Speaker 1: Yo, what's going on? Welcome inside to tc OH Radio Studio.
Speaker 1: This is the Minnesota Vikings Podcast, brought to you by PEPSI.
Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Henderson. I'm alongside Vikings dot COM's Tatum Everett
Speaker 1: and our special guest of the night, mister Ben Gesling,
Speaker 1: who is from the Star Tribune. Eric Davidson produces this
Speaker 1: show and Ben the Vikings. Well, I'll start it off
Speaker 1: with this. Who said you needed to score touchdowns to
Speaker 1: win games in the NFL weeks?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's pretty uncommon. The the I think match
Speaker 2: the lowest scoring win in Vikings history, first time since
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy one. So Packers right, yes, against the Packers
Speaker 2: at the met Fred Cox hit a game winner in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter. So Fred Cox and Greg Joseph are
Speaker 2: kindred spirits, I guess, and.
Speaker 1: Then rewind back to the week prior, the Bears don't
Speaker 1: score a touchdown and they beat us. So it's you know,
Speaker 1: the game of football is evolving.
Speaker 3: Tatum, it certainly is.
Speaker 4: And if you know, I was kind of I kind
Speaker 4: of had a bow to pick with a lot of
Speaker 4: fans who were so used to seeing so many explosive offenses.
Speaker 3: I I love a defensive game. I really truly do.
Speaker 4: I know that that might be in the minority of
Speaker 4: of of decision.
Speaker 1: Anybody's listening right now, are gonna be like Tatum, you're
Speaker 1: by yourself phone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I respect it.
Speaker 4: So growing up in the South and watching a lot
Speaker 4: of great sec defenses that was kind of like where
Speaker 4: I really learned my love of football, and so I
Speaker 4: just have a I like watching a good defense. Now
Speaker 4: do I have a lot of question marks about this offense.
Speaker 4: Of course I do, because it shouldn't be a three
Speaker 4: nothing game. But I love a shutout any day of
Speaker 4: the week. I love the way that it goes back
Speaker 4: and forth and like every every small, tiny minute decision matters.
Speaker 3: So, I mean I said it. I don't know where
Speaker 3: I said it, but I was like, I'm I wish.
Speaker 4: People would just be like, hey, like it's it's a
Speaker 4: good defensive game. It was sure, the offense wasn't me,
Speaker 4: but like it was a great defensive game, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1: And just thinking about just the first three quarters, Ben,
Speaker 1: you were there, just how how did you see the
Speaker 1: defense kind of step up in those moments?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think a lot of the things
Speaker 2: that we've seen throughout the course of the season played
Speaker 2: out where it's they're forcing throws underneath because of the
Speaker 2: zone coverages and then all of the pass rush that
Speaker 2: forces Aidan o'connall get rid of the ball quickly. But
Speaker 2: the tackling I thought was especially good. That there were
Speaker 2: a lot of plays where the ball would be underneath
Speaker 2: and you'd think a guy has room to make something happen.
Speaker 2: And the perimeter tackling, I think especially was a lot
Speaker 2: of the reason that they were able to force punts
Speaker 2: like they were and keep the Raiders really from not
Speaker 2: only not scoring, but not even attempting a field goal.
Speaker 2: So I think that stuck out and it just like
Speaker 2: you said, Tatum, it's one of those games where you
Speaker 2: had to have everything because any one play could have
Speaker 2: set up Daniel Carlson for a field goal and that
Speaker 2: never happened.
Speaker 4: Jordan Hicks was a huge part of this defense, one
Speaker 4: of the main tacklers, I guess you could say, leading
Speaker 4: up and to his injury, how do you think they've
Speaker 4: been able to especially with Ivan Pace in the mix,
Speaker 4: been able to step up in his absence and still
Speaker 4: almost like not skip a beat.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Ivan Pace I think has deserved a
Speaker 2: lot of credit and has received a lot of credit
Speaker 2: this week for the way he's handled it. You know,
Speaker 2: really an impressive rookie season as a whole, and we
Speaker 2: had seen that coming into this, but I mean, I
Speaker 2: thought when Jordan Hicks went down and the way people
Speaker 2: talked about it, the way Brian Flores talked about it,
Speaker 2: the way Kevin O'Connell talked about it, you could tell
Speaker 2: what he means to this team and the season he
Speaker 2: was having. There was certainly a void there, there was
Speaker 2: a felt loss. I think the impact of him being
Speaker 2: out was certainly not lost on these coaches. So for
Speaker 2: Ivan Pace to come in there and do what he's
Speaker 2: done to the point where they really haven't, like you say,
Speaker 2: they haven't missed a beat very much. It's been being
Speaker 2: as Simon sound. It's I think being a more effective
Speaker 2: pass rusher probably than people would have expected from an UNDRAFTEDOKI.
Speaker 2: And it's been being able to keep everything kind of
Speaker 2: in check in front of him running that huddle and
Speaker 2: Jordan Hicks. We'll see if he gets back, but you know,
Speaker 2: it's been awfully impressive to watch Ivan Pace this year.
Speaker 2: And I wonder how because there's not like a runaway
Speaker 2: defensive Rookie of the Year candidate this year, at least
Speaker 2: as far as I've been able to see. So, you know,
Speaker 2: an off ball linebacker, it's a hard one thing. It's
Speaker 2: a hard thing to win. But you know, I think
Speaker 2: he's certainly going to be in the conversation.
Speaker 4: Well, speaking of conversation, I leads me to what I
Speaker 4: really wanted to ask you next, was with the way
Speaker 4: that the defense is carrying through these past couple of
Speaker 4: games especially, I mean, really this whole entire season, how
Speaker 4: much should Brian Flores' name be mentioned in the conversation
Speaker 4: for coordinator of the Year.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think pretty high on that list.
Speaker 2: I mean it's you know, to watch this defense do
Speaker 2: what it's done. I mean I kind of thought beginning
Speaker 2: of the season the setup was something to the effective
Speaker 2: offense has a lot of proven scope, has been players,
Speaker 2: a lot of proven talent. This is a thirteen win
Speaker 2: team that had a defense that was ranked twenty eighth
Speaker 2: or twenty ninth in the league last year. If it
Speaker 2: improves to the point where it's fifteenth, eighteenth, whatever, nineteenth twentieth,
Speaker 2: that's going to be enough of an improvement that the
Speaker 2: offense will take care of itself and you're getting the
Speaker 2: stops that you need. So to see it now where
Speaker 2: it's been, you know, it's ranked fifth in the league
Speaker 2: I think in points allowed, and you haven't really seen
Speaker 2: anybody crack it yet. Now, it has not been a
Speaker 2: murderer's row of quarterbacks lately, but you have not seen
Speaker 2: this thing where people have started to figure it out
Speaker 2: because it continues to shift and evolve and the number
Speaker 2: of players that have executed a scheme that allow that
Speaker 2: requires a lot of make on the fly decisions, make
Speaker 2: a lot of checks pre snap, make a lot of
Speaker 2: reads on what you're going to get from the offense,
Speaker 2: and communicate those things across the defense. For a young
Speaker 2: group to not see the busted covered, I mean you
Speaker 2: kind of expected at some point. Okay, there's a lot
Speaker 2: going on in this defense. There's a lot of guys
Speaker 2: that have not played significant snaps in the NFL. There's
Speaker 2: going to be some breakdown at some point or another.
Speaker 2: That really has not happened much at all. So I
Speaker 2: think the scheme, the way they've taught it, the way
Speaker 2: they've executed it, the development you've seen from some of
Speaker 2: these young players. Yeah, certainly is a credit to I
Speaker 2: mean this to the staff, but also certainly to Brian
Speaker 2: Floor is probably foremost of all. And yeah, it's been
Speaker 2: awfully impressive to watch them. Certainly would say.
Speaker 1: That speaking of being impressed, you know you did hit
Speaker 1: a make a good point. Fifth in total defense, this
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings team is right now. But the thing that
Speaker 1: stands out to me is the run defense. The Vikings
Speaker 1: are top five run defense in the NFL, and that's
Speaker 1: something that we haven't been able to do these past
Speaker 1: couple of years. So to be able to do that,
Speaker 1: Harrison Phillips, Waltsapayton Man of the Year, what are some
Speaker 1: other guys you would say are key contributors to this
Speaker 1: Vikings run d well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you think about it, it's like that
Speaker 2: that game in Philadelphia Week two where the Eagles basically
Speaker 2: said we're just going to run the ball the entire game.
Speaker 2: To be ranked as well as they are on run defense.
Speaker 2: With that still on the resume, it has been an
Speaker 2: awfully big change here in the last few weeks. And
Speaker 2: you mentioned Harrison Phillips, that's been a big part of it.
Speaker 2: I think you've seen contributions from a lot of guys
Speaker 2: in that line that don't get a ton of credit.
Speaker 2: Jonathan Bullard has made some plays Kiro's Tonga. Jacquelyn Roy
Speaker 2: has had some moments where he's coming as well. But
Speaker 2: it's been it's been that, it's been guys at the
Speaker 2: second level, it's been Josh Mattelus. I mean, there's there's
Speaker 2: a lot of things. Daniel Hunter continues to be a
Speaker 2: sound I mean, he's known for his pass rushing, but
Speaker 2: he's a sound run defender that he not.
Speaker 1: In discussion for Defensive Player Year.
Speaker 3: I think he is.
Speaker 1: I feel like since we're such in a small market,
Speaker 1: people don't really give his name much.
Speaker 2: So and he's not the I mean, he's got not
Speaker 2: a guy that draws a ton of attention to either.
Speaker 2: So I mean some of these things are are branding
Speaker 2: to some degree, I suppose, but but yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: he's he's a guy that has always been that way
Speaker 2: you always done his job against the run and has
Speaker 2: not played that position saying I'm just going to go
Speaker 2: off for the quarterback and whatever happens on the run,
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about it. So the fact that he
Speaker 2: does that, the fact that you've had people on the
Speaker 2: defensive line kind of step into contributing roles and it's
Speaker 2: been impressive, and especially because most of the time and
Speaker 2: the default personnel grop being the base defense for this
Speaker 2: team is in the nickel. I mean, it's three safeties
Speaker 2: on the field all the time, but whether it's two
Speaker 2: four in front of those five, whether it's three to three,
Speaker 2: I mean occasionally see a four to two, but you're
Speaker 2: not playing heavy personnel very much, so teams have incentive
Speaker 2: to say, let's try to run it, I would think,
Speaker 2: and the fact that they haven't been able to do that,
Speaker 2: a lot of people have executed the assignments at a
Speaker 2: pretty high level.
Speaker 1: That's what we need and what we need right now
Speaker 1: is for this offense to start executing some assignments. Just
Speaker 1: understanding that there's another quarterback change this year. This will
Speaker 1: be the fourth well I guess the time that we've
Speaker 1: had a starting different starting quarterback this season, so well,
Speaker 1: fourth time because Jaron Hall started in that land, right.
Speaker 1: What are realistic expectations for for Nick mellins Well, I.
Speaker 2: Think you saw shades of it at the end last
Speaker 2: week where the ball is coming out a little bit
Speaker 2: quicker that time that he's had in this offense that
Speaker 2: obviously Josh Dobbs and Jaren Hall have not. You see
Speaker 2: some of those things I think play out. So it's
Speaker 2: running the offense efficiently, it's keeping the offense out of
Speaker 2: third and longs, out of turnovers, out of sacks, all
Speaker 2: those types of things. I mean, I think that's probably
Speaker 2: that's the first order of business. And you know, it's
Speaker 2: not going to be probably the most explosive offense in
Speaker 2: the world, but there's enough skill position players on this
Speaker 2: team that can run after the catch that some of
Speaker 2: it is just getting justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockinson
Speaker 2: the ball in space and letting them go to work.
Speaker 2: It's not having to throw twenty five yards down field.
Speaker 2: Although he did have some downfield moments on Sunday, the
Speaker 2: throat to Hockinson, the throat to Addison that kind of
Speaker 2: set up the game winner. I mean, he showed he
Speaker 2: can he can push the ball downfield. There were a
Speaker 2: couple of times there where I thought he had an
Speaker 2: underneath throw and he says, now I'm gonna take the
Speaker 2: high corner, I think on the one to Addison, and
Speaker 2: so that was impressive to watch. But you know, if
Speaker 2: you get to the point with him where he's throwing
Speaker 2: for two hundred and twenty yards a game and not
Speaker 2: turning the ball over, that should be enough.
Speaker 1: Jake Browning numbers right there.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, I mean it's it's funny. I mean we
Speaker 2: mentioned the defense and not having seen this in a while,
Speaker 2: but some of these formulas that you start to think
Speaker 2: about in terms of seventeen points, twenty points, whatever it is,
Speaker 2: will win you a lot of games. I mean, these
Speaker 2: are the conversations that people had around here when Mike
Speaker 2: Zimmer was here, at the height of the Mike Zimmer defenses.
Speaker 2: That was a lot of the talk because they only
Speaker 2: need to score twenty twenty one points and they're gonna
Speaker 2: win most of the time. So that does feel like
Speaker 2: the formula a little bit right now. I mean, even
Speaker 2: Kevin O'Connell's spech after the game on Sunday, it's and
Speaker 2: he's saying you you understand that you have to play
Speaker 2: to the strengths of your team, and the team as
Speaker 2: it's currently constituted is built around a defense, and if
Speaker 2: you get the skill position players healthy, there's a formula
Speaker 2: there to make it work. It's not the one that
Speaker 2: everybody expected, but I think it can be done.
Speaker 4: I also think something from the Raiders game to take
Speaker 4: home from from the offense, at least from a positive perspective,
Speaker 4: was the physicality upfront and the ability to control the
Speaker 4: line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3: The run game.
Speaker 4: It may have been one of their best performances really
Speaker 4: just trying to plug along while.
Speaker 3: They obviously the passing game was struggling.
Speaker 4: And if they can give that support to Mullins moving forward,
Speaker 4: how much do you think that could play a role
Speaker 4: and do you see them building off of that. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's something that they've been hard. It's been hard for
Speaker 4: them to get going.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I think Sunday in terms of success rate
Speaker 2: in the run basically in terms of how often you
Speaker 2: are making appreciable progress towards a first down, I think
Speaker 2: they had the highest rate of the year on Sunday.
Speaker 2: I think it was fifty six percent against the Raiders.
Speaker 2: And the Bengals have not had good numbers against the run.
Speaker 2: The Packers have shown a lot of trouble against the run,
Speaker 2: like they did on Monday night against the Giants, So
Speaker 2: there is going to be room there to run the ball.
Speaker 2: And I thought like you said, I mean, Alexander Madison
Speaker 2: had some nice runs in terms of being able to
Speaker 2: make cuts and make a couple of guys miss, but
Speaker 2: a lot of it was the offensive line kind of
Speaker 2: being able to reset the line of scrimmage, being able
Speaker 2: to push the defense of the Raiders defensive front a
Speaker 2: couple of yards back, three hours back, making it so
Speaker 2: that whoever has the ball is not getting hit right away,
Speaker 2: which we've seen a lot of this year. And for
Speaker 2: that to happen with a lot of changes happening on
Speaker 2: the offensive line, where Ed Ingram's on the game, Ryan
Speaker 2: O'Neil goes out, Dalton Reisner goes out for at least
Speaker 2: a couple of plays, it was impressive. And I think
Speaker 2: the physicality that they showed, the commitment to that you're
Speaker 2: going to see more of that. I mean, they're i think,
Speaker 2: have averaged since Cousins went out thirty two runs a game,
Speaker 2: and some of that stobs, yes, but the overall number
Speaker 2: is like the fifth or sixth highest in the league.
Speaker 2: So it's it's been I mean, defense and run the ball.
Speaker 2: It's it's uh, you know, now, it's.
Speaker 1: Just right for a guy who wants to throw the
Speaker 1: ball fifty times a game. Who needs to.
Speaker 3: Run it takes to win, right, That's all.
Speaker 1: Right, Well, we're winning in the first segment of this break,
Speaker 1: but let's run to our commercials and make sure we
Speaker 1: pay some bills, so we'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: with Ben Gesling right here on the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
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Speaker 1: We are back in action. Vikings football, coming off of
Speaker 1: a win last week in Las Vegas, is back on
Speaker 1: the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday at twelve
Speaker 1: pm Central Time on NFL Network. Ben Gestling is here,
Speaker 1: Tatum Evert is here. Our producer Eric Davidson is here.
Speaker 1: My name is Gaye Anderson. This is the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.
Speaker 1: And Ben, just understanding that we're going to be in
Speaker 1: another game where there are two quarterbacks that didn't start
Speaker 1: the season enough, how do you make sense of what
Speaker 1: we really can expect at pay Course Stadium on Saturday.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it's it's been kind of the story
Speaker 2: of the NFL season that you've seen all of these
Speaker 2: high profile quarterbacks go down. And I was looking this
Speaker 2: up this week. I don't know that it's statistically unusual
Speaker 2: yet in terms of the number of teams that have
Speaker 2: played a couple of different quarterbacks. I think it's fourteen. Now.
Speaker 2: I think the Chargers might be the fourteenth. Somebody can
Speaker 2: check me on that, but I think with Justin Herbert
Speaker 2: going out, it's right in that neighborhood that almost half
Speaker 2: the league has used him. But you've seen a lot
Speaker 2: of whether it's Aaron Rodgers, Justin, Herbert kirk Cousins. I'm
Speaker 2: sure I'm missing a couple. Ryan Tannehill. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: there's been a lot of quarterbacks that have gone out.
Speaker 2: I mean brock Perty was out for at least a bit.
Speaker 2: Derek Carr, Derek Carr, Yeah, I mean there's been a
Speaker 2: lot of veterans or high level guys that have missed time.
Speaker 2: So it has become Joe Burrow. Obviously we're going to see.
Speaker 3: This on Ry heartbroken. Sorry Tigers there, I know.
Speaker 4: It's fine, you know, selfishly heartbroken. Thankfully, the Vikings don't
Speaker 4: have to face like that. I mean, Jake Browning is
Speaker 4: playing very well, which is interesting because we've seen him before.
Speaker 4: It's another Viking, former Viking quarterback who's getting some time
Speaker 4: in the league while we're facing them, which is quite interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he looked I think better than it's.
Speaker 3: Night practice, Jakey.
Speaker 2: I was about to say, people forget about it looked
Speaker 2: like the night practice when he had to play all
Speaker 2: the time quarterback.
Speaker 1: You probably had seven hundred and eight hundreds that night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, maybe he was a tco.
Speaker 2: He led a go ahead drive and then Jake Browning
Speaker 2: was unable to answer Jake Browning after Jake Browning led
Speaker 2: a touchdown drive. So I mean it was some good
Speaker 2: and mad there, I guess, but yeah, that was kind
Speaker 2: of a shy moment. Yeah, should we give.
Speaker 1: A backstory for fans who were listening. So twenty twenty
Speaker 1: the COVID year, Uh, they would have been twenty one,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, the COVID year. There were three quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the room, Kirk Cousin, Sean May, and Jake Brownie
Speaker 1: Milon Mont, so four quarterbacks. So of course, with the
Speaker 1: COVID protocols, if somebody gets or test positive, everyone in
Speaker 1: that room has to either retest or they.
Speaker 3: Can't can't be a direct content.
Speaker 1: So long story short. Afterwards, Jake Browning was the only
Speaker 1: quarterback the day of that was healthy enough to press.
Speaker 1: It was TC night practice to Tatum's point, continue.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was, And I think he had
Speaker 2: people dunking in with water afterwards.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: It was quite a scene. But yeah, it was kind
Speaker 2: of the thing that everybody remembers him for around here,
Speaker 2: I suppose, but I know he impressed a lot of
Speaker 2: people in this building through that camp and and through
Speaker 2: his time here. So it's been interesting to watch him
Speaker 2: in Cincinnati. I mean he's had some days where he
Speaker 2: had I think went out with cramps on Sunday, but
Speaker 2: he was dealing before that. So I mean they have
Speaker 2: a lot of weapons with Chase and t Higgins and
Speaker 2: you know Tyler Boyd. So it's yeah, mixing, and they've
Speaker 2: had trouble running the ball, but there's a lot of
Speaker 2: skill position talent there. It's a little bit of a
Speaker 2: mirror image. I suppose agree, in the sense that there's
Speaker 2: enough high level skill players there, headlined by the LSU receivers,
Speaker 2: that if you have a quarterback that can get them
Speaker 2: the ball, you can make more things happen than you
Speaker 2: would think, even though the starter is out for both teams.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I think I think it is interesting because
Speaker 4: because you when you see these backups come in and
Speaker 4: time as you see different stars stand out. So while
Speaker 4: we do know those big names, now you have to
Speaker 4: worry about a Tanner Hudson, you have to worry about
Speaker 4: a Chase Brown. So you have these guys that maybe
Speaker 4: have worked with Jake second team reps getting those in,
Speaker 4: so you're.
Speaker 3: Now you're worried about that as well.
Speaker 4: However, I like the fact that this run game got
Speaker 4: going in this Raiders game, and that's kind of what
Speaker 4: I like seeing in this matchup. I do think that
Speaker 4: you're going to have to rely on that in this
Speaker 4: one for momens, but I'm excited to see his confidence
Speaker 4: in there and and to see what this defense can do.
Speaker 4: You know, I hope that it's not another Ryan Right
Speaker 4: game personally. I mean, I do like defense, but I
Speaker 4: don't like as many punts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it was, uh, it was she prefers mistreat.
Speaker 2: Ryan Right had a good day.
Speaker 3: Miss field goals. No, that's an alabana JK JK JK.
Speaker 1: I love this datum.
Speaker 2: It was, yeah, a quote a showdown of the punters
Speaker 2: between Ryan Right and aj Cole launching one eighty three yards.
Speaker 2: When that came off his foot, I thought he shanked that.
Speaker 2: I mean just in the press box, it looked like
Speaker 2: a line drives bos good grief. I mean, yeah, the
Speaker 2: things kept flying, so it was like one of those.
Speaker 2: It must have been on purpose, because he had to
Speaker 2: think a couple more that were kind of that line
Speaker 2: drive style kick. And yeah, both those punters had heck
Speaker 2: fit day and had to have it obviously when nobody's scoring.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sometimes you need that twelfth man on the field,
Speaker 1: and in this case it was Ryan right just being
Speaker 1: able to flip the field for our defense. And Tatum
Speaker 1: started off with what she liked about Sunday's matchup and
Speaker 1: just understanding we do this segment called PEPSI that's what
Speaker 1: I like segment. She likes the run game for this
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings team. What's one thing that you like going
Speaker 1: into Saturday's matchup against the Bengals.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the ability to get pressure on
Speaker 2: Jake Browning. I think it's going to be a big
Speaker 2: factor in this. So you know, Daniel Hunter against that
Speaker 2: Bengals offensive line, I think there's opportunities for him there.
Speaker 2: Who was had a shot at Zach number fourteen against
Speaker 2: the Raiders and I think set up one for I
Speaker 2: think it was DJ wanting to clean it up. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the opportunities to pressure Jake Browning.
Speaker 2: I mean it's we've seen this a lot this year
Speaker 2: with young quarterbacks where Brian Flora's defense has caused a
Speaker 2: lot of trouble because it's a lot of looks that
Speaker 2: you don't see. It's not a scheme that has a
Speaker 2: lot of peers in the NFL in terms of people
Speaker 2: playing that way. So it's not like, oh, we see
Speaker 2: film of this other team and it's like this last
Speaker 2: team we saw, I mean the Vic Fangio type defense
Speaker 2: that the Vikings were in last year. I do think
Speaker 2: there was some of that where it's okay, everybody practices
Speaker 2: against a similar version of this, whether it's Green Bay
Speaker 2: or the Chargers or the Rams or the Broncos have
Speaker 2: run at the Dolphins probably are doing some of that
Speaker 2: now with Fagio being there, with Brian Flores's approach to defense,
Speaker 2: you don't see it really anywhere else. So I think
Speaker 2: that is always a little bit of a shock for
Speaker 2: some of these teams. It's a little bit like remember
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago when the Vikings were playing
Speaker 2: ball Baltimore. It's we don't see teams that have an
Speaker 2: offense that operates like the Ravens do with Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2: So there's just not those banked reps in practice, and
Speaker 2: I think that always leads to a bit of a shock,
Speaker 2: a bit of an adjustment for offenses, especially when they
Speaker 2: have you on quarterbacks. So I think the pass rush
Speaker 2: especially is a factor in this one.
Speaker 1: I agree just seeing what Daniel Hunter has done this year, Tatum,
Speaker 1: you can probably speak to it from a, you know,
Speaker 1: a broader perspective, like I don't think we've been able
Speaker 1: to witness something this good on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball in Purple since we've been here, correct, I.
Speaker 3: Would say so.
Speaker 4: But it's also I think a big reflection on this
Speaker 4: health uh the player performance uh here right now because
Speaker 4: he's now been able to stay healthy for two straight
Speaker 4: seasons and you're really able to see just how talented
Speaker 4: he is and how valuable he is the defense. And
Speaker 4: that's really a tribute to player performance and Tyler Williams
Speaker 4: and r Ayah and their team to make sure that
Speaker 4: he's you know, in tip top shape and not not
Speaker 4: struggling with the same almost like I wouldn't say freak injuries,
Speaker 4: but just like very rare injuries that he had before
Speaker 4: the last two seasons, like three years ago.
Speaker 2: Y yeah, And it's he was a guy that before
Speaker 2: those two seasons, like was twenty and twenty one that
Speaker 2: he had I mean it was it was his neck
Speaker 2: in twenty and then the pectoral muscle in twenty one.
Speaker 2: Before that, he was the fastest player in NFL history
Speaker 2: of fifty Sacks. I mean, he this is a guy
Speaker 2: that was on a gold jacket trajectory and those two
Speaker 2: years kind of took him off of the map. But
Speaker 2: I mean I remember a couple of weeks ago in
Speaker 2: the press box sitting there and Andrew Kramer goes, he
Speaker 2: just passed Jared Allen Sacks and Viking's history a couple
Speaker 2: more years to do it, but also had a couple
Speaker 2: of those years taken away from injuries. So I mean
Speaker 2: he he has put together quite a resume in his
Speaker 2: time in Minnesota, in a large part because he does
Speaker 2: a lot of He's always I mean, coaches always talking
Speaker 2: about how coachable he is, how much he he absorbs coaching,
Speaker 2: finds ways to execute what they want, finds ways to
Speaker 2: improve his game. You pair that with an athletic skill
Speaker 2: set that's hard to match. You see these types of
Speaker 2: things come back. So I mean you talk about the
Speaker 2: last time we saw a performance like this, I mean,
Speaker 2: Daniel Hunter is doing the best version of this since
Speaker 2: I would say probably since Daniel Hunter. I mean, like
Speaker 2: Daniel Hunter in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know a lot of those years where he's getting
Speaker 2: fourteen fourteen and a half sacks. I mean, this may
Speaker 2: be on even another level, but he has shown before
Speaker 2: that he is capable of this and it's certainly been
Speaker 2: fun to watch him get back to that, if not
Speaker 2: exceed that level.
Speaker 1: That's a great take. And before we get out of here,
Speaker 1: I'm just going to give my quick thing that I
Speaker 1: like about Saturday's matchup. Just a backup quarterback, like the
Speaker 1: backup quarterbacks on both teams that matchup. Yeah, I believe
Speaker 1: is going to be keith. I mean, of course to
Speaker 1: winning this game. We when I look at Nick Mullins
Speaker 1: play play the game of football, I understand it helps
Speaker 1: me understand how much football is timing and chemistry. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have the arm strength, yep, it's not the
Speaker 1: tallest guy, but when you look at just some of
Speaker 1: the throws that he makes, he's always ahead of the curve.
Speaker 1: And that's something that I that I really appreciate about
Speaker 1: his game. He kind of just sticks to what he knows.
Speaker 1: And then Jake Browning is literally the same exact quarterback.
Speaker 1: So to your point of two mirroring teams of you know,
Speaker 1: really good star power on the outside and running backs
Speaker 1: that haven't figured it out yet. Now you have two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that if their timing is off, that affects the
Speaker 1: entire game. So we'll see what Saturday at noon at
Speaker 1: Pegor Stadium looks like with those two guys, you know,
Speaker 1: taking the reps for both the Orange and the Purple.
Speaker 1: Before we get out of here, just your final thoughts
Speaker 1: on Saturday's matchup.
Speaker 2: Well, it's an interesting game and it's one that you
Speaker 2: looked at at the beginning of the season when you
Speaker 2: see all four teams that had been in the conference
Speaker 2: championship game on the schedule, this is when you had
Speaker 2: circled as one of the tougher road matchups the year,
Speaker 2: probably this in Philadelphia. I still think it's that it
Speaker 2: looks different, certainly without Joe Burrow, but I still think
Speaker 2: it's a tough matchup in the sense that the Bengals
Speaker 2: have played a lot of playoff games the last couple
Speaker 2: of years. This is a team with a lot of
Speaker 2: pedigree that has won and played deep into seasons the
Speaker 2: last few years. So it is I think an opportunity
Speaker 2: as the Vikings look at trying to assert themselves, and
Speaker 2: certainly they're in good playoff position, but still a chance.
Speaker 2: Believe it or not, they're in control their own destiny
Speaker 2: of the division. Still a chance to win the division, certainly,
Speaker 2: a chance to assert themselves heading into the playoffs, those
Speaker 2: NFC North matchups coming up after this. I think it
Speaker 2: is definitely an opportunity because it's going to be a test.
Speaker 2: I think going in there, it's a good fan base
Speaker 2: that'll be not frigid, but Chile so it's December football outside.
Speaker 2: I guess a team that's played a lot of playoff games.
Speaker 2: I certainly think it's a good test.
Speaker 4: I truly think that, and I don't want to say
Speaker 4: it could feel like a playoff games. I don't think
Speaker 4: we'll have that magnitude. But with these teams both fighting
Speaker 4: for their playoff hopes right now, same record, Gosh, so.
Speaker 3: Many mirroring subjects on this thing, but they they're not.
Speaker 3: They I don't. I think the Ravens will win the division.
Speaker 4: Is that?
Speaker 3: Is that a decided thing yet?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 4: Yes, So I think I think that the Vikings have
Speaker 4: a better chance whin their division than they do there,
Speaker 4: so they're fighting for that wild card.
Speaker 3: So I could see like.
Speaker 4: Things running hot in this game for sure, and that's
Speaker 4: really yes. Yes, So I'm excited for this one, my
Speaker 4: first time in that stadium.
Speaker 3: Excited to see that as well.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's always kind of I always end up
Speaker 2: you mean, you end up staying in Kentucky a lot
Speaker 2: of the time, and so I always say at a
Speaker 2: hotel right across the right, across the river. So you
Speaker 2: end up walking from Kentucky to Ohio. So I walk
Speaker 2: across state lines.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 4: Then you can say, hey, I've been to Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Well, speaking of the test, that test starts twelve pm
Speaker 1: Saturday at pay Course State. To study for that test,
Speaker 1: you can listen to the pregame show right here at
Speaker 1: ten am with Mike Mussman. This is going to be
Speaker 1: a great matchup two teams with the same record. The
Speaker 1: series is Todds seven to seven between the two teams,
Speaker 1: so someone will have the advantage at pay Course Stadium
Speaker 1: on Saturday. So for our producer Eric Davidson, Tatum Ever
Speaker 1: from Vikings dot Com and Ben Guesstling from the Start
Speaker 1: to your Star Tribune, my name is Gabe Henderson. We
Speaker 1: will talk to you all next week, whether you were
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