Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The Vikings playoff scenarios look very different now

Episode Date: December 4, 2023

Matthew Coller talks about the Packers' win over the Chiefs and Jordan Love's explosion over the last month and how Sunday's results were rough on the Vikings' playoff chances. Fans ask about the QB situation and about what comes next in the NFC North Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here. Let me fix my camera. It goes a little sideways. Okay, I think that's right. Welcome to the post-game from a day of football where I just sat and did absolutely nothing except for watched it show here as the game has just gotten over between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. And guess what, everybody? We got a tie in the NFC North now between the Packers and the Vikings at six and six and the Packers playoff chances with their win in Green Bay just shot through the roof and took a huge

chunk out of the Vikings possibilities of making the postseason. And one thing I was out of the Vikings' possibilities of making the postseason. And one thing, so I was out in the car a little bit listening to the game and then came back for the ending, and I heard on the radio broadcast they mentioned that the Packers statistically have the third easiest schedule the rest of the way in the entire NFL. So it's very possible that it could come down to what happens between the Vikings and Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. But I think we have to start by just talking a little bit about what happened at the end of that game with the refereeing. Now, of course, if you're watching this from a Vikings perspective, you are focused largely on the pass interference

that ended any chance of the Kansas City Chiefs coming back. They would have needed to score and then get a two-point conversion, but inside the 10-yard line with a decent amount of time left, you would like their odds to potentially get in and tie the game. And instead, the Packers cornerback rode the receiver down to the ground like he was a horse and there was no call. But yet in a way, ball don't lie because right before that, Patrick Mahomes was going out of bounds, didn't get out of bounds, got hit early. The flag comes out and then they call a 15 yard penalty on Isaiah Pacheco, but not the Packers player who was pushing him to the ground

that caused him to throw a swing. I mean, one of the worst end of game refereeing performances you will ever see in your life, just a disaster across the board. It should not have been very hard to tell that Patrick Mahomes, when he got hit was not out of bounds. And it really should not have been hard to tell that the Packers cornerback was on Valdez Scantling's back as he was going to the ground. So that will be one that we remember along with, you know, some other calls that have played a role in this Viking season, including when they played Kansas City, they were not on the right end of one of those calls when Harrison Smith, if you remember,

got called for a pass interference, I believe on a fourth down that ended up being very costly for the Vikings. So the referees certainly interjecting themselves here. And I don't want to make that the entire show because I want to get to all your questions, comments about today's football, where the Vikings stand,

where you think they stand as far as making the playoffs still after what we've seen from Green Bay. And oh, by the way, a different Jordan Love continues to show up for the Green Bay Packers. We'll get to all that. I also have an article I've been working on throughout the day about all the things that I'm looking for over the final five games. So we'll discuss, throw your questions in the comment section here. Be happy to answer anything you got, but this was a bad day for the Minnesota Vikings playoff chances. For one, the Packers, it's not just that they won and it's not just that they have reached a tie in the NFC North,

technically behind the Vikings because of the Vikings beating the Packers in Green Bay. But really what the Packers look like now and Christian Watson's status is going to be important for what they can do going down the stretch because he hurt his hamstring at the end of the game and there won't be word for a little while if he's going to be kept out or how long he's going to be kept out. But all of a sudden, Jordan Love looks like a competent NFL starter, if not good at football. And I think what we've really seen here is Matt LaFleur adapt his offense to Jordan Love really brilliantly. I mean, a lot of stuff moving left to right, a lot of quick passes, a lot of handoffs to the wide receivers, getting guys open

so Jordan Love can get rid of the ball quickly. And then all he has to do is make a couple of throws downfield. But there's a lot of slants, a lot of stuff going to the middle of the field. The Kansas City, especially early in the game, had a ton of trouble handling. And also now those Packers receivers that had a lot of problems getting on the same page with Aaron Rodgers are now looking like they're connecting nicely with Jordan Love and the Packers are rolling. Their defense also cannot be ignored here either, that their defensive line has been

really good. They've been without Jair Alexander and yet still finding a way in the secondary. I mean, the Packers are just looking like a very strong team all of the sudden, and I would not have imagined that. Just a couple of weeks ago, when I was leaving Lambeau Field, one of the things I thought was, you know, maybe the Vikings can still make the playoffs without Kirk Cousins because there's nobody to track them down. All of a sudden, they've been tracked down by the Green Bay Packers. It also speaks to just how bad and how costly the loss by the Vikings was to the Chicago Bears because not only did the Green Bay Packers

track down the Vikings today, but also the Los Angeles Rams. And if you caught any of that game, Matthew Stafford is playing phenomenal football right now for the Rams. And so there's something in common. Now the Seahawks are also in this mix as well. It's basically four teams for two spots at this moment, but there's something in common with a couple of the teams that the Vikings are

racing in the playoffs. They have their starting quarterbacks healthy and playing well, whereas the Vikings are debating whether they're going to bench Josh Dobbs or not, which we'll definitely get to. And I'll answer some of your questions there, but the way that the Packers have emerged and come on since losing to the Vikings is something that I did not expect. In fact, I remember thinking at the trade deadline, why didn't they just sell some players? I mean, why aren't they trading Kenny Clark or are moving on from a few guys that maybe could help another team?

And instead, they are right here. And I think what you're seeing in Green Bay is Matt LaFleur won a lot of football games with Aaron Rogers, but now he's finally been able to put in his full offense. Doesn't mean that the ceiling for Jordan love is going to be higher than it was for Aaron Rogers, but certainly you're seeing the creativity and coaching style of Matt LaFleur come to life and seeing a Packers team that right now, if you're comparing what we've seen recently, and it's very much reactionary to the last few weeks, but they look better than the Minnesota Vikings right now that the Vikings are going to Las Vegas. And I think they'll win,

but I'm not completely sure they'll win just because of how they played against the Chicago bears. And even in Denver, like those were two games that we thought they would win just because of how they played against the Chicago bears. And even in Denver, like those were two games that we thought they would win as well. Whereas now the Packers, they've taken down Kansas city and are absolutely rolling. And the thing about Jordan love is, you know, of course they're showing the, uh, the Brett Favre, the Aaron Rogers, like, let's not go crazy just yet with, you know, anointing Jordan Love to be the next great Packers quarterback. But what we're seeing is him develop in real time. And, you know, maybe this thing about having a quarterback sit, if they're not completely ready, there's something to that. I don't know. Maybe not always, but in

this instance, the way that he's come along, his comfort in the offense, his control of the offense, he took a bad sack at the end of the game, but was not taking sacks, was getting rid of the football and making plays down the field. Like that, that is something that we really didn't see when the Vikings were in Green Bay was that command of the offense. It looked like he was kind of, where do I throw the ball? A little bit of confusion. And some of that might've been Brian Flores' defense, but now I've seen it over multiple games,

including against Detroit last week. And you can't say, hey, the Chiefs don't have a good defense because they do. And they lost, you know, Drew Tranquil is a key player for them early in the game to a concussion that may have played into the defensive performance by the Chiefs to some extent. But Jordan Love is really passing the eye test and the statistical test tonight, which does not give you a whole ton of confidence about the Vikings making the playoffs after what we saw today. And of course, that has to include the

Los Angeles Rams as well. And the way that they were playing offensively, the Rams were going up against one of the league's best defenses in Cleveland and they were able to light them up. And Stafford is probably playing the best football that I've seen him play. I mean, of course he wins the Superbowl and he was great in that playoff run, but throughout that season, even in 2021, Stafford was up and down and now he's got a fewer weapons, not even as good of an offensive line. And they're finding ways to score a bunch of points against Cleveland, not trending in the right direction for the Vikings. And if they had beaten Chicago, then you would look at this and go, okay, well, you still got a lead on everybody and you've got two games against

backup quarterbacks coming up. You got to beat green Bay at home and take one from the lions and you'll be fine. But now they're not in that driver's seat in the same way. And they're also not playing as good a football as the other two teams that are chasing them down. Now Seattle's had a bunch of tough matchups and we'll see if Seattle ends up falling out of the race or bringing themselves back into it as well. But if you were going into this day saying, all right, stress-free day, get to watch football, no Vikings to drive you crazy, or, or, you know, have you clenching your fists? Well, by the end of the night, especially because of a pass interference, you were clenching your fists? Well, by the end of the night, especially because of a pass interference, you were clenching your fists anyway. Quite, quite a day in the NFL though with, you know, I see why everybody enjoys so much watching all day on Sunday. So I had an opportunity

not covering a game to do that. And it was a lot of fun. So let me jump into what you guys are asking in the chat and we'll go through some of those questions and feel free to jump in everybody with any questions or comments that you have. And I'm happy to answer them after this crazy day. And also, I mean, just, wow. I really enjoyed watching the Houston Texans play today and some of their players that they've drafted high. I was a little snarky on Twitter about tanking. I'll try to keep that off the show too much today, but the Detroit Lions also bouncing back and beating New Orleans. Again, everything going against the Vikings, except for Seattle losing the other night, but everything else going against

the Vikings today, Detroit looking like they bounced right back. And it's very clear that they're making the most out of their weapons. Now, Jamison Williams is getting to be part of that offense. So, you know, chasing down the lions just a couple of weeks ago seemed realistic. And now it does not seem realistic at all.

Todd asks, what are your thoughts on if we start Dobbs next week? Yeah, I think, and I'm going to stay with this, that they should start Josh Dobbs next week and roll the dice and see what happens because in three out of the four games that he played, he gave them a chance to win. And then against Chicago, it was a meltdown and there's no sugarcoating how bad it was against Chicago. There were two interceptions that were tipped, but he tried to throw like two more. So I can't, I can't even say like, Oh, it was bad luck. It wasn't, it was a

bad performance, uh, by Josh Dobbs, but he will have an opportunity if they stay with him to play with Justin Jefferson. He's got the playmaking element to his game. I don't think we can just look at that one game as opposed to the whole sample size of Dobbs playing quarterback and say, all right, well, he had a bad game. So we're going to the next guy. When you look at Nick Mullen's career, he's five and 12 as a starter when playing for a good team in a good offense with a good coach. And with 23 interceptions in 17 career games, career starts, that's more than anyone has thrown in a single season since Jameis Winston in 2019. So I'm not sure that when you even talk about the rhythm and timing, can the ball get there

as fast as Kirk Cousins can throw it? No. And even if Mullins has a better idea of the offense, he hasn't played. At least Dobbs has been playing. Dobbs has been playing all year. Nick Mullins hasn't played in a long time. He played a week 18 against Chicago for like a half. And beyond that, it's been a long time since Nick Mullins has even been in a football game. I would be much more comfortable with Dobbs. And I think that it might be Kevin O'Connell's way of sending a message. And I could be wrong because they're not.

I don't think they're going to announce it at the beginning of the week. I think they're going to do the thing where they take it all the way up to the final moment before kickoff, before we know who the starting quarterback is going to be. But I look at Nick Mullins as a guy who you, in a case of emergency, could put in, but is not over a long period of time, which I think five games is a pretty long period of time, going to give you a chance to get in the playoffs, especially when you have these other teams that are now neck and neck with the Vikings in this playoff race. So I would lean toward Dobbs, but I'm curious to hear what you

guys think about what they should do. Skull Vikings says Dobbs has the highest ceiling, but is very turnover prone. But that's my point about Nick Mullins is he's also turnover prone. And some of the fumbles that are credited to Dobbs are just missed snaps, which you would assume is going to improve as he's learning about this offense and taking snaps from Garrett Bradbury. So I think there's like three or four where he's been credited for fumbles. So it's a little inflated that number, but you're exactly right. I mean, there's no question about it that Dobbs has a major turnover problem. And here's another stat for you that in his first four games, he has eight turnover worthy plays by PFF. That's as many as Kirk Cousins had

in eight games. And that's actually more than Dak Prescott has this year. And I mean, that's way too much, way too much. But at the same time, this idea that Nick Mullins timing is going to be great with Justin Jefferson. When has he ever thrown to Justin Jefferson? He hasn't never. I mean, I don't remember seeing any reps ever taken in training camp between Mullins and Jefferson. I can't imagine they've taken too many in practice.

So even if Mullins has a great understanding of the offense, that doesn't mean he's going to actually be able to execute it in full speed with pressure and everything else. That just is a, that is a really, really, really tough ask, I think for Nick Mullins, but it's going to be up to Kevin O'Connell. And he seemed extremely frustrated by Dobbs. We've also seen him kind of send messages in a different way than Mike Zimmer did in the past. I was always used to the Mike Zimmer way of sending messages, which was just to say it out loud in public. But it's a little bit different now with Kevin O'Connell. So we'll, we'll have to see. I lean toward,

you're still in the very much in the thick of this playoff race even though you know now uh with green bay winning your odds are much lower than they would have been just two weeks ago i think two weeks ago we were talking about their odds to make the playoffs at being around 60 70 and they've just taken a huge hit over these last couple of weeks because that would have factored in thinking that they would beat the chicago bears Todd says, if Jordan Love becomes a thing, I don't know what to do. It has to end, right? Well, and Ken says, Jordan Love's arm is looking confident. Yeah, I totally agree.

This is one where we try lots of different methods to grade and evaluate quarterbacks, but it's always a know it when you see it thing. And a few weeks ago, you were not seeing it from Jordan Love, but now that he's strung all these games together where he is looking confident. And I know the one pass deep down the field was a balloon that fell out of the sky and, you know, into somebody's arms, but on a play to play basis, he looked totally in command, getting the offense lined up, running the execution with the timing and everything else. If he becomes a thing, then this battle for the NFC North future just got a whole lot more interesting.

And suddenly we go from saying, Hey, you know, well, if they brought back Kirk, then they would have by far the best quarterback or something, right? Well, Jared Goff has the Lions at 9-3. Caleb Williams may very well become a Chicago Bear after Carolina lost again. In fact, I don't know how he can't become a Chicago Bear from what we've seen from Justin Fields. Now Jordan Love appears to be on the rise, though they're going to have to do something with his contract eventually and pay him, but still appears to be on the rise though. They're going to have to do something with his contract eventually and pay him, but still appears to be on the rise. And, uh, you know, here you have the Vikings with complete uncertainty of what is going to happen at their quarterback situation. Jordan love

playing as well as he has is really swinging how we feel about both now and the playoff race. But then later, because I, I was not looking at them making this comeback for sure. Uh, Jared says the Packers can have the playoffs. I'll take the playoff spot. Our season was over when Kirk's Achilles blew up. I mean, yes and no, the season didn't have to be over when it blew up. They needed to beat the bears and the Broncos two games where they were this close to winning and let slip through their fingers. But, you know, that is the one score goblins coming and going, I guess, because this year it's been more one score games all over the place.

Sometimes it's swung against them like a drop in the end zone against the Chargers or what happened against Chicago. Sometimes it's, you know know swung in their direction as well this year but it's been much more 50 50 and i remember going back last year when we were having all those conversations about the one score games and looked at kirk cousins career as a viking and what i discovered was that he's like 500 in those one score games so we expected it to kind of go back to normal and it has, and the Vikings have gotten some bad breaks, but they've played well enough since he's been out

to be in the thick of this race and make the playoffs. I don't think this has to mean that it's over, but they are not playing the best football of the teams that are racing for this spot. And now they get to play two backup quarterbacks. So if you lose one of these two games, the next two weeks, then yes, you're exactly right. You cannot lose under any circumstances. If you want to make the playoffs against the Raiders or against the Bengals. Now, maybe there's an argument that you could have is like, look, this was, you know, the Packers, they've got their quarterback. So they're a year ahead of the Vikings in their competitive rebuild post Rogers, because they know who their quarterback is. And once Kirk went down that this competitive rebuild thing probably

wasn't going to result in the post season. And, uh, you know, I, I guess I would have agreed with you in the moment when he got hurt, but then after you see Dobbs come in and win a couple of games, like, well, now it feels like you really let it go and you let it slip through your fingers. And there's a lot of regrets there about not making the playoffs. But maybe you could argue, look, if you have Josh Dobbs, you're not going deep in the playoffs anyway. So play for draft status, even though I always advocate, Hey, if you can tear it down, do it at the right time, Detroit, tear it, tore it down.

Look at them now, a couple of years later, you can do that. But you know, when they're four and four, and then they win a couple of games and get to six and four, I'm not saying play for draft status at that point. Then you're, you know, could you be a little dangerous in the playoffs? And also I think what we saw the other night too, is if you miss the playoffs, that probably means that things went bad for you. And what I mean with players that matter. So your quarterback situation's completely unclear. Jordan Addison didn't have a good game the other night, right? Like that. If you make the playoffs,

that means a lot of players are trending in the right direction that are part of a competitive rebuild team. That's how the Packers are going to feel. So to say that not making the playoffs is fine for the Vikings feels like a little rationalization there from what we just saw happen with Green Bay. Red Star MN says, love could be the best quarterback in the North. I assume you mean next year. Not saying he's great, but there may not be much here. Yeah, I don't know like what the ceiling is as far as can he be great?

Can he just be good enough? But he looks like he is a NFL starting quarterback with a very good offensive system. Some receivers that are suddenly making plays, and then the arm talent to throw the ball down the field. And also when he threw that touchdown to Christian Watson, he was throwing off of his back foot and finds him in the end zone. And I understand your feelings as Vikings fans watching Jordan Love make that throw off his back foot into the end zone. Like, wait a minute, we've seen that before. But also watching it from the perspective of the Vikings quarterbacks out with an Achilles injury. Who knows if Kirk Cousins will be back?

Who knows who you're drafting? Or if there's anyone available that you want to draft, et cetera, et cetera. And you're really the only team now in the North without a clear planet quarterback because Jordan love after what we've seen so far, he is their guy going forward. Fields is probably not, but Caleb Williams at the top of the draft. And then Jared Goff is going to continue to be the quarterback of a top 10 offense in Detroit. I mean, now you're left out of that party. Uh, Dave says watching the Packers get to the playoffs over us will be brutal, particularly brutal because of how it played out. Because the Vikings were in the driver's seat and fumbled it away in Denver

and then gave it away in many different ways in Chicago, we would have to take a long time to go through all the ways they allowed Chicago to win that game. So you were right there. Now, now this, I don't agree with, uh, Brooks says, none of this matters. Both teams aren't going anywhere that I cannot say that I agree with. Now, if you mean are either one of these teams winning the super bowl, they're not, I saw the 49ers today. You saw the 49ers today. No, they're not. Uh, if they can beat Philly like that. And plus I would not count out Dallas. I know a lot of you don't believe in Mike McCarthy and I feel you at the

same time that offense is absolutely rolling and Dak Prescott is playing MVP football. So yes, to your point, it won't matter in the terms of this year. It does matter in the big picture of the NFC North that suddenly the Green Bay Packers quarterback looks like he can really play. And they're just getting started. I mean, they're considering themselves also in a competitive rebuild type of phase post Rogers, where they're trying to get their salary cap, right. And moving in a lot of new young players, but they have two or three receivers who are making plays for Jordan love. And they have a good coach that I think we know Matt Lafleur has been a very good coach for them. Their defense is starting to come together. So if that game against the Packers matters,

it's a little bit of a different defense. You're going to go up against it with Josh Dobbs. I mean, yeah, like, but the long-term of it is if they feel like they have their quarterback and you don't know who your quarterback is, that's pretty relevant to the long-term discussion for the NFC North just in general. Folks, is there any better way to spend the holidays than attending sports? Knowing you guys, I'm guessing the answer is no. Well, there is a way to spend the holidays than attending sports knowing you guys i'm guessing the answer is no well there is a way to get to all of the events that you want to get to during the holiday season with affordable tickets my friends you are going to want to check out the game time app it's the fast and easy way to buy tickets to everything sports and also much much more shows concerts all on all on GameTime.

One of the cool parts about GameTime is that they have flash deals on last-minute tickets and a low-price guarantee, which means if you find something lower in the section or row, they will credit you 110%. You also get images of your seat location, which I love because those maps can be a little confusing. Buy tickets in seconds. Have them arrive right to your phone. It's great. Download the GameTime app.

Create an account. Use the code INSIDER for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code INSIDER for $20 off your first purchase. Download GameTime today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Julian says the Vikings do get Justin Jefferson back. That should help.

I agree. I agree with that. And if it doesn't help, let's not blame Justin Jefferson and say that we should trade him for four first round picks or something in the off season. Cause I have a feeling if they lose to the Raiders that that's going to come up where Jefferson fits in though is on my list of things to watch for the final five games of the season. Because during this time where he's been out, they did go five and two.

That's not a consolation prize because they should have gone seven and oh, but are they going to focus the offense so much on Justin Jefferson that it is choppy and up and down just entirely dependent on him? Because that has been the case at times in the past last year, especially. And since he's been out, they have been forced to distribute the ball more. And TJ Hawkinson has more catches than anybody else in the league. Since Jefferson went out, we saw Jordan Addison in that game. So in the last game, he struggled Jordan Addison, But we've seen Jordan Addison game after game put up big performances. So how is it going to play out with Addison, Hawkinson, Jefferson working his way back in and distributing the ball over the field, also with whoever you're distributing it with?

And the Vikings also have to find a way to run more successfully and also stick with it when it is succeeding, because it feels like Kevin O'Connell just can't really bring himself to stick with a run game, even though against Chicago, if they do that, there's a good chance that they win as opposed to turning the ball over a bunch of times. So Skoll Vikings says, who's the week one starting quarterback for the Vikings next season? I have no idea. I have no idea. Gardner Minshew. Gardner Minshew was fun today, wasn't he?

Against the Titans. That was a crazy game. I don't know. I mean, if I had to guess, I would say Kirk Cousins, but I really don't know. There's going to be fear, I think, from the Vikings front office ownership, whoever is making this call, Kevin O'Connell, the triumvirate of leadership. There is going to be fear that they won't be able to keep up with the other teams in their quarterback situations. I think that's, that's real because when you see Jordan love playing like this, then you know, that Jared golf can operate

that offense at a high level, which he has for the last two years and figure in that Chicago's getting the number one overall draft pick to give to DJ more and a roster that's improving in Chicago and all the cap space that they have. Do you want to keep up? How are you going to do it? Because if you, if you draft a quarterback, you might lose some games in the division right away. And we know that this team is not into taking the long-term look by losing some games right away. Right? So that is my bet right now. But if you're making a pie chart, it's like, I don't know, 30% Kirk Cousins and then a bunch of little pie chart, you know, a little pie slices that could be a bunch of other

names. Could it be Josh Dobbs if he comes back against the Raiders, plays well, gets them in the playoff race to the last day and they view him as a bridge quarterback? I mean, that's unless they bench him this week. That really tells you just how many possible options there are for next season. If I had it my way, I would have a bridge quarterback, maybe even named a bridge water. And, uh, I would try to do anything I could to draft Jalen Daniels. That might not be possible. Uh, I was impressed with Bo Nix. We're going to see more of Michael Penix.

I don't have a whole lot of appreciation for JJ McCarthy as a prospect. Don't really see him as a first rounder. Some people do. Maybe the Vikings do. There's so many options at quarterback, but I think clearly, you know, Kirk Cousins is going to be at the top of that list for potential options. Now that's another question though. Does the final five games impact whatins is going to be at the top of that list for potential options. Now that's another question though. Does the final five games impact what they're going to do? And now you might think, well, if they play badly and go, Oh, and five and lose the Jake Browning, then well, Kirk's coming back. Cause they can't win without him.

But then also might make them look at it and say, Hey, the middle of the season was fun, but it's not really where we're at in our timeline is we weren't going to be a real contender. Truly. We just had a hot stretch during the middle of the season, and we still need to take the long-term outlook. That could also be the way they look at it. If they struggle, if they go one and four, the rest of the way, miss the playoffs, even. Even two and three at this point is unlikely to get them in. I'm not even certain three and two is, but if it includes a win against the Packers, then it probably does. Those schedules, though, for the Rams and Packers are just very easy.

And I wouldn't count Seattle out of that mix either. So if they were to win three out of five and make the playoffs or have a higher draft pick? Yeah, that's why it's hard. Because if, let's say that Dobbs plays this week and plays well, they win the next two games and get one out of the next three to finish nine and eight. Tiebreakers or not, who knows?

Let's just say they finished nine and eight and the totality of Josh Dobbs is good. Let's say in that scenario, again, you might be benched. I don't know, but let's just say in that scenario, I think that's a good scenario because it means you have a bridge quarterback and you can draft one, but you have someone, you know, you can win with for next year. That's a good scenario by the same token. If they just play Nick Mullins, Jaron Hall, whoever bring back Sean Mannion, Todd Bowman doesn't matter. And they lose a bunch of games, go one and four, they're going to draft higher and they're going to have to trade up less to get their guy,

or they're going to have, you know, more opportunity, more options to get their guy in the middle of the first round. It's hard to argue with that because if you're not as good as the Packers, which I mean, right now, hard to say that they really are the way Green Bay is playing. If you're not as good as the Rams, maybe closer, but the Rams are playing extremely well

and have a ton of talent. So maybe you're neck and neck with them at best. If you're not the best team and you're desperately in need of your future quarterback, then yeah, it's better to miss the playoffs. But it's also very hard to say, man, it's a good thing that the Packers came and got you from behind and that you lost to Chicago. Those are tough things to argue about, I think. Dave says, is Hall not being considered by the staff. Do you think I don't

think so? Um, now again, could be proven wrong by that. I don't think so. And the reason is in my mind that, well, they, I mean, they traded for Josh Dobbs. Now they had to get somebody right, but they traded for Josh Dobbs. They talked about him as if he was going to start eventually. Anyway, if Jaron Hall had played amazing in that game against the Falcons and we'll never know how he would have played, but if he had played amazing, then maybe they would have just stuck with him. But from what we saw in training camp and preseason, he looked to me like a guy that needed another year before he was comfortable playing

in the NFL. And I can't judge off two drives. I mean, he made a good pass to Madison wide open, and then, you know, the injury happens. But if you're looking at it, like you're talking about the timing, the execution, the mastery of the offense, that isn't what you talk about with a rookie playing. It's more what you talk about if it's Nick Mullins. So yeah, I mean, I don't think that that's in consideration with Hall unless they get to a point where they're out of the playoffs, which, you know, Dennis says should just go with Hall and see what you have. The part about that, it does make sense as in, Hey, if you are looking at the future and the future only, which I don't think they are. And that's why I would say it's Dobbs or Mullins.

But if you're looking at the future, then you want to see what you have in a young player, but what you don't have 95% chance, if not better than that is a franchise quarterback in Jaron Hall, whether you play him or not, because I mean, just by a physical skills perspective, like he looks to me like a guy who could be a fringe type of, you know, Josh Dobbs level at best, like someone who might be a Gardner Minshew at best, but not someone that you're really considering from what you've seen so far as the long-term franchise quarterback. So the only time you're really considering from what you've seen so far as the long-term franchise quarterback. So the only time you're going to do that to sort of give him experience would just be at the end of the year if they are out of the playoffs. So that's how I

view it. Maybe Jaron Hall will turn out to be Tom Brady or Dak Prescott, and I'll be wrong. I do like Jaron Hall. That's not an insult. I just think when you draft someone in the fifth round, who's 25 years old and doesn't have any elite skill that you don't think they're going to become a star. I mean, Brock Purdy sure has, so it could always happen. And maybe that's the reason for you to play him. Um, but I don't think they've given up on the season yet, which means they more likely go with the experienced players. Uh, he felt says you'll just be giving up on him like every other team. Uh, if he hasn't, Oh, you're talking about Josh Dobbs. Yeah. Josh Dobbs. You'll just be giving up on him like every other team. If he has another stinker, then definitely bench him.

But he had one bad game. Cousins had several bad games. That is definitely worth pointing out that we have seen throughout the last two years, and this goes for all teams. So it's not just Kevin O'Connell I'm saying this about, but there is this sort of penchant for a complete offensive, nothing like just total no-show, nothing happens. Can't move the ball. Blah, the whole game. And two of them happened this year, as you mentioned, one of them against Carolina, which was a disgusting football game. And then in Chicago, they put up fewer yards against Chicago than they did at home against Chicago. Like that's how bad the offense was then. So I I'm with you that it was just one bad game and they have two weeks to prepare for this one, two weeks to get Josh Dobbs ready and continue to build around him with the offense. But I think if you're going to do it, here's the problem. If you're going to do it, then you have to work it to what Josh Dobbs does well. And I think what they've wanted to do

is get as much of their offense into, you know, Josh Dobbs, as opposed to working for what he does well, uh, a little bit more, which is kind of, you know, one of their ethoses as a team is like, let's play to everybody's strengths. And then I saw way too many straight seven step dropbacks that were made for Kirk Cousins in that game against the bears. Uh, a lot of it was execution on Josh Dobbs's part, but you know, what you see from Jordan love that I've noticed too, is there's a lot of these little rollouts and little bootlegs and little quick game and stuff like that, that is making it easier on a play-to-play basis for Jordan Love.

Now, that's not a button you could just push. You don't just have like the mash the bootleg button. Dobbs might be better at being on the move and having a chance to escape if something goes wrong. And I also think that his quick game is actually decent. It's one of the reasons that he averages like six yards a pass for his career because he's not bad, I think think at just getting the ball underneath, but trying to throw it 25 yards down the field over and over is really asking for problems. So, uh, yeah, I, I think they should

give Dobbs another shot, but we'll see on that. Uh, skull Vikings asks, which college quarterback do you like for the Vikings? For me, it's Jalen Daniels. I think he should win the Heisman for one, but that level of explosiveness, we've seen it from Jalen Hurts. We've seen it from Lamar Jackson. And the way that Daniels throws the football is farther ahead than either of those two players. You're a little concerned that he's on the smaller side, but imagine like Kyler Murray without the little questions about leadership and a little

bit bigger, but he's got that level of speed and quickness and Murray's got a better arm. He could have been an MLB player, but I think he throws the ball extremely well. That would be my choice. I could also see them looking at Michael Penix and saying, this is a guy who throws with anticipation, throws rockets, just has a great arm. So they might be looking at accuracy and arm talent and the timing and rhythm of an offense. For me, I'd prefer that running element that makes him a little bit more scary. Let's see. Adept Gopnik says, uh, KOC needs to drill into Dobbs head that a sack is better than a fumble. Oh, you're absolutely right about that. Uh,

the hero ball stuff he's been doing has to stop, or we might as well have gotten Carson Wentz instead. Yeah, no, I agree. I just agree with everything you said there. Yep. A hundred percent Dobbs tries too hard to make that play. And he's like trying to force the ball out of his hands and it's either intentional grounding or a fumble. It's yeah. But is that something you can drill out of a guy who consistently turns the ball over that? I don't know. Uh, Freddie says, do I think that, uh, Wes Phillips should be calling the plays? That is a good question. Uh, I don't know. I mean, so there's been some more scrutiny over Kevin O'Connell when it comes to the game management stuff, because they weren't

aggressive at the end of the game. And there's been some things about getting the call in on time quick enough. Um, no, you know, the timeouts were an issue in one particular game i don't look at it like that's the major problem i also think that the way that play calling works it's a little bit i'm not saying overrate like really overrated because you know he's the one kevin o'connell's the one pushing the buttons but when it comes to putting together a whole game plan it's really the whole staff and they have ideas for when these plays should be called. And then they call them in those situations, how much the play caller makes a difference. I don't know. Now that might be an argument for you to say, well, then why not give it to Wes Phillips and let Kevin O'Connell just be the head coach. But I think

that Kevin O'Connell views himself as sort of the puppet master pulling the puppet strings of the quarterback. And like, he is the one that like, when you play a video game, the quarterback is kind of like, you're, you're dialing up all the buttons, right? I think that's how O'Connell looks at it. I don't think he'll ever step away from calling plays just like Mike Zimmer would never step away from calling plays when it came to the defensive side. Brian's Horror Corner says the Packers look dangerous. You look at their upcoming schedule. I don't see them winning less than 10 games.

I agree with you. I agree with you. It is one of the easiest schedules in the entire NFL, and the Vikings have two easy games and now three very hard games. The Packers have already seen them once Jordan love is playing much, much better. And you could say, well, they're coming to us bank stadium. You just lost to the bears at us bank stadium. Like that doesn't really mean a whole heck of a lot. Uh, uh, you know, for me that home and road, if you have a backup quarterback, go get them says I hate to admit it, but with the Packers schedule,

they're winning four or five more games for sure. I think that's right. I mean, they should. They could always melt down. But this game was hard to rationalize any other take. It's hard to say, like, oh, they got lucky or, you know, they're just on a hot streak or whatever else. I mean, this was a good Kansas City defense. A Kansas City offense has had its problems, but they can still score a bunch of points.

They still have the best quarterback in the world. And the Packers soundly beat them. You know, they had to hold on at the end, but they played better football than Kansas City. It was a struggle for Kansas city that entire game. Um, so, you know, I, I think you're right that green Bay has a very good chance, uh, to go down the stretch long way to go. Everything changes. Um, you know, week to week about how we feel about the entire league. That's a hard one to dispute though. Uh, skull Viking says Flores is going to win the Raiders game. His defense is going to add some scores.

That's very possible. I mean, they're playing Aiden O'Connell. He's kind of just the guy. His stats are okay, but not like terrible. The thing is about the Raiders defense though, it hasn't been that bad. Their passing defense is sort of mid of the mid pack and they've got some players. And look, if you're going to throw four picks, I mean, that's the thing about, we could usually go into a game and even like

there was a roller coaster with Kirk cousins, but oftentimes we could go into a game and we'd have some idea of like how it should go or like, what's going to determine the wins and losses. If they do this to Kirk, then that, right. Or if this, right, like this is the way they could beat Kirk or if this happens, but with backup quarterbacks, we don't even know who's starting. It's really just a total, total coin flip for what's going to happen on a week to week basis against the saints. Dobbs was fantastic. Now the saints look like kind of a joke over the last few weeks. So I don't know, uh, against Denver, he was good enough to win, made some plays. And then the very next week you get one of the worst performances we've seen from a quarterback in a very long time. Uh, let's see, uh, uh, depth Gopnik says agree with, uh,

well, an earlier comments or really want to see Powell continue to get reps after Jefferson comes back. Yeah. Brandon Powell has been a nice receiver for them. Uh, they have, I think, I don't know all of the wide receiver coaches in the league, so I can't rank them, but, uh, Keena McArdle has done a great job while Jefferson has been out and how he mixes back in. That's something I'm very, very interested in. Let's see. PY 314 says rank the NFC North coaches. Well, gosh, you know, it's hard to go against Dan, the man Campbell. I mean, Dan Campbell, he comes into the league and he has some crazy press conference.

And so everyone talks about how he's biting ankles or whatever, what he was doing, gnawing on shins. I forget what he was doing in this crazy press conference. And some articles come out about how he drinks like this huge coffee every day. And you're like, okay,

guy's just a meathead, right? I think he's a lot more than a meathead. Uh, I think that he put in charge one of the best offensive minds in the league and Ben Johnson. And that roster has been built really well Dan Campbell does it differently than LaFleur and Kevin O'Connell

where you know LaFleur and Kevin O'Connell are the offensive masterminds they're the McVay-ish type of coaches where Campbell is sort of that older school type where he's putting his coordinators in charge so if if they lose Ben Johnson, that could be a huge, huge blow to the Detroit lions with Dan Campbell. So I think he's probably more dictated by his coordinators than the others. I have a tough time now putting Dan Campbell as the best coach in the division though. And then with Lafleur and Kevin O'Connell, it's a bit of a coin flip for me. I think they both have their weaknesses and their strengths. And offensively, what LaFleur has done this year has been really impressive. He also has a bigger resume than O'Connell. Maybe he gets the edge because of that.

I think they're pretty even. And then Matt Iberflues probably won't be here after this year. He will be a very good defensive coordinator though. No matter where he goes or what he does, I'm always impressed by how good Matt Eberflus' defenses are against the Vikings. Folks, I hope you've enjoyed listening to us talk about prize picks this year, but if you've missed it, here's how it works. You go to prizepicks.com and it is simple. You pick either more or less between two and six players stat projections and that's it now you're playing so if it's x number of yards for a quarterback you just decide are they going to throw for more or less than that number of yards but it works with lots of

different options receiving yards touchdowns even field goals all sorts of sports as well prizepicks.com slash purple go there use the code purple for the first deposit match up to 100 one of the reasons i like prize picks it is very simple to use you see how we do it on the show real quick and easy and then we talk about our picks and also not expensive either you can turn 10 into 250 by nailing just a couple of picks so go to prizepicks.com slash purple the code purple daily fantasy sports made easy uh todd says me personally i like where we are because if we hit on the quarterback we are in excellent shape that's a hundred percent correct I am not saying after this evening and watching

the Packers that you should sell all of your purple stuff and get cheese heads. I mean, they've got good food in Wisconsin, but you know, I'm not saying go that, go that far to become Packers fans and hop on that bandwagon. What I would say is that they have their quarterback and you don't. And that leaves more uncertainty. When you look at the Vikings roster though, to this point, everything feels bad when the Packers just won and you just lost to the Bears. Everything feels terrible. At the same time, you have a really good foundation in the roster that has developed over this year with a lot of young players. Josh Metellus, Cam Bynum, Caleb Evans, Makai Blackman. Makai Blackman is third among rookie corners in PFF grade going into this week. I mean,

Ivan Pace Jr., Jordan Addison. There's a lot of stuff here. You've got Hawkinson for years. You know that Derrissaw is getting extended. Very likely Jefferson as well. There's a lot here. This offensive line, and it probably will stay this way after Philadelphia played San Francisco. The offensive line is ranked number one by PFF. Like there's a lot to work with here. And to me, that increases the odds of the Vikings getting a good quarterback

because you can get a great setup for them. And we see this like, look, Brock Purdy might've become a good quarterback anywhere, but he's perfect for what we, what we see him do in San Francisco, just the perfect fit. So what helps him out? Debo Samuel, you know, Brandon, Iuke, George Kittle, Trent Williams, his coach. What you're trying to do is recreate some version of that. Doesn't have to be with the seventh round pick though. You could actually hit on your first round pick rather than trading all of those draft picks like San Francisco did. But there is a San Francisco-esque type of vibe to the playmakers in the offensive line. Now they need the running back. They need, I mean, you don't want to spend a lot on a running back, but you do need someone better than what they have. But you've got a spot where you can drop

a quarterback into. So there's, I think, equal chance that we're talking about, well, the Packers and the Bears and the Lions all have better quarterbacks, as we are saying, well, the Vikings have the best quarterback in the division two years from now. Let's see. PY314 says, what if the Vikes delay drafting a quarterback until 2025? Only if they have to. In my mind, only if the Vikes delay drafting a quarterback until 2025? Only if they have to, in my mind, only if they have to. We've delayed and delayed and delayed and quarterbacks come

into the league and they succeed and you watch them and you go like, well, I guess should drafted that guy. I guess should, you know, how, how much longer do you want to do that? And some quarterbacks have busted along the way for sure. And that's always possible. But what drafting one now gives you is a chance to do it again if it doesn't work out. And that would have been the argument, say, to draft and very happy with Jordan Addison. But if you drafted Will Levis and then you didn't think he was good, you could just draft another one. But instead, you don't get to find out if he's good. And the same goes for all the guys that they've passed on recently. I don't like continuing to pass and pass and pass and pass. You're never going to strike gold if you don't dig. So they're going to have to dig at some point. Uh, let's see. Adept says, uh, I like the

idea of keeping hall around for backup purposes. Oh yeah, no, he's not going anywhere. He's done certainly enough to prove he could be a backup. Having a consistent backup in the same system can be a good thing. Oh yeah, we've seen the value of backups for sure this year, if nothing else. Bradley says, I'm not advocating for it, but can you see Justin Jefferson traded down South, potentially Houston? No, I can't see Justin Jefferson traded down South potentially Houston?

No, I can't see Justin Jefferson being traded anywhere. The Vikings will fight to the death with Justin Jefferson to keep him. They'll franchise him twice. They'll make, they're going to try to fight all the way through with him. He's part of the reason you think you're in a good spot. He's a huge part of the reason why you think that you're in a good spot and why you can replace Kirk Cousins as a quarterback and why they didn't extend Kirk Cousins, because you feel like this guy can single-handedly along with the offense, the offensive line, make a quarterback better. So you don't want to be trading that player away, but you know, I'm sure we'll get that conversation popping up all the time, uh, in the upcoming months, especially if they miss the playoffs, but the best idea is to

sign Justin Jefferson to a long-term contract and allow him to do everything he can for the quarterbacks to come in here. Uh, let's see. Steve says no need for the Vikings to improve. Fans will still buy tickets and merchandise. You know, Steve, that's like, to me, that's see. Steve says no need for the Vikings to improve. Fans will still buy tickets and merchandise. You know, Steve, that's like, to me, that's like a three years old opinion. Um, popping up now when the Vikings in 2020 made their half-ass rebuild where they traded for Yannick and Gawkway because they were freaking out over losing Daniel Hunter. And they let a couple of players go, but not a lot and try to just hold on for dear life and brought back cousins. To me, that was

a time where you could say, guys, you're not living in reality. You're not really trying to win here. You're just trying to survive. You're just trying to be average enough to make sure you're not bad. And you know what? You actually could have made that argument going into last year, even though they won 13 games, but going into last year, oh, you're going to sign Zedarius Smith. And that's going to be the answer, huh? And they won more than we thought. But after this last off season where they did not extend cousins and they moved on from all those older players in a long-term play. Uh, I think that goes out the window now that doesn't mean they tanked. And if the, and look, they could have gotten rid of Kirk and had a horrible season. They could have traded people away at all in three. So maybe

if that's your point. Okay. But I think that they did a lot this off season that they haven't done in the past for the long-term. And look, the thing about the NFL is you're right about people buying tickets, but it's also like a 20 year old opinion. I mean, the NFL is making so much money, no matter what that the franchises are selling for $5 billion. I mean, I don't know. I I'm not sure about the nickels and dimes of, you know, buying jerseys or whatever, but I've got, I've got to think that that isn't really the driving force that you think it is. It's probably, I mean, if you were the owner of the team, would you say, let's lose a bunch of games? That's probably more

than just, uh, that they want to build a new set of townhouses or something. Um, from Brett, Jaden Daniels is skyrocketing in the draft. So it seems everybody found out he was, uh, our buddy, Chris Trapasso from CBS sports, who comes on all the time on the show. That was his guy to start the season. He was like, watch out for Jaden Daniels. He's going to, he's going to be something. I was like, Oh, okay. You know, whatever. Uh, yeah, he's something everybody, everybody found out that he's good. Can you trade up? Kansas city did it to get my homes. I think didn't Buffalo trade up to get Josh Allen. Buffalo is probably one of the best examples of being similar to where the Vikings are now.

When they had Tyra Taylor, they were sort of good, sort of not great, made the playoffs and still decided to move on and get a different quarterback in the draft. They had trade up to do so to get Josh Allen. And they had talent on the team. They had a good coach like that's the spot that you want to be in. Let's see from Dan. We're not making the playoffs. Have you seen how good these teams, these other teams are performing?

I have. Yeah, I have noticed that is the job, but you also like, there's a lot to be decided though. I mean, the Packers just won a very impressive win. So yeah, it looks like they're going to be stronger than the Vikings. It looks like the Rams are going to be stronger than the Vikings. It also looked like after the Vikings beat the Packers, the Packers would never win again. And it looked like the Vikings were out of the playoffs when Kirk got hurt and then very much in when Dobbs came in. And now that looks like they're out. It's a, it's a wild world. That's why we like to watch the football. Cause I don't know what's going to happen, but the Vikings do in a way here

control their own destiny because they play the Packers and they have two games against backup quarterbacks coming up. So if you can beat the Packers and win those games, then you have to take one from Detroit. The problem is I just told you they have to win four out of five. If they have to win four out of five, that is going to be very hard. And the way that the Rams and the Packers are playing and their schedules, it is going to be hard. I agree with you, but I don't think that that throws the Vikings entirely out of the playoffs, like just on its face, because the schedule allows them to play the Packers again. That could be a tie break where you could, um, you know, potentially win that game. And that ends up being the difference at the end of the year.

Uh, Breck says, what's your take on why O'Connell would throw a Dobbs under the bus? Yeah, that's a really interesting question actually, Breck, because that's something that we were talking about in the media room and having discussions about as well. And I guess I haven't really dove, dived deep into that conversation on the show. Because I'm not sure what to think of it. Like, was he just trying to, well, first, was he just really frustrated and angry? I mean, because obviously everyone, everyone watching that game was, I was angry to have had to watch it. And he was angry because his team didn't beat the

terrible bears, but, um, that's something we haven't seen Kevin O'Connell do. So this is a good observation by you is we have not seen him like be that blunt about being really unhappy about someone's performance. Most of the time it's, Hey, well, you know, it was a tough day for Kirk and we could have done a lot more for him and so forth, but he has no connection with Dobbs personally. I think that it's a message, but I'm, we're going to find out in a few days, whether it was just sending a message to Dobbs, like that can't happen, or I'm going to bench you for somebody else. So don't turn the ball over four times the next time. Or was it maybe the first time that it got to him a little bit and he cracked up a little bit because this is something that I've talked

about through the show, through this whole thing with Kirk. And even when they were oh, and three is if you start losing your mind, if you start getting angry and frustrated as a coach saying things that you shouldn't say, then it could be a problem. I don't think that he said something you can't say though. I don't, I don't think that in doing that and sending that message and making it clear about how he felt about potentially benching Dobbs. I don't think he crossed the line. I mean, Dobbs is not your franchise quarterback. He is a career backup who just got here and turn the ball over four times. And why should you say, Oh yeah, he's our guy. We'll never make

a change. I mean, that's very different. If he did it, if he did it with Kirk, it would be ridiculous. You'd be like, what? Um, Scott says, Kweisi Adafo-Mensa has to make several decisions over the next six months that will shape everything. I definitely don't envy him. Well, if you saw his paycheck, you probably would, but, uh, and it's pretty cool job. I'm just kidding you, but you're right. You're right. This next off season is going to, with what they do at the quarterback position, decide the future of this team. Is it bring back Kirk and fight for the middle? Is it go to the draft, put all your chips into the middle of the table on a quarterback, let Kevin O'Connell pick the quarterback and see where, you know, see what

happens. Cause it's kind of my thing is Kevin O'Connell has to be a hundred percent on the quarterback. You can't have any conflict whatsoever with the front office and the court and the coach over who to pick. So you have to have that decision be made largely by the head coach. And if you pick the wrong guy, then we're going to be talking about a lot of games. Like we saw against Chicago or like, how is this team, this talented losing games? And that's pretty scary. But if you make the right pick CJ Stroud is pretty exciting to have somebody like that. Right. And I know he's the number two pick, but you know, anytime you have a young quarterback that's succeeding, you've got a

chance to do something special with the cap space and everything else. And the thing about this team is they've already got a lot of the hard parts done. So you're right about some of the decisions that are difficult. Daniel Hunter is one of them, But if you were just to say, what are the most important things for a franchise going forward? Head coach is a massive deal. Wide receiver one, wide receiver two, left tackle, right tackle, offensive line as a whole.

These things are taken care of. And the secondary is young. You can build on that. There's a lot of the pieces that are in place. So you're right. It really comes down to that one decision. Go get them says, how do you find a great quarterback? Boy, if I knew that question, I would, well, I'm really, I actually really like my job.

So I wouldn't say I'd be in, in the NFL. I kind of like being on this side, talking to you guys, but I would, they would probably pay me a ton of money if I was like a quarterback whisperer and I just knew who was going to be good all the time. Um, but I don't. So that's not your question though. Uh, it seems like a roll of the dice, but if you build a great team, they have success. Now that, now that part is a hundred percent true that everything is about odds. Like all decisions are just about odds. And that's why having Kweisi Raffa-Mensa as an idea of a general manager is a good one. Even if things go against the odds, sometimes like his idea of

the 2022 draft was the odds that I draft two players that become something value-wise versus one is better. Now that didn't work out. So it doesn't always work out. And does it always work out to draft a quarterback who runs a four, four like Jalen Daniels and is thrown for all these yards? No, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes there are great quarterbacks in college who turn out to be total busts. But if you look at the high draft picks is it more success than less it is i mean it's you know you look around the league and you could point to a lot of success stories not all of them but hey if you're the colts and you're gonna get anthony richardson back you feel pretty good right or if you're the texans you feel like you're gonna be in the mix for a long time the jaguars and the

jaguars could be the number one seed. If things go right for them down the stretch. And just a couple of years ago, they're having urban Meyer coach. It's a total wreck. Who can we look at? That would be the reason for their success. Trevor Lawrence, right? If it goes right for you, it will go really right.

If you draft one correctly, But how do you find that? I mean, look at the NFC. We've got a second round, a fourth round, and a seventh round quarterback that are the best. And then the other guy is a first overall pick, and they're all probably the same level of quarterback. It is the most difficult question probably in all sports. And even picking, is it going to be Dobbs

or Mullins is hard because you can look at both of them and being like, oh, well, you know, this, this could work out for either one of them. It could be a disaster for either one. Maybe there's like no good, you know, maybe there's no good option. Like it's yeah, it's very difficult, but once again, you can't win the lottery unless you play. So you have to play. And to your point, the team around them is what makes me think that the odds are better. So we talk about how everything is an odds play. The better your left tackle is the better your quarterback is. And man, did we not see that Trent Williams didn't play against the Vikings, uh, for San Francisco, they were a different team without him and Debo Samuel,

the number one wide receiver, big deal, a very big deal. Uh, you know, look, Devante Adams leaves Aaron Rogers and he was not the same last year. So there's always, there's always so many things that play into the success, but good coaching, good offensive line, good playmakers, and your odds of success go way, way up. Scott says Shadur Sanders is worth the way. I think Shadur should come out. I don't think that's going to go too good for him next year. They kind of messed around and found out what happens if you have a Mac level offensive line playing in the power five, you just get murdered. I'm a, I am concerned about

Shadur Sanders health. Honestly. Um, Mark says you don't find out how good hall can be if you never play him. So let, let me, let me lay it out this way. I agree with you. Like I, if it's, if it's up to me, if you're only thinking about the long-term because you feel like you have pretty much a 0% chance to win the super bowl, play Jaron Hall and find out if he's your Dak Prescott. Yeah, I agree with you. I also, I think I was answering a question when I talked about Hall about how they look at it. They're still looking at it like that. They want to make the playoffs. So you're not playing hall. If you're trying to make the playoffs, but if it's me, I probably would play Jaron hall just to see if we've got another version of those things. I don't think so, but like you said,

you don't find out until you play. So that's why I agree. But also you could also make that argument a little bit for Dobbs. Now he has a bigger sample size, but it's not that much bigger. It's only a handful of starts. And I think I also want to find out if Josh Dobbs can be that bridge quarterback or if he's just not even worth having because a lot of teams moved on and they moved on for a reason, but would not be the first journeyman in the world to find his spot. So, oh, sorry. This is, this is, this is the vibe right now. Joshua was saying our greatest hope is that this team moves to London and we don't have to die inside every year going forward.

Okay. That's, that seems excessive. I mean, I know the Packers game was probably depressing, but that was, that's a lot. That's a lot right there, Josh. But, you know, I mean, that's, so that's the debate though, is exactly what you're talking about. Not, not the move the team to London thing, but playing Jaron Hall is, do you also want to find out more about Josh Dobbs? And that's where I would probably lean myself is. So I want them to draft a higher quarterback because that's the only way that this thing

ever goes anywhere. So playing Jaron Hall makes sense. And if he's great, then you're like, okay, maybe we have a quarterback here and still draft one, right? Like San Francisco is still drafting Brock Purdy just for, just for the vibes. And then he turns out to be great. So if you're only thinking long-term, which I probably would be then play Jaron Hall, but they're sort of always thinking long-term ish.

So I want to find out a little bit more about Josh Dobbs, where he splits the difference. You find out if he could be a bridge quarterback, you chase the playoffs, competitive rebuild quarterback. That's fine. Um, but you could tell there's, there's a little bit of, of waffling here because I don't really have any, any confidence that Jaron Hall could be the guy, but I also wouldn't have had any confidence that, you know, other quarterbacks not drafted that high would be the guy either. It's yeah, it's interesting. But if they lose this next game, then give me Jaron Hall because it's over. It's just, it's just over. I mean, if you go to six and seven and these other teams are winning games and they're

stronger than you and you're playing backup quarterbacks, then just play Jaron Hall. So I would let the next couple of games determine it. And I think if it goes sideways, they will play Jaron Hall. So I would let the next couple of games determine it. And I think if it goes sideways, they will play Jaron Hall. Highlights gaming says keeping Kirk is the scariest decision. It's a lot of money going into a quarterback that you don't know how they will deal with an injury or even possible re-injury. It's the scariest decision to me because there's nothing worse than just being stuck in the middle. And Cousins was playing really well this year. Not the first time he's played really well though. I mean,

he's played really well many times, many times, uh, over his career. He played really well in 2019 and they won a single playoff game. And that was with a top ranked defense as well. And it just didn't really go anywhere. And now you're asking him to be better than what he's been before. And that that's where I always get stuck on. This is, I get it where you have the offensive line, you can keep them clean. You have the receivers, all those things. I totally get it. But the, the ceiling has already been known of what the ceiling of this is. And how is it that he's going to come off this injury and then be a better

version of himself than we've ever seen before? Plus you mentioned the price, the price. And, you know, Michael says, uh, if he takes a pay cut,

I'm all for it, but why should he do that? Look at Derek Carr. Look how awful Derek Carr is. Somebody paid Derek Carr top-notch money. I mean, not the top, top of the market, but what was it like $38 million? And he was terrible last year for the Raiders and he's terrible now. I don't know when he's ever been good outside of that one 12 and four season. And yet that's the state of quarterbacking

in the NFL. So if you want to keep Kirk, you probably still have to pay him regardless of that injury. I don't think there's ever a scenario where it's just going to, he's going to come to the table and say, okay, I'm cheap now. I mean, look at the Pittsburgh Steelers situation. Are they like going to be willing to pay a quarterback? Look at Atlanta. They've got a lot of good players. Are they going to be willing to pay a quarterback?

Probably yes. In both of those situations where if your cousins, there's going to be three, four, five teams that will be interested, I think, and that might price the Vikings out and do them a favor by pricing them out. Because just like what happened last off season where Adam Thielen wanted money, still Delvin cook wanted money still. And they went, oops, we don't have it. See ya. When they were actually just making the right decision.

So I think that might happen again. Breck says, what former defense from the past would you compare with this year's? Flores defense was thinking 2009. I would go 2015 Vikings. It's a little harder for me to go. I mean, the 2009 defense, I think, had a lot of really good and proven players in their prime, if I'm remembering correctly. And I look at this one a little bit more as sort of a rising group

that surprised us. I don't know that anybody went into 2015 saying, oh, yeah, defense is going to be elite. Um, and they were really, really good that year because a lot of young players took a big step forward. Uh, Eric Hendricks, Anthony bar, like a lot of the guys, um, that they had had on the roster developed, got into spots where they were really good. Sheree Floyd at that point still looked like a key player and was young. It's that way for me where we went into the season saying, I don't know.

I don't know. And they have turned out to be a really good unit. Maybe it could be 2014 where Zimmer was squeezing everything out of a bunch of guys that didn't have talent, but I don't look at it that way. I look at it as they have accumulated through the draft and, you know, a couple of moves like Jordan Hicks and Byron Murphy jr. Enough talent, um, to be a legitimately really good defense. And that's, what's going to have to hold them up down the stretch as they go into this playoff race because the Packers get a win against the Kansas city chiefs. So, um,

it's been fun. I mean, a lot of you obviously were amped up after that game and wanted to come talk Vikings, but the season is on the line going to Vegas is the way that I look at it. If they beat Vegas, you go to Cincinnati and face Jake Browning. Not that anything is a guarantee. You just lost to Justin Fields, but that's a little bit easier to envision them winning

that game with Cincinnati kind of just, you know, floating around at this point. And then we could end up with a very exciting end of the season. If they win, if they lose this week, good night. Now we're talking about draft. Now, if they lose this week, I'm going to start watching more quarterbacks. I've been watching college football along with the rest of you and all that, but not closely and not reading up on who the scouts think this or that. But if they lose to Vegas, then that's it.

If they beat Vegas, then we will very much stay on the, hey, this is a playoff race, and here's the key factors of that. So this is a good point. Adept. The Vikings always have a good offense or good defense. Never both this year looked like it was going to be both didn't it. And, uh, that popped in Kirk cousins, Achilles in Lambeau, but yeah, 2009, 2017, their offense actually was pretty good in comparison to the rest of the league. I think there were like seventh and points for, but you're right about that. That is the struggle. So, all right. Well, thank you so much all of you for jumping on and joining, uh, the Vikings playoff situation took a major hit

over the last like seven days. Yeah, I guess that's right. Eight, six, seven days, seven days. But there's plenty of way to go and lots to discuss. So I'll be here as always on the channel, on the iTunes, Spotify, all that stuff. And make sure you check out my written work, purpleinsider.com. And just one last little plug for all of you who are watching the book over my left shoulder here. Football is a numbers game. Make sure you go check that out. Get that for your football fan in your life. It's about pro football focus, the crazy story of how it came from a random football fan in England and changed

the entire way the NFL operates. So it was a really cool story to tell great book to work on. So I think a lot of you would enjoy it for your holiday gift buying. So there's the plug. Thanks everybody for watching really fun jumping in here after the game. And, uh, we will catch you all next week and I will be in Vegas late in the week. So make sure you, um, are paying attention to that and we'll see you later.