WEBVTT - Vikings Tailgate: Bryan Miller Is Uncomfortably Optimistic - CHI - Episode 49 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.080 As the official ticket marketplace of the Minnesota Vikings and 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.800 the NFL. Ticketmaster is the safest and most convenient marketplace 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:10.200 to score fully verified Vikings tickets. So get those touchdown 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:15.160 celebrations ready and score your tickets today at ticketmaster dot com. 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:20.280 Slash Vikings Unreal is back with their limited edition Vikings drop. 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:26.560 Head over to nurl dot com for more details. Hey guys, 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.880 it's I and it is Bears week. Here on the tailgate, 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.920 we have another fun show for you, comedian Brian Miller. 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.080 He is from He is a Minneapolis comedian, but I 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.040 wanted to have him on because I wanted to talk 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.800 Vikings big win last week against the Falcons. I wanted 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.360 to enjoy the Viking miss instead of talking to the 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.000 other fan base this week. Also, hey, he is at 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.559 ACME this week, the best comedy club in America Thursday, Friday, 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.000 Saturday two shows Friday, two shows Saturday. Ticketlink will be 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.520 in the bio here. You'll love him. He's been on 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.360 The Late Late Show with Craig Fergus and he's fantastic 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.880 tours all over the country. Check out him. Also, if 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.440 you're listening on our podcast feed while you're here, make 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:10.640 sure you give us a five star review. It really 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.280 helps us out rating and review. Thank you guys so much, 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:29.920 and in joy the show. The Rocket Rocket t here. Hey, everybody, 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.080 welcome back to the tailgate. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.000 It is Bears week. 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.720 Normally we have an entertainer who is a fan of 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.000 the other team, but this week we're doubling down on 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.880 the home team, ladies and gentlemen, because at ACME this week, 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:49.040 well it's Brian Miller, fantastic comedian, Viking fan. I'm at 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.160 the point where this is one of those weeks, Brian, 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.480 where I didn't want to be troubled with the attitude 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.440 and the trappings of another fan base. Sure, because of 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:05.480 what happened on Sunday, I just want to exist in 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.640 this moment with other Viking fans. 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.280 And also this is nice. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.440 So people, there's a lot of people know you as 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:17.880 a fantastic comedian. You're also a fantastic fiction writer. Sure, 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.440 but you are also a talented sports editor and occasional 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.359 sports writer for a local entity called Zone Coverage. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.400 And I used to live in Chicago and you used. 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.239 To live in Chicago, which, well, let's not do it. 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.960 Let's not let me dive into my opinions about the 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:38.480 people of Chicago. Let's stick with how I'm feeling right now. Sure, 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:40.760 there's this thing that happened on Sunday. So I was 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.840 listening to Dan Barrero and Ben Lieber was on, and 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:48.880 they played back the audio of a moment in Sunday's game. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:55.520 They started showing the Daily Leaders, the Sunday Leaders for statistics, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.080 and they showed Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson were one 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.239 to two in the whole league. Crowd goes, not Jefferson's 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.960 up on the up on the bench right, and then 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.320 they put Donald up there, and the crowd goes ballistic, 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:12.200 and Donald, who is really even has a moment of 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.320 emotion like a break and really has has a piece 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.120 of it. And I watched it on the TV broadcast, 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:22.000 but in listening to it back when Barrero played the audio, 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:26.200 it just hit different. It was this energy in the building. 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:29.280 And our producer Jay, who's here today, he was in there, 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.280 and I've talked to other people who are in the building. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.480 It was this thing that for me, as a Vikings fan, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:41.240 it felt so distant from the energy that has been 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.920 around this fan base for so long. You know, it 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:46.880 was in this moment where our old quarterback was in 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.480 our building, where the defense throttled him and our new 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:54.120 quarterback had the performance of his life, and specifically one 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.320 where these two great receipts, Like it just felt like 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:01.760 this confident noise slowly on this podcast, Brian and I 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:03.800 understand I'm giving a Ted talk to start the show. 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:05.600 This is like I was gonna. 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:06.960 Say, IM gonna pop out for a coffee, but I'll 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:07.320 be back. 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:09.360 Yeah, how's the tailgate going? 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:09.640 Well? 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.080 You know, he had Jeff Foxworthy on last weekend, then 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.240 this week turned into some weird like crowd noise manifesto 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.360 that nobody really enjoyed. I think my point is anyone 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.039 who's been listening to this show has heard me. I 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.120 started the season. I'm not putting much on it. I 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:27.400 just want to see some guys get better because all 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.120 the cap space, like have the team and the roster 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.920 go the right direction and we could be walking into 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.800 something really cool next year. Then they take off and 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:38.839 they start doing what I go, Okay, this is kind 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.840 of gravy. This is fun where like there's a little 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.120 bit of house money here. Enjoy this, and then the 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.080 expectations come around, like, well maybe we need to take 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.520 advantage of it. Now, this thing that has been happening 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.799 since the Tennessee game, I just am believing more and more, 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.240 and in a way that is different in the way 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.240 I've believed in some teams in the past, you know, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.120 And I've heard other vikings say that. I just I 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.719 don't know how to describe it or explain it. And 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.760 it feels different than the belief in the FARV team. 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:09.919 It feels different than the belief in ninety eight or 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:14.240 the Keenom team that noise just like that noise just coalesced. 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.839 This feeling I've had into like a more central ball 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.600 in my gut where I went. I think this team 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:26.400 believes in themselves in a confident way that is giving everybody. 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:27.479 I don't know, it's just different. 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:28.920 I don't know where it's going to end, but right 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:32.800 now I have some weird different energy about what I 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:33.719 think this team is. 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.200 Yeah, you know, when Atlanta took that early lead, you know, 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.599 I think early in the season, or sometimes in my 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.040 pessimistic fandom might have been. 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.600 Like here we go, here we go. 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.000 I was like, no, I was confident even when they 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:46.599 looked really tough right right at the start. It was 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.680 probably the worst stretch of the game for the Vikings really, 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:51.599 and I was like, no, they're fun. They got this, 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.559 and I just thought they would. And they they're playing 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.240 like a really confident team. When you watch them, they 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.599 just look credible. Like it wasn't just that the score 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.040 reflect how much they won, and it wasn't like, oh man, 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.720 they keep dropping those samsartal interceptions. He got lucky on 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.560 four or five. He looked great, and everybody looked great. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:09.840 There is a unit. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.000 They're coalesced there as a team, and yeah, it's. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.040 Funny you say that that you didn't, And I because 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.080 I felt the exact same thing. I'm literally I was 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.320 watching on my phone because I'm like half cleaning the 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.279 kitchen and doing some stuff, and I normally watch it downstairs, 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.240 but so it's kind of the in between moments when 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.240 I'm upstairs, so I've got the phone sitting here, and 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.120 then the phone's there and I'm watching and you hear 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.919 something happen. I had the exact same thing. I was like, 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.720 why am I not worried about this? By the way, 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.440 a game that historically for the Vikings, your old quarterback 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.400 comes back to your building in a year where you're 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.320 ten and you're like, oh, this is where it gets 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.159 ruined for us. So I'm glad you felt that, because 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:49.800 I it was almost an unrecognizable emotion for me during 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:50.240 that game. 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.240 Yeah, we've often talked about how Packers fans like the 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.880 Packers team plane could crash into the side of a 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.200 mountain into a fireball and all the green people in 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.320 green bagel. Well, we got a fresh start next. I 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.320 think we got a real good chance at a division title. 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.800 Like nothing bad that can happen. In the back, they're 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.000 always just like, oh, will be great, We'll be great. 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.440 And as Vikings fans, I think we've been maybe and 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.200 maybe we've conditioned ourselves because you look back and it's 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:14.480 like you look at the Bears, for instance, and you go, no, 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.480 that's a troubled fan base that sucks to root for 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:17.920 that team. 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:19.720 But I certainly am a bit of a pest. 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.000 But they got a Super Bowl. I think it's Yeah, 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:23.600 I talk about it all the time on this show. 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:28.000 I think you know a personality around it's it's this 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.280 is people are gonna puke in their mouth when I 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.960 use this term, but uh, it's you know, they the 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.080 term generational trauma. Sure, I do think it's I do 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.360 think it's generational sports trauma. I think you grow up 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.480 around a dad who you're eleven years old, and your 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:43.160 dad goes. 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.760 We're gonna blow it. Yeah, this isn't gonna end. 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.360 Well, you're like, it just instills it in you, you know, 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:49.600 and I think you have. It's kind of like if 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.520 you grew up with a like an an alcoholic parent, 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:57.640 you either Generally, people who grew up with like massive dysfunction, 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.920 they don't kind of just all out. They either follow 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.640 the dysfunction or they rebel against it really hard. So 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.640 I think if you're a Vike, that's why there's not 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.400 a lot of middle ground and Viking fans. They're either 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.720 the people are like, yeah, we're gonna We're gonna it's 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.640 gonna be the worst ending ever, and then you have 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.239 people on the other side who are like, how dare 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.680 you question the guy who made the mistake? 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:21.280 Yeah. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.560 It's like whenever I see an instagram of someone who 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:25.680 made a really elaborate gingerbread house, I'm like, how much 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:26.840 did your dad yell at you back? 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:28.640 And the day you know you have to go the 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:30.480 other way, It's like I'm gonna be the most wholesome. 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.160 But that's what this Vikings game was like. 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.240 Was like seeing your angry dad laugh in a movie 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.520 and you're like, dad never laughs, he smiling. 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.240 What this feeling like? I think everything's gonna be okay, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:40.679 you know. 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.600 And I don't know how to project it forward. That's 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:45.880 the problem. That's and I don't want to know how 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:47.839 to project it for it. I want to be very clear, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.280 I'm still existing in this moment. I that feeling I 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.600 had that doesn't necessarily make me think they're going to 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.280 go on a deep playoff run. Sure, so you got 0:08:57.280 --> 0:09:02.360 a Bears team this week that is they look exhausted. Yeah, 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:07.800 they like internally exhausted. Where I don't think people I 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.760 think in sports we don't often think about it as 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.439 a workplace as much as we should. Where you think like, oh, 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:16.120 the new coach, you get the bump and they do it. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:20.080 It's like, man, they fired their old coordinator, bumped their 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.360 passing game coordinator up to their O coordinator, then they 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.400 fired their head coach. The passing game coordinator, who is 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.760 the O coordinator for three weeks is now the head coach. 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.959 The decordinator is calling plays for the first time in 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.720 his entire like eba flus was the play card, and 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:38.400 then you walk into Kyle Shanahan's building and Jay sent 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.880 me a screenshot of the first half statistics during the game. 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:46.120 Three hundred and nineteen yards for the Niners, four total 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:50.600 yards on seventeen plays for the Bears. And so that's 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:55.240 a team to me that seems in that moment exhausted. Now, 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.920 I don't know what we're gonna get from them this week, 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.560 but projecting it forward, I don't. I think you just 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.240 go take care of business. I don't know what you 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.400 can take out of the Chicago game. If you go 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.640 in there and you throttle them. You should throttle an 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.800 exhausted team. If it gets close, who knows, maybe their 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.000 back tock begins to like, I'm not going to look 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:15.120 too hard into this one. Well, obviously caring about this 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.040 game on sure, very interested in Seattle, But can we 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.920 see a continuation or a progression of the sort of 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.560 execution we saw on Sunday? And if they do that, 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.840 then I start going I really start to cement into 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.760 this mindset of I think they can beat anybody on 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:36.040 any given week, And then the question for me becomes 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:41.760 can you do it four times against good teams potentially 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.200 in other buildings, But I don't know. I'm in a 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.480 weird place of confidence that I'm not quite ready to 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:49.000 project forward with yet. 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:50.920 Sure I can see that. And then with the Bears, 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.120 you're talking about them being exhausted. I heard this incredible 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.080 stat on the way over here. This is unbelievable. So 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.560 seven teams are eliminated from playoff contention in the whole 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.320 NFL NFL six of them are from the AFC, because 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.160 of course the NFC is insane. Right now, if you 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:07.480 take those six, those six bad teams, Okay, in the AFC, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.680 they have a combined record of I believe it is 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:14.920 one in twenty five against the NFC. The only team 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.480 in the NFC that has lost to one of those teams, 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.120 the Patriots beat the Bears. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.439 The Bears are the only one to give it up. 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.680 So like they're they're really in a tough spot because 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:29.440 I mean, the NFC north unbelievable, unbelievable, and the NFC 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:30.160 is so much better. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.199 So we're in the best division because. 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:33.719 The NFC is so much better. But when you get 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:34.600 to it's weird. 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:39.040 It's like you have a seesaw right, and on one 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.640 side you have twenty five kids and on the other 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.720 side you have three kids, and. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.199 You're like, why is it balancing? 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.640 Well, it's because the Chiefs and the Bills and the 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:56.280 Ravens are very fat. You know, switch out the Ravens 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:58.679 and the Steelers. Like sure, That's the interesting thing of 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:02.040 like the NFC seems like from a parody standpoint and 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.040 from a highlight like way, the percentage of teams that 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.000 are good and competitive versus the FC. But when you 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.440 get to the top, it's really really difficult. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:13.240 I think Detroit, Vikings and Eagles, though yeah, I have 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:14.920 a lot of losses between those three teams. 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:16.720 Here's what I will like, and I'm not trying to 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:20.240 I'm not trying to push off because Detroit is incredible. Yeah, 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.600 the Bills obviously lost in a tough game against the Rams. 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:29.120 If Patrick Mahomes didn't exist, Josh Allen, I truly think 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.080 we'd be sitting around having the is this the greatest quarterback? Like? 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.440 Is he on track to be the greatest NFL quarterback 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.720 of all time? He's bigger than a linebacker. He's three 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.120 rushing touchdowns and three so like, I don't know, there's 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.280 just a level of play on that side, and it's 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:46.760 the quarterbacks, right, Yes, like the Lions and the Eagles, 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:52.320 I'm very concerned about absolutely, but I just feel different 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:56.440 about having to face Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. That 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.400 just feels, in a one game scenario, like a different 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:06.720 challenge than facing Jared Goff, even though ultimately the Lions 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:08.760 might be the toughest out in the entire NFL. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:12.480 Absolutely, but the NFC is man, They're stout, and I 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.400 just it's so funny that everything everything. The Bears also 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.040 make a perfect contrast for the Vikings because if you 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.679 remember after the preseason, it was like they finally got 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:23.400 their quarterback, They've got all these draft capital, Like we 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.120 were both supposed to be kind of quote unquote rebuilding teams, 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.240 but the Bears were really supposed to be on the 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.360 sweet side of the rebuild. This was supposed to be 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.480 the like, well, they'll probably go to the playoffs, but 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.600 like probably not make a deep run. And then the Vikings, 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:37.160 I mean, we were like, man, it'd be nice to 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.200 win six and a half, you know, the six games, 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.240 seven games the Vegas was projecting didn't feel didn't feel 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:45.360 disrespectful at the beginning of the season. 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.080 But what I would say, what was interesting, you could 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:49.440 just tell from a vibe of the team. You could 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.360 just feel it pretty early on. Because I've said this 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.560 a bunch, I think teams know who they are, Like 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.760 when guys when when rookie quarterbacks walk in a building, 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.480 it doesn't take like the players a few months ago. 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:03.720 This guy has it or this guy doesn't have it. 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.199 It's not like you know, in comedy, some comics are 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.960 terrible for eight years and then at year eleven you're like, 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.600 how are you the best comic in America? 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.200 Yeah, people do take that weird jump subtimes. That seems 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.360 it's like you, why did you try that for all 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:16.160 those years before? 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:19.160 It doesn't seem like that happens in the NFL. We're like, 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.760 this guy was like, I don't know, the sixty eighth 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:23.480 best linebacker in the league, and all of a sudden 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:23.960 he's a Pro Bowl. 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.520 I just he figured it out in year nine, grew 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:27.200 three inches. 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.440 Very strange at age twenty eight, but here we have it. 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:30.440 He's now a massive man. 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.760 It's the other thing that's super odd about the Bears season, 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.200 and you talk to any Bears fan. We had Daniel 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.600 Vankirk on the show. You know, I think they were not. 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.960 I think they all wanted to change at coach before 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.440 this season. So there's probably a lot to unpack there. 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:50.240 But if you just think about the trajectory of the season, 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:54.240 right that hail Mary the jade and Daniels hail Mary, 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.880 and which leads into the blocked field goal? 0:14:58.520 --> 0:14:59.280 Right yeah? 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:04.400 If that, I mean, those are two so astronomically massively 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.120 unlikely results in those plays, an end of game, game 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:12.360 winning hail Mary and the important block I'm talking about 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.400 that sent the Bears the wrong way. It was against 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:17.360 the Green Bay Packers. It was forty six yards, which 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.120 is even worse. By the way, this is your division 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:21.280 number one rival. 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.800 With a famously bad special teams unit for the last 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.360 many years too. I mean, getting beat by the Packers 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.360 on special teams is like a special insult. 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.520 Well, so just think of that. Think of that. 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:35.640 You know that veer off right where you go the 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.040 Jaden Daniels hail Mary goes off this direction. Then a 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.800 couple weeks later you get a field goal blocked against 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.040 the Packers. You win those two games, you're at the 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.920 forefront of playoff conversations. Then you have the comeback against Minnesota, 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.480 which falls apart, then you have the thing against the Lions. 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.640 That's why they're just such an interesting team. I don't 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.400 know that everybody in the preseason was wrong about the Bears. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.640 I just think it hasn't come together. And that's why 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:04.920 whenever I see Vikings celebrating the Bears misery or celebrate like, 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.640 oh Caleb, you know he, I don't think you're shut 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.800 your mouth like what you all your energy should be 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.880 put into hoping that Ben Johnson doesn't take that job. 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.600 All the pieces are there. I it has been ugly 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.000 as of late, but I think this thing could have 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.640 veered a different direction and they very much could be 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.640 right now an eight and five football team. 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.040 I mean, Kayleb Williams made a couple of throws against 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.360 the Vikings that were just out of this world, that 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:33.800 were Josh Allen like to your point of him being 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.640 maybe the best, and so yeah, as a Vikings fan, 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.200 I'm not I'm definitely not gonna talk too much smack 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:40.360 about Caleb Williams. 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.520 Assuming it might have been easy. 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.200 I still I still take him number one, and it's 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.760 not even close. I know everybody loves Jayden. He's younger, 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.840 he's got all some of the things he does. I 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.160 still he's still the guy. I take number one. And 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.520 now that we now that we've talked our way all 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:57.600 the way through Chicago, I think I'm going back to 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.880 what going back to earlier and I was saying, you know, 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:02.840 you got to take care of business with Chicago, and 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.960 let's see if what happened against the Falcons can progress 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.640 a continue or progress against the Seahawks. 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:11.239 I want to add to that. 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:15.080 I do think what the number one thing for me 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.159 this week, and in addition, get a win however you 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.480 need it, because that's where in the game of wins 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.800 and losses, especially desperately begging for an opportunity for that 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.119 last Lions game to mean something. 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.880 Absolutely, let's put this on it. I want this. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:32.920 You know, if you're a fan, I think I want 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.159 this game to look the way it should given what 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:36.840 you saw. I get like, I don't want to see 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:38.560 something weird. I don't want all of a sudden be like, ah, 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.240 we gave up two flea flickers and we're. 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:41.160 Down eight and a half. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.959 Like I don't teams have been running the ball a bit. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.280 I don't want them to come in and Caleb and 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.040 the running backs and you do a couple you know, 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.400 jet sweeps, and all of a sudden you're like, what's 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.679 happening here? Make it look the way it should. I 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.119 do think that's also a version of a progression of 0:17:58.119 --> 0:17:59.119 what we saw against. 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:01.440 The felasure out of Curre essay. Because we've talked a 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:02.639 lot about Kirk over the years. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:04.399 Don't do it. Don't do it to me? 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.880 No, did you did you feel like that Falcons game? 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:08.440 Because I feel like for a lot of people it 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.280 like gave them a sense of closure, like a positive closure. 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:14.000 Did you feel that closure? 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.440 Yeah? 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:20.600 Here's the thing I think Kirk has. You know, if 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.280 you having been a part of the organization for longer 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.399 than they should have let me at this point, you 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.920 get a different energy, a different vibe, a different access 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:35.879 to the way these buildings and teams and organizations work. 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:42.359 And it's a stark reminder that like just Kirk was 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:47.480 such a good human being, yeah, and such a good 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.440 thrower of the football, right, And I think I think 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:56.919 he's so interesting in that I don't know where else 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:02.960 in NFL history you find a certainly a quarterback who, 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:08.360 amongst fan bases has been so heavily debated everywhere he's 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.200 gone and start Like often when guys are debated, they 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.639 either silenced the debate, Like at one point Drew Brees 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.720 was debated, Sure, right, yeah, and then pretty soon we 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.240 all shut up and Drew Brees was no longer debated. 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.199 And the opposite is app Sometimes guys are debated and 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:26.120 then all of a sudden they ain't playing anymore RG three, 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.040 you know, and it just stops being a debate. 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:30.840 Kirk is. 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:35.359 So it's so rare that you see a guy play 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.280