Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The All-22 tape showed the Vikings' offense with chances to be better

Episode Date: October 4, 2022

Former Viking Jeremiah Sirles broke down the Minnesota Vikings' game tape against the New Orleans Saints and found a number of opportunities missed in the passing game. Is this good or bad? Plus a proclamation about the offensive line and Jeremiah's feelings on whether Kevin O'Connell can guide the team through the ups and downs of a season.  -- For more of Matthew's Vikings coverage, head to purpleinsider.substack.com For bonus discussions, interview clips, and more videos, check out our YouTube channel! Interact with us on Twitter! @Purple_Insider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider presented by Liquid Death. Go to liquiddeath.com slash insider and learn about the Tallboy can, which actually has water. Find out where you can get it near you at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Welcome to another episode of Tuesday Morning Left Guard. Matthew Collar along with former Minnesota Viking Jeremiah Searles. And Jeremiah, before we play the intro, I just want to say hi.

How are you? Does Nebraska have a coach yet? You good? Hey, we won a game. We won a game and Nebraska's back, baby. If you listen to everyone around here, it's a race for the West. The West is the biggest dumpster fire in college football, so the Big Ten West is wide open.

If you ask anyone in Lincoln, we're right in the hunt. We're not. I mean, Tom Osborne coming back to next Tommy Frazier quarterback. Lawrence Phillips, let's go. Yeah, you just need a little change up you get a change at the top and you just change everything it's amazing do you watch the show better call saul by the way i i've i'm all the way caught up through season five i have not watched the most recent season because i don't have amc plus because i can i refuse to buy

another streaming service i have everyone a core like i have everyone known to man because my wife just buys them and i can't known to man because my wife just buys them and i can't do another one so i'll just wait till it comes out on netflix i i think that's totally fair of you but when you get to the end it's an amazing final season but there is a whole episode that involves nebraska football that you're really gonna love but we can't really dive into this until we play your intro. So let's go. What's that sound you hear coming from the trenches? It's former Minnesota Viking offensive lineman Jeremiah Searles.

It's time for the Tuesday morning left guard show on Purple Insider. They're too strong, my dog. We're too strong. insider. Okay. We've got two big things to look at today. First, you watch the film back. You have made proclamations on Twitter about a particular Vikings offensive lineman. So we'll dive into that. And also I have been working on an article of 20 stats to analyze at the quarter mark. And there's actually more, some kind of double up. So, so we're going to do a lot of what does that stat mean? But I just want to start out with what you tweeted about Ed Ingram. And I just want to get a hot take right off the bat here about the Vikings

offensive line, because they have risen in the ranks a little bit on PFF to the point of being respectable by the PFF analysis. So how are you feeling about the Vikings offensive line? You know, I'm feeling the best I have about them in a few years now, one of which is because Brian O'Neill is playing at an absolutely Pro Bowl level caliber. I mean, he had one, maybe I think he had two bad plays yesterday against Cam Jordan. Other than that, he shut him down the entire game. I mean, he changed up his set. He changed up how he threw his hands. Him and Ed in the run game were phenomenal with their

double teams. I mean, the second play of the game, they tossed the D tackle for like seven yards and get up on a linebacker. So the right side of the line is playing at a really high level. And Ed Ingram for a young player is developing a lot faster than i thought he would you know and i'm seeing even with my rookie who's playing with the bangles you know it takes them a few games to just get their head above water you know the first few games you're just you have no idea you're just throwing stuff against the wall and hoping and you're sinking and swimming and the whole bit but i'm starting to see you're starting to see the rookies that have played a lot in the first part of the season starting to figure out and figure it all out a little bit. You know, and he's playing fast. He's recognizing blitzes. He's still going to miss some things.

He missed a cross dog blitz, which ended up in a sack there in the third or fourth quarter. But, you know, that comes with the territory. But overall, he's not looking like a rookie anymore. He's starting to look like a starter in the NFL, which is what you want to see from your young players. You know, Garrett's actually playing a lot better at center as well. Him getting in the shotgun is helping a lot in his pass protection. Him in the run game, he's able to use his quickness, and he's able to get on guys and stretch them a lot. The left guard spot is still struggling a little bit.

I would say he's the weakest point of our offensive line right now, and Ezra Cleveland, you know, he has moments, but his pass protection just has to continue to improve. You know, he got beat too many times on twist yesterday, a little bit of one-on-ones. He got, he got beat inside too many times. And then, you know, Darisai actually didn't have his best game against the Saints this week. He played well. You know, I think at times it looked like he got kind of lazy in his technique and it got him beat. You know, Davenport's a good player. He's a different player. He's big. He's not the speed guy off the edge, but he's a big, strong player.

And he caught Derrissaw a few times. I think Derrissaw was expecting speed and he'd come inside with power or one of the things, you know, he got beat a couple times. But again, that happens with young players. Overall, this group as a whole is playing so much better than they have in the last two or three years. And that's really exciting for Vikings fans and for me in particular because I don't want to stab myself in the eyeballs when I watch the tape

because you can win a lot of football games with good to mediocre offensive line play like we've talked about on this show since 2019. Yeah, and the pressure rate is actually respectable for Kirk Cousins. And what's surprising is that Cousins is holding onto the ball even longer than he was last year. Last year, I think that they made it a goal early in the season to get the ball out of his hands quicker. But this year he's toward the bottom in terms of how far or how long he's holding the ball from the snap yet in pressure percentage he's he's ninth but it's only at 33 which is like one percent away from being like 15th with so a little small sample

size but if it's only at that spot uh that's something you can work with like if you're getting pressured four out of every 10 snaps it's going to be pretty pretty rough ride for you if it's one out of three one out of four, that's much more toward average. And the whole thing was always if it could just be average. And we know that Cousins also invites that pressure and does not counter it with anything like moving or throwing off balance or anything like that. So the bar is always set higher for the Vikings offensive line.

Something I want to ask you about though is PFF has really scored them high when it comes to run blocking, but the running game has not been very effective. And I think that it's a thing you have to be looking at with Delvin Cook playing with an injured shoulder and maybe just consider using Alexander Madison

and Kenny Wongwu some more, or Wongwu at all, which is surprising that they have not brought him off the bench. But the way that Cook is running, it seems like he's had a few this year that have gone for 10 yards, but that extra jolt is kind of missing and now playing through an injury. But it feels like at least the bones are there with the way that they're blocking to have a more effective running game than they have so far.

Yeah. You know, the thing I really liked on tape this week was they really implemented the pin pull system in the run game this year. You know, you had guys where the left guard was pulling out and kick on the edge. And that's where you did see those 10 yard explosive runs come with Dalvin was when you have guys pulling and you can cut the defense with down blocks. And you allow him to use his speed to get to the edge you know I haven't seen

a ton of that this year been more of that mid-zone outside toss type stuff so that was good wrinkle to get thrown in there and you're right they're being blocked well you know the thing is we're just not quite getting that giant like make one guy miss and go you know that's kind of what we're missing from this and I don't necessarily know if that's kind of what we're missing from this. And I don't necessarily know if it's a Dalvin thing. I mean, the Saints tackled well. They tackled Dalvin well. You know, but I think Madison just, he's a little bit more that hammer.

You know, I think he's more of the younger, fresher legs, just pounded up the middle. And so I would like to see a little bit more of that sprinkled in. You saw a little bit more C.J. Hamm this game than we'd seen in the past, you know, running behind a fullback, which I do think dalvin enjoys i think madison also enjoys so i think you're starting to see what we talked about last week was koc starting to put some of that stuff back into the offense right i saw more bootlegs this week i saw more under center runs this week you know i think he's starting to sprinkle some of that stuff in because it is

effective and so as well as run blocking has been you just have to be more consistent with it i think this team's still figuring out the identity of their run game but you're starting to see the bones and the structure and really the execution of the run blocks get better and better and it's only a matter of time before that thing starts to pop so this is the thing that everyone in viking land is really talking about it kind of connects to this uh there are arguments that you can make that these things will get better and i'll give you one and this is going to be a very heavy what does that stat mean uh episode just because i ran a bunch of them and i kind of have them at my fingertips but uh cousins right now is 20th and espn's qbr which is very bad like that's not where you want

to be that's below average that's daniel jones, but he's 11th in PFF grade, which sort of indicates that the play hasn't quite as been bad as the production. Um, he always is kind of hacked the PFF grades a little bit because they can't grade the throws you don't make, which, Whoa, were there some on tape? Whoa. Uh, I mean, there were, there were two touchdowns on back-to-back plays, which you looked at and sent me. And I think it really explained why Kevin O'Connell kicked the field goal on fourth and one, because when your quarterback misses two wide-open touchdowns in a row,

that you're probably not going to trust him very much and just want to take the points. So he's missing some things that are right there for him that maybe he wouldn't miss in the past. And I think that's reasonable to say it's part of the adjustment to Kevin O'Connell's offense. And if he's drawing up open wide receivers, that's kind of the most important part because eventually you think cousins will find them at the same time. Everything's a little slow at times throughout the game and he doesn't look super confident and certain receivers that used to get wide open all the time aren't getting wide open all the time the tight end hasn't become what he's supposed to be

so far so maybe the supporting weapons aren't what they are i guess where do you stand on will it get better or is this what it's going to be? I have to think it'll get better. You know, I have to think that Kirk's going to make the adjustments because this offense is friendly to him. You know, we talked about it. We've talked about it every week. Like this is built for him.

It's built around him. So when you have Adam Thielen wide open for a touchdown, you got to hit him. When you have these, they, they run the exact same place. So they run fourth and one, right? They run on boot out to the right. They have, I think it's Irv Smith coming in the shallow and they have Adam Thielen running a corner route and it's wide open for a touchdown and he misses it. Okay. They get the ball back. They run the exact same play and the saints run the exact same coverage. and KJ Osborne is sprinting to the end zone to the point where the safeties and the corners are both pointing to him like, oh, look out. And he throws it, checks it down again. You know, so those are things that Kirk

is a smart enough player. He's going to see those on tape and he's going to make the proper adjustments. The problem is once you put that on tape, the other defenses are going to make the proper adjustments. So that doesn't happen again. You have to take advantage of those things when they present themselves. So great scheme play and everything. It's just a lack of execution on his part. But I mean, long answer. Yes, I think it has to get better. If not, then we're going to just continue to see the dink and dunks. And eventually that's just not going to work, which we saw against the Eagles. Or if you fall behind two or three scores like you've got to push the ball down the field more um yeah so the uh vikings right now are

23rd in yards per pass attempt and cousins has the fifth lowest average depth of target which just says he's not throwing it down the field at all and yet holding the ball longer than most quarterbacks and these things are just not adding up. That all adds up to not seeing it because when you watch them in training camp and you look at the route combinations, there's a lot of stuff that goes downfield. But what I wonder about is that stat

that we went back to with the, what does that stat mean? With the Pff quarterback annual when they kind of do this big stat dump at the end of the year where they just put out this huge pdf of every quarterback stat they have and it said that anything beyond cousins first read he really falls off the table and with this i think there's a lot of asking cousins to look at a lot of things at once for a guy that does get tunnel vision and i i wonder if like you that's why you have to bring back some of the bootlegs and everything else but o'connell does have to be allowed to go in his bag

when they're in the in the red zone but that's where it's also not been working i i feel like it it will when it comes to the red zone stuff that they're not going to struggle this much but as far as kirk getting to that second third read to make that throw if it's not the first thing he's looking at that he saw pre-snap because he he's always been kind of that guy that it's like sees it pre-snap and if it's not there then usually it's just a short pass because i don't think he's confident in where everything's going to be when he uh when he sees it post-snap so i don't know how much of it can truly change but i also think that it has to be better than this with seeing the number of opportunities that have been there there on tape and also you

have to say if o'connell is drawing up this many open wide receivers it really speaks well of what he's doing scheme-wise it's just not being executed the way it should be yeah you know i think the other thing too is us as fans we're so used to we're watching so many other games now and we're seeing the crazy things of improv like improvisation, right? You're seeing the Josh Allen's, the Mahomes, the Lamar Jackson's, the, the Herbert's that are able to make something when maybe the first read or even the second is not there by using their legs or using their feet or getting tackled and the crazy arm angles as everyone likes to talk about,

you know, that's just not Kirk's game, you know? And so I think we have to remember that too, as we watch Kirk, like it's just different with him. He's kind of stuck in this middle ground of he's not the new age quarterback that everyone loves, but he's not the precision carve you up pastor of old of Tom and Rogers and Manning and all those. He's kind of this in-between guy physically, right? His physical tools limit him to some of those things. And so he has to make up for that in his mental game, which he's done in the past, you know, but I think, again, I think it's a lot of adjustment. I also think he might have a little PTSD from the last few years of just get the ball out. No, I think that he has had for the last two years of

the pressure rate being so high and not wanting to force things where he's going to take a hit and have a bad throw. Like, I think there's just an internal clock in his head that's sped up a little bit more just based off of what's happened the last few years which you'll see and that's where I think a lot of it's going to get better too is as he gets more comfortable and he feels more comfortable in the pocket he's going to feel more comfortable pushing the ball down the field is what we have to believe I can't believe that Kirk's just going to sit there and dink and dunk the rest of the year because I think Kevin O'Connell's too good of a coordinator to sit there and say listen you can't you're going to have to stop doing this and I think Kirk respects him enough

or I hope he does that he'll they'll work together to find ways to push it down the field more and open things up I have a little bit of a scary stat that I was even hesitant to bring up it is spooky season it's spooky season it's October that's right and yesterday i had a spider on me like when i'm just sitting there on the couch watching tv crawling right up on me and i went boom and i crushed it like aaron judge but like that is that's the worst feeling because then you're like how many other spiders have been on me um that has nothing to do with this or there's one there's more the stat the stat is just oh yeah there's definitely more uh when you see all of a sudden a spider web you're like oh that wasn't there where's the spider like that's not what you want um anyhow

uh in his last eight games kurt cousins has a quarterback rating of 86.8 that's what you would expect from a backup quarterback at this point in the nfl unless you're cooper rush so he's unless it's cooper rush who's just the backup god um is that kurt warner rush how about and geno smith i was gonna geno smith's gonna be the love to see it later in the show absolutely i love to see it like a backup quarterback who sits forever does, does sort of speak to people who want quarterback development a little bit that you can learn and get better as you go along, but this is still not the spooky stat.

So we're talking a pretty big sample size of Kirk cousins going back to last year and then through this year, not playing well and arbitrary end points are sort of a stat violation so just saying like oh last eight games because the ninth game was against Detroit and he crushed them it's like well I don't know how seriously to take that one but it just it hasn't really been sharp in quite a while and I do think that there's a Kirk Tober right around the the corner here on tape but whether he can execute it is really a question to me. If Delvin is banged up and if Phelan is banged up, it's really going to depend on the defenses they play and whether he's going to find these things, whether he understands it

well enough, whether he can see it well enough, because I think that even though some of the throws have really looked like balloons, the guys are open enough where he should be able to execute some of these things. Yeah. I completely agree with you. You know, those are things that have to happen because to win football games as league, you have to have elite quarterback play.

And when you have average quarterback play, you're asking your defense to do a lot. You're asking your running game to do a lot and you're asking everything to be perfect. You know, the quarterback can be the greater racer, you know, make the great play, make the great throw, do whatever, force it into that tight window and make the play and trust your receivers. And I think Kirk's just still figuring all that out. And it's weird to say for a veteran quarterback, you know, especially a veteran quarterback with the same team. Now I know the scheme is different,

but he's been with KOC before he's seen all this this isn't brand new to him so he has to just get it figured out and get figured out quickly but right he usually turns it on Kirk Tober and he gets it all figured out and he's the next great thing and that's what's gotten him paid a hundred million dollars guaranteed and whatever it is like he has it in him it's just the consistency that's just been really bad at the beginning part of this year folks maybe you've been a little confused when you're in the water section of the grocery store and you see what looks like tall boy beer cans well that is water and it's called liquid death which coincidentally is not only not deadly but also delicious and comes in mountain spring style

or sparkling in three different flavors why Why is water called liquid death? Well, because it will brutally murder your thirst first and because they are infinitely recyclable tall boy cans which are helping to bring death to plastic bottles. Also, liquid death donates 10% of their profits from each can sold to help kill plastic pollution. Liquid death sent me a few cases, and I have to say that I have some family members

who were over and they looked at me funny knowing that I'm not a drinker, so I had to explain, no, it's water and it's helping the environment. You see, bottled water is coming almost always in plastic bottles, which is not great for the environment because most plastic still ends up in a landfill.

Aluminum is recyclable and actually profitable for recycling facilities. So yeah, when you drink Liquid Death, you might have some people thinking that you're pounding a tall boy at your desk at 9 a.m., but you're really enjoying how cold it comes out of the fridge. And as a big soda drinker, i can tell you that i've enjoyed the sparkling lime flavor in particular so go get liquid death at wherever you do your grocery shopping 7-eleven hy-vee wherever it might be or check out where you can find it at their store locator tool at liquid death.com slash insider that is liquid death.com slash insider. And it's gone through my mind and I don't,

I'm like, I'm just like not talking what's happening in the future because they're three in one. And this is a season where we're talking playoffs and everything else, but it has gone through my mind that if cousins cannot execute what Kevin O'Connell wants, it is sort of great plausible deniability to go to ownership and say, it's time to draft one of these freak shows because, you know, Will Levis didn't have the greatest game the other day, but my gosh,

that guy's got an arm. And then you look at Anthony Richardson, who's been up and down, but whoa, is he some kind of athlete? And then, you know, Bryce young and CJ Stroud. And you're like, these, these guys are the quarterbacks that you were talking about with big arms and athleticism and everything else that there's plenty of reason in this next draft class to be talking about a quarterback. I don't want to go too far down that road, but I think that if I want Kevin O'Connell and I want your opinion on this, I want Kevin O'Connell to keep playing the way that he wants to play, even if the throws get missed. So he can be like, that's the one that's the one that I need Anthony Richardson to make or whatever other quarterback.

Because if he leans too hard into the handoff out of the eye formation and boots just to get through it, like, are you really going, are you, are you really doing it? Any good is the point. Like you're not even allowing yourself to do the things you're capable of doing as a play caller. So I'm, I'm kind of conflicted on that actually. Like, cause I think like the boots are the thing he is the best at and they have to win games.

So I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth, and I want to know what you think. Yeah, I don't have a great answer for you. I think that him sticking with what he has gives him the ammunition to say, hey, we're going to go get a quarterback. But at the same time, it allows him to say, we'll stick with Kirk for a year or so and let the quarterback develop. It's okay to let a first-round quarterback develop. They tried it in Pittsburgh, but my gosh, Mitchell Trubisky is so bad.

You know, Kenny Pickett had to come in and then he throws three picks. You know, it's not always, it's not always a quick fix. You don't always find the Mahomes and the Josh Allens and the Herberts and all those that are just great off the rip. But there is a lot of young, really promising quarterbacks that I think could be really special in this offense. You know, you talk about guys that can go out and do crazy things and throw in the football over the place,

and the weapons that they have with Jefferson and Osborne, and, you know, the writing is on the wall for what this offense could be. You know, and the big thing that you have to do is just decide, am I writing it out with Kirk, or am I trying to show that I need someone other than Kirk? And I don't know if Kevin O'Connell has that answer. You know, I think he wants Kirk to succeed. Everyone wants your franchise quarterback to succeed. So I think that he's going to, he's going to say, you know what, Kirk, here's what

we're doing. And like I said, he's gonna say, you need to get this fixed. And Kirk's either going to be a professional and get it fixed, or this is a professional business and it's time to move on. You know, I think that's the, that has to be the mindset of everyone in the organization moving forward is this is a professional business. We're here to win games. You guys gave me the keys to the car. Wilfs, you gave me the keys. You said, go do your thing.

I'm going to do my thing. If Kirk can't figure out how to drive the car, then we have to find someone else who is, but I'm going to give him every possible tool to have success doing it. Yeah, and I think that you would rather see O'Connell keep leaning into the things that he's good at and push Kirk as hard as you can. Because if you do get there, then it does give you more time with him. But it probably gives you a higher output is the point.

If you keep if you keep and the boots are great, like it's not like Kirk struggled with running the bootlegs and stuff and just hitting Jefferson on deep crossers. Like that stuff works. But what you're trying to do in the whole entire goal was to take it to another level. So to me, it should be gas pedal down on that live or die with that because we know what the result is the other way. We don't know what the result is pushing the gas pedal down and trying as hard as you can. Even if it doesn't look like it's a fit, you're going to find out. And if it does click, we're going to get Kirk Tober and Kirk Vember and Kirk Sember. I think based on what I'm seeing on tape,

like watching the game on TV, it was just like, what is going on for a lot of the offense? And then you see on tape, be like, Oh, the guys were there and the plays are there. And if they get made, this is going to take a big jump.

Now, here's a question for you based on your experience. And I'm sorry to take an old wound and tear it open. 2016, you guys go five and out. There's lots of warning signs, particularly with one tackle who was problematic. But there were other, there were other and has other problematic opinions now, but that's a whole different story. You can Google if you want, but you know, when it, when it comes to a team that starts off hot and there's,

there's some serious warning signs. You went through this in 2016 and the team fell off and ended up going eight and eight. How can this team, based on your experience, avoid having that experience? The biggest thing is you have to just keep taking care of the football. You know, where we got ourselves in trouble in 2016 is we turned into a turnover prone like machine. Like we were good for one or two sack fumbles a game, which then got us out of control and we're down. And now we have to ask our quarterback to throw it 60 times, get away from the run game.

And then the other thing is stay healthy. This is a good team when all their pieces are together. But you and I have talked about it since day one. This defense is one or two injuries away from being in big trouble. And we saw it when Harrison didn't play last week. When you see guys that are key contributors, as much as I think Wanham's playing much better, and I think that Dalvin Tomlinson is playing much better,

like you get Desarius Smith or Daniil Hunter hurt on this team, it's going to be a big drop-off. You know, and that speaks for a lot of NFL teams. But when you have a team that's just kind of bordering on the edge of good to average, you got to stay healthy to stay on that good side. You got to take care of the football. And then on the flip side of that, you got to take the football away. You know, you got to keep creating and stealing possessions for this offense, giving them short fields, giving them until they get it all figured out and they're clicking all over the place, just allow them to

only have to go 50 or only have to go 30 or whatever it is which we did in this game a couple times but those are the things that you have to keep doing if those that script gets flipped on you that's when things can go off the rail the big trouble and big and be in big trouble and it's funny because they can kind of it's a weird thing to say i've never said this before lean on their special teams to bail them out whenever they're having a tough time this is the opposing teams it is real the matt daniels hype is real the opposing teams have the second worst starting position in the entire nfl this year with the vikings special teams so if you thought like this is crazy how often they're pinned back uh ryan wright might just be a beast

and this thing about pinning the other team in the corner by popping the ball up, it's working. The Vikings are in the top three when it comes to kickoffs and how much the other team is getting. So it is, uh, it is going well for them. I, but I also have to bring up in 2016 that a certain coach, um, let's say didn't handle the locker room, maybe the way he should have in, uh, in numerous ways. Um numerous ways. And I guess I'm always a little bit hesitant to say, oh, well, you know, Kevin O'Connell is going to be nicer. So that will result in things going better. You know, when you look at these last two games, it's like, well, this team's more resilient than last year.

It's like, nah, they got a double doink. So know i don't know like that things happen it's that close but i i do wonder what you uh think about that because i i it does feel like there were times when things would start to come apart a little under zimmer and he would be like oh let me rip this all the way apart and light it on fire. I think that Kevin O'Connell does have a different mentality than that. Well, I mean, I hope that the offensive coordinator doesn't quit like mid-year, so that should be a helpful start. I think Kevin O'Connell does have a little bit more of that new age coach of like we'll roll with the punches, let's get things fixed,

let's figure out why things didn't work. And more of a player's coach, you know, I can remember just talking with guys when I was up there for the joint practices, just how much happier they were in the building. You know, and that goes a long way to success. You know, it's season is long. The days get long. Shoot, you go in the building and it's dark in Minnesota. You get out and it's dark. You don't see the sun. Like it's a, it's a grind, you know? And so when you have a building that's full of positive environment and you're winning still, and you're, you're close and you're in games,

like there's no reason to just find an open wound and just blow it up. You know, it's really like, Hey, let's patch this or let's find a way to fix this and, and just keep going. And I think that that's the mentality he's going to see, you know, Sean McVay had that same mentality and, you know, granted, he's not real happy out there in LA right now but you know that's kind of the mentality that I'm sure KOC is going to bring is that kind of player-led locker room we're all in this together you know I am the head coach the buck stops with me but I'm not gonna I'm not gonna

ostracize someone that comes up to me and asks about something or hey we need this from a lot of Harrison Smith or an Eric Kendricks or an Adam Thielen or so that comes and says, Hey, how about this? Like, I think he's opened all those things. And I think that really leads to a great culture. And when you have a great culture, you can overcome a lot of things on the football field by just working together and just having that open communication and having that ability to tackle the problem together, instead of having the dictator up on top of the hill that just orders down. And when things don't go well,

then it's, well, it's your fault, even though he was the one standing on top of the hill. And I love Mike Zimmer, but that was a lot of how that was in that locker room in 2016. Yeah, in 2016, and I do think that Zimmer learned from that a little bit in 2017,

but also they were winning, you guys were winning in 2017, so things were just different. Winning fixes all. Winning fixes everything. Yeah, and that's what it usually comes down to. but also they were winning. You guys were winning in 2017. So things were just different. And he was still is all winning, winning fixes everything. Yeah. And that's what it usually comes down to. But in terms of surviving some of the tough times,

2017 had its tough time when Bradford got hurt, but then games just kept getting one. So there was never really a, this thing is coming apart at the seams like there was in 2018. And now I would never call offensive linemen soft, but Mike Zimmer thought that was a good choice after a game against Philadelphia. That is just not a thing Kevin O'Connell is going to do. And I think that he's getting good at balancing, acknowledging when something happened, but also not like just dunking on it

or whatever for, for no reason, which Zimmer did a lot. And the public comments of the coach matter a lot to the players. Like they're all going to see them. And Zimmer never understood online. Like he just never understood. He was just like, oh, these players in their IG, who knows? But he never understood that they saw everything he said. And I think with O'Connell, a good example is when he was asked to explain why he kicked that field goal, he didn't say, cause my freaking quarterback missed two wide open throws. He said, well, you know, there was a look there and you know, that kind of thing. So acknowledging like, yeah, I get why you're asking that question. And there is a reason,

but I'm not really gonna like hammer Kirk for it. I think that he's handling all of that well. And somebody asked a really good question on a fans only podcast about like comparing O'Connell to the other new head coaches and where he fits in in that. And like, do you have regrets? And I have to say, I'm really impressed by D'Amico Ryan's defense in San Francisco. He was a guy whose name came up. So there's other people that have sort of popped up that you think, well, they might've made a really good head coach too, but I don't think at this moment, they have anything to regret with Kevin O'Connell. No, absolutely not. You know, he's done everything right. You know, from the way he came in, the way he's handled things, the way he

understood what the culture was and how he felt like he needed to change the culture. And also just, I mean, you talk about it, you, this game in the NFL is one off of your X's and O's as a coach. Like, can you scheme up against the defense? And that's what made Zimmer a great defensive mind is his defensive schemes were incredible, you know, and that's what really gets you your name as a coach. And so you're seeing his schemes work, you know know you're seeing the things that he's implementing in his

offensive mind work now I think that the other thing like that you mentioned as a player when your head coach stands at the podium and takes the bullets for you you play harder for him you do you want to you want to make sure there's less bullets flying at him in those press conferences that's just the nature of who you are as a player and as an organization. When you know that he's not going to throw you under the bus or you know that he's not going to throw you out there to the firing squad. Like there is an inherent trust that gets built and respect that gets built between player and coach. And that just leads to good things. I've never met someone like, oh, you took the bullet for me.

What a dick. You know, like that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. Now you flip on the other side like oh dude dude trashed us out there f that guy you know and then it turns into the us versus them mentality which is not a recipe for success so he's doing all the right things i think he's up there and probably the top of the new coaches that got signed this year i don't think anyone necessarily i could look to set is doing it better than him you know i'm really excited for what he has. And I think that that's why we're all sitting here going, KOC, do your thing, do your thing, stay with what you know, everyone will get

behind you and then just have ownership and have your general manager put the pieces that you need together to make this thing your own. Folks, a reminder to go to sododaStick.com. It is almost hockey and basketball season. I am partial to the dunking wolf, but they have all sorts of great designs on hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. If you want 15% off your purchase, go to SodaStick.com and use the promo code PurpleInsider. That's S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com, promo code Purple Insider. Yeah, and this is why we take the time to go back and look at the tape, because you just come away with such a different perception of what they were doing offensively after you look at it.

Because we talked on Monday, Brian Murphy and I, about a column here in the Strib about how like Kevin O'Connell's three and one. But where is his like offensive wizardry and everything else? Like, well, I don't know that anybody's actually like a genius. It's usually the players. Hey, look at the Rams. It's like, right. Hey, look, Alan Robinson, the ghost of Alan Robinson can't catch the ball or run routes

anymore. And weird that like Matt Stafford's arm is broken and doesn't work anymore. And weird how they now have the worst point differential. I thought McVay just made everyone the greatest. It's like, you could put these guys in position and I really think bad coaches can hurt guys, but I don't think good coaches can just be like, you know, it's the Greg Pop thing like oh he doesn't have tim duncan and doesn't win anymore weird i wonder why that could be uh but so they have they they've got to make the throws but if the plays are there i'm much more apt to lean toward like well that's going to work in the long run if the plays aren't

there and their offense where guys were just like not getting open or they looked frustrated or confused. I think there has been some of that with them adapting, but the plays should be there in the long run, which I think is sort of a process over results thing, because the results have not been good enough, not not good enough on offense to be a legitimate team. But I did want to talk about before we get to love to see it, hate to see it on the defensive side, because there's some very concerning stats on the defensive side. The overall point total is not bad at all that they've allowed, but they are 22nd in passing and running defense, both 22nd by expected points added. So they've only given up like the 11th most points, but they were expected in the way that they played to give up the 22nd most. And those two things will definitely come closer to each other as they go along. They are mostly healthy, but Zedaria Smith being banged up definitely concerns you that DJ Wanham

played twice as many snaps. And I think that if Cam Dantzler keeps playing like he did the other day, then you're in better shape. But they're going to have to score because I just don't see this defense ever being really good. You know, I think that a lot of that is that Ben don't break defense. You know, when things are keep it all in front of you, let them drive and at the end stiffen up. But the great teams and the teams that are playoff and Super Bowl contenders finish in the end zone you know that's what they do and that's why we're talking

so much about why the offense has to be better it's really easy for the average fan to sit here and be like we're three and one why you guys why you guys bitching you know what's wrong why is that one of it's like the great teams finish in the end zone on offense and when you have a defense that is ben don't break and then you stand up there at the end against Andy Dalton and Justin Fields and those guys, that's all great and dandy. But when you get the big boys that come to town, that's when those gaps close completely different. And I'm not here to say that the Vikings don't have a chance

to win the division. They absolutely do. But those things that you just mentioned have to get fixed. And so as the defensive side, pressure on the quarterback's got to get better. I know we had some guys there, but, you know, I think that your star players have to continue to play at start level. You know, a guy that I think is actually playing really well is Dalvin Tomlinson. You know, I think that he's actually stepped his game up a ton from last year. He's making a difference not just in the run game, but in the pass game, too.

He's getting pressure up the middle, which is the number one thing that drives quarterbacks insane, is when they have a big guy standing in front of his face. I mean, there was one play where Andy Dalton wanted to throw the ball to an open Olave coming across the middle, which is the number one thing that drives quarterbacks insane is when they have a big guy standing in front of his face. I mean, there was one play where Andy Dalton wanted to throw the ball to an open a lave coming across the middle, but Dalvin had gotten pushed and put his hands up and Dalton knew it was going to get batted down. So he pulls it down and want him ends up getting the sack fumble. You know, that was, that was that play. Those are the plays that are in between the lines that people don't see that these defenses making up front. It's the back end that worries me. It's the back end that worries me, you know, having Harry backs. Great. Lewis scene being out is really unfortunate, you know, but you're starting to see, can these guys start

to challenge them even just a little bit more? Can they get up in their face a little bit more? Does this defensive coordinator have the trust in these DBS to challenge them a little bit more so that make that quarterback hold that for a little bit longer so you can have Desarius Smith and you can have Daniil Hunter and Dalvin Thomas and those guys actually get home so you know those are the just the little things and they're not big things right now but as I say defense offensive coordinators in this league are very good they're going to continue to see the holes in this defense they're going to continue to exploit them and eventually that's going to get that gap's going to narrow like you said and it's going to continue to exploit them. And eventually that gap's going to narrow, like you said. And it's going to be a race to 30 points every game.

It's going to be a race to 35 points every game. And so if we don't get the things we've been talking about on offense fixed, of finishing in the end zone and having more success in the pass game, and then the other teams start figuring out this defense a little bit more and starting to get more in the end zone, that's where we're going to start to see the losses start to come if we don't get everything corrected. Yeah, on a week-to-week basis when you play, Ben, don't break if you're not great and you're doing it because, you know, you're not great.

It really comes down to did you allow any explosive plays? And if you do, you just lose. And and did you get beat in the red zone, which they did against New Orleans and came very close to losing? That's it's kind of like what you live and die on, which is very tough to do, I think. Because in Philadelphia, this happened. They were mostly effective bend, don't break, but there was a 26-yard touchdown run and there was a 53-yard touchdown pass,

and then you just lose. So on a week-to-week basis, they're going to have to win in those areas. And that's random, I think from week to week, whether teams score in the red zone, whether they hit on big plays and so forth, but you kind of have to be perfect. It's like,

you can't have Dantzler get hurt and come out and the rookie come in and give up a 30 yard play down the sideline because that's the whole theory. So if it happens, you're in a lot of trouble. Anyway, let me ask you this question before we get to love to see it, hate to see it. Is anything about your preseason prediction about where this team would land,

has any of it changed? It has a little bit based off of what I've seen on tape for the big playability of the offense to be there. You know, I think that I was concerned about that and rightfully so, it's rearing its head right now of where are we going to be able to know I think that I was concerned about that and rightfully so it's it's rearing its head right now of where we're going to be able to hit on the big plays and and make those things but I think because of what we believe in and that it will get better I think this team could exceed expectations in that you know I think that they have a chance to win the

division the fact that division is not as good as I thought it might be you know I thought that maybe Green Bay would run away with things. I thought maybe Detroit would put it together. But the Bears are just awful. They're just bad. So you don't have to worry about them. But I think a division contender is a very real thing. And a lot of that is something that I didn't anticipate at the beginning of the season.

But I can see this team, if they can get the corrections made on offense, this team can absolutely go win this division. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to go there yet i am because because the roller coaster is so real and always has been and i i know that they beat bailey zappy the other day but there were some plays in the game with green bay and i know like rogers is just throwing a fit every time anything happens and it's obnoxious to watch like no matter how impressed you are with the guy you're just like i'll cut it out uh but he made some throws where he did the thing where he drops back and in rhythm sticks his foot in the ground and spins himself and fires a bullet right on time to um alan lazard you're like uh-oh that's that's the one like that's that's the throw that wasn't really there for the first couple weeks and if he starts

finding that they're gonna rip off a bunch of wins uh so i think it's a race though i think it will really be a week-to-week race packers and vikings throughout the season which could make for um good entertainment value for the first time in quite a while. Playing from ahead is so much different than playing from behind in the NFL when you're three and one. All right. Love to see it. Hate to see it. I mentioned it, but I just love seeing what Geno Smith is doing. This is a journeyman quarterback podcast. And man, when you see a guy not start from 2014, stick with it. You have to give him this that somebody who would stick with it and accept his role in the NFL I am Russell Wilson's backup I'm going to put everything into that and year after year after year you're coming back as the backup they love you you're

trying and then you get your chance and you show that you've improved and matured I don't know how long it will last with Geno Smith but I hope it lasts forever it's just it's just a wonderful story I love to see that when a guy's in his 30s he gets that second chance and a team that's supposed to win two games all year is now like in the mix good for you Geno Smith I also love that the constant comparison to how much better he is than Russell in Denver right now like every time it's like Geno Smithith did this let's look at what russell did in denver and i mean that's that's my love to see it my love to see it is how everyone wanted to anoint the afc west as kings of the nfl before the season began look at all the stuff they did look at this look at that and kansas city's still just like no no

no this is still our division like denver's terrible the raiders are terrible. Or Herbert and them are kind of up and down. They're really banged up. So it's hard to see what they're going to be. No, but I just love that everyone was like, I can't wait to tune into the AFC West every single week. And now it's like, they're not even that good. Like Denver's not good. And it's just funny to see how the off season predictions.

And then once it gets in between the white lines, how you can add all these pieces and still be a bad football team. It it's funny to me as far as hate to see it goes just the number of quarterback injuries um i was uh i was dunked on by our friend kaylin kaylor who now works for the athletic when i said i can't remember a time where there's been this many quarterback injuries and she was like mike white was playing last year like okay fine touche taylor heineke was playing last year touche but it just there's just this soul-sucking feeling when you see quarterbacks going down including tua which was just a horrifying thing i was there that was bad yeah you were there i mean just well and and you were lucky to not have seen the broadcast view, which zoomed right in on him. And that was like haunting. But the number of quarterback injuries, and I'll just in it. And Tampa Bay let their tight end

go back in the game after getting concussed the other night. It's just like, you guys just had this happen. Like your process is clearly not bulletproof and needs improvements. And what I didn't know was that the independent neurologist person doesn't have power. They're basically just like, I don't know, looks concussed to me. And the team doctor's like, okay, head on back in like that, that the team has the final decision on that. So what is the independent neurologist job there just to offer some takes on the sideline? I mean, they need, they need that change that needs to be fixed. And also one thing they'll never be able to fix

is that there's always going to be pressure from the coaches or an inherent implied pressure to go back in the game as soon as you possibly can, even if you're still in danger. And I don't know how to fix that. But if more isn't done after this, then the NFL is just being negligent. Nothing will ever hurt it. You know, it's never going to drop back or go down or ratings aren't going to tank or anything like that. It's always going to be at the top, but we can also demand

that they handle these things better. Yeah. I mean, and I I'm really conflicted in this a lot of times too, because I do believe there's an onus on the player. You know, I do believe that there is something, but at the same time time like we are ultimate competitors at what we do and sometimes we have to be protected from ourselves you know i can i can remember boone and he's told the story crying on the sideline in chicago because he had a concussion but yet he still wanted to go back in the game you know like there is times where we have to be protected from ourselves and that sometimes comes from your teammates too. You know, a lot of times you're in, we were the ones that went and grabbed Sugarman and we were like, dude, you got to take his helmet. And like,

you got to just take them away. Like he is not right. You know, so there is some onus on your teammates. There's some onus on you to own this too. But you know, I felt like we made so many strides is it as an NFL, like in the last few years that just like the last two weeks, it's like everything just went off the rails. Like it just, I don't know if it's because there's been more concussions than normal or what it is, but it just seems like everything. I feel like, I feel like we're a year away from wearing those silly hats that they wear during training camp, like in the football games, like I'm, and I'm dead serious. Like, I feel like that's not far off from what they're doing now. And that'll be a very interesting day in the NFL but that's

just really sad to see I'm gonna with you on that you know my hate to see it um this week is just the injuries in general you know I feel like every year you go through this but every year as a player you just kind of sit there and you're like man you just see guys blowing knees and blowing ACLs and breaking things and you're just like man it just the, it's the worst part of the game. It's the worst part of the game. And to sit there, I was sitting with my client's mom at the game in Cincinnati and she's watching Tua and she looks over and she's like, I just hope that's never my son. And, you know, and that's just, it's a very real, this is a violent football.

It's a violent game, violent game, violent things happen. But just seeing across the board, you know know the running back from Denver blowing his ACL and LCL and Lewis seen snapping his leg late Trent um uh what's the quarterback from San Francisco that snapped his leg I feel like there's just been some really gruesome brutal injuries this year that I just hate seeing for any player in any organization yeah and Lewis seen I think that I don't want to be dramatic, but like, I think his future is like in question with his, uh, the injury that he had compound fractures. That's a tough one. That's a really bad one. Um, so he's got a long road back. I mean, when you can't even fly back from London, uh, that's pretty tough, but, um, the Vikings did, I, I don't know if this is

standard cause I don't know how many players have had injuries in London, but they left someone back with him, which I thought was a class thing to do to make sure that he wasn't there alone going through all of this completely on another continent dealing with this. So, you know, his recovery is going to take a really long time. And I'll just throw in one last so we don't end on such a dark note. One last love to see it is Saquon Barkley is back. Yes. And you know what? I will never apologize for enjoying a great running back. Saquon Barkley is a super exciting player who's just been through it.

And to have him back is fun. I think he's a really fun and exciting play. Yeah. And Dayball's done a great job in New York. I mean, the fact that Daniel Jones and them were, he had no quarterbacks, nothing at the end of that game. And they were like, well, Saquon, you can do it all. And it's just shotgun line up. I felt like I was watching, uh, what's his name? The dude from Arkansas. So many years ago, the running back that just did everything for them. Um, and just add like a thousand yards, but he is that special talent player. He had to battle back from an injury.

So, I mean, it's not impossible for these guys to do but yeah saquon is just a special special human well uh we'll um continue our tuesday morning left guards next week as always and i think if the vikings are not four and one it might have a little different tenor but uh they should be so we'll see how it goes but jeremiah thanks so much as always for your time and thank you everybody for listening and um we we ran through a lot of stats today i'm proud of us i am i'm proud of you you did a lot of work thank you you should be football football