Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - POSTGAME REACTION: Vikings defense destroys Lions

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press to break down the Vikings destruction of Jared Goff and the Lions on Christmas day. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome into the Minnesota Vikings postgame show here on Purple Insider presented by Fandul and Merry Christmas to all of you out there. Matthew Collar here along with Dane Mizatani for a breakdown of one of the stranger games I think we've ever seen in one of the more unpredictable outcomes that I can remember. I thought, well, you know, the defense has been playing quite well lately. The offense will probably struggle so much that Detroit will do just enough to get a pretty solid and routine win here at U.S. Bank Stadium. And holy cow, was that not the way that it played out here today? As the Minnesota Vikings defense looked like the purple people eaters, it was a game straight out of the 70s. I thought we were in the Met for a second there because the Vikings caused six turnovers. Jared Goff was hit, I don't know how many times, sacked, intercepted on a brilliant place.

by Harrison Smith, who put together a virtuoso type of performance today here against the Detroit Lions, a team that had given the Vikings so many problems in the past. And at the same time, it was as putrid of offense as you will ever see. It made that Josh Freeman game look like a pretty solid showing. At one point, they were in the negatives for net passing yards. In fact, they were at that point for most of the game. And they just barely got above it when you factor in for. sacks to, I think they ended with three total passing yards net when you remove the sacks

or when you include the sacks. So I don't think that we'll be having a long discussion about Max Brousmer's future as the backup quarterback or, you know, any sort of purple purdy type competition going into next year. We'll break all that down. But, Dan, I think the best place to begin is the way that the Minnesota Vikings under Kevin O'Connell went from four and eight to eight and and they take down a team that has really been one of their biggest rivals over the last couple of years and they do it without most of their offensive line. They do it without Jonathan Grenard. They do it without Josh Mattelis. And I think that this does say a lot, just like in Mike Tomlin type of fashion or some of the other very good head coaches around the league that the Vikings are not a team

that's going to roll over and give up on a season and just let Detroit come in here and take care of business Christmas Day. They are now a team that has fought back to 500 from 4 and 8. What is your thought coming out of this game? My thought is kind of what you touched on, but just the impressiveness that they've shown over the past month or so just to kind of keep their head down and not just let this season go by the wayside. I thought I thought it was done. Like I thought at 4 and 8, this team might not win another game. The quarterback play had been up and down. down. The defense at times, I mean, the defense has been good for the last month and a half, but even at times a month ago, I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to channel it with nothing really to play for. So the fact that they can go from four and eight, turn it around now they're eight and eight head into next week, maybe finish nine and eight by beating your rival Green Bay Packers. It just says a lot about this team and kind of the culture that Kevin O'Connell has, has established here. I feel like we use culture a lot as a buzzword in sports.

And I think we've talked about this on the pot a few times. Like, you hear it and it sounds good. And then when it gets bad, usually nobody ever talks about culture again because the team just hits that run. And then they take the exit and, you know, look at the giants. Look at the commander. Look at the, even the Cowboys won today. But you bad teams often just turn into nothing.

by the end of the season. And then the back that this team has battled all the way back, I think it speaks to everything kind of that they've talked about over and over and over again. And I know Kevin O'Connell kind of used the cliche that your culture is tested in its hardest moments. It was a pretty hard moment at four and eight staring down the barrel of what looked to be a pretty daunting, you know, end of the year stretch outside of a few games against the NFC East. Nothing to play for. The Vikings just kept going.

and now they're 8 and 8 and shoot i mean if you would have told me that at 4 and 8 that they could finish 9 and 8 i would have thought you were insane so i think right now they obviously feel good about themselves maybe the offense not so much maybe the defense very much so but when you just look at this from a big picture point of view it really is an impressive turnaround for them whether they end up in the playoffs which obviously they didn't they won't but there was nothing to play for and they kept playing i don't think you can overstate that enough. I can't help but walk out of the stadium with a feeling of what if, because now that we've seen this defense really come together, and we have to remember that a major part of some of the

struggles early in the season, though they had some good games mixed in, was that they didn't have Harrison Smith. And what we are seeing is a jazz musician, an orchestra, maestro, who's the guy that leads the, is that what do they call them when they lead the orchestra? my sure sounds right is that right sure uh whatever it director uh yeah sure um composer we're seeing we're seeing brilliots from harrison smith over these last couple weeks not just the playmaking which has been there he's been blitzing off the edge he's been knocking down passes he's been getting tfls interceptions making plays the one against was spectacular today's might have even been better because he clearly jumped the route knew exactly where the football was going which is

classic harrison smith deception at the line of scrimmage making and plays behind past rushes, but you get to the end and go, if they had this defense and they were going down the stretch into the playoffs, you know what we'd be saying about them? No one wants to play the Minnesota Vikings because look at this defense and look at the way that this has all come together. And when it was the perfect encapsulation of 2025 to have quarterback play that is really well below an acceptable level. And yet defensive play that was absolutely as good as it gets and would give you a chance to win almost any game. And maybe Christmas is not the time to be talking about all the regrets and all the decisions that this team made last

off season. But I couldn't help myself today. If Aaron Rogers is the quarterback or Sam Darnold, they are winning this game by 40 points and dancing into the locker room and probably dancing into the playoffs as a dangerous team. And really what this is, though is somewhat proof of the concept and proof of the idea that they had this much talent on the defensive side and this level of coaching with Brian Flores, who will talk about and all you needed was halfway decent quarterback play. And they haven't even remotely gotten that in the totality of this season. And to come away with 51 passing yards and 3.2 yards per pass attempt and seven

sacks from the offensive side and to still win a game says everything you need to know, about how good this team actually is on that side of the football and they haven't had it rewarded many times. Today is clearly the exception, but if this game happened with a good quarterback here, man, you'd be looking at the postseason saying this team is somebody that nobody wants to face. And instead, this team ends next week because they after today, I'm sure, will rank dead last, if not still 31st in team quarterback rating, it's just been that one thing. How often do teams have quarterback performances where you still end up at 500 at this point? Try almost never.

Try, you have to go back. I'll look this up this week. You probably have to go back many, many years for a team to play like this offensively and still find a way to be in the race. So I think there should be an emptiness to this for Vikings fans of like, this is what you were capable of and you could not pull it off. Yeah, and there's also probably like big picture if there was just better quarterback play across the board, this would be a dangerous football team.

Like, you're right. They would be a team that nobody wanted to face heading into the playoffs because shoot that quarterback, whoever it is in this made up scenario is going to do just enough and that defense is going to dominate the game. I mean, they hadn't a lot of passing touchdown since Baltimore and they allowed one today, and it was on a drive where Isaac Tesla just catches the ball in the back of the end zone. I think Harrison Smith said he probably should have broken that pass up. They're one fourth down pass away from not allowing a passing touchdown, and I think it would

have been six or seven weeks. The defense has been lights out, but I think when you look at just kind of even from more of a micro perspective, like they're at eight and eight right now. If games are managed a little bit differently over the course of the season, even, like they're in the playoffs. like there have been times where I think it's been a tough pill to swallow because you're used to the quarterback play being top-notch or, you know, Kirk Cousins pass like a professional quarterback in the league. We can do everything you ask of him. Sam Darnold, obviously. Like, J.J. McCarthy has taken strides this year, but I think there wasn't that consistent level of play.

But there probably were times throughout the season, and we could probably go back and look at it. every game where it didn't have to ask him to do as much as they asked him to do. And it's maybe not a fun way to win football games, but just run, run, run, rely on the ground and let the defense carry you. I think you said like this is a good encapsulation of 2025 in that, yeah, if they had better quarterback play, they probably could have been a dangerous football team. But if they had just managed certain games differently, they're probably in the playoffs. Now, what does that earn you if you don't have the quarterback play required to go on a Super Bowl

run. I don't know, but it does make me go back and think, like, man, like we could probably find games right now if we just pulled up the schedule and scrolled where if they just ask a little less of the quarterback position and they just hand the ball to Aaron Jones or Jordan Mason a bunch of times and they just let the defense go do its thing, they're probably we're not talking about them being eight and eight right now. We're talking about them maybe fighting for a playoff spot next week. So the whole season, even though we just talked about how the the turnaround is impressive and they deserve credit for it and other teams might have just let this thing spiral out of control.

It does leave you with like a what if. And I think that might be the two words that described that the 2025 Minnesota Vikings. Just what if. Fellas, do you ever have that feeling when you see an old photograph of yourself that maybe your hairline isn't what it used to be? No need to be in shamed. You are certainly not alone. But why sit around feeling bad about it when there are salutes?

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based on studies of topical and oral monoxide and finesteride. Feature products include compound drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety effectiveness or quality. Prescription is required. See website for full details, restrictions and important safety information. So to your point, after the game, Kevin O'Connell said that he has really learned a lot this year about in terms of winning by any means, even if it's not at all the way that he wants to win. The couple of games that came to mind for me were the Atlanta game, for one, because you know, one of the key plays in that game was a strip sack that's out of empty on a first down. And you probably should be just pounding or trying to come up with a little trickery to have

JJ throw it into the end zone where they probably should have just been running at Philadelphia in the Red Zone, where they failed repeatedly with Carson Wentz trying to throw the football, just handed to Jordan Mason, and now that looks like the difference between making the playoffs and not. So maybe this is a lesson learned for a head coach that still is young in his career as a head coach is that even if you want to play a certain way, you can't always do that to win football games. And certainly they couldn't today. And the one thing you can give Max Brosmer major credit for is he didn't turn the football over. And they did pretty much just hand off, hand off, hand off. They got to a point in the second half where even if they threw a pass, like incomplete,

okay, next place, handoff, just to Aaron Jones. And they're really down on running backs, too. They were playing Ty Chandler out there today. So it wasn't like they had a dominating run game. They literally had to just, oh, we're in field goal position. Like, let's turtle and maybe try to throw a pass, but don't throw it if you're at all concerned that there might be someone who could take it away from you and then you allow the best kicker. And I will say that very loudly, the single best kicker in the National Football League this year, Will Reichard, who deserved to be a pro bowler and nothing against Brandon Aubrey. He missed one today. Will Reichard did not, who smoked multiple 50 plus yard field goals as if they are just chip shot extra points. I mean, the guy, the first time

we ever saw Will Reicher, we were like, what in the world are we watching for this man to kick a ball and we have seen that really come to fruition this year. And when you have kicking that's that dominant in a world where you can kick them from 60 pretty easily, then you can play a different game with your backup quarterback in and your defense dominating. Now, I wouldn't say that this is any way to win on a week to week basis because it took six turnovers. But I think that that is as close as we've seen to introspective Kevin O'Connell this year to say, you know, maybe there were times where I could have just grinded out one more win. There's a sequence in Pittsburgh where or against Pittsburgh where, you know,

maybe you need to just keep grinding on the run and not put Carson Wentz and harm's way. And when you go back and look at the data over the years and this is not going to help it today, but the number of sacks, the number of interceptions, like this team is at the top of the list, even though they've had good quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold since Kevin O'Connell got here. and I do think there's a little bit of, I like aggressiveness. He likes

aggressiveness. Everyone likes aggressiveness. But maybe to a point of trusting quarterbacks a little too much, putting too much on their plate. I think he didn't go deep down that road, but that was my main takeaway from that of today. He just had to say, look, we're going to have to win this one

with a bunch of Will Reichard field goals and then a brilliant, brilliant defensive performance. I do wonder, though, if J.J. McCarthy will find a way to you just clear up that little hairline fracture there, maybe put some tape on it, rub some dirt on it, and get back out there for next week because the way that Max Brosmer played, you just can't have someone out there, which is a takeaway for this game.

And we've talked about Max Brosmer quite a bit about how he's looked in practice, how much the coaches bought into him. And that reporting, I want to say, is correct and has been confirmed many times by what the coaches have said about him. However, it's very different from playing against a team that has Aidan Hutchinson, Aleem McNeil, other pass rushers going up against three backup offensive linemen, and it really showed. And if it was a good quarterback, I still think they struggle. We saw Kirk Cousin struggle in similar situations. We saw Sam Darnold struggle in a playoff game with some backup offensive linemen in there. An undrafted free agent, no chance at success when the pressure

was getting there as fast as it was. Yeah, and you almost forget that Max Brosmer probably wasn't supposed to play this season, wasn't supposed to play this season, not probably. If Carson Wentz doesn't tear his labrum, Max Rosmer probably never sees the field. So it is clearly too big for him right now. A start in Seattle that if you squinted, you could say, well, that's the best defense in the league or one of the best,

and it was on the road. And man, that environment at Lumen Field can really rattle you. maybe he'll look better against the Lions. Well, no. Like, it's just, it's too big for him right now. I don't know if I'll go as far to say as, like, he'll never play in the NFL, like, after this season. But he can't be your backup next year. He can't be who, whether, whatever happens at the quarterback position, whether it's

Jason McCarthy here, whether it's somebody else here. Max Brosmer should probably step back into that role of being that developmental, fun, project that you work on in your free time, if you're Kevin O'Connell and the offensive coaching staff, it's just too much to ask of him right now with where he's at and just with how fast the game looks to him. We talk about his biggest superpower or his biggest strength was his processing. He didn't look like he was seeing anything today except for maybe ghosts. I mean, like every time he touched the ball and was asked to drop back to pass, you almost wondered is something really bad going to happen right now?

It's just that's where it was at by the end of the game. So he's young. I know people who will use the youth defense will say, like, J.J. McCarthy is young in his career. He has room to grow. Max Rosemar is young in his career. He theoretically has room to grow, but he cannot be the guy who's one snap away. I will be curious, like, how they just attack next week if J.J.

McCarthy cannot go. I still think it will be Max Brosmer, but you could make a pretty compelling argument that maybe John Walford should go if you're just kind of trying to continue the positive momentum all the way through the end of the year. But it's not over for Max Brozmer, but he can't be your backup heading into next season or long term. Which I think that we already knew after the Seattle game, but it was at least a remote possibility that he would come into a game like this and play really well and make an argument

for himself and then play next week and make an argument for himself that did not happen. He's not ready. I don't think cutting him makes any sense and keep developing him and over the years maybe can grow into someone that can get back on the field at some point, but not a viable quarterback behind J.J. McCarthy next year, if that indeed is the circumstance. I mean, right now we are so far away from knowing that or even knowing if McCarthy's going to play next week what that's going to look like if he's going to play a green bay team that has something to play for because beating the detroit lions eliminated the lions and then also

put the green bay packers into the playoffs which might end up meaning depending on what happens with chicago and san francisco and green bay against baltimore where the quarterback situation is up in the air for both teams and that you know they might end up playing out that green bay has nothing to play for. And then no matter what happens, it doesn't mean a whole lot. It would just be a glorified preseason game for whoever ends up starting at quarterback for week 18. But this was enough of an evaluation for these two games against very difficult fronts, but there's not enough athleticism, playmaking. The game is moving too fast at this point. I think it's pretty clear for Max Brosmer. I want to talk about Brian Flores and

the defense. You know, Brian Flores, I felt coming into this game. One of the not talked about very much storylines was that this is an island game. The whole world is watching and maybe got its Netflix, you know, free preview for today to watch Brosmer and the guy for the chiefs. But this was an opportunity for him to make a final statement to the Wilfs, make a final statement to the rest of the National Football League that might want to interview him for a head coaching position or might want to interview him for a defensive coordinator position. This is a very unique spot that I don't know that I can remember where a coordinator was going to be a open market free agent and had performed at this type of level

to not have a contract extension to the point where there might be a bidding war for the services of Brian Flores. And I think after today and after these last couple of weeks, Because if we're being honest, we are giving Kevin O'Connell credit for the culture element. That's important to him. We've seen that in play and we've seen it work. Who actually won these games? That would be Brian Flores and his defense. And he'll give the credit to Harrison Smith.

Great players made great plays today. We can talk about Dallas Turner and his progress. Andrew Van Ginkle, absolutely awesome day. Byron Murphy with a pick and all that sort of stuff. But it is him calling the shots, building this defense to be elite by the end. of the year. And I think that is going to be noticed by a lot of teams that struggled on defense this year, maybe the Dallas Cowboys, who had so many problems, but had such good offenses. I mean, I think today was one of those last impression. I don't think anyone's going

to watch next week. If it's a, I don't even know who the third string quarterback for the Packers is. If it's that person starting because they're already locked into a spot, Craig Knaw's coming back to play for them. This was the last look. And oh my gosh, what a final impression he left. And if there's not a Brinks truck outside U.S. Bank Stadium, there should be. Yeah. If he wants to come back, blank check.

However much you want, you name your price. You want to make as much as Kevin O'Connell as the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. If I'm the Wilfs, I would think very, very long and hard about just signing that check saying, sure, because there's not a coordinator that's more important to their team than Brian Flores is to the Vikings. We've seen it play out time and time and time again, and not just this season. Since he's gotten here, there have been stretches of every season since he's been here where the defense has just carried this team.

Even when they were getting Supreme quarterback play from Sam Darnel at times last year, the defense carried the team for prolonged stretches of that season as well. he deserves to be a head coach like i don't know if if he's going to be he probably won't be with just everything that surrounds the the legalities of kind of his candidacy as a head coach he'll get interviews like he did last year but man i really hope just some team just just says we'll be the one to do it because that guy deserves another chance to be a head coach he's done everything that you could ask of a defensive coordinator to set themselves up to take that step and get the reins of a football team again.

Everything that the Vikings have kind of put on tape this year, even the bat. Like we talk about how they were four and eight as a team and they dug themselves back to eight and eight. The defense had stretches where we looked at each other and I thought this was supposed to be a good defense. And now they've really built themselves back up into being one. of the elites in the league. And that starts and stops at Brian Flores.

I know they have, he has a very special connection with, with Harrison Smith in that Harrison Smith is basically playing quarterback on defense, not many players, any players on the Vikings roster other than Harrison Smith, I think could affect the game through the lens of what Brian Flores is, is hoping for on a snap-to-snap basis, but just even having the trust in a veteran to do that on. top of just everybody seeming to level up across the board on on defense. I think it speaks to just how important he is to this franchise and the opportunity he deserves moving forward here. So like the performance we saw today is as dominant of a defensive performance as you could

possibly put on on tape. And you're right. It's an island game. It's the last one of consequence for the Vikings most likely this season. And a lot of people were watching tonight. And it's not just a lot of people at home that wanted to watch Snoop Dogg at halftime. Like a lot of personnel across the league was watching tonight. And all the Vikings did was completely dominate the game on that side of the ball. Break Jared Goff's brain to the point where he just, it looked like he melted in real time. And I kind of want to bring that up. Like it just, what's going on with the lions?

Like, are they done? Like, they're now in the bottom of the NFC North. and like I tweeted this during the game like it looks like Brian Flores is ending the lions as as we know it because that is not the team that we have seen the last three or four years and windows closed fast in the NFL but if this is it for the Detroit Lions we will look back at December 25th 2025 say like that is the time of death like the performance that Brian Flores put forth that the Vikings put forth forcing six turnovers on a team that was fighting for its playoff life.

Like, anybody would be lucky to have Brian Flores on their football staff next year. And the Vikings, frankly, need to do everything in their power to make sure he stays on theirs. So back to the Flores thing, then to the Detroit thing. In terms of Flores, innovation defensively, a lot of what's happening around the league that everyone's talking about, the deception, he has been one of the leaders in that space, if not the number one name that gets brought up, plays one of the most unique defenses in the NFL for how often they blitz. I would say the teaching part of Brian Flores. Not all these players just were here for 10 years. And they've had to teach a lot of guys to play in this system,

which may have set them back a little bit earlier in the season. But Byron Murphy was saying after the game that their aggressive approach, all the defensive backs understand the possible route combinations that can come behind those blitzes. So you're forced into. who playing his game, which we've seen Dak Prescott struggle with. Jared Gough now struggle with. These are not just cartoon quarterbacks. Jane Daniels. These are all good quarterbacks that have had lots and lots of problems over the last

couple of weeks. And this was especially unique because it was slaying the dragon. And that is not the offensive line that we saw last year here at US Bank Stadium for Detroit. And when Pinae Soule went out, everything changed for Detroit. So we have to factor that in. But still, this was the one. one team that we kept going back to other than the Rams, but we kept going back to and saying

what is it that they know that Flores doesn't know? And maybe, hey, Ben Johnson still knows some of that stuff. But to do it against this team that had, look, Jared Goff came in with 32 touchdowns and five picks. I mean, he's been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. They've just had lots of issues with running consistently, tons of issues with their defense, their clutch performances, like against the Vikings or against the Steelers or whatever it else might be, has left them out of the playoffs, but it has not been Jared Gough. That's almost like a 2020 Kirk Cousin season or 21. I actually thought he might be was even better where they missed the playoffs just because

everything was a calamity around the quarterback. And that's been the case. But to come in here and then get turned over that many times to get sacked that many times, hit that many times, that's just not something we've seen. So if there was like a final exclamation point that Brian Flores could put on his case to be easily the highest paid. And I do wonder about some other teams that might say, how about a label as well? How about an assistant coach label that I don't know if the Vikings are willing to do?

So that'll be some different moving parts. To your point, though, I mentioned it leading up to this game about the comment from Dan Campbell about maybe it was our best chance when Josh Reynolds dropped the ball and they blew the lead against the San Francisco 49ers. I think he was right. I thought he was right in that moment. And it has proved out to be right. And their belief that they could just sort of coach up an offensive line, I think was foolish, but also they've paid a bunch of people. So now can they go into free agency and spend money to get an edge rusher that is going to be more effective to get really a new offensive line? They might need a new left tackle, probably will. They're going to

need a new center unless Frank Reg now comes back. They're going to need probably at least one guard because Tate Rattlidge is a young player. And at right tackle, they're going to still be very good. But they have a lot to rebuild there. And what we know, and Byron Murphy said this after the game. We've said it on this show for a long time about golf. He is a great quarterback. But if you get him moving, he made a play today where he was on the move and I almost fell out of my chair. How many times have we seen that? Maybe twice ever from him. If he has protection, he's one of the best, if he's under pressure, that collapses most of the time. And we saw that really today. So overall, Brian Flores makes his case and the Detroit Lions. Also, you have to wonder about

what they're going to be if they do become a 2018, 2019, 2020, Minnesota Vikings, like the post, Steve Kerr was talking about this the other day. He was talking about a fading dynasty. Now, this is not a dynasty, but a fading competitive window, a closed. competitive window is very interesting because how do you grip onto it in a division that's this tough now it has to be said and i don't want to because it's christmas and i like all of you and i know that uh everyone should be happy about winning a football game getting a chance to get to 500 but it has to be mentioned that there are implications to this and i am a person that always bangs the drum that we don't know what the schedule is really going to be like until you get there but the last

place schedule for next year, maybe out the window now. And I think the Vikings probably just made it a little harder on themselves for next season. Whether that ends up mattering or not, I don't know. But I think that you have to bring it up that losing this game would have put them in fourth place. And so there's this little balance I'm having here because confidence in your culture, confidence in your head coach and even a introspective moment from your head coach and learning and growing from what happened here this year, taking it into next year. If they just lost out, you know how low this franchise would feel?

You know how dark this thing would feel if they had gotten beat 42 to 6 today? So I get all that. But also, if you look at those last place teams, tell me which one of them next year is worse to first because I'm having trouble finding those teams, Tennessee, the New York Jets. Like there's just so many bad teams, the Arizona Cardinals. how are you dealing with that because it was a big you know there's a debate going on throughout the game of like do you want them to win or do you want the fourth place schedule yeah i mean

i think next season assuming the vikings locked down the third place schedule i could flip one more time like if detroit beats chicago next week and in the vikings lose the packers the vikings would then have the last play schedule but let's just play out the string of them having a third place schedule. I think when they're playing, it would be the Colts, either the Rams, Niners, or maybe even the Seahawks, and the last team is the Commanders. I think at any moment playing those three games, you might be saying, man, we could be playing the Titans, the Cardinals, and the Giants.

So is that three wins? Like, I don't know, but it could be because I think the Titans, the Titans, the Cardinals, the Cardinals and the Giants are three wins. And you're right. We don't know the schedule. We can't predict this team was in last. So they're going to be in last again. But like we probably can with those three teams. Those three teams, I would imagine, whenever the schedule rules around next year, they're going to be underdogs most of the time. So I understand the let's lose to garner a better schedule moving forward. I think in a vacuum, it's probably what could have set them up for more success next

season. But I also have been bringing this up for like the last two months. And it's not a perfect comparison. It's not a perfect comparison because the Vikings are not necessarily like this young ascending team. But I brought it up. The Detroit Lions, before they were the Detroit Lions were a putrid fan, like franchise. that had no direction, and then they caught a wave at the end of the year,

and then everybody remembers them beating the Green Bay Packers, and everybody remembers Dan Campbell's, well, if we can't get in, we don't want them to go either. And that ignited them forward on what was nearly, you know, a Super Bowl opportunities a couple of times. And I brought that up for a couple months now. Aaron Jones brought it up last week, too. Like, he was on the Green Bay Packers team that lost to the Lions.

so there are ripple effects that a strong close to a season can have it's just a little harder to kind of project that out what will these this four game winning streak at the end of the 2025 season lead to down the road that's a little bit more abstract i think the good vibes and like the proving of a culture and and showing that that there there is positive momentum for the franchise is all important but it's much hard to to project like this is going to lead to that then hey you get to play the titans cardinals and giants next season so like in a vacuum yeah it's probably better to lose this game because a last play schedule is extremely beneficial just ask the new england patriots just ask the chicago bears san francisco yeah like you or were they third i think they were third or were they last last last year because they won six last year yeah i mean but the point stands like a last play schedule it's why teams go from last to first because they get easier games without going too far down the rabbit hole.

It's probably why the Vikings have pinballed back and forth between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs because if you make the playoffs, you have a harder schedule. And if you miss the playoffs, you have an easier schedule. So in a vacuum, yeah, it probably would have been better to just lock yourself in a last play schedule. But I'm kind of talking on both sides of my head here because I do think it matters that you have won a game now and gotten back to 500. and prove that you're not one of the worst teams in the league, which for a little bit there looked

like they were trending in that direction. And if they never won another game and they finished four and 13, then we're talking about who's getting fired. Are these guys ever going to be anything? And you can just kind of look back on this now and say maybe that was a bad season. Let's keep pushing forward. So it's too pronged. But yeah, I mean, I'd probably take a last place schedule 10 times out of 10. It's my forever struggle because the facts are the facts. This league is built for bad teams to get better faster. And the Detroit Lions were a great example of that. And now the Chicago Bears are a great example of that. Oh, where was their schedule last year? Last. It was last play schedule. So a lot of the teams had last play schedules that have taken big jumps and

are going to win coach of the year and get all these awards and everything else. And then you look and go, wait, how many good teams did they beat? Oh, three for the entire season as opposed to, hey, the Vikings ended up with a pretty darn hard schedule. And I would much rather have. have those worst teams, no matter who it is, no matter what division, like, I'll take their last place team, thank you, as opposed to the third place team where there could be some very competitive franchises that are consistent year in and year out that you have to face or some good quarterbacks going into the future. So that to me is pretty tough. And it's also the story of the Minnesota Vikings the last 20 years, which is never draft that high and never play last

play schedules and always be in the middle at the end of the day. And that is what's tough is like this game was for the defense to watch an incredible performance by Harrison Smith in what might be a second to last game in the national football league. I mean, that's magical. It really was to see him out there doing that. That's that's like seeing a pitcher and, you know, 40 years old in the playoffs or something, throwing 86 miles an hour and still striking people out.

It's really, really cool to see that. And I don't take that for granted or what that means to the locker room or the people here. And it should be pointed out that a lot of the players on the defensive side, especially, but just on the team will be here next year. They built this for two years, not one. So it's not like you're just, hey, those guys, who cares? You're washing all them out of there. No, Dallas Turner's here next year.

And his progress matters. And Jalen Redmond, who is a freaking star, was a beast again today. and Van Ginkle signed an extension and a lot of the players, Byron Murphy signed an extension. These guys are going to be here and it may matter to them to gel together like this,

but you're also just drafting lower and you just made it harder on yourself. And you know what? You've got to win games one way or the other and, you know, that's got to happen. So I guess you could make that case, but it's just a legitimate fact that they made it harder on themselves

by winning this football game. So where would we like to close? Dane, you know, oftentimes we have closed our podcast by talking about Fanduil and win projections, but now we're at the point where there's just one more game. So I want to go back to a Fandul projection at the

beginning of the season, which is the over under for the Viking season on Fandul at the beginning of the year was 8.5 wins. And that's why they sponsored this show and many other shows, because they're good at their jobs. Over under, Dane.

Over under. 8.5 wins. one game to go let's take the over everyone's in the comments is going to accuse me being a flip flopper because there was a time when they were four and eight where I said they're going to finish four and 13

and I get it I flip flop but I mean next week the Green Bay Packers probably have nothing to play for correct they probably want to get healthy for the playoffs and the Vikings I could see them using this game next week

as another launching pad that we just talked about well let's beat the lions let's finish 2-0 against the Lions in the division, and then let's beat the Packers and then make sure we get one to be one-in-one against them in the division, not to mention, obviously, then finishing 9 and 8.

So look, I think the Vikings wasted a lot of what this season could have been, but you're already going to be drafted, like, 15. Like, why not just win another game? I'm picking them partially because I think Green Bay might just totally rest everybody but I'm also picking them because they have found a way to turn around what I thought was an utter disaster and make it something that we'll look back on and just say, man, that was a weird year,

but it wasn't a catastrophically bad year that we've very rarely seen from this franchise. So they're 8 and 8 now, 8 and 1⁄2 was the win over under. Yep. They're going to finish 9 and 8. And anybody who bet that number at the beginning of the year, congratulations. Yeah. Wow, what a journey for you if you bet. if you bet that number, I would not be surprised if J.J. McCarthy plays next week.

I think after you see Max Brosmer play like this and knowing how important it is for everyone in the franchise, which is why I don't want to disrespect by pointing out, I don't want to disrespect the fact that they've won and how much it means to so many great competitors just to make that completely clear. But I think that if there's any way that he can get back under center, then he will and add some intrigue to the game. But if the Packers aren't playing for anything. And even if it's a six versus a seven seed, I mean, if you look at what Los Angeles did last year and they decided, no, we're taking the week off so we can know our opponent. That was pretty clever as well. And six versus seven doesn't really matter a whole heck

of a lot in terms of your seating. So if you're the Packers, whatever. But if the Packers have a chance to win that game to then win the division and then get a home field playoff game, that will be a different story. So there is a lot to still find out about what that game is really going to mean, and if Jordan Love is going to be healthy and whether he could play or if we're seeing future Viking quarterback Malik Willis or, you know, what that's going to mean. I also wanted to point out from this game that due to a terrific last second pass to Justin Jefferson, he did pass Randy Moss for the most receiving yards, the first six years of a career. It has been a very trying season for Justin Jefferson. And I think it is going to be a

struggle to get him to a thousand yards. He had 30 today. So he needs 53. That shouldn't be a struggle, but that might be another reason that J.J. McCarthy tries to do anything he can. Now, a hairline fracture is not good. It's not easy to grip and throw a football. I just implore you to find one and pick it up. An NFL ball, not the one that you get at the store that you can throw, but it's big. It's not easy if you have a fracture in your hand. But Kevin O'Connell did call it a small fracture, so I guess we will find out any final thoughts from this game. Yeah, I just want to close the loop. We talked about Harrison Smith at the start. Give me a second to wax poetic about Harrison Smith. He finished today with three

tackles, a sack, two TFLs, an interception, and three past deflections. He's 36 years old. At times today, he looked like he was 26 years old. The way he is playing football over the last month, month and a half has been nothing short of incredible because there were times this year where he looked like he was done. And am I overreacting? No, because we talked to him in the locker room after the game. He said there were times this year where it creeps into the back of your mind, am I going to play again?

Am I good still? Like, can I do this? He was dealing with a health issue early in this season. he is totally back to 100% now and we are seeing just a special type of player that he is for this franchise now in the past and kind of forevermore if this is it for him so that if this is it this was the penultimate game of his career this was the last game that maybe was of any consequence and he totally balled out he totally dominated and i won't forget you know there's moments and obviously we can get pretty cynical with this job i know people can get cynical in the comments like there was a moment today though that like i think it's why i do this it's why you do this it's why you guys watch harrison smith it was a tv time out if you're watching on netflix at home you didn't see it it's the building is kind of like quiet the game is pretty much in hand and then they show harrison smith on the jumbo trot and the place goes nuts and he looks

at the fans and he blows them kisses and he looked at that moment really taken aback um with kind of probably reflecting on his whole career and just kind of how special it's been to be here in Minnesota. That emotion then manifested itself in the locker room after the game. He had to hold back tears multiple times. And I think the thing that stuck with me is asked about his interception. He just said like it's, you just feel like a kid again out there because he took it, he threw it. He said he was going to throw it into the stands, but he wanted to keep that ball. Like the guy plays with joy. He wrote about it this this week. Like that joy is infection. and maybe that's closing of this loop is why I will change my stance on like maybe the last

place schedule like would be better but also winning this game and you know the morale that that can push forward even if it's hard to project out like I think a lot of people who will be here next year whether Harrison Smith is or not will remember that game and we'll remember him and everything that he's taught them so the season as a whole didn't go how everybody he wanted it to go. But Harrison Smith, I think, just putting kind of a bow on everything on this year as we know it, on his career as a whole. It was pretty special and I probably won't forget it for a really long time. It was beautiful, man. It was beautiful. Christmas Day, you just couldn't ask for better and standing right there next to Harrison as you were after the game. I mean, that was

special too. That's something that will remember for a long time. And I wrote a piece two years ago when I thought he was going to retire about his Hall of Fame candidacy then. It's gotten even stronger since then. So to stand next to one of the greatest football players at all time and see what it truly means to him where he's been known as the hitman for a reason because he's not a guy that shows a lot of emotion, but we've cracked the shell and so did fans today at this point. And let me just say this before we sign off too. If you get to nine and eight because we were in that conversation and when you have a game

like this against that team, that team that's always competing for Super Bowls, with their talent and you bash their brains in with a lot of the talent you're going to have to next year and a growing player like Dallas Turner who was phenomenal today and it matters and Addison is a young player. We've seen Donovan Jackson develop this year as well. There's a lot of this that's going to go forward into next year. I think today even turned up the amplification on the quarterback decision for this offseason because if you are Brian Flores, are you going to come back if you're not sure if you have to carry the entire load for next year and if you're Kevin O'Connell, do you see what your defense did for you and go, we need a quarterback who can

get us to average or above? Because if we don't, we're going to have a lot more seasons like this where we're asking the defense and the running game to do it. And that's just not what Kevin O'Connell wants to do. So I think this game, we were already at probably eight out of ten. And now it's 10 out of 10. Like, what are you going to do? How much do you believe in JJ McCarthy. This game, to me, took the how much do you really believe in J.J. McCarthy? I don't know what next week's going to look like. If he plays, if he doesn't play, if he finishes strong, if he doesn't, I don't know. It might be Brozmer. It might be John Wolford. It might be Brett freaking ripping who's back. Welcome back, Brett. Could be just

about anybody playing quarterback Spurgeon Win, who had a better game than Max Brozmer just had when he played for the Vikings. But one thing is clear. They will not enter this offseason saying, Oh, yeah, we could just do that again next year. Simplify the offense a little, and it'll be fine. That is not how they're going to approach it. Not when these players are coming back and should be able to do a lot of this again next season. So every game has a ripple effect. And who knows what this one will be from schedules to does Harris Smith want to come back?

Does, you know, I don't know, Flores want to come back because of these guys. A lot can happen because of one victory. Dame is a tiny pioneer press. Matthew Collar just want to say again, Merry Christmas to all of the Purple Insider listeners. Sometimes we do battle it out a little bit in the comment section, but we deeply appreciate you guys coming along in this journey this year. And we will do it just one more time.

And then it's combines and owners meetings and speculation and free agents. So drink it in. You get football one more time. So Merry Christmas. Thank you, everybody again for watching. And we'll see again very soon. Football. Football.

Christmas football.