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Speaker 1: Hey, Vikings fans, Ben Lever here, I'm so excited to

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Speaker 1: be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.

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Speaker 1: They love the tennis, the pick a ball, the basketball,

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Speaker 1: and of course the yummy cafe. Check them out at

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Speaker 1: Lifetime dot life to find a club nearest you.

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Speaker 2: This is MVP, the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. If you're listening

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Speaker 2: to this on kfan, Happy Thanksgiving. We're all very thankful

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Speaker 2: for a nine to two Vikings record so far this season.

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Speaker 2: I'm Tatum Everett alongside Paul Lambert aka Meet Sauce from

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Speaker 2: the Power Trip Morning Show. Paul, I'm pretty thankful for

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Speaker 2: Sunday's win. That one got a little close there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was one of those wins where when you

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Speaker 3: look around and you see that the Minnesota Vikings are

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Speaker 3: nine and two, you realize like how good they are,

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Speaker 3: because that is like the kind of a game that

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Speaker 3: a bad team loses, where you watch that in the

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Speaker 3: last minute and a half, Chicago scores, they get the

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Speaker 3: two point conversion, they get the on side kick, and

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Speaker 3: you go, most teams would just shudder. The Vikings didn't.

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Speaker 3: They held their ground. The play calling for the Bears

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Speaker 3: in that overtime was hit I don't know why they're

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Speaker 3: running like a one yard scamper with Caleb, and then

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Speaker 3: Caleb hangs on to the ball for thirty five seconds.

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Speaker 3: Like We talked to Jonathan Gernard on the Power Trip

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Speaker 3: this week and Gernard basically said, like, I thought the

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Speaker 3: play was over. He's like, I really, I didn't. I

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Speaker 3: didn't realize he still had the ball, and then he

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Speaker 3: looked up and there he had it. But other than that,

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Speaker 3: I mean, then Sam Darnold drives him down the field,

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Speaker 3: who's been exceptional in these last two games. Yeah, I'm

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Speaker 3: very thankful for this nine and two team, and I'm

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Speaker 3: thankful that everybody but inside the building we're currently in

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Speaker 3: is doubting them. And I love that let everybody doubt.

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Speaker 2: You know, I don't think you come across a team

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Speaker 2: very often that is nine and two and has like

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Speaker 2: this much doubt around them. Like you said, I don't

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Speaker 2: want to say hate, because's sometably not hate, but for

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Speaker 2: people to just think what they think about the Vikings

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Speaker 2: that they're not as strong of a team, it doesn't

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Speaker 2: have a little bit of the shades of twenty twenty two. However,

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Speaker 2: I feel like because they were in the driver's seat

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Speaker 2: of the division that season. This is even more of

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Speaker 2: an under the radar type of team.

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Speaker 3: And this is a better team because this team has

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Speaker 3: had a lot of things not go their way and

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Speaker 3: they still found their way to the winners. Circlus Pa

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Speaker 3: would say. But the other thing about this team that's

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Speaker 3: different from that twenty twenty two team is this team

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Speaker 3: went on the road for three straight games. I don't

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Speaker 3: care if you're playing Tennessee and you won three straight games.

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Speaker 3: The way that this is going, the Detroit Lions look

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Speaker 3: to be unstoppable. So the Minnesota vikings is Nordo and

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Speaker 3: I've talked about and a lot of people have talked

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Speaker 3: about on KFN and the power trip is this might

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Speaker 3: be a thirteen or fourteen win team that's the fifth

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Speaker 3: seed because they didn't win the division. Because the somehow

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Speaker 3: the Lions don't win a game and don't lose a game,

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Speaker 3: and they they're fifth, sixteen and one, and they get

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Speaker 3: the number one seed. And then you look around and

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Speaker 3: you go, well, how are you gonna win in the playoffs?

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Speaker 3: How do you get to your main goal, which is

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Speaker 3: winning the Super Bowl? Well, you win three straight road games.

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Speaker 3: Well they've done that.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 3: I know the competition is way better than the playoffs,

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Speaker 3: but winning three straight games against NFL competition is tough,

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Speaker 3: and they did it, and they've won four straight and

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Speaker 3: they will probably win five straight when they play the

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Speaker 3: Cardinals this Sunday at the us Bank State Right.

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Speaker 2: Thankful that the Vikings returned to US Bank Stadium to

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Speaker 2: kick off that three game home streak. The Cardinals just

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Speaker 2: fell to Seattle sixteen to six. That drops them to

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Speaker 2: six and five. You know, they were first place in

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Speaker 2: the AFC West before that loss. And I don't know

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Speaker 2: if you know this out yet, Paul, the Vikings have

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Speaker 2: won eleven straight home games against the Cardinals. Eleven straight

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Speaker 2: home games. Quite a streak.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I did not know that. And when you when

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Speaker 3: you watch the Minnesota Vikings do what they do, and

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Speaker 3: then you realize they're playing a team that put up

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Speaker 3: six points against Seattle, who's just okay and in that

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Speaker 3: same division. That bodes very well for the Vikings and

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Speaker 3: be flowing this defense, yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the Cardinals offense was anemic at times. I

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Speaker 2: know Kyler Murray has been playing a really good game

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Speaker 2: this season that's kind of led to their success.

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Speaker 4: But they were only able to rush the.

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Speaker 2: Ball for forty nine yards, which seems like it plays

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Speaker 2: right into the Vikings run defense, which has been.

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Speaker 4: So stellar this year. The only thing I really think that.

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Speaker 2: They're going to have to be very wary of is

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Speaker 2: Trey McBride. You know, we've we've met some really good Titans.

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Speaker 2: Cole Comet played a good game last week, and Trey

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Speaker 2: McBride was really their only shining star on Sunday with

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Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty three yards. If you picked him

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Speaker 2: up on Fantasy, you're pretty much a genius.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. If Trey McBride was dating a famous pop star,

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Speaker 3: people would know way more about him.

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Speaker 4: But look at Noah Gray.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, is very good, outshining, outshining his fellow tight end

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Speaker 2: Travis Kelsey.

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Speaker 3: If he were on any other team, he'd probably wouldn't

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Speaker 3: even start. I mean, he's having a back.

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Speaker 4: You got me on my best my favorite subjects, so

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Speaker 4: I'll try to stare away.

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Speaker 3: He's not having a good year, but he's Taylor Swift's boyfriend,

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Speaker 3: so they got to put him out on the We

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Speaker 3: don't need to get into that. That's the whole thing

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Speaker 3: that anyway, But to your point is is Trey McBride

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Speaker 3: is a stud. Yeah, I mean, he's a huge target.

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Speaker 3: Kyler goes to him a lot. Kyler. He's Kyler's safety

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Speaker 3: belve He's Kyler's security blanket and about every situation. And

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Speaker 3: then you got Marvin Harrison Junior, who is very up

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Speaker 3: and down, but when he's up, he isn't hit. I mean,

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Speaker 3: he's Randy Moss esque in his prime. So this is

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Speaker 3: a very good offense even though they just put up

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Speaker 3: six points.

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Speaker 4: No agreed.

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Speaker 2: I mean, and even James Connor is having one of

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Speaker 2: those really good seasons.

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Speaker 4: He's very good, sneaky good seasons. He did not have

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Speaker 4: the greatest game.

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Speaker 2: He only had forty nine scrimmage yards last week, but

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Speaker 2: if he hits one hundred scrimmage yards, they basically win,

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Speaker 2: like almost every time.

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Speaker 4: So it was weird.

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Speaker 2: As long as they don't get the ground going with

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Speaker 2: Connor and they're able to force Kyler to pass the ball,

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Speaker 2: I feel like turnovers could be something that that could

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Speaker 2: be on the menu.

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Speaker 3: I think this is wow.

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Speaker 4: I just did that.

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Speaker 3: Didn't That's fine? But yeah, I.

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Speaker 2: Didn't even mean to make that Thanksgiving joke, but that

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Speaker 2: kind of played well.

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Speaker 3: I A it worked very well, and b I didn't

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Speaker 3: think of it as a Thanksgiving joke, so we have

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Speaker 3: that going on.

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Speaker 4: Wow, I don't know why I thought of that.

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Speaker 2: I just all I do is I love the meme

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Speaker 2: where it's Tony Romo, Yeah, and he's holding that baking

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Speaker 2: dish and he goes for Thanksgiving we're serving turnovers, and

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Speaker 2: it was like, why Romo is like having his bad seasons?

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Speaker 4: I don't know.

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Speaker 3: That's that games are in my mind, memes and vines

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Speaker 3: are the best thing that's ever happened to the Internet.

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Speaker 2: I'm really really glad that on the Minnesota Vikings podcast

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Speaker 2: we've already been able to talk about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelcey,

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Speaker 2: and Tony Romo.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, turnovers are an underrated thing. They're delicious, for sure,

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Speaker 3: Yeah people if people should eat more of them, if

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Speaker 3: they weren't one of the worst things that's gonna happen

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Speaker 3: in sports. But to your point, though, is this is

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Speaker 3: also a weekend game. Obviously most of them are, but

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Speaker 3: this is a weekend game where people are home from

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Speaker 3: you know, college, they're home from they don't live here anymore,

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Speaker 3: and they're home and they're like, I'm going to go

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Speaker 3: to the game. This is going to be a raucous,

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Speaker 3: raucous crowd. They're going to be into it. They haven't

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Speaker 3: been here in three weeks. This is going to be

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Speaker 3: a very loud environment for Arizona to come in after

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Speaker 3: their Thanksgiving break, and it's it's going to be a

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Speaker 3: very fun game. We're going to see on some.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they're trying to do what the Vikings have done,

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Speaker 2: which is when backsback games on the road. They did

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Speaker 2: that after their bye week, so they're a little bit

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Speaker 2: more rested. But that was a very demoralizing win. I

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Speaker 2: believe in Seattle. I think they're going to come in here. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: pretty raar and ready to go. One stat that I

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Speaker 2: kind of popped out to me heading into this game

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Speaker 2: is even though the defense has been advantageous, they have

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Speaker 2: created twelve takeaways this season, the offense has only scored

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Speaker 2: one touchdown in five field goals.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's over that turnover over those turnovers.

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Speaker 3: Yeah that's not that's not great. No, that is not good.

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Speaker 3: But you also what we found with when you look

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Speaker 3: at it with the Vikings is they have found a

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Speaker 3: way to win games where they don't scored. I mean

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Speaker 3: the game at Tennessee. So that's the difference between the

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Speaker 3: Vikings and the Cardinals. The Vikings are in that elite echelon.

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Speaker 3: They're nine and two, The Eagles are nine and two,

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Speaker 3: the Lions are ten and one, right, the Chiefs are

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Speaker 3: ten and one, all that stuff. They're an elite team

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Speaker 3: because they win when they don't have to. Bad teams

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Speaker 3: lose games they should win, and that's what the Vikings

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Speaker 3: do and that's not what the Cardinals do.

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Speaker 2: No, and that it's so important that you said that,

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Speaker 2: because with fifty two seconds left in Sunday's game, there's

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Speaker 2: a ninety nine point nine percent chance the Vikings were

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Speaker 2: going to win, which clearly was the case, but that

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Speaker 2: really turned on its head in those final twenty two

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Speaker 2: seconds where they scored ten points. How did you take

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Speaker 2: that when you were at home? Were you like, this

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Speaker 2: is like? Did you have the face?

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Speaker 3: Well, it's funny when stuff like that happens, because I

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Speaker 3: have seen almost everything as a Minnesota Vikings fan for

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Speaker 3: thirty years that I have been where you're like, they're

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Speaker 3: gonna get the two point conversion and then they're gonna

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Speaker 3: get the on side kick. I think the third one

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Speaker 3: that people have gotten in this new format, YEP, and

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Speaker 3: you're like, what out to go ten yards and it

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Speaker 3: hit the guy in the leg. That's But I also think, though,

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Speaker 3: this team, and I'm not just saying this because I'm

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Speaker 3: sitting in the building where the head coach works, this

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Speaker 3: is a team that is so well coached that in

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Speaker 3: the past and this isn't a shot any of their

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Speaker 3: coaches where you see some of the momentum go and

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Speaker 3: it's like we've seen this movie before. This game's over.

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Speaker 3: But like I was saying, the way they reacted the

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Speaker 3: second that the overtime started and the Bears got the ball,

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Speaker 3: there was no let up. There was the pressure defense

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Speaker 3: and there was all that stuff, and they just they

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Speaker 3: it was a three and out. That's hideous if you're

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Speaker 3: a Bears fan. But as a Vikings fan, you're going,

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Speaker 3: all right, here we go. The second they got the

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Speaker 3: ball back, I'm like, they're gonna win. They're gonna march

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Speaker 3: down the field, they're gonna get the field goal that

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Speaker 3: they need. They have all the faith in Parker Romo

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Speaker 3: and he's eight for eight since he got here in

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Speaker 3: field goals. He's unbelievable. And they went on the road

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Speaker 3: and move on. I have a ton of faith in

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Speaker 3: this team. They find creative ways to win. They win

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Speaker 3: games they shouldn't and that's what good teams do.

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Speaker 2: The difference for you like this, like I do, Like

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Speaker 2: I obviously understand the frustration and disappointment from Vikings fans

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Speaker 2: over the years.

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Speaker 4: There's a lot of it, this confidence that you have

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Speaker 4: in it.

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Speaker 2: You think of a player that I'll say, if I

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Speaker 2: say a name, You're like, no, he's great, Blake Cashman, Nope,

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Speaker 2: He'll you find Grenard Van Ginkel, Phillips, Tillery with that

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Speaker 2: huge play.

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Speaker 4: Then you go to the other.

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Speaker 2: Side, you say Darnold Jones, Jefferson, Addison, tj the O line.

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Speaker 2: Like you think all this of and how sound it is,

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Speaker 2: But the ability to get all of these guys to

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Speaker 2: play together is such a direct reflection on Kevin O'Connell.

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Speaker 2: What kind of case do you think he's making as

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Speaker 2: a Coach of the Year candidate.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I said this last night on Twitter, and

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Speaker 3: I wasn't just doing it to get a rise out

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Speaker 3: of people. He's the best coach they've had since Bud Grant.

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Speaker 3: Because they won a game with a third string left tackle,

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Speaker 3: they won a game with a quarterback that was about

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Speaker 3: to be a career backup, if not out of the

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Speaker 3: league a year ago. Today a bust. Before this year,

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Speaker 3: he was a bust Sam Darnold. Before this season, people

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Speaker 3: had written him off. Now we've seen with Baker Mayfield

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Speaker 3: and whatever happens with Daniel Jones. These guys may get

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Speaker 3: different chances, and it's all about where you go. Baker

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Speaker 3: Mayfield was written off and now he's having a very

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Speaker 3: good season in a very banged up Tampa Bay team.

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Speaker 3: But the thing that koc does, and I said this

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Speaker 3: on the Power Trip, is one of the coolest things

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Speaker 3: of the entire bit. And I'm not just saying nice

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Speaker 3: things about VN because I'm sitting in their studios. But

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Speaker 3: you watch those videos after the game when he hands

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Speaker 3: out the game balls, I think that's sweet. And you

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Speaker 3: watch when Brian O'Neill wins that game ball, he immediately

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Speaker 3: turns and hands his hands in to Questenberry. Now that

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Speaker 3: doesn't happen on every team. Maybe it does, and maybe

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Speaker 3: I don't see it, but that is a direct reflection

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Speaker 3: of the head coach and how he has coached these

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Speaker 3: guys and in some way taught these guys that this

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Speaker 3: is a team game. Questenberry comes in cold on the

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Speaker 3: road against a decent defensive line and they pick up

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Speaker 3: right where they are. I thought that was an unbelievably

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Speaker 3: cool gesture by Brian O'Neil. That's why he's a captain.

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Speaker 3: That's why he's one of the best right tackles in

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Speaker 3: the league. And I thought that was cool. And that's

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Speaker 3: all Koc. He believes in these guys. He loves these guys,

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Speaker 3: and he coaches him to win, and they don't want

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Speaker 3: to let him down. You know.

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Speaker 2: When I was talking to Emmanuel Accho about the Vikings

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Speaker 2: a little while ago from Fox Sports, he said, as

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Speaker 2: a former player, the one thing that is so underrated

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Speaker 2: and a successful coach is the ability to tell your

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Speaker 2: players you're proud of them, to love on them, to

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Speaker 2: believe in them. And I think people, you know, talk

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Speaker 2: a lot about how nowadays players are. They don't like

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Speaker 2: the yelling. The coaches don't do that anymore, but that's

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Speaker 2: because that's changed. Yeah, And I think that you know,

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Speaker 2: Koc embraces that, the staff embraces that they hold them

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Speaker 2: to certain standards, and these guys are competitive, they want

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Speaker 2: to meet those standards. I mean, another another chaos moment

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Speaker 2: that I just love is that for the second time

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Speaker 2: this season, when Nick Mullens tests to get into the

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Speaker 2: game on a third down, he's he's not shying away

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Speaker 2: from a play.

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Speaker 4: He says, you are now the starting quarterback.

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Speaker 2: You're gonna do the play that I was gonna throw

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Speaker 2: in there, whether it's you or Sam, Like, he doesn't care.

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Speaker 2: And I think that attitude of belief, like Nick would

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Speaker 2: notice if Koc was like, well, we're just gonna.

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Speaker 4: Run it and then punt it and blah blah blah.

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Speaker 2: But instead he's like, no, we're doing this play, We're

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Speaker 2: going forward, and then he gets it because he knows

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Speaker 2: his coach believed in him.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think that's exactly that. I think there's

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Speaker 3: a lot of that on almost every side. Because you

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Speaker 3: go back to the beginning of the season. ESPN dot Com,

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Speaker 3: which I read a lot, one of their bolt predictions

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Speaker 3: was the Minnesota Vikings that had the number one overall pick.

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Speaker 3: That's a rock bottom season there a lot. Really, I

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Speaker 3: don't think I read that ESPN thought they would have

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Speaker 3: that was one of the bold predictions by one of

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Speaker 3: their writers, is that they would have the number one

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Speaker 3: overall pick. You saw the schedule and people thought I

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Speaker 3: didn't think they'd be very good. I didn't.

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Speaker 4: Well, no one really thought they would be like five, yes, right, no.

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Speaker 3: One thought they'd be nine and two. And in the

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Speaker 3: toughest part of their schedule they went five and one.

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Speaker 3: And as I said, I've said on this podcast, I've

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Speaker 3: said on the Power Trip, if that Los Angeles Rams

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Speaker 3: game is on a Sunday, they win it. Just they

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Speaker 3: got beat up by the Lions. That was a tough stretch.

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Speaker 3: They have an opportunity to possibly win out. So it's

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Speaker 3: all good.

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Speaker 4: It is all good.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully more good this weekend when the Vikings host the Cardinals.

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Speaker 4: We still have much more to come.

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Speaker 2: On the Minnesota Vikings Podcast NFL Networks, Tom pell Sarah

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Speaker 2: he's going to cover the game on Sunday and join

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Speaker 2: us for a preview of that matchup, and we'll tell

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Speaker 2: us what's the one thing that pressed him most about

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Speaker 2: the Vikings free agency moves.

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Speaker 4: Now, there were eleven games in.

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Speaker 4: Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders.

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Speaker 2: Ready to have your spirits lifted than the laugh out

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Speaker 2: Loud comedy Ghosts is for you All Nude Ghosts Thursday

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Speaker 2: at eight thirty seven thirty Central on CBS.

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Speaker 4: Welcome back to MVP, the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

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Speaker 2: I'm Tatum Everett and the Vikings returned to us Bank

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Speaker 2: Stadium for the first time since November third on Sunday.

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Speaker 2: The Vikings have gone four to o on the month

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Speaker 2: of November and they're hoping to make it a December

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Speaker 2: to remember kicking it off with the Arizona Cardinals. Covering

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Speaker 2: that game for the NFL Network is Tom Pella Sero,

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Speaker 2: and I had a chance to catch up with them

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Speaker 2: earlier this week. Tom, I'm sure you had all eyes

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Speaker 2: and ears on the Vikings Bears game.

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Speaker 4: What impressed you the most about that victory?

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Speaker 5: So kind of a funny story. So I actually had

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Speaker 5: a wedding in Ohi, California this past weekend. So then

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Speaker 5: I drove in to do game day morning at like

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Speaker 5: six am Pacific.

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Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, I was.

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Speaker 5: It was a bride and groom who are from Minnesota.

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Speaker 5: She's actually your family's Packers fans. But my buddy's a

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Speaker 5: Vikings fan, and so I'm in a pack. I met

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Speaker 5: Lax with a pack of Vikings fans.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 5: Watching it, everybody's on their phone or their tablet or

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Speaker 5: somewhere in the bars. And if you know about like

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Speaker 5: the delays that you get, hearing the cheering and things

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Speaker 5: that the reactions at different times were like, what what

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Speaker 5: was it? What was it? I mean it was it

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Speaker 5: was a wild finish. It was one of several wild

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Speaker 5: finishes at that point. You know, you look at a

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Speaker 5: team like the Bears, and they've lost this year on

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Speaker 5: a hail Mary, a block field goal, and now just

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Speaker 5: kind of a general special teams calamity the Vikings as

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Speaker 5: they have really throughout under Kevin O'Connell. These are the

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Speaker 5: games that they find ways to win. They haven't had

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Speaker 5: very many blowout wins. I remember Justin Jefferson said earlier

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Speaker 5: this year. I think it was the Texans game.

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Speaker 3: It's the first time.

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Speaker 5: He'd never gotten to come off the field early because

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Speaker 5: they're always, you know, they win these close games. But

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Speaker 5: something to be said for you know, I know Kevin

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Speaker 5: preaches a lot about situational football. They have done that

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Speaker 5: and played that at a really high level, and they

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Speaker 5: found a way to execute and get a win in

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Speaker 5: a place that you know historically has been tough for

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Speaker 5: them and everybody else to go win.

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Speaker 2: Definitely, I mean three straight road victories is something that

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Speaker 2: is not to be overlooked. When you think about the

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Speaker 2: job that Kevin O'Connell has done this season.

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Speaker 4: How strong is his coach of the Year.

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Speaker 5: Well, I know that Kevin probably still might harbor a

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Speaker 5: little tiny grudge about twenty twenty two when he got

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Speaker 5: zero votes despite turning around the Vikings and getting them

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Speaker 5: into the playoffs that season. I mean, Kevin's one of

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Speaker 5: the top top coaches in the NFL. He's going to

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Speaker 5: be in Minnesota probably about as long as he wants

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Speaker 5: to be in Minnesota. I do think that the job

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Speaker 5: that he's done, you know, has been impressive here. And

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Speaker 5: I think that that, you know, even fanning that out,

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Speaker 5: the job that the Vikings in general, inclaning the front

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Speaker 5: office did to restock the roster was really impressive here.

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Speaker 5: I mean, going back to March, and I said this

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Speaker 5: a couple of times in recent days, Alan that anybody

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Speaker 5: nationally was sitting back and going boy, Sam Donald, Aaron

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Speaker 5: Jones after he got cut, Jonathan Gernard, Blake Cashman, and

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Speaker 5: Andrew van ginkele boy, the Vikings won free agency, like

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Speaker 5: nobody was saying that. But they've got a vision in

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Speaker 5: terms of what they want this team to be. I know,

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Speaker 5: Kevin was really confident in what Sam Darnold could do.

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Speaker 5: He had a little bit of experience in the system

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Speaker 5: with San Francisco, but you know, he's playing the best

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Speaker 5: football that he's ever played in his life, and a

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Speaker 5: lot of that is coaching. He's got some good weapons

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Speaker 5: around him. Defensively, Flows obviously done a remarkable job with

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Speaker 5: the defense that you know, again playing a really high

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Speaker 5: level of bangingkle has a pick six every week. Harrison

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Speaker 5: Smith is you know, going strong at thirty five, thirty

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Speaker 5: six whatever he is. But you know, it's not like

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Speaker 5: you're dealing with a defense you'd say is the most

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Speaker 5: stars studded in the league. But they're finding ways. It's

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Speaker 5: really impressive all around. I definitely think that Kevin is

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Speaker 5: among the candidates who should be under consideration for the award.

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Speaker 4: It's funny you.

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Speaker 2: Say that because he has brought up a few times

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Speaker 2: this season how he remembers how people were talking about

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Speaker 2: the Vikings in the off season and.

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Speaker 4: Now they're nine and two.

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Speaker 2: What do you think the national conversation or what is

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Speaker 2: the national conversation surrounding the Vikings right now?

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Speaker 5: You know, the funny thing there was the Vikings definitely

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Speaker 5: enjoyed that in this offseason everybody was picking them to

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Speaker 5: finish third or fourth in the division. Here they are,

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Speaker 5: like you said, they're nine and two right now. I

436
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,480
Speaker 5: think you can make a pretty objective argument that three

437
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,240
Speaker 5: of the top four teams in the entire NFC are

438
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,359
Speaker 5: all in the North Division, So I don't think that

439
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,520
Speaker 5: people still are talking about the Vikings. Once they got

440
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,439
Speaker 5: to the start they did, you know at five and oh,

441
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,160
Speaker 5: I believe it was you had to start recognizing them

442
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,080
Speaker 5: and talking about you know, things came up Sam Darnold MVP.

443
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,119
Speaker 5: Then they lost a couple of games and then it was, oh,

444
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,400
Speaker 5: is this You know, they're they're coming back to reality.

445
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,760
Speaker 5: But once again, you know, they came off they had

446
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:25,840
Speaker 5: that mini by there and they started to you know,

447
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,639
Speaker 5: push forward and play it at a really high level.

448
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,560
Speaker 5: I still think that most people, if you're fanning this

449
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,600
Speaker 5: out to around the country, everyone's going to say, right now,

450
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,920
Speaker 5: the Lions or maybe the Eagles are the top team.

451
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,239
Speaker 5: The Packers would be the next one up, and then

452
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,920
Speaker 5: the Vikings maybe are fourth. Which again, when you're when

453
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,320
Speaker 5: you're nine and two, you know, I think you kind

454
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,159
Speaker 5: of like that you don't have all the you know,

455
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,680
Speaker 5: the expectations on you. They've been playing the disrespect card.

456
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,320
Speaker 5: You're absolutely right going back to the start of the season,

457
00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:54,840
Speaker 5: but you know they're they're in the thick of it

458
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,880
Speaker 5: right now. They should be barring I mean, some kind

459
00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,960
Speaker 5: of crazy circumstances, they're going to be in the playof

460
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,480
Speaker 5: The real challenge now for them is, hey, you still

461
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,000
Speaker 5: got the division out there for you, and in the NFL,

462
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 5: finding a way to win your division and getting that

463
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,760
Speaker 5: home game or multiple home games is a huge, huge deal.

464
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:12,920
Speaker 5: I mean, you could win Danes could go twelve and

465
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,200
Speaker 5: five and not win the division and they're going to

466
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 5: have to go on the road and face a team

467
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,159
Speaker 5: like whether it's Atlanta or the Bucks, or the Seahawks

468
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,000
Speaker 5: or the forty nine ers or the Cardinals team that

469
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,719
Speaker 5: they're going to see on Sunday. You know, every week matters.

470
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,639
Speaker 5: Right now, this is already playoff type football for the

471
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,600
Speaker 5: Vikings because they don't just want to, you know, get

472
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,800
Speaker 5: into the playoffs and you know, take a victory lap

473
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:37,600
Speaker 5: on that they have that a couple of years ago

474
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,200
Speaker 5: you lose it on to the Giants and it didn't

475
00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 5: you know, sit well through the entire offseason. This team

476
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,720
Speaker 5: has big aspirations. They got to keep pushing every week

477
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 5: and starts against Arizona.

478
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, with there's only six games remaining, which is wild

479
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,200
Speaker 2: to be saying. At this point right now, I feel

480
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,640
Speaker 2: like the season has flown by and you do mention

481
00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,000
Speaker 2: a great point. It's like they have this pressure that

482
00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 2: they have to keep up with the Lions that they're

483
00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:02,640
Speaker 2: continuously doing. So up next is the Cardinals coming off

484
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,640
Speaker 2: that tough loss against Seattle after they had a bye week.

485
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,240
Speaker 2: They're going to be rearing and ready to go for

486
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 2: their second straight road game. What are your expectations or

487
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 2: what do you hope to see in that matchup on Sunday.

488
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 5: Of First of all, I'd say, you know that Cardinals

489
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,679
Speaker 5: Seahawks game, which again I was a little more in

490
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 5: and out because I was on a plane the entire

491
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 5: time and you're trying to catch the cut ins and

492
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 5: get red zone to work long enough on the the

493
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 5: in flight Wi Fi to pick up on it. But

494
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,439
Speaker 5: you know, just even looking at the stats and watching

495
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,000
Speaker 5: the recaps too, you know, to me, that game said

496
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,639
Speaker 5: a lot more about the Seahawks in terms of what

497
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,399
Speaker 5: they're becoming, because they had a bad stretch there. Defensively,

498
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 5: you know, they give up twenty nine points at Poldman

499
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,919
Speaker 5: lost to the Giants, Mike McDonald's defensive guy. They made

500
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,320
Speaker 5: a big trade for Ernest Jones. They're really making strides

501
00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:45,639
Speaker 5: on that side, and this is kind of how they

502
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 5: want to win. They want their offense to get better,

503
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,400
Speaker 5: but they shut down a Cardinals offense that's been really good.

504
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 5: So they've got Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison. They've been

505
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,760
Speaker 5: playing at a high level. You know, through the early

506
00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 5: portion of the season. James Conner is still one of

507
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 5: the under running backs in the NFL. They got a

508
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 5: really good tight end there as well. There's a lot

509
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,040
Speaker 5: of people with Minnesota ties on that staff as well.

510
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 5: Obviously not just Jonathan Gannon, but Drew Petsing, who is

511
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 5: a former Vikings assistant, is the OC. Nick Rawlss who's

512
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 5: a former Vikings assistant, is the d C Manti Austin fort.

513
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 5: The general manager is from I think Zimmerman. I'm not

514
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,560
Speaker 5: mistaken Minnesota. Zimmerman is Imbroda something with a Z. At

515
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 5: any rate, you got you got a lot of a

516
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,879
Speaker 5: lot of familiar faces. They're gonna be coming into this building.

517
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,120
Speaker 5: It's gonna be a challenge because you know as much

518
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:34,919
Speaker 5: as anything, and again, I think Petsing is gonna be

519
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,200
Speaker 5: a head coaching candidate in this offseason. He's done a

520
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 5: good job with the offense. They ran into Seahawks defense

521
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 5: that's played really well. But the way that the Cardinals

522
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 5: have played on defense with Gannon and Rawless running things,

523
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,879
Speaker 5: it's been really impressive. They're gonna They're gonna have a

524
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 5: fight on their hands, and it might be, you know,

525
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 5: a little bit of a slugfest on.

526
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 4: Sunday, definitely.

527
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,440
Speaker 2: I do want to ask you one more question before

528
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 2: we let you go about Sam Darnold bringing it back

529
00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 2: to the Vikings quarterback who I'm sure you had several

530
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:05,720
Speaker 2: conversations with the front office Ryan Grigson, Quacy, Kevin O'Connell

531
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 2: about why they brought him in and their reasonings when

532
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 2: you were listening to that back in Gosh, it feels

533
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,000
Speaker 2: like forever again, but it was like what July August?

534
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 2: Seeing it play out the way it has, how much

535
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 2: of that did you expect?

536
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 5: Well? I think that it goes all the way back

537
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,159
Speaker 5: even further than that too. And you can find the

538
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 5: tape on this on game day morning Super Bowl Sunday,

539
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:26,879
Speaker 5: which I think.

540
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:27,399
Speaker 3: Was in Vegas.

541
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 5: But all you know, time is a flat circle in

542
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 5: this industry. I can't remember if be'st what Super Bowl was.

543
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 5: We're on the field and I said that the Vikings

544
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 5: plan was likely going to be. You're going to draft

545
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 5: a quarterback, but you're also going to need a veteran,

546
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,440
Speaker 5: so you're going to get a guy who can potentially

547
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 5: be this year's Baker Mayfield. And the one name I

548
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,199
Speaker 5: mentioned in that segment because he happened to be in

549
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,639
Speaker 5: the game was Sam Darnold. Everything I heard at that

550
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 5: time was this is exactly the type of project that

551
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,160
Speaker 5: they were looking for. Guy's got all the physical ability,

552
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 5: He's got some foundation now in the offense because he's

553
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 5: worked with Kyle Shanahan, and he's a guy who can

554
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 5: step in and start at least short term while you

555
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 5: get a rookie ready. Well, once JJ McCarthy got injured

556
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,880
Speaker 5: in training camp and he had the meniscus surgery. He's

557
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 5: missing this season. I know he had, you know, an

558
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 5: additional procedure if you want to call it that, but

559
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 5: it was really, you know, not a super invasive thing.

560
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,160
Speaker 5: Doesn't change it on eashuld be back by camp next year.

561
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 5: But that took the pressure off Sam Donald of oh,

562
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 5: how long is it going to be? You throw a

563
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 5: couple of picks, is it going to be JJ McCarthy

564
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 5: out there? You know what they saw in Sam Donald

565
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,200
Speaker 5: was a guy who there was nothing stopping him except

566
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,359
Speaker 5: his own decision making at times. You know, the knock

567
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,960
Speaker 5: on Sam Donald all along has been looks really good

568
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 5: in practice, but when the game is live, all of

569
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,840
Speaker 5: a sudden he starts to just the processing isn't there,

570
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,399
Speaker 5: and he'll make a couple of catastrophic errors that crush

571
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:46,280
Speaker 5: you and wipe out all the good that he does

572
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 5: in the course of the game.

573
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 3: We've seen a.

574
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,400
Speaker 5: Little bit of that. We've seen Sam, you know, take

575
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 5: some chances, but you know, a lot of quarterbacks are

576
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,680
Speaker 5: going to put a ball or two in harm's way.

577
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 5: At times, he's gotten away with it. There have been

578
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,160
Speaker 5: a couple of games where he has not. But he's

579
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,199
Speaker 5: living up to be what he was supposed to be

580
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 5: coming out with the Jets. And you think about his

581
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,719
Speaker 5: career journey from you know, the Jets were you know,

582
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 5: coming from USC as well, where he threw a lot

583
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 5: of picks his final season, which is kind of the

584
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,560
Speaker 5: same thing goes to the Jets, that goes to the Panthers.

585
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 5: Really getting with Kyle Shanahan was the first time he

586
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 5: had a stable type of an environment to develop. You know,

587
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,680
Speaker 5: he's absolutely maxing out what they saw, which was a

588
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:24,879
Speaker 5: guy who's a perfect fit for the system as all

589
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,400
Speaker 5: the physical tools. If they can just get him mentally

590
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,679
Speaker 5: where he needs to be. Well, you know, for the

591
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 5: most part, it's looked like Sam Donald is exactly there.

592
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 5: He's on a one year contract. You know, we're getting

593
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,919
Speaker 5: ahead of ourselves here, But for guy on a one

594
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 5: year contract, I would think that he would be motivated

595
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 5: if the opportunities there remain the Vikings starting quarterback at

596
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 5: least at the start in twenty twenty five. The money's

597
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,400
Speaker 5: got to be right as well. I would certainly think

598
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,879
Speaker 5: the Vikings are open to bringing him back, while also knowing,

599
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 5: you know, they do anticipate JJ McCarthy's going to be right.

600
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 5: A role might benefit him to sit for a little

601
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 5: bit next season, but he's ultimately going to be the guy,

602
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 5: and that's going to be you know, Sam Donald's future

603
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 5: is going to be one of the big storylines in

604
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 5: this offseason and after what I'm sure you and Vikings

605
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,640
Speaker 5: fans hope is a very deep playoff runt.

606
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, that would be lovely. I would love that.

607
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,479
Speaker 2: However, I do think that the front office is already

608
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 2: thinking about that, even though we don't have to, which

609
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:14,000
Speaker 2: is pretty nice.

610
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 4: So thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing you there.

611
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,919
Speaker 2: Maybe we'll bring us a little bit of luck this weekend.

612
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 2: Another great conversation with NFL Network's Tom Pella Sero. As

613
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,360
Speaker 2: he mentioned he'll be covering the Cardinals Vikings game on Sunday,

614
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,680
Speaker 2: which is our annual Salute to Service game where we'll

615
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,679
Speaker 2: be honoring those who served and are currently serving in

616
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 2: our nation's military. Kickoff is set for noon, and if

617
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 2: you can't be there at El Aer on Fox this weekend,

618
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,400
Speaker 2: as always, you can catch our pregame show, Game Day

619
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,600
Speaker 2: Live beginning at ten am on Fox nine as well.

620
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening, and stick with vikings dot

621
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 2: com or the Vikings as we gear up for Game

622
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 2: Day