost got there, but look who you're playing. You're playing a master of hang in the pocket. You're playing a 35 year old or whatever quarterback who's seen it

all. He's done it all. And all season long, guess what this guy did? He ate blitzes alive. So what's your plan? Blitz a lot more, leave guys open, let them go down the field. I mean, look, that's coaching. And if this is how it's going to be, then there's going to be a lot of disappointments. Even if JJ McCarthy or Kurt Warner or Sam Darnold or Nick Mullins or Josh Dobbs or Jeff George or Sean Salisbury or whoever the hell plays quarterback in these playoff games. If you get out coach this bad, this is going to be your result. So this is a Kevin O'Connell, not say it's on you, not say you're looking in the mirror. We got to see it. And I know it's going to be into

the future, but he's going to be your coach for a long time. And he's a great freaking coach. And he deserves coach of the year, if not Dan Campbell. But in a moment like this, this is a huge, huge disappointment. And we can't just go, ah, Sam, he sucks. I don't think that's acceptable. I think there's a lot more layers to this than that. And a lot of them do go back to coaching and roster construction. And hey, you got to have another option at left guard. If Blake Brando can't do it, I'm just saying like, you got to try something else at some point in the season. There's a lot of things there. And the running game is one of it. The screen game is one of it. These things that just repeatedly kept coming up as their Achilles

heels and they never solved them and they overcame them in the regular season, but they got killed by them here. So I, I don't just accept, Hey, he's a great coach. It's it's all right. They did a good job this year. No, they blew it. They blew it. They choked, they melted down. They melted into a pathetic puddle in the playoffs. And that is just not good enough. And you know what? All those times, all those times we came in here and said, Hey guys, come on. I know, I know Vikings have lost a lot of games in the past, disappointed you and everything else, but you know, this team might be different. You never know. Well, they didn't, they didn't prove that they didn't prove that

opinion, right? Because they got out coach, they got outplayed, they got outperformed by a team that was not as good as them throughout the entire regular season. So I do think even though it's going to be a five, six year extension, Kevin O'Connell can buy a boathouse and he can get one in Duluth and he can get one in Cabo that he could spend for every second week of the playoffs. If this is how it's going to be, that's great. But at some point he's going to have to grow up as a coach and win a playoff game. I mean, I think that that pressure is on now. It just is because, because that's this league. That's how it works. You could be a 13 win team and fired two years later if you choke in games

like this. So I do think that even again, as amazing of a coaching job as it was, the pressure gets clicked up when you get your ass whooped in two of the biggest games that could have set you up to be something special for the season. And instead of being something special, this is forget it onto the off season. That's how everybody's going to be. There's no silver linings. There's no, Hey, this is actually secretly great. No, this is a disaster for them. When you win 14 games, you don't many times in a lifetime, you get to win 14 games, not many. And then you come out here and act like, act like this was the 2018 Rams, or this was the 2021 Rams. This team isn't even as good as that.

So I don't, I don't accept it. I don't just say, oh, it's okay. KOC, not too bad. No, this was terrible. And this is a too bad. No, this was terrible. And this is a terrible result. It's terrible for him. It's terrible for the organization. It's a waste of a season where a lot of things went right. You had no injuries. You had a huge penalty differential. You had great quarterback play. You don't always get those things. So they let one of the great seasons in franchise history slip through the fingers and then get sacked and run back for touchdowns and overthrown and everything else. So it's on everybody. It's not just on one person is probably the end of the rant there. I did want to say real quick, just real quick. That was a fumble though we agree right that was a fumble yes i mean i i i matthew stafford has thrown a million passes in the nfl i don't know if he's ever thrown one like that

i get why like if you like slow down frame by frame like why you think that could be ruled an incomplete pass he does flick his wrist pukunukua is like within 10 yards of him five yards of him but like he fumbled the ball he fumbled the ball there that should have been a touchdown for the vikings but this was more of a disaster than just pointing to that and saying the vikings got screwed by the refs um this was an issue that that far exceeded just a play that didn't go in their favor but yeah that was a fumble the only thing i phenomenal rant by the way and i agree like the the pressure is on you have to do it in the playoffs like that might have been for everything sam darnold didn't say this year for as horrendous as he could be in the press conference and he got better at

times but for everything he didn't say like maybe the most illuminating thing he said today is it doesn't matter if you don't do it in the playoffs he didn't and to your phenomenal rant neither did kevin o'connell the only thing i would push back on is the game is there to be won or to be competitive or to, regardless of if you got punched in the mouth because you weren't ready on offense to compete with what they did, the exact thing that Detroit did, the exact thing that Los Angeles did to you three months ago, the exact thing that Detroit did to you three months ago. Like you weren't ready to compete on offense.

You weren't ready to compete on defense and you were down 10, zero in the blink of an eye. That's coaching. I agree. You're right, but it's 10, three and it's 10, three. And you have the ball inside Rams territory at the 37 yard line and it's third and seven. And sure. This is also probably a little bit of coaching. If you are knowing that your guy is melting down, breaking apart at the seams, maybe you got to give him more options. But that's on the quarterback. That play singularly changed the game because Sam Darnold was trying to do too much. And he, a little bit like by accident, like a lot of things went wrong, starting with probably the play call he got in his helmet before the clock went out at 15 seconds. But it's the quarterback's job to take care of the ball, and he did not do it in that situation.

He tried to do too much. He fumbled the ball. Jared Verse, who the Vikings did not draft, and they trained up to get Dallas Turner. He's probably going to be a good player, but Jared verse is a monster. Picks it up, runs a 57 yards.

That's the game. 17, three. That's the game. So I agree. Like all of the things you said about Kevin O'Connell, the pressure being on. Yes,

you're right. Like at some point you have to prove that you can do it in the playoffs. And to this point he has not, but the game is there. The game is there to be competitive. And Sam Darnold literally took that game, put it on the ground and Jared earth picked it up and ran the Rams right into the second round.

So that's the only pushback I would have on saying this was a, a complete failure as a coach coaching performance. It was, they lost 27 to nine in the biggest game of the year. They were not competitive in the biggest game of the year, but the inflection point of that game was the fumble that was returned for a touchdown. And the weight of that, I think has to be bared by Sam Darnall. I don't disagree at all. Yeah. With that. I mean, we all know the explanation for what happened tonight. I guess I do just wonder if you keep doing the same thing when your quarterback is acting differently,

are you going to get different results than you just saw last week where they continue to do the same thing and their quarterback never figured it out. And when he's looking at the rush and dropping his eyes because they're not blocking it up and you're still doing the same sort of stuff. And there's times where, Hey, it's third and one, and we're going down the field or something like that. And you go, is the, is this just how you're always going to coach? And you need a quarterback who's going to be able to do it no matter what, even if he's pressured this much. I mean, we saw, I know, I know I sound like a sports talk caller here, but Tom Brady once upon a time lost a couple of Superbowls because of what pressure, especially up the middle. And if that's the case, there has to be a counter punch. And there was no counter punch when they played these teams before. And

there really was no counter punch. And I also think it is the judge of a coach. When you play the team, the second time you saw how they were going to play you, you saw how the lions were going to play you. You saw how your quarterback looks when he's struggling. And yet it was just pushing the same buttons. And there wasn't really a change there from what I could tell from this. And we got to look at the tape, but like that's, I, I just, if you're going to go deep in the playoffs and if you're going to win against the best coaches, these are the guys that are going to take every weakness you have and they're going to take advantage of it and they're going to adjust better than you, or you got to be on their level.

And Sean McVay, look, Sean McVay, this, this happened to him. It happened to him in that Superbowl in the biggest stage in front of everybody. He got absolutely owned by one of the great coaches in history, Bill Belichick. And I think that over the last two weeks, the Vikings coach was absolutely owned by Dan Campbell and Sean McVay. And you can argue with a scoreboard. If you think differently, I mean, it is, you got blown out in these two games after not getting blown out all year against good teams that were trying hard, but not teams that you necessarily played twice and kind of had your number. So all I think the takeaway is it's, of course, it's not fire KOC. I just said, give them the bag. You want them as your franchise coach for a long period of time but that long

offseason that he's going to have to look in the mirrors of the waters in Cabo while he's on vacation the rest of the teams are playing the playoffs I hope he's looking at himself and saying what could I really have done better and not just well it was the interior offensive line well the quarterback wasn't getting rid of it and he was trying to make plays, but I can't criticize him for that. And it just a lot of gobbledygook conversation. I think you can look at it both ways and be super impressed with the season and super disappointed that they fell apart in the biggest moments. Now the final takeaway, so many games we came in and places like this,

which I just, I just want to say real quick, thank you to the folks of state farm arena venue stadium stadium. It's okay. They did a great job today getting us these, you know, the credentials and the food and the setting that they didn't think they were going to have a game a couple of days ago. They got the field, you know, the credentials and the food and the setting that they didn't think they were going to have a game a couple of days ago. They got the field, the introductions, the, all this stuff on B leaveable work.

And we can't thank them enough for people who have to come and visit. And, you know, we go to a lot of stadiums that aren't necessarily prepared when they knew the game was there for six months, a great, great job, wonderfully done altogether. I just want to say that, that this was the right thing to do for the NFL, but it was a hell of a lot of work for a lot of people. My final thought is that I'm disappointed for all of you. I know that Vikings fans have become over the many years, quite cynical about their football team. And you know, this was the year that I became

most frustrated with that because the team kept winning. There were a lot of really likable personalities. It was a great story at quarterback and it looked different. It looked different from Case Keenum where we all thought the wheels could come off at any time, but the talent of the quarterback and so forth, the coach was not a sociopath. So we figured, well, maybe he'll be a little better this time. And I think the energy that O'Connell brought to this team and the way they were constructed with a lot of new people who gelled together quickly, and there was great leadership and all those things. And I think this was the first time for me that I wanted it to be different for you. Because as my entire career as a journalist and

not a hot take artist that just tweets out nonsense or whatever and tries to get the most engagement they can and any of that stuff. But as a journalist, it's always, hey, win, lose or whatever. I'm going to be here. I'm going to break it down the same way. But as the cynicism piled up over each win, it was never quite good enough. And there was always the, well, we're going to blow it. I was really thinking, boy, it would be fun to come in here in a post game and be like, hey, this is the different one. This is the team that changed how you felt as Vikings fans.

And you don't have to say that anymore because they proved that this franchise isn't cursed or isn't destined to just disappoint you. I thought that'd be pretty great if they did that. And they didn't. And I mean, I'm not sorry. I didn't play. I didn't coach. I didn't do anything. I just sat here and ate food. But I do feel for you is what I'm saying. I feel for all the people who invest and all the people who push back against that. The people who said, hey, let's have fun with this. Let's buy into this team. Let's see where it goes.

I believe the saying that I came up with at the beginning of the season was, let's just see what happens because we don't have any idea. We were in New York and we said, we don't have any idea what this is going to be. And that's exciting. That's really fun.

And we thought if they get to 10 wins, this will be a great season for them. They outperform that and then kick you in the face right at the last moment. And I feel for you. And I know that all of you, once the free agency happens and the draft happens and you get back up and you get your Gjallarhorns and they signed a guard. But all this does add up on you. The stress of games like this and disappointments like this, I understand it and I appreciate it. And sometimes I expressed my frustration with that, maybe a little too harshly because I just have heard it so many times from where I grew up and then here. And it was like, maybe they'll

just prove you wrong. I don't know. Someday they will. Unfortunately it is not today. And the one last thing, two last things, two last things. It has been amazing to podcast with you after these games, Dane, we're not done podcasting together. We'll do it in the off season. We'll go to the combine. We'll go to the owner's meetings as we, we do and sit down with the GM and the head coach and all those things. And we'll break it down for you guys afterward. And we'll still have a good time, but this was some of the most fun of my entire professional career, Dane, being with you after these games. And I appreciate you. And one last thing, this might be it for Harrison Smith.

And if it is, you got to witness one of the great players in NFL history. And I just want to appreciate that, that for me, it's been an honor to cover one of the great players in NFL history. Harrison Smith is everything you think he is. He is brilliant, hard-nosed, tough, stoic, sometimes real interesting guy,, a great teammate, a great football mind, and above anything else, one of the great football players that you have had the honor to have as the Minnesota Vikings and your fans to watch him. So if this is it for him, just respect the hell out of him. And it was incredible to cover his career. I wanted to throw that out as well. So those are my final thoughts for the 2024 regular season and playoffs. Say what you need to say, Dave. I think my final thoughts are just like how

jarring it is that it's, it's just over. And maybe that echoes basically what you were saying like this time felt different. It felt like maybe they can go on a run. Shoot, last weekend it was thinking, oh, if they win this game, they'd only have to win two games at U.S. Bank Stadium and they'd be in the freaking Super Bowl in New Orleans. All of that felt attainable last weekend. So the fact that now we'll walk out of State Farm Stadium and we will say, okay, we're getting the flight to back to the Twin Cities tomorrow.

We'll go to the locker clean out and then start talking about the off season. Like it feels a little weird that it's already just done. And like, that's all I really have right now is that like, I can't believe it's just over. I feel for the people that live and die with every win on this team, and then they just want one Super Bowl, and maybe you'll get it one day. Maybe you will. I don't know if this was the year to get it.

Clearly it was not, but it felt like this could be different, and it wasn't, and I'm sorry that it wasn't. But what I will say, and I know people in the comments probably don't want to hear, but it was a really good season. You won 14. I get it. You're pissed right now you're allowed to be your fan i do hope though at some point you can zoom out and remember that 14 wins do not happen very often 14 win seasons do not happen very often and i would just encourage people online on twitter on blue sky if you're still doing that thing in the comments on reddit like i would encourage because i feel like we've gone down this rabbit hole as a society with

social media like being right sometimes i think detracts from like just leaning in and enjoying and that's what i felt like all year. I think that's what you were kind of alluding to. And like, sometimes in these post games, it would be like shaking the camera, like they're a good football team. Clearly they showed that they are, there's levels to this and they are not a Superbowl caliber team. But I think people wanted to be right about things about this take that they had, about this hot take, that hot take. People wanted to be right. And while you might have been right in the end, I think you're yearning to be right. I'm just talking to a section of people who you're yearning to be right. You missed like a pretty awesome run this year. I get it. It falls and ends with a thud, flat on your face in the playoffs, kind of like always.

But this was a fun year. I echo what you said, like just getting to chop it up with you after these games and even to parse through some of the comments, some which were more sane than others. All of this has been fun, and I think once we get back on the plane, we finish locker clean out out we get into the spring and we start talking about all everything that people want to talk about like we'll remember this season probably for a little bit more than just the way it ended certainly a disappointing end an end that frankly didn't feel deserved for this team for a large portion of the year.

But this is how it goes. And you play the games and they happen and it all leads up to the playoffs where your season starts over. The Vikings proved today they weren't good enough to push forward. And I get that. But the season as a whole, certainly one I will remember for a really long time. And now we go off to a fascinating off season. So if you want to support the show, go over to my newsletter, purpleinsider.football. Great place to find what I'm actually saying, not what people try to say that I am saying on other places. It's a good idea to just follow me and follow the show.

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Make sure you go there. Purple insider. And, the pioneer press is where you can read Dane's thoughts rather than repurpose thoughts by somebody else that they stole from Dane. So I appreciate most our audience that in droves after these games showed up here and listened to us and participated and jumped in the comments and super chatted and all those things that you guys did this year. The conversations were a lot more fun and interesting because of you guys. And I just can't thank you all enough that

the reason I'm here at State Farm Venue is because literally because of you watching and because of you supporting and signing up for the newsletter. Otherwise otherwise this thing would not exist. And it just always is a great honor that you guys tune in, listen, support the show all season long. And that's how the budget exists to be able to come here and cover a game like this. And I'm sorry, it didn't go better for you, but I can't thank you all enough. Purple Insider would not exist if not for the great Minnesota Vikings fans. So onto the off season, we go, we'll break this all down. We'll start to look at their plans, how they're going to handle different situations, including the quarterback. And we'll go from there. So again, purpleinsider.football, make sure you go check that out. Underdog Fantasy, sign up with the promo code purple that still helps me if you're playing playoffs on underdog fantasy do that and uh good night from arizona somehow and the next football game we do this will be in september all right everybody thanks so much take care we appreciate you and we will be around, but we'll catch you next time. Football.