Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Jeremiah Sirles compares Sam Darnold to the other playoff quarterbacks

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Matthew Coller and former Viking Jeremiah Sirles talk about the Vikings 13th win and how Sam Darnold compares to the rest of the QBs in the playoffs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TD Direct Investing offers live support, so whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for Total Fund Savings Adventure, maybe reach out episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here, along with Jeremiah Searles for Tuesday Morning Left Guard to analyze the 13-2 Minnesota Vikings. And before you say a word, Jeremiah, I have a What Does That Stat Mean for you. Pete! What Does This stat mean? It's from Mike Clay, the SPN.

He says this. The Minnesota Vikings have trailed a league low 22% of their offensive snaps this season. That is way ahead of the next closest team the Washington Commanders 30 percent so the Minnesota Vikings have played from ahead all but 22 percent of their snaps this season reaction it's incredible I would love to know what the league leader has been over the course of the last multiple years. Cause I feel like that's historically low. I mean,

yeah, this year you can even go like, look, but I feel like just in general, that's just a historically low stat because the NFL is so much back and forth so much ups and downs. And very rarely do you jump on a team from the get and just kind of gas pedal them through,

but that's what Minnesota has been doing since week one. I mean, since week one, mean since week one they jump out ahead and then they don't let off the gas and they just go go go go and it's a testament to KOC of staying aggressive which I mean we all know he's gonna throw the football and it's a testament to what Brian Flores is able to do with elite you know great defenses are great when you're going back and forth but the ones that really just put the foot on you and choke you out slowly are the ones that know how to play with the lead

and just slowly let the walls come in on you as an offense where you just feel like nothing can happen. And the combination of KOC's offense with the suffocation of Brian Flores' defense has been the main reason why that stat is 22%. And against Seattle, it was almost surprising to see them give up the lead to Seattle after giving up or getting up 17 to seven in the game. And they really just needed one completion there at the end of the half. And that wouldn't have happened.

So they did leave the door open a little. But when I watch other games around the league and how much back and forth, how many lead changes, how many blowed forth, how many lead changes, how many blowed leads, how many quarterbacks are coming back from behind all the time, only to see that the Vikings have spent 80% of their time ahead this season. And the game against Seattle was essentially 80, 90% of the snaps that they had until Sam Darnold had to come through in the biggest moment. And I started adding it all up because when you're through 12, 13 weeks, you could look at

the stats and go like, okay, I mean, it's painting a certain picture right now, but we really don't have it until the end. We're almost at the end. And this man is now over 30 touchdowns. He's well over a hundred quarterback rating. He's almost at 70% completion percentage. He's got a couple hundred yards rushing a bunch of first downs in the scrambling game. He's got the game winning drives. He's got the late comebacks. He's got the clutch plays. He's got the off schedule stuff. And maybe most importantly, he doesn't got the turnovers that were happening earlier this year. Jeremiah, this is a profile of an elite quarterback for this year. When you go through all the numbers, the big time throws, the turnover worthy play rate

has continued to come down and down as the weeks have gone through. The touchdowns have gone up. The interceptions have not down as the weeks have gone through the touchdowns have gone up the interceptions have not the clutch plays have gone up the failures have not existed for this man in the biggest moments the chemistry between he and justin jefferson the anticipation throws the off schedule taking care of the football not not making mistakes. This is what elite quarterback play looks like with Sam Darnold. Absolutely. I mean, it is as good as anyone in the NFL right now. I mean, you name one other quarterback, and you can't be like,

ah, no, Sam's not quite that guy. I mean, you even look at the way Josh Allen played last week, and Sam Darnold played a lot better than Josh Allen did last weekend. It's the consistency of his play in the last, call it six, eight weeks. And I think back to week two or week three when you and I were doing this show and I'm sitting there and I kept saying, you know, I just need to see him come back. I need to see him when the game's on the line, go down the field and score.

Hey, can he operate a two-minute drill before the half? Hey, can he bounce back after bad interceptions I just kept asking these questions because we just never seen the sample size that Sam Donald has had of it and every week it seems like it's something else that he checks off the list it really does it feels like every single week if you could find a question because at this point we're just searching for questions of why shouldn't we pay this man right like or why when's this all going to come crumbling down, right? That's kind of what everyone's waiting to see.

And so I remember Seattle goes down, and they score the game. And I text you. I was like, all right, Sam, you want to make $60 million next year? Go score. What's he do? He gets face-masked to the ground, rolls his ankle, and says, ah, that don't matter to me. Where's 18?

Doink. Take the lead. I mean, this dude is just playing at a crazy elite level. He's going to make a ton of money and rightfully deserved. He deserves every dollar he's going to make with the path that he's went through and everything, whether it's in purple, whether it's in pink or blue or whatever. I'm really excited for him personally, but I'm even more excited the fact that I hope that the Lions and I hope the

Vikings take care of business this week, either both lose or both win, because I really want week 18 to mean something. I do too. I mean, going to Ford Field with a chance to take the conference would be really something for the content, especially versus, ah, well, they're already in their playoff spots. So there's a very large gap between how much fun week 18 is going to be based on what happens against the, uh, the green Bay Packers next week, just staying on the Darnold point. The toughness element has shown up repeatedly this year when he's taken hits, he's gotten back up and you saw the way, and I thought this was important and I know everyone's excited about a go ahead. Touchdown is a great play. The way the

offensive lineman responded to Sam Darnold when he got hit, they're picking him up. They're going crazy. I could see that really clearly. That was kind of on the side of the field where we were press box wise. And after Jefferson caught it, I kind of looked back because it looked like Darnold was about to get smashed and he was on the ground and they're picking him up and going nuts. And I just think that the way that everyone has responded to Sam Darnold, the belief in him, Kevin O'Connell said yesterday, yeah, I thought we were going to go score a touchdown. And I believe him because that's what Sam Darnold has done here for this group.

And you heard Justin Jefferson compare it to his time at LSU when, who was his quarterback? It was Joe Burrow. And where Darnold has taken this to even a different level recently is that part of it, where when they're losing, everyone looks around and goes, we got Sam darnold we're gonna make some freaking plays here right which is a little wild to think about but at the same time it makes sense when you consider his arm talent his playmaking ability and the fact that

the guy's been through everything and has never been rattled before why would seattle throw him off his game when he's already had all these things happen throughout his career yeah I mean 12th man crazy atmosphere when you were there it looked loud I mean I think there was a lot of purple there it looked like there's a lot of purple there at least but I mean it looked loud I played there it's a really hard place to play and he just took the field calm cool and I think that's a testament to not just him but to this whole team because i'll say this the team tends to take on and embody the personality of their quarterback which is why i think sometimes tampa loses their mind right because baker's out there like yeah yeah and

like the whole team's like yeah versus you watch sam darnold and he's just like let's go score a touchdown yeah let's go score a touchdown like I was like, yeah, let's go score a touchdown. It's just, everyone has this, this common like belief. If this common calmness to everyone that there's nothing that can rattle anyone. And when you know that you're your man, your trigger man's not rattled. It lets you play so much more free. It lets you play so much more with like, Hey, I know if I make this block a little longer, he's going to find the open man.

Or hey, if I make this route and I run my tail off and create just a little bit of separation, he has the arm talent to put the ball on me. It just heightens every single person's ability. It's not that they don't have it in them and it's like, oh, they just wait to unlock it. But when you have a quarterback playing at the level that you truly believe he can make any throw on the field at any time he can lead

you to a game-winning drive at any moment that any play can be the difference it just puts everyone else on that much more notice that hey you better be on it because you never know if this is your moment the ball is going to come to you josh oliver or hey naylor now the ball is coming to you or you just you never know You just always have to be ready. And there's something that was really, truly special that came out of that game, which was a fully off-script, pure chemistry, I know you, you know me, we're both dudes type of thing, which is you see in basketball all the time

when there's two players that are in elite level. Maybe it's uh jason tatum and jalen brown or something and that was jefferson in the biggest moment there with sam darnold jefferson saw the way the safety was turned he said you know that route you drew up i'll pass on that i'm running to the end zone and a Darnold's progression. Kevin O'Connell explained this did start on the other side of the field. So as he's working back, he can go, Oh, I see my best wide receiver open all the way down the field. But the thing is you got to have the cannon and you got to have the ball or mentality to be like, dope, there's a 40 yard

touchdown while you're getting drilled by two different Seattle Seahawks defenders. And that type of off-schedule stuff, when you have players at that level of talent, when you're seeing that chemistry come together, that's the biggest gap between right now and the beginning of the season. Darnold was really good at the beginning of the season. He had a little bit of a skid in the middle that wasn't too bad, but there were some turnovers there. But but early in the year we were talking about hey manage the game

and make one throw that gets your team ahead and then play defense now we're going i don't know man just go out there and just street this the nfl street this thing and make that type of play I mean that that was the Jamar Chase Joe Burrow type of stuff when Diggs is in Buffalo on the same page as Josh Allen that's I think at a different level than we have ever seen before with Justin Jefferson I mean let's let's call it Justin Jefferson's a kingmaker he really is I, and when you have a kingmaker at receiver, if you can develop even just a little bit of chemistry and then you add on top of it, what kind of a teammate Jefferson is, right? I mean, he goes the middle part of this year, doesn't have some touchdowns, right? Really been really easy for him to turn into the diva of, hey, I'm making $35 million. Get me the football. Never any of that. All about the team wins. That's the type of chemistry that builds off the field that leads to on-the-field chemistry, right? Because if you've got issues off the field,

I mean, a la Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown for a couple weeks there where it wasn't clicking, it pours onto the field. There's no way to separate the two. You spend way too much time with each other to have personal issues, not bleed onto the business issues when you're on the football field. But the way that Justin Jefferson is as a teammate, the way he leads, the way Sam Darnold is as a teammate, and the way he leads, and the way they can just work together, I agree. That was kind of a, oh my gosh, this is next level type of football play that we're used to seeing from the greats come from Sam Darnold like he's

obviously throwing to the best receiver top 1a 1b with him and Jamar Chase I mean you could pick your poison there but when you see that and you see him just unload step up in the pocket get through his reads it's not like he was in the pocket just bouncing right and I think that for me was like if you get in your you're bouncing and you're like okay one two three like avoid the rush step up there you are zing it down there on the backside shoulder away from the safety it just my wife was like oh that easily could have been picked i was like but it wasn't i was like that's the point he put it where only his guy could get it and it was just incredible it's so weird to talk about the vikings like this because it's almost one of those things be like is it good

is it gonna hurt me like is going to hurt me at one point in time? I can't let my heart out of the chest. But then you watch me and you're like, man, you're one of the best teams, if not the best team in the NFL right now. You are in the conversation and you keep playing like this with Justin Jefferson and Sam Darnold and Van Ginkle playing out of his brain and Bernard playing out of his brain. You're like, what can stop this team? Honestly, tell, what can stop this team? Honestly, tell me what can stop this team, because right now they are on an unreal run. And I think that that goes back to where we started with that statistic is that they just haven't even been losing in football games all year.

So even if it has been dramatic, they have still been ahead. And that's why when I talk about the one score games, my big thing is not all one score games are created equal. You outplayed the Seattle Seahawks yesterday and you found a way to win the game. They outplayed a lot of teams that they won by one score. And then, you know, it's always the, well, yeah, but this, yeah, but that it wasn't the right opponent. it wasn't the right number of points and then so forth so and eventually you get to 13 and 2 and you've been winning 80 percent and your point differential is 120 and you go i don't know i think it's just pretty gd good man

i like i don't know what to tell you that says and so i think that uh there's been a lot of that throughout the season where Vikings fans have gone, it can't be, right? It just couldn't possibly be. We've seen so many teases before, so many stretches of, oh, they won four. It just couldn't be. But now it is, and they're on this doorstep. I have another Sam Darnold question, though.

And it has nothing to do with his future contract because, to me, I just want to put that away these games are too big too important maybe if maybe if week 18 is meaningless we'll uh kick our heels back up and talk about it but our crystal ball yeah exactly and and we can play negotiators and stuff like that uh we'll see if i can get rob brzezinski to give us feedback on the podcast but you know for now i, they're just chasing a Super Bowl and that will figure itself out. But I do think once you've cleared 13 wins and elite play to this point,

there might be a go-past-go element. Like you've just gone too far to then tell everyone in the offseason, hey, Justin Jefferson, I know what happened in Seattle and Atlanta and all the other times, but like this other guy, like, you know, I don't know about that,

but here's in the corner. My knee's fine. I played really well against those threes and fours in the preseason. You can believe in me. You guys seen the latest tick tock. It's very hip. I don't even want to go there. That's just coming up.

And someone explained that to me and I was like, I'm okay with being out of touch. So here's the question though. I want to ask you how Sam Darnold compares to the rest of the quarterbacks who are presently in the National Football League playoffs. Okay. So would you take Darnold or other guy? And I just like rapid fire through all of the current playoff teams.

Okay. I'm ready. All right. Would you rather have in a playoff game let's start uh let's start hard jared goff or sam darnold so are we saying that these are the quarterbacks of the minnesota vikings are we just saying in general just say that you have an equal team equal roster great coaching and you have to win this one playoff game would you rather have it's this guy or this guy sam darnold you know it's hard it's hard for me to say that because

goff has been to the super bowl before and he has led top five offenses and has been so good but there's something that sam darnold can do that jared goff can't do and we all know what that is it's called move with your body yeah exactly run away oh they're after him there he goes that's the description that's on the scouting board uh just real quick what he can do is couldn't get the play in the headset doesn't have to call time out and it's just i'll just scramble for a few yards keep the sticks moving and move on he's been able to do that so many times this year i think that might be the correct answer uh how about uh jalen hurts would you rather have darn older hurts hurts i? I take Hurts strictly for the two-way factor of his mobility,

the stress that that puts on a defense when you're not just going to scramble, but you could take it 50, you could take it 40. He is that talented of a runner. And also, you can't talk about the tush pushing up. It is such a weapon. I mean, you get to a short yardage play, and I saw plenty of times in the NFL yesterday, third and one, fourth and one,

guys are getting stuffed when you're trying to hand it to the fullback or you've got a D lineman leading the way and all it takes is one offensive lineman to miss the slant or whatever it is. The tush push is pretty foolproof, right? It's like, hey, we're good up front. We've got a really strong quarterback. We're going to convert these third and fourth and ones,

which are huge, huge in games. We get inside the one yard line on the goal line. There's no gimmicks. There's nothing. It's just a touchdown. I think I got to go more Jalen hurts on that side, just because of the run and the dual threat ability. There's also the fact that Jalen hurts has recently been to a super bowl and played well enough in said super bowl to win if maybe his cornerback hadn't grabbed a wide receiver at the end or if they hadn't allowed him a home scramble etc but jalen hurts went to the super bowl played really well in the super bowl it is tough to put sam darnall ahead of him i mean if we we were doing just based on the throwing alone, then Sam Darnold's a better passer, but the overall package is pretty good. How about Sam Darnold versus Jordan Love? This is an interesting one.

I take Sam Darnold. I think Jordan Love, the inconsistency of Jordan Love this year. I mean, everyone was hoping he was going to grow off of the last eight games of last year. Obviously, he gets hurt week one, bounces back and forth, but he at no point this year has made me like, wow, look at Jordan Love. He put the team on his back and he went, it's been Josh Jacobs, Jaron Reed, these type of gimmicky run game, really cool, then throw it deep to Christian Watson.

He's not a guy that I'm just betting that if the run game really cool then throw it deep to Christian Watson he's not a guy that I'm just like betting that if the run game gets eliminated in the playoffs that he can pass his way up and down the field to win a playoff game I still give the nod to Sam Darnold. How about Matthew Stafford? I can't I can't take it away

from Matty you just that dude's done too much played in Super Bowls, played in a lot of, not a lot, but meaningful playoff games, seen everything. There's nothing you can throw at that dude that he will not have seen on tape at one point in the last 25 years. He's just too savvy, and he's still got a cannon. I mean, you talk about some of the older guys in the league

that are getting up there. I mean, you talk about some of the older guys in the league that are getting up there. I mean, Kirk and Aaron Rodgers and whatnot, but Stafford still can absolutely zip that thing, the arm angles, and he's still not as mobile as it used to be, but he can still run around and escape pressure and, you know, run for five, 10 yards if he needs to. I can't give Sammy over Matt. I just can't. Darnold is reminding me a lot of earlier in his career, Matthew Stafford, when he used to run a little bit more,

but the cannon, the ability to make throws that don't look like they're there and then suddenly are there because you can throw it so freaking hard. The playmaking, all that stuff. There are some similarities between them. No doubt, though, if it was equal circumstances and you gave Matthew Stafford what you know Sam Darnold has that you'd probably be in a very similar situation wins wise and in one playoff game I would have to agree uh Michael Penix that's easy of course you're taking Sam Darnold we've just got so much better of a sample size and how about uh Jaden

Daniels man what a drive what a throw to the back of the end zone. Washington, don't run it when you have no timeout. His coach tried to sabotage him. He didn't care. I mean, that dude is, I think he's a better passer at this point in his career than Lamar Jackson was when Lamar entered, right? That's the easiest comp, right, is Lamar Jackson. I think he's a better passer than he is, than Lamar was.

He's probably a little less of an elusive runner, but he's still unbelievably gifted talent-wise when it comes to running the football. And he's another one. Calm as a cucumber, man. Nothing. They throw the ball, two interceptions, a couple fumbles, three or five or five times. Let's go score. Let's go win a touch. Let's go win this game. I think I'm taking Jayden Daniels. As weird as that is to say, I think he should be Offensive Rookie of the Year.

I think that he adds an element of electricity from the quarterback position. All things equal, probably give it to Jalen just based off of the dual threat ability. Again, kind of similar to Jalen Hurts. The last one in the race, I'll just include in the hunt, Baker Mayfield. Sam. I'm giving it to Sam. I think Baker runs too hot. I really do.

I think he drives that team and they love him. But when things start going crazy, he goes crazy. I mean, he goes kind i mean he goes he goes kind of cuckoo for coco puffs and he's bouncing around and throwing around he's throwing blocks and he's going after fumbles and i love that but i don't love what that does to your team because it kind of puts your team in the frazzle fritz and the whole bit there so i'm definitely i'm going sammy over baker and it also feels like to me sam darnold and i think that height does matter at the quarterback position i think sam darnold can see down the field a little

bit better than baker where sometimes it feels like baker is back there kind of firing it up and hoping i haven't really felt like sam darnold has done any of that this year that he's just sort of hoped and dreamed on throws maybe some that are 50 50 balls deep but Baker Mayfield tends to have more of those what the heck was that interception type of moments than Darnold and I think this is where Darnold has really diverted from Geno Smith and from Baker Mayfield because Gino Smith made five, seven plays in that game where I went, Whoa, Whoa, Gino Smith, man, you are a freak with the arm talent and that throw. I think it was to Jackson Smith, the jig, but I mean, just, Whoa, but then the interception to Theo Jackson, what, what happened there, pal? And the same thing happens to Baker on a weekly

basis where it's okay. This guy's made a bunch of great plays and a bunch of great throws. to Theo Jackson what what happened there pal and the same thing happens to Baker on a weekly basis where it's okay this guy's made a bunch of great plays and a bunch of great throws and then there's the big mistake and that's what's really separating Darnold just uh real quick on the AFC side I think there's some easy decisions Mahomes obviously Allen I think is still obviously MVP caliber. Because my biggest argument for that is, the way that I look at the MVP race, and maybe this is different, is if I take X player off the team, what's the team's success rate? If you take Saquon Barkley off of Philly, are they still super competitive? Absolutely.

You take Josh Allen off of Buffalo? I mean, that's like an eight win football team, maybe. Right. I mean, so I think that with what he has there, you input him with, I mean, you saw what he had when he just had digs, you give him Addison and Jefferson like that'd be disgusting. I think they might go 17 and I'll, I mean, I, I think you're right. I think that you, you give Josh Allen this weapon core, it'd be disgusting.

Yeah, especially with the defense as well. We would take Darnold over Russell Wilson, this version. The tricky one, and easily over Bo Nix. Two tricky ones, though, CJ Stroud and Justin Herbert. Stroud, yes, because I think he's in a sophomore slump i think if this was last year stroud i'd probably say stroud like rookie year stroud the year he had last year was crazy i mean he only threw like what three interceptions had touchdowns all over the place and but this year again the inconsistency of the play i mean obviously losing digs losing

nico collins losing tank. He's had kind of revolving door at the wide receiver position, but yeah, I'm taking Stroud over. I'm taking Stroud. I'm taking Donald over Stroud, but I think I'm taking Herbert over Donald. Herbert is it's funky because you look at his body of work this year and it's kind of like, okay, but you forget the guys in there that was there last year that can rip that thing 60 times a game if you need him to and he's gonna be lights out with it he's enormous this year we found out he can run right he is as talented as anyone in the NFL and just based off the way their offense is designed he's not not the focal point anymore, but you know that he can be.

And I think if they get into the playoffs, he's going to continue to need to be more, even with a ridiculously poor receiving core. So I still think I'm taking Herbert just off of experience in the league and just natural physical talent. This one is very, very close because the natural physical talent is both of these gentlemen have cannons where i think arnold might be a little better is when it comes to on the move playmaking his mindset because a lot of times with herbert he's been a little check downy throughout his

career and sometimes it feels like they've almost had to remind him, buddy, that you could go do something nasty. Go ahead and do it. You're that big. You're that good. Where with Sam Darnold, his problem in New York and Carolina was that the guy was always trying to put it all on his back and make crazy plays all the time to try to win games. And that's how he ended up with too many turnovers.

The mindset of Sam Darnold, I would take a little bit more, maybe the scrambling ability, throwing on the run a little bit more, but it's very, very close, which I think should tell you something. That's the point of the whole exercise. I, we'd all take Darnold over Bo Nix, but like the, the point of the whole exercise is to look around and go Jared Goff oh I don't know yeah and uh CJ Stroud yeah Stroud needs some more help there I yeah hey throw another screen for a four yard loss by the way like what are we doing do the run up the middle play again with Joe Mixon you know here's something just real quick we can't anoint people who have one good run as an offensive coordinator you're gonna have to see a little bit more people were talking

about making bobby slow like a head coach after last year can't even put two years together uh but i think that there's a a help issue with the offensive line that keeps getting beat by the same stunt the vikings were running weeks and weeks and weeks ago there's a help issue with the offensive line that keeps getting beat by the same stunt the Vikings were running weeks and weeks and weeks ago. There's a lot of issues there. O-line coaches, very valuable person in an NFL building. And there's clearly a problem in Houston. But that is not our problem. But I think that it's just interesting to compare and where we're getting to Justin Herbert, one of the clear franchise quarterbacks

in the league, the Vikings reportedly called on Justin Herbert in the off season and got hung up on and we're going, well, well, and that's the point as they go into the playoffs, the Vikings quarterback can play with anybody in the NFL. And I think that's just a fact. Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. He can play with anyone and he can outplay any of those guys. I mean, obviously you talk about like, oh, Mahomes, yeah. Can Sam outplay Mahomes?

100% with what the sample size that we've seen from Mahomes this year. Can he outplay any of those quarterbacks that we just listed? Yeah, and he has. He has outplayed some of those guys when you go head-to-head matchups. The reason why you lean one way or another on some of these guys is just because of experience, right? I mean, we said it was Stafford. He's been there and he's seen it all

and you can't put a price on that. You can't say, well, that's worth this, or this is not, I mean, that is an invaluable experience to have in the NFL when you talk about seeing the blitzes and the intensity of playoff football. I mean, you've been around it. I've played in it. It's a different breed. When the season ends and you realize people are booking flights to Cancun and you're chasing a Super Bowl, everything gets ratcheted. I mean, the games, the practices, the meetings, everything's so much more intense. And Sam Darnold, man, you just look at him from a whole picture

and go, yeah, I trust you. I trust you to handle all the intensities. I trust you because of what you've shown me this year. Go head-to-head with these Giants. Go head-to-head with these Titans and go show why you want to be considered a top 10 quarterback in the nfl next year i think that's also why we're seeing so much bad football around the league when a team yeah when a team that needs to get in the playoffs is playing one that's

already out it is a wider gulf than it has ever been it feels like uh i would like you to explain to me you mentioned i've been in the building watching from upstairs, but you have been on the turf at U.S. Bank Stadium. Packers, Vikings. They got moved to 325 as they should have. I mean, that intensity with everything on the line here for the Vikings is going to be complete madness. What is that like in the building for Packers week, on the field for Packers week, when you're really playing for something?

Yeah, and anyone that tells you it's just another game is full of it. It's not. And it didn't matter if we were playing for the division title. It didn't matter if it was a week seven matchup. Packers week just was different. There's a, even not being around the Vikings growing up, not knowing what it meant. Like the first time we played the Packers, you just felt like we need to beat these guys. Like there's just something more to beating your neighbor.

Right. And knowing that for the longest time they had your number and they were always the one and Aaron Rogers is over there and it's like all these fun gadgets and toys and I can remember when we won the division in Green Bay when we beat them there and just the intensity that week but it is a playoff type atmosphere in the building and we've reached the point in the season now where all the teams, with how close the race is for seeding and everything, every week is being approached as a playoff-type week,

which is why the number one seed in the bye is going to be so important for both AFC and NFC to get that mental, because the playoff mentality mentally is really hard like the winner go home mentality is really hard because it's high stress high preparation everything goes into it and that's why i mean if you can get the number one seat and just take a deep breath before going back into that super important but it's just a totally different vibe and obviously these two teams don't like each other right there's a lot of team there's gonna be a lot of jawing right you have jefferson who's gonna be chatting with that oh who's the db that likes to run his mouth jair alexander jair alexander right he likes to run

his mouth rashaun gary and o'neill have gone each other a hundred times like there's just a lot of bad blood when you play the same guys over and over again then you add on top of it it's for playoff seating this is gonna be i mean i'm canceling my Sunday. Don't call me. Don't text me. I am going to be sitting down glued to this game because it's just going to be an all out war. I need you to explain something to me that has really come up as the season has gone along, which is the interconnectedness of this team uh kevin o'connell talked about going into free agency with intent to bring in great people which they definitely did with blake cashman jonathan grenard andrew van ginkle these guys who had really good reputations

personally and not just as players which we've seen them be great players as well the value i want to understand better from you the value of a team that feels like it's all pulling the same rope in the same direction for each other because this it all kind of sounds a little mushy and a little cliche but then at the same time this is an environment environment that Kevin O'Connell believes matters to the success of the team. And now he is the first Vikings coach ever to have two 13 win seasons, and they've happened in three years. So I'm inclined to believe him. Yeah, I think I think Sean McDermott kind of started this model. You know, maybe Mike Tomlin of the it's about the people, not the players, because you can have the most talented roster in the NFL. If the players don't like each other.

And if, like you said, you can't get 53 players from 53 different walks of life to come together and point to one common goal and put all their other differences aside and say, we're going that way. And one goes, we all go, you're only as strong as your weakest link, whatever added you want to say. That's what it takes to win a Superbowl in the, in the NFL. That's really what everyone has to be bought in. You can't have one person that's not bought in. A lot of that goes back to, if you've got turds in the punch bowl, it throws everything off, man. It really does. Cause you come to work and maybe he's your locker mate and you're like, I don't want to sit next to this guy i don't want to listen to this guy i don't want to do this versus i mean obviously i compare everything to the 2017 season because that's the deepest run

that i ever had there wasn't any turds in the punch bowl man everyone was great we all loved each other we all respected each other which i think is the biggest thing there wasn't anyone on the team that i didn't say that i respected i can't say that about all the other teams I was on, even the 2016 and the 2015 seasons, right? But when you have a locker room that's special like that, it's really hard to recreate. And the fact that KOC has been able to kind of recreate it twice now, it seems like,

shows me that he is very intentional on the people he brings into his room. And maybe he'll pass on a player that's going to be a little bit better on the people he brings into his room. And maybe he'll pass on a player that's going to be a little bit better on the field, but this player is maybe not quite that gifted of an athlete or whatever it is, but man, he's really going to do well in the room or he's going to help a rookie develop. He's not going to be a me guy. He's a wee guy. All those things play a factor into riding the highs and lows that are an NFL season, finding ways to pull guys out of

slumps, making sure that when something happens, there's not a guy on the sideline losing his mind, right? And everyone's distracted about it. It's a hard thing to do. And Vikings fans, consider yourself lucky that you've had it done this many times. I mean, 2017 when KOC did it, now happening again, because it is such a rarity in the nfl it really is i think it starts with darnold because he's a guy who's in a position to make a lot of money if he puts up his stats and gets his numbers then someone will pay him that kind of idea and they didn't draft him they drafted somebody else he kind of had every reason to kind of take a i'm gonna get mine type of attitude and when you

are throwing your body around and thrown into a tight window because that's what it calls upon and not just taking and and everyone's gonna think i'm taking shots at kirk here i'm not but not just taking the underneath or taking the completion percentage or whatever i'm did that you know these are different very different guys with different capabilities. But there have been lots of opportunities, I think, for him throughout the year to kind of say, maybe I shouldn't make that throw, got to protect my quarterback rating and things like that,

and he has just played fast and loose. There's no selfishness to him him at all you watch his press conferences people can't stand them because they're so boring but i have been watching all year and thinking i great i mean i would love that if i was on his team i would love that i'd be like i've never been thrown under the bus not a single time i've never been blamed i've never i've never been thrown under the bus. Not a single time. I've never been blamed. I've never thought like, oh, that guy's having a personal crisis at the podium up there, which we've seen happen throughout the years and everything. He's actually handled it a lot like Case did in 2017. Every question that's thrown at him that tries to get him to make a headline, he's like,

nah, I see what you're doing. I'm not doing that. I'm just impressed with the, he's like, nah, I see what you're doing. I'm not doing that. I'm just impressed with the way he's handled himself and it sets the tone for everybody else. So you think they'll do it? You think they'll win? I do. I think they'll win. I think it's going to be a really close game, but I'd have to give the nod to the Brian Flores defense to create a turnover when we're going to need it. And then the killer and the hunter of Sam Darnold to make him pay because of it. And Jordan Love has thrown a lot of interceptions this year.

I mean, he's gotten better over the last few weeks, but, I mean, Brian Flores is just a master with the way that he can confuse a quarterback and make them see ghosts, and all of a sudden you think here comes seven, and oh my gosh, I dropped eight, and then, oh, here comes Grenard, who won a three-man pass rush

and now he's at my feet or I mean Ward on that interception on that interception at the end Ward cooks Oluwatame the center just gives him the old crossover fake right swim left and they rushed three and he gets to his feet and makes him throw a bad pick and interception I think there's just too many playmakers on this team I think the I do think the packers o-line is very good if we can slow down josh jacobs i think we win this game uh i i haven't decided what i think yet but i just don't know how i can pick against them i mean people have started to make fun of me because each week i'm like you know this other team they're there like oh you know seattle they got guys and uh then i'm wrong they keep winning uh so who am i to say they won't win at us bank stadium against the packers and have a

chance to take the conference love to see it hate to see it great place to begin is uh every team who's out of the playoff race should be ashamed of themselves they are giving up and uh melting down left and right it's a very sad thing that's number one it is just like embarrassing why the new york giants they have some pride that's pathetic uh and i wouldn't have thought i wouldn't have thought panthers hey that's true you know panthers went in there and kicked the teeth in in arizona you know who the Panthers are reminding me of? Because I think you could learn a lot about the team when this is going on. They're reminding me of kind of the Lions that year that they started 1-6,

and it looked like it was all going off the edge. And Dave Canales is not some sort of raging psycho like Dan Campbell, but he does have a kind of similar positive approach. Like you kind of see that in his press conferences and things like that. And Bryce Young's been playing extremely well, but for the most part, when you see teams quitting, it's one of the set people showed up for no reason. I have no idea what sane person would bother going to Jags Raiders just to watch you embarrass the game of football,

but they did. So give it a college try giants. This is where, okay, I'm good with Brian Dayville being fired. His team hasn't tried in weeks. It's okay. Just move on. So that's, that's one hate to see it. And I know, I know where you might go with yours, but I also want to throw out the college

football playoff. Gentlemen like ourselves, we get very excited. I get pumped. Yes. I could get a tackle dummy in the house, and when there's a game about to start of that magnitude, I could tackle the dummy. Heart gets pumping.

Oh, I'm ready. Just ready. And then that's what you give us? Tennessee? Hate to see that it was awful I hate to see the seating the you know the more I looked back right and you kind of like oh they did it right they let everyone in that only lost two games the whole bit there we've got to figure out the seating of the college football playoff because do I think the right 12 teams are in yeah I do I think that was the right 12 teams is it fair that Oregon has the toughest walk to the college football championship

compared to Georgia who's like Boise's on over here I I like that Boise's over here right the seating has got to get figured out but I'll tell you this I watched the Indiana game and listened to those commentators just talk about how the Big Ten should be embarrassed of themselves. Like, how could you let them put this team in? And then you listen to the Tennessee game, and Kirk Herbstreit's doing everything in his possible mind to be like, you know, they're just kind of dinged up. You know, this isn't the Tennessee we're used to seeing here.

I don't really know. Like, the SEC bias is ridiculous. But, listen, cold weather is going to play a factor in these college football playoffs. It just is. If you're an SEC team and you need to go to Happy Valley, Ohio State, Minnesota, if they ever get good, right, it's going to be a real thing that if you if you gotta come play up here in december it's gonna get cold but i love that there's a playoff i think they needed to go the fbs people the ncaa needed to get in the elevator go down to the basement with the offices with no windows where

the fcs teams are and be like how do you guys do this playoff things you guys kind of got it figured out and redo it from there because if they keep doing like this it's going to be a disaster i just think they need an objective system of weighing strength of schedules and weighing performances and put we've got the technology we we can replace people's organs with other people's organs we can't figure out a college football system with a computer that tells us who the best, and I know they tried that before, but their system was shameful. It was just some total joke. We can do better. I know we can do better, but I also, I also tend to think that if you give really good teams a couple of weeks to prepare, they're going to beat lesser teams. It's just the reality.

And this is all tournaments, all tournaments kind of go like this in the early rounds, but just one real quick shout out to the Indiana coach. What, what's your problem, man? You're playing one of the best teams and you're like, no, let's settle for a field goal. Let's punt when we're down to touchdowns at the end of the game, you came this far. You brought your whole squad and your program only to arrive at the doorstep and be like, ah, field goal. And to talk the amount of that he did. I know.

Right? Like, that's the thing is like you can't be Billy Badass all week long and then show up and be like, pun it. Did you get going and be like, we don't just beat top 25 teams. We beat the out of them. Wait, what? Yeah, I agree. Completely off the rails.

I love to see it for me and Giants fans turn away. During the broadcast of the Giants game, when they start bringing up the graphic of the giants game when they start like bring up the graphic of the historically bad season the misdraft picks the issues going on panda mr mora in his box and you see mr mora looking up at the tv screen and then it's like slightly delayed and then all of a sudden he sees himself on the tv screen he turns around like what's the like it's all pissed off i'm like oh my gosh dude it's it's all pissed off. I'm like, oh, my gosh, dude. It's coming off the rails.

I think he's going to stand at the door at the end of this season and go, everyone, mass email. Get your stuff. Get a box. Meet me at the front door. And he's just going to go, that way you leave. That way you stay. He's going to let everyone go.

I think he's going to take a scthe and just and rebuild that thing from the complete ground up that once great franchise is as sad and pathetic dude it's my son's favorite team though i told you that he somehow has adopted them as like when people ask him like who's your favorite team he's like the giants but then he's now followed it up with but they're really not very good like that's how my son introduces his favorite team. He's five years old. I'm like, buddy, please pick someone else. Anyone else?

I'll take the Raiders at this point. Little Giants would be fine at this point. They're just not very good. Not very good. But I can say the love to see it is the drama that's ahead of us. Just in the NFL overall. And I want to throw it out there, too. Love to see it.

A draft class. Michael Panics looked good. And we've seen Bo Nix get his team there. Jayden Daniels making plays. Drake May. There is a wave of excellent young talent quarterback position drake may going toe-to-toe with josh allen in that environment uh very impressive from him so love to see that uh anyway the next time we talk we will know

if the vikings are going into eight yeah week at with 14 wins so So I am looking forward to that, my friend. I appreciate your time as always. Hey, I'm just enjoying the ride because like I said, I can't believe it. It's so much fun and football. Football! Football, man. That's all I got. Football. Oh, man.

Football. Football.