Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The Vikings outlasted the Cardinals and sit at 6-1, it's time to go all-in

Episode Date: October 30, 2022

Matthew Coller and Paul Hodowanic break down the Vikings' win over the Arizona Cardinals. Why, despite the close nature, it was their most impressive win since Week 1. We are learning about how this team has to win in order to keep rolling. Plus we look at their shortcomings on the O-line and secondary and the move they need to make at the deadline now that they have a legit chance in the NFC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider presented by Liquid Death. Go to liquiddeath.com slash insider and learn about the Tallboy can, which actually has water. Find out where you can get it near you at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Hello and welcome to the Minnesota Vikings absolutely refuse to allow you to have a very calm Sunday and will only bring every single game down to the final drive. Post game podcast, Matthew Collar, Paul Hodowanek of WCCO Radio.

The Vikings are now 6-1 after defeating the Arizona Cardinals. I'm going to start this out, Paul, with a statement. I think that this one was the Vikings' best win of the year, the way that they played as far as a complete game. Was it beautiful? Was it the 1998 Rams or Vikings? game was it beautiful was it the 1998 rams or vikings or was it 99 rams either way uh was it the the greatest show on turf no was it the 2000 ravens or the 85 bears no it was not one of the great performances ever seen before in history but against a team that

has some very talented players, including wow. Deandre Hopkins, a quarterback capable of making lots of plays with his legs, which Kyler Murray did and a defense with enough firepower upfront to cause some problems for the Vikings, several sacks, lots of issues at the right guard position, which we'll get into. They overall put up 380 yards, 25 first downs, average six yards, a carry on the ground, which was very get into. They overall put up 380 yards, 25 first downs, averaged six yards, a carry on the ground, which was very impressive today. Justin Jefferson had a couple of good catches. They got some other people involved and they also took mostly advantage of the mistakes that were made and of there were many by the Arizona Cardinals. And I thought this was a good win. Like there were times before in recent weeks where, man, you beat Detroit like that, huh?

Or man, you beat Chicago like that. I don't think that Arizona quite falls in that category. I know they are not a perfect team or maybe even a super contending team, but they're also not flaming trash like maybe Detroit is. So to win the way that they did, and I never thought that Arizona was going to be able to take the ball the length of the field. They were really one or two plays away or one or two holding penalties away from extending the gap of this game. I never expected Arizona to just completely give up after the Vikings got ahead and for them to be totally

shut down with the players that they have. And I would say that this is kind of what you were looking for about 80% of what you were looking for when we went into the buy and said they need to be better in a lot of areas. Running the ball was one of them and that they had a consistent and excellent running game. They could certainly push the ball down the field a little bit more and only average six and a half yards per pass attempt, but they did not throw any interceptions. They had the one strip sack and that was it for big key mistakes. And they took advantage when Arizona gave them all sorts of mistakes throughout the day. And I don't have as many qualms. I mean, I'm still seeing some on Twitter reactions like, oh, well, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't a mind blowing victory that they had here, but I think it was a well-played

one overall with a few shortcomings that were exposed a little bit on this team and the secondary on the offensive line, they were never going to be perfect, but they're six and one. And if they play like this, I think they can beat a lot of the teams left on their schedule. If they play like they did say against like the lions or new Orleans, then no. But if this is who they're going to be and they leave this game largely healthy outside of Delvin Tomlinson getting banged up, then they can continue to win a lot of games like this. Yeah. I think generally, hello, by the way, I think we have to shorten up uh the the name of the podcast it's getting I think we're just rambling I forget how much you you just said

there but we're we're getting to the point where I don't even know if it's going to fit in the in the podcast title uh so I think my main takeaway is the Vikings are generally I think just incapable of blowing out an opponent and And that doesn't necessarily, I mean, you wish that they could, but I think this iteration of the team just has not been consistent in all three phases to the point where they've been able to blow out a team. And I'm just not sure they're going to be able to, but they have shown they haven't needed to so far. They've been able to scratch and claw enough.

And so I think today was another example of that. And I agree it was their best performance, at least since week one against the Packers in terms of the defense made stop after stop when they really needed to get a stop. Towards the end of the game, the Vikings had two offensive possessions where they could have put the game away and they went three and out in both those drives. And both times the defense came back and made good plays to keep them in this game and so I think largely into their credit they've picked another unit up when they've needed to and they haven't really been able to get downhill with all units going and that's why we're not seeing them win these games

running away but as we're seeing this year in the NFL that's just not happening across NFL most teams if you're not Buffalo and Kansas City you're not going to just blow the doors off of an opponent. And I think when you see six and one, you hope that your team has that capability to just go into overdrive and to put a team away in the second quarter. I just don't think that's going to be the way this team is going to be able to operate. They're going to have defensive lapses. They're going to have offensive lapses. That's just with the personnel that they have on thises. That's just with the personnel that they have on this team. That's just the way it's going to be. And so I think this game is emblematic of that, but I also think it's emblematic of the fact that they do still have a

lot of talent on both sides of the ball. When you give Dalvin Cook a week off, like the bye, he normally looks good. We've seen that as a trend throughout his career. When he gets some rest, he's going to look good in some games. So you got that today. Zedaria Smith was all over the place today. The corners were playing pretty well. Patrick Peterson had a solid game against his old team. Unless you were a matchup against DeAndre Hopkins, then you were not having a good game.

But generally, you're seeing these bits and pieces. I just am not sure the totality will ever be able to fully put it together for 48 minutes where you're just beating the brakes off a team and that may come to pass when you play the bills and you need to play that well maybe you fall short but the way that this team has been talked about the last couple weeks barely surviving the bears and the saints of the world and the dolphins with a backup quarterback this game was a market improvement uh especially on defense i think uh from those games and so you're seeing that hey if they can beat this caliber team which i think is just a half step

up against some of the other ones that gives you confidence that they can go in and beat washington and that they can handily get into the playoffs like this and likely win the division and then it's just about those game on game matchups and can you get hot so i think this is an emblematic game of how they need to play going forward. And if they play this way going forward, that they will be able to sustain maybe not a 800 win percentage like they currently have, but they're going to be able to say above 500 long enough to get into the

double digit wins to get a home, at least one home playoff game. And at that point, then you just see what happens in the playoffs. So I think that was my large takeaways. They're never to blow a team out. They had a chance to do that up 14 to three today, and they just seem like they can never fully get there, but they're going to remain competitive in all these games and they have

enough talent and they have enough big plays that they can make to where they are going to beat these teams. And they're going to be right in the thick of it when it comes to playoffs. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on you, not knowing how many minutes are in an NFL game, but we can move on 60, 60, not just covered high school, just covered high school football yesterday. It's 48. I'm just, you know, I'm all moving around. Yeah. I mean, you, you, you do, you wear a lot of hats, including a very cool one right now. But no, to your point, that's exactly right. That

when you talk about a team that's six and one, and you look at Philadelphia, who is the class of the NFC, Philadelphia has had a lot of very impressive wins. They beat the Vikings handily. They beat Dallas handily. They won another game today where they faced an inferior opponent and they said, no, you will not be joining us today. We are going to smash you. That has not been who the Vikings are. And I don't think that they ever really can be. I mean, the offensive inconsistency at times where you think they can cruise down the field, 75, 80 yards at any given time. And they did today at times where they just had these easy drives, big catches by Jefferson, but then it's setbacks.

It's penalties, 20 penalties. This was a noon game. This is probably the latest you and I have ever connected on the post game to talk because of the referees, which is a whole other thing. They were just having a party out there today with all the different penalties. I don't think I've seen a kickoff

return where they called an illegal block on it. I mean, there was also a taunting penalty on Garrett Bradbury, which here's what it means to be inside the locker room, Paul, that only this type of insight can come out. I know what Garrett Bradbury said to induce that penalty. Would you like to know? I would like to know. Are you going to tell me? He said, and I'm going to have to check if we're going to have to put like a parental advisory on the podcast. He said, you're soft to his opponent. So, I mean, I should have said,

I should have given a little break there and said, put the earmuffs on if the kids are listening. He said, you're soft. I mean, I don't know what the referees were just like in cartoonish mode today but that's neither here nor there I mean it did affect the game and if they had lost this game we would have looked at a bunch of different penalties a holding on Adam Thielen a holding on the final drive that set them back where they could have just put the game away and instead they had to give arizona one more chance but if you're arizona you're just as displeased where they had penalties

that put them back at the goal line where kyler murray threw the interception but moving aside from how much fun the refs had flinging their flags today and how obnoxious that was uh the the overall way that the vikings have to win I think because it's not going to be a start to finish put the gas pedal down and plow forward on offense and score and score and score and then on defense shut the other team down shut the other team down it has to be this way big plays that's just who they have to be and that's what were today. They sacked Kyler Murray four times. Zedarius Smith is just a monster, which we knew he was capable of. It was all about staying healthy. He has been the best version of himself. And especially these last two weeks, just,

just a beast. And he was that today and against the backup left tackle, but you have to give the Vikings defensive line credit for pressuring Kyler Murray they got the big sacks they got interceptions which Murray threw the ball right to them but they caught it so this is my point it's like you need that to happen you need when the ball bounces off the punt returner which has happened three times the last four weeks to just talk about that luck factor but you have to take advantage of all those things. And today on offense, they averaged 5.6 yards of play, which is solid. But where they were really great was big plays. 30-yard run from Delvin Cook, 29-yard catch, 28-yard catch, 18-yard catch. They did not consistently throw for 7 to 10 to 12 yards,

but they hit on these big plays that drove scoring drives. And when you look up at the end of the game and you've got a couple of turnovers, a couple of huge plays that resulted in scoring drives, and then you've scored 34 points. I mean, it's very hard to look at that and go like, I don't know boys, but I think visually and knowing what is kind of sustainable, that's where I think the hesitation is. And I think that what we have is just a truth about this team. Like, can you do it each week where you have to rely on big plays? Usually the answer is kind of no, but I think this year,

maybe the answer is kind of yes. They will have a game at some point. Maybe it's next week. Buffalo is definitely going to be a problem for them where we go like, oh, and it all ran out for that game. But when you have a lot of star talent, Zedarius Smith gets a lot of sacks and a lot of pressures. You have Jefferson big plays.

If Delvin Cook looks like this, if they run block like this, which was fantastic today, the way that they were blocking in the run game, and it's been great all year. Like these things can continue to produce some of those big plays as we go down the stretch. And that's why I thought that today, even though there were parts that were uninspiring, there were parts that were frustrating, and you felt like Arizona should have been put away early in the game. I think it told us a lot about who they have to be going forward. Yeah. And I think coming into the year, we knew that they had flaws.

And I think when you see that their record is now six and one, if you aren't watching the games, you're thinking, okay, they fixed a lot of their flaws. And generally a lot of the flaws that they had coming into the year are still question marks. There's still question marks behind Justin Jefferson in the receiving core. There's still at least one questionable offensive lineman on the team. There's still a defense that can give up a player to can look nice, can not look nice or relying on

health of some of their star players. Like all those things were things we knew were flaws coming into the year. And I think the six and one maybe clouds that, or you want to think that those things are fixed and they're not. The Vikings are still, despite being six and one, a flawed team, but to credit them, this is a team that has shown itself to be really, really clutch in big moments. They continue to generate turnovers in big spots when they need them. At some point, maybe that runs out, but right now you just have to continue to give them credit for coming up with big plays. The Vikings stopped Kyler Murray driving down the field on the last drive of the game. They sack him twice at the end

of the game. They stopped him on the drive before. They have consistently come up in big spots and done what they've needed to do to win. That doesn't, from a macro sense, doesn't take away the fact that they still have these little flaws that may or may not pop up these next couple games. They're things we knew were issues, but so far, unlike they have in previous years past, they've been able to avoid them. They haven't allowed those things to sink them. Like a strip sack of Kirk cousins in previous years might,

might have sunk this team and they just don't ever look the same. Justin Jefferson was looking pouty at times running around. Then he continued to come in and make big play after big play. Like some of the things that have sunk them in the past haven't. And maybe that's coaching, whatever that is. Maybe that's just now getting a taste of this winning and know that you can come back from these things and doing it over and over again, that it builds up a confidence. But either way, they're finding some ways and kind of those intangible and kind of like in the cracks and crevices around the larger frame of this team

to edge, to like really edge things out and get wins when you think is things are in the balance. So they're not going to continue to be six and O in a one score games, but because of how they've started and the way that they've done, I have confidence that they're going to win more of these games than they're going to lose when it comes down to it. They've just shown now at this point that they're able to do that in a, in manner so i think again they still have those flaws flaws you might not expect from a six and one team but they're six and one and every other team around them in nfc has allowed their flaws to eat them alive to the point where they have at least several wins and the vikings have not done that folks i'm seeing that liquid death is starting to catch on some of you have even sent me tweets

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insider. You know, I, I did think that they, uh, would have some regression in a good way, uh, when it came to the one score games, cause that's just kind of the ebb and flow of the NFL one year, it doesn't go your way. And here it does. Did not expect this, though. I did not expect them all to go for the Vikings. But this was one that I would say is sort of a one score game in name only. Like, remember the one against Chicago last year where Chicago was down the whole game. It was a two score game. Then at the very end, they scored kind of a bogus touchdown.

Well, in this case, I mean, they should have been up nine points. They doink an extra point and the game really should have been over. And I think that's why I'm less apt to say, Hey, let's look at all the shortcomings and you can't keep getting away with this. Like you said, at one point, the Jesse Pinkman thing, like this wasn't a, you can't keep getting away with this. This is, you need your star players to continue to make huge plays for you in order to win. And I think that for the most part, if they remain healthy, they can do that in a lot of games against a lot of teams, maybe that are not perfect themselves. I mean, look down the road. Does anyone think that the jets or the giants are

perfect, flawless teams? I think there's really only two teams that you look at on the entire rest of the schedule and go, yeah, that could be pretty hard. That would be Dallas and the Buffalo Bills. And that's really it. And Dallas kind of put on a show today. That's what I expect from them. I think that they're a legit contender. But aside from that, I mean, you're really talking about a lot of teams that are like Arizona, where they have reasons why they could beat you if you don't show up and if you don't make big plays, but also you have enough talent to outperform them and at the moment enough health to do the same. I also think that sometimes something that isn't really real feels real to the team. And that matters more than whether it's

really real. Follow me here. Like, I got you. Think about this. If a team is struggling hitting in baseball and they hire a new hitting coach, like did that guy do anything massively different? Like maybe not, like maybe it was just, you know, the different approach or something, but maybe it's just a little more belief in themselves to be able to say, you know what, that last guy. And it feels like there's just a rallying cry here. Like, Kirk Cousins is wearing chains and running for 17-yard touchdowns. And even though he's not performing better, this is the same or worse Kirk Cousins than we've seen. Six and a half yards per attempt is a whole yard and a half different

from what he's been in previous years. And yet there seems to be more confidence by the team surrounding Kirk Cousins. And because of the previous results and because of that belief on what they were sold on from day one, you're hearing it so much from week to week from these players. Like, really, you know, the player- driven approach from Kevin O'Connell from day one. That's one of the reasons we're so confident and everything else. And so there is of course the cynical part of us that wants to say, yeah, momentum's

not real, but who says it's not for them, right? Like it matters to the way that they're feeling. Like every time they're in a tight game hey we're going to pull this off because we have done that all year because we're confident because we change coaches and that's an okay logic for them to have like I'm not going to tell you you're completely wrong for having that logic and confidence is just a massive thing in sports and this team is oozing it because they seem to believe that no matter what happens during a game they have a chance to win and so there is of course a cynical part of me that

thinks some of this will run out but also it's not like they were so miserable today and barely came out with a win like I thought about Miami I just thought Miami should have won that game about five times over and didn't this was not not a 10 punt performance. This was not one where they couldn't run the ball. And I think that that really underscores something I want to talk about, Paul, is like, it doesn't matter that Mike Zimmer was right about having to run. He was, but they need to lean into that. And today I thought where Kevin O'Connell was really at his best was they had a drive or two that went sideways. And it seemed like they were kind of throwing a little too much.

And they just went back to it and said, you know, like, let's keep this simple. Let's run the football. And with teams so worried about Justin Jefferson, you're getting five and a half, six yards every carry. At one point, the first half or into the third quarter, it was over seven. It was ridiculous how much success they were having. And he did not go away with it from it. He did not get antsy. And I thought that that played a major role in why they were able to win.

So it's like some of the things that have happened in the past that shape our sample size might be changing even in real time. And one of those was Kevin O'Connell realizing like you actually can lean on Delvin cook and Alexander Madison in this run game. Yeah. And today they did it against like, this necessarily would have been the opponent that I think they would have a hundred percent gotten the run game back on, like back on track against. Arizona has been in the top 10 of like holding teams, rushing, like rush yards allowed. They're in the top 10 of like holding teams rushing, like rush yards allowed.

They're in the top 10. They were sixth in football outsiders, rush defense DVOA. So this is a team that throughout this year has been a pretty stout run defense, but all day long, they were just creating a massive, massive holes everywhere. Whether it was Madison, whether it was cook Kirk getting in on it for first a small just a little scramble that kind of kept the chains moving and then obviously the one that capped off the drive he probably should have done it that one more time what was it on like a third and one or a second one when he opted to throw to Justin Jefferson when he just had the easy yards and I think you saw O'Connell talking to him right after I'm assuming just saying hey take the yards

let's live to fight another down so yeah this was not against a bad rush defense. This was against a team that you would probably would have thought would have been you're going at them with the passing game. And that struggled a little bit at times, but as they always do, when they need a big play, they find Justin Jefferson. And no matter if he's blanketed, he's going to come up with a catch. But yeah, I think the fact that they were able to get the run game going today,

able to do it with both their rushers and to just create massive massive holes I don't think this was Cook or Madison just creating out of math blocking this was big holes pushing down the field like that's what you want to see from this offensive line and I think largely four-fifths of it has been playing pretty strong on both pass and rush. They've had that one-week spot with Ed Ingram, which we may need to talk about. Do they need to try to figure out something else? Do they go to Schlottman? Do they go somewhere else with that guard spot?

But at least in the run game, they've held up really, really well. At least they did today. And you can just tell that calms them, that gets Kirk into second in manageables, third in manageables, which is really, really important. I wrote about that last week. This team is really bad when they're behind the sticks, second and long, third and long. They're one of the worst offenses in the NFL. And so the best way to do that is to run the ball effectively, because you're going to find yourself in second and third in manageables a lot. Previously, they had really been able to do that with the passing

game and getting kind of the quick passing game going to set up and they continued they can continue to do that but if they have the ability to run the ball that just opens up so many more things for them it allows them to control the clock more than they have in the past it just opens up a lot a lot a lot of things and so even though they ran the ball super well like the Cardinals still had an opportunity to stay in this game. And largely that's because passing is just so much like more important. And so the Vikings still need to figure out a few things with their passing game. If they really want to have one of these like holistically dominant offensive performances,

but if they can have one or two of these games every so often where they don't have to rely on Kirk throwing it a bajillion times and throwing for 300 yards that can only help them and so the fact that they're able to put up 34 points with a bad Kirk Cousins game and in pretty much every respect that's that's a really good sign for the way this team is playing yeah um I could see Mike Zimmer there's a Jaguars fan gif where the camera just really focused on this one Jaguars fan he's just like got this baffled look and he puts his hand up like, what? Like, huh?

That's Mike Zimmer. Like what? Now you guys are praising running the football. It's like, well, things do change. It is a bit of a different landscape, but also,

I mean, the fact of the matter with Kirk cousins is, and will always be that when he is getting Delvin cook going, everything is going to be better for him. And I think we always recognize that's a fact. It was just, you know, hey, when it's a two-score deficit and you're second and 13, you probably shouldn't run the ball. Like it was never don't give it to Delvin.

It was let's do this on a little more intentional and intelligent type of way as opposed to just run the ball. But I think for Kevin O'Connell, he had to learn kind of early, A, some of the strengths and weaknesses of his quarterback, but B, that you can lean on this offensive line and these running backs. They're both very talented running backs. And this offensive line is the best run blocking line since I think 2019 when Delvin Cook had his best career season that they were really dominant on the offensive line run blocking.

And they were not that last year. In fact, I thought they were kind of a mediocre to poor run blocking offensive line. And most running backs go as the offensive line goes. Delvin Cook can add you a little more juice, but I didn't think he did anything today that was unbelievable. It was just like their run blocking was extremely good. And they can continue to do that, I think, on a week-to-week basis. Now, we've gotten 25 minutes into this.

And I think we're in agreement. This was not a fraudulent win or anything like that. An impressive victory for them. But there are some things we need to discuss that did not go their way and that are problematic. And now the bar is not set at, Hey, well, can they potentially maybe win this division or could they possibly be good? Like now you're six and one. Now you're good.

Now you can start working them phones actually to make a big trade. And after seeing this, like, isn't this the reason to make a big trade to get better than this when you're six and one? But the right guard position is and forever and always will be a problem. I said to Alec Lewis, who's in his first year cover the team, I said, when you write your first, the Vikings right guard is a problem article. Then you're really on the beat. Like now you've joined the squad. Ed Ingram got destroyed today and they have Chris Reed on the beat. Like now you've joined the squad. Ed Ingram got destroyed today

and they have Chris Reed on this team. Austin Schlottman has played before. Heck, Ole Udo was a better right guard last year probably than Ingram in some ways. I think Ingram is a decent run blocker, if not a good one. So I don't know if they want to upset the apple cart there, but you can't have wash jj watt throwing you around the way that they did you can't have blitzes coming up the middle untouched he seems to be confused when it comes to anything else other than a straight rush but even straight rushes are beating him i think there has to be some consideration and this is what's going to be tough for them because you win a game but you have to be considering at least bringing in Chris Reed,

who is a proven, solid, slightly below average experienced right guard who was legitimately decent for the Indianapolis Colts last year. He has to be an upgrade from Ingram and yet, you know, you're six and one. So do you make any changes? But also Washington's got a D line. If you wait and wait and Buffalo, I mean, if you wait, somebody's going to punish you big time for having that weakness. And I think now would be the time to say, Hey, we're in this to win this, not to develop a right guard. Let's make a change.

Because after today, this, that, that was one of the maybe poorest performances by a guard and think about where that bar is. I mean, that's, that was Dakota Dozier level where, I mean, if you're watching the guard get beat from the press box over and over again, you could see it live. It's pretty tough. So I think, I think that's, that is a serious challenge for Kevin O'Connell. Do you pull a string here or do you keep believing in the rookie who I think

we've got a sample size enough to say is in over his head yeah and it's it's another one of those things where at the beginning of the year you're not even in your wildest dreams I don't think you're thinking you're going six and one or hoping you're going six and one and you're seeing Ed Ingram as a player that you're developing for now hopefully can't sustain now but you're also giving him reps getting him that solid like playing time and exposure to be good in year two, in year three, in year four and beyond when you're really, really trying to contend. That shifts a little bit when you're six and one. Whether you think you're a six and one team that

would rival the Bills and the Chiefs, you're six and one. There are many, many teams that wish they could be at this spot right now that are controlling this division the way they are. They have to grab it at this point. And so while a trade may take you a little bit away from that like kind of competitive rebuild or like with an eye toward the future, replacing a second round guard, at least for a while to get in someone else who has a little bit more experience and just to try that out. I don't think that kills at Ingram as your long-term starter at guard. I think it gives him more time to develop more time to learn. And it gives you another option. Maybe Chris Reed. I mean,

there's a reason I didn't beat out Chris Reed for that job. So maybe he proves he's the better one in there and he just gets a little bit of time to figure some things out, but it's part of the reason why you went and you did this strategy where you spent on a lot of low cost options on the offensive line. Yes. It's for training camp and to figure out which one is the best there, but it's also for mid season if you need to make a trade or need to make a switch. So I think I would largely consider it. I would probably do it at least to see how it goes. And I think you can move him in and out this team, this coach, I think

maybe a previous coaching staff might lay into Ed Ingram or make it seem like he's really getting demoted, like you are horrible. And while he didn't play well today, I think this coaching staff, I think this team, the fact that they're winning and the veteran leaders that they have, I think they can smooth it over enough to where he could come back and be a productive player for them later down the season or into the next couple of years. But I think at this point, it's time to look there because the rest of the offensive line is playing solid enough. You're getting solid production out of Garrett Bradbury. You can't have another black hole right there because everyone else is working. And so you saw the flashes.

You saw the Kirk Cousins strip sack. You saw a couple other pressure plays where the offensive line folded a little bit. And as you start playing these better teams, like thinking of Micah Parsons and the Buffalo Bills defensive line, like you're going to need to be on your A game. And so I don't, I don't see why you keep trotting out Ingram unless you just see every day at practice that he is miles ahead of Reed and Schlottman. Folks, I know you've heard me talk about Soda Stick for a long time now, i'm telling you you have to start following

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that shaped the reasoning for not playing Chris Reed. But I recall he got hurt. And also when you draft a guard in the second round, you draft him to start. And so they were probably banking on upside. But at this point, when stuff just got real today, I think at five and two, if they had lost, we would have been still wondering like, you know, I don't know, is it for real? They could collapse. I mean, six and one, you're really for real now. I mean, you're playing with the big boys. There's only a handful of teams in the entire NFL

that are of your echelon when you get to six and one. So now you need to look at who's the best man for the job. It's not like there's any sample size of Ingram playing in the past that would suggest, oh, they should really stick with it. We've seen plenty of rookies get in games and just not be able to play Drew Samia, which this is what it reminded me of. He honestly was playing like Drew Samia in pass protection, and that's not going to be good enough because someone will make you pay eventually. So I think that that is, I don't want to say quite dire. It's almost dire though. And do they bank on the run blocking and stick with the run blocking and how the overall unit is performing? Okay. I don't know because already in this game, it's not just one that he

came in as the league leader in pressures allowed in the entire NFL for guards like this this has just been happening week after week so that that has to be a consideration and the other thing is when you look at the secondary and how they have performed against top wide receivers these last two weeks it is horrendous and this is where a trade maybe has to be in consideration for another cornerback to potentially come in here a cam dantzler just got uh smoked by deandre hopkins so there's nothing you're doing there but the nickel corner position is there answers i don't know but if we're talking about problems that stem from this game that have you know been pervasive through the entire season yeah you can't do much about Deandre

Hopkins catching a one-handed pass, but also you look at his overall performance, 159 yards. And then Rondell Moore adds another 92. That's very similar to what Tyree kill and Jalen Waddle did. And again, where you look down the road and you start to talk about the teams, you're going to have to beat that are actually legit and the buffalos the dallas even next week terry mclaurin they call him scary terry for a reason not just because it's halloween he is a very good player and there is always the potential that some of these guys are eventually going to have these these huge days result in a win for them and and i don't know what the answer is exactly because you have Patrick Peterson playing well, Harrison Smith made some plays. I don't think that Cam Bynum exactly is

the issue. So is it a trade? Is it a change or is it something that there is no answer to? The right guard has an answer. This might have no answer whatsoever, and they're just going to have to match other teams. Our guy guy for your guy week in and week out jefferson versus tyreek jefferson versus deandre hopkins jefferson versus digs cd lamb and on down the line um because i i don't think that there is an easy button to push outside of looking for some help because even when they got pressure it's still the number one wide receiver was able to have a massive day against them. Yeah. And again, now at six and one, I'm just viewing everything through a playoff lens.

And if you go through the teams that they could see in the playoffs, it's the Eagles and it's AJ Brown. And you like AJ Brown's matchup against anyone of the Vikings cornerbacks. You go to the Cowboys, there's CD lamb. You got no one that's going to cover CD lamb go to even the Bucs who are really bad, but you assume is going to figure it out. They've got Mike Evans. They have Chris Godwin. You go to the Rams. If they make the playoffs, that's Cooper Cup. You go to the 49ers. They've got Debo Samuel. Every single one of these teams has one of these guys, has these game changing guys. And so Hopkins catches 12 of his 13 targets. He looks unstoppable. The one target he doesn't catch is a dropped pass in his hands that he should have caught. He should have

gone a hundred percent caught every single one of his targets. Like that is not a sustainable way to play defense. And it was Dantzler. It was anyone that he was matched up against. And it's not, I'm not really taking a slight at Cam Dantzler or Patrick Peterson or Shannon Sullivan. None of these guys should be thought of to shut down a number one wide receiver. None of them are good enough to shut down a number one wide receiver. So you're going to have to bracket him. You're going to have to double them. You're going to have to find these different creative ways to do it, or you're just going to have to let him kind of like you would in basketball, like let the one guy get his and try to figure everything else out.

But you still have to contain him in terms of not allowing deep shots and trying to limit it as best as possible. And right now they just don't have a person to do that. So, yeah, I think you could look to the trade market. I'm not sure if they have a shutdown option present out there that they can really go get. I think it's just about getting another solid body in the room. But I think even with another solid body, this is going to continue to be a problem. So I think it's just something they're going to have to work around. They're going to have to get creative, how they scheme different things. They're going to have to be flexible in how they pressure. They're going to have to do all these other things because they

have to make up for the talent deficit. And I'm just not sure there's an easy trade partner out there that makes them 100% better and kind of solves that problem for them. Now I will say on the good side but we'll see side their run defense. The Arizona had run the ball fairly effectively with Benjamin back there for the last few weeks and that did not happen at all today. Delvin Tomlinson though getting banged up normally a guy who's been incredibly healthy throughout his career. And we'll see how serious the injury is. It's a calf injury.

But if he is out for any amount of time, that's going to be problematic. If he is not, if he's fine, then their run defense is looking elites the last few weeks. I mean, really, we go back three weeks, Chicago, Miami, and then this team did not do anything on the ground. And they really forced Kyler Murray to be their entire running game. You look at what the running backs did for Arizona today against the Vikings. I mean, 22 yards on nine carries. Rondale Moore had two carries for 12 and Darrell Williams five for eight.

The longest run was nine yards. I mean, that's that is really remarkable that's even with a running quarterback three and a half yards per carry 78 total yards on the ground if they continue to do that it can mitigate some of the effect of number one wide receivers dominating them I don't really know what the answer is but if the bend don't break philosophy looks like this this was a lot of breaking today, honestly. I mean, Arizona stopped themselves on a third down by fumbling the ball. They stopped themselves with a few mistakes throughout the day

where the Vikings defense like quote came up big, but it was more Arizona hurting themselves. Like you mentioned, the one drop pass by DeAndre Hopkins. I mean, he might have run that for a touchdown if he catches the ball. So some of the breaks did go their way in order for them to not give up more points than this. And still they end up giving up 26 points and a whole heck of a lot of yards in a close game situation. 326 to Kyler Murray today. I mean, and if he doesn't throw a totally whacked out interception

where he just flung the ball up in the air, the other one was an ill-advised pass. Like these things definitely don't happen every single week where you get interceptions and sacks like they did today. Last thing, Paul, six and one Vikings. Who would have thought? Sort of me. Actually, I've picked every game correct still.

Seven in a row. Correct picks. Yes, that's right. So I guess I did think they were going to be six and one. But this to me is now the big red button. It's sitting here. It was kind of flashing and Kweisi should have had his hand over it. Like, you know, if you get blown out by Arizona, maybe I'll take my hand away. And maybe I'll think, no, I don't want to give up any draft capital. But now that it's six and one, mash it. That's exactly the same record as the Los Angeles Rams had last year when it was go time.

It's go time. I think that sometimes teams are asking too much, but also there are more teams now that are selling at the deadline than ever. And a lot of teams are deciding we're not a legitimate contender. Take our best stuff, make it yours and try to go win. Last year, LA got criticized for the Vaughn Miller move. It ended up working out. Not all of them do. That's life. Take a shot at it. And I think the position, tell me if you disagree, that they have to take a shot at is and I think the position tell me if you disagree that they have to take a shot at is wide receiver uh Adam Thielen banged up again today had a decent day and came up with a

big catch he ends up with 67 yards on six receptions KJ Osborne two for eight on five targets Irv Smith has not been a factor Munt season catching his first career touchdown but one catch for one yard not super compelling for Johnny Munt to be an first career touchdown, but one catch for one yard. Not super compelling for Johnny Munt to be an extra weapon here. I think if you're going to get above seven yards per pass attempt at some point, there needs to be another body that scares the opposing defense into thinking this other person could someday run fast down the field and make a play. Right now, opposing defenses do not think that about Thielen

and Osborne and they've done very little to prove that opposing defenses should I think that's where they should go out and kind of no matter what it takes I mean people would say like oh you can't give up a first like I don't know man you're six and one like you can you actually can because you're not these quarterbacks who are getting drafted at the top, they're all getting drafted at the top. There's like 20 teams who you could make a case for drafting a quarterback. Really? I mean, think about even Las Vegas.

Like there's all sorts of teams that are bad and that are going to draft CJ Stroud and Bryce Young and Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. They're going to take those guys. You're not getting them. And yeah, for the future. You could lose every game. You could lose every game the rest of the season. You're not drafting high enough to get one of them.

Yeah, I mean, truly, there's that many bad teams. And also your schedule sort of suggests that you won't lose every game the rest of the season. If you are a 500 football squadron for the rest of this year, five and five, let's do the math on that, Paul. That means you're a pretty darn good team at 11 wins. I see no reason not to do something big here in the next couple of days to bring someone in. I know it's not as easy as that, as us just saying it, but I think if they do it, I don't care what the price tag is.

This is one of those years where you have a legitimate shot to go win. So go do it. Yeah. And I think this is a struggle that teams that are contending find themselves in. And one we haven't really had to talk about with the Vikings in the last few years is that some teams try to believe their window is longer than it is. And so they don't go out and spend a first round pick because they say, well, we could be contenders for three, four, five years. Like, why do we want to push all the chips in now? But I think you found there's always going to be two, three, four teams that push their

chips in this year. And they're likely the teams that are always there at the end. It's the bills this year. It's the Eagles going out and trading picks for Robert Quinn and going out and getting AJ Brown before the year. Like other teams are going to pass you by with moves. They're going to go all in. They're going to see this opportunity and they're going to take it. And the Vikings at six and one with a bad division around you, like your two biggest contenders in the NFC are both in the same division. And you think they're going to cannibalize yourself themselves a little bit with the Eagles and the Cowboys to the point where you should be able to walk into that two seed, hopefully with the next couple of years. And I think, you know, we've been critical about the Vikings in the past of going for it, but they were going for it when

the year hadn't started and they were already thinking they were going to be mediocre or in the middle of the year when they weren't very good and you could see the cap on it. And although this team obviously has its warts that we've talked about at nauseam throughout these first weeks of the season, they're still six and one at this point. So this is a start that you dream of. This is a start that a better team, a more talented version of this Vikings team in two, three, four years might not even get to six and one, just because that's how the bounces go. The division might not be as bad as it is this year. Like things are lining up for them and you just have to take it when your moment comes and you have to run with it. And so I agree with you on the wide receiver front. I think we've agreed going back into the draft time

when we wanted them to seriously consider taking a wide receiver to add. I think it opens up Justin Jefferson in so many ways. Forget what the other receiver does production wise. It's going to help Justin Jefferson's production. You saw what Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle's presence do to the two of them, just leaving themselves so much more space because they have to account for another guy. Like the Cardinals in an ideal world would have had Marquise Brown this week. And that would have been scary with the way he was playing and the way DeAndre Hopkins was playing. You have that with Tampa Bay. You have that with these other teams. And the Vikings don't have that. Yeah, Thielen makes that one weird circus catch where he gets some yards after the catch but you can see even in that play he's not moving that fast he has to be shifty he has to kind of like old man vet his

way around there a little bit this team just isn't separating KJ Osborne made a great catch in the end zone he didn't have much separation there like this team isn't going to generate a lot of separation outside of Justin Jefferson and so if you can go get whoever it is out there on the trade market, I think you have to seriously consider it. And especially if it's a guy that you can keep on this team for the longterm and want to keep on this team, if he's got a year or two of cheap deal,

like that's exactly where you want to be and the type of player you want to go after if you're going to make one of these moves. You don't need to go out and get a Delvin Tomlinson replacement by trade. You don't need to do that or necessarily trade for a guard. Those are the non-high value positions you shouldn't be going after. But if you can find a wide receiver or you can find a cornerback, those are the spots that make sense for now, make sense for later, and have the biggest upside and kind of shift the balance of power for you. Yeah. I just think that this roster with the

way that certain guys have played that are older has really shown. And even like you mentioned with Thielen today, but you know, Zedaria Smith is playing great, but how many years of Zedaria Smith will you get this? How many more years of Harrison Smith will you get this? There's just a lot of players on this team that will eventually have to be moved out and bring in other guys. And who knows if those guys can be of the same star level of these players. So when they're all healthy and they're all playing at a fairly high level, even Thielen, I think has been okay as a number three type possession receiver.

I mean, still a good NFL player. He's just not the guy that he was in 2018. When that's the case though, when you have them healthy and they're still playing as some version of themselves and you haven't had to overhaul six or seven key players, I mean, now is the time to do it. I mean, because that won't be easy to replace a lot of the guys, whether it's this next off season or two years from now. I mean, even Delvin Cook, the performance you've gotten out of him this year, there's no guarantee in the future the next guy ends up averaging five yards a carry

like Delvin has, and his prime will eventually come to an end as well. So, yeah, I mean, I just think that this is the time, even if they didn't expect it, and plans change, basically. So this win, if you were on the fence, I think should have pushed you over the fence. That is the bottom line. So I think, um, the fact also that it was a quality win and not one that we thought was just based on a bunch of luck and randomness. Um, you know, some was some always is, but I thought a better played overall game than the Arizona Cardinals, which is what you're looking for. So now we're in very interesting territory.

It has been since 2017 since I felt like, okay, this is kind of an all-in type of situation. It still has 2019 vibes of schedule has helped you, health and everything else. They started that year 9-3, so a long way to go until the end. But they go to Washington, winnable game after that. And then the biggest test of the year in two weeks. So they just ramped up the interesting meter with a whiplash football game that leaves them at six and one. So thank you for your time,

Paul, as always, we'll have the usual Monday morning, Murph Tuesday morning, left guard other mornings. There will be people on as well. It's going to be much and we'll catch you all then.