Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - REACTION: Rodgers wilts, Vikings should have no regrets

Episode Date: January 13, 2026

Matthew Coller reacts to the Steelers getting smashed by the Houston Texans. Now the Vikings can officially say that they do not regret sticking with their plan rather than signing Aaron Rodgers. Let's look at the whole playoff bracket and give first impressions. Plus, if the Vikings are looking for QBs, they may have to compete with the Steelers. Is Mike Tomlin done? 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.

everybody welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fandul, and it is time to react. To now we have seen the entire wild card round as the Pittsburgh Steelers fall to the Houston Texans in a game that the only way to put it would be that escalated quickly. It was some kind of crazy war going on out there between C.J. Stroud and himself, as he kept fumbling and throwing. throwing interceptions at the worst times in the red zone, couldn't seemingly take a snap. He fumbled the ball where they, you know, ran a flea flicker and then, well, he should have just thrown it out of bounds or taking the sack.

He ends up getting stripped. And that was the only reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers were even remotely in the game as it went down the stretch because the Pittsburgh Steelers could not do anything on offense at all whatsoever with Aaron Rogers. center. And the Vikings-related takeaway, which we'll start with, and then we'll get to the whole bracket and take a look at that. And also the possibility that now Pittsburgh could be looking for coach and quarterback. Could there be any reverberations in Minnesota, Brian Flores, or potential quarterbacks that are out there if Aaron Rogers decides to retire, but also if

they change coaches or even if Mike Tomlin comes back, why would you go back to Aaron Rogers? So we'll get to all those questions, but the first thing that I thought about when the Steelers made the playoffs was, wait, are the Vikings going to regret not signing Aaron Rogers? And all year long, I kind of went back and forth on this where, yeah, I mean, I think the Vikings would have made the playoffs with Aaron Rogers. That's not a stretch. He found a way to win 10 games with a team that was worse, I think overall than the Minnesota Vikings. D.K. Metcalfe certainly did not play like Justin Jefferson today had a couple of drops that normally you think D.K. McCaff would catch. And the offensive line is a struggle. They don't have that great of weapons.

The running game is just mediocre around Rogers. And I don't think that their defense is anywhere near as good as I expected it to be coming into the season. So I think the Vikings overall are a better football team than Pittsburgh. And as J.J. McCarthy struggled both with health and performance. And if you just had this average level of quarterback play, then you could have been in the postseason, right? Maybe you're even competing for the NFC North Crown. Who knows if they had Rogers playing for Kevin O'Connell with the offensive weapons that they have. But tonight was exactly why when you go all the way back to March and we're talking about at the owner's meetings, Mark Wilf coming out and saying we respect Aaron Rogers.

We loved competing against him, but you know what? He's just not for us. And I think the reason why he was never for the Minnesota Vikings is exactly what we saw here today. That Rogers throughout this season, he had his moments. And he executed some really impressive throws downfield and he ran a quick pass offense so he wouldn't get injured too much. And he ends up with around 3,200 overall yards,

what, 24 touchdown, 7.5. picks. It's a very mediocre type of season. And as you saw today, his mobility was limited. He, when he can't get the ball out quickly, he does take a lot of hits. And so the thought process was for myself and the Minnesota Vikings, if you bring in Aaron Rogers, you are probably locking yourself into an average season that ends in the wild card round. And with this performance against a phenomenal Texas defense, Texans defense. This Texans defense, when you talk about 2000 Ravens or 2015 Denver Broncos, like that's what they look like.

Today they looked like the 2015 Denver Broncos where Peyton Manning couldn't do anything. And yet their defense got them all the way to the Super Bowl because they were so fast and so physical and so violent. And Rogers just couldn't play at that level. And he had a few good throws that weren't caught or, you know, jump balls that They couldn't make a play on. And the Texans are as good as any defense has been over the last five, ten years in the NFL. They are really that good.

Will Anderson is an absolute monster. Here's Sheldon Rankin's just running over a guy. We know DeNeil Hunter is one of the best pass rushers of the last 10 years. They've got Stingley. They've got Lassiter. They've just got all these physical players. And so it was just too much for Aaron Rogers in his 40s. and it probably would have been for the Minnesota Vikings.

They would have run into a team with a physical fast defense, and it would have been moving too quickly for Aaron Rogers, and he probably would have lost in the wild card round, and that's not what the Vikings were going for. One of the things that I will say, as badly as they missed out on the Sam Darnold thing, which we're not going to debate no matter what happens with Sam Darnold, because they won 14 and they won the conference.

So even if they do not, not beat the San Francisco 49ers. Well, they got to a position that most teams who get to that number one spot have a real true, legitimate chance to compete for the Super Bowl. And maybe that could have been the Vikings, I don't know. But Darnold certainly played at that level. With Aaron Rogers, he always played at a level throughout this season that just screamed first round out.

And had the Vikings signed him, they would not have been taking any sort of swing for trying to compete for the Super Bowl, which I think that even though J.J. McCarthy did not work out and was not ready for that, it was still better to take a swing. And it was still better to find out something about J.J. McCarthy. That one of the frustrations throughout this year was, oh, you know, it still feels like J.J. McCarthy's a rookie the way that he was being talked about. But we at least found out his struggles was staying healthy, his fundamentals and techniques and accuracy and all the things that he has to improve on going forward. He is not just a figment of our imagination.

We've seen him play real football now. You would rather come short of the postseason and learn about where you stand with J.J. McCarthy, then you would finish 9 and 8 or 10 and 7 and get smashed on national television with Aaron Rogers as your quarterback. And as good as his arms still can be at times, the mobility. everything is just a tick slower than it used to be. So when he just snaps that ball, it's not coming out at the same moment that it was 10 years ago

when he was the absolute best quarterback in the entire NFL, not named Tom Brady. That's just not Aaron Rogers anymore. And that version of him would have been okay with this team. They would have won some games. It might have had some moments that were pretty memorable. And we said, hey, you know, halfway through the season, and they're, I don't know, seven and three, and it's going great and whatever else.

And it would have ended the same way it would have ended if Kirk Cousins was the quarterback for all of those years. And that was always one of the reasons to move on from Kirk was that you have a cap on what you can actually be, where at very least, the decision was based on you're going to chase more than that with J.J. McCarthy. And they did try to chase it. It did not work as of yet. they will have presumably since nothing has changed so far.

Hey, tomorrow's another day, but nothing has changed so far with the Vikings front office or coaching staff. So they're going to have another crack at trying to run this back. Maybe with a different quarterback, we'll see. But this overall plan was to try to put as much into this roster. Maybe they'll take some crazy big swing at Justin Herbert that we can't anticipate yet or whatever it is they're going to do. you'd rather be in that spot where you know what J.J. McCarthy is, where he needs to go, where he stands,

then you would have been losing tonight to whoever it would have been. Maybe it's the Rams that they're playing again. And Justin versus, you know, they just, or Jared verse, I mean, just runs over him. And that's it, just like the Texans defense did. So as disappointing as it is to miss the playoffs for the Vikings tonight was what I already thought. I already thought that it was a better decision to not have Aaron Rogers. He did give me pause there through a couple of games throughout the season where it was old Rogers, crazy throws, the win against Detroit where he was very, very good.

But then you realize at the end of the day, another season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where they went out and they got other quarterbacks and last year it was Russell Wilson. And this year it's Aaron Rogers. The washed up quarterback route is really not the way to go. And if the Vikings go out this next offseason and get Aaron Rogers, possible, I guess, or go out this next off season and get Kirk, possible, I guess. They'll be going back on what they did last off season that was actually correct, which was not bringing in Aaron Rogers.

So the Steelers lose, the Texans win, and the AFC just feels like, talk about black and blue division, black and blue conference with the way that this, the entire AFC in their defenses. Denver and the Texans and then Josh Allen is his own black and blue player in itself. It's going to be very interesting. The Patriots defense was phenomenal against the Chargers to see how that plays out. I want to go through every game now that it's settled the divisional round of the playoffs. But there are other implications to the Pittsburgh Steelers losing like this potentially.

one is that there has been very loud rumors that Mike Tomlin could step away to do television. I don't think that the Roonies want to fire Mike Tomlin. I don't think they want to hold a press conference and say, we are moving on for Mike Tomlin. He's fired. I think they would much rather have that press conference be held by Mike Tomlin where he explains that he's going to sign with CBS, Fox, Amazon, whatever it is. And he would be an amazing broadcaster with all the experience he has.

He's a great talker and compelling. You know, just even you listen to his press conferences. He's just an interesting guy in the way he talks. He was here once upon a time in Minnesota and everybody was impressed by him then. So if he's on TV, I mean, the wealth of experience and knowledge and all that stuff, just like Bill Kowler once upon a time was great. I think Tom would be the same thing. but that leaves an open position maybe for consideration for Brian Flores.

Now, I think that what Pittsburgh would do is along the lines of what most teams do that have a defensive head coach that doesn't get this team over the hump, which is to move on to an offensive head coach. Like, they might be more apt to try to hire Kevin Stefansky if they move on from Mike Tomlin or he moves on from them or mutual or whatever. but there is one team that was willing to keep Brian Flores in the league a couple of years ago. When he came out, he was suing the league. He was on ESPN.

He's talking about how he was wronged in the coaching process and hiring process and all that. And one team said, we will bring you into our building and give you a job and keep you in the national football league. And that was the Pittsburgh Steelers. So now that Brian Flores, and I think, too, that as much. as I respect Tomlin, which is through the roof for the career that he's put together, I felt when the Vikings played the Steelers, that their defense was just not what you expect from a defense in 2025, similar to Pete Carroll. Things happen fast in the league.

And if you just keep doing what you've been doing, then you're going to end up stagnating. And it really seemed like that happened with Pittsburgh at times this year. Could they be interested in going the most? innovative route with Brian Flores. And I have also thought that if Flores was a head coach paired with one of the offensive minds out there, whether it's Stefanski or Mike McDaniel, kind of watch out, right? That could be a dangerous, you know, combination. The Steelers would have to, if Tomlin moves on, at least consider an interview Brian

Flores. And I was trying to figure this out. Just what's the timeline for Flores? There was a PFT report today. that the Vikings are still confident that if Flores doesn't get a head coaching job, that he will be back in Minnesota. Now, his contract runs out.

I think the Star Tribune reported that it runs out tomorrow, and so then he's a free agent, and there's all sorts of stuff going on, and I think that Flores would at very least have to consider his options, but we could also get an announcement any moment from the Minnesota Vikings that they've come to an agreement with Flores. I mean, if we're reaching the final hour, It could be tomorrow.

It could be who knows when. I mean, I would assume that it's not going to be until he's been officially told that he's out of the process with at least the Baltimore Ravens, which as of right now are the only team that he's interviewed with. And then you look at the Dallas Cowboys have not named another defensive coordinator. They also interviewed Durante Jones and New Dadios says how many head coaching interviews has he lined up. So far as I know, the only one that he's had. The only team that's even requested one is the Baltimore Ravens, and that's it so far. So I think that the chances of Brian Flores landing that job are, they're there. It's possible.

But they've also interviewed about 30 people. It feels like they're going crazy with anybody that they can find that they're bringing in to interview. So Flores may just be another name that they're looking at. But from his perspective, you also might want to wait to sign with the Vikings. until you see what head coaches land everywhere else. Because maybe if you're Kevin Stefansky and you get the Atlanta job and you call up Brian Flores and you've got Arthur Blank's blank check, who knows, right? So there could be options there for him.

It is such a unique situation. But I am curious to see if there are tumble down effects of the Pittsburgh Steelers falling apart the way that they did today in the head coaching ranks. if Flores gets any opportunity to interview with Pittsburgh, that's only if they decide that they are done with Mike Tomlin. The other effect is at the quarterback position because maybe if Pittsburgh had won and then went to the divisional round, they might have, and let's say they lost there, they might have said, hey, Aaron, please come back.

Like, you played really well. You can do it one more year. Give us another shot. We'll get you another wide receiver. we'll get you this, that, or the other thing. But after this, I don't see how he could possibly come back to Pittsburgh or even play going forward in the NFL. He had an okay season.

Do you really want to stay one more? Like, you made the playoffs. You had a good year. Do you really want to stay for one more and have that completely fall apart? Like, this is a fairly good note for Aaron Rogers to close out his career. And I think if you're Pittsburgh and you're talking about. talking about moving on from your head coach, the next head coach is not going to want Aaron Rogers to start with because then it feels like, all right, am I in charge of the franchise

or is it Aaron, that kind of thing? Not everyone has the cachet of Mike Tomlin. That could leave a quarterback position open for a team that is pretty competitive in 110 games. So who is Pittsburgh going to look at? They, as always, just like the Minnesota Vikings, they have played themselves out of a top draft pick. So the last time they drafted a first round quarterback, it was Kenny Pickett. And the reason it was Kenny Pickett at 20th overall was because he wasn't a really good prospect. And sometimes, yeah, late first rounders work out like Jordan Love or, you know, like Lamar

Jackson, it does happen. Teddy Bridgewater or Derek Carr was a second round draft pick. Like sometimes. But if that's an immediate answer for a team with a lot of veteran players, there's a mirror effect here of two teams. One is 10 and 7. One is 9 and 8. These two teams are perpetually stuck in the middle and they don't have high draft

picks to go out and find the future franchise quarterback if the Vikings don't believe in J.J. McCarthy. If the Vikings are competing for people like Mack Jones or Kyler Murray or Kirk cousins, et cetera, and there's a handful of other potential starting quarterbacks, now Pittsburgh, which I expected before, but especially after a performance like this, Pittsburgh now has to be on that list of teams that they're competing with to try to get those quarterbacks. Now, if you're the Vikings, you'd have to trade for Mac Jones. So that would be something you are really competing with other teams for. But I think in terms of any free agents

or any available quarterbacks that they would be more apt to pick the Vikings. You're playing indoors. you have Justin Jefferson and presumably Jordan Addison will be back and an offensive line that has two good tackles and now a rising guard and you need to get a center, but that's really it for the offensive line. And I think O'Connellists did not lose all respect in the NFL after what happened with J.J. McCarthy. So I think quarterbacks would more likely pick the Vikings than the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it just opens that can of worms that the Steelers could be another team that's out there. looking for and competing for quarterbacks. So let's take a look at, and just any other thoughts that you guys have on the game.

I mean, it's just very clear that Rogers was not up to it and the Texans are freaks. That defense has been built. You talk about a team that is taking on the vision of its coach. If you are old enough to have watched D'Amico Ryan's play in the NFL, then you know exactly what kind of guy. he is. I mean, he played like the Houston Texans play. Like, they have really taken on their coaches mentality. And they've built it in his vision with very physical and very

violent players. So, D'Amico Ryan's defense was phenomenal. Their DeNeil Hunter signing. I mean, the Vikings are lucky that Jonathan Grenard has turned out to be a really good player and a really good fit because if if they moved on from Daniel Hunter and he turned out like this and Grenard and Van Ginkle had not worked out, man, we'd be saying you let go one of the best players in Vikings history at a position with tons of great history. And, you know, but I think they replaced them with guys that fit Brian Flores really well. Hunter just continues to be a great player. And, you know, we talk about the draft all the time on the show. And I remember draft night when they traded up for Will Anderson.

And most of the draft charts and everything, they just, they just exploded. They just lit into flames. And it was like, no, no, no, you can't do that. You can't trade next year's first for this. You're the Texans. What are you doing? And then there you go. Will Anderson.

If you hit it, it is just, this is always in forever with the draft. If you hit on it, you're a genius, regardless of what the price was. And if you miss on it, you are a complete idiot, no matter. what the trade charts say and everything else. So a lot of that discussion is often useless. It just comes down to did you actually hit on it? Because Will Anderson, what a monster. And look, we have to say it again, another team that did a full and complete rebuild

and is stacked with young talent and high draft picks and cap space that they were able to spend. The one thing, though, about this game. And Zuma, K.O., you mentioned this, is Nico Collins getting hurt. that did not look good. And the NFL, their concussion stuff is just not great still. Because Nico Collins was very clearly suffering from a head injury to start the game. And whatever it is that they do to quickly check someone and get them right back out there, it's still not good enough.

Because then I think he had a second concussion in the game. I think the first one came very early. And then he had another one. And this is not the first time we've seen this. recently what just bringing a play over to the sideline well he passed the concussion protocol and back out there i mean it can't be good enough it just can't and uh there should be i mean repercussions for the texans and serious concern for nico collins but he cj stroud though was just such a enigma in this game he had some really excellent throws then he missed obvious ones and

turn the ball over. And with Stroud, I think it also shows you, it's just more evidence of like how long it takes to figure out if somebody is a really good quarterback or not. I mean, because C.J. Stroud came into the league and as a rookie was so good. He was so fantastic. And I would have told you at that point, and I'm sure everybody else thought this too, I would have told you at that point that C.J. Stroud is the next. great American NFL quarterback.

And he's just turned out to be pretty flawed. And the turnovers can be a thing with him, the inconsistency for accuracy, and more than anything, just seems to have a little bit of skittishness that may be caused by the first couple years of his career and the number of hits. He's had a couple of concussions as well.

But if I was thinking about this when I was watching toward the end of the game there, that if Tua, now Stroud has a different attitude, it seems, than Tua. But if Tua had this defense, like he'd be Stroud, right? Like, that's, Tua regressed and struggled and all those things, but still, you know, was able to win because he had the defense. If Tua had this defense, it would be the same stuff. But Miami's not as good in terms of the way they're built.

And Stroud gets to be the playoff winning quarterback. But the big question is, can, CJ Stroud continue to get away with this, or is he going to have to play at a higher level? I think he is going to have to play at a higher level in order for them to have a chance. It does show you how far you can get on the rookie quarterback contract. That's why the Vikings did what they did, because what Stroud did tonight was basically the Vikings argument with J.J. McCarthy. It was if we give them enough receivers, if we give them enough offensive line, if we give

him enough system, if we give them enough defense, that you can win a lot of games. It's just that they did not get those other things. And then they didn't get a baseline of performance from J.J. McCarthy. Well, they did get the defense, but it was not consistent all the way through the year. Two Coke cans says the thing the Vikings regret is trading for Dobbs in 2023. Could have ended up four and 13. Yeah, look, it's hard to lose every single game after that. the facts are the facts when it comes to that that it's not just the 2023 season after Kirk gets

hurt. It's even keeping Kirk. They got rid of Delvin Cook. They got rid of Adam Thielen. They got rid of Eric Kendricks, who is still playing. They got rid of let's, uh, who else. I mean, there was Delvin Tomlinson they didn't bring back. They moved out so much talent, but kept the quarterback, who's good enough to get you to four and four. If they had gone a different direction and really rebuilt there, then yeah, we are talking about something different now. Do I think that Adam Thielen regrets it? I don't know. I mean, they got to the playoffs.

They got a playoff game. It kind of ended the same way you'd expect. But, you know, maybe he had some fun down the stretch. I don't know. Don't know if he regrets that or not. But just, you know, to finish on the Texans, they are like the Bears in that they had to have some really tough times to get to the point where they built. it all the way back up.

And that's been a frustration with the Vikings. And you mentioned the 2023 situation where if you're always trying to cut and paste and glue together, that means you have to hit on a very high percentage of your free agency decisions. And I was looking at just even Aaron Jones, for example, what he did this year. And Jones is an amazing person and a great pro and incredible career for a fifth round draft pick. But that wasn't worth it.

and now they're going to take an L on dead cap if they move on from him. And T.J. Hawkinson, which turns out to be not really worth the price that they paid for him. And you're always trying to get free agents and trades and acquire other people's players that they're letting go for a reason. And I know that they couldn't have ever predicted that Hawkinson was going to have the knee injury. But when you don't do anything to really look long term, then it all has to. to work. There's no room for error. Like, oh, well, you missed a draft pick, but you took five more guys, right? Like, that's not, that's not the case. And if you pay all those guys, you put yourself in a position where you're going into the off season with more, like, in the negative, in the

red of cap space. And these other teams who have done the slower, longer, more patient rebuild, have had it pay off with a lot of draft picks that hit, like a Derek Stingley, like a Will Anderson and then they have these players under contract who are young so it's not just the quarterback it's all these other players that's kind of the benefit of building that way though i still don't think that strout has been good enough to make an argument that they can compete for the super bowl but let's take a look uh at the games now that the entire bracket is set for next week we've got the buffalo bills and denver broncos on saturday and that is the early game i'm i'm at FanDuel here. So if they, if anything changes with these times, I apologize for that.

But, uh, and for some reason, my, my fan duel is on Mountain Time. So I'm like trying to calculate in my brain. Is that, it's at 3.30? Uh, so we've got bills and Broncos. The bills are one and a half point favorites on Fan Duel is the early game. Then the late game on Saturday is 49ers at Seahawks. Seahawks are favored by seven and a half. On Sunday, the Rams of the Bears, the early game, the Rams are three and a half point favorites. And then the later, game is the Texans at the New England Patriots, and the initial line is two and a half points to the New England Patriots for that game. And wow, you want to talk about a challenge for Drake May, like, welcome to the National Football League postseason. Wow, this is welcome to the National

Football League postseason for Drake May to have to play against the Houston Texans. My initial thoughts on the divisional round is, I mean, there's some clear favorites here, but I wouldn't be surprised by any result. The Seahawks should be a lot better than the 49ers, considering the route that the 49ers have to get there. And I think that the Rams are a much better team than the Chicago Bears overall, but the way that we saw Caleb Williams play down the stretch, I mean, goodness, right? The 49. If you're a betting person, then 49ers covering makes a lot of sense, just the way that some of these games have been played, although tonight, total, total blowout. Denver's a fraud number one seed.

Brian says, yeah, I mean, I think that that's a fair argument. When you look at their point differential versus their win total, I was just, you know, poking around. I haven't watched a lot of Denver this year, naturally, just because they didn't play the Vikings and so forth. but I mean, for a team to win 14 games with a plus 90 point differential seems almost impossible. It's kind of like what Kansas City did last year. They won a lot of games at the end, which I know you deserve credit for,

but is a hard way to keep winning. And I think that Buffalo, the advantage at quarterback is so significant. But when you consider the travel, and this is something I'm always curious about because the Texans won on the road, the Rams one on the road, like the home field advantage is kind of RIP in the NFL because of circumstances and stadiums and travel and everything and the science to sleep and everything else. It just feels like it's been mitigated a lot what the travel is, but it has to make somewhat of a difference that a bunch of guys who have played in Buffalo,

New York had to go to Jacksonville and play an extremely physical game and then go now out into the mountains to play the Denver Broncos and again, a very, very physical team. But Josh Allen is just absolutely next level. And New Dadios says Alan and Stafford showing experience is important in the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, I also think that being an absolute freak is important as well. There's other guys with experience, but what usually takes over is talent. And we saw that from Caleb Williams as well, who had no experience, but his talent was took over in the postseason.

You are right, though, that a lot of quarterbacks that do win in the playoffs, it feels like it's not their first time that they get there and then eventually find a way to win. So I did want to circle back, though, to Rogers, because if this is it for Aaron Rogers, and he's done, one, I would say it's a bad way to end a career as in it's a bad game and losing in the playoffs. but I'm never, no matter who the guy is, no matter how much you dislike him.

I never enjoy seeing a legend do the Willie Mays Mets thing, which poor Willie Maze is always the guy who gets mentioned for that, but there's a thousand examples of players who played too long, who went to another team when they probably shouldn't have.

I've just seen that many, many times. Hakeem Elijah on is a Toronto Raptor. Was Patrick Ewing a Seattle Supersonic or something? I mean, how about Michael Jordan as a Washington wizard? Like, you don't want to see that. And Rogers having a good season and playing with the Steelers, fine, making the playoffs, at least it wasn't a complete, you know, mess when it came to the end of his career. But what I will miss with Aaron Rogers is something that's already been gone for a couple of years.

And that is his matchups with the Vikings. that every single game that Aaron Rogers is playing for the Packers and the Vikings are going up against them, you circled it immediately. The minute that the schedule came out, you circled it. I circled it as a reporter can't wait to, when am I going to Lambo's?

Like the first question that I would always have when the schedule came out. So, like, all right, let's figure out when the Vikings are going to go and play against Aaron Rogers. And I was reminded of this because, the coach of the bears, Ben Johnson, said bleep the Packers. And then he pointed out today that their owners behind it and their owner hates the Packers and like everyone's sort of celebrating what a great rivalry is back now between Chicago and Green Bay. And I felt that that rivalry was really there during the Mike Zimmer era between Zimmer and Aaron Rogers.

And they would throw punches back and forth at each other. It would be one good game for, you know, Zimmer's deep. defense, one good game for Rogers against them and that sort of battle that was really worth watching and a lot of fun. He did some of the craziest stuff I've ever seen on a football field, made some of the greatest throws. But then every victory that the Vikings got against him meant so much to them and so much to Mike Zimmer and the team and Kevin O'Connell at the end there, the Kevin O'Connell's first game beating Aaron Rogers meant a lot. Right. So, you know, he is one of the greatest. I know he's not retired yet, but it feels like tonight

has to be the end for him, especially with how much he got beat up. Do you really want to do that again? A, A, Ron, like I'm not sure that he does. And if Rogers, when we talked about Tomlin as a broadcaster, if Rogers could stay in the football lane, which I know for him can be a challenge. But if he could stay in the football lane, he would be amazing to listen to as a broadcaster himself or a podcast or whatever.

But, you know, I don't know what kind of podcaster he might be. come, but if he could stay to football, the stories that that guy can tell, the analysis that that guy can give. I mean, he is really, when he's talking football at the highest level, it's incredible to listen to one of the all time, all time, all time, like upper, upper echelon, 1% of 1% quarterbacks whose career may have come to an ending kind of a whimper here, but at least not in any way embarrassing for Aaron Rogers, just not a great. game. So curious what you guys think for next week. If you want to toss that in, we'll make that, you know, the fan duel question of the day. What's the biggest chance for an upset?

The Broncos, 49ers, Texans, and Ram, oh, no, and bears will be the underdogs in these games. So which one do you think has the best chance to be an upset? So we'll see. Have you made up Bat says, have you made up any excuses yet if Stroud wins the Super Bowl? I don't really understand what you're getting at. I mean, I've been, I've enjoyed C.J. Stroud and the Texans rebuild the way that they did it from day one. So I don't really know what you're referring to there. I think that Stroud shows in the playoffs sometimes how good he really can be when it comes to throwing the football and how good he could be when leading the offense. but then tonight there were just too many times where he turned it over and had miscues.

It's just not really like him. But, I mean, I think some of that was Pittsburgh's defense was doing a good job. But I was surprised by the way he played how erratically he played tonight, maybe losing Nico Collins threw him off. But as far as like how to build a football team where, hey, they were in a really tough spot post to Sean Watson. And what do you do there? well, you have to take a longer term path, which means you have to find your quarterback.

It means you have to find superstar defensive talent that you have to put people around him like DeNeil Hunter that you go into free agency and then, you know, maybe they lucked out because DeNeal Hunter is from the state of Texas, I think, right? He's from Texas and, you know, maybe they lucked out, right? So getting him. But Derek Stingley, like you've got to hit on those top draft picks.

But once you do and then they hired the right. coach that was a very important is hiring the right coach into miko ryan's we see the impact of that can they really go i mean that's so i mean i've been picking the best quarterback the whole way and josh allen it's not a hot take it's not even it's not even a homer take it's just i'm just going to pick the best quarterback it worked many times uh for picking tom brady to go to the super bowl right i remember sage rosenfelds you know former viking said that to me like i just pick brady every year and I'm right most of the time. So before it would have been picked Mahomes,

now it should be picked Josh Allen. They go to New England. It was not a great performance by New England offensively. The storyline was how bad Justin Herbert played. But Drake May in his kind of big moment here, as a guy who competed for the MVP this year, we'll see if he wins it against the toughest defense, maybe in the NFL.

that is really a matchup that I cannot wait to see. We've just got some really, really, really good stuff coming in the next round. Zumer K.O. would go with 49ers and bears. Maybe the bears get upset again or pull off and upset again. The bears, this is a hard one because all season long, I have thought that the Los Angeles Rams were the best team in the NFL, like top to bottom, that they had, everything, that they had the best D-line, the MVP quarterback, best wide receivers, best coach,

like check all the boxes. But only recently have they shown that all those boxes aren't really checked. Their secondary isn't that great. Their linebacking core has some suspect elements to it in coverage. And their special teams is a complete disaster. And there's definitely a question of how healthy is Matthew Stafford going to be with his hand that he got hurt and then wasn't throwing the ball the same. And now he's got to go into the cold weather and go into Chicago.

But I feel like the Rams have just such a better team than Chicago. Can they track down Caleb Williams? Can Jared verse and company? Can they chase him and get him? Because the Packers weren't able to get him. But this defense is a lot better. So I would easily pick easily pick the Rams in this game.

But I mean, Chicago has just found away so many times. You know, they beat the Packers twice, but the Packers didn't have Micah Parsons. This is going to be a little bit different. The stage is enormous. Stafford has been there before. But last year, you know, Stafford went to Philly and they played a tight game against the Eagles

and came up just short with a couple of throws there at the end of the game in the cold. for Stafford wasn't injured then and, you know, they, they have just, you know, not been exactly the same team recently as I expected them to be. The 49ers, man, that's, that's a really interesting team because they don't have the horses now, but the horses that they have left are very, very good. Christian McCaffrey is as good as it gets. He was completely shut down in the first matchup, but you give Kyle Shanahan two shots at it against Seattle. excuse me, that makes for, I think, an opportunity for him to take advantage of some things that maybe they saw in the first round.

So let me get to more of your comments here. Let me switch to the comment cam and get to a few more of your thoughts reacting to what we've seen in the playoffs so far. Let's see. Forrest says, remember how bad Bill O'Brien destroyed the Texans? He traded away every star for pennies on the dollar, drafted poorly, left the franchise of ruins the guy was horrible. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Bill O'Brien got them to the playoffs and they won some games, but for sure had left them in complete shambles. And then, you know, Deshawn Watson, same deal. And it was not for them. And I've talked about this before, like the unintentional

tank, the unintentional rebuild. They kind of ended up at that when they were, who did they trade for? Was it Duke Johnson that they traded for? Was that who it was that they traded DeAndre Hopkins for in a second round draft pick? Like stuff. like that is not maybe intentional and yet at the same time got them to a point where they could rebuild like this. But that's why I talk about it so much. And Bat mentions you're witnessing a good argument for why the Vikings rookie QB contract plan is viable.

Caleb, Drake, Stroud, Knicks on the rookie contract. So, Bat, I mean, that's the thing is you're absolutely right. And that is something that I advocated for for such a long time. And no matter how many times I said it, like, it's not about Kirk. It's about the contract. Plus, can he elevate a team where, okay, if Kirk was playing, you know, for the Texans today, clearly he wins the game easily. Kirk would win this game easily if you have that team.

But they could never put that team around him. And then there was the other level of, hey, does he really have the arm? Does he really have the mobility? to make a play when you desperately need it. But your point, not only are those guys all good, but they're also great athletes as well that can make plays outside of structure. But yes, it's the Vikings overall plan to move on from Cousins and to draft J.J. McCarthy. And I remember saying it on draft night.

Like, this is the completion of the story. Now a new story begins. Like, they close the chapter on the Kirk Cousins area. when they draft McCarthy and they move forward into this, hey, spend around the quarterback. And that's why, you know, when I see a lot of like Fire Quasi and everything else, and I look at the roster and go,

well, you know, they largely accomplished what they were going for, not necessarily in the same way that, you know, the Texans have, but they largely accomplished building a very good team around the quarterback position, but then kind of stuck to the plan. almost hell or high water and that hell and high water was him getting injured last year and then really having no idea where he was at.

Like sticking to the plan when he had missed the entire first season of his career was extremely risky and we had nothing really to lean on of how far along he would be. And they got bit by it. They thought that he could snap back into what he was when he got hurt

and it was really more like starting over completely and I think they didn't anticipate that. New Daddy-o losing Kittle is going to hurt. Yeah, that's really, really tough. As good as the rest of the roster is. And I'm like a big Joanne Jennings believer, him throwing the touchdown. When Mike Schope and I did our fantasy lineups where we built a fantasy playoff team, I went with Joanne Jennings. I'm like, this guy's always making plays and catching touchdowns and stuff. I didn't expect to throw a touchdown, but he's always out there making plays. And without Ricky Pearsall, he's kind of the guy.

But Kittle, I mean, he's the engine that makes it go. It's just going to be so hard to be, I mean, they got a lot of Demarcus Robinson. Seattle's defense is so, so tough. And Philadelphia did not play a great game, but they're a physical team. Your offensive line had to go against Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter all day. And now you've got to go against Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence on a back-to-back. And some of this is short rest, right? So that's, is that saying, is San Francisco getting the Saturday game?

Is that short rest for them? It is. Like, that's so tough. That is so tough. Slats, is that how you say it? Whose defense is better, the Pats are the Texans? I think the defense is for the Texans and the Broncos are the best in the entire NFL. The Texans, it's not just who they have and the talent that they have, but it's also how they play.

Did you notice, if you had the sound upturn tonight, did you notice that every time their guys hit someone, there's like a bang. It's like a truck hitting something. It reminds me of old NFL films that I love so much. Like that, it's like that every single hit for the Texans, their physicality is incredible. But the Patriots are good defensively. Christian Gonzalez's health is going to matter. He left with a concussion if he can't play. and this is where it gets hard with the NFL and handling concussions like Nico Collins and Christian

Gonzalez should not play. Not if you've had a concussion the week before, but they might. They certainly might. Without Gonzalez, though, totally different team. J.G. Beserker says Chicago better not leave 143 left in the fourth for Stafford to score a walkoff touchdown. Man, the Panthers, they're going to be thinking about that and regretting that all offseason long, the way that they played with no aggression whatsoever late in the game after they had succeeded in slowing down Stafford by being aggressive. And then they decided just not to be. That was, that was bizarre. But doesn't it feel like, to your point, doesn't it feel like with Chicago and the Rams? If that one's close, then is that like last last team to touch the ball

wins? And on the Patriots defense, that's another great example of using that Rook contract because when they signed, Milton Williams, I think initially was going to the Panthers. There was a report about that. And then the Patriots came in and just came in with a higher offer and end up getting him because they can make that offer. Oh, David Johnson. Did I say Duke Johnson? Duke Johnson was a, was a Brown, right? Wrong guy. David Johnson. Fantasy hero. Let's see. Learn to swim, says overall as consistent as May has been, not sure how the Patriots survive the Houston defense. Well, this is where they've got a rookie left tackle

that's going to be facing Will Anderson. Good luck to Will Campbell. And it's Garrett Bradbury playing center against Sheldon Rankins, who has given him all sorts of problems over the years. I believe when they faced off each other, I'd have to go back and look it up on PFF. But Rankins is one of those guys

that always just has the power, the size, the strength, and is a problem for Garrett Bradbury. So they have weaknesses on that offensive line. I think Morgan Moses, journeyman right tackle against DeNeil Hunter. He's going to have to be great. He is truly going to have to be great. Steven says for the rookie quarterback contract to work, you need an actual QB on the contract to play at league average level.

JJ is playing like a bottom five starting quarterback. No, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. It's really the difference between the theory and, the execution because the theory of it made a lot of sense and a lot of the other moves did because Grenard and Van Ginkle are part of the rookie quarterback contract discussion and so is Blake Cashman because those guys were signed a year before but they were signed to contracts that were really cheap in the first year and then got very expensive as soon as Kirk Cousins was off

the books. So they were part of that spending and then of course, so is Hargrave and Alan and resigning Byron Murphy and all those sorts of things. When you look at the roster from top to bottom, all that stuff worked. But it is a little bit of forest and trees where if that does not work with the inexperienced quarterback, you are just up a river without a paddle. Like you've got a great team and nothing to do with it. Nowhere to go. Great squad and nowhere to take them in the postseason because your quarterback didn't play

well enough. And had J.J. McCarthy. just let's say McCarthy had been drafted and then developed behind Sam Darnold and they still made this move. And then McCarthy played badly. I would look at it a lot differently. I would say that's bad luck. It just didn't work out. And gosh, man, he was drafted really high and a great quarterback class and what are you going to do? But he missed the whole year with an injury and he lost 40 pounds. And then he was asked to get back into that shape, learn how to, learn how to to throw in this system again from really day one.

It always felt like a very tight timeline when it's hard enough to do, even if you're a good quarterback that's always been good. It's hard enough to become a starter of basically a new team, which he was taking over in a different system than he'd ever played before. And the whole, okay, did virtual reality and everything. But you're absolutely right. Like nothing works every time. This is like when I talk about tanking and talk about the teams,

I use the word tanking and people get really upset. But if I just say full complete rebuild for some reason, that doesn't bother anyone. So like the teams that, you know, do those full complete rebuilds, it doesn't work every time. The New York Jets did not have it work every time. I mean, sometimes you draft Zach Wilson and you're just up the creek, right? Even Carolina. Like, they're stuck in a different version of this with Bryce Young of like, what do we do? Is he good?

Is he average? Is he below average? on a given week, you can have different opinions. So that might not work for them either. And Chicago, man, after last year, I think everybody, including myself, thought, I don't know, man, you may have picked the wrong quarterback and left yourself the team that's on the outside

looking into the 2024 class. Now, that changed. But to your point, yes, it always does have to come down to the quarterback. Yep, you got to hit on it. If you don't, well, the one thing about that, though, that is the exception is you only have to hit on it to a degree. So I remember looking at this when the Vikings were going to make this decision. Like what percentage of the first round quarterbacks,

what percentage of them won at least 11 games? Because like, let's call that a success. If you drafted a guy where you had an 11 win season, which is usually the baseline to be a Super Bowl contender, Tua did it with Miami. Baker Mayfield did it with Cleveland, that at least gave their teams one shot of a really great season. And it was like 50, 60%.

Now, that's not all of them, though. It's not a guarantee. But as you see from C.J. Stroud and Bo Nix, there is a baseline that doesn't have to be as high. Like Justin Herbert and Jordan Love have to play like Kings because their teams can't really spend at the same level and are as good. whereas these rookie contract guys, they've only got to be so good. Jalen Hertz only had to be so good in 2022 to get his team there and then play great,

but he only had to be so good because they built everything around him. The minute they signed the contract, it was cheaper last year. It gets more expensive this year. You can't keep some guys. Like, it's this, the whole system is built for that to work. And it does. Feline master. Feline masterpiece, Cisco.

okay, that is one heck of a name. But Master P and Cisco live in Minnesota, right? My lasting image of Rogers playing football going out on a pick six pulled from the game, walking to the locker room, only shoving photographers and ignoring fans is too perfect. I didn't, I didn't, I started up the podcast before he walked off the field, maybe for the last time. But yeah, it's perfect if you really truly just hated him and never had any sort of of appreciation for his excellence.

Like, yeah, going out on a pick six and on the bench, you know, I don't think it was at all an embarrassment how Rogers went out today. Like, he played horrible today. But I mean, for the entire season, it was not embarrassing football that he played to get them into a playoff game. But, you know, if you were a person who, well, he was with the Packers and you're cheering for the Vikings who just truly despised him, then, yeah, you probably, in, you probably, enjoyed what happened here today.

I think there needs to be, and I don't tell you how to root necessarily, but I think about these things a lot, that there should be some appreciation for how fun the games were when you're playing him. And I think this about Caleb Williams coming up, that when I mention how good Caleb Williams looks and where that can go, the most of the reactions like, no, you're like, okay, well, let's all use our brains here. We've seen this trajectory before top draft pick, freak athleticism gets the right coach like it happens right but for me if you believe in your team

then you're thinking well this should be one heck of a battle in chicago and hopefully they don't get rid of the outdoor stadium it should be one heck of a battle every year in chicago and maybe that'll be great right uh would kirk have won like tonight with the texans yeah but i mean kirk also would They wouldn't be able to build the Texans with Kirk. That's the issue. You just couldn't. Like his contract, you can't build the Texans with his contract. Maybe, maybe Kirk next year.

Maybe that's going to be someone's argument for Kirk next year is they could get him to sign for like 10 million or something. Maybe. Let's see. Stevens as Rogers threw short of the sticks so many times tonight that it would have made Kirk blush. It was exactly like that 2019 game again. against San Francisco, where it just, it was like it never started. And just there was nothing left there to be done.

And the other team just beat the heck out of you and left. That's what it felt like. Big Barris's Thielen can wait a few years before they let him anywhere near U.S. Bank. I'm really, I was actually quite surprised by, and maybe I misread the room about people being salty about Adam Thielen wanting to leave and play somewhere else. it would have been really nice to have Thielen Harrison Smith, C.J. Ham as the three guys from the 2017 team that were left to be celebrated in the last game in a win over the Green Bay Packers. It would have been nice. But the guy was just playing in the playoffs. I mean, it's just really hard for me to blame Adam Thielen for when you're looking at your career and saying it's going to be over in a couple of weeks. I don't think that it's something wrong to go to your team and say,

is there any chance that you could give me a shot to play somewhere else where I could potentially compete for a Super Bowl? I mean, I never thought that Pittsburgh was a real contender, but at least he landed on a playoff team. I didn't take that personally. I don't think you should, like, Thielen wants to win. He wants to play. I don't know.

The Vikings let down that chance. And he didn't play well when he was here, but they let down that chance by not performing and giving him a shot. Class G says would love Kirk or Rogers as a backup. How can you not be okay with the team for them as a backup, especially if they know their role going at. Well, Rogers would never be a backup. Absolutely not.

There was something about them being a bunch of misfits that came up and he was asked if he was a cast off. And he was like, no. Like, okay, man. You kind of are, but like, okay, all right. Kirk has been a backup, but I have thought, and I could be wrong about this. I have thought that Kirk would not come to the Vikings to be a backup.

Like, you're not going to, can I come up with like a, like a going back to your old high school type of thing here? When you go back to your high school reunion, you want to be able to tell people, I'm a big success since I left here. Or like, you're happy to have me back. Maybe I don't have a good metaphor there.

But you understand what I'm saying. If you're going back to the team that, let you go to draft somebody else, you're probably not going back unless they are saying you're going to be the guy. Now, maybe he would compete somewhere else, but I don't know if he wants to compete here. So that's why I've thought that which direction they go with the other quarterback will tell us if they go the Kirk direction, he will win the competition in camp.

He knows this offense inside and out. Justin Jefferson put up historic numbers with Kirk. He's not going to lose the competition. I don't think so. I don't think he's going to lose the competition. So, yeah. Anyway, let me see here. Steven says Thielen is a ring of honor guy in Minnesota, probably,

or is he probably, especially since he attended Minnesota area college and his off-field contributions. But fans will remember him walking out in 2025. I don't think they will. I don't think they will. I really don't believe that fans will remember this very much. I think that they will completely forget about it. Oh, no.

Sorry. Sorry if I had an echo going on at the beginning of the show. I apologize for that. The camera got left on. So I'm sorry about that. I think that I fixed it. Sorry, Jonathan sent me a note. on it. Oh, okay. Sorry about that if that was at the beginning of the show. I should have been looking

at the comment section. Uh, anyway, hopefully that turned out to be okay. Uh, Philip Rivers is a backup. Anyway, the point on, on Adam Thielen is that even if things end badly, which sometimes they do with a team, and I don't think it ended badly, it seemed amicable where the Vikings said, okay, that's fine. We'll move on and it'll be all right. But, uh, it was only, a section of fans that seemed to really take it personally that he wanted to go somewhere else. I guess I just didn't, but some did. I don't believe that even in the slightest that's going to be a problem. I think that the Ring of Honor gets pretty dicey when there are so many good players from

that era. But how do you decide which ones go in and which ones don't? I mean, Stefan Diggs and Adam Thienel have pretty similar numbers, but Thielen leaves on bad terms, or I'm sorry, Diggs leaves on bad terms. Thelan leaves on good terms. Thelan was here a little bit longer, but, you know, Diggs still is the Minneapolis miracle guy.

Everson Griffin, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendrick, Santhony Barr, Xavier Rhodes. Like, you had a lot of pro bowlers, Delvin Cook. It's going to be hard to decide who goes in and who doesn't. I would imagine that he ultimately will. 90% mental Minnesota says, is it my imagination or are solid running games

proving to be successful so far? You think K.L. will learn. It's a good idea to win the playoffs and change his philosophy. So the interesting thing about the Vikings running game this year is that it was above average at the end of the day. Now, early in the season, clearly they were not leaning into the run game as much as they needed to with Carson Went to quarterback.

and even with J.J. McCarthy at times when he was in. But as soon as McCarthy came back, they were a run first team overall by the numbers. If you compare when you expect a team to run versus pass, when he came back in week seven, now the Ravens game, you don't expect running because they were losing by two scores. So you're going to get a lot of passing. The rest of the games, they were a run team and they finished 13th in EPA in the run. I felt that there was serious progress with their run schematics and the effectiveness. And Jordan Mason was a big part of that.

But is he going to change his philosophy to completely switch it up? No. And well, I think that you're right that running games do have a role here. Josh Allen won that game throwing the football. Cook didn't do a whole heck of a lot. Brock Purdy won that game throwing the football. the Texans just, they did run a lot. They had a lot of success running.

And the Bears, they won it with Caleb Williams. So, oh, sorry about that. I forget when I change the window to look at something that you guys see that. Big Bear says McCarthy will never stay healthy. And that's a really difficult thing to know, right? Is how healthy someone's going to be in the future. But when you get to five injuries, there's concern.

There's definitely concern there when you get to five injuries. Stephen says which quarterback at number 18, Ty Simpson, Trinidad Chambliss, he's not a KOC style quarterback. There's like an assumption that Kevin O'Connell would not want a quarterback who runs. I know that comes up with Kyler Murray all the time. I'm not sure that that's the case.

I don't know because he hasn't really had that opportunity. I honestly don't know. if he how he would adjust to that. That says it's insane to think of how much money, Dak, Kyler Murray Kirk are making, a boatload of money watching the kids play from their couch as well. You know, if you do it, and I remember talking to Robert Mays about this years ago

when Dak signed his deal or when there was a lot of competition or a lot of conversation about his deal. And the Cowboys were trying to figure out what to do there was how to do it, like how you need to. to build around the quarterback. And really the answer is some version of what Detroit did with Jared Gough. Now, it's not completely tank around the quarterback, but it's, you probably have to be patient over a couple years in stack draft capital.

Because what teams think they need to do when they get that quarterback, what they think they need to do is they think they need to go for it. Like, oh, we've signed this big quarterback contract. We got to give everybody money and just say, screw. it and all in, right? That's, I mean, that's what the Vikings did after 2017 with signing Sheldon Richardson and giving extensions to Anthony Barr and everybody else who moved. So they, they jammed it all in there, but then they didn't build a complete team when really, once you sign that contract, it feels like that's when you really need to have a longer term vision. If there's

a team that's done it right and then kind of got, you know, let down by some injuries, it's probably Green Bay because now they made the big trade for Micah and paid him. So they diverted from their plan. But they got Jordan Love and paid him. And then it was just draft capital. Tons of top 100 draft picks. That's more likely the way you need to do it is to have everybody else around the expensive quarterback be young. And that was not the case when Kirk was here. That's what limited their windows so much. Tell us how the old NFL film sound again. What? Did you like You know, right? You guys have heard those.

I would hope so. I would definitely hope so. Ram faithful says the bears are the perfect opponent in so many ways. Is that because you're a ram faithful? Well, the Rams got the best break here, I think, because they don't have to go to Seattle. And going to Seattle, there's a big difference between Seattle and Chicago in team quality. So them going to Chicago is the easiest path for,

What is felt like two teams that are headed for a collision the entire season, and that is the Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. All season long, those have been the two best NFC teams all season long. And if things go the way that they should, then those teams are going to play. Wildcard weekend seems to historically have more strange results, but oftentimes they get corrected in the divisional round. a big yucks is that how it's said go get burrow or herbert i mean herbert would be the one that is more realistic but then also um you know also more flawed than joe burrow he's been healthier

but he's also you know not as good as joe burrow and i think the difference has been pretty clear when he's been in the playoffs stephen says if the vikings would have made any serious front office or coaching changes for 26. They would have made them by now. Sands for a D.C. replacement. That might not necessarily be true because they, well, they got past, when did they fire Ed Donatel? I mean, you could still fire people.

I mean, it's not like there's any sort of like, oh, they have to do it in the first week. They could get through their end of year press conference and fire someone, which they did with Ed Donatel. So there was a bunch of questions about Ed Donatel and his future and they dodged them and then they fired him like the next day. So that sort of thing does happen in the NFL where they don't have to make the decision right away. But I mean, I tend to agree with you. It seems like that the front office and coaching staff are going to be back. And I guess we'll find out maybe, you know, the press conference.

I guess you guys are aware that it's tomorrow. So I guess, you know, we'll find out what they have. to say about that if there is going to be any sort of big changes. But it doesn't seem like it. And I also just don't think that it's necessary. And I could see where, you know, you guys talk about, you know, the offensive line coach. They were, see, this is the state of offensive line play in the NFL. Every fan base, except for maybe the top five O lines, hates their O line and thinks their old line coach to be fired. The Vikings were, despite all the craziness, they finished PFF top 15 in run and pass blocking, which I think is pretty good considering they were playing

two different backup centers. Blake Brandel, man, that guy's played every position, right? So, you know, I don't think that it was anywhere near as bad as we made it out to me. I think that their worst moments were bad, which was like against Atlanta, getting stripsacked, some of the quick wins. But, you know, they held Miles Garrett sackless. And I thought overall, like the quarterbacks caused more problems in terms of sacks and both quarterbacks, actually all three quarterbacks, then the offensive line did. They got beat, they got handed, they got to them in Seattle, but I mean, every team does. B says, I understand why Minnesota doesn't have a history of grooming winning quarterbacks.

They simply stay in the garbage can for them, then cry when they get mediocre results. So you mean that they're always looking for like a Sam Darnold or a Case Keenham or Sam Bradford or I mean, Kirk Cousins, I don't think was in the garbage can because he was the most expensive quarterback in the league at that point. But I mean, there is truth to what you're saying, which is that when you have Dante Culpepper get hurt, when you have Teddy Bridgewater get hurt, when you have Christian Ponder fail, that it's very, very, you know, hard to find that one person to build around. And when we look at the teams in the playoffs, even though C.J. Stroud is not perfect. Even though Bryce Young is not perfect or Bo Nicks, still their teams drafted them and built around them. And they stayed healthy enough to develop and so forth. Right. So they were able to build around those guys and make it their quarterback in Philadelphia with Jalen Hertz. He's not perfect. But they made him their guy and

built around him. So that's the best way to win. When you look at the teams of the playoffs, I mean, the only exception is really what? Is it really? It's just Sam Darnold? Because you could say Stafford, he's not their quarterback initially.

But Stafford also required a number one overall quarterback of the Rams being traded away to get him. So, you know, they had to give up a lot in order to make that happen. But there's not too many. teams in the playoffs, Rogers and he gets blast in the first round that went in with a quarterback that they didn't initially draft and develop. So it is the best way. The way the Vikings did it was the right way.

It's just that it didn't work out this year. And it may not with J.J. McCarthy. Jerry says instead of the Vikings going all in and trading the farm for a veteran quarterback, should instead trade away the farm and draft a rookie. Yeah, well, the problem there, Jerry, is, you know, I'm of the mind that teams, if they had 10-year contracts, that they would always draft quarterbacks, like repeatedly in the first and second rounds and try to develop them and see what they have, that they would, if you weren't set, that you draft multiple quarterbacks and just keep swinging, right? But are they in a position to do that? there's going to be a lot of pressure next year with all the money that was spent and all the expectations that were said, can you really draft a quarterback?

I mean, you have to have, I think that KOC's got good job security now. You'd have to have insane job security to be able to do that. Let's see. KFT says, Kirk hasn't been great and it'll be 38, but some team might get desperate. It might be your team who gets desperate. It might be. Don't think it's crazy. 90% mental says

K-O in the playoffs versus the Giants 40 passes. Okay, so yeah, and versus the Rams 40. Well, they're losing the whole game against the Rams. So that one you can't really bring up so much. And they didn't, they just, in both of those years, they had no run game. They really had no run game. And they needed a stop against the Giants more than anything.

But this year, they actually had a run game. And that's the kind of, of irony against or of this season is that they had a lot of the things that they had been hunting and it just didn't have the quarterback play. Let's see. Go get them. I think that's what that says. I heard next draft is better for quarterbacks.

Shouldn't we start JJ, if we don't do well, get another quarterback? Theoretically, yes. This has been my struggle here over the last couple weeks is that theoretically, yes, what the Minnesota Vikings should do is they should bring back. J. McCarthy with a regular backup quarterback, and they should play it out, and they should draft one in the second or third round and just see if that guy, like the Packers drafting Brian Brown once upon a time, see if there's anything there with somebody else that they pick and the second take some swings, right? Of course, that's what you should do. But with the amount of talent on this roster,

what you risk is another injury to J.J. McCarthy. What you risk is, just not playing well and not being able to take that big step. And then where are you in the same spot? And probably everybody's looking for new jobs. So I think there's probably a theory there that if you were able to get, um, the average type quarterback, the Mac Jones,

the Kyler Murray in here with this team. If you could get Murray on a discount. See, that's the thing, right? Like Kyler Murray at $10 million, that might be great. because he's got the rest of the team around him. One thing about Murray is that Arizona built a pretty good team early on for him, and he won games.

He was nine and five in 2021. But then they fell apart and signed him to the extension and didn't have the flexibility to make a lot happen plus their Arizona. And they, let's see, they fired a GM in between. They hired a coach who was very inexperienced in between. A lot went wrong there. So even if you're bringing back Kirk, you're bringing him to an environment that gives you a chance to make

the playoffs because the team is very good. And if Flores indeed comes back, well, you've got most of the parts. You can add a little bit to it in the draft and maybe in free agency, maybe another defensive tackle or corner in the draft. Look for better luck on the offensive line, you know, improve your running back position. Like there's a lot that can be done to make that work, at least to get in the playoffs. It'll feel a lot like what I was describing at the beginning of the show. Like, yeah, the ceiling is probably 10 wins and then losing the wild card round.

but if they're trying, aiming for, hey, you got to get back to the postseason or it's kaput here, then realistically, they have to look elsewhere and at least have competition for McCarthy, at least very real competition. I've been talking about it a lot like they just need a different starting quarterback because they might be in that position. But it also could be someone who's just competition for McCarthy like Daniel Jones was for Anthony Richardson. a S-A-L-Y and a bunch of letters.

As a person who does press conferences, how do you feel about the Jaguars reporter statements to the coach? Do you feel it's acceptable? So this is a tough one because I just don't really care that much. I mean, I saw way too many takes about that. Way too many NFL reporters just, you know, kind of pound in their chest about objectivity and everything else. Over the years, there's been some very interesting questions to people.

And sometimes there's familiarity there where, you know, I've been known to make a joke or something. The trouble for me is kind of more along the lines of they stream every one of these press conferences. And all it takes for somebody to just get blasted by the entire internet is somebody screen grabbing it and posting it and then, you know, criticizing that person and then everybody jumps on. I felt bad for the woman more than anything that, look, it's not how I would start a question. And, but I'm also not going to sit here and talk about when there are real reporters

who right now are on the streets of Minneapolis reporting on really important stuff. and we're here in a press conference talking to a football coach. I'm not going to sit here and be like, I have a journalism degree. I'm so unbiased. Like, I don't know, man. That just seems like, it just seems like not really reading the room. Fans also don't really care.

I mean, I don't think of any Jacksonville fan was like offended by that. And when they didn't use the stream, I was thinking about this today. When they didn't use the stream press conferences, you know, this would just never happen. It would just, they'd ask, they would say their. piece and ask the question. And this might be somebody who has a little more of a relationship with the coach since he got there. I don't know.

Like, I don't know the person. I don't know the backstory. But stuff happens in press conferences. There was last year, some of you caught this, there was a person who I'd never seen before in the Seattle press conference who was like laughing it loudly at every Kevin O'Connell joke. And we said to Kevin like, hey, do you know that guy? He's like, I'm never, I was going to ask you guys.

Who was that person? Like, does he work here? Is he from something? Like, who is this person? Like, things like that sometimes. Sometimes stuff happens or people say something or maybe they get a little nervous and just kind of like, you might go to ask a question and then you kind of lose it. And so you try to talk yourself back into wherever you were because you might be sitting

on a question. Sorry to go down this rabbit hole. But you might be sitting on a question for like five minutes and then be like, Kevin, and then you're like, oh, what was I going to ask? You know, when it comes to the, the run game, you're like, was it the run game that I was going to ask about? Like, where do you see, who was I going to ask? Where do you see CJ Ham?

I mean, everybody's done this before. And there's just so much attention on press conferences and stuff that this is little things like this. You know, somebody says something that maybe a lot of people otherwise in the room wouldn't say or whatever. you're like, whatever, man. Just, it, it wasn't that big of a deal. There was no reason for the reaction.

I'm, I'm generally not for kind of making my own personal statement first. Everybody asks questions in a different way. And it just, the overreaction was just absurd. The overreact, it was, I mean, they treated this person like they had just given away the nuclear codes. It's like, okay, she just said something nice and then got to it. Move on, everyone. relax. We don't, we just don't have to do that.

Just make it way too big of a deal out of it. Let's see. Steve says no way Dante Moore stays in Oregon when they just brought in Riola. Yeah, he's going the NFL draft. I think he needs some time. If he goes, I assume he's going to, but if he does, he's going to. Stephen says patience is one season when you have Caleb Williams, Jane Daniels, Drake May, Bo Nix all making the playoffs.

There's your bar for the level of patience. that fans should expect. Well, look, in a, again, in a theoretical, in a different world, let's just say in a different world, there would have been space for patience. So just think about, like, what I talked about with 2023. Let's say they traded Kirk after 2022. And then in 2023, they went more to the bottom. But let's say they still drafted JJ because they loved him.

Let's just say, let's say they ended up with the fifth pick and drafted JJ. Okay. That's like a realistic retorting. telling of this, then they would have been much more, I think, in a rebuilding mode. Because they had played so well with Kirk in 2023 at the end of Kirk, the last impression. And then because they were able to win some games with Dobbs and play some competitive games with Mullins, they felt like this is our time to go do this. And then they got so much out of, like, even think about it this way, you can rework this

in so many different ways. even if they had just gone eight and nine instead of 14 and three, then the expectations and the patients would have been greater, I think. They probably wouldn't have gone out and gotten Hargrave and Allen and brought back Jones, etc, et cetera, et cetera, right? And it would have been a much smoother transition to, all right, you're just working your way week by week through the kinks. Now, the injuries are something that nobody could ever predict with McCarthy.

And that's what really mucks the whole thing up, is that you have this injury history now that's pretty concerning of missing a large chunk of the season. And the progress he needed to make, that probably required 600 passes and he got less than 250. So those things all complicate matters. But there would have been more patience had they not been so good with Sam Darnold. So then the bar is set super high. Then they feel like, oh, it's our time. We got to run out and make all these signings.

it's just how things fall into place is what makes football so freaking interesting how things fall into place though uh it matters ram faithful says mac jones and kOC system would make you play off contenders right away uh it's uh mcvay shanahananahan quarterback that would be scary scary i think is a little aggressive but would i would it work i mean mac jones went five and three with a 97 point i don't know six quarterback rating And that's pretty darn good in San Francisco when they probably could have won some other games if they had better defensive performances early on. And he could throw the football. I mean, the thing about Mack Jones is from the pocket, he throws a nice ball.

This is why he was a first round draft pick. And he won 10 games with a good offense run by Josh McDaniels, a great offensive mind when he came into the league. So he's a guy that's had enough success to say, I've always liked the Mac Jones idea for this. reason. He's had enough success to say what you're talking about is that he already knows this system and fits, but also if J.J. McCarthy can't beat him out, then it tells you what you need to know for J.J. McCarthy. Stevens says, how far does having a wide receiver one like Jefferson take you in the playoffs? Look at the top teams. How far did Detroit go with Calvin Johnson? Stephen, I think you got to update that take, man, because Cooper Cup won the Super Bowl against Jemar Chase and

Higgins, right, just a couple years ago. That's the first one that comes to mind for me. But Devante Adams and A.J. Brown are as good as it gets. They won the Super Bowl last year. Tampa Bay had Antonio Brown, Chris Godwin, Rob Grancowski, and Mike Evans. I mean, I think that the wide receivers are a pretty darn big deal. And having the true number one is a pretty darn big deal. That is a take from Randy Moss hasn't won.

the Super Bowl and neither is Terrell Owens. That was a thing. Chad Johnson hadn't won it. And that became a take then. And certainly Kelvin Johnson. It wasn't Kelvin Johnson's fault. I don't think that's a take anymore. I mean, if we look at the team,

teams that are in it now, there are some teams that don't have a true, true number one. And Nico Collins, his health is in question here. The bills are a team that doesn't, but the bills are, I mean, the bills that that's the best quarterback alive right now. Zoomer says pie chart request. J.J. McCarthy starts for the Vikings next year.

Guaranteed to finish with PFF grade, whether percentage chances, 12th, 19th, 26th, and 33rd. I mean, wouldn't you say that the chances are fairly equal of all those outcomes? I mean, I think that 19th is the most likely. So I'd probably go, I mean, 20% chance here. he's 12th, 40% chance that he is 19th and then 20 and 20 with 26th and 33rd. I mean, maybe you'd go 30, well, he could be 33rd. So I think it's pretty equally spread out.

19th would be the best or the most likely guess for me, which would be progress, but not excellence. I think. I mean, the middle of the curve is going to be the place that has the most. Mavericks is the pressure will be on McCarthy big time if Caleb Williams, Drake, May or Bo Nix win the Super Bowl or Sam Darnold. But yes, I understand what you're saying. I mean, I think that the pressure, 25, 68, and 25.

Okay, you went more extreme with those pie chart numbers. I think that what happens from here on out, like, it's already been to decide. If you're in the divisional round, as you said, with those 20, 24 quarterbacks and Sam Darnold is there waiting for the 49ers, it's always. already been decided what kind of pressure is on the Minnesota Vikings for next year. So, all right. Well, if you're watching this back, then leave in the comments your biggest upset. That is the Fandual question of the day.

Just what you think the biggest possible upset is. I will run down. Let me switch back to my regular view here. Okay. Yeah. So let me see. The biggest possible upset would be San Francisco beating Seattle. But the other underdogs are Denver, Houston, and the Chicago Bears, which one of those teams has the best chance to pull off an upset.

That is the Fanduil question of the day. So thanks, everybody, for your participation. Appreciate that. And tomorrow, there will, as far as I know, be a press conference. And we'll have a reaction from that. And I don't know where Jeremiah Searle is these days. if he's chasing around college players trying to give them NIL. But presumably the show with Jeremiah Searle will go on tomorrow as well.

And we'll have a couple other guests. Amad Hicks is going to come up later in the week, Lindsay Rhodes from Sumer Sports, former NFL network personality. So a lot to be done. And we'll do a preview of the games. And then next week, man, we'll start finding out who's going to championship weekend. So lots of football, the Brian Flores situation up in the air. We'll see if there's any other changes.

A lot going on. So thanks, everybody, for all of your time. And we'll catch you later. Appreciate this late night after dark. It's actually worked out pretty well. Hey, if you guys want to change the show to 10 to midnight every night, I'll do it. Let me know. Searle's is in Hawaii.

Is he in Hawaii? I wouldn't be surprised. I never know where he is around this time of year. All right. Take care, everybody. Football.