Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Former Viking Jeremiah Sirles breaks down offensive progress in Week 2

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

On this episode of Tuesday Morning Left Guard, Matthew Coller and former Viking Jeremiah Sirles dive deep into the Vikings' offensive success against Arizona and some of the coaching decisions that may have held them back. What Klint Kubiak is doing to modernize the offense a touch and why being more aggressive might make sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I want to remind you before we get started, the TickPick is the exclusive ticketing partner of Purple Insider and the Blue Wire Network. TickPick should be your first choice to buy football tickets because they save fans money by never charging service fees ever. hello welcome to another episode of purple insider matt mccallar here and tuesday morning left guard is back former minnesota viking jeremiah searles to break down vikings cardinals and move us forward to the seattle seahaw. Jeremiah, how are you? I am phenomenal. How about yourself? Well, I'm doing okay. You just got finished watching TV tape, unfortunately, because what is going on NFL with the all 22, it is making our lives much more difficult because the unfortunate thing about the TV tape is that you can't see anything that's

going on. Like the angles are all weird and it you can't see anything that's going on. The angles are all weird and it's very hard to tell what's going on in the offensive line. It's very difficult a lot of times to see where the safeties are and what's happening even for routes for wide receivers. There's so many things that you need the all 22 to see. And I don't know, NFL, get it together. Last year, they were a little slow on it, but this year it's still not out, which is mind-boggling. It's so dumb. They're like, oh, we're fixing the interface.

The interface was fine. Who wanted that fix? The same people that wanted to fix the All-22 interface are the same people that wanted to add the taunting rule, which is nobody. Nobody wants that. Just give me the All-22. That's exactly what you watch as a player.

So there was nothing wrong with it. It's so dumb. Because a lot of times, like you said, you can't see a lot of it. What I'm looking for is on the backside of plays or the backside of the blocks or the footwork on the backside that made or didn't make that block. And when the TV copy just follows the ball, you just miss all of that good fun stuff on the backside. That's just so much football that you just, you just miss it. So they need to get their crap together because it's very annoying so i was trying to remember what our bit

was at the end of the show last year was it like thumbs up okay that's it loves it yeah okay so an early one for that to hate to see it's the all 22 not being out and the taunting penalties but we can discuss later that is an abomination. And also there were five different instances in the Vikings game that someone could have been called for a taunting just by doing normal football stuff after a play and it's being called around the league. So I think Vikings fans, I've already figured out your way to lose in week three is a taunting penalty

that takes away a key whatever it is a key stop or something on third it takes it from a 23 yard field goal to like a to like a 38 yard field goal and then yeah we have no shot past 35 apparently so where do you want to start with this game because uh before we went on we were talking about some zimmer decision making and i know that everyone wants to hear you talk about a much better offensive line performance uh so pick a route and we'll go that way I think we need let's start with some of the fun stuff you know let's start with some of the really good takeaways from this game I think a couple things are the offensive line did look much better in the run game I think that they were able to and I think they were really committed to the run game

from the start um I watched a little bit of the Cincy game you and I were talking a little bit they were like well they were committed to the run game the the start. I watched a little bit of the Cincy game. You and I were talking a little bit. They were like, well, they were committed to the run game in the Cincy game, but it wasn't working. Well, at least it was working in this game. I think Dalvin Cook got off to a really hot start. I think that they had a good game plan for these guys, but I will say that the Cardinals' defense adjusted really well in the second half of how to stop our run game.

In the first half, we were getting a lot of push on our double teams a lot of pin pull plays doubling guys off the ball getting to the linebackers the second half they went in half time they're like screw it linebackers shoot the gaps and once they did that and all the linebackers were really shooting the a gap the b gap the c gap and all those gaps we weren't getting the same push that we were getting in the first half so that's something we're gonna have to adjust with of hey if these guys shoot the gaps you've got to be able to still get push up front but i mean still dalvin cook's as special as ever there i just hope he doesn't get run into the ground like the old christian mcafee treatment but i thought that the run game was much improved

and i thought that they were playing really hard the double teams looked a lot better so i was i was happy with the offensive lines performance in the run game and mostly in the pass protection game too I mean Rashad Hill had some issues but but also is JJ Watt and Chandler Jones pretty salty pass rushers right that's one thing that when we look at the PFF grades we don't always factor in is who you're playing if you're playing somebody who's a backup at the right defense, you're probably going to have a better day than playing against somebody who is one of the great players of the generation when it comes to rushing the passer. So it was a tough day for Rashad Hill. But an interesting stat here as it pertains to what you're talking about with the run game, the Vikings offensive line only had to have a true pass set. And what I mean by that is not play action, not a screen, not like a catch and release on 10 of 35 dropbacks. I mean, that right there is a dream scenario for the offensive line.

So I think when we look at why they succeeded, it wasn't just that they played well, which they did, but also that they were in favorable situations. And when Mike Zimmer talks about that, what we're built to do, I mean, this is not the Philadelphia 2017 offensive line where you can drop back pass all the time. If you only have to drop back pass 10 of 35 passes, I mean, you're going to help your offensive lineman a ton. Oh, it's huge. And a lot of that's because they were really successful on first and second down. They didn't get themselves unless there was a penalty or less.

There was something like that. There was not a lot of third and twelves, third and fifteens or third and tens because they were in third and manageable situations, which I think is really important for this team to get themselves in that position because of what you just said. They're not built to do that. This offensive line is not built to pass protect for five, six seconds and everything to go around there. So I think that they're not built to do that this offensive line's not built to pass protect for five six seconds and everything to go around there so I think that they're playing well also another thing I thought was interesting the more I watched this game the more I thought back to our conversation I think

we had back in March when Clint took over as the OC and we were talking about how um the how's the playbook gonna look is it different is it wrinkles it's the same there going to look? Is it different? Is it wrinkles? It's the same. There's some good wrinkles in this run game. There's some really good stuff of guys coming and cutting from the backside and then the running back running out the front side, which I'm pretty sure they copied from Ohio State. Not 100% sure, but I think that's the same play

that Ohio State ran against Minnesota in week one, and they went for a long way. So it's good to see some wrinkles some misdirection it's not just hey line up in the eye formation and run zone right zone left so I think he has some really good stuff and I think he's still putting in some stuff which is good to see on the offensive side because like you and I talked about you've got to be able to throw some different stuff these defenses nowadays well and I think they've adjusted well to using a lot more three wide receivers and that was something that as soon as earth smith went down we said uh somebody's gonna have to step up

and you're gonna have to figure things out and i saw something on a run play that was successful that i thought was like uh for this team seeing a sasquatch in the woods it was motion before the run whoa motion where has this been uh but last year they just didn't use it a whole lot in the running game and i think what the rams have proven year in and year out and and san francisco as well the top play callers in the league is pre-snap motion is just really darn effective and using kj os. Now that he is a legit weapon after the first couple of weeks. And I think that's going to continue. You can have him on the field a lot and you can motion him a lot and you can get those linebackers eyes, you know,

moving around and everything and you can only help the run game in that way. So I was impressed from, from that part of it with Clint Kubiak adding some modern elements. Yeah, I thought that was a really nice way for them, too. And I'll give the nod, too. I think Conklin played a good game. I think he blocked really well. He had a few catches.

I think that he's a guy that's going to continue to get better because the more reps that he's going to get, he's just going to continue to get better and better throughout the year. But overall, his starting point, again, I didn't see much of him in game one. But what I watched from him against Arizona, he was really solid at the point of attack on his blocks. He was really good at his cutbacks. And then you've got to give the love to C.J. Hamm. Anytime that dude's in the football game, he's making something happen, whether it's a backside cut, whether it's a frontside kickout, lead block.

He's just very good. And the offense efficiency rating has to be through the roof when C.J. Hamm's in the backfield. Right. And then this is one of the things is that very few teams have three linebackers. And this is something that the Vikings wanted to do a lot with Conklin Smith, and they did a lot with Rudolph and Smith. But now you have to use C.J. Hamm more to get that extra linebacker on the field. And I've always wondered if a team would just play nickel anyway, but you never see it. Like they want to have that extra linebacker on the field because they don't want to get

steamrolled by Delvin cook. And this was the reason that I actually picked the Vikings to win the game. Cause I thought, you know, Arizona just doesn't look like a run stopping team. The middle of their defensive line is not, as they would say, stout. So this has been the Achilles heel, the kryptonite for the Vikings over the last few years, is if there's Akeem Hicks or Kenny Clark or someone who is dominant in the middle, and we even saw this from Cincinnati where they had some beasts in the middle, you're going to get thrown around a little bit in there and you're going to get run stuffed. And then you can't set up all the play actions. When Kirk Cousins was running play action in this game, he was eight for nine with 122 yards,

two touchdowns and a 95 PFF grade and a perfect quarterback rating. So how important is setting everything up and being able to run these play actions and getting in second and shorts i mean it's really the key to the entire offense succeed right and all that started in the first quarter with the successful run game that whole thing you just said that whole process is going to be the formula that this team wants to follow throughout the next 15 weeks that's what they want to do but now that there's a you flip that on the other side the book is out right the book is out and this is what teams are going to do is like okay sell out to stop the run early and make this team

pass protect 20 50 20 to 25 times instead of 10 i mean that's what they're going to want to do especially with some of the tack or the left tackle issues that we're having right now but i mean that's what they're going to want to do especially with some of the tack or the left tackle issues that we're having right now but i think that if you can continue on the success because it's easier said than done you can say hey stop the run but you got dalvin cook you got madison you got cj ham and shoot kirk cousins look like a spring chicken running around out there a few times even though it's like every time he runs you're kind of like ah fall down like get out of bounds, don't get hit. But I really thought that, you know, that's you nailed it on.

That's what they want to do. That's what they need to do. I'll be curious to see what happens when that can't happen anymore. When that gets like, OK, what's the what's the go to? What's the change up when someone tries to sell out to stop what we initially want to do? And I think what we saw in week one was the answer is they get down two scores i mean and then and then all of a sudden things start to open up the passing game and they ultimately come back because they have great wide receivers and a quarterback when given time to throw and when the other team is not um necessarily like putting

extra people in there where they're sort of playing back, he is dominant in that situation. So it's sort of like, we know exactly what it takes for this offense to be great. The question is, can you do that week after week after week? And also can you get other things like the right decisions from your head coach? And can you get an aggressive mindset which they do not have and how about a defensive performance i mean right now the vikings have allowed the fifth most points in the nfl through two weeks that is not what you expected when you

signed 18 different people on the defensive side and said oh no it'll be fine they'll all gel together quickly this is the thing we have to keep in mind about Zimmer's defense, 2016, 2017. Those guys had been together. Most of them had played together even through 2019. And so even when this guy was falling off a little and this guy was struggling, there's still a top five defense because they all know exactly what they're doing. And we saw in this game, some coverage busts. We saw again, some decisions from zero that I want to talk about where you're like, are you trusting your quarterback? Are you trusting your offense? Are you taking an aggressive mindset in a game that you absolutely have to win? And the answer was no. And, and, and the end of the first half,

I think was the biggest evidence of that. And it's something that I kind of overlooked because the kicker missed one, but it was run and run in a situation where you should be looking for a touchdown and you have time to go score a touchdown. And I don't know what you make of this, but Zimmer's lack of aggressiveness in this game, I think was costly and put them in a situation where they had to make the last second field goal. You know, when a coach has a lack of aggressiveness and I agree,

there was some times and there was a sequence there in the fourth quarter with like a couple six minutes left or was a fourth and one and we didn't get we punted it and whatever for me I think he's almost conditioned from the last two years to be like I have no trust in my offensive line because when it's fourth and one and it's third and one that's when you lean on your offensive line and go you're gonna get a yard right like you're just going to do it I mean you saw it against Ravens Chiefs the other night right he goes hey Lamar you want to go for it yeah because they have a very good offensive line and they knew that they have a good running back and a good running quarterback well we have all those things and I think that with the performance that the offensive line was doing

that day especially in the first half I think think that, yeah, you want to trust them in the regard of, hey, they're going to protect and they're going to be able to run the football. And I just think that he's been conditioned over the last two years to not feel that way. And so I think that he's still trying to learn the trust in his offensive line and his offensive lines learn the trust in him.

But I also think he almost has a little too much trust in his defense because i mean even the fact we we won the turnover battle i mean we had what two turnovers i don't think we turned it over once or did we we'd have a fumble you're right yep and a pick six being one of those so i mean like it's not like it was the end of the world but at the same time it almost looks like he dials up blitzes and then other times he panics a little bit i just don't know if he has a flow and a trust for what to do with this group especially with anthony bar out i mean vigil had a great game he had a really good game but when he blitzes versus when anthony

bar blitzes is completely night and day different i mean vigil gets picked up by a running back in the a gap and gets rode by anthony bar blows over at a gap guy makes the quarterback flush out. Like it's just different when you have all of your personnel and all of your pieces. We talked about it last year, the chess playing, playing chess with checkers pieces, right? I think he's starting to get most of his pieces back, but he's still missing a couple of really key pieces in that defense to make it go the way he wants to make it go. That's a good point about Anthony Barr. His pressure rate has always been one of the highest. And I think that blitzing for a linebacker is a talent.

And especially with things that he has, that it's intimidating to have that person running at you as opposed to maybe Nick Vittle. But back to the two decisions that really, well, I guess there were three that really stuck out. Where you went, well, this is not 2021 aggressive Ravens football, as you're saying. The team that I think is the most progressive with this is the first one is the end of the half, where you're playing for a field goal, and then you end up giving up a field goal on the other side. And that's just mismanaged. You should be trying to score a touchdown there at the end of the half.

You have Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and there's no shots whatsoever. If you have Adam Thielen in the game and you take a shot to the end zone, great chance that he either catches it, gets a pass interference, or makes play on the ball because he's very smart to knock it away from a defender. There are very few times I can remember where you throw a 50-50 ball to Adam Thielen and he gets straight out beat and the other guy picks it off. I cannot remember one in my brain. Usually only picks that are targeted toward Adam Thielen are just bad throws. And Justin Jefferson is the same sort of thing.

So there's no shot there. There's no push it down the field aggressively. It's handoff, handoff, kick a long field goal. That was another part of it, too. It's like you're not kicking a chip shot. You're kicking a 50 plus is your decision. You chose to try to kick a 50 plus yard field goal. And then on the other side, because the other teams are good too. And this is the thing about how quickly the NFL can sort of get past a little. And this is what I was maybe a little concerned about is in 2017, nobody's scoring at the end of that half against the Vikings, right? Like nobody, you, you give, you make your field goal.

You give the ball back to them. They kneel down, they take it to the half, but this team has Kyler Murray and Rondell Moore. It's one of the fastest people I think I've seen run on football field. And Deandre Hopkins, they're not going to take that whatever whatever it was, 40 seconds and just say, ah, we'll just hand off and get to the half. Like teams would have done that against the Vikings when you were there, but they won't do it now. And I think this is something that Zimmer has to adapt to and factor

in as we go forward. I think you're absolutely right. And a lot of that is because of the fear that the Vikings defense might take this ball away, either by like a sack fumble, or we have two all pros in the secondary with Harrison Smith. And at the time, Rhodes, right? I mean, you got scary guys back there. And so with your looking now is if you're going to say, what's the strength of my defense? What's the weakness of my defense? The strength is obviously your middle.

You got Tomlinson. You got got Richardson you got Daniil back Kendrick's in the middle there where's my where am I going to attack I'm going to attack these corners I'm going to attack these these I mean Patrick Peterson love you to death buddy but getting kind of old a little slower than he used to be Cam Dantzler you still look like you weigh 135 pounds like you know what i mean like it's like okay i aj green's just gonna throw and i'm just gonna make him because he's bigger than you kind of remind me the julio jones play versus atlanta last year was just like move and the guy goes flying and he catches it so i mean i think that zimmer's gonna have to understand that too like okay situational football which i will tell you the Zimmer is the most situational football coach that I've ever been around he preaches it and his team knows his philosophy

his team knows how he wants to handle the situations during the game we practice it during training camp we practice it during the week we have full periods of it's just a situational period hey four minute two minute long and for me, it was just weird to see that it didn't feel like everyone was on the same page defensively and offensively with the situational football piece, because I know how much he preaches that. I know how much he coaches that. So that for me was a little bit alarming because it's like, where's the disconnect between the coach and the team. When I, when I was there all three years we were we were one of the better situational football teams in the country because we all were on the

same page and I think that that hasn't changed as far as the practices I watched in training camp that he still had situational football drills all the time but I think it was really and what you see is you said lack of trust the offensive line i think you know who did uh john harbaugh ask if he wanted to go for him fourth down he didn't ask the offensive line he asked quarterback and i think that it gets into like deep into his blood his distrust for kirk cousins and even though cousins his actual turnover rate is like more like middle of the league. It's not really crazy.

It's not like he's Jameis Winston. He's throwing left-handed passes for interceptions or whatever. There was a highlight of Jameis Winston where I thought, yeah, that was about right. That's what I expected to see. Just what are you doing? But, and Kirk has those moments, but overall his fumble rate is a little high. His interception rate is really right league average or a little below. And yet Zimmer seems to be always terrified that he's

going to turn the ball over. So once he gets into a field goal position, it's like, okay, okay, everybody bail, bail, bail, bail. Let's kick the field goal here. And then the other part, another decision that wasn't talked about a lot, but, um, there's a website edge sports that looks into decisions, numbers, and all those types of things. Uh, the Vikings at the end of the game, when he throws short of the sticks to Amir Abdullah on Amir Abdullah's one play out there in the game, which is just like a classic sort of late game thing. But I believe it's fourth, fourth and whatever, fourth and short, fourth and one, and they punted away. And if Kyler Murray doesn't run out of bounds or if they hand off and get eight, 10 yards, if they get a first down, I mean, the game is just over. And that's

one where I know it doesn't feel right, but if you fail on fourth down and they score a touchdown, you still get the ball back with a chance and they'll probably kick a field goal, right? They'll probably run three times and kick a field goal. And you still get the ball back with a chance to score a touchdown and win the game by the numbers. You should not be punting that football away. Now it almost worked out for you because you got a three and out and Hunter got a sack, but if it didn't, we'd be going, you gave the game away just to say the same way that Matt Lafleur in the playoffs against Tampa Bay kicks the field goal. And it's all it took was Tom Brady won first down and the game is over.

I think it was very similar. And decisions like that with this team, with a very thin margin, they can be costly. Yeah, I mean, I think that they need the more aggressive piece, but I just don't know when that I mean, you're 0-2. So now everything's going to start getting a little even more tight right everything's going to get a little bit more questionable and the question is do you now lean towards the side of nothing to lose let's go for it or oh man let's be more conservative and see if maybe we can trust our defense a little bit more i think they're still trying to figure out what's good what route they're going to take i mean it's not like it gets any easier for them going forward here especially on the defensive more. I think they're still trying to figure out what route they're going to take. I mean,

it's not like it gets any easier for them going forward here, especially on the defensive line front. They're going to face some really good defensive lines coming up here. But I'm completely with you, Matt. I want to see a more aggressive mentality. I want to see a more go-get-em. And I think Zimmer will lean more towards that from what I remember about the guy versus the kind of sit back. I think he's going to say, you know what? Screw it. Go. We're going to go.

We're going to go. We're going to go. We're going to go because that's what I want to do. And I hope to see more of that. I think you're absolutely right. And I've never really been able to pin down Mike Zimmer in his fourth down decisions and things like that because there are some times where I'm like, why did you kick a 22-yard field goal or something?

And then there are plenty of times like against new Orleans in 2018, he goes for it in a situation where you went, Oh wow. I mean, you are putting the game on the line here and they failed against Washington in 2019. They try to run a QB sneak in their own territory. They give the ball away there. And so it's never been like a consistent, he always does this then, but I think on that one, he particularly put them at risk of just having Kyler Murray run for two first downs in the game comes to an end. So let's move forward here to the Seattle Seahawks, of whom you have been on the wrong end of playing several times. What do you think it is about Seattle?

Is it just that they're good and they're always good and this team doesn't seem to beat good teams or is there something that seattle does against the vikings or p carol mike zimmer like is there something there that is the cause of russell wilson being 7-0 against the vikings you know i think i think honestly the biggest the biggest thing that hurts this Vikings defense, and it always has, even when I played there and as I've watched, is mobile quarterbacks. This defense is built pass rusher-wise to get up the field,

get after the pocket quarterbacks. I mean, I can remember when we played against the Chargers and Phillip Rivers was basically broken in half. Played against the Steelers, broken in half. Even when we play against Tom Brady, broken in half, right? They're broken in half even when we play against Tom Brady broken in half right they're built to get to the pocket passing quarterback so you saw it with Kyler Murray when we get up the field too far with Daniil or with Wanham or with Weatherly or when Everson gets back because he does the same thing these quarterbacks escape and the difference between three years ago and now is our corners

aren't good enough to stick on these guys when the pocket breaks down and Russell's always been he was the OG at it he was the original guy that was making blings with his feet and making plays I mean him and Aaron Rodgers right were the guys that were just running all over the place and making things throw and I think that's always caused Zimmer problems because when that happens, you can't blitz. And we all know that Zimmer loves his blitz packages. So you kind of get a little gun shy on your blitz packages versus do I blitz, do I spy? Do I blitz, do I spy? Do I blitz, do I spy?

Then you spy and then he doesn't run and then there's a hole in the zone, boom. Then you blitz and it's man on man and you don't get him and he escapes out of pocket and he runs for it. So I think Russell Wilson lives a little rent free in this defense's head at times but ultimately too they're just good like they're always just a good football team and we've kind of rode the roller coaster of being good bad really good not so good versus if you look at

the last seven years seattle's just been a good football team across the board. They're hard to beat. If you beat yourself at all, you have a very low chance of beating the Seahawks. And so last year, there was a bunch of drama in Seattle, and they went 12-4. If you think about it, if the Vikings go 12-4, someone writes a book about it, or 13-3, say. That's what I that's what I

mean is that like the Vikings have had that type of season, 12 wins or more in the last decade, two times. And they had it last year and the sky was falling about, you know, Russell Wilson wants to be traded to the bears or whatever else that I think speaks entirely to the excellence of the quarterback, because that's not a perfect team. Their defense, as you saw last week, has lots of problems. They have two great receivers, but they've never really put four on the field like Arizona did. They still want to run the football a lot and do play actions and things like that,

which I think helps Russell Wilson with those deep shots. But I think it comes down to their quarterback can do special stuff and last year they outplayed seattle for 95 of that game and still lost because russell wilson is special and that i think is what is concerning about going into this game with this team is that like this you can play well and this guy will just make you lose anyway like like last year and I you got to wonder about what the psyche of this team is right now I mean you you get rough first half and since you come back play hard overtime loss you outperform this team for majority of the first half I mean like you said 95 of the first half you outperform Arizona

and then you come back in the second half, and things come off the rails for you a little bit all across the board. Now you're walking into a team that they have a lot of confidence that they can beat you. You kind of have a little bit of doubt in your mind of like, oh, man, dude, they just have our number. You've got to wonder what the psyche is here, but I guarantee you Russell Wilson knows

what he wants to do against the Mike Zimmer defense because he's going to go back and watch the last seven times that they played and see exactly what Zimmer's done to him and so I'm curious to see who wins the who wins the game plan battle between Russell Wilson and Mike Zimmer because I do think one of the two is going to have a wrinkle for the other as to what's going to be different and whatever one wins that two is going to have a wrinkle for the other as to what's going to be different. And whatever one wins that chess battle will probably have the better chance of winning the football game. But it's like you said, he's one of those guys that when you kick a field goal to go up by five with 55 seconds left, you're like,

eh, I don't know if we won. That's that kind of quarterback that Russell is. So this is going to be a really big run the football game, keep him off the field as much as you can, because I do think Seattle's defense has a ton of issues and it's not the defense that we're definitely used to seeing the Seahawks have. Fans are going back to stadium. So you have to be ready with the best Minnesota football gear. That's why you have to check out soda stick. I saw a ton of sodaick gear around training camp. I expect to see it in the stadium as well. There's so many cool designs on hats, t-shirts, and hoodies for the fall weather,

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they're still trying to figure out exactly Jamal Adams role. And it's like, what you traded? What was it? My food to first round picks two years later and a contract later, you're saying, well, we don't really know what to do with them. This goes under the category of maybe a defensive theory has gone a little past Pete Carroll, but his quarterback is still bailing his butt out on a week-to-week basis. And it didn't work out for them last week. I think that's another scary element, too, when you're facing Seattle, is they're coming off a tough loss, too. And Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks on the road,

but Mike Zimmer has kind of had his number a little bit in recent years, that tough game in 2018. And then last year he didn't play particularly well until late in the game, but it sometimes just does not matter because he's that good. But I think this is, we'll get to love to see it, hate to see it in a second. But my theory on this is, well, good. I'm glad that you face a really great team and a really great quarterback in this situation because you're going to have to get there one way or the other. If this was the Lions and it was a gimme win, it'd be like, okay, whatever.

You're not asked to prove anything. You're asked to prove it. People are saying, oh, you're the best old two team i mean hang a banner but like i mean do they make things for the best two team in the nfl but they go in the bathroom in the toilet if your whole thing is we're better than our record well prove it show it against the team that could compete for the super bowl prove it absolutely i think that that's a great way to put it. And I hope that's the mentality. I hope that's the.

But this is also one of you hate saying it's the biggest game of the season when early. I mean, in the first four weeks. But I mean, this is a huge turning point. I mean, you go 0 and 3. The chances of making the playoffs, I believe, are basically almost nothing. Like, it's so low. You go 1-2, get yourself back to 2-2, and start over with three quarters left of the season.

Anything can happen, but there's something about when you start that 0-3, man. That's just – it's really, really hard to come back from. So this is a critical week for the players. I think it's a critical week for the coaches. I mean, is this one of those where coaches feel like they I think it's a critical week for the coaches. I mean, is this one of those where coaches feel like they're coaching for their jobs in week three of the season? Yeah, probably. But it's exactly like I said, go prove you can beat a division contender, a Super Bowl

contender, a team you might see again. Go play well and beat them. All will kind of be forgiven for a couple weeks here as we move forward in the season. So I'm excited to see these guys play this weekend. I think they'll be fired up. I think they're going to lean on this O-line again to run the football against these guys at home and just really get after it and just feed the rock to number 33

as many times as possible. So in 2008, when they started 0-2 and made the playoffs, they were at 1-3, and then they got going and got on a win streak. So that's what's likely going to have to happen here. But if you go to 0-3, two straight years of starting 0-3, that's not good for anybody. So, all right, let's finish the show with love to see it, hate to see it. I don't want to get super angry,

so let's not talk more about the taunting penalties but uh why don't you kick us off with something you loved to see from the nfl this weekend you know love to see it is i'm gonna stick with the vikings daniel hunter just being daniel hunter i mean the dude is just back in perfect form i love the sack where kyler murray was definitely like oh I got away and he just go go gadget arms and just like just strangles him up you're like how did he reach him but super good to see him back and see what he battled through and the kind of the drama of the off season and just to see him back out there second quarter I think he had three last week I mean

three sacks and just getting him back is so big. And he's such a great guy. I love Daniil. I was two lockers away from him when I was there. So my love to see it is him back on the field, absolutely dominating the way that we all are used to seeing number 99 dominate. I'll go with a you love to see it, Chiefs Ravens. Give me that again and give me that in the AFC championship. That would be super fun.

Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes making freak show carnival throws and sometimes some mistakes thrown in there a crazy interception a Winston-esque interception by Patrick Mahomes but I think the Chiefs defense is just like not very good especially when it comes to shutting down the run. They're not good at all. And to see Lamar Jackson put together a comeback win, even though it was fumble aided against the team that he struggled against. It was just super good football. It was fun from start to finish. It was a pleasure to watch and give me more of that.

Cause I think that AFC race Buffalo is in the mix here. The Ravens, the chiefs, like race buffalo is in the mix here the ravens the chiefs like the top teams in the afc raiders really and now the raiders are really fun to watch so love to see kind of love to see a top afc teams yeah absolutely all right so we're going to hate to see it now hate to see it yeah the hate to see it i'm watching the game last night and the quarterback injuries that pop up across the board. And you read Carson Wentz sprained both his ankles. And you're just like, dude, that poor guy. I feel so bad for Carson Wentz breaks his foot in camp, fights his way back, sprains both his ankles. And you're just like, man like man I just I don't know how to help you anymore

and then the other one I feel bad for is Andy Dalton man hey you're our guy you're our starter we're with you and now he gets hurt and I don't know if he gets that spot back it might be the Justin Fields show from here on out unless for whatever reason he starts playing bad but that kind of happens in the same thing for Tyrod Taylor. Like Tyrod's had his job taken by injuries more times than I can count. Dude's starting in Cleveland, gets concussion, Baker Mayfield, done. Dude's starting in San Diego, gets cut, or excuse me, LA, gets hurt. Justin Herbert comes in, done.

Like you're just like Tyrod, man just I feel for you and so I just feel bad for all those quarterbacks that are fighting out there and got hurt this weekend because you never like to see guys getting hurt like that especially when you're playing for your jobs and you got rookie young studs behind you and Tyrod is a guy who is great to root for I mean just I covered him in Buffalo a class individual appreciated by all of his teammates sort of across the board uh ryan fits patrickian in that way without the beard but like a guy who everyone knows and not quite good enough to be that franchise qb but everybody wants to rally around him um so very unfortunate for him that that he didn't get stabbed in the lung this

time though at least it just happened i mean he's he's no he's no taylor heineke right guy dude another fitzmagic goes down taylor heineke and they're just slinging it i'm thinking the heineke magic maybe runs out pretty soon here though i i don't know we're about five passes he could have been us he could have been in minnesota right instead yet we let him instead yet case keenum take you to the nfc championship i know i got that i got that message a few times like uh we let go of this great quarterback i'm like you went to the nfc championship with the guy i think we were okay i think it worked out i'm gonna go you hate to see it urban meyer. Just Urban Meyer. Not only was there a report that Urban Meyer was being abusive and a bully to his Jaguars team.

I think that he has no clue how to scheme in the NFL. That's become quite clear in the first couple of weeks. Poor Trevor Lawrence. He's made some bad throws, as rookies do, but they just look like a football team that is far behind the other teams they're facing. They got beat by the Jaguar or the Texans in week one handily. And then Broncos who I think are decent, but not like a great team. And they just got stomped by them as well. And then not only that, but defector had a breakdown of the abusive coach that was with

urban Meyer at Ohio state and how urban meyer did absolutely nothing to stop it hey you know what being a really bad guy doesn't get you that far in the nfl it doesn't college football my friend but in the nfl not so much how about doubling down and coming out with the like stay with us fans we'll be okay i was like it's week two you're not at ohio state where if you lose two games you're not going to the college football playoff just dude i don't know i think he might be in way way over his head i think he might bring tebow back just to like help him mellow out do you theory out why college coaches fail so

miserable in the nfl because you can't be as hands-on with your players than you are. I mean, in college, you've recruited these kids since they were 15, 16. Like, you're a father figure to these dudes, right? Like, you're a grower of men. You get to the NFL, you've got dudes that are basically as old as you, got families, and, like, the gimmicky college rah-rah stuff is just not how this works anymore and they expect you to do your job as much as you expect them so if you're not scheming stuff up right and you're not playing game playing right like they're gonna call you

out like this ain't how this works man like this is and i think that the college jump to the nfl like that really messes with some coaches because you have to become more of a manager than a true head coach look at Pete Carroll that dude's not a he's so much of just the general manager of that team and then puts great coordinators around him and he just keeps his team happy and then moves away versus I think Urban's trying to keep the team happy with his collegey rah-rah stuff and also try and scheme i think he's just trying to do too much because that's what you can do in college because you have especially when you come from florida ohio state i mean all the talent in the world right

you can get away with basically anything because your team's just better than everyone then you come to the nfl to arguably the worst team in the nfl talent wise at times and you're starting to really struggle so i think he's just kind of trying to figure out and navigate his way through with a rookie quarterback and it could be a long year down in Jacksonville yeah backups at Ohio State are five star recruits and the best player ever from their town that is not the case necessarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars uh did you have any other love see hate to see it before we wrap. I think the other love to see it is just the quality of play in the NFL. I think last year at the beginning of the NFL season,

because there was no preseason and everything like the first two weeks were just absolute atrociousness, like fumbles and turnovers and penalties. And I've thought through the first two weeks in the NFL listening, I listened to all the games as I was driving up the Elkhart last week it just sounded like more quality football the games this week were absolutely incredible and it's just like the second an NFL Sunday gets done you're like ah that was fun and so I love to see that there's the quality NFL back a lot of good teams I don't think I think that the difference between the really good teams,

like the top tier and that middle tier, is closing, which is going to make for really, really fun football this year. Yeah. This week was phenomenal National Football League football. So, Jeremiah, we will be breaking down every single Tuesday is when we'll record later in

the afternoon on Tuesday, even though it's Tuesday morning left guard. The irony is not lost on me when I the afternoon on Tuesday, even though it's Tuesday morning left guard. I don't, the irony is not lost on me of when I post this, but anyway, so I appreciate your time and we will do it again soon, man. Yes. And that all 22 needs get back.

So I can actually see what the hell is going on. Come on NFL.