Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings come up short in close game vs. Lions

Episode Date: October 20, 2024

The Vikings played the Lions close in a back and forth contest but came up short for their first loss of the reason Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome inside US Bank Stadium, Matthew Collar along with Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press as we have just walked out of the Vikings locker room and back up here to the press box after the Vikings fall to the Detroit season. And I got to say that if you're going to lose a football game and you do it to a team that has a good chance to be in the Superbowl and is a Superbowl favorite, and you do it on a last second field goal by the other team, and you even do it to the point where your team almost had a chance at a last second field goal, that's about the best way you can lose in the NFL. And I am not trying to silver lining this thing. We are going to get into every part of the defense and the troubles they had today. And some of the issues, even on offense, sustaining drives, Sam Darnold's performance, everything that went on today. But all I want to say, Dane, is just that we figured the Minnesota Vikings would lose a game at some point.

We went into this one saying, you know what? This is going to be a really interesting test for this team to go up against the absolute best of the best. Let's find out just how close they are. And it's one drive away, but it's also, there's many points to be made about how you can't just ask the defense to do everything all the time and bail you out time after time. You can't have three and outs. Uh, though I did think that the game plan was better. You can't get away with an interception every single week that doesn't need to be there. Uh, as it happened today again with Sam Darnold, but overall I thought, and this is the big picture first, and then we get into all the little details,

but the big picture first is I thought this was an amazing football game that if you bought a ticket to, you walked out going, wow, if these teams play again, it's going to be great. And maybe they'll even play again in the playoffs. I also thought, Dane, that I didn't see any reason today, unless the other teams they play the rest of the year have offenses like this, lines like this, quarterbacks like this, receivers like this, running backs like this, unless they have those things,

I think that the Vikings don't walk out of here with any reason to be saying they were frauds, they were never that good, Darnold is a fraud. I think that they were good enough on offense to win a lot of games and that we normally will not see this happen to the defense. The other thing is, too, that Mr. Blake Cashman is probably one of the most valuable players on this defense. I thought that was an issue. And they also saw a blueprint for what they're going to face in the future when it comes to opposing teams, the way they blocked up all those guys coming up to the line of scrimmage and things like that on

the big touchdown pass from golf. But overall, I think you have to tip your cap to an unreal performance by a great quarterback and a great offense. And also say, Hey, the Vikings are one better throw by Darnold away. One penalty here or there away one, a few more yards on a completion to set up a field goal away. It was this close. And, uh, I think they just now kind of move on to the next one, but let's, uh, let's get your initial thoughts and then we'll, they'll break it down. Yeah. I think Kevin O'Connell talked about it and probably framed it best after the game and said, it's just a little thing here, a little thing there and against really good teams, those little things get magnified against lesser teams. You can get away with those things. You mentioned the interception from Sam Darnold. You can get

away with some of those things against maybe the New York Giants. You can't get away with something like that against the Detroit Lions. And I understand that the first loss was always going to create or spawn some overreactions. And if the game would have played out through the second half, the way that it ended in the first half, I think some of those overreactions might've been merited. The Vikings looked thoroughly handled by the Lions. Once they went up 10, the Lions put their foot on the gas and started to run away down the stretch in the first half. If the script would have followed that the whole game, I would have said, maybe this thing is a house of cards waiting to fall, but it didn't.

They showed the ability to respond in the face of adversity during the game. And in the end, they were that close to winning the game. And when you are a 44 yard field goal by a rookie kicker named Jake Bates, who I don't think any of us really knew going into this game, you know, left, right, it goes down the middle. Like if you're that close to beating the Detroit Lions, who a lot of people had pegged as a Super Bowl team, I think you're right there. So I don't think we need to overreact about this game and say, oh, sound the alarms.

This is finally the time that they show us who they really are. They've shown us who they really are through the first five weeks of them going 5-0, starting like that. And I think they showed us who they really were coming out of halftime and responding, making this a game. So I get it. We're going to break down all of the little things that went wrong that Kevin O'Connell talked about. Certainly not good enough on offense. Most were parts of the game, not good enough on defense for parts of the game.

But when you take the collection of it all, they were right there in the end. And I don't know how else to really describe it other than two really good football teams going up against each other. One team had to lose. I actually would have preferred it was a game that ended in a loss than a game that ended in a tie. Someone deserved to win this game. And it wasn't the Vikings today, but it was really close. Razor's Edge. And I think we need to remember that before we dive in and start talking about you know some of the things that did go wrong so let's go back to the start of this game where the Detroit Lions try to pull some Tom

foolery over on the Vikings with a fake punt it felt like the Vikings were very well prepared for that fake punt a lot of Bo Richter fans out there from uh earlier in training camp this year where he was kind of a darling and hey he makes a play on the fake punt and of course we all go uh Dan Campbell what are you doing and I think we came to understand what Dan Campbell was doing as we went through the game because they can do stuff like that and they have an offense that'll just get the points back so it starts out with an Aaron Jones touchdown right away. Vikings then go down and get another field goal. They're up 10 to nothing.

Aaron Jones is looking great. I'm thinking, man, what are we going to do if they blow out the Detroit Lions? How much more praise can we heap on this team? But I think what we saw was the difference between a team like the Lions and a team like, say, the New York Jets. The Jets are okay and have a lot of talent, but they are not as good as Detroit. And what Detroit showed the Vikings pretty fast is that they have so much talent on this offense. They have one of the premier running backs in the league, and he doesn't even play all the time in jameer gibbs who annihilated them today and the the move that he puts on cam bynum to really kick off the momentum for the lions there

is filthy and bynum said after the game he should have played a little different technique but when you look at the way they blocked that and then you look at the move that jameer gibbs had then he has another touchdown later in the game he has the deciding couple of plays that drive them into the Vikings zone. I think what we saw was when the Vikings play a team that does have a phenomenal running back and a really, really good offensive line, that they can't lean on that run defense the same way that they did in most of the games this year. The other thing was too, that the lions got down 10, nothing. And they were like, okay, it is 10 to nothing. However, we are still going to run the football against you. And that's how you end up with that

big touchdown run that they did not seem panicked at all when they were down by 10 points. And then they come back and they score quickly and it felt like the Vikings offense and the malaise that they had in the Jets game had carried over to the first half of this game against Detroit and I think if there's one part where you can really pinpoint it it's that it was holding penalties it was not consistently getting yards on the run they got the 34 yard touchdown and then it was a slow didn't really get much didn't get much weren't being able to push the ball down the field very much but you know there was a point as the game was close where i was thinking you know what i like what sam darnold's doing that we had complained

so much after the last game about hey where, where's your short game? Where's the short passing game. And Kevin O'Connell made that adjustment and credit to O'Connell for that, but it wasn't really getting them going. And they weren't able to kind of create that steady churn early in the game. Then they are. And Darnold throws the interception, that kind of back breaking pick, which is a great play by Branch, who is an all-world type of player. He had several huge plays today, but I think that throughout the season, there have been a lot of mistakes by Sam Darnold that have been glossed over, painted over, where you're driving, you got a chance to score, you throw the bad interception, and I'm sure everybody and their brothers saw Aaron Jones going, throw it to me. I'm over here. I'm wide open. Oh, interception. And as, as well as Darnold played

today, that's the moment you go back to a bit in this game where it turns and it changes because Detroit takes advantage of it as a great team is going to do. And we haven't really seen the Vikings play great teams up until this that would make them pay. And when he makes the same mistake against the Packers, they're up 28-7 and they're able to survive it. But this is the thing that they can't have every single week from Darnold. Again, I thought he played well.

We'll grade it later. But it's that one mistake there. And Kevin O'Connell kept going back to it and back to it in his postgame comments where he just said, we shot ourselves in the foot. It was the small mistakes. It was a thing here, a thing there, an Ed Ingram holding penalty or Ed almost sacking the quarterback. There were penalties that took them back numerous times. But that one interception is the one I think that we've been kind of afraid of happening week in and week out because eventually it would end up coming back

to bite them. Yeah, and I think when you're watching the game on television or when you're here like us watching the game in person and you see Sam Darnold throw that interception, you're looking at Aaron Jones wide open in the flat and saying, what the heck is he looking at? Like, why did he not throw the ball? We talked to Aaron Jones after the game.

Like it is important to understand like Aaron Jones is the check down there. So while it looks like he's looking right at Aaron Jones, when he looks left, he's not, he's going through his read. He's progressing to Jefferson on, on the first read and he gets over to Addison and look, I get it. Not a good decision because the right decision there is to go through your progression, see Jones as the outlet, get it there. He might score.

He was that wide open. He had his own zip code. But it is a really good play by Brian Branch. They disguised the coverage well. But I think when there is such a wide open player on a play like that, those errors get kind of exacerbated and they deserve to be because that's a play that has to be made there. And that game, that play did change the game. It was in the first half, the Vikings came back, they ended up taking the lead. But

that changes the entire script of the game because you're down 1710 at that point, right? No, you're down 1410 at that point. And you're driving, you're marching, you turn the ball over, they march right down the field, they go up 21-10 and you're trailing and chasing the rest of the way pretty much. So I think when you look at that play in particular, you're right. That's the play that against certain teams in the first five weeks, either Darnold tried to throw them the ball and they dropped it or he threw them an interception but it wasn't in a high leverage situation because the Vikings had jumped out to such a big lead against really good teams sometimes those are going to be the backbreaker and while they did come back and take the lead like that interception was extremely costly to

the Vikings in the end but another thing you mentioned was the penalties like that, those things add up. And then that goes back to what Kevin O'Connell said when I was talking about the beginning of the pod, like those little things just add up and it can be something simple. Like an head Ingram hold while getting absolutely demolished on a pass rush that takes away a catch on the sideline for Justin Jefferson. It can be Jordan Addison lining up in the wrong spot, which takes away an explosive on the outside. And it can be something as simple

as Sam Darnold not relaying the play quick enough. So you have to call a timeout and you're left to kind of go the final 15 of the first half without any timeouts. It's those little things that I think this team is capable of cleaning up, but they really show up in games like this. So, you know, I think we've seen it kind of build up in games like this. So, uh, you know, I think we've seen it kind of build to a point like this and it hasn't really cost the Vikings. It did today. And it did it all the way until the very end, because all you fans of the kicker out there, Kevin O'Connell basically said after the game, I wanted to give him a chance. I wanted to give him a swing. Um, and if they don't get that procedural penalty there that backs him up five

yards, I think we get to see Will Reichert swing from 68. I don't think Kevin O'Connell wanted to trot him out for a 73-yard field goal. It's a lot to ask of a kid. It's a lot of egg on your face if it comes up egregiously short. 70 is kind of like an eye-popping number, but the kickers are so good. I would have loved to see Will Reichiker get a 68-yard field goal attempt in, but it is a little poetic that they didn't get to do that because of a little thing, a little penalty, something that plagued them throughout the game, plagued them to the very end.

We didn't get to see him swing, and all of that adds up to the first loss of the season for the Vikings. And by the way, O'Connell did say after the game that had they not gotten the five-yard penalty, he was going to do it. He was going to. And I think the point that we're making about Sam Darnold and that interception,

and I would also make the same point about Darnold missing Jefferson open on third and four. Now, I was thinking maybe a run there would have made sense to keep the clock going and to also give it to Aaron Jones who played a amazing game despite KOC saying that he was not 100%, but Darnold played as well as he's played all year long. It was a terrific overall game, especially in the second half, the throw to Jordan Addison, when I want to say like 58 yards in the air with no ability to even step up in the pocket. He also has not lost his composure at any point this year when there have been mistakes. And he did a great job

of bouncing back from the interception coming out in the second half, completing passes, getting the ball to number 18, which maybe did not happen enough early in the game. And I would still say did not happen overall enough in this game of getting the ball to Justin Jefferson. But when you're playing a team like the Lions, who have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, who consistently are at the top of the NFL in scoring points per game, they were number one coming in once again. Jared Goff's Detroit Lions, a great, great offense that you can't have these small little things. You can't miss an open receiver there. You can't throw an interception there, and you certainly cannot have

the types of plays that you mentioned with some of the mistakes. And I thought they ran the ball overall okay, but it was not consistent. Another one I would like to point out that is notable is a Ty Chandler hold. Now it was negated essentially by Darnold hitting Jalen Naylor on a big play right after that, but it's notable because I don't know if we're going to see Ty Chandler play again. I mean, after this, Cam Akers is here. Akers didn't play on the offensive side, but you just, again, cannot have a 30-yard pass taken away from you because you have a backup running back that cannot pass protect. So there were these things when you look at the standard for being a

championship caliber team and you're looking over at it on the other side and you're coming up just a couple points short we're going to focus the post game on well where was it that those points were short because overall if they play exactly this game on offense the rest of the season they will win 14 games 13 games it was good enough on offense to beat most teams most of the time. And they did need another defensive touchdown, but it was some three and outs early on. It was a mistake early on, things like that, that caused them to lose this football game. But really, the defensive side is where the game was actually lost. I mean, they got a stop early in the second quarter,

and that was their last stop until the fourth quarter they did get a big one and they and a great play by Ivan Pace a great play by Josh Metellus to cause a fumble to go in for a touchdown and that evens things out a little bit for as the way that they played overall but if we are talking about the pie chart of why the Vikings did not win this game, 75% or more goes to the defensive side. They couldn't stop Gibbs. They couldn't pressure golf enough. And when they did, it didn't matter.

And the over the middle routes were just open time and time and time again. And then when they get the ball back at the end, after the Vikings take the lead, we're all thinking, okay, we're going to have to see a defensive stop here. The Vikings win the game. We've seen this script a couple of times and they couldn't get it. And Jameer Gibbs just comes up with a huge run, then a huge swing pass. And he's one of the best players in the entire league. He's one of the fastest. He is one of the fastest he is one of the quickest most you know shifty first round pick for a reason there's not too many guys that are first round picks

but that is where i had come to expect the defense to make that stop and i think they showed today that they're not infallible they're very very good but they are not infallible yeah and and the defense we're it's like we're grading on a curve. We said this three weeks ago that expectations have changed, so now we're grading on a curve. We're grading on the curve of this is a Super Bowl contender, and I think the team, the players inside that locker room, believe they're a Super Bowl contender.

I think the players on the defense believe they're a Super Bowl contender, and that's why every single player we talked to on the defense said, not good enough, not up to the standard. And so when we're breaking down the pie chart of blame, you're absolutely right. I think the game falls on the shoulders of the defense, fair or not. I know they've been carrying the Vikings at times this year, but each week is its own thing. And I think this week, whether you want to admit it to yourselves

that not at home, like this one was on the defense because they gave up 200 yards of offense to Detroit in the second quarter alone. Four straight touchdown drives. Like, yes, there were places where the offense fell short today, but the defense let the Lions kind of just put that foot on the gas pedal and drive away. And eventually they made the big play that they've shown they can make.

But it doesn't make up for everything else that went wrong. And I think when we talk to Cam Bynum, and he seems despondent with the way they've played. When you talk to Josh Metellus and he feels the same way, Shaq Griffin, Jonathan Grenard, all these guys hang in their heads, understandably so like because they know they're better than that and they know that like today it was kind of on them and look it's it's when you lose a game like this it's not just on one part of the team it is a collective

team loss but the way that the Detroit Lions were able to take the game over in the second quarter had a lot to do with the way the defense struggled to stop them. They couldn't. And look, the offensive line for the Lions, the best in football. And we saw that. When you give Jared Goff enough time to throw the ball, he's going to hit the guys over the middle. But Cam Bynum continuously kept going back to, like,

we knew what they were going to do and we did not execute. They didn't execute today. It wasn't good enough. And I feel comfortable saying that because like they are the people saying it, like the defense doesn't feel like it was good enough today. And it wasn't. Hold on.

Let me silence my phone real quick. So I can tell you that us days are back at us cellular again, exclusive offers just for customers just to say thanks right now you'll get $1,200 off any phone plus 400 off any tablet. Amazing, right? Yeah. But my family is so excited about their new devices that they keep texting me during the show. They're all about us days deals like $1,200 off any phone and four plus $400 off any tablet terms apply, visit us cellular.com for details. So I guess my question is how much credit goes to Detroit versus criticism of

the Vikings defense? Because last week, this same Detroit team put up 47 on the Dallas Cowboys and then the week before they annihilated the Seattle Seahawks and those are not great teams but those are very good teams overall and they just ran away from them offensively I guess here would be my question for you was there a particular play or drive that bothered you uh about the defense that made you think because i think we could talk about it in a vacuum of this

game versus the bigger picture the bigger picture i don't question how good the defense is but maybe they're not untouchable i think that's what it said today and we saw that a little bit in the second half of green bay the other thing is too that if you get three and outs and you don't have possession and you're not moving the football consistently as they weren't in the first half, I felt like there were times where the Vikings defense was tired again. And it really felt like they were tired against Green Bay. It really felt like they were tired against the Jets. You have to get them off the field if you're the Vikings.

And sometimes that did not happen like it should have. But I think the, the one, I mean, there's a couple that did the one that concerned me was the touchdown to Amin Ross St. Brown, where he's lined up in the slot and they bring Tim Patrick, I believe he's number 17 in motion and they're able to block up the edge rush and then had the protection going the other way, allowing Jared Goff to get time to throw steps into it, makes a flawless throw to St. Brown before Byron Murphy could get over there. And Murphy is the weak link that everybody's going to attack. We know that week in and week out. But when it comes to that play in particular, it said to me that that kind of gimmick of putting everybody at the line of scrimmage and rushing everybody, there are answers to

that. And O'Connell was asked after the game, like, did they do anything different? He said, well, sometimes people have done that before, but this team does it as well as anybody in the NFL when they have the blockers that they have. So it goes back a little bit to, can you actually rush the passer when you don't have to do something like that? Because when it wasn't working, they weren't able to throw off golf. The crowd noise wasn't able to throw them off. The blitzes weren't able to throw them off. It was really only a Van

Ginkle and Grenard rush that got to him. Uh, and that was more of a, I don't know if it was a four man rush, but it was more of just beating the tackle for Jonathan Grenard. So on the defensive side, it was that, that play in particular going for a long touchdown and the last drive, I think was bothersome as well, because look, who's in the backfield he's really good he has to be a factor here right you have to factor for Jameer Gibbs and everybody just drops back into the parking lot actually reminded me of last year when Chicago won the game late with Justin Fields where everybody was dropping way back and on this one they just dump it off to Jameer Gibbs. He gets all those yards.

You can't give up a field goal. Why are you not playing more aggressively on that drive? So from the smaller perspective of just looking at this football game, I thought that schematically they got beaten by the Lions as much as it was from just a pure like, hey, they broke tackles and made catches but they didn't have to do anything that was a miracle today they had to throw and catch and and protect and they were able to do all those things without a lot of problems yeah i'm glad you brought up the

alan ross and brown touchdown as the one that bothers you uh in addition to obviously the last drive which i think bothers everyone because the one that bothered me wasn't that drive as much as it was the one after Sam Darnold throws the interception, because that is a turning point in the game. And that is the moment that we've seen this defense step up time and time again, friend don't break. They had them at third and seven in, in, in the red zone. They, they sneak a run in there.

Jameer Gibbs gets loose touchdown. If you hold them to a field goal there, you're down by seven going into the locker room, maybe trying to go back downfield for more points. That one bothered me too, but I think the fact that we have different ones that bother us speaks to how just jarring this performance was from the defense. And yes, I think you're right. You have to give Detroit credit. Jared Goff was fantastic today. All over the field, dropping back in the face of pressure.

Obviously, he got some nice blocks, which allowed him to to scan the field. And when he has time to throw, Kevin O'Connell is the one who said this. Like if he has time to throw, he throws it as good as anyone in the NFL. But the defense, like you said, they're not infallible. I think that's something we knew, but to see it play out, I don't like the narrative of a loss can be good because it can blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I think it is important to understand you can't continue to win just by forcing the big turnover. Look, the defense was great for large chunks of the 5-0 start.

There were some times where it kind of started to crumble, look, the defense was great for large chunks of the 5-0 start. There were some times where it kind of started to crumble, and today I think we saw it kind of all happen at once. So it's just so hard to break down this game and figure out where those points are. But I think if you kind of just go through each drive, you can see this play there, this play here. If those go the different way like this this entire result could be different and i think that goes back to what kevin o'connell was

saying from the jump is that it's just little things in a game like this that can make a big difference well and i'm going to go back to i sort of briefly brought it up but the top 10 linebacker that was not playing today it just was a huge factor because Blake Cashman has been one of the best linebackers in the entire NFL he was top 10 graded by PFF going into this game and I think it's even more more important than even that because that grades how you make tackles and break up passes and things like that but what it doesn't grade is the changes that you can make at the line of scrimmage and well Ivan Pace made one heck of a play. I don't know how he picked that ball up. I mean, so many times we see the ball bouncing around and a guy kicks it and then it goes back,

you know, whatever, 10 more yards and the other team picks it up or something for him to scoop and score was kind of wild. And then he showed his speed. I think maybe he's better running back than Tyler Chandler possibly. Could he pass protect protect maybe this is an idea but uh overall though you were asking a younger player without the experience of blake cashman to step in and call the defense and make the adjustments and i've got a wondered i'm sure they will not tell us when we talk to the coordinators oh yeah hey he wasn't as good as cashman or Hey, on a game like this, Brian Flores, his calls were kind of the call because what Cashman has the ability to do with the line of scrimmage is make any change he wants to make.

So he can adjust any of the front seven. He can move himself. He can move the defensive lineman. He can call for blitzes. I also didn't think that Detroit had a lot of trouble getting the snap off. They may have had one false start, two false starts, but for the most part, we have seen other teams when they're trying to make their changes, they're scrambling, they're panicking. Goff has just been here before. He knows this building and

he, and they also understand you got to have the play in and up to the line and get your call in before the crowd ramps up, which I thought they did a great job of. I did not see many times where the clock is counting down. And that's been the game the Vikings have played with teams where like, oh, the clock's counting down on you. Now we're going to make a change. They were not able to do that today. And I wondered how much that impacted just everything. But it's also just so clear that they need everyone on this defense to be healthy, to play against a great team. They kind of got away with it with pace being out for a couple of games, but I don't think that they can survive against someone like this against Blake Cashman. And I know all of you people, injuries aren't excuses, but they are explanations sometimes.

And when we are sitting here going, wow, you know, they couldn't really get home on these and their running back was dominant and all those things. And a couple of people have asked about Dallas Turner. That was another thing that I didn't really understand. I saw Turner in at linebacker one play. He seemed to kind of be overaggressive and let a big run go. And then we didn't see him after that. If they're going to have depth as a pass rush, they have to have Dallas

Turner do something. And he has not been able to do anything so far for this team. And I guess the reasonable explanation before was, well, of course, you know, Grenard and Van Ginkle, who were great again today, have been so good. Why would you use Dallas Turner instead? But if they're going to mix and match him, he's got to do something a little bit better because he was in on the Gibbs run, and I looked back at this. He got completely taken out on the Gibbs touchdown run, and then there was another long one where they attacked him,

and I'm sure they see there's a rookie. We're going to go after him, and they were able to take advantage. Does it make you think, before we get into the position by position and coaching grades for this game, does it make you think any differently about a trade for this team than maybe you thought before? Not differently because I think they should trade the first-round pick. I think they should swing for the fences because I don't think you get –

you can guarantee yourself to be a contender every single year. You can set yourself up to be one, but when you're in that moment of, wow, we can do it, I think you have to go do it. So yeah, I think that the first round pick was always on the table for me, and I think it's always been a defensive tackle, a penetrating defensive tackle. That's something I think that the Vikings could use. I think they could have used it today because Detroit, like you mentioned the Tim Patrick motioning in and chipping on, on, on the edge on that Almond Ross, St. Brown, 35 yard touchdown. Like the Vikings have generated a lot of their pressure from the edge rushers this year.

And I think Harrison Phillips is a phenomenal football player, but I think he could be benefited by being moved around with someone. I know everyone wants Dexter Lawrence. Everyone wants Jeffrey Simmons. Yeah, that would be great. I don't know if Dexter Lawrence is even on the table. I don't know why the Giants would trade him, but maybe for first-round pick, they would. Jeffrey Simmons always was the one that made a little more sense to me

just with kind of where they're at in their franchise, but yeah, I think you make those calls. And so, no, it doesn't change the way I think of the trade deadline, because I've always thought win or lose today. Like you need to go out and do something. I think maybe I would have felt it even more if they won today because like, holy crap, how good can you be? But I think win or lose like this game was so close. And I've always been on the side of go out and do it. I think what today showed is how beneficial a penetrating defensive tackle could be.

I get going out and getting a corner too would be nice because Byron Murphy has been a consistent weak link. And then you can start projecting out down the road when you don't have Stephon Gilmore, when you don't have Shaq Griffin next year. So I'd be fine with that too. But I think in a vacuum of this season, something that could take this defense from really, really good to great is a defensive tackle that can generate pressure.

And I think there are going to be some on the table to be had. Yeah. I'm very curious about how they go about it, because even if you did not use the first round pick and you just tried to add it a rotational rusher to the interior or added a little bit of depth to the cornerback room, because I mean, they have Shaq Griffin who's played very well so far. Stefan Gilmore has been really good. Byron Murphy has had his struggles, but we know if any of those guys go down, the next man up was Fabian Morrow today because of Caleb Evans was inactive. I think that's not really something you want to

drop off to from the starters to the next man up at this point, but it doesn't change a lot for me because I don't think they were far off in this game. I mean, I thought both teams played really, really well, did a lot of the things that have gotten them to this point really, really good today as far as hitting a big play. Aaron Jones was just outstanding. The defense at times was good in this game early on, especially, and then for a drive or two in the second half, but you saw that they can still take the ball away. They could still pressure a quarterback who almost never takes sacks, but he got sacked a couple of times today. So everything is still there, in my opinion, for this team to be toward the top in the NFC at the end of the day,

particularly with their schedule that they've got coming up. So no, if they had gotten blown out, it may have made me hesitate more. If they had blown out the Lions, I would have said all chips into the middle of the table to get a result that doesn't wildly change your feelings on the team, then leaves me in the same spot. Like, yes, you should try to go for it as much as you can. But we saw them even just add a decent player in Cam Akers for a pick swap of conditional picks for next year. You have two fifths you could potentially

make those moves but i would like to see a little bit more depth added to this defense because we did see some weaknesses uh in today's game so let's go through position by position give our grades you guys can give your reactions as well in the comment section would love to see those uh start out with sam darnall This is an interesting grade to give because there were some big mistakes. There were also some really big good moments for Sam Darnold. Where would you put his grade? I'm giving him a B minus because if we break down the whole summation of the game, Sam Darnold was really, really good today. The touchdown throw to Justin Jefferson,

it was a dot right down where it needed to be. The throw to Jordan Addison from the end zone while getting hit, 55 yards downfield. He showed the ability to push the ball downfield like he always has. But I think he made the changes that we talked about after the London game. He was able to take what was given to him, throw quick, throw short, scramble, use his legs to do what he needed to do. But where I land at B- is the interception was so costly,

and that can't happen in that scenario because there was an outlet right there for you. So that is going to bring his grade down significantly for me. And then like even late in the game, like third and four, whether we think they should have run or throw like Jefferson's open there. Jalen Naylor is in the passing lane. It's kind of a weird play design where they're both going to the corner to the flats at the same time.

So I get why Darnold probably had to put a little bit of air on it while on the run, because he didn't want to hit Naylor and he's trying to, you know, layer that ball into Jefferson and it just ends up sailing on him. But that's a big moment in the game where like, you got to have it like, and he didn't get it.

I think you can't be anywhere near an a when, when there's two, there's a big, costly interception and a play that when the chips were on the table, the offense failed. So overall, really good game. I know people are going to look at that interception and the fact that they lost the game and say, this was all on Sam Darnold. The game is also close because of Sam Darnold. So I think we need to kind of separate the forest from the trees. Yes. Be critical of that interception. Yes. Be critical of that

misthrow late. Um, but he kept them in the game too. And I think that is something that's really important. So B minus. Well, here's how I know that you've got the right grade for this because, uh, half of the chat thinks that Sam Darnold is not to blame at all for today. And then half of the chat thinks that he was completely to blame for today. So that puts us right in the middle of things. A B minus. You know what? What I really liked about Sam Darnold's performance was that he completed a lot of short passes.

And I wanted to see that. I wanted to see him go back to, to some extent, some game managing that he got away from, it felt like, against Green Bay. It felt like there was too much going for gold, going for gold. And I thought that he reined it in today and really was very accurate overall with the football. And that's why it's unfortunate that two of his mistakes were so amplified. And it's hard to evaluate a game when it happens like this, where the overall, if I was grading, let's say he had 40 plays.

I don't know how many exactly, but let's say he had 40 plays. Maybe I'm grading either you did the right thing or better on 35 of them, but two of them were so costly. I i mean i think we all know if you get that first down the lions are in trouble at that point they might not have enough time to even try for a field goal because even if you get the first down you take their timeouts away ryan right can punt it to the other side of the field which hey the punting unit they don't have to fire matt daniels it was fine today a little overreaction maybe a couple of weeks ago. But the point on Sam Darnold is that he, for the most part,

I thought played really well, and they had a really good game plan for him where it wasn't all the shots, but they took the shot plays and they made the shots. And the throw that he made across to Aaron Jones, where he's coming across. And by the way, find yourself a running back who can make that route and that catch. That is just spectacular. So there were so many good plays that I remember way more good ones than bad ones, but the bad ones, they really hurt. And I also would throw it out there too. I know that he misses the pass, but we've kind of

been through this debate a number of times where it's like, if you're asking somebody to do something hard and they don't pull it off, even if it's a mistake, was it really the right thing to do? And you have Aaron Jones, you could get four yards and the sprint out kind of thing. I don't know. I didn't love it. I did not love it. So I thought overall you had it right with a B minus is a pretty good grade. As far as Aaron Jones, I want to give him an A plus. I just thought what a gutty performance by Aaron Jones, a touchdown off the beginning of the game. There were like four times he could have been caught for five yard losses and he escaped and wiggled his way out. He pounded along the ground the best that he could have been caught for five yard losses and he escaped and wiggled his way out.

He pounded along the ground the best that he could. That catch was outstanding. I just, I want to give him an A and graded a little bit on an injury curve. I don't think it was the best running back performance on the field today overall because Gibbs was so good, but Aaron Jones did the best he could. But if we're grading running backs, then it has to be only a B because Ty Chandler goes in there, immediately holds, then runs for a four-yard carry, and that's all we got to see. You just can't keep doing this. You just can't keep having Aaron Jones playing on 75% or whatever,

playing all the plays. So I imagine that maybe Thursdayursday we'll see cam acres as the backup running back i think that this might have been the final straw getting that holding penalty but as far as what aaron jones did today just just a a really really great and gutty performance uh if you have no disagreement we can go on to the receivers i just want to say i want to say one thing about aaron jones and like a plus is a is a perfect grade for him because i don't think people truly understand like how much went into him being on the field today he's not 100 and he looked at times like he was 100 he looked like he was shot out of a cannon on that 34 yard touchdown run where he immediately makes his presence felt

but when you talk about like pros being professionals like aaron jones is like you look it up in the dictionary you'll find his picture i get it it's their jobs they make millions of dollars they this is what they should do but it's the bi-week and you can do whatever you want on the bi-week aaron jones was in there sun up to sundown rehabbing treatment trying everything he listed all of the treatments he did this week he said he got everything from regular stretching and strengthening to massages to acupuncture he said lasers i don't know what that means but like everything that went into aaron jones playing today matters and i think like the fact that he was even out there can't be like lauded enough because i don't think other running backs in that

scenario necessarily would have gone through all the treatment or would have actually attacked it the way they needed to, um, to go out there and get beat up at the running back position. So, um, the guy is special. It's unfortunate that,

that he can't be graded as a running back on his own, but like, I think where you stand at the running backs as a whole be, um, weighted and brought down because of Ty Chandler's less than stellar performance is, is pretty spot on. Maybe I should give it a B plus because Chandler didn't play that much.

And, it just, it was one of those things where it's like, Ty, we've kind of defended you and said they should play you more. And then you get a holding penalty on that. But, uh,

wide receivers and tight ends. Yeah. I think real quick, good TJ Hawkinson back Thursday, you think? It seems like it. He seemed to be pushing for it. I think that there probably wasn't. They weren't going to rush him back for this game. I think Thursday makes sense.

But I would also be a little bit tempted if I was the Vikings to just wait another week and just give him that extra week and a half but uh they lost so they probably want to win TJ Hawkinson probably help you win um pass catchers be like I don't know like Justin was great today um he didn't have like 190 yards like he usually does against the Lions I mean he looked really locked in engaged obviously had the touchdown catch. Jordan Addison, his stat line looks okay. Three catches, I think it was for like 66 yards,

really buoyed by that 50-yard long pass down the middle of the field. What bothers me about Jordan Addison is the procedural penalties. I think he had two of them. I think that brings your grade down. We have spent the first half hour of the pod talking about all the little things that need to be cleaned up. I think Jordan Addison's ability and knowing where to line up probably falls in that category. Jalen Naylor had a couple of big catches. He also had a fumble that really wasn't a fumble. We reviewed it for like 10 minutes, even though he had already stepped out of bounds. I think B's fine. They didn't do anything spectacular,

but I land at B- for Sam Darnold, knowing that a couple of big plays brought his grade down. The pass catchers as a whole, nothing egregious as far as mistakes, just little nitpicky things here and there. And I think the best receiver in football continued to show that he is the best receiver in football. I'd be okay if he threw him the ball more. You know, I really think that TJ Hawkinson would have made a big difference in this game.

Not that I'm saying he should have played, but Johnny Munt got decked on a play where they were trying to run a bubble screen, and it just got blown up, and he dropped a pass that was right in the middle of the field, and I think he ended up with four catches for seven yards or something. There was also another play where Johnny Mont flashes over on a crosser that he gets caught from behind TJ Hawkins and runs away from that guy. So you're right. Like he's,

he's definitely a difference maker that there'll be happy to have back. Although I will say he had a 30 yard catch that was taken off the board by the aforementioned penalty, which I am struggling to get over. But I think that if Hawkinson is part of this, that they are a little bit better on offense. But overall with the receivers, that catch by Justin Jefferson in the end zone is one where we have just come to expect this person to make absolutely freakish and disgusting plays. And he looks like he's levitating as he's sliding down to make that play. Just, I don't know how someone balances their body like that to make that catch.

So that has to boost the grade. I just, I wanted to see, I wanted to see more of that. Excuse me. I have to block someone and they go why don't be this person don't be this person that has to get blocked okay don't be that guy uh anyway um so i just thought with uh jefferson making that catch that he was so spectacular that it was a game-changing type of catch it's a superstar type of catch that you expect from him the rest of the game though

just okay from a jefferson perspective and not his fault obviously caught everything that came his way but they just can continue or have to continue to force the ball to him underneath and give him opportunities the other thing is too we haven't talked about it but a trick play from kevin o'connell in a spot they need a touchdown i hate it you guys knew i was gonna hate it i hated it i have banned kevin o'connell from trick plays but he did it anyway so i called the police on him for trying a trick play it was just unnecessary i, your offense has gotten it together. Your quarterback is starting to roll. And then you're trying to do this wide receiver pass. What in the hell do you need to do this for?

I mean, he got away from it for a couple of weeks and I was very pleased. There is no reason to run these ludicrous trick plays, especially in parts of the game that are so big. And I can't take away from Jefferson because he did not make a big mistake. He got three yards on it. And for a second there, I thought he was going to get more. But again, that's a part of the game where if you score a touchdown there, you are changing the entire tenor of the game.

And instead you have to settle for a field goal. They might could have gone for it there, but there was just no reason for it. I thought O'Connell called overall a really good game. The receivers caught the ball when the opportunities were there. The passing game was efficient. So I like your grade overall. Offensive line, I don't want to go all that high here. I did not think that they dominated.

They didn't have to face the best player in football today in Aiden Hutchinson. And yet I didn't feel like it was a great performance. The run blocking was not very good for the most part. That 34 yard touchdown run is going to change the numbers a bit, but they were not able to get consistent push. Darnold was hit a few times. He was sacked on on a key play a c yeah i'll go c for the line that's fine that's fine because i thought when

aiden hutchinson injury was disgusting i saw it obviously prayers to him like but when i saw he wasn't going to play because his leg was broken i I thought there was no way that Detroit could generate pressure because Aiden Hutchinson, if you just look at the pressure numbers, is the Detroit Lions pressure. So I thought Sam Darnold would have all day to throw, and he didn't. And I think that is obviously largely based on the offensive line. And C's fine, but I would even maybe want to go down a little bit more because of ed ingram and i think it can be the end of ed ingram i think it might be the end of ed ingram on thursday um he got flattened to the ground run over by josh paschal and then held on the way down took away a i think it would have been a catch for justin jefferson i would

have liked to see if you guys beat down on that sideline grab early in the first half. And he almost sacked Sam Darnold at Ingram did. He almost took out Sam Darnold's knees in the process, which would have been disaster. Like, I think we're done with that Ingram. So I would even bring it down a little more just based on like the continued struggles of one person on this offensive line that continues to show up at the

worst moments in each game. It feels like each week. So I think it's almost over for him. I do think Dalton Reisner plays on Thursday. I do think Dalton Reisner starts on Thursday. But it wasn't just an Ed Ingram problem, but the Ed Ingram problem has been a problem for far too long. Yeah. And I thought that their quick passing uh in dealing with some of the rush but it was still too many plays where someone created a quick pressure and we've just seen that many many times and ingram getting the holding play that moved them back uh into the shadow of their own goal line and really to me it wasn't just the pass protection, which, I mean, I didn't think that he was running for his life, but there were too many plays where he scrambled and the play kind of broke down. In fact, after that wonderful trick play,

uh, after that, the, the two plays that followed that were both the same, like drop back, it breaks down in front of him. He's got scramble he doesn't quite get away but it was really the run game i think that on the offensive line they've done okay so far this season but also aaron jones has had to be so much of that which is breaking tackles that they needed to be better with the run blocking so yeah they don't get a particularly high grade there uh d line is that back to me i think it's me now is that's you okay c plus i don't know like c like it's hard because like you you you almost kind of group them all together with the edge rushing and like they didn't get home enough they didn't pressure jared goff to the level that they've shown like they've they've been able to create chaos and and knock a quarterback

off their their rhythm from the jump jared golf was firmly in his rhythm from pretty much the start of the game to the end of the game kind of just standing in that pocket um i'd have to go back and really watch like because it's it's hard for me to grade the d line when you're going up against the best offensive line in football so i think that part matters in this grading process but i'll land at a c because you didn't generate a ton of of pressure up the middle you didn't generate a ton of pressure on the outside aside from jonathan granar just being a beast and andrew van ginkle getting home on like the first play of the game um they ran the ball pretty effectively on you i know you stopped it like the lions had a bunch

of explosive runs and obviously the 45 yard touchdown run by jameer gibbs juices the numbers a little bit um but it did feel like you know whether it was gibbs or montgomery they were constantly falling forward um there were there were bright spots for at times with their ability to kind of clog up the running lanes um But when you're not getting that much pressure, I think Goff got sacked maybe three times today. I just don't think it can be anywhere above just a passing passable C. Yeah, I think that there was a couple of highs there with the Jonathan Grenard pass rush, Andrew Van Ginkle sacks,

Jared Goff late in the game that looked like it was going to be a really big play in the game and that we'd be going back to that one and gathering around Andrew Van Ginkle's locker again as this guy makes another great play. But when they run the ball as effectively as they did, and when you say outside of that 45-yard run, but they just got moved on that play, and they ran right by them for a fairly easy touchdown

for Jameer Gibbs. So way too many plays there. And even when they did create some pressure, Jared Goff just looked at right in the face and made great throws, which I mean, I'm not going to dispute your grade at all. I think that's fine. But I thought that it showed that they can still get after the quarterback with just two guys that are really good at their jobs, Van Ginkle and Grenard and Grenard did come through at a, at a huge part of the game and get a sack. It's just that they got moved today up on, on the offensive by the best offensive line of football by a wide margin. And so I'm not sitting here saying from the bigger picture perspective that I'm concerned about them. It's just the fact of the matter of what happened today was this lion's offensive line. I don't know anybody has

an answer for them because they are so beastly. Uh, as far as the secondary linebackers, this one's tough because do I give them an F even though they returned a ball for a touchdown? Because I want to, uh, I will give them a D because they did pick up a ball and run it for a touchdown. Aside from that, it was atrocious. It was guys open all the time, missed tackles on Jameer Gibbs. David Montgomery, who got injured, then came back in the game, was moving bodies on top of him when he was running the football. They gave up explosive plays. They gave up consistent plays. I don't know what Jared Goff finished, but at one point I looked up and he was, he got his second incompletion on a throw that was actually caught out of bounds was his second

incompletion. I don't remember a cornerback making a play on a football all day long. And that's not great. This is more along the lines of what I thought it would have looked like had they not signed Stefan Gilmore. How much of that is Blake Cashman not being a part of it, not making the right adjustments? How much is it a great team over there? Amon Ross St. Brown put him in the Crushes the Vikings Hall of Fame with Akeem Hicks and Kenny Clark. Every game they play, he ends up destroying them. So you know that he's a great receiver and he's going to make his plays. I just didn't feel like they might not have had a pass breakup the entire game. They might not have

done anything. They didn't even come close to an interception. Every receiver seemed like they were just wide open. So I'll go with a d because they made one big play and josh metellus made one big play but the receivers and the quarterback for the lions assaulted this secondary and they they can't get graded very high that is something that i actually would have some concern over in the future by the way they've done a really good job but is gilmore going to get tired? Is Smith going to get a little bit worn down? Our team's going to find better ways to attack Byron Murphy Jr. And if Blake Cashman is dealing with this for a long period of time, you can attack the middle

of the field because the coverage is just not the same as when Blake Cashman is in there. Let's see. Okay, the kicker. Can we just take a second? One real quick. They had two pass deflections. Who do you think they were from? Jonathan Bullard. Pass deflections at the line.

So, no, they did not have a pass deflection in the secondary. Your eyes did not deceive you. Jared Goff finished 22 of 25. Horrendous game for the secondary hey great job by the special teams today right yeah yeah will rickard lines up for 58 you're like it's good yep he's the best kicker i've ever seen in my life i am not kidding he's just this is they have justin tucker the guy lines up for a 47 yarder and i just went to the bathroom i don't need to watch this i'm just gonna i'm gonna go go get a soda. He'll take care of this. I'll go over there, do that. Come

back for the, for the defensive possession. I cannot believe how good Will Reichert is. And honestly, how close do you think he might've come if they had kicked it from 68? I think they would have made it. I've seen Will Wright. I really do. I've seen him kick the ball in training camp. And he made one from like 56 earlier this year, and it hit like the middle of the net. The one today from 58 was halfway through, like halfway up? 68's really long. I don't think he's making 68.

It would be an NFL record. The fact that I think he makes it is proof positive of how good he is. He is the best kicker that I've ever seen in person. It's not close. And all of the Vikings fan curse, whatever, about the kicker, we can go away with that because this guy is very, very good. He's special. I think the fact that they needed to make a 48-yard field goal late in the game

and you thought nothing of it speaks to how good he is. A plus, plus, plus for Will Riker. We've known this from the beginning. We tried to tell you guys back in the spring when we were watching him kick in the indoor. Like, wow, six-round pick on a kicker, pretty good. He's going to be good for a really long time. Said he's not going to cut his hair until he misses.

Still hasn't missed, so maybe he will just have hair down to his feet by the time he is a 10-year veteran in this league. My theory is that he's going to trip over his hair kicking for the NFC Championship. Jokes aside, though, great job by him today. Now let's get to the coaching. Now this is a tough one because the game plan from kevin o'connell i thought was on point today as far as what he asked sam darnold to do how he reigned in sam darnold i thought that they came out in the second

half like they had made some adaptations and that they had gotten back on track and with ke Kevin O'Connell's team, there was something that showed on the broadcast because we could see TVs overhead in the press box. And they were showing the one-score games that they've played throughout the time O'Connell has been here. And we've got now a pretty big sample of them having a lot of success in those games. And I guess I was thinking about the connection between O'Connell's coaching and the confidence of his quarterbacks and things like that. And I truly thought, you know, if they just get one completion, maybe they can get in a range there. I didn't have a huge issue with the

offensive game plan. In fact, I liked it and I thought you should probably do it again. And there were opportunities that were missed to put the game away. They scored certainly enough points. They moved the ball. I would not give it an A for the offensive game plan because there were some mistakes they made and they did have some three and outs. Maybe I would go something like a B plus for the offensive game plan. Not always executed perfectly.

What do you think happened on Brian Flores' side? Do you think that it was just purely look at that other football team? I don't know, shrugs, move on. Or is there something schematically that you think they might should have done different? That's so hard to say in the moment because I have to go back and watch, but it felt like they were blitzing the heck or trying to send pressure on jared goff and it wasn't getting home and like i don't want to speak out of turn because i haven't gone back and watched how much they actually sent you know free blitzers but it did feel like they were constantly blitzing him constantly sending pressure and constantly giving up chunks over the middle um and if i felt that in the moment like i don't think there was any like tangible

adjustments to there so like i can't feel great about like the defensive like game plan coaching like because they just constantly gave up chunk plays over the middle cam bynum said like we knew where they were going to go with the ball we just didn't execute like if you're not executing like maybe that's more on the players than this scheme but like i don't know like it does seem like sending a lot of pressure at jared golf they did it last year he carved him up they did it again this year he carved him up um i do think when you have had so much success through the first five weeks through five and oh blitzing terrorizing opposing quarterbacks breaking their brains you can just think like i'll just keep doing it i'll i'll i'll

show you know a mug look at the line and then drop and then the next time i'll i'll send go cover you know zero blitz and they got burned on that on the on the almond ross st brown touchdown i just felt like there weren't really like any like tangible adjustments made. Um, but I really do want to go back and watch it before I give them like an F. Um, but it felt like a C minus game plan to me. Yeah. I couldn't decide whether it was players making mistakes for why everyone was so wide open, but when guys are running wide open, you got out schemed, I think. And that is going to happen from time to time. And I remember looking at this when the Vikings hired Flores, that the blitzing is always boom or bust.

That's just how blitzing works, always and forever. If you shoot a bunch of threes, you might miss a bunch of threes. If you hit a bunch of home runs, you might strike out a bunch of times. And they did not get home on those blitzes but golf has just never been there was that one game that everyone references constantly in 2020 he is a different quarterback now and he has so many options and he has so many players to pick those things up and it just feels like this wasn't the guy to blitz but then what are you supposed to do because their line is so good that you're not going to get home if you don't.

I think that maybe next time they do have to play a little more coverage. But we also might look at the blitz stats and just go, well, oh, it was a couple of memorable ones. When guys are over the middle wide open, it did remind me of last year when the Bengals found some holes and when the Lions found some holes in this defense of where they could put the football. I also think too, if your offense doesn't have the longest drives all the time and has to score on explosives, which I feel like the Vikings do, then you end up

with leaving your defense out there for a long time. And they've been on the field for a lot of plays, but you know, today, today they, they had the two weeks to get rested. I don't think that's an excuse. I think coaching probably goes on it as much as the Cashman injury. So big picture is where we always end this. Now, after all of that and all of that breakdown and all that analysis,

what I come to is what a, what a, what a great game. How could you go anywhere else? They battled like crazy. There were great catches. There were great throws. There were great plays.

There were twists and turns left and right. Field goal kickers making the difference. By the way, I picked the Vikings to win on a Will Reichard field goal from the logo, and when they ran up to the line of scrimmage, I was like, is that going to be right? Almost. So I don't really change a whole lot of opinion about this football team at the end of the day today. They will play again on Thursday. And I think on Thursday, when you and I are sitting in that behemoth of a stadium in Los Angeles, we'll be there doing the same thing after that game late at night for you.

If they win that game, then I'll probably look back at this one and go, hey, if the worst game you played, the one loss, is this one, then you're still on track. It doesn't change the track at all. It just makes me think that as they go forward, they have to have this game in mind to is the defense need work, need changes? Does it need changes for a trade? Does it need schematic changes? And I want Kevin O'Connell and Sam Darnold to look at this game tape and say, let's do that again.

With a little more number 18 and a little more Jordan Addison, by the way. I just feel like he is yet to kind of really get rolling with Sam Darnold. I want to see a little bit more of that. So if this ends up being the loss that they take and then they go into the Thursday, they do what they're supposed to do, then they play those AFC South teams, which you should be able to reel off wins against. I don't think this is one where I

walk out going, Oh man, I'm worried about this team now. Doesn't really severely alter my feeling other than to say the defense is not just going to win every game for them. Yeah, no, I thought they were one of the best teams in the NFC walking in the door of us bank stadium today. And I will walk out the doors of us.S. Bank Stadium tonight feeling like they're one of the best teams in the NFC still. So does it put some pressure on the Thursday night football game? Absolutely. Weird week, quick turnaround.

You got to win that game. I know Cooper Cup probably is coming back for that, but you're a better team than Los Angeles Rams at this point in time with where they're at. They are dominating, but they're at. They are winning. They are dominating, but they're dominating the Raiders. So I mean,

it's not going to be, you're not going to walk into LA on a short week and just waltz to a victory. It's going to take, you know, a solid performance on both sides of the ball. And I think the pressure gets ramped up for that game. But as we look kind of like bird's eye view,

big picture on this season, like nothing has changed about how I perceive this football team and how I, you know, what I think they have the potential to do down the road. Because to close the loop on this whole thing, it was little things here and there, and they lost by two to a team that a lot of people think are going to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this year.

The Vikings are right there with the Lions. It's a play here. It's a play there. And we could be talking about a 6-0 football team who just beat one of the best teams in the NFC. So big picture, I think they're really good. I thought that today. I'll think that tonight. I'll think that as we get on a plane to los angeles um if

they lose that game i think it might get me going a little i don't know um but knowing this team and kind of the guys that they're made up of listening to the way they've talked like i do expect them to respond on thursday um i'm excited i'm excited that we will be there um talking about it watching it um and and and we'll see what happens. But a little bit of pressure on the Thursday game now, but overall nothing changes for me as far as what I expect for this team. So there you go. If someone told you at the beginning of the year

that the Minnesota Vikings would be headed to Thursday Night Football in Los Angeles at 5-1, didn't tell you how it happened, you would be super pumped. So there you go. The Vikings, a close loss in a really, really exciting football game that I couldn't help thinking, do we have to wait until Week 18 to see these two teams again? And then could this be one of those they play in Week 18

and then in the playoffs? Maybe. They could see each other again twice, potentially, the way these two teams played. I thought the Vikings played every bit like a team that should be in the playoffs and just came up a little bit short. So thank you all for watching slash listening. Really appreciate everybody's time. And, well, of course, the channel will have lots of analysis over the next couple of days. And then we fly to Los Angeles and we will be there doing

another live show after the game in LA. So again, thanks so much everybody for watching and listening and we will catch you all very soon. Really appreciate it, everybody.