Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Divisional Round Saturday reaction: THE LIONS ARE OUT!!!

Episode Date: January 19, 2025

The Commanders pulled off another upset, downing the No. 1 seed Lions Saturday night in a wild game in Detroit. Matthew Coller reacts to the Lions' loss and what it means for the NFC North. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here reacting to the Detroit Lions being eliminated by the Washington Commanders in the playoffs. Something that I don't think anybody saw coming. The real debate was, can Washington keep it close? Can they even play with this Detroit Lions team, especially the way that the Lions had taken apart the Vikings? The fact that they had an entire week off to get healthier with their banged up defense

and so forth, and they could not stop Jaden Daniels. And they stepped on their own paws over and over and over in front of that very raucous crowd at Ford Field. And now the Detroit Lions, after earning the number one seed, 15 and two, really the tape to tape best team in the NFC all season long. One of the consensus top selections to reach the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the end of the year. And they are out just like that. And I saw some Vikings fans saying, Hey, I can root against Detroit, right? Oh, you certainly can. But now I

think that Vikings and Lions fans are more just looking at each other and saying, yep, another year of this, another conversation about what went wrong with this great season. It's the same way that the Lions lost last year. They made big mistakes at the worst times. They blew a lead in the game last year to San Francisco late. And in this one, they were just outplayed by Washington, but they also allowed Washington to score repeatedly because of turnovers, miscues, 12 men on the field. How about that? Talk about having some synergy between Vikings fans and lions fans. You can both say, Hey, remember that time we had 12 men on the field and they will say, yeah. And you'll say, yeah. So the Lions shockingly out against Washington.

Let's break it down. What happened with Detroit? I'm going to say melts down. I think that this was a meltdown, but we'll get into what Washington did as well. Early in the game, back and forth, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. It looks like two offenses going at it and Detroit doesn't look a whole lot different. I think they had a three and out in the first drive, but they're moving the football and then everything changes on a Jared Goff interception. Not only did he throw an interception, but he was also knocked down on the play by Washington and Teddy Bridgewater had to go in. I mean, of all the unpredictable things that have happened in the NFL this year, I did not have a player who retired to go coach

high school coming back in the playoffs and actually having to go in the game and handing off and having to go for a touchdown. But when Goff came back, it did not look quite the same as it had before. Washington seemed to make him struggle with the way that they were playing their coverage, the way that they were able to get pressure on him at times. They strip sacked him early in the game. So you get the strip sack, you get the interception. Washington took advantage by moving the football down the field. They ran, they threw short passes. Again, we'll get to what that sort of says about the Vikings maybe and their approach. And then when they've still got

a chance in this game, it's fourth down. If they get a stop, they could go back down the field, score it again and make this one a barn burner all the way to the end. They have 12 men on the field. Also the injuries caught up with them in the middle of this game. Amik Robinson got hurt very early on that hurt their chances to cover the Washington wide receivers. He was the key player against the Vikings. Brian Branch got banged up. There were numerous players for Detroit still going down after they've lost so many throughout this year, but it was the miscues, including one of the wildest trick plays. I mean, you guys have heard me talk about Kevin O'Connell's

trick plays, and it seemed in the second half of the season, he just entirely threw those out of the playbook. But to run a wide receiver pass when you're still very much in the football game. And there's plenty of time to go with a receiver. Who's maybe decision-making has been a little bit questionable off the field, the gambling issue. There were some other things with Jamison Williams, but for him to throw the ball into triple coverage, just as much as Ben Johnson is praised for all those crazy plays and they had a trick play mixed in there that worked for a long run to have your wide receiver throw the football into traffic at that moment. completely melting down on both sides of the ball, turning it over way too many times. And on defense, they could not stop Washington's run game. Jaden Daniels caused them all sorts of problems on fourth down. They convert because Detroit is just not disciplined and their

cornerback Terry and Arnold comes inside toward the running back out goes jayden daniels for the first down there were a lot of those detailed things that detroit honestly did very well against the vikings and two weeks later does this all sound familiar it feels just like what we were talking about with the vikings and the packers how when the vikings played the Packers a couple of weeks ago, they did almost everything right. They had good pass protection and Sam Darnold was calm in the big stage and they played strong defense and they pressured Jordan love and they shut down the run game. And then it all seemed to disappear in a moment and the season ended. And that's exactly what just happened to the Detroit lions. It all just disappeared in a moment and their season comes to an end because they could

not stop the Washington offense. And because they turned the ball over far too many times on the defensive side. And also something that we talked about a lot with the Vikings and the lions and the Vikings and the Lions and the Vikings and the Rams is that the Vikings only lost to two teams all year long. And they were the two teams that they matched up with worst at the Lions and the Rams. Well, it turns out that the Lions matched up very poorly with Washington. Now, this is something that I can't say I really anticipated or you probably didn't either how bad of a matchup that was actually going to be. But Washington did a few

things that the Vikings really can't do. Number one is they have a quarterback who got rid of the ball quickly. They also have a scheme that gets the ball out of Jade and Daniel's hands quickly. Early in the season season there were some discussions about well is cliff kingsbury just pumping up jane daniels with all these short passes and screens well you can run a 60 yard screen for a touchdown with terry mclaurin if you actually execute that correctly unlike what the vikings tried to do against the Rams, where they did a similar play, didn't get the block. Justin Jefferson loses a yard as opposed to a 60 yard touchdown from Terry McLaurin. There were some deep shots that were successful and there was some good pass protection up front from Washington's offensive line. But a lot of the times in this game, Jaden Daniels was just dropping back and very quickly getting that football out of his hands. And it certainly makes you say if the Vikings were a little bit better in terms of their quick game, their screen game, and then

the run game. Jaden Daniels is a big part of this. He had, I think, 50-something yards rushing in the game. He's a big part of this. That's something the Vikings do not have. At the same time, they ran the football consistently and well, and they used their running backs in the passing game. Austin Eckler was a real challenge for the Detroit Lions. These are things that the Vikings just didn't do that well in the last couple of games.

They didn't use Aaron Jones that much in the passing game. They didn't run all that successfully outside of two big Cam Akers runs. And here's Washington, long drives, controlling the clock, wearing down a thin Detroit defense. Again, things that the Vikings couldn't do well. Now, if the Vikings had played a different team with a different defense that couldn't just pin their ears back and blitz, because that's the thing, right? That's how Detroit faced the Vikings was they sent blitz after blitz after blitz, but you can't do that against Jaden Daniels. There was one blitz off the edge that they sent and the rusher here, he comes after

Jaden Daniels. Daniels takes three steps. He's gone and he runs for a first down. That's just not something that the Vikings have. So it turned out that Washington had all the ingredients, a really effective screen game, a really effective run game and a quarterback who gets rid of the ball, but also his escapability is up there with anybody else in the NFL, with Josh Allen, with Lamar Jackson, with Patrick Mahomes in terms of his, the way that he handles the football, the way that he gets rid of it quickly, his playmaking, he is way, way up there. And we'll talk about that and what that means for Washington going forward in just a minute. But I also want to talk about the big picture on Detroit losing this game. Folks, I found something that I didn't even know how badly I needed. It's called

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Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash purpleinsider today. That's rocketmoney.com slash purpleinsider. Once more, rocketmoney.com slash purpleinsider. Because when the Vikings walked off the field against the Rams, naturally it's, well, oh boy, they have a lot to do this off season. They've got free agents and they've got a lot of things to do with the salary cap and what are they going to do with the quarterback? But I think we could all agree that as the Vikings walked off the field, it didn't feel like, well, that was their only chance,

and now it's over. And trust me, I've been in the locker room for a situation like that, 2019, when the Vikings lost to the 49ers. I think this team, this Vikings team, was completely shocked by what happened, but nobody in the locker room was saying, that was our big chance, and now I don't know if we're ever going to get it again. We did have that in the 2019 locker room after they lost to San Francisco because everybody knew that that was a veteran team that was about to come apart. And a bunch of guys were hitting free agency. This team is more like, well, they prove that their GM could build a team. They prove that their coach can coach. And now what's next? Is that coming back with Darnold? Is it going to JJ McCarthy and trying

to stack up the roster? We're going to find that out soon enough, but I don't think anyone feels like, oh man, this Vikings team, they're, they're now five years away. They got a rebuild. No, they have a lot of the pieces that got them to 14 wins in the playoffs. And they have a first round quarterback that they will eventually turn things over to and use all the salary cap advantages that they're going to get. That's going to happen one way or the other. Just when is really the question. Um, I think I'm, I'm leaning, as I said, the other night toward it happening this year, but it's not settled until it's settled.

So anyway, I should say next year, this year is still going next year with JJ McCarthy, but we'll see for the Detroit Lions though. They are going to run back a lot of this town and they're probably not going to have the injuries that they had on defense at the end of the year that I think they can sort of claim cause this. I also think that they did get out scheme pretty badly and maybe what a whirlwind having opinions is sometimes because my opinion of Aaron Glenn throughout the whole time he's been there is I don't really see it. I don't really see it the I don't really see it the

same way I see with a Brian Flores in terms of the scheme. And then they had a good year defensively and then they wrecked the Vikings and I, well, okay. I, I mean, I guess I was wrong and here we are. Oh yeah. Those are all the reasons that I wasn't as sold on Aaron Glenn. It seemed like Cliff Kingsbury had the answers for his defense, for how to counter his blitzes, how to take advantage of the constant man coverage that they play. And then Jaden Daniels made one of the sickest throws you'll see deep down the field. A great catch. I think it was Diami Brown made the catch down the field. And then you got the sense like this isn't going well for Detroit's defense and how much to blame the defensive coordinator when they do have those injuries.

I don't know, but okay. So they probably won't have that many next year, but their offense was completely healthy this year. And Jameer Gibbs was astonishing and their receivers were great. And their tight end who made an unreal one-handed catch in the end zone. He was great. You probably got the best version of Jared Goff that you're ever going to get, which I'm just, I'm going to stick my fingers in my ears when all the debate shows and the internet and everything else wants to talk about Jared Goff now, because it was not a good game for Jared

Goff. There were major mistakes for Jared Goff in this game when they needed him the most and Washington had answers for him. That is also a head coach who has taken a team to the Super Bowl before and had a top-notch defense in Dallas last year. Dan Quinn might just know what he's doing, right? And I think that he had a great sense for what he was doing against Jared Goff, but they didn't really stay with the run in ways that I thought they would. They got some big explosive runs, but they got a little impatient. And then when they got behind something that they hadn't had have happened to them, similar to the Vikings, they didn't seem to be able to drop straight back and just make play after play after play the way that

Washington was able to do it. Now the Jared Goff discourse has always been frustrating and the guy has so much success. And if the only way we ever judge is just championships, then I guess my homes is the only guy who's worth anything and Brady. And then everybody else is just a schmuck. But I think there's some limitations there versus playmaking quarterbacks. And then everybody else is just a schmuck. But I think there's some limitations there versus playmaking quarterbacks. And that's always been the difference is that if you can create chaos for him, make him hang on to the football. And they did that. But to circle back to the main point is golf signed an extension. He's going to get more expensive. They signed Sewell to an extension. St. Brown is going to get expensive. At some point, they're going to have to extend Jameer

Gibbs down the road here. Sam Laporta, that big draft class that they had, there might be some limitations. And I'm not saying this is next year, just on how long this window is going to be open, where they're going to have everyone in their primes and not have to lose anybody because of their expensive quarterback contract. And the other part of it is when you get your quarterback to play the best he's ever played in the NFL, to lead your team to 15 wins around the corner is usually something that's more challenging for you, that there is a regression. They've had a lot of football games over the last couple of years. And we saw this with San Francisco where every year we just assumed San Francisco was going to be great. And then they got some

injuries and they fell off the face of the earth and you just go, I don't know, I guess they missed their shot. And will the lions at some point end up feeling that way next year? And I don't think that the answer is yes. I think that when they run it back, they still have so much of the same stuff that they're going to be a force in the NFC. Is it the same force though? When you get that one seed, you know, all about this from the 2017 Vikings. When you get that one seed, that means you play the first schedule or the top team schedule. And that's

always harder. And it just, it just never gets easier after you have a season like that with a team that was peaking and had so many players in their primes and at their best and playing great. And then it comes apart for the Detroit Lions. So I don't think that they're done. I think they're very much a Super Bowl contender for next season. They will go into next season as Super Bowl favorites again after winning 15 games this year. But there's always something around the corner in the NFL.

It is really, really hard. I remember looking back at this when the Vikings won 13 games and wondering, well, how many teams ever repeat 13 win seasons? And the answer was only teams that have Manning and Brady and the all time great quarterbacks. And I think golf is a great, great quarterback to get them to this point. A home playoff game in an NFC that had multiple 14 to win teams is really hard to do, but he's not the homes. He's not Brady. He's not Manning. He has his limitations and some of them were on display today.

If there's not some of the big mistakes, maybe this turns out differently for Jared golf. If they could have stopped Washington at all, because golf wasn't that great against the Vikings, but they just could not break through against their defense. And then the narrative writes itself from there, but no question that Jared Goff in another big game was not the same version of himself that we saw in the regular season. And that is something that it is plausible, just like with Washington or I'm sorry, just like with San Francisco and Jimmy Garoppolo, where you bump into a ceiling at some point where you just can't play with the big boys.

And that's what brings me to my next point. Oh my Jaden Daniels for a while. The NFC quite a while has been looking over at the AFC and going, Oh, okay. You have, uh, you got my homes over there. My job. Stay over there. You got Lamar over there. Stay over there. You got Alan over there. Okay. And then last year's draft. Oh, you got Stroud over there. Great. Why don't you guys just fight each other to the death? And in the NFC, we'll have a bunch of quarterbacks that are more second tier and everybody feels

like they've got a chance. This was one of my arguments all year long was, Hey, if you look at the way Darnold's playing, how is he different from golf? How is he different from Hertz? I'm not saying that that take aged all that well, but I'm just saying that anyone in the NFC felt pretty good about themselves and their chances going into the playoffs. The lions were this close. Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant is in the Superbowl.

Like there's just so many of these examples recently of, Hey, it's Jalen Hertz in the Superbowl. Hey, it's Jimmy Garoppolo. Hey, it's Brock Purdy. It was, if you could build the roster, then you can make the Superbowl in the NFC. That might've just changed today because what we just saw from Jaden Daniels, and there's always say, you know, you overhype this person he's the number two overall pick he had one of the great college seasons ever in ncaa history in college average more yards rushing than lamar jackson per carry he averaged more yards passing than andrew luck he was he was that great in college and then he comes into the NFL. And not only is he all that talent, but here's what blows my mind.

Sam Darnold looked pretty shook by the atmosphere. The Vikings looked pretty shook by the atmosphere, I think, which was connected to their quarterback. Did Jaden Daniels look shook to anybody who watched that football game? Not at all. In fact, Tom Brady, who I know y'all rip on, I thought he was fine. He spent a lot of time talking about Jaden Daniels demeanor and just how calm he looked. His face, just nothing. He wasn't worked up. Ansi wasn't overthrowing guys. Wasn't rushing himself. He was playing calmly in time, making great decisions, making plays that

look like a guy who's it's week three or something looked like he was playing the Jaguars out there. It didn't look like it was Ford field that intimidated the heck out of the Vikings two weeks ago. The place where I compared it to the Superdome for how loud it was. I'm sure it was louder today. Didn't matter to Jaden Daniels. I also thought that it really helped that Washington had an answer. And that was the no huddle where they just went up to the line of scrimmage. They didn't get in the huddle. They didn't. And Brady mentioned it. They didn't give a chance to the crowd to really get up and impact it. They just went to the line of scrimmage, did a couple of signals and ran their play. I think that that was a helpful factor for Washington, but mostly this

was Jaden Daniels day. This was welcome me to the club of freak show quarterbacks, guys that were just born on a different planet. The Allen, the Lamar, the Mahomes, the Daniels is, I don't think it's an overreaction when you see someone play that well all season. And they had an offense that good all season. And then he goes up against the number one team and you could say that they have a bad defense and they have recently, but all of that, the atmosphere, the way that Detroit had played, the fact that they had rest, they had enough talent on their team to beat a Washington with a rookie quarterback. If that quarterback was shaken at all by the atmosphere, the stage, the environment, and he was not what really blows my mind about Daniels is that sometimes even Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen

looks a little antsy, a little worked up. Sometimes even Patrick Mahomes makes decisions where you go, what was that buddy? And then he, you know, the next play is incredible. I didn't see a play in this game where I just thought, what is Jaden Daniels thinking? And he was really amazing in college at avoiding negative plays. And this is something that I always look at when I'm looking at the draft. No one ever really knows, but Jaden Daniels avoided negative plays. And he did that in this game. So well, I think the NFC has got its freak folks. I think that Washington is a problem for the future because they got him on a rookie contract and he's in his prime now

because he's 24 years old. So there's, there's not, I mean, he can improve and he can grow, but there's not some development curve that he's got to go through. He's ready now. And their roster is pretty ready. Now, some of their receivers are free agents, um, and they might have a guy or two leave, but they've got McLaurin. They've got some of those offensive linemen. They can build on their defense that they sort of patchworked. San Ristrell, their cornerback, what a game for him. He was great at Michigan, and he was certainly great in that game with two interceptions. But this thing is about Jaden Daniels and where Washington can go from here.

They can be, there is the potential. And they've got the coach. They got rid of their terrible owner and got an owner who seems to be not insane. They got a guy running the team who came from San Francisco. They've got everything. They've got the dream. And I've got to say it because I'm me and I can't help myself. I'm sure they regret only winning four games or whatever it was last year, right? Now that they got the number two overall pick who looks like a freak. And if you want your silver linings, cause I know you need them. It's not in Chicago because they pick someone else and they

have a completely dysfunctional franchise, but all of a sudden Washington is functional. They've got a great head coach who's been to the Super Bowl before, and they've got a mega star quarterback on their hands. And now that's the bar before the bar was Philly, San Francisco and Detroit. And that was build your roster and then have the quarterback do what he needs to do, which is really what the Vikings did this year. They had a really good roster and then they had a good defense and good receivers, all that, and not a great running game, but serviceable, I guess. And then the quarterback needed to do what he needed to do. Make a few plays, get a couple of game winning drives, hit the receivers when they're open,

like do your job kind of quarterback. The bar is raised. And I'm sure for some of you, you're thinking, well, that means put in McCarthy right away. That might be, that might be the case. That might be what the Vikings think. I don't know, but it might be how Kevin O'Connell's watching this game going. All right. We can't run it back with a Jared Goff tier quarterback performance, because even if Darnold is not in Jared Goff's range for his career last year, he was golf in with some more playmaking skill mixed in and some more recklessness mixed in. But with that tier of quarterback,

can you actually do it? Can you actually compete with a Washington for next year? And the answer is probably no. Also, I thought to, all these free agents that you think are coming to Minnesota, are they, or did they just watch that game with you and think, you know where I'd like to play? Because we've seen a lot of that from places like Baltimore and Kansas city. There is a new sheriff in town and it is Washington. And with their quarterback, they are now the bar to chase for the Vikings.

So I don't know if that impacts their timeline with JJ McCarthy, because McCarthy would be starting his first time next year, but maybe you're hoping that he does the same thing as Daniels did. I also thought this as it pertains to JJ McCarthy, because there's another side to this. The other side is Jaden Daniels got all those years to develop and then was ready for this at 24. JJ McCarthy's a lot younger. I don't think quarterbacks start hitting their real peak until about this age, 24 to 27. So maybe there is a case for patience because the quarterbacks who came in right away

and look good. We're all on the older side. I don't know. I'd be, I'd be very curious to know if Kevin O'Connell's in his man cave, if he has a man cave, a coach cave, and he's watching this game. If he's thinking I better get McCarthy in there and we better spend like crazy to compete with this guy. Or if he's thinking, I better make sure that he's ready to go. Because if he's not, then we're really going to be chasing from behind a team like that. I'd be very interested to know the answer to that question. Two more takeaways from the day. Hey, the AFC, Patrick Mahomes, incredible play for the touchdown he threw

to Travis Kelsey, where he's getting dragged down, fires the ball like nothing's going on. The story of the day there, though, was Patrick Mahomes did not play that great, and CJ Stroud got sacked eight times. What did they have in common? Oh, yeah, the defensive lines dominated the offensive lines. And I don't know in Houston. Uh, and look, I get it. It's a different situation than it is for Darnold, but in Houston, are they going to say, Oh, that was all the quarterback's fault and they should get rid of him. Probably not. And I know again, I know they have McCarthy waiting in the wings. That's what makes it different. I get it.

But the point would be that this happens in the playoffs a lot, where if one team's D line completely owns the other team's offensive line and there's no answer, which for Stroud, there were some answers throughout the day. They moved the football, but ultimately sacks just took them apart. Mistakes took them apart. Mistakes took them apart. They had a couple of missed field goals that were in there as well. And it ends up being that the Houston Texans in a year where they were supposed to compete for the Superbowl and they were supposed to play with the big boys. They end up coming up short because they couldn't block anybody. And the crazy thing about the Texans is, and this is just how

narratives change fast. Their offensive coordinator, Bobby Sloic was getting head coach buzz a year ago. And I think really proved maybe how far away he is, or at least how far they are in terms of understanding how to set a protection because they got owned by Steve Spagnuolo, who has done that to a number of people throughout the years. The most underrated person in Kansas city is their defensive coordinator, but their D line got after him. And that's what a quarterback looks like when you can't block it up and he doesn't have answers. And that was CJ Stroud today. And that was Sam Darnold. And that was Justin Herbert. And that was a bunch of other quarterbacks through all of NFL history. When you can't block it up, I don't know is the answer to spend. Of course it is on the offensive line.

But I also thought if you face a team with a D line that tough, there is no true answer when it, when it's Hunter and Anderson who gave my homes tons of problems and he did not play a great game. Or when it's on the other side, it's Chris Jones. It's the, it's Karloftis who's become a great player. It's lots of blitzes and confusion and corner blitzes. There really isn't a answer from the blocking from the offensive line.

And you're not going to have too many times where your offensive line is just perfect. It happened with Philly a couple of years ago. They're pretty close still. It happened with Dallas, with Dak Prescott, when he came into the league and then way back with Dallas, probably with the Vikings when they had Steve Hutchinson or, you know, back in the day with Randall McDaniel, but there's not that many times where you just have perfect blocking. And what you need is answers. Is your answer that you have Josh Allen and he just runs around and does stuff?

Well, I don't know that JJ McCarthy is going to be that for the Vikings. The answer has to be schematic. And what I really came away thinking about today, and I know a lot of people are, is when you get to the playoffs, it's just different. The speed is different. The violence is different. We really saw it in that game. And I think the Vikings have to spend a lot of time thinking about what they want to do differently in terms of getting rid of the football. And in terms of being able to have a counter punch, Washington did it really well with the run game. Uh, Houston did it for a while with the

run game and then completely got away from it when it was 13 to 12 or something. I think they were down by one point and they just seemed to stop running the ball. That has been an answer in the NFL this year is teams that can run the ball well, or if you have a free quarterback, or if you get rid of the ball quickly. And the Vikings didn't do any of those things in the playoffs. So maybe that's a takeaway there, but the AFC, look, the AFC, everybody, Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, that sounds familiar. That sounds like Brady Manning, Roethlisberger for so many years. And it's probably going to stay that way in the AFC, which is going to make for some great

football. It's also going to make the regular season feel irrelevant a lot. If Kansas city and Buffalo and Baltimore continue to be this good behind their great quarterbacks, one more takeaway from the day, I saved the rant till the end replay review. Just, just gonna, just gonna plea here. I'm going to plea to the NFL. I'm going to address Roger Goodell directly. Look me in the eyes, Roger. Look at me, look at me, make me the captain of instant replay. I'll help you. I'll teach you how I will lay out a plan for you, Roger Goodell to make replay and sky judge and quick replay and long replay and challenges, I'll make it work for you. I promise.

And one area that we got to start with is face masks and personal fouls. What nobody wants is for somebody to be watching with a microscope looking for any personal foul. Okay. But these are such plays of significance that when you have somebody hit the chest of Patrick Mahomes and you give 15 yards, or when you have two Houston Texans hit each other above Patrick Mahomes and you give 15 yards or when, and it didn't affect the game, but it could have when there is a face mask called when clearly the guy is grabbing the shoulder. These are huge plays in the game that totally shift the results that we can all decide within

an eye blink, whether it happened or not. So the flag gets thrown for a personal foul. Somebody upstairs, as they've done for the spotting of the football at times, looks at it real quick and says, okay, that's good. Yeah. I hit him in the face, carry on, play football, or they buzz down within 15 seconds. Cause we can all see it that fast, right? Or the referees say, hang on, we're just doing a quick review here. One minute or less. Okay. There was no personal foul picking up the flag.

Back we go. It's really not that hard. I think that there's a lot of things that they could do this with, with the sky judge, including pass interference, which they botched the rollout of that a couple do this with, with the sky judge, including pass interference, which they botched the rollout of that a couple of years ago, but you could still do it now with the quickness that we have the replay and the UFL proved this last year. You can go to that person who has the video view of what happened and get it fixed within seconds. Hey, there was no pass interference there. Okay, great.

And yeah, it should be for flags that are thrown and that might result in more flags getting thrown because they're not a hundred percent sure. And they can get double checked. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with a few more double checks than just going, I don't know. They just gave my homes once again, some sort of, you know, they love the NFL loves the chiefs kind of thing. And I saw the coaches buy into this too. D'Amico Ryan's being like, yeah, we knew we were going to play against a lot of things today. And we knew what he meant, uh, as if his team didn't fumble that thing away in a bunch of different situations. But if the NFL wants to get rid of the, Hey, it's all rigged for the chiefs, which I just saw endlessly. And I don't buy in, I I've never bought into this, but I do think that there are reputation fouls. I mean,

this happens in the NBA. We know it Kobe, Kobe, Brian, and Michael Jordan, all the great stars who have ever played in basketball and Anthony Edwards will get there someday. All the great stars who play in the league, when they go to the hoop, there's going to be more of an assumption that they were hacked just naturally than other players. And I think that that's a little bit of with the chiefs where it's, Oh, we want to make sure they're not taking shots at my homes. And I, somewhere cam Newton's got to be like, Hey, I took a bunch of those shots and you guys never flagged them. Uh, so I think that there has been a lot, or it could also be that every game the chiefs play is on the big stage and refs blow

stuff all the time. And if it's always on these Island games, then we always think that whatever it might be, whether it's reputation, whether it's the fact that we just all notice it because we're all watching it and we're not watching the Jaguars Titans to see the referees blow calls. They blew them in Vikings games. And another thing too, is I just want the rules the same all the time. There are things that happen in Vikings games that I see elsewhere and go. And there were a couple of times where Sam Darnold got popped where he's going down to slide early in the year. And there was no flag. There's a time where he gets face masked and they don't throw the flag. Maybe they would have to double check it had they had someone having their back. So the replay review

needs to be changed for next year. And maybe today will be an inspiration with two very significant calls that could have been taken care of instantly on instant replay. So I want to answer a couple of questions. I got a bunch of mailbag questions to get to for our fans only episodes, which are all fan questions. If you want to send me one, send me a tweet at Matthew collar or send me an email. I know that the email on the website hasn't been working. I'm sorry about that. So just shoot me a note at Matthew collar at Gmail, and I'll be happy to get your questions on the show. I'm going to do a ton of fan question podcasts as we go forward into the off season,

because I know that you guys have a lot on your minds. Uh, so let's, uh, just get a couple quick ones in here. Sliz head speaks says, why does O'Connell have this burning desire to push the ball 25 yards down the field on every play when Sam had a check down and was seeing it, they were moving the ball. See the thing a sliz head is, uh, I generally agree with you. And I think that when you play a team like the Rams or even the lions had an advantage with their blitzing and some of their D line matchups, that there has to be a different answer. And you're right that they actually did have a couple of drives in those games against

the Lions, against the Rams that they didn't finish, but that they were throwing it underneath. There's a CJ Hamm catch in there. There's an Aaron Jones, there's a TJ Hawkinson and Hawkinson was just not utilized as much as he was by Kirk Cousins. And we all make the fourth and eight comments about Kirk Cousins, but in the general terms, using TJ Hawkinson underneath repeatedly was very effective for him. And so what I can't figure out entirely is whether a lot of it was Darnold's decision-making that he wanted to push the ball down the field, or if it is O'Connell. I know that O'Connell loves explosive plays,

everybody does, and believes that he can attack those two deep coverages, that he's not going to let the opponent dictate the coverage, although at times they just didn't have great answers for when teams would press and double. That was where we saw them struggle a little bit more, and they're going to have to study that. I go back and forth on this because in one way, I feel like, yes, I completely agree.

Where was the quick game? You got to have the quick game. Come on, man. And on the other side, well, they had a top 10 offense with Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson was second in the league in receiving. And Jordan Addison had a really good year, especially down the field. And they moved the football and scored points and won games and went 14 and two. So how can I say, Hey man, stop doing that.

But I think what you're getting at is also where I stand on this, which is I want that. I want play action, deep shots. I want them utilizing the arm strength, whichever quarterback they're going to have. The guy has a cannon, utilize the arm strength, utilize the downfield passing, but also crossing routes underneath. They work sometimes quick outs, swing passes, check downs. A lot of quarterbacks have made a lot of money on staying on the field, keeping drives going. And yes, you have a better chance to score if you get an explosive, but you know, your left guard's getting killed. Okay. Well, you can't drop back nine steps if your left guard's getting killed. Or in the case of the Rams game, both of your tackles are getting crushed.

There's just no time for it. And when I watched the tape back, I did think that there were some sacks that were on Sam Darnold. I did want to say that there were some stats that got thrown out about how long he held the ball for that I thought were not really fair after I watched the tape back because he would scramble and then get sacked. He would run backwards. He would run around. So it was, well, hey, he held the ball for whatever. That's true.

But he was trying to escape the pocket after about two seconds a lot of times. So they were getting beat and they just didn't have that answer to it. They got to find it. And I thought where Washington totally neutralized the Lions was they certainly scared them with that screen that went for a touchdown. They also ran the ball. And if they were going to blitz from this side or that side, and they were able to hand off and get big chunks and big gains. The Vikings have had a miserable running game for three straight years. Got to figure it out. And is it the run game coordinator? Is it the offensive line, which I think is a pretty good theory? Is it the running back, which I was looking over running back options for this off season. It's not going

to be easy to massively upgrade at the running back position. So you got to figure out those other things. James C24 says, with the quarterback situation being what it is, how can we navigate this offseason to surround the quarterback with the best team so we don't repeat 2022 and 2024 playoff appearances? The tough thing with that is just look at Detroit. If I just tell you, well, all you have to do is just get a better guard. Well, Detroit got a better guard and he got hurt.

And that actually really hurt Washington. Kevin Zeitler was one of their best players this year. Top three in PFF grade. He gets injured. Sometimes it happens. There's no one thing I could tell you to say, if they do this, listen close, get very close to your ear pods. If they do this, it'll be different. I think what it really is, is being able to maintain a lot of the things that they did well and understand where it's going to regress and maintaining means maintaining on the defensive side and understanding that the health will

probably regress on the defensive side. They were very healthy, uh, understanding where some of your weaknesses were. The cornerback position was a weakness. It wasn't devastating and they had a top five defense, but it was not a strength where they could play multiple coverages all the time and do the types of things you could do. If you have Trent McDuffie, they were lacking a star there. That's probably the draft where they might need to look. A lot of the teams that win in the playoffs have interior rush, which they need to look closely at. And yes, if they're going to throw down the field all the time, they better be able to create clean pockets and they better be able to run the ball.

So it does start with the interior. That might mean a new center. That might mean two new guards. I think all three of those positions will be different. That's my prediction right now, is that all three interior positions will be different for the Vikings next year. And that's where it begins to surround the quarterback.

But they have such a good supporting cast around the quarterback right now. And then playoffs are one game. Like if you had told me as they were going down the stretch and as they beat the Green Bay Packers, dude, this team's just going to be out in two weeks. And we're going to be talking about how bad they are all the time. I'd be like, really? And then the same thing happened to the lions and the same thing happened to the Packers where the Packers down the stretch played pretty well. They had the loss to the Vikings, but okay. DVOA love them and all those stats. They go to Philly. It's a bad matchup and it's over and that's football.

So I can't tell you for sure. Hey, if they sign a center and two guards, whole body watch out because I don't know who they're going to play. I don't know how it's going to go. What you're trying to do. And I've always said this and I'll always stick to it. What you're trying to do is to give yourself a chance. Look at Washington and the markers that they reached. They won 12 games. They had the point differential that is required for these teams. They had the offensive performance that's required for teams that go deep in the playoffs. And then they had it fall into their lap. Jared Goff fumbles. Jared Goff gets hit and looks shaken the rest of the game, throws crazy interceptions that he usually doesn't throw. And there you go. You

want a playoff game. Well, what did Washington do that's so much better? Well, the quarterback, of course, but even on defense, they were a patchwork defense. But for that day, they hit golf probably illegally. And they had a great cornerback matchup who made a couple of plays. They signed a guy, Doris Armstrong, who made a great play to cause a strip set and they win. That's just the playoffs, man.

The idea is to get yourself to a point where when you enter the playoffs, you got a chance. How can they do that next year? I think they've got to be better in a lot of areas in order to do it. And this is where that cap discussion comes in with McCarthy and with Darnold. I am working on an article that would lay out how they could sign a lot of these players and keep some of their own guys salary cap wise by using comparisons to other players in the league and showing like, yeah, they can keep a lot of this together. You have to be able to be a little better though, because a lot of things went

right for you on the defensive side with the takeaways and the health and the schedule might get a little bit harder. So it's a very complicated question because I just think the answer is being just as good. And yet they got eliminated immediately in the playoffs. So you feel like, well, you've got to be a lot better, right? I mean, not in the regular season. It's hard to be better than plus 114 wins. So be as good in the regular season, get yourself a chance and then rise to the moment this time, as opposed to falling apart.

Okay. One more. This comes from JTMN Skull says, thank you for all the content and the work with this team. You're welcome. But when will the pain stop? I don't know the answer to that question. And I'm sure that everybody is huddled now.

Even Green Bay, it's been so long for Green Bay since they won. the answer to that question and i'm sure that uh everybody is huddled now you know even green bay it's been so long for green bay since they won even they are saying why can't we do it in the playoffs are we always going to lose in the playoffs like they won't tell you that those people in wisconsin no we've got another ring coming soon but they're worried they're worried for sure and uh with the v the Vikings and the Lions feeling like, hey, you get to this level of 14 or 15 wins. This should be your year. And then to disappear in the playoffs,

that's a lot of pain. That is a lot of pain for Vikings and Lions fans. So they are feeling it together on this evening. And I don't have the answer. Here's what I know. What I know is having seen Kwesi Duffel Mensah and Kevin O'Connell, the coaching staff, the front office, the ownership, the players, the locker room, all that stuff. And having seen an off season of JJ McCarthy, which is a funny, by the way, I was, um, looking back at my podcast with Dane Mizutani after JJ McCarthy's preseason game.

And if anyone wants to know my opinions on JJ McCarthy, I just suggest you go watch it because that's how I felt about McCarthy as the future of the Vikings quarterback. And let's just say it's quite positive. I won't read all the quotes that I wrote down of things that I said,'s it's quite positive i i won't read all the the quotes that i wrote down of things that i said um but it was quite positive so that's another thing they have a quarterback that they can build around i think that jj mccarthy showed so much and i also think if they run it back with sam darnold for one more year that it will ultimately be good for the franchise because they will be developing JJ McCarthy for the future. And that also, if he throws 35 touchdowns and wins 14 games again, then you've got a pretty good chance to compete for next year. But that's all not your question. Your question is when does the pain stop? And my answer is that since Kweisi Adafo-Mensa going into the 2023 season,

cleared out the cap space, cleared out the older veteran players, and showed a very good understanding of how you manage assets and timelines. And yes, they were ahead of their timeline, but that's a good thing. Since they showed that, I believe they understand how to do this. And with Kevin O'Connell, there will be some things as you guys have already asked questions and we'll have many more questions. There will be some things where you go, is he going to learn? Is he going to figure it out? Are they going to get a run game? Are they going to get a short pass game that's a little more effective it was late in the season but it certainly wasn't in the playoffs

they're going to have a counter punch is he going to learn from McVay out coaching him those things but when you have a coach that you can grow with think about Andy Reid in Philadelphia where year after year Andy Reid is cutting his teeth there as their head coach. If you have somebody that can learn and grow and build, McVay got knocked down his first time, 2017. They lost in the playoffs. 2018, they lost in the Super Bowl, got outcoached. 2019, they lost in the playoffs, right?

What, 2020, yeah, they lost the playoffs in 2020 and they ended up, I might have some of my years wrong. Uh, but they, in 2020, they lost in the first round of the playoffs and change quarterbacks and so forth. The point just being that McVay took his lumps similar to how Kevin O'Connell has in his first two times in the playoffs. He's got to learn from it. He's got to grow from it. But you know, you have a coach that can get you there. And that's a pretty big step when you look around the NFL. So will the pain stop for you? I don't know.

I also think too, one more thing to say is like, look, every single thing that goes wrong. I know in Minnesota sports, when you don't win in the playoffs, it hurts. It hits you hard. I know, but you can't treat every single one like they're the same, right? There's been ones that probably hit you a lot harder than others. So I think you should look at this season and say, overall, they proved a lot about where they can go and there's going to be more chances. And every year is a new day. Think about how hopeless Washington was last year. You just never know the old national football league. What a day it was for playoffs. I really appreciate eight, everybody taking the time to

listen and watch again. Matthew collar at Gmail C O L L E R is where you can shoot me an off season question. If you want it on the show or on Twitter at Matthew collar, my DMS are open. Feel free to drop in there. If you're still using the tweet box and I will talk to you all very soon. Thanks so much for your time. Football.