Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The final five games will tell us about the Vikings' identity

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

Former Minnesota Viking Jeremiah Sirles joins Matthew Coller to dive deep into what's working for the Vikings and where they need to improve to battle against the Eagles and the Cowboys etc. in the playoffs. What is Jeremiah seeing in the Vikings' defense? Is it as simple as opponents attacking the weaknesses? On the offensive side, can they find their identity in the final five games? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider is presented by Liquid Death, delicious water that's bringing death to plastic. Learn more at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Hello, welcome to another episode of Tuesday Morning Left Guard here on Purple Insider. Matthew Collar along with former Minnesota Viking Jeremiah Searles. And just before we went on, Jeremiah, you asked, what are we doing today? Are we praising? Are we bashing? Are we criticizing? Are we holding them up like Simba and Lion King? I don't know. What do you want to do?

I mean, they're all acceptable answers. Like, yes to any of those is like, yeah, that's acceptable for what just happened on Sunday. I mean, I think at the end of the day, they found a way to win. They found a way to win a lot of close games. That's not an easy thing to do. I mean, this team could easily be 500, but they've found ways to win at the end of games, which is important. And so I'm going to praise them a little bit for that because new head coach, new schemes, new players, and having leadership that finds a way to win is a really important thing in the NFL.

I think that you could choose your own adventure when it came to that, for sure, which has been the case in a lot of games but i think specifically this one because you can talk about how like look that's not a joke team um if you're doing that against teams that are bad um okay well you know that's not what should really happen like you shouldn't have let chicago come back on you for example early in the year and i think that that one deserved a little bit of like uh but you know that the jets are a very good football team. They have a great defensive line and I have never seen so many pro wrestling moves done to a quarterback in the backfield as was done to Kirk cousins. So I think, I think we should talk about like,

where do you deserve to be held up and high-fived and where do you deserve to be scolded and given the tsk tsk um why don't well why don't we start with um where they deserve you know some credit here and also along the same lines let's push it forward as well to like things that need to keep happening um you know red zone defense is very wonky i mean they came into the game 26th in red zone defense. I don't think that's a thing you can count on. But there is something, too, at the end of these games. I feel like Daniil Hunter has started to emerge at the end of these games and show up and got some pressure there late.

I also think that the interior of the defensive line got really tough in that game. I mean, they allowed one 48-yard run to the outside. But the running up the middle, opposing teams outside of Dallas this year have not really been able to do that against them. And I almost feel like it's kind of the saving grace in a lot of these games that they haven't allowed teams to just pound away at them. Because I think that there's a couple of games that could have been lost had they been like last year with their run defense. Yeah, I mean, Dalvin Tomlinson being back is big. I mean, having him back in the middle and playing, he had a couple of tackles and he had some good pressure up the middle to push the pocket.

So I think that's another big key component to come back. And we missed him. You know, I think that all of us are kind of like and Dalvin Tomlinson. So what? And then once he's out, you're like, oh, I miss you. Come back. So, you know, it was good to see him get back out there um and yeah i think overall our run defense has gotten better um but golly if we want to talk about let's do some let's do some knocking our past defense is not good i mean garrett garrett wilson was out there looking like megatron 100 and what was i think i just looked it up because I was in awe. It was like 170, 162, 162 on eight catches.

I mean, that's crazy. And he was just basically uncoverable. And so, you know, that's something that's got to get fixed because we talk about it every week. It's more and more important. Every week gets better and better. And sure, Mike White may have had 300 plus yards passing, but he's not a great quarterback.

We're going to face some great quarterbacks down the line. If you allow Mike White may have had 300 plus yards passing, but he's not a great quarterback. We're going to face some great quarterbacks down the line. If you allow Mike White to have 360, that's just a recipe for disaster as we go down the stretch here. And I think a lot of that comes back to the pass rushing. Yes, Daniil Hunter is emerging. Darius Smith, in my opinion, still kind of ailing a little bit. He's not getting the pressure. You're seeing our D coordinators moving him around a lot. You're kind of standing him up and having him bounce around

because I think him coming just out of his sprinter stance off the edge right now isn't the most effective way that he can get to the passer. So they're trying to get creative with the way that they do that. But all in all, the pass rush plus the defensive coverage in the back end is something that's got to get improved. So Darius Smith in his last three games has eight total pressures. In the previous two games, he had 18.

Now you can't count on someone to get nine pressures a game. I mean, that's kind of like a Lawrence Taylor type of thing. But I think there's some signs there. And even with the snap counts where he had 64 out of their 83 or 85 plays, which, you know, I mean, it's still being out on the field quite a bit,

but when you're out there for 64 plays and you only get two pressures, you're not all that effective. And I have to think that it is tied in to his health, which was always kind of the concern coming into the season, though we were worried about his back and not necessarily his knee. But he got banged up in a game earlier this year and then bounced back. They had the bye week, but then he went down in another game and it seems to have slowed him down,

which is where I think they have to start leaning a little more on rotational players. With the cornerbacks, though, also, I mean, this is just... When you watch it, do you think these human beings cannot cover people or do you think edward james donatel i'll look up his middle name uh what's the deal yo-yo because i mean i just want to know what you think because i go back and forth i've always been with pat schirmer and said it's the players, not the plays. But then I'm sitting up there thinking, but is it the plays? I mean, when you see, because

it's not like they are without talent. I just think that this defense, the way it's constructed, it's got like six good players and five not good players, and the other teams know exactly how to take advantage of the not good players. Yeah, I think we're seeing more and more, the more tape that gets put out there on our corners

and the more tape that gets put out there on our quote-unquote weak links in the defense, the other team is just exploiting that. I mean, they're like, oh, where's Patrick Peterson? Okay, we throw away from him and we just go to anyone else, right? Where's Cam Bynum? Where's some of these other guys that we're just going to pick on? And the NFL is a match-up league.

So you're right, it is about the players pick on. And the NFL is a matchup league. So you're right. It is about the players. It's about the players of matching up. So if you can't match up one-on-one and you know where the matchup is going to be, you have to try and scheme yourself into some things. But at the end of the day, I don't care if you're the most brilliant mind in football. If you don't have a guy that can line up one-on-one and cover or an offensive lineman that can line up one-on-one and block or vice versa, you're going to lose a lot of games and you know i think that we have good enough

players like harrison smith that he can erase and overcome some of that thing in the back end which is why we talked about last week you know not blitzing him and not having him up in the box and not having him do a ton of stuff um at the line of scrimmage because he can't help some of those really big holes in the back end i mean mean, you saw it multiple times. I mean, he dropped an interception. He had an interception. You know, he's all over the place in the back end and you have to have him back there. And so, you know, I think with the matchup nightmares that are coming up, we need to find guys that are just going to step up and continue to fight and battle. I mean, they're not going to win every rep. They're not going to do it all, but the bend, don't break defense is working for now. And it always works until it doesn't, you know?

And so we just have to make sure that we just keep pressing these guys and getting up in their face because I think we're giving these guys too much free release off the edge, too much cushion at times. And, you know, that's a scheme thing, but it's also a don't get beat deep thing, you know? So it's kind of a pick your poison. couldn't find ed donatel's middle name on his wiki james so james it might be zadarius i don't know ed zadarius donatel uh dd uh but uh he was the defensive coordinator in denver last year and of course that's vic fangio really running the team there and pulling the strings but but that was a very good defense in Denver. So I tend to lean a little bit more toward this just being a weak link type of situation.

And I do get frustrated at times with the lack of pressure. I thought early in the game, they sent a couple of blitzes, even Harrison Smith. I saw him one time going after the quarterback and it was like, feel free to use it again. And there's no like, well, use up that one. Harry Blitz can't do it again. I mean, I, I guess, you know, the one thing they do have going for them is that Cam Dantzler is going to come back. I think that's been a big

deal, but the middle of the field, you know, when they're talking about quarterbacking, the quarterback's supposed to read middle of the field, open or closed. Doesn't matter what defense they play. It's always open against this team. And this is the concerning part about it is, okay, you're going to go down the stretch. You're going to face a good Lions offense. Indianapolis is a travesty to the sport. You know, we'll see what you're even doing against Chicago or Green Bay at the end of the season, like whether those games even count or not.

But as of right now, statistically you're not a good defense to go deep in the playoffs. And I think that the big challenge here is in the next five games, which make up 30% of the season, show me that you are, show me that you are. And even if that does mean like having to rest Zadarius more or something like that, I need to see it because right now it just doesn't meet the statistical

markers to be a team that could actually get that deep unless you had a historically good offense, which they don't. They need to be a complete team in order to go deep in the playoffs. And right now because of that defense, they're not. And if, okay, if you let Mike White hang around in a game, maybe he'll throw a fade route for no reason and they'll lose. But, like, I don't think that's going to happen with Dak Prescott or Jalen Hurts in the playoffs. No, you're exactly right.

You know, this is not a team that can rely on one side of the ball more than the other. And, you know, as much as we're, I think, one of our strongest sides is special teams right now. So special teams is playing great complementary football, helping either side that is ailing at the moment. Is it the offense that's struggling or is the defense struggling? Let's pin them deep or let's give us a short field or whatever it may be. That's what's made this team so special is the complementary football that they do play.

And so to go deep in the playoffs, though, there's going to be a time where all three phases have to be playing excellent. It's the only way to win a Super Bowl. I mean, you saw it when we went in 2017 and we go to the NFC Championship, like offense played not so great against the Saints, but the defense played lights out, and then we found a way to win at the end, right? And then you go up to Philly,

and no one was able to match all three phases of what Philly was doing we got stomped you know the playoffs is such a different it's such a different energy and it's such a different intensity when you get there that everything gets ratcheted up another notch and so I mean it's if it's a little weakness now like it gets a glaring weakness in the playoffs and also because there isn't the indianapolis colts on the schedule next week you know it's all elite teams that are all fighting for the same thing and so when you start getting up into okay yeah we won on all these games in the regular season like okay who gives a crap that no longer matters it is now elites and elites and

who's going to be the most elite out of these teams? And, you know, I look at the NFC and I look at some of the sides of the ball and like you see Eagles who are just offensive juggernauts, defensive juggernauts. OK, Cowboys, I would say, are more defensive juggernaut than offensive juggernaut. You look at the Giants, you're so-so. You look at the Seattle, so-so. But I mean, I put the Vikings in more of the so-so category on all sides than I do on the one-side juggernaut, one-sided good type of team. Yeah, there were three juggernauts, and now there are two with Jimmy Garoppolo being hurt. Although, like, I'm not exactly sure about the reporting with this

because it said out for the season at first, look like he needs surgery, and then there's maybe not, he won't need surgery, or maybe we could just put a club around it and have him just check down from there um also brock birdie looks pretty legitimate like i i mean maybe it's the whole like you came off the bench and sort of shocked and just blacked out right yeah 100 that could be it but i will say that he against the vikings in the preseason actually played pretty well and showed some stuff. So, I mean, like maybe there is something to operating that thing and trying to win with just your defense, almost in Mike White-like fashion that you'd still be a little concerned,

but it's not the same as Dak Prescott or Jalen Hurts, you know, two quarterbacks operating these phenomenal offenses. And so those are the teams that we need to look at the lens of the Vikings through is how do you match up against those teams that are also talking about their possibilities to win the Super Bowl? We need to discuss Kirk Cousins and his health. This man is I don't know, he's like Gumby or something like you can or was a stretch Armstrong. You ever have one of those? You can pull his arms out and whatever, do anything and he'll survive.

They gave him the people's elbow the arm bar everything i mean a stone cold stunner the old rko out of nowhere just quinn and williams off the top rope just demolishes kirk cuss uh i think that it's worth legitimate concern about his health going down the stretch. And I know that it's not an, quote, injury. But, I mean, remember with Sam Bradford, this kind of happened in 2016, where it was just like there's only so much beating that a man can take before it starts to impact his play. And I thought we actually saw. It was like, why was Kirk inaccurate the other day?

I don't know, because somebody was punching him in the guts every time. Like, that's probably why, right? I mean mean they're a good defense but that's probably it probably impacts your throwing mechanics everything else if you are getting whipped and uh you know i thought that the offensive line kind of held on for dear life but these next five games you can't have that like you cannot have the accumulation you have to find a way to not have him taking the big hits that he's been taking yeah and he's getting too many big hits and you're right it does affect a quarterback over time you know I think early in the season you can get shake it off shrug it off but you start playing these colder games and you're outside and it's just an accumulation of things and now that knee that you bumped in week three is now swelling

every week because you just don't have time to let it get fixed, you know, or that landed on your shoulder funny. And now it's just, I can't throw in the week as much. And so now you're losing practice reps and it's just an accumulation of things that happen over time. And when you see it, the NFL is a war of attrition. It is who can be the healthiest at the end of the season to make the run. And you're seeing it happen. Now guys are starting to get hurt more. You're seeing guys, I mean, Jimmy G is a great example, right? You talk about a team a week ago that was like, they could win the Super Bowl. And then Jimmy G gets hurt and is like, oh man, well, season's over. Like it can really be that quick of a turnaround, especially when you're talking about a position like quarterback. And so I think you're

exactly right. And whether that means that we have to sit him at the end of the year, if we've got things locked up and get him a couple extra days or a week or whatever it is, you need Kirk Cousins to be as healthy as possible so he can be as effective as possible as we get into the playoffs because 173 yards ain't going to do it. That's not going to be it. You know, getting Jefferson only has two or three catches ain't going to do it. You know, these are all things that two or three catches. Ain't going to do it. You know, these are all things that we've done so well throughout the year that we

can't allow injuries or, you know, getting rattled in the pocket because he is getting hurt to get us out of the things that we do well, because when we're firing on all cylinders, we're a very good football team, but all it takes is us to get out of alignment just a little bit in the passing game.

And we just don't quite have the run game to lean on to kind of get us out of the mess. I felt like against new England, the Vikings had the perfect counter punch to them. Whereas like, let's get that defensive line moving. You know, let's,

let's not allow Matthew Judon just line up over a dude and beat him on a straight drop back. But they tried some of the same stuff against the jets and the jets were like, no, no, I don't think so. I think we're going to see, right. I mean, they really seem to have a plan for those bootlegs and those moving pockets and things like that. And it's one of the most fascinating things about football in general is just this constant, like we're make this adjustment, then people see it, then you got to make another one and whatever. And I thought, and I know people get tired of me talking about how good Gary Kubiak was,

but I just thought he was like amazing at this, right? Whereas like even within a game could make adjustments to what the defense is doing. I guess I wonder what you think about that now that we have 12 games, because there have been times where I've thought like, he's got it, folks. He's got, look, he did it. He figured it out. He figured it. And then the very next week, like, okay, maybe,. He's got it. Look, he did it. He figured it out. He figured it. And then the very next week, like, okay, maybe that wasn't exactly the right scheme.

And I wonder about even those third quarters where they come out, where that's like your opportunity to kind of make your adjustments, and they still end up having to wait until the very end of the fourth quarter to have that key drive on offense. It just doesn't seem like it's something that's consistently happening is the adaptations to the offense to counterpunch what the defense is doing. Yeah, you know, I'm completely on board with you. You know, at times I love what we do and other times it seems like we completely missed the mark. And I don't know if that's a

combination of players not executing. You know, there's a lot of factors that go into this. It could be as much as players not executing the changes that are made. It could be that the changes that are made aren't very good or anything in between. And I think that when you really look at it from a thousand-eye view and you look down at kind of what's going on, I think that because everything is new, it's a new system, it's a new coach, having the nuances to change a play four different ways

against four different coverages in the middle of a game is something you should be able to do in the NFL but do you have some young players do you have some guys that you know you're still learning a system and you're brought in a guy like Jalen Rager in the middle of the season who doesn't have a full grasp of the offense right TJ Hawkinson doesn't have a full grasp of the entire offense yet you know so you some guys that are playing a ton of snaps and key positions that if you're looking at halftime or you're looking at, hey, let's make these adjustments right now in real time. It's hard for some of those guys to pick that up. Now, guys like Jefferson and Thielen and Kirk, it should be a no brainer, no problem. But in order to make an adjustment work correctly, everyone's got to be on the same page. Everyone's got to be on the same route tree. Everyone's got to be understanding of what coverage it is and what

we're checking to and it's happening quick and the bullets are flying fast. You know, so I think that might have something to do with it. But overall, it's just something that we have to continue to work at and get better with because the great ones adjust and they adapt and they overcome. And I think we're fully capable of it. I just like to see the execution of it be better. Folks, it is time once again for us to have a discussion about liquid death. Now, here's the thing. My wife has been one of those people for a really long time that has carried around a water bottle and it's metal and it's gross and she drops it on the ground all the time. And so I said, look, why don't we try some liquid death?

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if you will bear with me, I'll pull this up. His clean pocket numbers are, are shockingly low for Kirk cousins. And, uh, hold on. I'm getting there. I'm getting there. When kept clean, Kirk cousins is usually one of the better quarterbacks when clean in the league out of 23 quarterbacks that have enough passes to qualify he's 20th in quarterback rating with a clean pocket that's where i feel like schematically that has to be better and i know that some of it is and i and i want to acknowledge this because i did some research on it they have faced a lot of good defenses and there have been years before where they put up big stats and haven't faced a lot of good defenses. And there have been years before where they put up big stats and haven't faced a lot of good defenses.

But this year I think they faced number like 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or whatever. I think it's five games against top 10 defenses and points allowed. So they have faced some good defenses and that matters. But this is just very unusual for Kirk Cousins to have worst numbers with play action, worst numbers clean. I guess what I'm looking for here is what's the answer to change that stat? And of course, what does it mean? I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with a protection.

Like, you know, if protection's not great, then you're going to have to get rid of the ball quicker. So I think protection is definitely something that has to do with that. I also think that there's something along the lines of just kind of fitting himself into the scheme and fitting himself into not making mistakes. You know, I think that when you're pushing the ball, sorry, daughter ran inside and started crying. You know, when you're pushing the ball down the field, like there's obviously times that are going to be mistakes. So there's obviously times that, um, you're going to be looking at kind of the film room on Monday, like, Oh, I probably shouldn't have done that. But there is something about the,

like the survive in advance method, which is, you know, a positive play. And now it's not second and 10, cause it was an incomplete, but now it's second and seven or it's second and six. So it's kind of the survive and advance, I think, is what you're seeing from Kirk Cousins of let's see any efficient plays. And it might not be a run play, but it's still a three or four yard play. So now we're sitting in a better situation than we were beforehand. And I think all of those things play into a factor. And I think it's weird to say, but I love that.

I think Kirk has been more ballsy with the ball throws down the field to Jefferson this year, even though it doesn't seem like it. And I don't know if that's just because the stats are different or maybe my eyes are lying to me or whatever. Like, I feel like there's more times this year. I'm like that boy, Kirk, way to launch that thing, even if it is just a 500 ball. But, you know, then you read that stat and it's like, well, am I just missing something where he's dinking and dunking? But I think it's just because we're being efficient in a way in the past game. And I'm all right with that. Now, it'd be better if it was more like six or eight yards when kept clean. But I'm all right with efficient passes at three or four yards.

So, yeah, I'll go through some of the other numbers here about that. All right. Well, maybe I'm just completely off-basis here, but, you know, I'm trying, okay? What I think is that there's been some very notable 50-50 balls that have been caught by Jefferson that stick out in your mind. As far as average depth of target, you're much closer with the survive and advance because the lowest in the league when kept clean is Matt Ryan.

The third lowest is Kirk Cousins. And as far as efficiency goes, in terms of yards per pass attempt with a clean pocket, so zero pressure, Kirk Cousins is the lowest in the NFL with no pressure. Which, again, is totally shocking because this has been completely not who he is. I mean, like Tom Brady, you saw last night that he was scared until the end of the game to throw it more than about six yards. He's got a higher yards per pass attempt with a clean pocket than Kirk Cousins. Now, I will check on the Justin Jefferson to see where he's at

as far as deep throws to wide receivers. But, I mean, it's really not a plan, though. Like 50-50 balls to Jefferson are a thing you should try several times a game because he is insanely good at football. But it's not like it's not like a scheme that that was unless unless it's Randy Moss and the Randy ratio. It's really not a scheme. And this is where i guess i wonder you mentioned jaylen regger so he made a couple plays the other day he only got in for a couple of plays i guess my question is like as you look around for answers is is this an answer you ever seen the butterfly meme is this a butterfly is this an answer is regger an answer uh because? Because I just can't really put a finger on it,

but it seems like they're trying to make sure that they don't screw up in Alex Smithian type fashion to complete short passes and then hope for those 50-50 balls to be caught. That seems to be more of the idea. And in the past, it's been a lot of Kirk Cousins hitting on intermediate throws with those play actions and guys doing, you know, crossing routes and things like that. There just hasn't been as much of that. Yeah, I think you're right. I really want Rager to be an answer. I think he's really, really good with the ball in his hands. You know, I think he's really physical as he runs

the ball. And, you know, I think that's why they brought him in. They brought him in because they need an answer. And, I mean, apparently K.J. Osborne is just kind of an afterthought, which you and I both are very surprised at after the year he had last year. You know, we both thought he was primed for a huge year this year. And same with Thielen. You know, I don't know if it's age and drop-off, or I don't know what's going on, but those two guys, their production has just not

been what we anticipated it to be. And so when you talk about the guys over the years that have had, you talk about the guys over the years that have had those successes and they've had those intermediate overthrows, those are the guys I just mentioned. And so when those guys aren't having success, you have to look for other answers. I think Hawkinson's a guy that's going to continue to develop for those medium overthrows, the eight to 15 yard intermediate range. But again, you can't expect a ton out of a guy. I mean, and he's already doing a ton for what he's now quickly, he's been able to pick things up,

but that's only going to be another weapon as we move forward down the road. But we're just going to have to keep kind of waiting and seeing of what's going on here because it's weird. I just, it's, it's so hard because you want to be critical, but at the same time, it's like we're being fairly efficient, we're scoring a decent amount of points, and we're winning games. You know, and so it's hard to me to sit here and be like, well, this isn't working, that isn't working.

Like, yeah, we want it all to be better, but at the same time, like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess. Stay with the efficiency, but, like, there's always room for improvement, and Kirk, I know he knows he has to be better. Yes, yes. And he said that on multiple occasions, that he's walked out of the stadium and felt like, I didn't play well enough to win this football game, and that's kind of been this year.

So that's the thing with, is it broke or is it not broke? And that's why we try to pull back and use the metrics that sort of throw out the win-loss record. I mean, Ken A. Wong will return something for a touchdown. Like your defense went, you know, five out of six in the red zone. Like those things have nothing to do with your offensive efficiency to win that game. But the reality of just the NFL is top five passing offenses get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. And that's just been the case. The last one that had an offense not like this, it was worse, of course,

was a Denver 2015 with Wash Peyton Manning and some Brock Osweiler sprinkled in. But since then, every team to win the Super Bowl has been in the top five in passing efficiency. The Vikings are within a shout of that at 13th but they're not there and so that's what we're talking about when everything changes instead of like how can this team even be competent at football which we've had that conversations before it's more of like how can you really compete and that's where we're looking for answers more than just being critical um i think

that sometimes people confuse that in the conversation but uh by the way jefferson is 25th among like starting receivers as far as the percentage of deep shots so they're not taking a ton of deep shots toward him but it's a but it's a fair amount it's similar to like aj brown jalen waddle cd lamb i mean he I mean, he's a complete receiver. Devontae Parker is getting the highest percentage. George Pickens, Alan Lazard, Marvin Jones. More of like guys who are just straight speeders run as fast as you can that way. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I don't really have any criticisms for how they've used Jefferson. It's just kind of like everyone else. You know, Thielen gets a big catch, forgets to run toward the end zone. But like that's kind of it was weird. I mean, it's straight in person. It was weird. It was like and he and he after he got tackled, he was like, oh, I should have run toward the end zone. Like, that's generally the goal.

I've played this game for a while. But and congratulations to him, by the way. He's the Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. He's been doing great things for a long time, so he deserves that. But I guess the big question here is, what do you got to see? What do you got to see over the next few games? You have a Detroit team that's playing really well and not one to just laugh at. They played great football against Buffalo.

Should have won that game. Thanks, Dan Campbell. They just destroyed Jacksonville. You're like, hey, Vikings, go do that sometime. This team is serious, though. I think their run game has come a long way. They have Swift and Williams, two

of probably the top backs in the NFC North. They're doing some really good things with the control of the clock, making sure the other team doesn't get the ball, being efficient in the run game, and not asking Jared Goff to have to do too much. You know, that's a quarterback that you want to ball

out of his hands as much as possible instead of in his hands. You know, so what I want to see from the Vikings is I don't want to see a blunder down the stretch. You know, I think it's really easy to, okay, especially when you have the division as locked up as it is, you know, it's one thing when every single week is buttoned up because you can't even just give an inch or there's another team there right behind you to take it, or you're chasing that team that's

right in front of you by a game. You you know when you have such a lead in the north there's human nature to just kind of okay let's get reset here before the playoffs type of thing like you can't do that like i want to see a ramp up i want it's not a blunder not a letdown like a ramp up to the playoffs getting better and better each and every week fixing some of the things that have not been fixed over the last few weeks. So being more efficient in the pass game, getting to the quarterback, you know, continuing to find ways to get the running game going and golly, people find a way to make a screen just work one time, just one time. I, that's all I want to see is just one receiver screen or one tight end screen. I don't care if you throw it to the left guard, just make something happen.

That's going to be okay in the screen game, because that is just abysmal right now. It makes me want to puke. But the ramp up, the ramp up to the playoffs is important. Getting better every single week or at least until the last game. If you sit everyone, you sit everyone, so be it. But I want to see a ramp up here moving forward so that we can hit in stride, go to the playoffs to give ourselves the best chance to make a run at the Super Bowl. Tis the season for you to buy the best Minnesota sports-themed apparel in the world for all of your friends and family. Go to SodaStick.com. They have great holiday shopping deals there,

and use the promo code INSIDER. That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com, code INSIDER, for all of your holiday shopping. I do think that that, you know, that final week to be able to play no one is really important for this team because they've played a lot of teams that have been very physical. And it feels like there's a lot of guys who are healthy,

but with finger quotes at this point. So kind of getting to that, but also not looking too far ahead and using these next few games to sharpen up some things that just have been concerning for whether you're a legitimate Super Bowl contender. I was going to ask, when you're in this position, because you have been in your career,

you've been in the position where everyone hates each other in the locker room and everything is melting. We've talked about that at times during the Zimmer era, but also in 2017. I mean, I think everybody in the locker room knew we have a chance to go actually win the Super Bowl. Do you remember what those final games were like? Because I remember feeling like this team has really got it, but every once in a while there would be a thing

where you'd raise an eyebrow and be like, oh, I hope, like Case Keenum would throw a fluttering pass and the other corner would have it bounce off his face mask and you'd just be like, I hope that's not a thing. And Zimmer after the game would come out and be like, yeah, I hate that more than anything I've ever hated in my entire life. The game against Washington was a good example. I was just about to say, the Washington pick will always in infinity be like,

Case, what are you doing? Why? But why? But why did you do that? Like, he just overthrew Rudolph, I think. It was a totally – he could have checked it down. So there were just these, like, signs that would ping in your mind where you'd be like, I'm going to remember that one

because I think he might do that in a playoff game. What was the feeling though, as you guys were going down that stretch trying to win you know, that at that time it was the number two seed that got you you know, cause I feel like it's the same sort of thing this year where, you know, they know that they're in great position, they're going to win, but there's like games still to be played. Yeah. You know,

I think for us it was a little different because we knew we had such a great defense that the offense was more of like, let's just be efficient and score 21 points and we're going to win. You know, I think that for us, it was very much a just continue to find ways to be efficient and not have those bonehead case plays or a fumble,

you know, when it's like, oh, we're going to give them a short field, and now they're going to score on our defense because they only have to go 20 yards, and, you know, we're going to put ourselves behind the eight ball. And what we were really good at that year was not playing from behind. You know, in 2017, we were very good at getting a lead and keeping a lead. And we weren't great at running the ball, but we were great at that kind of what we talked about,

surviving advanced mentality of just continuing to build plays down the field. Thielen was having an emergent year that year. And I can just remember at the end of the year, we really felt like we hit a stride of staying ahead of the chain, staying ahead in the score, and allowing what at that point was to turn our pass rushers loose and let them feast. And you're talking about Everson and Brian Robinson and Tom Johnson and Daniil Hunter and just Anthony Barr and brian robinson and tom johnson and daniel hunter and

you know just anthony barr and letting those guys do what they did best and the complimentary football was great for us at the end of 2017 and that's a part of the ramp up of you know we talked about hey special teams is helping the offense and the defense like let's find ways to get a lead keep a lead and then learn how to stay in front of the chain so that we can control an entire game, because that's what you have to do in the playoffs. If you're playing in cold weather or you're playing a team that's got any lead offense and you're like, man, we got to keep that guy on the sideline. You know, we can't let those guys get out there. Being efficient is really important.

I felt like we did a really nice job of that in 17. And at times this team has done that, but this team isn't necessarily built like that to just let your defense go out there and do their thing. No, no no that's been quite the opposite actually uh but you know what you're describing and it's it gets overused of course but i think it's true is the identity of the team like i think that when you talk about like san francisco or philly or dallas uh all you have to do is say their name and you can get it in your mind, like what exactly they are as a team. With this team, I don't know that they even have that offensively or defensively.

Their identity defensively is giving up all the yards in the entire world to every top wide receiver. And then just hoping that Zedarius or Daniil sacks somebody or Harrison Smith makes some incredible play. Like, that's really – but that's not really a strategy. Like we were talking about earlier, that's more of just a, like, hold on to your butts kind of thing. I remember a game – well, of course, memorable because Teddy came back

against Cincinnati. But what was memorable most about that is you just beat the hell out of them from, like like the very start it was like cincinnati was reeling there was a report their coach was going to get fired they didn't want to play that day and you just took out a giant baseball bat and beat their face in and that's what you want to see from the vikings toward the end of this season like play the john the giants are not good okay they're. Like, they have a negative point differential. I was looking at the clean pocket stats.

Daniel Jones has, like, nine times as many turnover-worthy plays from a clean pocket as big-time throws, and I'm not even exaggerating. So, like, they're not good. Daniel Jones isn't good. They don't have weapons. They're just kind of a paper tiger. Like, beat their face in. I think that's a fair standard to set to like, okay,

what's happened before to be in this point differential where you're just plus 10 and you're kind of like, I don't know. I don't know. You don't have to end the season with plus 10. That's the number we end up looking at is where you end the season. And there's opportunities here to do that and to really find your identity. We've kind of been searching for it all season, but I think it's kind of like now's the time, folks, where there should be urgency instead of like you're saying,

and I don't think it's going to be this way because guys know how rare it is to get a 10-2 start, but there needs to be urgency to find these things because if they don't, then it is hard to believe that they'll be able to go deep. I agree, and I think it's up to the leaders on the team, too. I can specifically remember Joe Berger telling us in 2016, no, 2015, sorry, that it was the first time he had made his playoffs in his career in 11 years.

And I think that as a young player, you think, oh, yeah, we're going to make the playoffs and we're going to go and we're like, it's not guaranteed and it's hard to do. And so Patrick Peterson and Eric Hendricks and guys that have been there before need to remind the young guys here that this is a privilege. This is something that doesn't happen every year. We have to make the most out of this. Having home field advantage up until we have to play the number one seed is really important.

Having the ability to make these things, they all make a difference in the playoffs. And so I think that you have to take that mindset going forward. And, you know, like I said, yeah, you play the Colts in a few weeks who just got 54 points or whatever hung on them. Like, again, bludgeon them, get some confidence, get some swagger. All of that matters as you head into the playoffs. Every little thing that you can do to make yourself feel better, more confident, all of that is, it might just be a little difference, but that could be the difference from winning a playoff game and losing a playoff game. This is why I have a tattoo that says tomorrow's not promised across my chest.

Love it. I don't know if you knew that about me. I did not. You know, you're not a big shirtless guy. No, I'm also terrified of needles. So I would never do that uh i am impressed by the guys who cover like 70 percent of their visible body with like that must have not been fun maybe you get used to it do you have any tats i have a sleeve i have an arm sleeve oh that's right yeah i have an arm sleeve and that was not an enjoyable experience but i mean i i couldn't imagine like the guys have like their entire back or like entire chest. That is just commitment. Yeah, I respect it.

At some point, you remember this? When we were growing up, they would be like, this NBA player's got a bunch of tattoos, shows that he's a thug. Thug. That was always like, oh, look at this guy. He's a bunch of thugs. It's like, that's not true. Or the Harley guy.

It's like, oh, Harley guy. He's got a bunch of tattoos. He's probably a criminal. It's like, that's not how any of this works anymore i'm probably never worked that way i'm guessing um so uh except for the portland trailblazers of like 2003 or 4 but that's sort of a deep reference um so uh how many wins we got to do this like every week like how many wins? We got to do this like every week. How many wins do they end up with here? What are we at? 11 now? 10? We're at 11.

No, we're at 10. We're at 10. Sorry, dude. My brain hurts. Yeah, so we're 10 and 2. I'm going to stay with 13. I'm going to stay with 13. As much as I said I don't want to see us reeling,

I can see us resting guys at the end and not be able to win that game at the end. Maybe we get humbled and maybe that's not a terrible thing, but I can see it happening. I'm going to stay with 13. Alright, where would you like to go? Where are you going? I agree with you. Yeah, I'll just go with that. Yeah, I agree with you. I think that, I mean, we keep

saying that some of these games won't go their way, but I do think that could happen. If anything, there is one number that is very predictive and and of course so the vikings aren't favored in this game against i saw that people are laughing hysterically at but also like the disrespect again like every week you can't yell disrespect at people trying to make money on betting but one of the reasons is and we said this before after the Buffalo game, they played 85 snaps on defense. I mean, if you play 85 snaps on defense, it's going to be very hard the next week to get back to 100%

because your average is like 60-something. So it's like you played another half a game or third of a game, whatever. Math people, shut up. Something like that. 40%? Doesn't matter. you played a lot of play a lot and now you got to travel and Detroit's playing well so anyway um I think that maybe this one they don't win uh and then there will maybe be one other one down the stretch so where would

you like to go on love to see it hate to see it um my love to see it is the chaos that ensued in the college football playoff. You know, TCU losing and SC getting humbled in the absolute best fashion imaginable. I'm very excited they're not in the playoff. I'm not a huge SC fan, and they were tooting their own horn. You got Caleb Williams hitting the Heisman pose over there at halftime, and then they just get their faces beaten in the second half. but my hate to see is that Ohio State somehow backdoored in it's like come on like you as soon as they as soon as USC lost I was like yes and I was like oh damn it that's that means Ohio State's gonna get in but Georgia's gonna beat everyone's face

in any way so it really doesn't matter I just really like Utah's football team. I love them. I mean, they're – okay, so some of them are like 26. But, like, they're tough. Hey, Caleb Williams, you want to know what Sundays are like? I'm serious. Like, the other team will beat the hell out of you every week. Ask Kirk. Kirk's still got a rib in his ear. I mean, that's why Utah's so successful in the Pac-12.

They're the only, like, physical team. Like, everyone everyone else is like let's spread it out and run and organ and blah blah blah but like utah's like no no we're gonna line up in 12 two tight ends we're gonna run straight at you and defensively we're just gonna have big monsters that just push the pocket and that's why they've had great success that's when they've won the pack 12 two years in a row and i i love their quarterback too he got popped he bounced right back up he's like let's go i caleb williams in that game i thought especially at the end like you got to go out you know first of all you shouldn't write bleep utah on your fingers because that's just you were just asking for the most physical team to beat your yes face in and they did uh so i thought there was i thought honestly there was

a little immaturity shown by caleb williams with that that's why he needs another year he'll be the top pick but he'll be the number one pick overall in 2024 but i do yes for sure but i do love to see that um for me the hate to see it is the los angeles chargers and the fact that i picked them to go to the super bowl i hate to see that once again i was wrong about about picking games, which I've never been good at. I've never been good at picking Super Bowl winners. I think last year I was like Seattle's year folks. And then I don't know. I don't know.

Like, I don't know. I don't know. What is the deal with that team? Like you're a, you're a charger, a San Diego charger, but Herbert, good? Team bad? What's going on? They've been hurt a lot. You lose your left tackle, all pro at Rashawn Slater.

Keenan Allen missed the first nine weeks of the year with a hamstring injury. I think Mike Williams is still hurt. And then Austin Eckler, you can only ask to do so much. And then on defense, they are just injured like crazy. I feel like every week I look at them and they're like, oh, another guy out for the year. Like Joey Bosa's been out with a groin for six weeks. They're just incredibly unhealthy.

And it shows that the difference between your starters and your backups, if you have too many backups out on the field, best of luck. Because it's just not going to work out for you. You got to hate to see it? starters and your backups if you have too many backups out on the field best of luck because it's just not going to work out for you you got to hate to see it baker mayfield hate to see it buddy that's sarcastic like i mean you just you kind of hate to see a guy that was starring in progressive commercials and cleveland's first win you know he was at the pinnacle of Cleveland to now you can't even get kept by the Panthers, like arguably one of the worst teams in the NFL. And you can't even stick there.

Hate to see it, but hate. Yeah, that would be a sarcastic one for me. It'd be like we're all looking for who did this, Baker. We're all looking for the person responsible for this happening. The Titans just fired their GM, by the way. Really? Yeah. John Robinson was just fired by the Titans.

Are they, like, the third spot in the AFC right now? I mean, they just got destroyed. But, like, I've never seen anything like it. Mid-year. I mean, that's got to be scandal written somewhere. Like, hey, buddy, been drinking a lot. Or, like, hey,, you can't talk to her like that. Like there's something in there. You don't just fire a GM in the middle of the year

without something that's going to pop up and be like, no, we just parted ways off of philosophical differences. No, no, no, no. That don't happen on December 6th when your team is in a big time playoff run in in week 14 this works what yeah that is uh super bizarre i was also gonna say i hate to see it ties i just oh like i just hate ties this is brutal i think they're hilarious to watch the players faces at the end that's like could have shook hands at the beginning and not beat the shit out of ourselves for the last four hours and been completely fine. Everyone just like, no one's happy. Like both sides are just like, ugh.

Like the coaches shake hands like, okay. And I love that they play again in like two weeks. It's like, hey, well, see you again in a couple weeks, bud. Let's try it again. I hope they tie again. Oh, my gosh. Yes. Please tie again.

So somebody in hockey, like the traditionalists with hockey are like, I was fine with ties. They're like, good for you, champ. But it would be like having the kickers have a kicking contest to decide the game. I'm like, that sounds super fun, actually. Why don't we do that? I love college rules.

Like, all right, two-point conversions, baby. Like, it's a shootout. Like, who's going to keep going? I love that rule. I love that rule in college. Something to decide it that wasn't that. Like who's going to keep going? I love that rule. I love that rule in college. Something to decide it. That wasn't that Donovan McNabb is triggered somewhere. Every time.

Jeremiah, great stuff. This will be very interesting to break down the games as we go forward to see kind of how it's like we've sort of set this. Here's the things that you need to do. This this checklist how many can you check off on the way there for people to believe in you by the time we get to week 18 so i appreciate you as always and we will do it again next tuesday thanks man absolutely skull football