Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Courtney Cronin returns to talk us into Vikings-Bears stuff

Episode Date: October 5, 2022

Does this need any explanation? ESPN's Courtney Cronin, who now covers the Chicago Bears, talks about how covering Chicago is different than the Minnesota Vikings, whether it's too soon to compare Justin Fields to other bust quarterbacks and what she misses about Minnesota  -- For more of Matthew's Vikings coverage, head to purpleinsider.substack.com For bonus discussions, interview clips, and more videos, check out our YouTube channel! Interact with us on Twitter! @Purple_Insider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider presented by Liquid Death. Go to liquiddeath.com slash insider and learn about the Tallboy can, which actually has water. Find out where you can get it near you at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Hello, welcome to another episode, no, wait. The episode of the week. You have all been asking for it, and now it is here. Matthew Collar with you, along with ESPN's Courtney Cronin, who returns to the show not only as a Chicago Bears beat reporter, but also a television star now on Around the Horn. Courtney, I have loved to see it when I turn on my TV to ESPN and I see you on Around the Horn.

Very happy for your success. Welcome back to the show. My God, it's been way too long. I feel like I just left Minnesota, even though it's been, what, since February? So basically about seven months that I've been gone. And it's crazy to me how much life has changed, how much both of our football lives have changed and where your team that you covers at and where my team is at right now.

And it's wild, but I'm so glad that I could come back. I've been seeing the people wondering where draft scout is all these months. Trust me. I'm wondering where she is too. I'm not getting any calls back, so I'm a little worried on that front. But I'm not worried that this is not going to be the episode of the year because we are back and we are ready to deliver. So I've been looking forward to this for some time. We certainly are.

And I will tell you, you mentioned things have changed. The press conferences are maybe the biggest thing around that is very different. Listening to Kevin O'Connell versus battling with Mike Zimmer for press conference questions is a very different experience where Kevin O'Connell has too much to say and uh mike zimmer sometimes not enough or sometimes could really lay the hammer just in a couple of sentences or even a few words uh like with kellen mon but that's changed quite a bit i think the general overall feeling has changed quite a bit and really you know after 2017 when you think about it like you didn't cover any seasons where we weren't talking about is kirk still going to be the quarterback? Is Mike Zimmer going to get fired? Like it was pretty much all that outside of 2017 in Minnesota.

So having that gone, as we talk about the team and not saying, well, is Zimmer going to keep his job and he's fighting for this or that, like they have to take this all in view because everyone could get fired not having that there and also having a guy who's really focused on keeping the players happy like i'll give you an example in the locker room the other day the tv was on the tv was never on with zimmer because he thought that it made the player soft i thought that those tvs were just decoration and that the screen was permanently black like those tvs actually work to the fireplaces work because I think he said that I think he thought that players would be soft if they had heat coming

out of the fire, the beautiful gas fireplaces inside TCO performance center. Those are working. Do you know? Okay. So I did check on this. Yeah. And this is what real reporting is.

Okay. So I don't want to use the word hero that I found this out, but maybe I will. They are broken. Apparently. Yeah. So I don't want to use the word hero that I found this out, but maybe I will. They are broken. Apparently. Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Maybe they- Like the gas line himself? That could be, or they just fell into disrepair from lack of usage or that no one noticed that they weren't working because they were never trying. So yeah, I think it's something that they're going to have to correct.

How do they not work? I have no idea. And it's only week five. So there's a lot to correct, including the gas fireplaces. Oh my gosh. So, but good to know that the players lounge, like the little thing outside the door,

outside of the locker room, that those TVs work. And are guys actually staying in there and hanging out and watching TV? Yeah, yeah. like the little thing outside the door, outside of the locker room that those TVs work. And our guys actually staying in there and hanging out and watching TV. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, now the offensive linemen sit on the big couches and watch TV. So that's, uh, what counts to sit on and they're actually being used all these years later. I actually, the only time I ever sat on those couches was week four of the 2018 season. I was doing an interview ahead of that Rams game with Stefan Diggs and Adam Thielen. And I sat in there with both of them.

That is the only time I've ever sat on those couches. I sat there with Sheldon Richardson one time for a one-on-one, but that was it. And we've- Greatest interview you've ever had in your life. It really was. Yeah. At that point, Sheldon Richardson said something about his progress in his career. And he was like, well, you would know.

I mean, I'm sure you had to do a lot to get here to be an NFL reporter. I was like, you are the first person to have ever said that to any journalist who's in the NFL. So we miss Sheldon Richardson very much. I am curious before we get into the game, and we're going to play Talk Me Into here because I thought it was the only way we could really approach this. What is different about covering the Chicago Bears than the Minnesota Vikings? The media contingent's huge. I mean, you've got the Sun-Times, you've got the Chicago Tribune, and both papers send out minimum of three people every day.

So just like those numbers, The Athletic, myself, a radio station, a ton of TV stations, some independent sites like local newspapers. It's huge. We have a really big media room and every press conference, it's always packed in there. And it's not like that wasn't the case in Minnesota, but I just think the sheer volume of people that I work with on a daily basis is so much bigger than what we dealt with in Minnesota. And, of course, I mean, what is Chicago? Like the number three or four market in the country? You'd expect that. I think what's also different different too, is just the locker

room here is a lot younger. Like, of course you have like your, I mean, this is a team that got rid of 20 plus players in free agency. And we're all kind of, I mean, I'm brand new on the beat. Other people who are 20 plus years on the beat are starting over with this new group though, because there's so many rookies or so many players who came here, you know, on one year deals, you know, a couple of free agents that they signed that are brand new. We're all learning this group together, which, you know, there are the staples like the Roquan Smiths, Robert Quinn, obviously Justin Fields has been around for a year. Darnell Mooney has been around for three. Like there a couple guys that have the institutional knowledge, have the pulse in the locker room,

but a lot of these other guys are just brand new like the rest of us. And it's different covering a team like that when you're getting to know people the same time as everybody else. Same thing with the coach, same thing with the general manager. I will say the biggest difference, obviously, for me, is how you cover a quarterback. Because covering Justin Fields at this stage of his development and he's 23 years old is a lot different than when Kirk Cousins comes to town

on my third season. Was it second or third season? The second season would be 2018. And he was already, you know, over 30 years, 29, 30 years old. He just made, you know made the first fully guaranteed contract. Somebody at a completely different stage of his career. So how you work and cover somebody who's very much in the developmental stage of his career is so different than somebody who you already know who he is. And we knew who Kirk was by the time he got there from Washington.

And you still know who he is. And, you know, there's a lot of unknowns with Justin, even though right now it feels like there is a big section of this fan base that wants to pull the plug on this quarterback, even through four games. And you can understand the frustration because of how bad it's looked. But I'm covering a team that is taking a very different stage. That's in a very different stage of where they're at right now. And in, in the midst of a very different rebuild than the one that you're covering. When was the last time, even in your career, where you covered a team that was really,

truly rebuilding like the Chicago bears are because, uh, what you covered the warriors quite a bit, maybe the Raiders when they first got Derek Carter you go back that far with that team I mean the first year I covered the NFL was 2016 I was covering the 49ers and the Raiders at that time so I wouldn't say the 49ers were in a rebuild though at that point because they were the next year like right before I left because that offseason they fired Chip Kelly after one year. Colin Kaepernick was their quarterback. Like he was out the door. That's when they brought in John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. But I wasn't around long

enough to really see that through. I was there during the offseason, but I've never covered something where it's like full on rip everything down to the studs. Let's start over from scratch. Like I've never been a part of something like this. And it just has to be a totally different approach to reporting because we've just had this, I think like tension is, is a good word between the media and the coaches. I mean, obviously not this year, but in the past there was just a lot of tension there. I remember when Kevin Stefanski was named the offensive coordinator and no one seemed happy, including Kevin Stefanski.

And it was just like head coaches watching him from the corner of the room, making sure he doesn't say anything he's not supposed to say. And Kevin's up there sweating bullets. Just being like, can we talk about the Miami game? Anybody want to talk about like how the offense is going to look? God, that was uncomfortable. Yeah. Uncomfortable was the, really the word of like the last several years with the Vikings.

So now you're in a position where it's like, okay, well they lost and they didn't play well. And I guess we'll look at it, but, uh, how does it matter for the future becomes the conversation for everything. And I thought that's what we were going to go through here. And instead, no, it's really that we're breaking down every game through the ins and outs. So why don't we dive into, talk me into, and let's start with this, the place everyone wants you to start, which is talk me into not calling Justin Fields Sam Darnold all week.

Well, it's week four. Start there where we just fit wrapped up week four. It's week five. So I think that the, if you want to call him Sam Darnold or think that he's awful, that's one thing, but you got to take a look at the entire offense and say in that same breath, the entire offense is broken.

There's no talent at wide receiver outside of one guy who, you know, is the only one Mooney is he only caught. He's the only receiver that caught a pass this past weekend. That's a problem. Um, the offensive line is in a constant state of flux. Like it's this weird thing. And now it's out of necessity. So Cody Whitehairs are left guard. He went down with a knee injury against the giants,. Lucas Patrick, who they brought in to play center and was supposed to be playing center from the very start, but he like screws up his thumb during training camp. He's been splitting reps at right guard with Tevin Jenkins, the guy that you moved from tackle, who was on the trading block during training camp, like guy who didn't even, you didn't want there. Like they, there

was all these things in flux. And now it's like, because Patrick really hasn't been ready to go back to center. He's been playing at guard and you have Sam Mustapher, who is not a great center in terms of pass protection. Like that's been your offensive line. It's why some things have looked that bad, but on the flip side of that,

now they have this combination that they have to go with. Like one of their staples is injured. So there's a lot of things like I I just feel like it's too early to bail on Justin Fields. No, I mean, there's a lot of fatal flaws and it looks ugly every week. It's looked ugly. And just honestly, throw out the San Francisco game. They stole a win at home and in really terrible conditions. Like it wasn't something that, you know, you can really, it's more of an outlier than like a commonality that they're going to beat good teams like that because the 49ers are a good team. At that time, they did

not have Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback. Trey Lance was starting then. So I just don't know that Justin Fields, I've said this all along. I don't think you can judge him on this year based on what you're seeing, because you get a giant eye for incomplete. In my opinion, it's on, it's, it's not realistic to think that he can be more than what he is given the circumstances of everything around him. I mean, there's a, there's a reason that they had to change his mechanics before they went out and got him receivers.

They thought it was that bad very clearly when they got here. And I don't think it's realistic to think, okay, his mechanics, his footwork, everything down pat five weeks into the season. Like he's supposed to look like a completely different quarterback. It takes time to work through those things. And I just don't believe that they're going to have their answer on whether he's the franchise guy after 17 games this season. It's going to be next year where you can really do that. If you want to call him Sam Darnold next year on Tuesday or Wednesday, October 4th, it'll be next

year, 2023. We can, if there isn't any signs of improvement, he's got the hardest task of anybody in the NFL. You have to improve within the confines of this offense that has talent deficiencies across the board. Good luck. I think it's honestly just a matter of he's got to just tough it out this year because it's not going to be pretty and it's going to look a lot like what you saw happen against the Giants versus them eking out a win against the San Francisco 49ers. I think you've done a tremendous job there and it was very convincing, but I'm still going to call him Sam Darnold all week because we've just kind of been through this a few times where when

somebody doesn't make progress from the first to the second year. And I know that the circumstances are bad because they decided to tank. So that's tough, but it sounds very Josh Roseny and very Sam Darnoldy where we're like, Oh, well, all the guy needs is this. And, and, and we can't really judge him because he had a bad that, but it also should look like something shouldn't it? I mean, we're, we're talking about the second lowest graded quarterback by PFF, 50% completion percentage, one big time throw all year. The guy gets sacked. And thrown into a tight window.

Yeah, right. He won't throw into tight windows. He gets sacked constantly. He's not making plays like he did in the San Francisco game like one time, but he's not like going out of structure. And also there is not a resilience to that guy that I see that you saw in other quarterbacks who overcame the difficult things and overcame shortcomings in their game like Josh Allen or Joe Burrow, guys who had tough early rookie years, very bad circumstances, especially

Burrow. My gosh. But you saw that they like stayed in games and they fought through it and they made plays fields is just like i lose like i don't know it just looks like there's just nothing to to say like oh man he's just fighting tooth and nail to make this happen and i i mean it's hard because someone like geno smith cannot play for a long time and then develop and then look better way down the road. And we've seen other quarterbacks start out slow and then really turn it on. But after you're a rookie, it's like, I don't know if I have any more excuses for you.

I thought Matt Nagy was supposed to be the problem. Well, now you're running the bootlegs and you still can't do anything. Well, I think there's something to that where you talk about Nagy and you talk about some of the issues from that offense. He has to learn so much stuff from last year. And I think Luke Getzey's offense, when they're actually able to run most of it, it works. But, you know, he's got the 14th highest amount of play-action dropbacks,

like play-action rollouts. Like, I mean, he's got the 14th highest amount of play-action dropbacks, play-action rollouts. I mean, he's got designed runs. There's stuff that they're doing. He's just not pulling the trigger. That's what it boils down to. And I think some of that, I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses for him,

I think some of that is PTSD from how many times he was sacked last year, what that offensive line looked like last year, when they made him be in a drop back, get, get in a drop back game with people year, like, you know, game after game after game, that was too much for him. So he's gun shy in a lot of ways, but it's, you're not seeing that growth all that much where it looks like he's taking that big of a jump ahead. Now, the one thing I will say, and it's kind of like shining a turd a little bit, but the game that they had in New York, there were some moments where you're like, okay, where, where was that?

Like, where can you, can you see more of that? The 56 yarder to Mooney over the middle of the field. That was an incredible throw. He had a great throw to Cole commit a little bit later on beyond that. And Amy, he just, just looked more confident and comfortable. But he had clean pockets that he was operating with that he wasn't doing anything with. So it's kind of like for every step he's taken forward, it's two steps back. It's like, come on, man.

Like, you know, they're running four verts. Like, just throw the ball. Like, you had time. You had a clean pocket. And Mooney's wide open for a touchdown ahead of the two-minute in the first half. But there's, there's things that are frustrating, I think, for people to watch. And that's why there's this notion that some of the fan base, like is ready to just be done with it because, but like, I think that those are the signs where you're like, can, he might not be able to show it to you at this moment right now, maybe by like

week 13, he can, but can he show you that he can grow from those moments and be better at decision-making because right now he's bailing on reads. He's playing hero ball. And I don't think it's, it's not a selfish reason. I just think that that's how he knows how to do things. And when he's under duress or like it's a perceived duress in his head, then that's how he operates. Folks, maybe you've been a little confused when you're in the water section of the grocery store

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be or check out where you can find it at their store locator tool at liquid death.com slash insider that is liquid death.com slash insider yeah. I think that that's one of the most concerning things you can ever see from a young quarterback is when they don't want to throw the ball because like Kenny Pickett got in the game and he threw three picks or something, but Kenny Pickett was like throwing it. And I don't know if he'll be good either, but at least he was letting loose and giving it a shot. And that was kind of burrow in his first year too, where, I mean, he was taking some sacks and it was looking pretty bad at times,

but he was also, sometimes you just have to fire it into a tight window. And if you don't learn that in the second year, I mean, I even saw progress from Zach Wilson the other day who looked much more comfortable and looked like he wanted to let it go. Like if we don't see that from fields, I think we're going to get close to the like, all right, we've got to call this one early. What would you like me to talk you into?

I want you to talk me into Kirk cousins, being a different quarterback with Kevin O'Connell as his head coach and being a better quarterback with Kevin O'Connell as his head coach. Cause I watched that saints game and there were some moments where I was like, that is the same guy that I remember covering where balls were thrown too high. And just some decision-making things that I'm like, okay, Kirk, like this is zebra doesn't change its stripes. Does the coordinator, you know, the guys calling the plays. Cause I think back to, you know, the Philly game, obviously they got smoked. So I'm curious, like, is changing of play caller and philosophy and everything else helping Kirk be a better quarterback?

Hmm. Okay. This one, this one's a challenge, a real challenge, but I'll see if I can find some wiggle room here. Kirk Cousins is not getting any taller or stronger or faster or faster when it comes to making decisions or more gutsy, uh, when it comes to throwing into coverage or even getting to a second or third read or any of the, any of those things, he's still throwing it short when he should probably stay with something and go down the field. Like all those things are the same, but here's where I think it could be different is we know that the Kirk coaster is extremely real and that the ups

and downs of Kirk cousins, anytime you think, oh my gosh, it's over. He has looked so rough. And in 2020 is a good example. They're one in five. He's coming off of a three interception game against Atlanta. Wow. Put them in a rocket ship and send them to the sun. And then here comes the up of Kirk Cousins. And then he has a great next month. And I think what O'Connell has done and certainly winning these games at the end and getting game winning drives from Cousins has helped a ton. But I think what O'Connell has done is he has been patient with it, that he hasn't, if he's frustrated, which watching the tape back,

he should be from the other day, but if he's frustrated, he's not showing his cards and he does, I guess you would call like a truth sandwich where there's sort of some filler on the top and bottom of his comments. And maybe in the middle, you can kind of get a sense for what he's thinking. Like when he's talking about cousins, not making a certain throw on third and one the other day where Adam Thielen is wide open and

Kevin Seifert wrote a little bit about this. He's not going to come out and say like, well, we had a touchdown there and didn't throw the ball because that's just too harsh. Instead, it was like, well, you know, we had a read there and next time we're going to coach that and we're going to keep coaching them and we're going to get more comfortable. And I think you can ride that narrative through quite a bit of the season with cousins, but to have somebody that is not going to make the guy feel like he is just the worst human being in the world every time he misses a throw or something, or every time there's a frustrating game. If, if you're doing that, maybe as the season goes along, cousins can get more comfortable with the offense they have because receivers are open. And in the long run, maybe the numbers are

not way different or way better but you have a more confident quarterback going into the this back stretch of the season which is where they've fallen apart that is the absolute best i can do with this question that's good because i mean it sounds so simple as like having somebody that empowers you versus somebody who's like waiting for you to screw up right like we all knew that his relationship with Mike Zimmer was contentious at, at, at best. And, you know, at worst it was really not great at all. And they didn't like each other. And, you know, I think there's something to be said about Zimmer going a little too little

too late. Cause remember last year it was like, you know, just throw the ball type thing that he had said it was a chargers game that we were at like in 2021 and it was afterwards he was clint was the one telling us and then clint got reprimanded and run out of town by zimmer um about like how uh how he wanted him to be more aggressive and not like but it's like all these years before you're beating it into him. Like don't throw the ball. Don't turn the ball over play conservatively. So I've, I just, I've been so curious. He's it's, you know, Kevin O'Connell worked with him in Washington and, you know, I don't know how much that can translate over as far as this system, you know,

people on the outside, much like me now look at this and say, okay, well, the system did a lot for Matthew Stafford. Can it do something the same for Kirk cousins? So that's at least like where I've been with it because I just wasn't sure like how that all panned out. Yeah. And I think that we've seen just a lot of the same typical stuff that we normally see out of Kirk Cousins, which means the good and the bad. His throw to Justin Jefferson, his throw to KJ Osborne, both game-winning drives were really fantastic, but there's just moments throughout a game. And this might be a thing. I've never really believed that if you pat Kirk on the back, he's just going to like be clutch. But I do think that

if you're feeling a little extra pressure from your head coach, as opposed to, like you said, I mean, it's almost like someone looking over your shoulder while you're playing James Bond, and then you're more likely to screw up and get shot and die on the video game than you are if someone believes in you, that you can win at 007. But you know what I'm saying.

Like, maybe there's a little more comfort in a big moment, and that's all you're kind of looking for, and that's really the best I can do with that because a lot of it is the same. And already we've seen them go back to the bootlegs back to the eye formation stuff. But I think that that's smart. That's, that's an adjustment you have to make to, to run the plays that Kirk Cousins is more comfortable with. And maybe even the simple fact that they started adding the things that Kirk is good at, as

opposed to just sticking with it, like John D Filippo did. Maybe that's a, maybe that's a good sign in general with Kevin O'Connell. Yeah, no, it feels like, I mean, you change philosophy. You had to, right? Like there, there was no other way that they were going to go and do this. You know, the way that we, the way that they could have been doing for eight years, it's just not the case. So, um, I think it's a matter of, at least just from what I've seen, he, what was the thing that Adam Thielen said the other day, like how it feels good or something

that like, you know, when, when, when a play gets something wrong happens, you have the coaches standing with you, not blaming players and not, there weren't really moments. Like I know people want to like, you know, tear down Mike Zimmer on this stuff, but I never like, yes, he called players out, but to me, it just didn't feel like, you know, I don't know. I just, I feel like at the times he was so passive aggressive where it wasn't like, he was like, this guy sucked. He didn't do his job. And so like, um, I don't know. I just, I wonder, I've always just wondered about like Kevin O'Connell is a lot closer in age to Kirk Cousins. Does that seem to play into it too?

Does that help the overall situation? They got younger as a whole staff. I mean, Quasey's what, like 36, 37. I mean, no, he's like 40. Anyways, it's still young. Like, you know, I just just feels like everybody's a lot more on the same page to an outsider, which, which is me. There's one ball to go around, and you have a lot of skilled players on offense who want that, and that's one of the next things I'm going to ask you about

and talk you into, but it just feels like they have his back, like they have Kirk's back in a way that the previous staff did not. Well, and going to the podium time and time again, and using the same refrain that we're getting there, we're improving, we're coaching it up. Kirk's operating the offense the way we want him to things like that, as opposed to just like, eh, he exists and he takes up a lot of money, folks, you figure out the rest. Maybe there's something to it, but also I think that the players have a lot of money, folks. You figure out the rest. Maybe there's something to it. But also I think that the players have a lot of investment in supporting O'Connell.

And I think this is a good thing overall, which is like, you guys wanted this. Like, this is what you asked for. This is what you have. Now you really can't complain about it. And I think that even O'Connell, I really liked something. I didn't bring it up too much,

but O'Connell told Justin Jefferson, don't do the frustrated receiver thing because everyone's going to jump on that. So you can't show your frustration too much when you're not getting the football in the game. And I also think that's big for Kirk because I think he gets antsy when that happens. And we've seen it before

that when receivers are getting frustrated with him, he goes and stands away from them and everything else. This time there was a couple of plays and he went and sat with them, which might be a little bit of a change. So, okay. Next, next thing though. Next thing you have to talk me into the Chicago bears coming to Minnesota and winning this football game despite being horrendous. Okay. So first thing I'm thinking of is Kirk throws at least two interceptions. Eddie Jackson right now is having some late career, not late career, like mid-career resurgence. Remember the guy didn't record a pick after he signed his big deal following the 2019 season,

and he's got three and four games. So I think that Kirk is due for one interception there on the back half. They've got to really change what they're doing too, because they got crushed by the giants and by the Packers against the run. So like, I'm just thinking like, if, all right, if the Vikings are going to continue the plan where that they've used the last few weeks where they're not like necessarily running really, really hard on teams, then, you know, they're going to force Kirk to beat you. So if you're going to force Kirk to beat you, then you're going to put him in really tough situations. And that means that they're going to be blitzing more because

they don't typically blitz all that often. This is a defense that likes to get pressure with his four down linemen. So forcing him to make quicker decisions than he's more comfortable doing and under throwing balls. So Eddie Jackson would get one. And I will say Jaquan Brisker, who I think is an absolute, like he's a star in the making. I know that last week looked really bad. He bit on play action. They all did like, but this feels like a two interception performance from Kirk Cousins for me. I don't know. It just, I, I, maybe I'm

too close to it, but it just feels like that's kind of the MO there. So there's that. And on top of that, I think Justin Fields playing indoors and in a controlled environment, because it'll be the first time he's done that this season, no elements to blame on anything. I mean, first week was a deluge and that's, you know, they still won the game. I think him having the climate control and nothing to literally throw off his game, that will be something else that leads the Minnesota, the Minnesota Vikings to losing. Well, I can, I can, I can try to add on to this a little,

because that was maybe like a C+, that Kirk has to throw some picks and Fields will enjoy the calm temperatures. But I think the Bears running game is actually very legit. And the Vikings are not stopping the run really at all so far. I mean, Latavius Murray, as much as you and I appreciate Latavius, he's old and he still ran over them last week. Even with Elvin Kamara out, they were giving up big yards. So I think the running game could be problematic for them.

And then it really comes down to the schematics of it uh of now when eber was in uh indianapolis that was like kirk's worst career game against that defense although you know maybe deforest buckner had a lot to do with that but that's probably the best case you can really make and the vikings are coming back from london there is a it's like it's a it's been a week you know like going over there doing the whole thing coming back and having to play and maybe in a noon game they'll think it's like 7 p.m. and their bodies know what to do yeah I to add to your point about the run game we don't know if David Montgomery is going to be back

this week I mean the good sign was because he was out with knee and ankle injuries and I just I don't know something in me tells me they're going to give him about two weeks to to make sure he's good because I didn't see him at practice at all last week the first time I had seen him since the Houston game was actually doing a warm-up at MetLife Stadium and he was running better than I thought he was like just in warm-up so that's a good sign Khalil Herbert exploded against Houston, but everybody can do that. Like it's Houston. I just don't think, I mean, I know that he had 19 carries for 77 yards and they averaged what, like 4.7 yards a carry.

That's fine, but it just felt like the run game really wasn't getting them anywhere last week. You think back to, and this is definitely on coaching, but it might tell you how they feel about certain things. There have been times where the coaching staff has almost bailed on the run in part of where I'm just not so sure. So go back to the shotgun play against Green Bay where they need a yard, and it's the fourth down play.

They run fields out of the shotgun when they had gone 89 yards to that point, running the ball, didn't throw it once. Why not? Why are you not taking David Montgomery in that moment and having him run to left and run into the end zone? I don't understand that play call. And I'm not even arguing about like whether you want to like sneak it under center or like have your quarterback move back five yards and be in the shotgun just to go one year. I'm not arguing that, but like, why not stick with the run in that moment? Khalil Herbert this past weekend, it's third and three at the five. It's the closest

they got to the end zone all day. And on the next play on fourth and two, they kick a field goal, picked up one yard. Like, why are you not running the ball in that situation? Like take the points. So either they see something that they're just like not entirely sold not running the ball in that situation like take the point so either they see something that they're just like not entirely sold on with the running game or they're just that or it's just bad play calling in those moments that's the one thing where it's like yeah in theory they're they have the third most rushing yards of any team in the NFL right now they should beat you up with their running game but it really hasn't happened in it it really hasn't happened in it. It really hasn't happened outside the Houston game, to be quite honest. Again, like you're trying a little, but not being that convincing,

but I mean, this is, this is the reality of this game is the Vikings should, if they're good, beat the bears down with a baseball bat. Like this is not a good team and the coaches are new and the quarterback hasn't figured it out. The offensive line doesn't know what it's doing. There's just like all sorts of problems with Chicago coming in here. And I don't see a team that should really challenge the Vikings.

But then last week they played a team with a backup quarterback, backup running back, backup wide receivers and still made it extremely, extremely close. So I shouldn't, you know, like that was not an impressive game, but it's also in London. So it's, it's really hard early in the season to balance all these things. But I will say that you tried your best on that. I'm not convinced that the Chicago Bears can beat them. The thing is I want to pick them to win this game because I know this team, but like, you know, I am trying to be realistic about it. And I don't,

I just, I don't see it. Not where they're at in their growth period. I'm not saying Minnesota is all that much better. I mean, they, you know, are a three in one team too. I mean, the Vikings are three in one, the bears are two and two. I think they're kind of like the giants along the same lines of teams that are three in one that you're kind of like, huh? i i'm sorry i kind of failed you on that one i think maybe maybe your best argument is just like they're not going to pressure him because they can't get pressure on freaking anybody matt like that's the problem like yeah like if all of a

sudden like robert quinn goes back to the version he was at last year and al-qaeda and muhammad does something like sure all of a sudden if you want to start using Dominique Robinson their fifth round rookie who like is built like Daniil Hunter and was like a quarterback three years a wide receiver three years ago all of a sudden you want that guy to be your like lead pass rusher like okay great like those things would be great because then it would actually help my scenario of Eddie Jackson um you're pressuring him up front that would help my scenario of Eddie Jackson. You're pressuring him up front. That would help my scenario come true.

I guess that the reality has just been beaten into me that I have a hard time selling you a bill of goods that I just don't believe myself. I think Kirk's going for 289, three touchdowns. Like it's going to be one of those bounce back Kirk games against a really bad team. Play well against Chicago at home. Like we know this and it doesn't even need to be a week 18 game in order to bounce back Kirk games against a really bad team. Typically play well against Chicago at home. Like we know this and it doesn't even need to be a week 18 game in order to show that.

You could have gone with some sort of poltergeist, but that really applies only to soldier field. So it'll be a different conversation when we talk before the week six, week 17 game. What would you like me to talk you into? I want you to talk me into this version of Ed Donnell, like this, Ed Donnell's version, this version of the Vikings defense being the best Vikings defense since 2017. Hmm. Well, it's not, but, but can it be about how like how they used to get ripped apart by the run

and like we were talking about if you think Khalil Herbert if he ends up being the number one back again this week if Dave Montgomery can't go like if you think that's their path to winning um that shows me that their run defense hasn't been fixed whatsoever, but I, is it weird that I like the combination in the three, four of Zedaria Smith and, and Daniel Hunter? Yeah. I, Daniel Hunter has to pick it up, but he's played some really, really good right tackles so far. And I think he's still making an adjustment. Uh, but since that's the challenge of the game, I will try my best. Uh. I think that I'm trying to think of something there's, it's really not much different. I mean, it's really kind of the same thing that

they've gone through over the last couple of years, but if it's going to be better, then I think you look at a few players and you say, all right, Cam Dantzler just had a great game against the new Orleans saints. And there's a guy who's getting a chance to play all the time, again, outside of the shadow of Mike Zimmer. Harrison Smith is back. Cam Bynum is just starting for the first time, so maybe he can improve. I saw him get smoked against Philly.

That's the highlight that they kept replaying. Apparently that was Dantzler's fault, that Ed Donatel told us that Dantzler was supposed to carry him. Oh, there's a point that's Cam Dantzler's fault that Ed Donatello told us that Dantzler was supposed to carry on. Oh, there's a point that's Cam Dantzler's fault? Did he actually talk about it this time, unlike the play in Detroit last year to end the game? No, not that I know of.

Not that I know of. But I have missed this. So I think that really just the improvement of some of the players that are adjusting to the new defense would be the number one argument that you can make. So Harrison Phillips so far has not been all that effective, but it's a new role for him. And Daniil Hunter has not been that effective. New role for him. This is a three sack game for Daniil Hunter.

Like I'm just, I'm calling all the home run shots here against the Bears. I feel like Daniil's going to get three sacks. Kirk's going for 300 yards. Like I think this is all possible against this team. So if the Neil Hunter, who has started off very slow in this defense, the light comes on for him and he starts sacking dudes left and right. Like we know he's capable of, it can be a lot better. Uh, they have not had a great performance from the nickel corner or the linebackers, but this is a really big adjustment for someone like Eric Kendricks, who was in the Zimmer defense for his entire career. Zedarius Smith has been good. You worry about his health a little bit, but if you take

some of these individual players who have been weak points and you say, well, they are adjusting to a new defense and maybe there's some progress to be made, I think it is possible. The other thing is too, if Ed Donatell sort of maybe bails on the idea of playing backup interior defensive linemen so much, he's been playing like Jonathan Bullard and James Lynch quite a bit, but he's adjusting to the personnel as well. If Louis Seane hadn't gotten hurt, I would have tried to make the Louis Seane argument that maybe he comes in and takes them to the next level, but he's out. Um, so they won't have a chance to do that. I think all year though, it's going to be this, this ride of like, does the other team hit on a big player too, and just kind of blow you up because so far their defensive numbers are really

concerning. And I think it's more likely that the offense is just going to have to carry them. But if there is an argument, it's the, Hey, defenses come, you know, take a lot of time to come together. That's probably the best I can do. Well, that made me that you brought up scene. And obviously like that sucks, the compound fracture, right. And the leg injury just like, just awful. Um, but it reminded me like of, of andrew booth i know he was hurt he didn't play last game is that right yep what's the deal with like the cornerback that they knew was injured when they drafted him and clearly is still like dealing with injuries like is this just going to become a bus signing or like am i reading into it like in the wrong way i think there's some pretty big red flags there i mean every time he's played he's just been hurt like every time preseason hurt

gets in a game the first week hurt he's very slender and you just wonder if like like like danzler sort of issues where it's like the guy doesn't have enough mass and he's gonna have to like build on that before he's an effective nfl. Yeah. And now that we've been able to see Cam Dantzler, like up close more in their locker rooms, I do think that he has put on a lot of muscle like they wanted him to, but he was getting hurt a ton in the first year. So it could be one of those things where the guy comes in and realizes what he has to do in long-term. He's got skills for sure. He's got skills, but he can't really play if he's hurt all the time.

And he had multiple surgeries in the off season. Like you're, you're definitely concerned about that one. This is, this is my last one for you. I want you to talk me into Minnesota being better than Minneapolis slash St. Paul being better than Chicago. Cause there's an inferiority thing.

People can claim there's not, but there is. Here's what drives me nuts. Like when people like tweet at me still who are Vikings fans being like, boy, aren't you glad you went back to Chicago to cover the Bears? And I'm like, yeah, actually I am because I love Minneapolis. Don't get me wrong. You know I love my time there. I had five years there. I had a lot of fun there. I lived in some great places. This is Chicago. It is like one of

the greatest cities in the world. And I know I'm biased because I'm from here, but you have lakes that are much bigger than the 10,000 in Minnesota. I've got, I live downtown. Like I, I mean, yes, I lived in Uptown and I lived in Lindale when I was in Minneapolis, but I'm like in the city of Chicago. I'm in like an urban jungle. And I love that. Like a concrete jungle is, you know, a fun place to be where I can also go a couple minutes and I'm at the lake and I'm not far from my family up north. So, um, I think the food here is more pronounced and there's a bigger selection. Obviously, nothing touches the pizza here. You cannot compare it to anything in Minneapolis. And, you know, just the different levels of cuisine in different neighborhoods,

like every neighborhood's got something different here. So on one night, if you want pizza, you're going here. If you want Italian, if you want sushi, you're going somewhere else. It's a bigger city that has more to offer. And I am not saying anything bad about Minneapolis, but I always just find it funny when people act like I took a step back in coming here. I'm like, guys, let's realize what size market this is. And here's the thing for as bad as the bears are when they, like they still got three primetime games this year. And I know people like are probably just gonna look at that and roll their eyes. That's a product of the fan base. It's a product of their national reach. They may be terrible.

They may never get the quarterback right ever in the entire history of the franchise, but they're still relevant. Even when their dog bleep, like, and that's, that's the thing. So like, no, entire history of the franchise, but they're still relevant even when they're dog bleep. Like, and that's, that's the thing. So like, no, I don't regret coming here at all. Actually, I think it was a huge step up in my career, but that doesn't at all mean that I don't love Minnesota and love Minneapolis and cannot wait to get back. I've already got all my restaurants planned out for when I'm there. I'm gonna be there for like less than 48 hours. And, um, I can't wait to like see people again. I can't wait to, you know, drive by my old place and kind of it's, this will be the first time it hits me that I'm, I'm gone, that I don't live there anymore because it's even still the last couple of months, it kind of feels like,

okay, you're going back to Minneapolis. Eventually you might just use like's like, oh, there'll be times like in the middle of the week where it's like, oh, this must be one of those trips that I'm here because there's a Monday night game. And like, you know, I'm just, it's weird. Like, it's just weird to me still that I am now here, but I don't know. I feel like you kind of feel the same way about Minneapolis that like I, in just in terms of Chicago and comparing it that I do. So I think that I'll go ahead and say that I sold you.

Well, you did the opposite of what the talk me into was. So the talk me into was Minneapolis better than Chicago. I thought it was challenging. I thought I completely missed the assignment. I'm sorry. No, that's okay.

That's okay. Because it's, I get it. I remember like my brain, I'm watching the assignment. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. That's okay. Because it's- I get it. I remember like my brain, I'm watching the film in my head. I started as like, you know, I knew I was going to answer that question, but then I went on the whole tangent of why everyone gives me crap for like leaving and for living in a place like Chicago. Let me, give me, I'll give me 30 seconds. All right. So like Minneapolis being better than Chicago, I used to live near Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles. I would run there every single day. Fall is the most beautiful time up there where you can go sit outside on a patio and see the leaves changing. And it felt like football weather every single day. Less traffic.

Oh my God. Like half my life now is spent in traffic. Like give me 35 W any day of the week over 90. Some of my favorite spots. Like I could really go for an old fashioned at parlor right about now. Literally every day I could do that. Go to Bar La Grassa. Love going to twins games. Like, Oh my goodness. Best stadium ever. What else am I missing? The friends you made along the way. The friends I made along the way. I miss my, I mean, we have a great year. Don't get me wrong, but like, I miss my people. I miss you. I miss Dane. I miss Chad. Even though Chad left you guys too. Sam, like the whole,

my whole people, like it's dealing with a team at the vikings and realizing like how good i had it in a lot of respects in terms of you know none of that's lost on me like you know i i had good institutional knowledge of the team like the pr staff is out of this world compared to like others i've worked with along the way and just they're friendly and they're willing to help you and um that's not to say like other places aren't, but it's just like those people became like, you know, more than just colleagues. Like, you know, I miss Sam Newton. Like I miss John Ekstrom. I miss those people. So it's I made a lot of really good connections when I was there. And those like if you want to like I mean, it's not that I'm not making those here. I love my

ESPN radio family here and all that. but that's me talking you into Minneapolis. Okay. Yeah. I've talked into it. The traffic part is really big. Every day, every day, it's an hour and 20 minimum for me to get from Lake Forest to River North where I live. That's brutal.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. You know how long it takes me to get to Egan? Eight minutes. Ten minutes. That's brutal. I listen to a lot of podcasts. You know how long it takes me to get to Egan? Eight minutes. Mr. Richfield. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah. That the airport also being pretty close to stuff and not a far drive, whereas getting to the airport and getting downtown in an Uber to soldier field is a nightmare. And it's the only time that I ever got a bad rating as a rider, as if it was my fault, because the Uber driver did not know there was a football game going on. And so we were stuck in traffic for like an hour together.

I wasn't doing anything like annoying in the back, but it was just like this person was very flustered by driving by the stadium from the airport and it took forever. It's I mean, that's one where you lose hope. You think, like, should I just like get out and walk or get a scooter or something? So that is nightmarish. But all the good things about Chicago are the good things about Chicago. Like everybody knows, like the food is unbelievable.

You can go anywhere and see live music all the time and just the, the views and it's, it's an iconic city. And from a media perspective, look, we, we don't put our entire careers on whether the team wins or loses. That's actually their careers. Yeah. That's not our career. Then you're living a life of quiet desperation because can you imagine living and dying with every team that you cover? No. I mean, even like.

In order for your work to be relevant, hoping that they don't lose so you have an easier job. Like, no way. There's no way. Right. And that's why with this, like I've always said, like, I'm going to just be here doing what I do no matter what, win or lose either way. And we'll just talk about it in an honest way. But if you, if you had to, if you could only succeed in our industry based on whether your team won or lost, well, there'd be some pretty bad journalists who had great careers, I guess, with winning cities. So anyway well, of course, this was a wonderful time

and it's going to be great. it's going to be great to be back uh with you in a press box again uh which you think that i should just like because i know that they're going to put me by the chicago media should i just like steal whoever seats next to you and just be like this is my seat now i think so i'm the captain now. I think so. Like it's, it's my press box. There, there are, there are dynamics at play.

So will raggets has had trouble with his internet. So he's moved in the press box during the games, leaving his seat, which is in our row. So we could shuffle around. We've got a Zolgad there. We've got Sam Ekstrom. I think this,

I think this should happen. Johnny K still pop in every once in a while. Yep. He's there. Yep. Yep. So I think that should happen. Johnny K still popping every once in a while? Yep. He's there. Yep. Yep. So I think that should happen. And then we'll have a good time after the game and everything else,

hanging out and seeing each other again for the first time in a long time. So this was really fun. I'm sure everybody was very excited to get you back on the show. And we will do it again when time allows, which may not be until we play at Chicago and all that because you are busy succeeding in Chicago, of which I am very, very proud to see. And so is everyone else who's a loyal listener to the show, as I'm sure you learned when you announced that you were leaving and all the great messages that you got. So really happy to see it and appreciate you making time to come on this week.

No problem. It was a very fun show. I'm sorry I didn't talk you into everything I needed to talk you into, but that's what happens when you're covering a very lengthy rebuild. But I'm excited to get back up there. I'm excited for week five, and I'm so glad that this game is not happening week 18 like it always does, and i can get some nice minnesota weather while i'm there it was about the takes we had along the way so uh okay well we'll talk soon