Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings-Rams playoff game moved to Arizona

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Matthew Coller and Manny Hill discuss the NFL's decision to move the Vikings and Rams playoff game to Arizona Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎵 Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Manny Hill and we have some breaking news. The Minnesota Vikings game against the Los Angeles Rams, the wildcard round of the playoffs has made some history. It is being moved to Arizona where it will be played. Same time doesn't affect anybody watching at home. It will be the same network. Nothing has changed. Otherwise, some of us, me had to spend the last 45 minutes or so fighting with the internet

to get my flights changed and my hotels rebooked but we're good purple insider will still be inside the stadium it will just be a very different stadium so manny hill uh i think that this is one thousand% the right decision by the NFL to move this game. We reached a point where it did not appear. The fires were slowing down anywhere near enough to make this appropriate. And I think the biggest thing for me was you're talking about taking resources away from the firefighting efforts to secure an NFL stadium for this game. And the other thing is too, that when we saw players today practicing outside, wearing

masks because of the air quality and players being dismissed early to go back to their homes to make sure that they were safe, that to me says that this situation is far too serious for the NFL to say, yes, come thousands and thousands of people to this stadium and hundreds of police officers to be outside of the stadium and all those things when they need every single resource possible. And it also reached a point where the devastation was too much to say, Hey, everybody come have a good time for a playoff game. Uh, it, the other teams were canceling their games as well as they very well should. This is one of the biggest disasters that, uh, the Los Angeles city has ever seen and ever faced. And it does not look like it is anywhere close to coming to an end. So this is the right move to take the playoff game to another place where they can use resources from there and everyone can focus on what they need to do in Los Angeles. decision, Manny, is just, I am thinking very much of that city and those people. Many of you have

asked, I have in-laws who live in Los Angeles. They at the moment are in a safe place in the city, but as we've realized over the last couple of days, that can change extremely, extremely quickly. So my wife and I, of course, are very, very concerned about our family members that are out there. And it's a humongous city. There are so many people, so many people being affected that anybody you talk to has a friend, a family member. Kevin O'Connell was talking about all the people he knows out in Los Angeles who have

either had to evacuate or have already been effective. So I am thinking a great, great deal about the people of Los Angeles and what they've dealt with here over the last few days. But Manny, your thoughts on the NFL's decision to take Vikings and Rams and move it to Glendale, Arizona. Thousand percent the right decision to do. Like you said, you know, all of the resources, you know, law enforcement, fire department, any department that involves first responders, I think out there need to be, you know, all it needs to be all hands on deck out there to take care of that situation and to make sure that, you know, the people that are just maneuvering around that area that are just trying to, you know, live their lives. I mean, forget about a football game. People are just trying to live their lives and stay as safe as possible. You know, that city, those surrounding cities, those surrounding communities need to be, you know, all hands on deck to try and make sure

that everybody can be as safe as humanly possible. So absolutely 100% the right decision by the NFL. You know, I mean, obviously you have people that you know, that you're very close with that live out there. You know, I have a couple of people that I know that, that, that I've worked with in the past and that I know are, or just, you know, that I'm friends with that moved out there. It's a really serious situation. And you just hope the best for everybody that people can be as safe as possible. You know, unfortunately, we've had a couple of people lose their lives.

And you just hope that that doesn't continue as well. So definitely thinking about everybody out there and just hoping everybody can be as safe as possible and get through this. But as far as football goes in the NFL, 1,000% the right decision for the NFL to move this game to a place where that can be properly taken care of. Moving it to Arizona so it's not too far away. And it's the right decision for the NFL and I'm, I'm, I'm glad that they made that decision. And I know that the Rams stadium where it's located is not being affected at the moment, but something that I'm sure they had to keep in mind was that things can change so quickly when you have these severe winds that have really made this impossible to fight. And the winds are supposed to calm down over the next couple of days, but then kick up

again on Monday. And there is no chance that they are going to have this thing under control over the next couple of days with how widespread it is, no matter how much they have in terms of resources to try to fight it. It's just too vast and is spreading too quickly that you don't even know for sure if everyone would be safe arriving, traveling to the game. What could happen next?

Because this is unprecedented in the way that it is moved and reacted there in Los Angeles. And so I don't think that they could even fully just guarantee that everything was going to be fine based on the location, because SoFi is not that far south from where some of these fires have really taken hold. So it is the right decision. And not only that, but if you are traveling to there, something I thought of as well, because I was booking a hotel in Los Angeles, and something I thought of is I feel wrong for taking a hotel room when that's a fairly safe area right now, Inglewood, down by the airport. And that's where a lot of people who are escaping these fires are going to be fleeing to, to find reasonably priced hotels, to be able to stay in that area is a lot by the airport.

It's probably one of the safest places to be in the city right now. And here's us or Vikings fans traveling out there, reporters, everybody who's coming along, family members of players, and we're going to be taking hotel rooms away from people who need them. I mean, that just also felt like, because I held off in booking a hotel to make sure that this was going to happen. I was like, I just don't, I don't want to do this. I don't want to take a hotel room away from somebody that might end up needing it down near the stadium. So I think that's also better to not send thousands and thousands of people there and also make people travel to the stadium from roads that need to be open and need to be

free for people to travel and escape and leave potentially. And yet you're clogging up a lot of things with all of traffic or all of the people coming in from Minnesota. And if you made plans and you were going to take over the stadium, hopefully it should be easy enough. I did not have a hard time changing my flight. If you go to, if you're taking Delta or if you're taking sun country or whatever, I'm sure that you could just go to the website and they will accommodate changing your flight. It didn't take any effort for me. It wasn't that much more expensive. The hotel room prices are actually lower at the Phoenix airport. So I think that if you're still, if you want to go to the

game still, it shouldn't be very difficult for you to change it, to go to Arizona. And maybe it, maybe that changes your decision. Now I do want to get again, all the credits to the NFL for doing this. And all of my heart goes out to Los Angeles. I cannot tell you how many of these areas I have been. It is such an important place to my wife and I, that we go all the time to visit our family. So, I mean, Malibu, we go to Malibu all the time. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth and it is devastating to see all that. However, so all that said, there is a football game. That's that is what we do here. I do have to say it. This helps the Vikings.

I really hope that doesn't come across as inappropriate. I don't want it to be. I want everyone to know how much I care about this and it matters. And I hope, by the way, that people get an opportunity to donate to efforts to help the area of Los Angeles and all the people there. It's just that taking a home game away, making it a neutral site, it does help the Minnesota Vikings because it will not be a Los Angeles crowd. And I think we were all expecting it to be a Los Angeles crowd. And I think we were all expecting it

to be a Los Angeles crowd much more than it was on Thursday night football. And it's a break for Minnesota and it is a harm to the Rams to lose their home environment to now. I could see a lot of Vikings fans heading out there. And also the state of Arizona might be half Minnesotans anyway in the wintertime. I just I feel like this has now turned into a semi Minnesota Vikings home game. Yeah, I mean, and we know this just from seeing when the Vikings have gone out there to play the Cardinals, you know, when they've gone to that stadium to play the Cardinals on the road, there's always been a huge contingency of Vikings fans there to where it almost seems like a neutral game, like a college football bowl game or something,

where you've got, you know, sort of a 50-50 split between fan bases. And I got to think it's going to be a similar thing, you know, on Monday night out there for this game, if not a majority of Vikings fans actually being out there, um, as well. So yeah, I I'm with you. I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw the news, uh, break a little while ago, I, I said, said to myself, the first thing I thought of was, oh yeah, this helps the Vikings. This is going to be a huge advantage for the Vikings now, moving it to a neutral site. And, you know, in some ways, it's probably going to work out, you know, the way it should, you know,

in terms of when you're thinking about a 14-3 team that has to play a 10-7 team. I think Rams were 10-7, right, if I'm not mistaken, 10-7. In the playoffs, typically, you know, the team that wins 14 games or wins more games, they probably should have the advantage in that retrospect. So this is going to work out for the Vikings, I think. You know, I already was leaning towards picking them to win the game, even if it was played in Los Angeles. And now, especially I feel even more confident that the

Vikings can go and take care of business on Monday night. And I think what we have seen a little bit, and this is a factor as well, definitely in Detroit, but to some extent in Seattle as well, that noise does affect this offensive line and may also affect this quarterback. Now, maybe the circumstances of being amped up through the roof when it comes to that Detroit game may have impacted Sam Darnold of just all the pomp and circumstance and everything else. But I also thought that the energy from the stadium and the noise and all that got to them

throughout the game as Detroit was blitzing time and time again. And I'll say it. I mean, I think that Ford Field atmosphere was as loud or louder than any that I've heard at US Bank Stadium or just as loud as the Superdome, the places that are known for having impacting level of noise. Now, I don't think that was going to be the case in Los Angeles. And I do think there was going to be a lot of purple, but I don't believe it was going to be at the same level. And the reason why, number one, is LA is an event town

and that's a big event for a playoff game. When it came to the Dodgers, for example, I mean, they fill that stadium, they go crazy. Now, a regular Thursday night game, they fill that stadium, they go crazy. Now a regular Thursday night game, they're probably going to sell their tickets. But when it comes to a game like this and the playoffs, they're going to show up. And I would give Los Angeles Rams fans this, they did make a lot of noise at so far the last time that the Vikings were out there. And there were several Vikings players and Kevin O'Connell who talked about it being actually more than they had expected. So I think that the fact that the

Rams have been so good over the last few years, really, since they moved out to Los Angeles, they have a great quarterback. They have a great coach. I think that they've built up a fan base in ways that maybe Vegas hasn't, but they're going to, they were going to show up for that. And I'm sure that some will drive down to Arizona from Los Angeles, but I cannot imagine it's going to be the same caliber of crowd. And I think it's probably going to be a lot easier for some Vikings fans to get out there and go to Arizona. So it doesn't completely change it because I'm sure there will be some sort of, you know, maybe buses or whatever it's going to be to try to get season ticket holders

there for the game. The Rams, I'm sure are going to try to do everything they can to get people there, but I don't even know if it's going to be a full stadium at this point when you only have a couple of days to prepare for something like this. But it's hard to say when this hasn't happened since 1936 in football, as everyone has tweeted out that moving playoff games is something that just has not happened. From John with the super chat. Thank you so much, John. Really appreciate that. How do we get tickets in Arizona? That is a question. Unfortunately, I do not have the answer for i would imagine that the best way to do it

is probably the secondary market uh where i would almost guarantee that a ton of rams fans that can't go to the game will be putting their tickets up on things like someone who should advertise on the show maybe like a stub hub or a, whichever your, your ticketing program here. Uh, but I mean, all of those, whatever secondary markets are probably going to have plenty of opportunities to buy those tickets if you're headed out there. So, uh, this is a very, very significant thing in NFL history. It does not happen. And until really the last moment before it happened, I was still thinking, I guess they're just going to play through it. But you know, when it comes down to the fact that SoFi is not a true dome stadium, and you might even be putting

players at risk by having them there with the amount of smoke. And, and I was originally going to stay at a hotel that was within walking distance of the stadium. And I was thinking to myself, do I really want to walk six tenths of a mile in the smoke and all that? Because it's probably not very safe. So there's a bunch of reasons for them to do it. And it made all the sense in the world. But now this is something that I think it shakes everybody, Manny. I mean, we're going into this game now with an extra layer of anxiety for everybody. I know O'Connell said, hey, we're going to get off the plane. We're going to play whoever.

But to have some sort of tectonic movement of this game right before it happens, just a couple of days, and to have your quarterback is from that area of the world your coach was came from that area of the world the other team has got its mind on that whole thing it just adds a totally different layer here to this football game that already was going to mean so much to both franchises. Yeah, it's going to be big too. And, you know, even going back to the whole thing with the Rams and, you know, the fans showing up for games and everything like that. Sometimes I wonder if that gets a little bit overblown

because we think about that NFC Championship game when the Niners went down there in 2021 and there was a huge amount of Niners fans there but I feel like that was a really special case because it was the Niners like I feel like if it was another team it may not have been more of like a neutral site type of game it probably would have been a majority of Rams fans there um but yeah i mean this this like we said this this sort of change of venue is going to change things a lot and you do have to wonder i mean these guys they they they spend the whole season that you know they go they start

out with with you know off-season you know mini camps and otas and they go through the pre-season and training camp and they play all these regular season, and they go through the preseason and training camp, and they play all these regular season games, and they're so zoned in, and they're so locked in every week in their preparation for these games. But then something like this happens. These guys are still human beings, you know what I mean? And you can't help but to wonder like, how are they, you know, they may be able to just focus their minds completely on football, but because they're human beings, you still kind of wonder, well, how do they do this? You know, all of these guys that are on the Rams team that, you know, probably live in Los Angeles,

you know, what are they, what are they sort of thinking about dealing with? You know, Sean McVay, we obviously, we don't know where Sean McVay lives, but like, is that sort of thing still on his mind maybe while he's also trying to get his football team ready to play in a very important game on Monday night? So you do have to wonder like how, how these guys are going to be able to sort of balance the dynamics of dealing with what's happening as it pertains to maybe people that they know, or just their own personal lives themselves, and also preparing for the biggest

football game of the season thus far. It's going to be a really interesting to see how that whole play whole thing plays out really for both teams on Monday night. Nano Joe informs me that SeatGeek is selling tickets for LA ticket holders tomorrow at nine o'clock and noon for everyone else. It was posted in the NFL memo. I didn't get to that part of the NFL memo. Nano Joe, I'm glad that you saw it. So yeah, I guess tomorrow they're going to have the sales, but I've got to imagine that a lot of Minnesota fans are thinking about going out to

that game now, and maybe, uh, it will end up being a 50, 50 crowd. If they fill the entire place, I don't know. Uh, maybe they will just because it's an NFL playoff game, but I've got to imagine that it's going to be a more mixed crowd than it would have been before. So that's all we can really say about it. Right decision. If you're going best of luck to you with the travel, I'm going got my travel changed. I will be there in Phoenix while technically Glendale,

and I will be covering it the same way we always cover games. It'll just be a little strange to be in the stadium. Luckily, the NFL always has a contingent plan for every game, no matter what. And they were ready to move this one at the drop of a hat when it became appropriate. So I want to shift gears and just once again, say, if you have family members, friends out there, if you just go to Los Angeles, if you know anything about that city, this is absolutely heartbreaking. And if you're going or whatever to Phoenix, try to remember to keep those people in your

mind. Or also, if you have an opportunity to donate, to help in some way, make sure you do that. Speaking of the Rams, though, to change gears, there's been a, I think, rallying cry that Kevin O'Connell has wanted to use here in the last couple of days, really even since the end of the Detroit game, which is to connect the current Minnesota Vikings to the time that he won a Super Bowl with the 2021 Los Angeles

Rams and how they had to go on the road to Tampa Bay and beat Tom Brady and barely beat Tom Brady in an absolute classic crazy football game and then go back home against San Francisco beat San Francisco or were they on the road were they on the road at San Francisco or were they at home? They were at home. I mean, it was kind of like I was saying earlier, it was kind of like a road game. Cause it was 50% Niners fans, but right. So, but you know, go back home and play against San Francisco. Barely survived that went to the Superbowl, barely survived that.

And O'Connell has said multiple times, like how many things had to go right and so forth for it to work. But Manny, when I started looking into Vikings versus 2021 Rams, there are a lot of similarities. I'll give you a one that's kind of crazy. That year, Matthew Stafford's quarterback rating was 102.9 and he was at the top of the league in both big time throws and turnover worthy plays. This year, Sam Darnold's is 102.5 and is at the top of the league in both big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays. This year, Sam Darnold is 102.5 and is at the top of the league in both big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays, average depth of target, pushing the ball down the field. And more than anything, what I noticed is the construction of the rosters, which was a lot of veteran players who were acquired from outside type of moves that they had either

signed, players like Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods was on the team. veteran players who were acquired from outside type of moves that they had either signed players like Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods was on the team. Eventually I think Torres ACL, but Odell Beckham jr. They also had Vaughn Miller. They made trades. They pushed the chips to the middle of the table and they really had a veteran team that was driven by their stars and a volatile big armed quarterback and the top receiver in the league that year, which Justin Jefferson is either one or two, uh, Ram faithful 39. Can't remember. Can't imagine where that's coming from. Says that the quarterbacks are not the same in any way. I, all I would say is just look it up, look up Stafford's 2021 season on paper and compare it to Darnold's in a lot of different

metrics, whether it's yards per attempt, quarterback rating, PFF grade, average depth of target, big time throw percentage, turnover worthy play percentage. Stafford threw for more yards that year, but I mean, they're very close for that season. Stafford has had a much better career, but for that season versus this season, it's pretty close. Are you buying, though, Manny, that the Vikings could do something similar to what the 2020 Rams did?

Or do you think it's kind of Kevin O'Connell maybe reaching a little? I think maybe it's a little bit of both because I do, I can buy that this team is capable of doing it. I've been saying it for a few weeks now that I think that this team is built to be able to go on the road and win a couple of playoff games if they need to. Now, obviously, environment from what we've seen the last couple of weeks, you know, specific road environment may determine that ability to do that because when the crowd has been a little bit more hostile, the Vikings to win a game i think they can do it doesn't necessarily mean i'm guaranteeing that they will but i think

they can do it that 2021 rams team like you said they went into tampa and they got up to a big lead blew that lead sound familiar um you know and were able to get a big drive a couple big plays from their quarterback and their star wide receiver to get a winning field goal as time expired sound familiar um so yeah i mean i can i can kind of see it, but I also do think, to your point about Kevin O'Connell, that this could be sort of a, you know, some sort of a, you know, motivate yourself, motivate your team into getting into that mode of saying like, hey, I was the offensive coordinator for a team three years ago that did this. I believe that you guys are more than capable of doing the exact same thing. So I think it's a little bit of both, but I do think that this team is very capable of doing something very similar.

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differential of plus 100, very close. Neither team was number one in any category. The Rams had the seventh best offense and 15th best defense. So actually a much worse defense in the regular season than the Vikings have had. The Vikings are ninth and fifth. So more of a complete team, not leaning on one side of the football or the other throughout the season. And I think that the key to both teams is really high variance that the way that the Vikings play is to hit big passes down the field and to sack the quarterback and intercept the football and cause havoc and turnovers and pressure and things like that, which is exactly how the Rams played that year. The Rams are one of the top teams in interceptions and sacks.

How about this? I did all this research, uh, 50 sacks for the Rams that year, 49 for the Vikings this year. Very, very close when it came to how they were constructed and how they had to win as well. They needed Aaron Donald to go create pressure on Jimmy Garoppolo on those final drives. And then Kevin O'Connell is exactly right. Some things had to go their way. I always think about that dropped interception by

san francisco that if the guy just catches the ball it's over and the 49ers are going to that super bowl and instead he drops it they lead a game-winning drive and matthew stafford had to be his absolute best throughout that entire playoffs or they weren't going to win he well outplayed kyler mur Murray in the first game, which may be the difference. I think that the Rams are playing really well and Arizona was falling apart at that time. So they had a good matchup and they had it at home, but still an inferior opponent for the Vikings here. If you look at the Rams, their offense, their defense this year, not that impressive. They've played a lot better lately, but they are so much more of a

mid team by any of the rankings you look at. They're an average offense with some potential because of Puka Nakua, but mostly just kind of mint. And defensively, they are, I think, 23rd in terms of PFF coverage ranking. Their cornerbacks have been very susceptible, their safeties, their linebackers. I mean, of course, Stafford evens the playing field here a little by being so experienced and he's been there and he's done that and he's a great talent and he's a smart quarterback and he had answers for the Vikings the last time. So if any of you think in the comment section that I'm down on Matthew Stafford, that's not the case at all. But the facts are the facts that the Rams have not had a dominant offense this season

by any means. And they've kind of survived some of these games to get to this point, whereas the Vikings had a much more dominant season. I mean, still, I didn't look at the numbers after the Detroit game where they were down for the entire game, but they led up until that game, more time, more plays were from ahead than any other team in the NFL, which to me says that the Vikings should be the better team, but there's always that variance that exists just like it did

in 2021 of, we always thought Matthew Stafford would need a hot run of like just hitting on, you know, clicking on all cylinders or whatever way you want to phrase it that we had seen from him occasionally in Detroit, but he would have to do that in the playoffs. It feels the same way for Darnold. Darnold starts out. The first four games are pretty terrific. And then it's a couple of games. You got no Darnold. And then it's a great run through about six, seven weeks with the Vikings. And then it's, you know, we're reeling off wins and putting up four, five touchdowns and playing great. And then the Detroit game happens and you go I don't know and and I think that that's that that is very Stafford like in the way that uh Sam Darnold has played this year I was just looking while you were talking I was looking over the Rams games this year do you know they failed to score 20 points in a game eight times this year yeah that's that's in the nfl in 2024 2025 that's that's a lot of games to not get to 20 points and there was a couple times where it was exactly 20 points so yeah i mean this

is this is a team that i i they just kind of they kind of remind me of that, that team, like, like an NBA team that was like a six or seven seed in the playoffs. And they've got some, some, some veteran players that, you know, it's like, oh yeah, they won the NBA finals like four years ago. And they still have a couple of players, a couple of star players from that team. But those guys are like three, four years older. you know what's going to carry them is the fact that they're they have the experience of winning a championship and but they're just not good enough and that's what's going to you know prevent them from maybe really going on a deep playoff run and I feel like this Rams team with with Stafford and Cooper Cup

and you know Bukunuku is only in his second year in the league, certainly, but, you know, just with the quarterback position in Matthew Stafford, his brain is going to keep the Rams in this game and keep them competitive in this game, but you just wonder if the fact that he's 36 and he's going to turn 37 this year, you kind of wonder, you know, he's at that age now where we start to see some quarterbacks start to fall off and i'm not guaranteeing that matthew stafford is washed or that he's falling off or anything but he is at that age where you get to the later point of the season and they just guys just start to run out of gas and they're just not quite as good not quite

as effective so that's going to be something to kind of watch for. And I think that's something that's going to maybe work in the Vikings' favor. But again, this is why they have to play the games. And, you know, you don't win games on paper. You don't win games on assumptions. You win games by going out and playing and executing and getting it done. So I think the Vikings are going to have some advantages in this game that maybe they didn't have the first time they played the Rams. Um, and you know, we'll see how

everything plays out on Monday night. There's a big factor here for Matthew Stafford of, uh, being different than when he won the super bowl, which is his offensive line. Uh, when they won the super bowl, they had one of the best offensive lines, if not the best pass protection. One of the great players in NFL history, Andrew Whitworth, was their left tackle. They just seemed to really understand pass protection that season.

And this year they are, I believe, 30th by PFF in terms of their pass blocking grade, which could be a huge difference maker. But what they did the last time to negate that was they got the ball out quickly. And I remember being in the locker room and hearing Jonathan Grenard and some other players talking about how we didn't get a lot of pressure on him because they just got the ball out so fast. And the Vikings have to have an answer for when the ball comes out quickly out of Matthew Stafford's hands, because he has only taken 28 sacks this year, despite having the 30th ranked pass blocking unit, which tells you a

lot. That means he's getting rid of the football and he's getting it to Puka Nakua and he's making plays after the catch, which I think is a real serious skill of his. He is a huge guy and he is very hard to take down. But if the Vikings can put them in positions where you have to straight drop back, there were a couple of times in that game where Stafford just went full magic. Stafford dropped a diamond to the end zone to DeMarcus Robinson. There was one where he dodged and got out of the way of Jonathan Grenard and then whipped one across his body for a touchdown. I was like, Whoa, that's what we're talking about. One of the, one of the great quarterbacks in the game. So, uh, you know, I think that asking him to do that all game, if the Vikings can put them in that position, it can be a difference maker. And that's really what

it comes down to, to me is that the Rams have so many markers statistically that say, eh, they're just kind of a team in the league that won a division that wasn't as strong as we all expected it to be coming into the year. But there's another part of me that says they still have the talent at quarterback to have a big game and look what they did against Buffalo. Although Buffalo there that, you know, that game gets brought up. Buffalo's defense has collapsed. Like they have been really poor. They were poor against Detroit. They were poor against the Rams. They've had a lot of injuries in their secondary. And that is not where the Vikings are at. There is a big edge here that

the Vikings are going in with an extra day of rest and they are completely healthy. And the number one thing coming out of the Rams or the Detroit game is if you're going to lose, lose healthy. And they lost healthy in that game. So now they get to be a hundred percent, which includes Blake Cashman, their great linebacker, who was not in the game the first time that these two teams played. But here's more broadly, Manny, I really love the matchup though i mean just from a you know football kind of like you know there's a lot of dynamics at play it's the the master versus the student of mcveigh versus koc i'm sure koc would love that framing of it but truly you got a super bowl champion coach who is i mean he has done an incredible job of taking that team through a mini kind of rebuild and there's still not a complete roster. And yet they're here sort of hosting a playoff

game. And that says a lot about Sean McVay and you have Kevin O'Connell, who I believe is the only coach in the playoffs without a current playoff win. So Kevin O'Connell, uh, Brian Murphy said this on Monday. I don't know if you agree with it, Manny, but I do think that there's a lot of pressure on O'Connell and maybe there's a lot of fans who have said, ah, you know, we're probably not going to win the super bowl since we lost that one game to Detroit. So, well, whatever, but I don't look at it that way. I look at it as if you're going to have a 13 win season and then a 14 win season, you got to win some playoff games and we can blame Kirk all we want for checking down. But KOC

in that game also called a pretty bad play on that check down. And he also kept his defensive coordinator that let him down for the entire season. And he escaped blame because of the check down. Uh, but it's not like anybody was wide open and Kirk missed them. It's not like he replaced. Well, I think it was actually Ezra Cleveland who missed the block, but the guards who had problems in that games, including at Ingram, they didn't replace him throughout that season the way that they did, you know, this this year.

And look, if you lose to a far inferior team, when you've caught this break of not having to go to their stadium, I can't help, but think that Kevin O'Connell is going to deserve some questions. And I know Denny green face those for a long time, but he's going to deserve some questions. How can you go 14 and three, and then lose to a 10 win team in the playoffs, if that is what happened. I I think that the x factor is McVay versus O'Connell and in the first matchup between the two the Rams out coached the Vikings yeah they did and you know the Vikings had some things kind of working against them going into that game and we we kind of saw it play out on that thursday night game and and you know broader picture with koc yeah i mean i think if they don't win this game and you know you're going

to this offseason and at that point kevin o'connell would be oh and two in the playoffs that's just that's just a fact there's there's no way around that. There's no way of really explaining that other than they're 0-2 in the playoffs under Kevin O'Connell. And that's where I think the question marks will start to sort of arise a little bit where, you know, I don't think there's going to be too many people with a rational mind calling for his dismissal as head coach certainly but there will be sort of those question marks of like hey kevin what's what's the deal you're you've had a couple double digit win seasons and you have no playoff wins to show for it um in three years what's what's the deal what's going on here um and then it's it i think it will sort of play into a narrative that you know i brought up a couple of weeks ago of it would be the third year in a row where the vikings you know closed out the season not playing their best football and that will be something i think that will kind of stick with koc as well like kevin you you get off to good starts and seasons i mean 2023 they didn't get off to a good start i think

what one and four oh and three and3, and then 1-4. But they got a five-game winning streak, got to 6-4, got back into the playoff conversation, and then Josh Dobbs became Josh Dobbs again. Nick Mullins was Nick Mullins, and you end up 7-10, losing six of your last seven games. 2022, they didn't finish the season playing their best football either,

and it came back to bite them in the playoffs and now it's kind of like not not quite as egregious of a bad finish but you know you lose 31-9 to Detroit with a chance to win the division and then you flame out in the playoffs that's that question's gonna pop up too of like, Hey Kevin, why do your teams continue to play like their worst football late in the season? So, yeah, I mean,

I think it's, it would be big for Kevin to, to find a way to win this game just for, for him and all the sort of the narratives that, that like to get thrown out there on the internet, on talk shows, all of those things. This game is going to be huge.

And I think because it's a winnable game against an opponent, that's pretty good, but, but beatable. I think you got to go in and you got to take care of business and get it done. I agree. I think that that's a fair expectation. When you get past this, it all depends on how it plays out. If you go to Philadelphia or Detroit, I think we would both agree that those are two stronger teams than the Vikings, but you shouldn't also be out of the picture against them. Not after you win 14 games.

And I just really have had a tough time this week with one game somehow destroying a nine-game win streak in everybody's minds. All the things that they did in a nine game win streak went completely out the window to a lot of people, uh, almost like, yeah, that's who they really are. Like, why would we think that's who they really are when 14 out of 17 times, in fact, they were really good in that first lions game and needed one more first down and should have beat them at home. I think that they've played probably 15. Uh, well, I wouldn't say the Jacksonville game was a good game. So

maybe, maybe they played like 13 good games this year. They end up with 14 wins and it's like, well, every, everything's just not good. Now that's, that's football. I get it. That's how this all works. But I mean, even saying, you know, the offensive line had just been amazing against green Bay. It's not like they're not capable of this. Things just went Detroit's way because they missed some open passes. And then at the end of the game, they ran up the score when it was much more of a close game throughout. I didn't look at it like the Vikings got murdered in that game. So I don't know. I, I look at it as them going through this playoff run with almost every bit as good of a chance as anybody else, if they can get past the Rams and

get back rolling. If they don't, then I think it is a huge disappointment because you won 14 games. There are just only so many teams ever in history who have won 14 games. That's who they should really be. Not the team that lost to Detroit. Well, and I even go back to the first Rams game where, okay, the Rams won that game by 10. They got a safety late because of a missed face mask on Sam Darnold that gave the Rams two extra points. But, you know, you look back at a few things.

First of all, the Vikings were playing on three days rest. It was a short week for them after playing a really tough physical game at home with Detroit that Sunday prior. And again, go back to the, the Jalen Naylor doesn't drop that pass inside the five yard line. That's a touchdown, easy walk-in touchdown for him. How does that change the way that game plays out for them as well? I mean, there's always like little factors here and there that you have to take into account when you look at all these games. And, you know, if the Vikings win that game, maybe the Detroit game doesn't matter as much, you know what I mean?

Because they're 15-2 and they have the, the first round, uh, the first round by, you know, so I don't know. I, I just, I just think that there's a lot of factors in that, that have to come into play here. Um, that I think can work in the Vikings favor. And this is, this is the opportunity now to, you know, even the people that like to rip on Kevin O'Connell and, and, you know, Brian Flores with the defense and all of that. This is a chance to, you know, maybe shut some of those people up. And then you just kind of see how things play out the rest of the way in the playoffs. Maybe some things go your way if you have to go back to Detroit or if you have to go to Philadelphia. There's still that small, small, small chance the Vikings could be hosting in the second round.

If the other two road teams this weekend win games and the Vikings would be the second highest seed remaining, even as a fifth seed, and then they would be hosting Washington. So you just got to see how things play out. This is a big opportunity, I think, for for this team to to to make some noise and put themselves in position to go on a run. Uh, Ram faithful dropping in with very reasonable questions about the schematics, which I appreciate Ram faithful. Oftentimes when opposing teams, fans jump into our live stream, it's just your team, your stinks shut up well that's a you know or much worse language than that so i appreciate you ram faithful dropping in with uh if you watch the first game uh you guys had to come off with the blitz puka was going nuts

on screens that's very true wonder how the vikings play this one i really think this is a major challenge for brian flores because his defense came out ready to play against Detroit. And they did for a long part of that game until Kevin O'Connell decided not to go for a fourth down. They miss a field goal. And then the momentum all swung in the way of the Detroit lions and a bunch of things had to play into that first. But I was more encouraged by their defensive performance than I was discouraged because they turned the ball over from Jared Goff, who usually doesn't. They slowed down Jameer Gibbs early in that game. They were not going to do it if the offense couldn't stay on

the field. We knew that, but for a major portion of that game, they did slow down a Jameer Gibbs. So now it's a new challenge of a team that beat you in the past. How does Brian Flores approach this? Matthew Stafford is really good at diagnosing blitzes and Sean McVay is really good at scheming around problems that the other defense creates. Do you play more man coverage with Puka Nakua? Do you do something like double him, which is not really a Viking thing. What they usually do is they play zones and they kind of stick in their zone and try to confuse the quarterback. But do you actually do something like press Puka Nakua with a safety over the top?

Kind of like the Vikings see all the time with Justin Jefferson. I am very curious to see that maybe Byron Murphy is a guy that they use against him because Murphy has been their best man corner so far this year. I just love all the schematics. You have an elite offensive coach in McVay, an elite defensive coach in Flores, throwing haymakers at each other. This should be really good.

Before we get to the underdog fantasy hires and lowers, which I need your opinion on, and you made a list of your five favorite vikings playoff games ever which i am curious to hear did you do your lifetime or did you do like ever ever i did pretty much my lifetime the oldest one is from the 90s okay that makes that makes sense uh but you know going back there's some matchups with the Rams that are pretty famous. Alan Page had a big play against the Rams. But I did want to say, so the other night on the live stream, we had a conversation about Darnold and his future and just how much it would be impacted by this game. And then of course the whole salary cap and all that kind of stuff and got into it a little bit with some of the YouTube chat, which I heard from a lot of people about this week.

The first thing I would say is I was having this conversation with my wife earlier and she has usually not paid a lot of attention to Vikings teams since I have been covering the team, but this one she's followed closely and a little bit of a levity for everyone. She said, isn't having two quarterbacks who are good, a good thing for your franchise. And I'm like, yes, it is. Yes, it is. And we together looked up JJ McCarthy's birthday and his age. And if he were to be, you know, on the bench developing for another year, he would be the ripe old age of 23 by this time next year, which would be a shame because that's still quite a bit younger than Michael Penix or Bo Nix are right now. So it would be it'd be a darn shame if the franchise took a longer term approach, right?

I think that would probably be pretty smart. But what I would say is that about the comment that I made about some fans rooting against Darnold, I apologize for absolutely nothing that I said the other night. I believe that that has been the case and I've seen it on a daily basis, whether it's social media, emails, get, YouTube chats. It's not just trolls. I think that there are a good number of Vikings fans who can't wait for this to end

so they can get to free agency, be rid of Sam Darnold and move on to JJ McCarthy. But because I am a journalist, I decided to send a few texts and make a few phone calls to people that I know who are in the industry. Now that is not with the Minnesota Vikings. So I'm not saying that the Minnesota Vikings told me X. Okay. However, several people in the league who have understanding and knowledge of contracts, free agency, all those things mentioned to me that they think

they're predicting that the Vikings will sign Darnold to a short-term contract that is reflective of Baker Mayfield to have a short-term contract or a short-term contract that has a small cap hit in the first year that would go up in future years because that would give them a full year to add all the free agents that you guys are dreaming of. And then if they love the way Sam Darnold plays and he wins 13 more games and he's being talked about as Joe Burrow, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, then that would be the point where you would consider making a trade with JJ McCarthy. But if not, if they win eight games and Darnold isn't as good and he regresses, then they could trade Darnold away. And if they, even if he's under contract for big money,

we've seen all sorts of quarterbacks get traded or heck one particular quarterback coming off an Achilles signed to a $45 million contract. Desperation is so high. Carson Wentz was pretty down bad and yet still netted a first round pick in a trade. So they would be able to do that. And something I wanted to point out too, that the people that I reached out to told me was the Vikings will probably get it right. And that's what I think as well. So I know that there's been a lot of this talk and a lot of debate, and it's been the number one discussion everybody wants to have about Sam Darnold in his future. I don't think that it all weighs on the back of this Rams game. I think it is better for the longterm to allow JJ McCarthy as much time as you could possibly get to develop and be ready to play in the NFL when it is time.

Remember at this point in Jaden Daniels life, he's not even a prospect at this time in Michael Penix's life or Bo Nix's life. Bo Nix is being laughed at at this point in his life where when he was in Auburn or Michael Penix is recovering from ACLs when he's at Indiana and is not a prospect. Yep. If you're talking about development for quarterbacks being the key to long-term franchise success, then if the Vikings develop McCarthy over several years or end up with Sam Darnold being thought of as an elite quarterback by the end of next year, then your franchise is in one heck of a position. But I thought I would pass that along that the people in the league that I talked to

are expecting a short-term deal that solves your cap problems for next year, which they don't really have them, but is better than the franchise tag. And one more thing I'll add in Manny before we get to your list and I'll let you go. And I'll, I'll find some, uh, music for you to put below it. So, uh, fine. I'll have that ready to go. Uh, where was I going with this? Uh, one more thing about it. Oh oh when you negotiate with a player so i'm sure a lot of people would say well why would he sign the short-term deal when someone else might go crazy is when you have the franchise tag in your back pocket generally how this works is that the team will take the guaranteed money that they would get from the franchise tag add on to that but that's the number to start with so if you sign someone to a three-year deal

with say $60 million fully guaranteed, then he gets way more than he would with a franchise tag, a little bit more stability, and the Vikings are able to manipulate his contract to have it shorter term. And then again, if they want to move on from him, they will absolutely have suitors to trade for him when that time comes. But through 2025, they could have a quarterback who just won 14 games. It was great with a backup quarterback who is better than any backup quarterback in the NFL by 50 miles who they will be developing and could use that time since he has not thrown more than 400 passes since he got a driver's license. So it would give him a full off season, full training camp, full preseason and NFL games to

be a backup quarterback who's active and could potentially play. And if something happens to Darnold, rather than trading for Josh Dobbs, your team has a first round draft pick. You could go to, these are long-term things. That is all. What all I'm saying there is that I reached out to people in the league and this is what they expect to happen. So when I'm saying it to you, it comes from a position of making phone calls, talking to people, working this thing out,

putting the effort in as a reporter, not making stuff up on the internet, which is so often what a lot of people who claim to be experts like to do. So I just wanted to sort of clear the air there and put it all out there. Well done, my friend. Just one last thing. Your team will probably get it right. There's so few competent teams in the league. This is one of them. I think a lot of Vikings fans struggle to get their heads around that because it's been an incompetent franchise at times.

It was incompetent for a few years there with Spielman and Zimmer. It's just not anymore. It's just not. They have one of the best cap people in the league. Their general manager turned them around from cap hell in two years. They know how to do this so all right the uh i got i got some pick-ems to still get to but i want to hear your five favorite vikings playoff games of your lifetime man and there's all right oh the music is drowning you out hold on oh okay try now there we go how's that that good no that's fine that's fine that was my bad uh so we're gonna start i mentioned one of these goes all the way back to the 1990s and it's number five on my list the 1997 nfc wildcard playoff the vikings go into the

meadowlands and beat the old meadowlands and beat the new york giants uh 23 to 22 the vikings were down by nine points late in this game and uh they uh score a touchdown then they get an onside kick and then old man eddie mur Murray kicks a game-winning field goal to beat the Giants. It was Denny Green's first playoff win as Vikings head coach in his sixth season as Vikings head coach. It had been a rough go in the postseason for Denny, and there was a lot of speculation at that time that

if the Vikings didn't win that game, that Denny was going to be fired. And, you know, that and just think about that. Like your job is on the line and you're down by two scores with like a couple of minutes left in the game. You know what I mean? They were Denny was that close to being done and out as Vikings head coach. But just a tremendous comeback. And they went into San Francisco and the division around the next week and got, didn't go very well. That was in that. And by the way, does that sound familiar from recent Vikings history, a big playoff game where your coach might've been out if you didn't win it.

And then you go into San Francisco and get your ass kicked. And look, this is what I've said about the sam darnold situation the whole time so if he goes nine for 30 and they move on from him and everyone comes back you said he was coming back hey here's what i've said the playoffs change everything you never know and they changed kirk and zimmer's future they changed denny's future randy moss is not a viking they don't win that game that is really something to think about and they needed an onside kick to do it randall cunningham came off the bench and or because of

an injured brad johnson wins that game that is one of the worst football games i have ever seen in my entire life it was terrible dani cannell it was just awful so i love that it's on your list because of its implications but definitely not because of the fear of football that was hideous yeah that was an awful game probably by far and away the worst football game on my list in terms of just quality of football uh number four uh fast forward 12 years the vikings blowing out the Dallas Cowboys 34-3 in the NFC Divisional in 2009. And I added this to my list because that was, Brett Favre was as good as he ever was that entire season in that game. Him and Sidney Rice just absolutely toasted the Cowboys secondary that whole game. And I remember they threw a late touchdown to Vasanti Shanko and Keith

Brooking, who was on the Cowboys team at that time, was not happy. Not particularly happy because he thought the Vikings were running up the score. But it was just old number four out there having fun like he typically always did on the football field. Was that where, wasn't there some sort of thing there was some sort of like early viral video that happened there was something about pants that they were chanting in the locker room after i someone's gonna do you remember what i'm talking about on the ground

pants on the ground looking like a fool with your pants on the ground yeah something something like that and there's there's a video of them in the locker room after the game and farb does the barb says the sings the song or whatever it was something i can't remember who it was on the team that actually like was singing that song originally and farb just sort of caught on to it um but yes i do remember that okay yeah i uh have not i remember that game live, have not watched it back because it was 34-3. But at that point, I bet there was not a soul in Minnesota that did not think they were winning the Super Bowl. What's number three? Number three is the game that was a week later in New Orleans.

It was a Vikings loss. You told me that when I was going to make this list, I could include Vikings losses. The 2009 NFC Championship game has a lot of sore spots with Vikings fans. But I think when you take the heartbreak part of it out, that was a hell of a football game. And, you know, the Vikings, it's unfortunate because the Vikings played so well in that game, aside from the five turnovers. But then you think about the fact that they turned the ball over five times and they still had a chance to win that game late. Was really impressive. Brad Childress, by far, I think the best coaching job that he probably did his entire time. I mean, if Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrien, who had a great game, don't have fumbles, you're taking points off the board there,

and who knows how that game would have ended up. The Vikings completely outplayed the Saints in that game in every aspect except for the turnover battle. But it was a great game, and unfortunately, the Vikings lost it. But it was very, the emotions were heightened, and it was a very entertaining football game for sure. From just my perspective, that year of working in Buffalo and having no team there, one of the most memorable playoff games ever. And that's it is a soul crusher for Vikings fans, no doubt.

But as far as your entertainment value, as far as your drama, your implications, I just wish, and so did Roger Goodell, that there had been an opportunity for Brett Favre to get the ball back. He was great in that game, too. He was incredible the way he played. The pick at the end, obviously obviously is what everybody thinks about. When you look at the throws that he was making, the way he hung in there in the pocket, he's

just getting beaten to a pulp by the Saints defensive line. He was incredible that game for sure. An astounding display of toughness in that game. Number two. Number two is another game that involved Brett Favre, ironically.

But it was the 2004 NFC wildcard game at Lambeau Field. The famous, we talked about this game ad nauseum almost, the famous Randy Moss moon game. Just the great performance by the Vikings team that I think I always gave Mike Tice a ton of credit for the coaching job he did in this game because it seemed like he had the team very loose.

You know, they did not. They kind of backed into the playoffs at eight and eight. They lost their last two games, the Christmas Eve game for the division against the Packers. And then the game in Washington to wrap up the season where Randy Moss walked off the field before the game was over infamously um and I just remember the the pre-game interview that uh the sideline interview before the game I think it was Pam Oliver did with Mike Tice and he just had this kind of this little sly grin on his in his face when he was talking and after the game or after the interview was over i was thinking oh my god they might actually win this game because they just seemed really loose and randy moss had the hair had he took his braids down he had the hair out i think

it was mo williams and well d more had their hair out doing like sort of an afro type of look they just played loose and free they had nothing to lose at that point. And they ended up kicking the crap out of the Packers and getting the win. It was incredible. So if anybody wants to go over to purpleinsider.football, where I do my writing, if you want to support the show, it's a great way to sign up for the newsletter. But I interviewed the reporter who asked the straight cash homie question, and he gave me a ton of background on how that all came together that day with Randy Moss. And it was one of those really enjoyable story. Ian Rappaport retweeted it if you want some credibility for the story. But I really enjoyed writing that one is a little bit of an homage to Moss, who is battling cancer at the moment, but just, you know, also I did a story with JTO Sullivan, former Viking quarterback has now created the amazing QB school. It's my go-to resource. If he does Vikings, I'm clicking

on it through draft season, you know, all, all his great film breakdowns. But when I was interviewing JT, I said, Hey, you know, do you have any like memories as a Viking quarterback? You weren't here for that long, but like, and he said, uh, he actually, his memory of the Vikings was when he was with the Packers because he was a quarterback on the Packers in oh four. And he said that when that play happened, the, the mooning happened that he was thinking as the ball was in the air, I'm not getting my playoff bonus. Am I? He had the thought as the ball was flying because if you look at the play it's not the play it's like that was where Culpepper just looked out and Moss was one-on-one and he just I'm going it was hand up and he just went and as the ball's in

the air JTO Sullivan's over the sideline thinking there goes my playoff bonus so you're uh you're number one i cannot imagine where this might be headed uh manny but maybe you'll surprise me your favorite viking playoff game of your lifetime i'm not surprising you know what game it is yeah it's it's the minneapolis miracle of course it is i mean that just uh it was a one-of-a-kind football game i don't think we will ever see another football game like it obviously the digs touchdown at the end is is sort of the headliner it's what gets all the attention from that game but there were so many other like little plays that you look back on if you ever go back and just you know for the the viewers and the listeners if you go back and just watch a replay of that game,

which I think you can on YouTube, you can watch the entire game start to finish. There's so many other little plays that you look at and you look back on it and say, oh my gosh, that's amazing. Or, you know, the stop on third down that, you know, before Will Letts kicks the field goal to put the Saints up late. You know, if the Saints convert that first down, game's over. There is no miracle play by Stephon Diggs if that happens.

You know, I think about the crazy interception that Case Keenum threw that really kind of flipped the momentum of that game as well. So there were so many. On the last drive for the Saints, the, you and I've talked about this, the, the throw on fourth and 10 by drew breeze to, to Willie Sneed on the corner, just drops it in a bucket in between three purple jerseys. One of the sickest throws I've ever seen a quarterback make just unbelievable, um, all time, great game, uh, just momentum back and forth. And then obviously the great play by Diggs at the end.

Just incredible. There's a hundred plays in that game that I could talk about all night. One of them that comes to mind, though, is Sean Payton dialing up a pass from Willie Sneed. I think. Yes. Did it target Drew Brees? I forget. I think it was Ted Ginn.

I think it was Ted Ginn. Yeah, OK. That's right. Yeah. But of all the quarterbacks in all the National Football League teams to take the ball out of their hands and give it to Willie Sneed, Drew Brees would not have been the one I would have picked. But, you know, there's funny little things, too,

when you go back and watch games even from a few years ago before everyone was going for fourth downs. And the Vikings have a chance to go up 21, but instead they kick a field goal. I think it was an early drive, maybe even the first drive of the game, but they kick a field goal and they end up 17-0 at half. And if they're 21, then I don't think that they're going to catch them. Also, Kai Forbath, for all you kicking freaks.

Oh, my God. Kai Forbath with one of the great clutch kicks ever, and if they get a stop on that fourth down, Kai Forbath is getting carried off that field. And it is the Kai Forbathath game the hero of the day and uh so that was one to be in the building for that uh so special to me in my career so easily number one that one game that you left off that i would replace i would take out 97 because vomit everywhere for that game it's just such a bad football game i would put in 2019 upset over

new orleans instead because i was in the building but also you know that game feel and fumbles right away and you think oh boy they're just gonna get killed today aren't they and they fought and zimmer it was zimmer's last stand it was one of his great great defensive game plans probably the last one that he ever had maybe even including this year and they flustered breeze they strip sacked him and you know all sorts of things happen in that game remember the von bell play remember remember we thought dalvin cook had fumbled yes he ended up being ruled down but von bell picks that up and runs back for a touchdown and we're like what the hell what is going on here they They're falling apart, you know, but, uh, that, that game was, yeah, that game was nuts. The pop, you know, like the wrestling fans always

talk about the pop, like when here comes Cody Rhodes and they go crazy or Steve Austin or something. Well, when the ball popped out and Vaughn Bell grabbed it. I have never heard anything louder than that anywhere. No concert I've been to no jam session with me playing guitar with other musicians. Nothing has ever been louder than the Superdome than when he grabbed that ball. And then, you know, they ruled it that he was obviously down, but that showed the game of inches that was that playoff game for sure. Stefan Diggs, if I'm not mistaken, had two catches for 14 yards in that game, but they were two of the biggest catches. If you go back and think about it, two of the biggest catches of that game because they both led to touchdowns. The second catch was a first down on third down that led to the big pass from Cousins to Thielen down inside the five, which set up the Rudolph touchdown.

But Stefan Diggs, everybody kind of, you know, because of how things ended with Stefan Diggs here, everybody kind of makes a big deal about how, you know, how he was kind of bragging about, you know, winning the game. And there was the, there's the picture of him kind of celebrating in front of somebody from the Saints. I don't know if it was Sean Payton or somebody, but everybody like oh you only had two catches in the game what are you bragging about but they were two of the biggest catches you can imagine in that game if you think about it so and i just remember uh with digs where you can't always believe your eyes because uh there was a

time on the sideline where he was uh very upset as sometimes happens with Stefan digs. And everyone assumed that he was just like yelling at Kirk cousins and going off on him and being a diva. And then when the NFL films came out, he was telling Kirk cousins, believe in yourself, trust us, you know,

pumping them up. So, you know, but that's how it goes with a dig sometimes. And the, the narrative. So let's let me pull up these Vikings pick-ems here we got for Underdog Fantasy and get your takes on that.

Okay. Why is that? Hold on. Hold tight. Hold tight. Why is that saying no picks available? Hold on. Let me try on the app.

It's one of the best apps in the world as i've mentioned every time that we do this and hopefully these will pop up and now i need to log in this is not going well manny because i don't remember my login on the app all right everyone just wait quietly while i do this some sometimes on the great. I don't know my I don't know my password. Not great, Manny. I don't know why these aren't popping up. Sometimes when I search, it doesn't do what it's supposed to do on here.

So, OK. Oh, I needed to go to NFL. Is that why? No, Manny, what is going on here? We got all sorts of NFL, but not. I wonder if it's maybe changed because of the game moving, that they're resetting all of their hires and lowers. Could be.

Because they got everything else. They got every other playoff game here. So why don't we do this? I'm seeing every other playoff game here. So why don't we, why don't we do this? Yeah. Every, I'm seeing every other playoff game, except for the Vikings. That has to be,

that has to be the case. Cause. Yeah. Because it's. Cause the location has changed and it might, the projections have probably changed right. Right along with it. That is probably it.

So I'll just say this, that on underdog fantasy, when those come back and the hires and lowers, that y'all should give it a try and use the promo code PURPLE to claim your special pick and first-time deposit offer up to $1,000 bonus cash. Must be 18 or older. Terms apply.

Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit ncpgambling.org. So why don't we look at some quarterbacks in the playoffs from these other games since the Vikings numbers aren't up at the moment and you can give me your hires and lowers on these quarterbacks. Manny, Justin Herbert versus CJ Stroud. Herbert is 231 and a half and Stroud is 235.5 as well. How about which one of these quarterbacks would you go higher on? Let's do it that way. Would you go higher on Herbert at 231 or on Stroud at 235?

I'll go higher on Stroud. I actually think the Chargers are going to win that game. I think so too. I think so too. It just feels like one of those weird games that yeah and if it feels like they're going to be both the the texans are going to be behind and cj is going to have to kind of throw try and throw them back into that game which will add up his passing yards total the only reason that i might go lower on him would just be because the chargers defense has been so good

and houston's offense has been so bad but i i mean, they Herbert is, you know, I've made the joke before Justin Kirkbert because he's always put up, you know, some big stats, but he hasn't won a lot. Well, this is actually like the 2019 Vikings offense that they're running. Run first, play action, low volume, but high efficiency. And they've done a great job with it. He's doing a lot of Harbaugh's done a lot of same stuff he did with Alex Smith, which was very successful

for them to go 13 and three. I mean, I'm impressed with the way he's done it. I was just going to say this Chargers team has been such a Jim Harbaugh team of, they're going to run the ball, control the clock. Quarterback's not going to have big numbers and they're going to play great defense. And the Chargers have played really, really terrific defense all season.

Okay, how about this one? Lamar Jackson with higher than 270.5 total yards or Russell Wilson higher or lower than 227.5. So for Jackson, it's 270.5. For Wilson, it than 227.5 so for jackson it's 270.5 for wilson it's 227 which one would you think uh gets more than that and this is total right this is totally yards i included because of the rushing with jackson and wilson and jackson has had some trouble against pittsburgh historically yeah he has that's what makes this interesting. But Wilson's just had some trouble in general for about five straight games.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he's been starting to look like Denver Russ. Well, it's a tricky one. I'll go. I'll stick with Lamar. I would also go Lamar. The weird thing is that the performance at the end of a season just does not always predict what a team's going to be in the playoffs. And there's just a part of me that is hanging on to this idea that Tomlin will figure something

out against Lamar and that that will be a close game. Vegas does not think so. It's a 10 point spread for the Baltimore Ravens, which is fair considering how bad Pittsburgh has been. But one thing that I just have not enjoyed in recent years is that Mike Tomlin ends up on, he's not in the hot seat, but he ends up with a lot of criticism because his offenses just haven't been that good. And he barely gets in the playoffs and then they get eliminated, which is all true, but he's not the one who's picking the quarterbacks. They drafted. I mean, they have a general manager, right? They drafted Kenny Pickett. That was a good idea, but it didn't work out. And then they did the best they could

with fields and Wilson. Maybe Sam Darnold would have been a better choice. I don't know. But with fields and Wilson, they got decent play to get them to the playoffs. But when you look around the AFC, it's not the NFC, friends. It's the AFC. They got all the great quarterbacks over there, and you're in it. But it's just hard to see them go any farther than that. I would also go Lamar on that one. How about, what do you expect from Bo Nix in his first playoff game?

224.5 yards. Josh Allen is at 234.5. So I like Bo Nix more than others do. I thought he's done a pretty solid job this year, and Sean Payton obviously deserves a ton of credit for that. I do, and to your point about the Bills' defense kind of struggling later in the latter parts of the season, there may be an opportunity for Bo to put up some numbers, but this kind of feels like the Bills are going to win this game running away

and that the Broncos are just not going to be able to do a lot offensively because of, you know, they're going to be on the road, tough environment, really good team. This doesn't feel like a game that's going to be very close. And I think Josh Allen is going to end up being the guy that puts up the higher numbers. The only thing I would say for Mr. Nix in this game is just that, that Bill's offense referenced it earlier, or I'm sorry, the Bill's defense has been banged up and their offense is going to put up points. So if Nix is playing from behind and they can't, they can't really cover people, then he might end up putting up more than 234.5

yards. So I w I would probably go higher on Bo Nix, even though I think obviously Josh Allen will perform better. Again, only just one little thing is the Denver defense has been very serious this year. And just sometimes Josh Allen kind of hits a little bit of the skid. So, well, those are a couple for you for the AFC side of things. Again, underdog fantasy,

go check it out. Best app. If you can remember your login, which on the fly, I could not, but usually people can and use the promo code purple. That helps the show. Every time people sign up,

if you're a new sign up, you deposit some there, you get your bonus cash, and then it helps us. So I did want to say for presumably the the last live show of the week if we if there's more breaking news with anything um then we'll of course talk about that and i'll always go live if there is but if there's not i did want to say uh thanks everybody it's been uh such an interesting week leading up to this game

there's going to be lots of writing i'm working on Sam Darnold feature that I've put a lot of effort into working on a Harrison Smith feature that I've got some really interesting comments about. So purple insider.football, go check that out. The newsletter over there, you can read some of it free. You could sign up to support the show and the newsletter. And I'm headed to Phoenix, which I am i am now just i mean it's just one of those things where you spend it's it's a regular trip for me to go to a football stadium and cover a game and yet i feel more anxious more amped up for it now more uh stress i guess with what's going on in los angeles so i think everyone's going to be feeling that as this goes along, but also excited for a fascinating day of football coming up and the rest of this college championship, which is pretty good. So, um, thank you, Manny

for everything week in and week out. You are the most consistent person that I have ever met in terms of showing up, always ready, always here, always prepped on everything that i throw at you and also the calming voice when i sometimes maybe get a a tad worked up so my wife said that the other night because obviously she heard me and uh she was like it's a good thing you got manny i feel the same way so thank you for everything leading up to this game. I can't wait. Uh, there's a podcast with Courtney Cronin of ESPN. There's one with Drew McGarry that I just recorded today and now have to edit because he swore a bunch. And,

uh, so lots more coming as we go forward. Thanks, Manny. Thanks everybody for watching and listening. And, um, we'll catch you all very soon.

Next time you see me live, I'll be in Glendale, Arizona somehow. So thanks, everybody.