Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Do you believe more in the 2022 Vikings after their win over the Colts?

Episode Date: December 19, 2022

Matthew Coller and Brian Murphy talk about the Vikings' insane comeback over the Indianapolis Colts and what it says about who the Vikings can be, Kirk Cousins' relationship with Kevin O'Connell and how Vikings fans should view the insanity of the 2022 season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider is presented by Liquid Death, delicious water that's bringing death to plastic. Learn more at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Hello and welcome to another episode of Purple Insider and this is the Monday morning Murphyist Monday morning Murph the man who has never lost belief in the 2022 Vikings when they were down 33 to nothing Murph was saying they'll come back because it is 2022 and these are the Minnesota Vikings, the We Believe Vikings. Right, Murph? That's what you were doing?

You were just painting your house purple down 33? I didn't even watch the first half because I knew I didn't need to. I knew it would all come down to a couple of moments in the third and fourth quarter. So, no, I've been the standard bearer. I'm going to keep being the standard bearer. But, look, I've been saying all along that everybody should just enjoy the ride and, you know, analytics and, and realism be damned. I'm kind of like, you're all on your own now. I mean, I, I can't guide anybody. I, I, there are, there are no guardrails here at all. This is, we are, we are so far into uncharted territory with, I mean,

the stuff the Vikings have experienced in the last five weeks going back to Buffalo. I mean, it takes decades for teams to even have one of those types of events happen. I mean, you know, you, you, you literally pull a defeat out of the crematorium, as it were, in Buffalo and salvage a win in overtime. And then on top of that, in the 122-year history of the National Football League, no team has ever rallied from a 33-point deficit to win a game, playoff or otherwise, including your Buffalo Bills in 1992 when they set the benchmark for greatness of resilience in taking down the Houston Oilers

in that crazy wildcard game. It's really just a shame that Frank Wright could not be in the building yesterday. But then again, if Frank Wright was probably in the building, the Colts probably do end up winning that game. So it's a weird, you know, you start pulling threads like that. There's just too much here. There's so much that the Vikings have defied fate. I just, I hesitate to even declare anything with certainty with this club right now. So the pervasive thought to me coming out of the game and then having time to review it and write about it and look back at what everybody said about it and everything else

is that with this team, the veteran leadership that they have and the relationship between the quarterback and the coach and the weapons that they have do make anything possible. I mean, because they're just flawed enough to fall down 33 to any team, including possibly the worst team in the entire national football league at this moment with the Houston Texans playing reasonable football, even with their one win Indianapolis might own the bottom spot in the entire league. So they're flawed enough to make enough mistakes to fall down in that game. But no matter who it is, whether it's Buffalo or a Washington team that's competing for a playoff spot or an Indy team that's not that good, there's enough there to stay in every game and to have a chance to come back in any game. And I thought it

was really interesting that Patrick Peterson told them before going out for the second half, just score five touchdowns and we're going to make the stops for you. And Kirk Cousins said he wasn't sure whether he was like hitting or not. Like, are you serious? Just five touchdowns? That's all we have to do. But when you look around at the talent on the roster you go like yeah they could score five touchdowns if the other team messes around and plays too conservatively and stops blitzing kirk cousins and you know justin jefferson just rips some people apart and somebody else steps up and rises to the challenge it's like the offense in the second half and the offense against detroit is like playing Super Bowl level offense with getting so many people involved.

They got screen passes. They got K.J. Osborne. And I think that if anything comes out of this game, I mean, it is definitely that they have enough talent to come back or to stay in any game or whoever they're going to play in the playoffs, even if they lost to a Dallas or a Philadelphia, I'm not going to close the door on the chances of them winning a game where this exact same thing happens that they get behind and they find a way. But I also think if there's one thing that they can learn from this, it's with Kevin O'Connell, put the gas pedal down, my friend, when it comes to this offense. And I know that all the stats over the last two weeks came from playing from behind which does matter that you know you're going to rack up a bunch of stats when you have to throw all the time and the other team is just trying to keep everything in front of them and failing miserably if you're the Indianapolis Colts but I think it should tell you if you're Kevin O'Connell throw the ball to Delvinvin Cook, trust KJ Osborne. Like it doesn't

have to be all Justin Jefferson all the time. And I also think maybe there's a comfort level that they have been able to find in these last couple of weeks, throwing the football that was very spotty throughout the season. So even though that was super random and the most bizarre, crazy win you're ever going to have, And there's definitely reason to go, you were behind by 33 to a bad team. I do think that there's things that they could take out of this that further galvanize them and that they can learn and that they can carry over when they get to the playoffs. And it's another major milestone and accomplishment for Kirk Cousins.

You know, this is a quarterback that prior to this season was nitpicked and justifiably so for his inability to come up big when it mattered, whether it was the fourth quarter. Yeah. Yeah. There were some times last year that, that, that he was able to rally, but that was garbage time, Kirk. If Kirk had felt like most of the time, but he was a 500 quarterback coming into the season. He had one playoff victory, one playoff loss. You know, we've, we've dissected the prime time game record, which he's improved upon recently. And, you know, maybe that, that was more of a kind of a red herring anyway, because it doesn't, you know, it doesn't really matter if you play Monday or Sunday or Thursday,

it's usually about conditions and game plans and opponent. But there is something to be said about sort of his either inability or, you know, just reticence to kind of like lean, you know, really lean into the moment and take charge. And there have been numerous occasions this season, even when he wasn't putting up great numbers, when he took, he's been taking a lot of hits. He's been, he's been under a lot of pressure and he's been more adventure, ambitious, aggressive, throwing the ball down downfield into tighter windows and not not playing,

not to lose, but playing as a gunslinger and all the great quarterbacks that we can go down the list, the gunslingers. Brett Favre being the one that pops into my head where you have to take the good and the bad, including the 2009 NFC Championship game. The only reason you were there was because of Brett Favre to Greg Lewis. The only reason you're there is because he's the riverboat gambler, and you lost because he's the riverboat gambler.

But the point is he was willing to put it all out there, and Cousins right now is willing to put it all out there, both physically and just with his play. And he just feels more – and, again, I'm only basing this off of interviews and reading what he says, but how, again, Kirko Chains, we can talk about that. But he rolls in to his press conference last night with the, you know, the House of Cards blazer that he had on that his wife apparently made up. And just even listening to his comments, like, she's like, you need to wear this. And he's like, boy, I don't know.

I mean, that's risk averse Kirk saying, I don't think I'm going to put that on now. Now, clearly, if they had all gotten smoked 38 to 3, I don't think he would have been wearing that last night. But you just get a sense that I think he's, you know, that whatever chains were on him, that the previous regime had put on him, or that he had put on himself, or just maybe his aversion to really letting his hair down a little bit in front of his teammates, and being more authentic with the public, that's all been on display. And look what's happening. I mean, you've got a town, a locker room, a head coach, and even himself, I think. I mean, I think he believes in himself.

So this is another, I mean, it was another career day as far as production. But, I mean, if Kirk Cousins never wins a championship, he will go to his grave remembering what happened yesterday. And I think anybody that was there was going to remember it, at least the 70,000 that didn't leave or the 150,000 that'll claim years later that they were all there at the same time. But it's just, it's been interesting to watch him emerge as, you know, an alpha male, and I didn't think that was possible. Yeah, and there was an interesting moment in overtime that Cousins described that I think is really telling about his relationship with Kevin O'Connell and how valuable that's been. Which was, Kevin O'Connell decided to run on the first play of overtime because he knew

that if they tied, they would win the division. And that's what you're really here for. Like win the division, get yourself one of those top four seeds, and then anything happens in the playoffs, right? But you really have to win the division, solidify yourself as getting a home playoff game to start the playoffs and make sure you get that done because you never know what can happen the rest of the way. I mean, if you fall apart against the Giants then you're getting very nervous right if you were to lose that game so you have to make sure you leave with the tie but after the six yard run by Delvin Cook which really didn't change anything O'Connell kind of said bleep it like I'm gonna trust Kirk here and let him make this play

and the guys the way they talked about in the locker room like Kirk knew only at that moment that if they tie they were all set so maybe they were playing for the tie but once O'Connell said hey I'm going to call a straight drop back pass here not even anything really conservative like really go for it and try to win this game I mean that was kind of like the defining moment of why Kevin O'Connell and his relationship with Kirk Cousins matters and the trust and belief, because there's a lot that you can say in public, but that's a moment where you can't mess this up. I mean, if he throws a pick, if somebody fumbles, they're going to look at you and go, you should have

played for the tie. You would have won the division and he knows that and he said it was on his mind at that moment but instead he said bleep it I'm going to trust Kirk Cousins no matter what here and then Cousins comes through with a couple of great throws in overtime as the indie defense was totally gassed and then tried to like pin Justin Jefferson to the ground to run the clock out and all that and that almost worked for them but the referees caught them doing that. But the point just being that all season long, there have been times where I've wondered, does he really trust Kirk Cousins?

Because the average depth of target has been pretty low this year. He's only pushed the ball down the field more in recent weeks, but it was a lot of short passes. It was a lot of conservative play. And then at some of the end of games, and this might change when they've had the lead, they've run Delvin cook and tried to run the clock out and remember against the jets, they nearly blew the game because of that, because they ran three times and didn't go for the win. And it seems like a light has gone on a little bit there. And that's the moment they can always look back to in terms of that trust that I would say is is very different from anything we've seen in Cousins past I still

think Kirk is very much Kirk in that you could play against the Jets and average four yards a pass and wonder what happened there and then the next week he could throw for 400 and this is the funny thing about football Murph and about Kirk Cousins is that he's always been the roller coaster, but you never know which month he's going to all of a sudden hit the upswing and him hitting the upswing headed toward the playoffs is probably the best possible scenario for them. sure because a pick six, you know, put them behind and a three and out, put them behind. And even in the second half, they had a three and out. So it wasn't a perfect performance at all, but it was one that further galvanizes the belief between coach and quarterback. And then it trickles down to the rest of the team and the quarterback. And it's kind of tells you it's always about whether you win right with the quarterback. And so that's why I think there's been a different, a different vibe aside from having an offensive coach versus a defensive coach,

a former quarterback with Kirk Cousins. So there's a lot of things that go into it, but that particular moment, I think is one that if they go deep in the playoffs, we'll go back to and say, he really showed it instead of just telling it, he really showed it. Yeah. And I think if you, I mean, you were in the locker room yesterday, so I can only imagine how it must, you know, I'm guessing it was a combination of bravado and relief and exhaustion and a lot of thousand yard stairs trying to figure out exactly what just happened and how they all got through that together. We talked about the scar tissue they've been building up because of these fourth-quarter comebacks

or fourth-quarter stops or bending to the point of breaking and all of the resilience. As simple as coming back from a 40 to three drubbing against Dallas four days later and beating New England in front of a national television audience. You know, every time they're about to fall into the abyss, either during a game or during a week where things didn't go right for them, they have found ways to not. And I think, look, they're 53 guys plus the practice squad. Not everybody gets along every not. And I think, look, there are 53 guys plus the practice squad. Not everybody gets along every day. And I'm sure there's some internal rivalries and jealousies and this, that, and the other.

But this feels like a pretty cohesive unit. if you've got a team that believes in itself and believes that it's never going to be out despite any set of circumstances you know you can't really quantify that because there's going to be moments I mean look if they face Dallas or Philly in the second round uh or third round and it's probably going to be on the road and there's going to be a ton of adversity they may not come prevail at all in that game but at the very least they've got a deep deep well to tap as far as we've been in worse situations before um and now they can even claim that the officials are out to get them i mean i mean as a sidebar i mean i i i'm not one to ever bemoan officiating too often because I think generally, generally, not all the time, but generally it evens itself out over the course of a long season, calls that you're not going to get,

calls that you do get. That was a pretty derelict performance by the officiating crew yesterday that that's all we'd be talking about today were the two scoop and scores that they got screwed out of because of early whistles or just, you know, sheer blindness on the part of there. That did not dictate the outcome of the game, but man, did it really amp up the anxiety and the vibe. And again, just another heaping pile of adversity that they were able to overcome. You know, this kind of stuff does add up

over the course of the season. I mean, we're 15 weeks through this now. So really all there, you know, you're not really, you may be discovering a few things about what you have as far as metal and as far as trust and as far as relationships go, but as far as who the team is, I mean, they are who they are. So to be able to add another historic type performance and have it come against, you know, just, I mean, searing adversity. I mean, I can't imagine how awful it must have been to go

back into that locker room, getting booed off the field and, you know, to a man, there might have been a hand, other than Patrick Peterson, there might be a handful of others that really had the gumption to say we can do this. I'm sure there are a lot of guys in there thinking, let's just make it respectable, turn the page and move on as quickly as we can. Didn't matter. They pulled it out anyway. So I just, this is unlike anything I've ever seen in 22 seasons watching this team play. So to see it play out the way it is, that's why I just feel like there are so many intangibles right now that they have in their back pocket.

They are not going to be favored in the playoffs against top-tier teams, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas. Nobody's going to believe that they can win, but they will. And as far as I know, I'm not going to declare anything anymore at this point. It's the most wonderful time of the year, folks. And what I mean is that time where you put liquid death in your family stockings just to see their reactions. No, seriously. I know you guys have heard me talk a lot about liquid death for weeks now, but it's become 50-50 in my household with soda, which is something I never thought would

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And yes, it does fit in a stocking. And, you know, just looking at the scores of games today, as we record on Sunday, almost every game around the entire national football league is one score. I don't know if it's rules. I don't know if it's just a weird year or whatever, but the Texans took Kansas City to the end. And look, the point differential says what it says. I can't change the realities of that

and how you'd have to be bucking history by a lot in order to have a point differential like this. Although they could end over these last few games plus 50 or something, considering who they're playing. They're going to play a Chicago team that's not good. They're going to play a Packers team that's mailing it in or is washed up. And I don't really have a whole lot of respect for the Giants. So I'd still leave the door open there.

But when you look at the other teams in the NFC, it's very clear by the point differential who the stronger overall teams are. But at the same time, in a league that's playing every game down to the final field goal, like Buffalo and Miami, what a, what a snow globe classic that was. I mean, that was one of the best football games I've seen since like earlier in the day. But I mean, no, it was, it was a much better played game. I would say then the mess that Jeff Saturday threw out there in the second half entertainment value, of, was probably equal, but that game was tremendous, came down to the final play. And then Jacksonville and Dallas today, unbelievable game, comes down to a

bounce off of a receiver that gets picked off. And Jacksonville, who's kind of like a Vikings team with their point differential, it's not that impressive. They're a 6-8 team, but they figure it out. The Detroit Lions go to the New York Jets. They barely escape with a win. That's the NFL this season. If the door has ever been open for a team that is great at the end of games to pull out a couple at the end, similarly to how Cincinnati got to the Super Bowl last year,

it's this version of the Vikings. But I do want to present the other side of that, which is the fact that we saw the Minneapolis miracle happen in 17 and what happened the following week. We've seen what happened in Buffalo and then what happened the following week. Now, I'm not concerned about what happens against the New York Giants. If they lose to the Giants, I mean, it matters for the number two seed. Sure. And, you know, I know I have some questions to answer about that from fans about the two

versus the three and whether they'll play the starters. You know, we'll talk about that as we go. But I do think that, well, you can build up scar tissue and you can build up experience. You can also wear yourself out. I mean, in the marathon that this thing is, I know from myself, I got home last night and I was completely gassed from this game. Just like the tension that is involved in every one of these games and the number of plays that the defense is out there for 80 plays every single game. I think that if you're concerned about anything, even knowing as clutch as the team is

and the star power that they have, that you would worry that it runs out of gas at some point. I think that it's important for them to actually just whip the heck out of somebody at the end of the season here, rest for the final week, and go into the playoffs considering just how much toll these weeks have had to take on them playing games like this. Well, as somebody who's, you know, covered some of these games, I mean, don't underestimate the amount of energy it takes to go from your press box seat to the buffet three times in a game. I mean, let's just put that out there. I mean, that, that, that takes a lot of effort, but no, you're right. I mean, they took it down to the wire. So they played 10 extra. I mean, they's just put that out there. I mean, that takes a lot of effort.

But, no, you're right. I mean, they took it down to the wire. So they played 10 extra – I mean, they played an extra quarter, not 15 minutes, but 10. And it's not even so much how many plays. It's the stakes of every snap defensively from halftime on yesterday was probably the equivalent of a playoff game and a half. So you're right.

There is a mental exhaustion period here. I mean, it would be, it would be nice for them to be able to empty their bench in the third quarter, like a basketball team once in a while, you know, and play the walk-ons. But when, when is that going to, when is that opportunity going to present itself? Maybe the last two games of the year in, in, in Lambeau and Chicago, but, you know, then it's probably going to be five degrees and, you know, it's not even going to be a pleasant experience to really judge anything anyway. Yeah, there is that there, there is a sense of, you know, are they going to have enough, you know, they may have the scar tissue,

but are they going to have the mental wherewithal to really withstand? They may, their brains may be telling them if they're down 14 in the fourth quarter in Arlington, Texas or in Philadelphia, their brains may be telling them, hey, we've been here. We know how to do this. And their bodies just can't do it anymore. So, yeah, that's something to, you know, to pay attention to. I think now, you know, you bring up an interesting point. We've kind of they've gotten to that point

now where it really is the number two seat. They're not, they can't expect Philadelphia to stumble that much. So now they're playing for number two and you got three games. You got one more home game against the Giants who are playing tonight. And we all kind of, we recognize that they're kind of a paper tiger. We've been saying that. And then you got two road games against your division rivals who are kind of looking toward next year. I don't know. I don't know if there is – where that value comes. You want to play for number two all the way through

because it is important to have a home game more than anything, as long as you can. If you can get two home games, you're in much better shape than if you're only getting the one. But I do wonder if there's a way to, you know, manage the load, as it were, the snap counts and just sort of the high energy and the high tension that they've been playing with all season long. That'll be great to explore because, you know, I don't know how much they're going to want to concede about their secret plan for that because you never want to concede that they're thinking less of an opponent. God forbid anybody does that

in this league. So I would be curious to see how O'Connell manages load management, literally, coming, you know, it's the NBA term of the decade right now, but it really does apply to this team because it's an older defense. It's a heavy load defense. They've been relying on Zedaria Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson and Patrick Peterson and Harrison Smith. They've had some dings along the way. I mean, every time you turn around, somebody was cramping up yesterday.

So it's easy to dismiss that, oh, it's just cramps, they'll be fine. It does take its toll. So, yeah, I think that's certainly something to keep an eye on. But the tradeoff being what? I mean, they could be in much better shape physically, and they could have eight wins right now, and they'd be scrambling. I think they'll take where they're at, but there is something to the physical and mental

toll that all of this is taking. I think also after this, it might be impossible that they end up having to go to Dallas, but I think Philadelphia would be the one. And then San Francisco is the only other possibility. If San Francisco overtakes them over the next few weeks for the number two seed, then it could work out that they would have to end up traveling to San Francisco, I believe. But yeah, well, work out all the playoff scenario. I haven't gotten there in my head yet, but I think that's a really interesting debate because I think that health is so important to this team. When Z'Darrius Smith was a little bit banged up, he was not getting after the quarterback.

And I haven't looked at the pressure stats yet today, but I don't know that he really was even against Matt Ryan making a huge difference. He has to be healthy. Daniil Hunter was on the injury report with a neck injury. You really want him to be healthy. You want, I mean, heck, Justin Jefferson is taking some serious hits. It seems like the strategy is now for the other team to be totally fine with committing a penalty as long as they take their shot at Justin Jefferson and try to knock him out of the game or intimidate him.

I picked the right week to talk to Jefferson about taking big hits and how he bounces back up from them. But, you know, clearly, I mean, he took a couple of shots there that could take their toll. So there is that debate. I mean, yes, you could stay at home for the second round, but also you have to get to the second round. You don't want to lose a key player and then lose to Washington in the first round or something because you don't have Jefferson. I mean, look, Thielen has taken a lot of arrows from everybody this year, including us, where we've wondered, hey, what's going on there?

Thielen has been really good in recent weeks. He has come through in Detroit and he came through yesterday. He's a guy they need to be 100% healthy. He's been hobbling a lot throughout the season. You can't play him in week 18 and have him get banged up right I mean I don't know I think that's a kind of a debate for another day but I did want to ask you about this season because you said like that's one of the craziest things you've ever seen if not the craziest and again it's the largest comeback in the history of the entire NFL I mean I guess it had to be us right it just had to be this season it had to be us but right? It just had to be this season. It had to be us. But of all your years covering the Vikings or as a Minnesotan since you've been here,

I mean, where does this season sit as far as not even just madness? Because I think madness includes like a roof collapsing or a coach's eyeball popping out. I don't want to talk about that. That's like popping out. I don't know. I don't want to talk about that. That's like calamities. This has not been calamities. This has been entertainment value because for me, I mean,

17 was way up there, but that also had some kills. It had some terrible games, the game against Pittsburgh, the game against Tampa Bay. Like they just murdered Tampa Bay. It wasn't a good game. It wasn't exciting. The game that they played in Washington, not that good. Like this year,

it's been every single, every single week is a complete roller coaster. So where, where does it sit or how does it compare to other seasons in your mind? I used to say that, you know, and I, I've been kind of dining off of this anecdote for a long time, but the 2010 season was unlike anything just because of the calamities. I mean, unforced errors in terms of management. You had a coach fired. You had Randy Moss coming and going. You had Favre's drama.

You had his scandal in New York popping around the same time. And then, of course, the roof literally fell in on the team. So I don't know. And then they had a game rescheduled until Tuesday because of more snow. I mean, there was so much absurdity that happened, and it was all negative. I've never seen anything this entertaining that has turned out to be so positive. I mean, and what I find mostly entertaining about it is that I, and I talk to friends scattered throughout the country who are watching this too with disbelief. I mean, because they know I'm here. They know my son loves the team. They know

I've covered the team. And every Sunday they're like, can you believe this? What is happening? This is ridiculous. How do you explain this? And that's what I can't understand is that this is an 11-3 team that, you know, defies fate with like folly and resilience that, like I say, most normal teams need decades to perfect. And yet it's here every week. And, you know, last know, last season was also an exhausting season because there were a ton of one-score games. But because they didn't win them and because there was so much tension in the air with Mike Zimmer and his future and Rick Spielman

and his future and you could kind of see the slow death of that whole regime play out, this is the polar opposite of that whole regime play out. This is the polar opposite of that, where it's pure, you're confounded, you're angry, you're annoyed, you're like validated. Ah, finally, there it is. This is unsustainable. They're flawed. They've finally been exposed. And then to turn around and have one of the greatest fan experiences you can have all in one game.

I don't know if that's ever happened, where their season was crystallized yesterday in they look fatally flawed. They expose themselves as the frauds they are, but they dig deep and are able to rally and make NFL history all in the same four-hour period. That I've never seen before, certainly in the 22 years I've been here. And I'm guessing even, you know, most Vikings fans will tell you, you know, with the Super Bowl seasons of the 70s or they're, you know, they've been recalling the miracle at the Met from 1980, the Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad, Hail Mary at the end that won the division title for him. And, you know, they didn't go anywhere that season, but like that was okay. A snapshot, one moment. They've had two of those kinds of moments in five

weeks here. I mean, they turned water into wine in Buffalo five weeks ago, and that should have never happened. And then to have what happened yesterday as well, I don't think we've seen the craziest thing yet. I think we're going to see it probably in the postseason. And I hope people are prepared for it because I don't know which way it's going to go. But you know the way this season plays out, whether they finish in Glendale, hoisting Lombardi's trophy with Roger Goodell and the confetti or booted it away in some awful biblical fashion in the NFC championship game or earlier, I have a feeling it's going to be one of those two

type type outcomes. Folks, you have just days left before Christmas. So make sure you're going to sodastick.com to get all of your Minnesota sports inspired goods. That's hats, t-shirts, hoodies, sodastick.com, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Use the promo code purpleURPLEINSIDER there for your last-minute holiday shopping. I think back to a question I got in training camp from a fan who said, hey, like a lot of the one-score games at the very end went against us. Do you think that this year they'll just go for us, that we'll make all those plays that we didn't last year? I was kind of like, well, yeah, I mean,

I think that over a long period of time, there's no guarantee for that. So, you know, you'd kind of expect them to split them. And that person was exactly right. I mean, you couldn't have called it any better. Like, this is just the oppo. It's like the George Costanza where everything he does, it's the opposite, whatever he thinks he should do.

Bizarro world. Yes, this is the bizarro 2021. It's like they replayed the season and yet everything went the exact opposite way. All the players who got hurt last year stayed healthy. This time, all the defensive meltdowns turned into clutch plays this season. And it's so funny because like in terms of entertainment of value of the games, if you didn't care at all about the outcome, you would say just as many came down to the very last play. And it was just as tense and just as crazy. And up in that press box, when it gets to the fourth quarter and I've had a couple of sausages and some ice cream and ate breakfast and all those things, You know, I'm sweating all that out by the fourth quarter for two straight years now.

I mean, even going back to 2020, they had a lot of crazy games like this. But this, I mean, this is just beyond anything I've ever seen before. You don't really watch the Vikings anymore. You endure them. You know, with equal parts like dread and wonder, like elective surgery, you know, unless, yeah, you know what, you know, you need to and you want to, but you just, I, I, it, I, I don't know the psychology in this town.

It's off the charts right now. Cause I still don't know if, if, if yesterday did anything to validate either side of the argument that they're frauds or they're blessed um probably both yeah I mean honestly like the two halves of that game were the two halves of this season only just exaggerated like they they can look as bad as you can look and then they can look as great as you can look depending on what quarter it is in in an individual game and there have been many third quarters where we've thought this is the worst team i've ever seen look at the defense letting mike white do whatever he wants and then they get you know red zone stops or something and that also was a big deal for them that should be mentioned was you know they kept uh indianapolis to field goals as bad as Matt Ryan is now at football, but still like

they were able to keep them from scoring and make a little progress there. That's kind of going to go overlooked considering all the offensive things that needed to happen in that game. But in the past, I've seen teams for five, six, seven games be totally blessed and have everything go their way. I mean, even Philadelphia last year to make the playoffs, they were kind of like that. Like every year, there's that one team that goes nine and eight or 10 and seven, and they won every close game. And we all kind of know it, but this is so much different than that. The sample size of these close games and comebacks and all these other things. I mean, this is the second time. No, actually the third time this year where late in the fourth quarter, they had a 5% chance or less to win and won the game. I mean, that just is the one against Detroit and then Buffalo.

And then this, all of those games, less than 10% chance to win. And yesterday, of course, less than 5% late in the fourth quarter, and yet they still found a way. So I think from that perspective, I mean, it's been by far the most entertaining season. And for me, the hardest, I mean, for being somebody that tries to accumulate all of the data and look for answers, the answers have usually been there with this team even since I got here in 2016 like I remember when they were 5-0 we were looking at it like you know this offensive line and this is going to be a problem and the offense wasn't really producing and you could kind of see like they needed some punt returns for touchdown and lucky breaks and whatever to get to 5-0 that year and you could

see the thing teetering a little bit, even just on paper. 2017, you could tell they were more for real because the offensive statistics were actually good and the defense, it was number one in the league. So like any given week, their defense could just shut someone out. With this, when you don't have those numbers to kind of lean on, you naturally think,

well, the wheels have to come off eventually. But football is weird like that. And it's just weird this year. So I think that's been the hardest thing is to try to like make sense of a Kirk Cousins season where his statistics are down and yet he's winning every game at the end. Like, what am I supposed to do with that? You know, and other than to say, I don't know, like, I really don't know. That's why we watch is because it's so hard to predict. But for me, since I've been here, I think it will need something more in the playoffs to match 2017 because the magical run of Case Keenum was, again, unlike anything I've ever

seen in my life for a backup quarterback to win, what, 12 out of 15 games the way the case Keenum did throwing up balloons and having every single one of them including the miracle come down in Stefan Diggs hands but the similarity between the two seasons is that throughout the year everybody wasn't sure about them that's that's for one because with Keenum even the players in the locker room they were even Mike Zimmer they were having meetings. I don't think Mike Zimmer ever really knew his name. No, he never, yeah, he never, I mean, he said he's got like a lucky charm around his neck or whatever it was, a horseshoe around his neck, which I think he wanted to say maybe somewhere else. But like, so the whole season long, they kept winning game after game.

And after every game would be like, no way Keenum keeps doing this right same with this and the other thing is the synergy and togetherness of the locker room and maybe that is just because you win but I also think that one thing this team has that going for them is that Eric Hendricks, Patrick Peterson, Zedarius Smith they have all been close they have all had this experience and they want this like this so badly. Like they've all, they haven't won super bowls. A lot of these guys, if not, I don't know if there's anybody in the roster, maybe I could be wrong if there's somebody, but I don't think anybody on the roster has a ring. And everyone's the Darius has been close with green Bay. Patrick Peterson was close with Arizona. Eric Hendricks is close to 2017. Same

with Harrison Smith. Justin Jefferson's a guy that expects to win a championship based off what he did in college. Like Cousins has been in the playoffs before. Every single one of them looks around and knows this is it. Well, they're hungry and they also know their time is limited. Right, right. And I remember reading this Murph that teams that go deep in the playoffs usually have a lot of veterans. And that might be part of it is like, you're not taking anything for granted if you're Eric Hendricks or if you're, you know, Adam Thielen, because this might be it. This might be your, your kind of one and only chance. And I think that that motivation for this team, if there's anything going for him the playoffs that might be it that's what that's the beauty of it is that all what they keep doing is keep

notching that bar higher and higher and higher and higher which means if there is a fall it is going to be painful and it is going to be deep and it is going to be deep. And it's going to be another one of those years that Vikings fans either cling to like a disease or, you know, look at as the beacon that one day we're getting closer. One day we will be able to enjoy what so many other fans have in this league. And that's the beauty, that you have to embrace that. And that's what I've been saying for so long, even when they were 2-1, 3-1. Like, don't fear it.

Enjoy it, embrace it, lean into it. Because, look, they may not get to the Super Bowl. They may get there and lose. They may lose on the doorstep as they have so many times. But you can't look back as a paying fan at anything that's really happened this season and saying it wouldn't be worth the ride. You know, it was easy to say that in September. I say that now saying, look, you're never, the things that have happened this season, you're not going to get – you might get one every 10 years. They've had two or three moments this season where you will be talking about for a long time.

This is one of those asterisk seasons. When they look back, they played their know, they played their thousandth game yesterday. When you go back to a hundred years of Vikings history, when we're all dead, you know, 2022 is going to be on that list. We don't know how it's going to finish yet, but I can guarantee you 2022 will be on the top five. A couple of the Super Bowl teams, 98, 2009, 2017, and this year, they are all going to be on that list because of what you witnessed. So like I said, I've been trying to say, ignore the analytics and the reason and just enjoy the unscripted ride. But like I said, I have no more advice for you. I really, because I have no, I'm curious how it's going to play out. But I'm also, for my son, dreading how it's going to play out,

and I'm also just – I don't know what's going to define a successful season for this team yet because they've put that bar up so high that, you know, playing in Glendale is probably defining a successful season and they may not even get there and frankly that doesn't make it any less enjoyable I guess so that brings me to one last question for you which I think is a hard one to answer given what you just said but I know it's in the back of everyone's mind and I'm afraid to say it because I know it's going to be upsetting to people if they lose to Washington in the first round, are you going to, on Monday morning, Murph, tell me the same thing you just told me?

I'm going to give myself an out and say it depends on how they lose. Oh, okay. Because, I mean, if it's 33-0, if it's 33-donut at home to Washington, yeah, I think they should be burned to the ground. And everything I just said is total BS. If it is a tight game, I think it's all in the optics in a lot of ways. No, losing any home playoff game I think is a disappointment. It should be.

If they lose at home to Washington in the first round, then they didn't deserve all the praise we've been giving them, I guess. So does that just's one for the ages, but it will be forgotten if it doesn't turn into more. And I think yesterday there are two ways to look at it. You could look at it as, wow, if you could fall behind to a team like that, I don't know how I can trust you. Or you can look at it like, I believe in you no matter what, because even on your worst day, you still found a way to win in the worst situation possible i tend to think that it's probably a little bit more toward the latter than the former like every team has bad games where they just make a bunch of mistakes and get a punt blocked and stuff like random stuff and to come back and win said a lot about them against a not terrible defense overall so i but i don't know like i, I don't know either. I think that I've already in my head.

You're asking me to split an atom here. Yeah. You know, the psychological atom of the Vikings fan base. I don't know how to do that. I've had, I've just had to go through my head. Like what will, what we'll think about this if they go this far, that far, that far, like what we're going to say about it. And it's probably pretty scary for Vikings fans to think about. So enjoy your enjoy what you just had, because it's it is it is absolutely crazy.

So live it, live, live in the moment. Dance like no one's watching is what I'm saying. There you go. Dance like no one's watching. Murph, you're the best. I'm glad that we were both awake for this one. Yeah, this is a rare prime time or happy hour time. What is it?

5.51 p.m. now on Sunday that we're wrapping this up. We have another one next week, too. We've got to figure out our Christmas schedule. Oh, right. But, yeah, another Saturday game. And then, I don't know. I'm not even looking. I guess, you know,

Green Bay and Chicago, I guess, I don't know how we're going to be able to tee those, those games up. I guess maybe they, maybe they could put a final bow on Aaron Rodgers and the rivalry, but otherwise I don't see much. I don't really see a lot other than just, you know, get your, get as high a seat as you can right now and keep everyone healthy. And then let's just save a little of the drama for later in January. Is that asking too much? Right. No, there's still several games to go and anything can happen. So a Monday morning Murph, which you'll be listening to on Monday morning.

But actually, we didn't record super early on Monday morning. So our energy was very high. I appreciate you, Murph. And your column will be up purpleinsider.com. People can check that out as well. cord super early on Monday morning. So our energy was very high. I appreciate you Murph and your column will be up purpleinsider.com. People can check that out as well. And we will do it again sometime next week. Sounds good.