Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The Star Tribune's Ben Goessling looks into the 2022 season, whether the Vikings will be better than expected and the O'Connell-Cousins relationship

Episode Date: August 24, 2022

 Matthew Coller gets together with Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune to peer into his crystal ball and see the future. Will the Vikings win their first two games? Are they different from when we started training camp? Will Kevin O'Connell and Kirk Cousins be best friends by mid season? Do we believe the Lions are a scary opponent?  -- 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

Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider inside TCO Performance Center. Matthew Collar here as always with Ben Gessling, Vikings beat reporter for the Star Tribune. And you guys know what this is. Like if Ben's here, you know what's about to happen. I have acquired a new crystal ball for a new coaching staff. I don't know if you're still working with the Zimmer version or if you have updated your crystal ball that we're about to look into, Ben. You know, I don't know that I got the memo. So we'll see if this one still works, if it adapts from the Zimmer regime to the Kevin O'Connell regime.

But we'll give it a shot and see what happens. Yeah, well, coincidentally, they didn't do a lot that was different from the Zimmer regime anyway. Rimshot. So, well, anyway, well, if you haven't heard any of these episodes before, where have you been? That we look into our crystal ball because Mike Zimmer once, when asked about an injury, and this is what I'm really adjusting to with Kevin O'Connell just saying like, oh, he's day to day. You're like, oh, well, that's not fun. It's more fun when Zimmer says, I don't know.

I don't have a crystal ball to look into. And then I think it was like a local, what are they called? Future teller or something sent him an actual crystal ball. Well, I think there was that. I'm trying to remember because there was also in 2017 when he was talking about how there's no curse. And I think he was like, I got a wood spirit or something like that too he was kind of riffing on this thing of the team's not cursed we're gonna we're not afraid of it we're gonna be the team to break the curse and then uh nick foals had something to say about that but yeah

there was there was that whole thing too the crystal ball i think was probably um yeah probably an injury riff and then we kind of went from there with it. I believe it was Sam Bradford. I think maybe week two or three we were asking, like, is Bradford going to be back or, like, what's going on? In 2017? Yeah. I don't have a crystal ball, but we have crystal balls. So we are going, wow, individually.

Yes. So we are going to. That you use for telling the future. Yes, right, right. All right. We're off to a great start here. So we're going to look into the future of this season of the Minnesota Vikings 2022.

And why don't we begin with this, Ben? Get out your crystal ball and take a look. Oh, the new one for you makes the same noise the old one did. It does, yeah. I mean, it's just like when you get a new model of a car, it does the same things you loved but now new things that are more accurate, we'll say, than we've been in the past. Oh, 100%.

Although I think that our individual crystal balls said like 8-9 last year, 9-8. Although last year nine and eight although last year no yours was a little off because you thought they'd sneak into the playoffs yeah i remember this yeah i think i was uh i took the high side of it it's one of those a little little industry secret here beginning of the season if you're on the fence about the team that you cover you tend to take the high side of whatever thing that you're thinking about because it makes the rubes less mad. There's a, there's a,

what I call the Zolgadian theory of expectation. So if you guys know Judd Zolgad, this is something he's done for many years, which is put the bar just a little bit higher than you think. Yep. Based on how the team is talking and what they've done as far as their moves yeah put the bar where they have set it not necessarily where you would set it and then if they come short you're ripped the heck out of it that is the way to go that is the zolgadian approach

yes as he recovers from having his appendix out i'm sure he's uh probably listening and and uh appreciating the shout out because, yeah, he is. He has used that to great effect for many years. Yeah. And Judd was texting me backup quarterback takes from the hospital. I'm not kidding. So if you're ever wondering how committed he is to football, that's how committed. That's going to be a tough bar for some of us to top that drugged Zolgat is coming out of his you know the appendix list stupor and the the Mullins the IV I'm hooked up to an IV but here's my Nick Mullins take right uh Kevin Seifert said that he was surprised that Judd didn't break out of the hospital to run here for the Mullins press conference, which was, uh,

we don't have to go down that road, but like, come on, man, we know why you got another quarterback. Uh, but so look at, look into your crystal ball.

Here's what I want, where I want to start. So based on everything, you know, now, does it look different inside of your crystal ball from the last time we looked, which I think was probably mini camp.

Yeah. We started to look in say all right what's this season gonna be like uh does it look any different or are you getting the same readings uh well we gotta we gotta dust it off here it's been it's been a couple months you polish it up you know in terms of the record for the season i just got to take a little bit of closer look at this thing here it looks pretty similar i i would say it's it's showing maybe more in that nine win range so maybe a little bit better than we were but yeah it looks fairly similar i think to where we've been there's just a lot of questions that remain beyond the scope of the crystal ball to answer at this point

because there are so many ways this thing could go. Is the secondary going to be able to get the job done? Is the pass rush going to hold up in terms of guys staying healthy? Is Cousins going to be better? The same questions that we've had, you know, really for the last few years, I suppose, with this team are the same ones that exist now. And the crystal ball is kind of reading it the same way as it has. I think mine is saying maybe, like maybe it will be a little better than we thought,

in part because some of the things that we had questions about in training camp have been answered maybe in the best possible way for them and i think that starts with like zadarius smith and danielle hunter yeah zadarius smith missed one day of mini camp and i was like it's over it's over folks enjoy your dreams but they're dead yeah like what because you just when a guy's coming off back surgery and the other team that tried to sign him, couldn't sign him for some mysterious reason. Then you start to worry that that's going to be a major problem. And I mean,

heck with Andrew Booth jr. It already is that those injuries have come to fruition already, but Zedarius and Daniil Hunter are so much more valuable to the 2022 season. It kind of starts there for me. Yeah. Justin Jefferson looking like an absolute freak show doesn't surprise me but but you go like okay well that's not going anywhere yep feeling looking

pretty good matters the fact that like this is a small one but like bc johnson looks like he's done well in this camp yeah we didn't even know if he was going to be on this team at all and now he looks like he's like a solid extra guy that they have yeah and the offensive right type yeah and the offensive line does not look like an atrocity it still could be because they're the vikings but it doesn't look like it and i was checking draft kings just to see like where's the line has it moved at all and it's gone from 8.5 to 9 but it's really but it's shaded toward the under okay so it's kind of saying like but wink wink maybe not though trying to tease out a little bit of money right yeah i don't know how all that

works exactly but and part of it might be because the bears have been such a truck fire that they're going like okay well they'll probably you know maybe get an extra win there yep but i think that of all the potential pitfalls that they could have stepped in and had this thing go down the well right away they haven't really had any of those happen yeah they have done a good job of taking care of players and we will see if that holds up over 17 games i mean did area smith i i think was playing for a team that probably took a fairly similar approach to its starters last year too and that didn't keep him from getting hurt in week one so it's hard there's a randomness to injuries that you can't ever completely insure yourself against but you can I think do a better job of not putting yourself in a position where you're going to be susceptible

to some of those things and they've done that to every extent possible whether it's giving guys days off not really playing anybody in the preseason so far, and I don't expect we'll see them play on Saturday in Denver either. They have done what they can to try to keep the roster healthy, and so far, so good with those two because if they lose either one of them, it becomes a lot tougher to see a nine-win kind of thing because that secondary still worries me enough that you're going to have to get enough pressure on quarterbacks to help make up for whatever you lack there I agree with you that the secondary did not change my mind and the fact that

Lewis seen is not a starter right now and will not be a starter more likely than not if you're not by August 20th yeah it's that is probably over for you being a starter more likely than not if you're not by august 20th yeah it's that is probably over for you being a starter and not really getting much of a look at it in the joint practices because that's probably the the big litmus test for for this team i mean i think they took that as seriously as they took anything in the preseason oh more seriously yeah for sure yeah and so how the reps were distributed was the most telling. And he didn't get any with the first team, which means Cam Bynum. And I think Cam Bynum is a nice player. Right. But he's sort of like defense B.C. Johnson. Yeah. Yeah. You know, limited a little physically, but very smart.

And you like him as a player, but he's not taking you to another level. I mean, Max for him is probably Xavier Woods for like the peak of Cam Bynum, which is a great draft pick if you could get it in the fourth round. But that's not what you expected or what we were factoring in. And so Chandon Sullivan, who's like tweeting a reef about not being good in the preseason game or whatever. You're like, okay, this secondary. That also feels like last year. Yes.

Tweeting things at reporters that you're upset about. What I want to say to Chandon Sullivan, things at reporters that you're upset about. What I want to say to Janet Sullivan, it's like, you can do better. We've seen better. We've seen better tweets at reporters. Yeah. If you're going to come at one of the reporters, you can come a little stronger. Right.

There has to be. I can't go any farther with that. But you know what I'm talking about with Bashad Breen and everything. Yes. Google it. It's not hard to find. So I was having a conversation with Bryant McFadden, who does the show with Patrick Peterson at practice yesterday. And one of the things he said,

and we're going to have him on the show at some point soon, but he said the first two games will tell him everything he needs to know about the 2022 Vikings. I want you to take a little peek into that crystal ball and tell me what you see for the first two games, because I kind of agree that if you come out of those own two, you're going to be in trouble. Yeah, exactly. So Philadelphia and Green Bay in reverse order, obviously. What does the crystal ball say about how this team will start the season with a new coach and with new systems on offense and defense? Okay, I am seeing there is some green in the stands on September 11th.

Oh, no. It's not exactly what the head coach wanted. There does appear to be some green at U.S. Bank Stadium, and they seem kind of happy, especially when Aaron Rodgers has the ball because their secondary seems to be getting picked on. And the fact that the Packers now have – I think I see David Bakhtiari on the field. Oh, he's at left tackle. He's at left tackle.

They got Elton Jenkins back as well. I'm not sure yet if I see him. Part of the crystal ball needs a little polishing, it appears. But I see him having enough time to pick on that secondary. And not a vintage Aaron Rodgers day in terms of throwing for 420 yards or something, or whatever he did two years ago. But enough that it appears the Packers are walking out of U.S. Bank Stadium with a victory and the Vikings are heading to Philadelphia talking about resilience and talking about culture

and how we can shake these things off. But I got to look a little closer. It appears they are proven right in week two. It appears they go into Philly on a Monday night in a tough environment and win to get themselves back to one-on-one, avoiding any scenarios of, well, this thing's already over. They come back one-on-one, and then you get the Detroit Lions at home before you shuffle off to London.

So they're still afloat and still able to talk about all of the things that they hope they can do at least through two weeks uh not not an ideal start for that secondary but they did enough to uh to slow down jalen hurts and uh get back to one and one in philly so yeah i'm hearing uh some echoes from my crystal ball, and it's saying one and one, one and one. I don't know how, though, because I could see. Yeah. Remember Aaron Rodgers last year opening day? I don't know.

Not good. Yeah. What hallucinogenics that he took before that. Maybe not enough. Yeah, or not enough. Right. That's supposedly what's helped him be a great quarterback. So you said he's won two MVPs because of the hallucinogenic tea.

I seem to remember him being good before that. Yeah, he was all right. I thought it was McCarthy. Yeah. But I think one and one is right. Winning both of those games would be very hard. The reason I initially picked the Vikings to win week one was because I thought it's home. Yep.

And Rodgers is still adjusting to these receivers. Maybe they haven't bonded over a cup of tea. Is what you're saying. And we have not or played acoustic guitar like definitely really correctly. Gosh, he's like the dude that was in your college dorm that is just walking around without like sandals and no shirt and just talking about weird stuff and say hey check out this this song i just wrote on my guitar and you're like okay man uh i i gotta go i gotta go get to class but those aren't real chords yeah he's he's kind of turned

into that the strings aren't even on right that's not how you hold that he's he's back in berkeley even though he's 38 years old, living in northeastern Wisconsin. I remember joking that it didn't look like he knew how to play guitar in the commercial. Yeah. And people sent me this video of him in Hawaii, like horribly strumming an acoustic guitar. I think I've seen some of this. And I was like, it still doesn't look like he knows how. And you and I both play.

Yeah. So he still doesn't look like it. But I don't know. Maybe I could be proven wrong with a better Zapruder film of Aaron Rodgers playing acoustic guitar. He may hear this. I know. Right. He does hear everything.

Hi, Aaron. And hi, Aaron Nagler, who our friend of the Packers could be listening as well to scout the opponent here. So but, you know, I think that it's possible that green bay doesn't have it together with their receivers yeah yet i think that's possible too but then there's something flashing in my eyes oh what is it oh my gosh it's kenny clark's number oh it seems it seems there the police are taking him out because he killed garrett bradbury on the field oh he's being arrested i've never seen this before um that situation not being resolved in the first two weeks having who they do on the defensive lines. If you told me they went 0-2, if the crystal ball had said that, I don't think they will.

But that's why I would think that was, is that the interior line. Ed Ingram showed the other day, still a rookie. You might like what you see, but still a rookie. First couple of games are against some really good D-lines, and this team does have their struggles against good defensive lines. Yeah, they do. And Kenny Clark and Garrett Bradbury, there's a lot of history to suggest that is a tough matchup. And I don't see I don't think we've seen anything to let us think that Garrett Bradbury is all of a sudden going to be a lot better equipped to handle a player like Kenny Clark. We've had enough reps to watch from him against Harrison Phillips to say this is not going to be a whole lot better. I mean, maybe they give him some help. Maybe they play it differently than they have in the past. But Kenny Clark's had some awfully good days against him.

And their front seven, I think, will be better than it has. I mean, that defense may end up being the strength of that team. They've got a lot of pieces that still have to kind of get plugged in as well, but they've continued to add to that group. That secondary I think is going to be awfully good. And, yeah, Kenny Clark can make things difficult. So that certainly could be the reason they lose if Rodgers is not to the level of the last couple of years in week one.

Let me get your opinion on this. And, of course, the Crystal Balls opinion as well. So week three, they play the Lions. And I don't want to go through the whole schedule and just do the Crystal Ball noise every time. But the hard knocks thing. And a lot of times people get hyped off the hard knocks thing. Yeah. And a lot of times people get hyped off the hard knocks thing and they, they snort the hard knocks football right into their brains.

Well, and then I can think of a, a red face defensive coordinator that built his brand off of that show. Certainly. Certainly. And so of course, as predicted, everyone loves Dan Campbell and he's doing things every day that are making headlines as predicted, everyone loves Dan Campbell.

And he's doing things every day that are making headlines like, oh, yeah, Dan Campbell. He let the players run a practice and stuff. Like, oh, that's how you do it, man. Football. And he's crying all the time. Dan Campbell is so into this. New layers of Dan Campbell.

But Vegas is not convinced. Still, I think six and a half wins is what they think. Hard knocks did not move the needle there. No, I don't. Doesn't have a tangible effect on the on-field performance. Do not believe so. What does your crystal ball say, though, about whether the roar will be restored in Detroit? For the entire season? For the season, yeah.

Boy, it's been a long time since the crystal ball and I have had a conversation about the Detroit Lions. Wayne Fonts, probably. Yeah, I mean, it's been a long time since the Crystal Ball and I have had a conversation about the Detroit Lions. Wayne Fonts, probably. Yeah, I mean, it's been quite a long time. I'm taking a look at it, and I'm seeing better. I'm seeing third place, I think. It appears to be third place in the division. It looks like things are still somewhat tight between the Vikings and the Lions before that game in early December in Detroit when we all relive the Jared Goff miracle in Motown last year or whatever we're calling it.

I don't know if we're calling it that. They should. It appears there's still a chance the Lions get ahead of the Vikings, but the Vikings looks like they go in there and win and put to bed any chances the Lions have of a second-place finish in the NFC North. It looks like I really need to sharpen this thing up. I need to get some wipes to get this thing a little clearer. I think it's like 7-10.

So incremental improvement, enough to try to buy some hope in the future and also enough to miss whatever quarterback you might want to replace Jared Goff in the draft next year. It feels like we're always like one year ahead on tanking teams where after they tank, the next year we're like, hey, watch out for whoever, and they're not quite there yet. And then it's like one year later or two years later, Cleveland is a good example of this, where they draft Baker Mayfield, he doesn't look like a disaster,

and I know their coaching situation was different, Freddie Kitchens and so forth, but the next year, his sophomore season, they were a disappointment. And then the following season, that's when they won 11 games, that's when they were a legitimate contender even miami may be coming together this year after now they have a better record than the vikings last two years just saying sneaky road trip in october and oh it definitely is it definitely is you come back from london play the bears and then go down there and actually miami i think what is it like the last two years they're 11 and six at home or

something it's not easy to play down there tom brady usually loses down there for weird reasons And actually Miami, I think, what is it, like the last two years, they're 11-6 at home or something. It's not easy to play down there. Tom Brady usually loses down there for weird reasons. Well, the one was very weird down there. Yes, yeah, the Gronkowski trying to tackle a guy. Yep, yep, yep. But there is a scenario where Detroit takes this big acceleration. Yep.

Because when you draft that many players high, and defensive ends I think could come in right away. I don't think there's some huge development curve. So if Aiden Hutchinson is good right away, that was their big problem, is that they couldn't rush the passer at all. Right. And then so, you know, the secondary develops a little bit. It's probably not great.

But the one thing that I just would not underrate is, like, the first half of the season last year, Jared Goff had literally no one to throw to yeah and their offensive line was bad now their offensive line might be top five jared goff with time to throw is actually a good quarterback i think you should be afraid of the roar being restored like if you're a vikings fan right now you're not thinking of this at all but you might get to week six or something and go like man wait what Detroit is two games ahead of us how is this happening yeah I mean and if they come in here week three I mean say that becomes a game that is difficult or you go in and lose it like they should have at home last year to the Lions managed to escape and then they did

in Detroit late in the season if you lose that and you go to London, things get a lot tougher. I mean, London, you could have drawn a tougher opponent there, I think, but it's still just a goofy trip in terms of trying to manage the travel, trying to come out of it healthy, trying to just adjust to the time zones and all of that stuff. That's not an easy assignment given your first road trips to Philly, given the fact you get the Packers right away. You don't have a bye coming out of it.

Then you go to Miami after that. If that Lions game is not a pushover, things get a lot tougher, I think, early on for the Vikings. Okay, we've got a really good question next. But I want to ask you, like, who did you enjoy growing up as a Lion? Because the Lions were relevant when we were kids. Oh, yeah, yeah. They were good.

I think their last playoff win was when I was, like, eight. Right. So, like, right after the draft, we were sitting in one of the rooms here talking with Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi and Ryan Grigson. And Grigson, I think, played for Detroit for a little bit. And so I was like, yeah, that Silverdome must have been rocking back in the day with Barry Sanders. He was like, wait, did you grow up there?

I'm like, no, but Detroit was awesome. They were amazing when we were kids. They were in the playoffs just about every year. Who was your favorite Lion? Well, I mean, Barry Sanders is the obvious. He's just so fun to watch. I mean, in terms of like there's still nobody since then that has run like he does where he's just able to get himself out of situations.

I mean, kids, go find the Barry Sanders YouTube clips. You have not seen anybody like that and anybody who moves like that before him or since him. So he was always the guy that was just like i mean you see him at nfl primetime it's like he got out of what yeah chris berman gonna whoop you know something where he gets him you know he'd have like these i think it was against the bills he had like the most epic two yard loss yes ever where he dodged like eight guys and finally went down but so he was a lot of fun to watch i mean they had some good you know when they put the run and shoot they had good receivers herman moore and johnny morton yep brett perriman yeah brett perriman i was gonna say He was a lot of fun to watch. I mean, they had some good – you know, when they put the run and shoot, they had good receivers.

Herman Moore, Johnny Morton. Yep. Brett Perriman. Yeah, Brett Perriman. I was going to say there's another guy that I'm forgetting. David Sloan, the big tight end. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, so they threw the ball around quite a bit with whoever they had back there, whether it was Eric Kramer or Scott Mitchell. Andre Ware. Yeah, Andre Ware. Yes. The Heisman winner that they drafted at the top of the draft to try to become the guy, he obviously was not. Yeah, I mean, Barry Sanders was certainly the guy that was the most fun to watch.

But those offenses, I mean, Herman Moore, I think, there were a couple of years where he was challenging the NFL single-season receptions record back when it was like a paltry 108 or something like that. Yeah, Herman Moore was great. Mel Gray, punt returning Herman Moore was great. Uh, Mel gray punt returning. Yeah. Great.

Yeah. Uh, that, yeah. Robert Porsche, Robert Porsche off the edge, Lomas Brown, Chris Spielman.

I think I remember watching, I don't know if it was that this way here, but where I lived, they would show old NFL film stuff right before the Sunday football. I wish they would still do that somewhere. And they had a feature, like a 30 minute thing on Chris Spielman. it was like awesome it was like I'm gonna go tackle the hell out of my brother in the backyard yeah he was certainly that kind of guy yeah for sure so old lions but

we'll see if they do indeed restore the roar I'm a little skeptical like you yeah but I think there's a world where it happens and it starts with their offensive line yeah where all of a sudden you're like why are we not pressuring? Oh yeah. It's because they have all these great draft picks at the, well, like you're saying that they have invested there over the years. It's been a lot of guys have taken in the first round.

Some of those guys have gotten hurt, but if they're healthy, that talent is still all there and they can be awfully good. Right. Remember the Vikings wanted Frank rag. Now they ended up with garrett bradbury bradbury yes uh okay so i'm i'm looking to my crystal ball and i'm seeing kirk cousins and kevin o'connell and they're close to each other but it's too foggy for me are they embracing

as as brothers and and high-fiving or are or is k Kirk shaking him angrily like he did with Mike Simmer what did I can't see but can you see Ben it's about halfway through the season maybe like three quarters maybe like once the weather changes and stuff usually goes to the yeah to heck with this team and the playoff graphic in the hunt and all that like can you can you tell are they are they hugging or are they yelling at each other I hmm I gotta look at mine here now i'm still i i gotta do the the firmware update from the zim model which that we wouldn't know they're definitely uh you know yelling at each other in the zim model yes it appears that there's there's a heated moment on the sideline but not to the level of anybody wanting to shove each other and start a fight like we saw last year. And I see us in a post-game press conference and Kevin O'Connell has a big

smile on his face and saying, you know, it was just one of those moments on the sidelines where difference of opinion. I appreciate the passion Kirk brings to it. We're going to be fine. It doesn't look to me, at least from my view on the crystal ball, like it boils to the level that we saw it get last year. I do think the relationship is stronger. I do think they have some commonality and just Kevin O'Connell is going to handle Kirk Cousins better than Mike Zimmer did. So I think that makes a difference. But yeah, it's not without its rough spots in my view of it either. So I go both either way on this because I can't tell in the crystal ball. Yeah, the crystal ball is not perfect.

There's an argument to say that they're hugging and high-fiving because Kirk is so much more comfortable in his leadership position with the team. Yeah. And the support that he's been given from his head coach, not so much the GM, thanks USA Today, but the head coach and the offensive coordinator, who seems like the most chill guy I've ever met in football ever. Wes Phillips. Wes Phillips, yeah.

And, you know, quarterback coach and all that, who Kirk seems to have good communication with. They're talking all the time on the sideline. And so you could see where this sort of triangle of trust, if you will between the quarterback coach o'connell and kirk and they're all on the same page and when kirk makes his mistakes or is a little less aggressive than they want they say get him next time kirk and he says okay and then does there's also this other world where because kevin o'connell's a quarterback yep see mike zimmer only knew one thing is it going in the touchdown or not yep like that's it yeah did you turn it over and screw over my defense or not that's what mike

zimmer knew about kirk cousins and what he was doing and the rest was gary's problem but or clance or kevin's or whichever else was related to either one of them a different one different person every year whatever other son of a coach was managing kirk that year yeah uh but i could see where the details of o'connell knowing every single route combination he called it in he knows you were supposed to go with it there that's not how that guitar chord is supposed to be played yeah right right right right where i think that mike didn't really know he just knew whether it was working and i think that gary knew but gary's been through this many times this is kevin o'connell's first time with this quarterback gary uh spent some time with a pretty good quarterback by the name of john elway yeah

john elway there you know a backup quarterback for him, shared a room with him for a long time. You know, he's a pretty good player. Pretty good running back by the name of Terrell Davis. Now, he did deal with this actually in 2017. Yeah, he did. As the quarterback coach. But it's different when you take the W's and L's.

And you're responsible for the whole team. Yes. I don't know. Because there have been times in practice, even though there's no yelling, there is stern. There is sternness with Kevin O'Connell in the way that he's talked to Cousins. And I think that it's very much like the top story of the year is, is this better or could this actually be just as tense or more? Because this guy knows everything you were supposed to do.

Yeah, yeah, there is that possibility. And it's such an interesting dynamic in terms of Kirk Cousins just turned 34 years old. Kevin O'Connell, I believe, is 37. There is a world where Kevin O'Connell was a higher draft pick than Kirk Cousins was. I mean, seriously, he was a higher draft pick than Kirk Cousins was. I mean, seriously. He was a third-round pick. Kirk Cousins was a fourth-round pick, and they were, what, four years apart? I mean, there is a world where Kevin O'Connell is still playing in the NFL.

So this, you know, I just bring that up because it makes for complex dynamics in the relationship where you could and i'm not saying this is going to happen but if you were a quarterback saying okay head coach you're you think you know so well how to do it well if that's the case the reason you're here is because you weren't good enough as a player to continue to do it as long as i have right so why do i need to listen i mean that is always i think a difficult thing to manage when you're a young head coach that's played that position because there is that thing of like, well, yeah, you're coaching now because your career ended sooner than mine did.

So what does that say about how much expertise you bring to it? I think O'Connell knows that. He has coached players. I mean, he coached Josh McCown when Josh McCown was older than he was. Right, right, right. So he so he i think has dealt with that obviously they've worked through that before i mean they've worked together before so i don't think that'll be an issue but it is yeah if things get tense it is it's always an interesting dynamic i think in these types of young coach older quarterback relationships of how does the who defers to whom i think is is the the big

question there the the one thing that would give me some belief that it's going to go the favorable way for them is that the players demanded this yeah that there has been no bones about it from mark wilf or from the players that they met and they told the Wilfs what they wanted in their head coach. I don't know how much better you could have done as far as a copy of exactly what they asked for. Of the Sean McVay model? Right. I mean, not only that, but like a culture positive guy who is a former player and understands what players go through.

He's from as south in Southern California as you can get. Right. And if you want like the California cool, that's the way to get it. Somebody who's going to have their back at the podium to the point where we might make some jokes along the way about things that are said because they're so positive that they end up coming across ridiculous. But I think he'd rather come across ridiculous to us

because he's saying that Kellen Mond did some positive things in the game the other night when he clearly didn't. But he'd rather have that than have players coming to him being like, why did you tell the media I have a tendency to coast? Yeah, there's just not. And Zimmer, I think, did that. It was a different side of the coin in terms of if i think there is value in calling a guy out and getting him fired up that's why i'm gonna do it i don't think zimmer was doing that because it was i care so deeply

about you guys having a closer understanding of what's going on and i want you to be as informed as i possibly can make you i it was the old Parcells thing of I'm going to use the media to get to a player. Yep. O'Connell, I think, is probably looking at it the same way, but saying there's nothing good that can come out of this. I'm not saying what I'm saying so that they have everything they need. And he's been accommodating, and it certainly has been good to deal with. I'm not really going down that road.

I'm just saying he knows there is no value in saying those things because they get streamed out by the team. We tweet them immediately. Players see this stuff. Even if they say they don't, they see it almost instantaneously now. So he understands the radioactivity that can come from that type of stuff.

And he's just probably not going to go there. Mike was also with a lot of us for a really long time. Yep. And I thought that eventually he thought he was alone with us like he didn't seem to realize a twitter account right at least that we know of but he just didn't seem to realize that this was going to be a big deal outside of here it was like you and me and chad and courtney and sam and it was like the same people he'd been seeing in front of him forever and so you ask him a question a couple couple others in there. A couple others and some who he was particularly short with that he would just like, I'm going to snap at you because I know you and we've been doing this a long time.

And that happened to all of us. And I'm tired of seeing your face. Right. And I'm tired of seeing your face because we do so many of these. So maybe that wall will kind of come down eventually with O'Connell a little bit. But I also think that he understands he's talking to the whole nation every time that he gets in front of that podium. Where Zimmer, Zimmer also came from an era where you just like talked with the writers

and whatever, and you kind of said this or that, like you said, try to get a message across through that. Not like we're blasting this out to, I mean, it's got to be a million people to follow the Vikings on Twitter, right? There is a producer in NFL Network Studios or ESPNs sitting watching every one of these head coach press conferences waiting to splice the clip of the thing that you say, and it will be on social media within minutes at most, if not less. So when you get up there and talk, that is the line you are trying to walk. And I think he gets that having just – he's a younger player who has had social media, has been in media a little bit, kind of between his playing days and his coaching days. So there's just going to be a familiarity with that that I think is – some of that's age, some of that's personality,

but I think it's going to be different than Zimmer was there. And what that ties back into is that i think kirk didn't like that stuff i think that's i don't think that i know that kirk didn't like that stuff i think nobody would like their boss saying something about their personal health decisions in front of the entire world but other stuff too well maybe he did have the read on the other side of the field like oh mike did he like tell us more uh yeah so everybody hears everything and i think he got frustrated by that he's not going to get that from o'connell uh and it's not it probably won't be on the sidelines it probably will be behind closed doors and if they are having disagreements it won't be as clear as it was

between zimmer and kevin o'connell so uh more, because we've got to go out to practice here in just a couple minutes. I think I need you to look at the crystal ball. There are certain staples of Viking seasons that we have, and one of them is the unpredictable loss. The shocking, how did that happen? I cannot believe that the Vikings allowed a 67 67 yard field goal from matt prater or whatever it was in that game in 2016 or the bills loss or whatever uh what what do we what do we think is the game that is going to be totally shocking that goes the wrong way okay i'm looking in here i it it i'm trying to i'm trying to make it make it clear

it looks like maybe i see two weeks after the bye i see a really decrepit old stadium uh there's there's a lot of burgundy in the stands oh no, no. Kirk looks really fired up. Washington's going to be terrible, aren't they? Yeah. Yeah, they are. But Kirk looks really fired up about this one. Revenge game? It's the first time he's been back there.

There's like a bad pick. Oh, no. They're down four points in the last minute. They have a chance to go win it. And he's got Jefferson. Oh, it looks like he overthrew him. Snyder's throwing up the last minute. They have a chance to go win it. And he's got Jefferson. Oh, it looks like he overthrew him. Snyder's throwing up the double bird. He's going to get suspended for that.

Yeah, I think it's that one. And then I'm sitting in traffic for 14 hours wondering what just happened after trying to leave FedEx Field. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but I think that would be the way is if Kirk goes in there too juiced about the revenge game of going back there for the first time and trying to show what they lost. And we've seen some of those games not go so well.

Okay, here's my funny one. December 18th. Do you even know who they played December 18th? It is – it is the most forgettable game on the schedule uh i know it don't tell me um because the lions are the week before that and not the packers um who's the week after that the there's like a giants in there that's after see this is what i'm saying is that there's no giants of the day after christmas i think um right before, yeah.

So this is like – This is the Colts. This is bad radio. Yeah, the Colts. Just tell me. Yes. I was going to say it's an AFC team. You know who the Colts backup quarterback is? At the moment, who is the Colts backup?

It's so good. Is this a guy they've lost? Is it Chase Daniel? It's not, but that's a good guess. I guess current crappy quarterbacks I'm not as good at, apparently. I'd say you're warm. You're going down the right road. Somebody that lost you before.

But you need to get to blazing hot. So this is a Bears quarterback they've lost to before. Well, yes, but not in the same context that you're thinking of. It's Nick Foles. Yes, yes, yes. I was going to say there's a Frank Wright connection there. Yep. So Matt Ryan breaks a finger.

Nick Foles comes in. We're like, revenge game. Here we go. And then it's like. And this is at U.S. Bank where he won a Super Bowl. He just has good vision at U.S. Bank Stadium. They run Philly special. Which initially was put in for the Vikings as we found out after the Super Bowl.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, yep. The game that birthed that was the game at the end of 2016 that the Bears ran it. Matt Barkley. Yeah, we were all basically waiting for the guys that were swinging from the chandeliers to come down, the protesters that were up in the rafters to come down. So I spent half that game waiting

for that because i had to write about the arrest and uh i don't know that i even saw the play happen but i think frank reich said after the super bowl that we got that off of the bears film put it in for the vikings case we wanted it for the nfc title game and then we kept it in there for the super bowl because we figured this could still work and then we ran it from there. So the Philly special started with a bad Bears team at U.S. Bank Stadium. Obviously, it came to fruition at U.S. Bank Stadium. It would make all the sense in the world for it to happen again here. With Frank Reich. That's a better one than mine was.

Yours was good. I could see it that way, too. But, yeah, the Colts-Nick Foles thing, that's a good one. You win solid, but you didn't go full Galaxy brain on it. Yeah, I mean, I didn't try to... The updated crystal ball. I didn't try to drive the par four. Like I said, I'm going to try to hit it down the fairway.

If I can do that, that's good enough for me. Well, I've thought about it. So anyway, Ben, well, this was fun. And I think that, well, we have not had our minds changed a ton. Yep. We are set up still with some of the major storylines, which will not in any way remotely include backup quarterback competition anymore after next week or so. So I'll be thrilled to not have that conversation anymore. And we can go forth with another exciting season.

So great to get together with you. Always fun. Look forward to dusting off the crystal balls sometime. The crystal balls that we use to see individual that we use to predict the future sometime later this season. Well said.