Speaker 1: Hey, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four and very very exciting, spine tingling and enterprising fashion
Speaker 1: with analyst Pete Ursache. I'm Paul Allen. We call games
Speaker 1: on kfa N and the Vikings radio network, and that
Speaker 1: was a fun one to call, not only because the
Speaker 1: Vikings won, but because of how they won it. And
Speaker 1: to copyright Kirk Cousins, you like that, you like that, well,
Speaker 1: we liked it a lot. When kJ Osborne caught the
Speaker 1: game winning touchdown. Yeah, how about I mean, how about that?
Speaker 1: And that's something that with this offense you could tell
Speaker 1: the efficiency is just not there yet, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: just just the completion percentages, the adjustment, the blitz is
Speaker 1: there's a lot going on that they're still trying to learn.
Speaker 1: But the ability to go to kJ Osborne and to
Speaker 1: know that we're getting double teams on Jefferson Feelings getting
Speaker 1: mugged and oh, by the way, they're not even calling
Speaker 1: you know, the past interference penalties. Most of the time
Speaker 1: you get a bit of an answer, You get a
Speaker 1: really good answer as to what they did to JJ.
Speaker 1: What the defense is trying to do, but they can't
Speaker 1: do it. To everybody. That's why it's so important to
Speaker 1: have a number three like kJ Osborne. And you know
Speaker 1: we knew kJ last year had a sneaky good year
Speaker 1: almost seven hundred yards of receiving and how many of
Speaker 1: those Paul were big plays on third down all throughout
Speaker 1: the season. So for kJ to come back, hang in
Speaker 1: there and make the big I mean, the catch could
Speaker 1: be the catch of the season. This game is a
Speaker 1: game that in the last couple of seasons we would
Speaker 1: have lost right in the changes that it makes a
Speaker 1: divisional game two and one, two and one in the
Speaker 1: division right now. It is a huge, huge, I mean
Speaker 1: for a Week three type victory. This was huge and
Speaker 1: now you know, now we just got to keep building
Speaker 1: on it. Go to London, beat up on a Saints
Speaker 1: team that really isn't that healthy. A lot of things
Speaker 1: now are kind of turning our way. We know what
Speaker 1: we got to figure out. But my goodness, these guys
Speaker 1: hung in there. And that's a tip of the captain
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell keeping these guys going. Yeah, the Vikings' next
Speaker 1: play in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against a Saints
Speaker 1: team that indeed lost to the Carolina Panthers today. But
Speaker 1: back to the lesson at hand, we have not only
Speaker 1: Between the Lines, but Kevin O'Connell's press conference coming up,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins press conference, and Ron Johnson's new bit called
Speaker 1: three Takes, which debuted last game. Kirk finishes twenty four
Speaker 1: or forty one, two sixty, a couple of touchdowns, no picks,
Speaker 1: and for a second consecutive game, Justin Jefferson held in
Speaker 1: check six targets, only three catches fourteen yards, but kJ
Speaker 1: Osborne eight targets, five catches seventy three yards, including the
Speaker 1: game winning touchdown Adam thieland eight targets, six reception sixty
Speaker 1: one yards. His touchdown was the fiftieth receiving touchdown of
Speaker 1: his career and the Vikings beat the Lions twenty eight
Speaker 1: twenty four. Gabe Henderson and Ben Lieber with Between the
Speaker 1: Lines Boys take it away. Welcome to a winning edition
Speaker 1: of Between the Lines, fueled by Gatorade. My name is
Speaker 1: Gabe Henderson. I'm alongside Ben Lieber and Ben you just
Speaker 1: wrapped up. You're a one on one with head coach
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell following today's twenty eight to twenty four win
Speaker 1: over the Detroit Lions. What were your thoughts on your
Speaker 1: conversation with him regarding this win today. Well, obviously he
Speaker 1: was really excited. I mean I walk into the front
Speaker 1: part of the locker room and you know, although I
Speaker 1: can't see anybody in the players, but I heard a
Speaker 1: lot of hooting and hollerand a lot of celebration, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of high fives all that stuff. And you know,
Speaker 1: I go in with coach O'Connell and you know, he's
Speaker 1: still his kind of reserve self, but big smile on
Speaker 1: his face. I think, a big sense of relief. You know,
Speaker 1: he knew it was going to be a grind against
Speaker 1: this team. He knew that. He's like, this is a
Speaker 1: tough football team, like they play a great brand of football.
Speaker 1: We knew it was gonna be hard. We just had
Speaker 1: to stay resilient. He just kept saying, we got to
Speaker 1: be resilient. He talked about it last week, how he's
Speaker 1: we got a battle adversity, not only diversity in the
Speaker 1: game that they're play on playing on Monday night, but
Speaker 1: all through the week and then today they did just that.
Speaker 1: The word resiliency. The Vikings were down early fourteen zero
Speaker 1: climbed back into the game down seventeen and fourteen out
Speaker 1: a half. Then going into the fourth quarter they were
Speaker 1: down ten points again two straight touchdowns. What did you
Speaker 1: see from first half to second half that kind of
Speaker 1: helped this Vikings team be resilient and get on the
Speaker 1: winning side. Well, it's interesting, like I think when they
Speaker 1: when they knew that we had to throw the ball
Speaker 1: and pass the ball, that's when they became more vulnerable.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of defensive penalties, a lot of
Speaker 1: holding on Adam feeling they're doing a great job of
Speaker 1: being physical with Justin Jefferson the line of scrimmage, so
Speaker 1: they kind of erased him off the board. But then
Speaker 1: I opened up everything everything else for Justin Jefferson as
Speaker 1: we saw later in the game with with kJ Osborne.
Speaker 1: So I think when we when we knew that we
Speaker 1: had to throw the ball and they and they knew
Speaker 1: that we had become one dimensional, it actually exposed them
Speaker 1: a little bit with I think some of the weaknesses
Speaker 1: that they have in the secondary. We saw that. You know,
Speaker 1: Coach O'Connell even just told me in the interview that
Speaker 1: he was kind of designing some plays as the game
Speaker 1: was going on based off of the things that they
Speaker 1: were taking away. So went off, stripped off the playbook
Speaker 1: a little bit, had to improvise and it worked out.
Speaker 1: How do you feel like that helps this team going forward?
Speaker 1: Because every team is going to put their number one
Speaker 1: cornerback when Justine Jefferson, he only had three receptions fourteen
Speaker 1: yards today, But how does that help to help the team?
Speaker 1: Understanding that Adam Thaling who had sixty one receiving yards
Speaker 1: today and kJ Osborne who had a game winning touchdown
Speaker 1: can contribute to this offense. Well, I think it builds
Speaker 1: trust first and foremost because just like I was saying,
Speaker 1: you can come in with a game plan and they're
Speaker 1: gonna take some of those things away. So what can
Speaker 1: you do on the fly to make adjustments? We talk
Speaker 1: about sideline adjustments all the time, We talk about halftime
Speaker 1: adjustments all the time. West Phillips offensive up in the
Speaker 1: booth communicating things that he's seen down in the field
Speaker 1: to coach O'Connell. And like you said, I think when
Speaker 1: you can come up with a game plan on the fly,
Speaker 1: you're gonna build up a lot of trust with the
Speaker 1: offensive players that hey, this guy knows what he's Doyeah.
Speaker 1: All right, so let's let's not freak out, let's not
Speaker 1: get over our skis a little bit. We know that
Speaker 1: we got a smart staff that's gonna find some ways
Speaker 1: to get our guys open. Man, getting our guys open
Speaker 1: as a number one key to this offense in ordering
Speaker 1: to scoring touchdowns and winning football games. But moving to
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball, we held those guys
Speaker 1: to four yards per carry. We didn't get many pressures, though.
Speaker 1: How do you think that balanced out this game ultimately
Speaker 1: given us a win today? Well, I do think that
Speaker 1: we got a little bit lucky with DeAndre Swift's ankle injury.
Speaker 1: I mean it was it was an issue going into
Speaker 1: the game. We didn't know how well he was going
Speaker 1: to perform. He came out and performed very well in
Speaker 1: the first quarter, but then you could see him a
Speaker 1: couple of times get dinged up, limp off to the sidelines.
Speaker 1: And now, look, Jamal Williams is a great runner as well,
Speaker 1: not quite the same dynamic ability as DeAndre Swift. So
Speaker 1: I think we dodged a bullet a little bit when
Speaker 1: it comes to their rushing attack. They were not at
Speaker 1: full strength. Now we do have some things to clean
Speaker 1: up when it comes to coverage. Okay, so many times
Speaker 1: that we have on third down, especially, they would run
Speaker 1: away from leverage from the out side. They'd run across
Speaker 1: the field. Our second level defense, our linebackers, and our
Speaker 1: safeties nowhere to be found. So we got to figure
Speaker 1: out what is going on there. Because that's two weeks
Speaker 1: in the row. Now, we've had a big time middle
Speaker 1: of the field vulnerabilities in the past game. I feel
Speaker 1: like the pass rush kind of goes hand in hand
Speaker 1: with that, right, not many hurries today, zero sacks. How
Speaker 1: does that complement what we want to continue to do
Speaker 1: on defense and getting pressures and hopefully interceptions. Well that
Speaker 1: that definitely has to be cleaned up as well. You know,
Speaker 1: we brought a lot more pressure early in this game.
Speaker 1: We did not pressure very much against the Eagles. We
Speaker 1: sat back and sort of watched everything in front of us.
Speaker 1: Ed Dontell did doubt some more pressures in the first
Speaker 1: quarter and as the game gone along, So there wasn't
Speaker 1: a lot of pressures because of that, which is unfortunate.
Speaker 1: I see us on the outside, we're rushing too much
Speaker 1: right in the middle of the players. Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: we're not picking an edge. Okay, we're not working our
Speaker 1: technique on the edge of our defenders. Danielle had a
Speaker 1: couple nice rushes on the inside spin, the ball just
Speaker 1: came out too quick. So I think they had a
Speaker 1: good plan for us when it comes to getting the
Speaker 1: ball out quick. But we got to fix those issues
Speaker 1: because you can't go through the rest of the season
Speaker 1: not affect the quarterback very much. And going into this
Speaker 1: upcoming Sunday matchups game in London against the New Orleans Saints,
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston another game two interceptions, they lost it to
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers. I know we haven't watched much film
Speaker 1: on those guys, but just understanding the history between the
Speaker 1: Saints and the Vikings, I feel like it always comes
Speaker 1: down to a big play. So whether the Vikings need
Speaker 1: to fix going into that game, well, just like I said,
Speaker 1: I think they have to. They have to affect Jamie's
Speaker 1: because he is banged up, right. I think we all
Speaker 1: understand that he's got some some vertebrate issues. You know,
Speaker 1: even when he's healthy, he's gonna throw the ball into
Speaker 1: coverage at times, so we have to make him uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: We got to get him to run around. He's not
Speaker 1: a mobile quarterback. We need to affect the middle of
Speaker 1: the rush lanes to get him outside the pocket, force
Speaker 1: him outside the pocket, which is different than you would
Speaker 1: say like a Kyler Murray or something like that. But
Speaker 1: he is a he is a status quarterback that I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna make a lot of poor decisions when
Speaker 1: he's on the run. So see if we can get
Speaker 1: some pressure in the A and B gaps. Vikings went
Speaker 1: twenty eight to twenty four. Another short week. According to
Speaker 1: travel Wise, we get out there a few days early,
Speaker 1: so the Vikings have to hurry up, recover, rest and
Speaker 1: get ready to beat through New Orleans, Saintans and London.
Speaker 1: So Vikings fans, looking forward to seeing you out there.
Speaker 1: If not looking forward to watch seeing you, watch it
Speaker 1: on Sunday for Ben Leeber. My name is Gabe Henderson.
Speaker 1: This is between the Lines fueled by Gatorade. Thanks Gabe.
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell is undefeated at home, beating Green Bay and Detroit.
Speaker 1: The Vikings are two in one. Here's Koc's postgame press conference. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I know people are still filing in, so proud of
Speaker 1: our team, so proud of you know, there was a
Speaker 1: lot a long list of of you know, adversity throughout
Speaker 1: that football game dating back to last week. All our
Speaker 1: guys do is continue to believe, believe in each other
Speaker 1: and we're going to continue to improve as a football team.
Speaker 1: But for us to be at our best when it
Speaker 1: was required and play complimentary football all the way we
Speaker 1: did to finish it. Um, it's good to have that feeling,
Speaker 1: you know, both times we've been at us Bank Stadium
Speaker 1: against the divisional opponent. Now we've we've come back into
Speaker 1: the locker room to to some some feelings of really
Speaker 1: understanding that we believe in each other, we believe in
Speaker 1: our team, but that we can continue to improve and
Speaker 1: be at our best moving forward. But I'm so proud
Speaker 1: of our guys. Unbelievable to have our legends in town
Speaker 1: this weekend, be around on our team. And as I
Speaker 1: told those guys last night, UM, never underestimate their power
Speaker 1: and their influence to you know, be what our guys
Speaker 1: may need to see and see their camaraderie, how how
Speaker 1: together they are still years and years and years later, Um,
Speaker 1: the great history of our team. We got a lot
Speaker 1: to play for, including those guys. We got a lot
Speaker 1: to be proud of UM. But first and foremost today
Speaker 1: was about those players in there. A great day for
Speaker 1: our uh you know a lot of guys on our
Speaker 1: team who needed to step up and like I said,
Speaker 1: a lot of things will do better and need to
Speaker 1: work on, and we got a tough task ahead with
Speaker 1: a good football team obviously in London. Well'll come back
Speaker 1: when like that hamp with this and carry over effect
Speaker 1: for this game, Yeah, I think so. I think there's
Speaker 1: it's one thing to rep a lot of those situations
Speaker 1: in practice. It's one thing, you know, to do it
Speaker 1: in competitive ways when you can, but to do it
Speaker 1: at home with our great fans just being that extra
Speaker 1: edge that we needed there late. But you know, give
Speaker 1: them a lot of credit. They did some things defensively
Speaker 1: that you know, caused us to kind of have to alter,
Speaker 1: you know, our plan that we came in with, especially
Speaker 1: in the passing game. UM I thought late Kirk was
Speaker 1: you know, fantastic on that final drive. Able to execute
Speaker 1: some things that quite honestly we didn't necessarily have up
Speaker 1: on the call sheet, but we found a way to
Speaker 1: you know, go out there all eleven and execute and
Speaker 1: thought the old line had a huge final sequence there
Speaker 1: given Kirk time um to attack their kJ obviously showing
Speaker 1: up huge Kirk users long receivers that he did again
Speaker 1: the day, you guy says, and I see open players,
Speaker 1: not numbers. Yeah, is that what we saw to day? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it was a combination of a couple of things.
Speaker 1: They Kirk did a great job, you know, keeping his
Speaker 1: eyes up reading coverage. They were doing some things schematically
Speaker 1: obviously to take away justin and we'll continue to have
Speaker 1: tools at our Disposal'll try to counter out counteract that obviously,
Speaker 1: But they did a good job defensively. I thought there
Speaker 1: was a few competitive plays that they could have gone
Speaker 1: either way as far as possibly h you know, a
Speaker 1: grab or tug the way technique wise they were playing.
Speaker 1: But ultimately, when our guys needed to they overcame that.
Speaker 1: They overcame, you know, at times us not having the
Speaker 1: cleanest execution, but situationally when it mattered for Kirk to
Speaker 1: do what he did and lead that group. I think
Speaker 1: that says a lot about our football team. And then
Speaker 1: love the way we closed it out with Mattelis making
Speaker 1: that pick. Yeah, what were your thoughts on the defense?
Speaker 1: You know, they gave up a decent amount of yards,
Speaker 1: but they kind of stepped up at the end when
Speaker 1: they had to do they really did. You know, you'd
Speaker 1: like to think over the course of that kind of
Speaker 1: fourth quarter and and and when we were able to
Speaker 1: get the drive to make it twenty four twenty one,
Speaker 1: you'd like to think we wouldn't need another one or
Speaker 1: another defensive stand without having the lead, and they were
Speaker 1: obviously able to We went forward on that fourth down.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously liked the look there, but you know,
Speaker 1: didn't get it done offensive, but understanding the defense is
Speaker 1: going to pick you up. We might not have any timeouts,
Speaker 1: we might have to cover a lot of ground in
Speaker 1: short amount of time, but we've got just the guys
Speaker 1: to do it, and our quarterback did a great job
Speaker 1: taking us down the field. Kevin, did it looked like
Speaker 1: at some point you had a conversation with Justin on
Speaker 1: the sideline. Was he frustrated? Well, it's just it's just
Speaker 1: one of those things with great, great players, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, in this league and the coaching that goes on,
Speaker 1: they do things to try to take away what you
Speaker 1: do best. And you know, I think the way we're
Speaker 1: able to run the football the way we're able to
Speaker 1: get you know, Adam and kJ and some of these
Speaker 1: other guys opts in the passing game is because of
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson dictating a lot of coverage, dictating how runs
Speaker 1: are fit, dictating how they play on the edges. So
Speaker 1: Justin had a huge impact on this game. It just
Speaker 1: didn't show up in the stat sheet. But that's not
Speaker 1: good enough. That's not good enough. I've got to do
Speaker 1: a better job given Justin you know, different you know,
Speaker 1: aspects of lining up in different spots, different personnel groupings,
Speaker 1: whatever I need to do to help him, because he's
Speaker 1: an ultra competitor and we'll get him going. But you know,
Speaker 1: the first guy celebrating with kJ Osborne when he scores
Speaker 1: that touchdown is Justin Jefferson. And he's a great teammate.
Speaker 1: Although he doesn't have a sea on his chest, you know,
Speaker 1: I know our guys view him as one of our leaders,
Speaker 1: and we relied on him today to maintain and just
Speaker 1: keep on pushing. And you know, I have a lot
Speaker 1: of respect for how Justin handled today, but put it
Speaker 1: on me to you know, obviously do a better job
Speaker 1: getting him open. You mentioned how you had a lot
Speaker 1: of things late in the game that weren't necessarily on
Speaker 1: the call sheet. What got you to the point where
Speaker 1: you had to kind of reaching your back pockets up set. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's that combination that a week ago, I
Speaker 1: didn't do a good enough job staying true to who
Speaker 1: we want to be from an offensive philosophy standpoint, and
Speaker 1: then I thought the way our defense was playing, and
Speaker 1: especially in the second half, you know that we could
Speaker 1: stay in our normal offensive rhythm while still trying to
Speaker 1: get some chunks, and then kind of late there we
Speaker 1: didn't have any timeouts left. I knew that I didn't
Speaker 1: want to be in a situation where we kind of
Speaker 1: dinked and dunked and hey, get up on the ball,
Speaker 1: go fast, and all of a sudden, we're playing to
Speaker 1: try to you know, I wanted to score. I wanted
Speaker 1: to score touchdown. I wanted to win this football game
Speaker 1: in front of our fans in regulation. Put maximum pressure
Speaker 1: on those guys the way, Quite honestly, they did a
Speaker 1: lot of the day with just how gritty and tough
Speaker 1: of a football team that is. But that's when you
Speaker 1: just have to continue work and put your head down.
Speaker 1: Adversity is only going to be you know, one snap
Speaker 1: away in this league for you individually collectively, per side
Speaker 1: of the ball, and you just got to meet the
Speaker 1: moment and rely on your leadership and trust the guys
Speaker 1: around you in those huddles to get it done. And
Speaker 1: that's that's what I think you saw today. But well,
Speaker 1: there'll be some moments that we'll be able to go
Speaker 1: back and look on and think that we could have
Speaker 1: you know, had some earlier success in some critical moments
Speaker 1: as well, So we got to get better from it.
Speaker 1: Was that even a thought process you have before that
Speaker 1: final drive play for field goals, try to score a touchdown?
Speaker 1: Are you just like that isn't even? And it obviously is.
Speaker 1: And and knowing I got all the confidence in Greg
Speaker 1: in the world, um, you know, knowing that we put
Speaker 1: them out there for two fifty four plus yarders, I think, um,
Speaker 1: and he'll continue to knock those, knock those in. Um,
Speaker 1: My confidence will not waiver in Greg, and everybody in
Speaker 1: that locker room feels the same way. But I did know,
Speaker 1: you know, if we could, if we could manipulate some
Speaker 1: things and kind of get kjor potentially Adam running, I
Speaker 1: knew we could protect with the way our guys were
Speaker 1: protecting up front Um that we could possibly get some
Speaker 1: explosives explosives and at least put that pressure on them
Speaker 1: m to kind of not be dictating to us, and
Speaker 1: we got them kind of on their heels a little
Speaker 1: on that drive and defense was able to come out
Speaker 1: and get a stop with that remaining time. If you've
Speaker 1: already answered this, but Cookum, do you know what his situation? Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: you I have not answered that. And Dalvin just had
Speaker 1: you know, a little a little bit of a shoulder
Speaker 1: deal that kind of came up on that fumble. Unfortunate
Speaker 1: with him being three yards away from you know, his
Speaker 1: first hundred yard day Um and thought he played phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I thought alex Um was really really solid those kind
Speaker 1: of one two punch that we have. But he'll be
Speaker 1: day to day. We'll run some tests, we should have
Speaker 1: some time, uh to hopefully get him turned over. And
Speaker 1: he's already told me after we after we scored, you know,
Speaker 1: I asked him how he was doing. He said, I'll
Speaker 1: be out there next week. Now. We'll do what's best
Speaker 1: for obviously Dalvin and make sure that Tyler and urayah
Speaker 1: uh and our doctors make those decisions, but what a
Speaker 1: competitor and and really proud of the work he put
Speaker 1: in today and knowing that we would come back to
Speaker 1: him after not getting him the rock enough last Monday
Speaker 1: after a tell Us interception that looked like you and
Speaker 1: and kind of yeah, so what was behind that? Well,
Speaker 1: you know he was. He was pretty fired up, and
Speaker 1: I was too. I just wanted to tell him how
Speaker 1: proud I was of him and and his guys, and
Speaker 1: I know they wanted to get that ball back to
Speaker 1: in the game. Um, so he was. It was fun
Speaker 1: to see him like that. There U still pretty soil
Speaker 1: old man, still got a little strength to them. So
Speaker 1: but now you could just feel the emotion of the
Speaker 1: whole stadium understanding how important it was for us to
Speaker 1: persevere and rally and like I said, unbelievable effort by
Speaker 1: our fans today when we had to have it in
Speaker 1: those critical moments. You know you've felt them, you know
Speaker 1: right where they need to be, and we're going to
Speaker 1: need that. You know, as many times as we get
Speaker 1: to play at this at this stadium this year, what
Speaker 1: did you think of how many times the Lions went
Speaker 1: forward unfortune? But then were you surprised that they tried
Speaker 1: to fifty four year field goal d end when they've
Speaker 1: been going forth so much in fourth down. No, I
Speaker 1: think I think that a lot goes into those decisions.
Speaker 1: M you know, we went for it a couple of
Speaker 1: times today as well, and um, I think you're just
Speaker 1: constantly managing, you know, what's more important getting those points
Speaker 1: right there, possibly giving us a short field where field
Speaker 1: goal could be you know, within reach, and then maybe
Speaker 1: we could be more aggressive or try to go for
Speaker 1: it and end the football game, you know, on the grass.
Speaker 1: And um, I think it probably tempted him a lot
Speaker 1: to try to go for it in that momentum, but
Speaker 1: just a huge credit to our defense getting that stop
Speaker 1: and then feeling like we, uh, you know, we had
Speaker 1: a chance to go win that football game regardless. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's either they either get that stop or
Speaker 1: there's no use in momentum anymore because the game is
Speaker 1: probably gonna be over. But I think you felt it,
Speaker 1: and you felt those defensive guys coming off, you know
Speaker 1: there they feel they're they're letting our offensive guys going
Speaker 1: on the field. Hey, now's the time. And I think
Speaker 1: when you can respond in those moments, when you look
Speaker 1: at you know at one another, and you know, this
Speaker 1: is it. This is when you either go win the
Speaker 1: football game or you don't. U when you come back
Speaker 1: in with the victory and know that we earned every
Speaker 1: bit of it, every bit of it against a good
Speaker 1: football team, I think there can be some real growth
Speaker 1: moving forward and belief. You know, if and when that
Speaker 1: inevitable adversity hits again. What's like to see Josh get
Speaker 1: his hands on the ball right before the interception too,
Speaker 1: and just the way that he's kind of worked its
Speaker 1: way up especial teams, it's ready for them all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, I thought he k was gonna get that
Speaker 1: one there as well. But you know, I got a
Speaker 1: lot of confidence in our defense in those moments. You know,
Speaker 1: we situationally prepared this football team, UM in a way
Speaker 1: that I think we feel very comfortable in those two
Speaker 1: minute moments, those end of game situations on both sides. UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, when Josh made that interception to end
Speaker 1: that thing, got a little pressure there to move him
Speaker 1: off the spot. But Jared Goff, you know, I thought
Speaker 1: he played really well and and and kind of was
Speaker 1: a real challenge and they've got great skill and able
Speaker 1: to run the ball. So, um, that's a tough that's
Speaker 1: a tough outfit that we're gonna have to see again
Speaker 1: obviously in Detroit. But you know, got a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for that team over there, and one of the
Speaker 1: reasons why I'm so dang proud of our guys for
Speaker 1: beating a good football team, you know, when we had
Speaker 1: to come from behind. Speaking of situation. Speaking of situationally,
Speaker 1: did you at the end of the first half, did
Speaker 1: you want to delay the game there ball? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: mean I think we all saw you know that, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, not to to ref rents that Cowboy forty
Speaker 1: nine er game from last year's playoffs, but uh, you know,
Speaker 1: there was there was a feeling with this crew, um
Speaker 1: of that being some relevance to them in this game. Um,
Speaker 1: and uh, I think they were worried about the functioning
Speaker 1: of you know, which they did. They did a great job.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get that ball set. But I did see, um,
Speaker 1: something pretty blatant on that one that makes it a
Speaker 1: little hard within the rules to get that ball clocked.
Speaker 1: But that would have been another opportunity for Greg to
Speaker 1: possibly knock in a field goal and get three right there.
Speaker 1: Uh So, UM, I thought, I like the way we
Speaker 1: were aggressive there. You know, we get the screen early on,
Speaker 1: then then Kirk hits a couple of things there and
Speaker 1: we kind of got the ball across the fifty and
Speaker 1: you know, one second too much with how that play
Speaker 1: played out. But we'll we'll have to improve and really
Speaker 1: coach our guys off of that that that's a real
Speaker 1: possibility that the other team can knock the ball out
Speaker 1: of your hands and and somehow it won't be a penalty.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Oh no, I was gonna I mean, I know,
Speaker 1: Greg and missed a couple long ones, um, you know,
Speaker 1: or at least one at that point. Um, he's I'm
Speaker 1: going to continue to give him long opportunities, especially in
Speaker 1: those moments where I do think that's a little bit
Speaker 1: more of a high percentage play to let him turn
Speaker 1: one loose, um than a hail Mary at that point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what did you see from Kurt? And player right is
Speaker 1: the first time you've seen him come back and help
Speaker 1: what I can. But yeah, just resilient. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think there were some plays um in there where he
Speaker 1: showed an incredible grit and toughness and made some real
Speaker 1: plays we didn't always you know, convert. We didn't always
Speaker 1: make the play. You know, there was a couple I
Speaker 1: think back on we had kJ one time down the sideline,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple shots there to add him where
Speaker 1: it's just competitive, good football. And then obviously there was
Speaker 1: one I believe to IRV as well off of a
Speaker 1: play pass kind of on a first and ten when
Speaker 1: we were moving it pretty good. Um. Where we'll continue
Speaker 1: to our execution level um when we're when we're locked in,
Speaker 1: dialed in at all eleven um. You know, we'll know
Speaker 1: it when we start those ops start being you know,
Speaker 1: positive plays for us each and every time. But as
Speaker 1: far as Kirk Cousins goes today, the toughness, the mental
Speaker 1: toughness to us keep playing, just keep leading, relying on
Speaker 1: the other ten guys in the huddle, but leading that
Speaker 1: group out in front ready to go win it. In
Speaker 1: the end, I think there's a lot to come, a
Speaker 1: lot to be taken out of this game positive for
Speaker 1: for Kirk and our offense. You know, in addition to
Speaker 1: a lot, you know a lot of things we can
Speaker 1: do better. Darius, I mean after going down there and
Speaker 1: stays in the game, and yeah, he's a you know,
Speaker 1: he knows those are his moments, you know, when we
Speaker 1: get the lead, chance to go finish it in that
Speaker 1: two minute, He's gonna give it everything he's got. Luckily
Speaker 1: he was you know, down there for a play and
Speaker 1: then able to come back in there and be a
Speaker 1: part of you know, getting the rush on Jared, you know,
Speaker 1: on that last play. So we got tough guys. We
Speaker 1: got guys that love playing for one another, playing for
Speaker 1: each other days like this or where you can really feel,
Speaker 1: you know, the special part about what we're building and
Speaker 1: then also understand that, you know, there's a lot we
Speaker 1: can do better, uh, to not make it so hard
Speaker 1: on ourselves sometimes. But once again, give credit to the Lions.
Speaker 1: I was a heck of a football game. Just glad
Speaker 1: we came out on top. Head coach of the minute
Speaker 1: the Vikings, Kevin O'Connell. There there was a I would
Speaker 1: say controversial moment late in the game. I think it
Speaker 1: was controversial because the kicker for the Detroit Lions, Austin Cybert,
Speaker 1: he is nineteen of thirty five lifetime from forty yards
Speaker 1: and beyond, not fifty forty yards and beyond, and instead
Speaker 1: of punting with the lead, the Dan Campbell coach of
Speaker 1: the Lions, opted to try a fifty four yard field
Speaker 1: goal with Cybert, who by the way, beat Greg Joseph
Speaker 1: out of a job with the Cleveland Browns in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: But nineteen of thirty five, how do you let that
Speaker 1: guy kick and not punt? And that's that's an amazing question,
Speaker 1: and that if this game has changed so much over
Speaker 1: the decades, Paul, and the rule changes everything else. But
Speaker 1: that's also another way with which this game has changed.
Speaker 1: And you know, for them, to God, they've been pushing
Speaker 1: it all night. I mean they went four for six
Speaker 1: on fourth down sixty seven percent. That's I mean six
Speaker 1: fourth down attempts. It resembled a ninety eight game down
Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay when Tony Dungee went four on fourth
Speaker 1: down every single series because he knew that's what he
Speaker 1: had to do in order to win. So for Dan Campbell,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some questions there and he's gonna have to,
Speaker 1: you know, answer him, and he's gonna have to double
Speaker 1: either double down on his mentality of we are attack
Speaker 1: all the time, or he's gonna have to step back
Speaker 1: and play the odds a little bit more. And so
Speaker 1: I'm still in the in the how our offense had
Speaker 1: been had been humming along. We got two touchdowns at
Speaker 1: the end of the half, come out we had like
Speaker 1: go three and out. We don't have a lot of momentum.
Speaker 1: We get down by ten points. The offense hangs in there,
Speaker 1: and you would think that make At that point Campbell
Speaker 1: would say, all right, I trust my defense. Let's make
Speaker 1: him go to the long field. Let's let's let's make
Speaker 1: it as difficult for him as possible, and not in
Speaker 1: like you keep pointing out, that was a huge risk
Speaker 1: to let them take and you get the ball from
Speaker 1: where the ball is put down, it's not from the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage anymore. So beautiful fuel position for the
Speaker 1: Vikings with fifty seconds to go, no time outs. I
Speaker 1: mean that it was set up by him for us
Speaker 1: so very well, and we made him pay for it.
Speaker 1: Old schoolers. The Vikings beat a team from Detroit, Michigan,
Speaker 1: which means that's the home of Mochown and the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 1: So in Mochown like fashion, the twenty twenty four victory
Speaker 1: has us on cloud nine, and indeed Vikings fans are
Speaker 1: dancing in the streets. Were undefeated at home. So ain't
Speaker 1: no mountain high enough and Kirk Cousins, we like that,
Speaker 1: we like that, here's this pressor just great to win,
Speaker 1: great to win at home against the divisional opponent, great
Speaker 1: to finish the way we did. Was not a clean
Speaker 1: game by us by any stretch. We need to play
Speaker 1: a lot better up ahead. But these are the kind
Speaker 1: of games where you have to find the inches and
Speaker 1: we were able to find him today. And we'll have
Speaker 1: a lot to talk about and coach and take coaching tomorrow. Um.
Speaker 1: But it's a lot more enjoyable to do that after
Speaker 1: a win. And sou it was just so fun to
Speaker 1: hear how loud the stadium was the end of the
Speaker 1: game there and and to live that and um and
Speaker 1: be a part of it. So um, um take any
Speaker 1: questions yet, think based on the play design, did he
Speaker 1: think Osborne would be open there? No? No, Um expected
Speaker 1: him to be covered and was thinking maybe Adam would
Speaker 1: rip out open and then um, you know you kind
Speaker 1: of go from there, but he popped. Was it hard
Speaker 1: to time some passes? They seemed to be getting pretty
Speaker 1: physical out Yeah, especially like feeling and yeah, yeah it
Speaker 1: was it was they were doing a good job of
Speaker 1: of in coverage and uh um timing was a little off.
Speaker 1: Kevin said at the end of the game that he
Speaker 1: had to go to some things that were probably right
Speaker 1: at the top of the call sheet there. I guess
Speaker 1: what changed the approach from your perspective or made it
Speaker 1: more aggressive at the end of the game. A good question.
Speaker 1: Um you know, I think they were. They were doubling
Speaker 1: justin a fair amount in double the ball game, but
Speaker 1: a fair amount, and so there were times where, um,
Speaker 1: you know, you had to be aware of that, and
Speaker 1: then I think that's what allowed Adam and kJ to
Speaker 1: get a few more opportunities. Also, a running game, I
Speaker 1: was I was just pleased with he ran the football.
Speaker 1: I felt like it's one thing to have a twenty
Speaker 1: yard run and then a bunch of no yard runs
Speaker 1: and then then the statue it shows you ran for
Speaker 1: twenty yards, which you want to see all the churn runs,
Speaker 1: and I felt like we were doing that. So much
Speaker 1: of the game was getting positive run after positive run,
Speaker 1: and that was that was really encouraging to see. So,
Speaker 1: um you know that also helped. And uh um not
Speaker 1: being good enough on third down I think it was
Speaker 1: a problem today. Um you know, we got to be
Speaker 1: able to convert a few more third downs, but then
Speaker 1: being three for three in the red zone makes a
Speaker 1: big difference. How do you think Jefferson handles a game
Speaker 1: like this where other guys maybe got open because of him,
Speaker 1: but his stats and dividually weren't as good. Yeah, no's
Speaker 1: he's great. He just stayed the course. And you know,
Speaker 1: this league, because you got you can't really size it
Speaker 1: up until the dust settles and we're in February. I
Speaker 1: mean that's really when you then look back and say, okay,
Speaker 1: what what all transpired? You know a week to week
Speaker 1: if you try to get you know, and create a
Speaker 1: narrative around week to week, he can be all over
Speaker 1: the map. So you just stay the course, keep playing,
Speaker 1: and you know he's got a lot of great, great
Speaker 1: games up ahead. Kirk, fourth quarter, you guys were bashing
Speaker 1: against the wall, but you came up clutch. You know,
Speaker 1: do you guys learn anything about yourself as a group
Speaker 1: or a team with that comeback one? Well, I think
Speaker 1: it's just encouraging to you know, find those inches at
Speaker 1: the end and find a way. Um. So you know,
Speaker 1: you want to be a team that's been there before
Speaker 1: and done that and has done it consistently and so
Speaker 1: today is a step in that direction for sure. Do
Speaker 1: you like the aggressiveness at the end of half, So
Speaker 1: that's good at deal first half instead of you guys
Speaker 1: first of all, yeah, yeah, Kevin stayed aggressive at the
Speaker 1: end of the half against Green Bay and also today, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and had a good plan of how to
Speaker 1: get us down the field. Um, so I think it's good.
Speaker 1: The key for me, you know, whenever we do it is,
Speaker 1: you know, protect the football, avoid anything that could give
Speaker 1: them a chance to get points. And so you you
Speaker 1: got to be aggressive. You also got to avoid the
Speaker 1: critic layer, and so you're you're aware of that as
Speaker 1: you as you are aggressive when you inherit the ball
Speaker 1: at around the forty and that last possession off the
Speaker 1: misfield goal, because that sort of enhance your ability to
Speaker 1: think touchdown there instead of just settling for the field goal. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about the next play. I think where
Speaker 1: you're get in trouble is when you think touchdown and
Speaker 1: you're on the minus forty. Um, I'm just thinking about
Speaker 1: the next play and executing it and then being aware
Speaker 1: we have no timeouts, and so talking to the guys
Speaker 1: about Hey, we gotta get a bounce if we can.
Speaker 1: We got to be ready to clock it if we
Speaker 1: need to. We've got to, you know, be aware of
Speaker 1: where field goal range is as we move forward. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking when we got down there because of Kj's
Speaker 1: first catch, you know, I can't take a sack because
Speaker 1: the sack would take us out of field goal range.
Speaker 1: So you're aware of all these scenarios as you as
Speaker 1: you go through it. When you were talking about kJ,
Speaker 1: I think you said that he started showing up to
Speaker 1: you in the two minute drills last year. Yeah, is
Speaker 1: there something he does in those situations that is really
Speaker 1: good or is it just that that's where his opportunities
Speaker 1: came So much of a game plan. You devise to
Speaker 1: try to get certain people opportunities, so you move people
Speaker 1: around to create that. In the two minute you sort
Speaker 1: of have guys in their spots and you don't really
Speaker 1: move people around, so it ends up being a more
Speaker 1: organic way of getting people to football, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1: It just kind of happens whoever's open, And that's what
Speaker 1: happened last year with kJ Lott in two minute was
Speaker 1: he was now in primary spots where during the normal game,
Speaker 1: he was in secondary tertiary spots, if you will. So
Speaker 1: the plays he was making in two minute last year,
Speaker 1: I realized, there's a lot more to this guy than
Speaker 1: maybe we're giving him the ops to do. And then
Speaker 1: when you have Adam, Justin Dalve and Alex Madison urf Smith,
Speaker 1: you know you don't feel the pressing need maybe to
Speaker 1: give him those. But then in two minute again today
Speaker 1: he he takes advantage of him and shows up. But
Speaker 1: certainly the first catch he had I believe Justin was doubled.
Speaker 1: So you also realized that, hey, Justin, Justin here is
Speaker 1: allowing what's happening to happen. On the touchdown, you said
Speaker 1: you didn't expect it be open. Now what are you
Speaker 1: thinking when you see him flash that open and me
Speaker 1: let it go? Um? Yeah, you just I mean, you
Speaker 1: just you feel a rush, so you know you gotta
Speaker 1: get released it quick. I don't know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of thoughts going through my head. You're just kind of um,
Speaker 1: you know, seeing grass and putting the ball out there
Speaker 1: and then just making sure I threw it far enough.
Speaker 1: You know, It's funny when I overthrew him on the
Speaker 1: third down earlier in the game. I thought I underthrew
Speaker 1: it as I got hit and I was releasing the
Speaker 1: ball and fell down. I'm like, please be far enough,
Speaker 1: and then it landed past him, and I'm I gotta
Speaker 1: watch the film because I'm like, how in the world
Speaker 1: is that not far? Was that too far? And the
Speaker 1: same one on that one, I put it on him
Speaker 1: and I'm like, please be far enough. I don't know
Speaker 1: that I got enough on that and then it was
Speaker 1: it was there, So I go back and figure out
Speaker 1: my distances a little bit. But uh yeah, So anyways,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've been asked, but I mean,
Speaker 1: has it felt like this offense has become I guess
Speaker 1: more comfortable as the weeks of past or Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: still getting there. We're still getting there, and um, I
Speaker 1: think you can see today it's not it's not where
Speaker 1: I want it to be, you know. And that's not
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a good plan. It's just you know,
Speaker 1: time on task. Every game we're learning something, getting better,
Speaker 1: but we just don't have time. We've got to We've
Speaker 1: got to get it locked in. I was waiting for
Speaker 1: you to show up here you are, I was I
Speaker 1: was thinking I was gonna walk right out of here
Speaker 1: and not even get to talk to you miss anything good? Nah,
Speaker 1: what do we want? So it's what did you see
Speaker 1: when looking back in like the touchdown runs by Dalton
Speaker 1: by Alex? Yeah, on the past of dealing too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Alex's run for a touchdown was as a big as
Speaker 1: a man's run. I mean, eventually there's an unblocked player
Speaker 1: and he makes that guy miss, runs through an arm
Speaker 1: tackle and it's just a big time run. And it's
Speaker 1: so important there that you know you're on the four
Speaker 1: or five yard line when you call that run, you're
Speaker 1: expecting to be third and goal from the two, and
Speaker 1: it just touchdown. I mean that just takes so much
Speaker 1: pressure off of our third down offense, our red zone
Speaker 1: offense off of us. So big time run by him
Speaker 1: and Dalvin just all game long, you know, just extending runs,
Speaker 1: making plays, making people miss, running hard. It's it's great
Speaker 1: to have both of them because when when Dalvin goes down,
Speaker 1: to have a guy who can do what Alex does
Speaker 1: is a is just a huge benefit to our offense.
Speaker 1: Did you it sounds like maybe you guys knew from
Speaker 1: film that these guys were a grabby secondary. I just
Speaker 1: have a lot of respect for Aaron Glenn, for Aubrey Pleasant,
Speaker 1: their dB coach, and for those dbs. I think that
Speaker 1: going back last year, I thought they had a good plan,
Speaker 1: did a good job executing their plan. I think they're
Speaker 1: well coached, and I think they're smart and and so
Speaker 1: you know, I think that shows in the way they
Speaker 1: they cover and play. It's a business trip to go
Speaker 1: to London, obviously, but what are your thoughts fun? Just
Speaker 1: the whole environment getting ready for that kind of game
Speaker 1: and kind of turning your head into a time difference,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff and been playing in that environment. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's a unique opportunity. Wednesday is pretty similar. I
Speaker 1: think Thursday. It's just when you would normally be heading home.
Speaker 1: You're heading to the airport, you know, Thursday night and
Speaker 1: Friday you wake, you get up off the plane Friday
Speaker 1: morning in the UK and you're a zombie and you
Speaker 1: go to your Friday practice and you fight through that.
Speaker 1: You know, it takes maturity, It takes toughness to just
Speaker 1: be able to say, I don't care how I feel,
Speaker 1: I'll block that out and I got to dial in
Speaker 1: on this red Zone plan and dial in on this
Speaker 1: game plan and get something out of this practice, and
Speaker 1: then you go back to the hotel and you kind
Speaker 1: of go from there, and by Saturday you feel like
Speaker 1: you're starting to get settled and and you go play,
Speaker 1: and then you come back and you do that all
Speaker 1: over again, feeling like a zombie on Monday and without
Speaker 1: a buy after the game, you know, you've got short
Speaker 1: time to adjust, so we get ahead of ourselves. But yeah,
Speaker 1: we just gotta have a great meeting tomorrow and really
Speaker 1: clean up what happened today because there's so much that
Speaker 1: wasn't good enough, and then go from there. How do
Speaker 1: you feel about your last game? Man? I think you
Speaker 1: threw for like four hundred fifty yards or something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we played at Wembley, which we're playing a different stated
Speaker 1: in this time. You know, it's just a unique opportunity
Speaker 1: to go over there and play, and you just like
Speaker 1: any other NFL game, you just want to go out
Speaker 1: there and execute and play at a high level and
Speaker 1: and you know, find a way to get to win
Speaker 1: and enjoy that. Playing right home, Kirk, is not every
Speaker 1: day that you get to throw a game. Are a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass lay in the fourth quarter to get you,
Speaker 1: guys to leave just for you as a competitor a player.
Speaker 1: How good did that feel? Yeah, it's awesome to be
Speaker 1: able to to make those plays down the stretch. And
Speaker 1: it's just fun to see someone like kJ make that
Speaker 1: play too. It's fun to see the lineman, you know,
Speaker 1: the way they're grinding, and then to see them celebrate
Speaker 1: and know that you know, we got the job done there.
Speaker 1: It's just a joy. And Kevin said it in the
Speaker 1: locker room. You know that feelings addictive when you win
Speaker 1: like that, I mean, you want to chase it. And
Speaker 1: and so we're gonna keep doing that. Ron Johnson, former
Speaker 1: game changing receiver for the undefeated Golden Gophers football team.
Speaker 1: He offers up his three takes and here they are.
Speaker 1: Thanks Pa, This is Ron Johnson Company from the k
Speaker 1: Fans Studios, and here are my three takeaways from today's
Speaker 1: Vikings Verse Lions game. Well, let's just get it out
Speaker 1: there right away. The Vikings found away, they never gave up.
Speaker 1: That's my takeaway. One. The Lions will always lyon. I
Speaker 1: said that in the Vikings pregame show that the Lions
Speaker 1: will find a way to lyon fourth and four. Dan
Speaker 1: Campbell found a way to lose the game. That's the
Speaker 1: only answer. But the Vikings never gave up. They still
Speaker 1: had to come down. Kirk Cousins still had to find
Speaker 1: a way to score. He had a nice completion to
Speaker 1: get him down to the twenty eight and then it
Speaker 1: was just a great play drawn up to get kJ
Speaker 1: Alisburne wide opened. Former Viking Mike Hughes unfortunately was the
Speaker 1: victim in that he made the wrong decision left kJ
Speaker 1: Alsburne wide opened. Kevin O'Connell kind of played his cards.
Speaker 1: Think you know what they're gonna think about Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 1: They're gonna think about Adam Feeling. They're gonna forget about
Speaker 1: kJ Osborne, And they forgot about kJ Osborne. kJ Osborne,
Speaker 1: just like last year with the big play to win
Speaker 1: the game, he did it again this year. kJ Osborne
Speaker 1: the unsung hero. They never gave up. They found a
Speaker 1: way to win. And that's it. You I don't care
Speaker 1: how the game went. You can say whatever you want.
Speaker 1: You can say the Vikings shouldn't have won the game.
Speaker 1: Maybe they shouldn't have. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it only matters one thing. Did they win or they lost?
Speaker 1: They won and they found a way. My second takeaway
Speaker 1: third down. So third down on the offensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball for the Vikings has to improve. Two for
Speaker 1: nine on third down that is not going to win
Speaker 1: you games against good teams. The Lions are a decent team.
Speaker 1: I thought they were good before this, but they just
Speaker 1: showed you their true colors of still making rookie mistakes.
Speaker 1: But Dan Campbell will learn from this. But third down
Speaker 1: on the defensive side, they did well. They held the
Speaker 1: Lions to three for sixteen. Did give up a couple
Speaker 1: of fourth downs, but three for sixteen on third down
Speaker 1: to hold their offense was a great job by the
Speaker 1: Vikings defense. So the Vikings defense just needs to continue
Speaker 1: on what they're doing, and if the Vikings offense can
Speaker 1: find a way to convert some of those third downs,
Speaker 1: this offense goes to another level. It's already a good offense,
Speaker 1: but it can get a lot better if they find
Speaker 1: a way to convert some of these third downs. But
Speaker 1: here's a weird stat getting first downs. They had thirty
Speaker 1: first downs converted. That was twenty eight first downs on
Speaker 1: first or second down. That is crazy. Twenty eight on
Speaker 1: first or second down. They did have a couple of
Speaker 1: fourth downs as well, but it came down to it
Speaker 1: where they got put in the fourth down way too often.
Speaker 1: Should not have happened the way it happened. But again
Speaker 1: going back to point number one, they found a way
Speaker 1: to win and you can't deny that. But here's some
Speaker 1: things to think about third down. Maybe this Vikings offense
Speaker 1: is going to try to be one of the best
Speaker 1: first and second down offenses in the NFL, and I
Speaker 1: think that's the key. But third down, again, if you're
Speaker 1: facing third down, you have to find a better way.
Speaker 1: You have to come up with some better play calling.
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell, though this is his his first year, he's a
Speaker 1: rookie head coach, he's a rookie play caller because we
Speaker 1: know Sean McVay call the plays with the Rams, so
Speaker 1: he's gonna learn from this as well. But the Vikings
Speaker 1: offense has to improve on third down. Two for nine
Speaker 1: and again, like I said, against like the Dolphins the Bills,
Speaker 1: that's not gonna get it done. And then my last
Speaker 1: take away from this game is feeling and Osbourne stepped
Speaker 1: up justin. Jefferson had a very quiet day. The Lions
Speaker 1: flat out said, you know what, We're not gonna let
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson beat us. You saw the Eagles say the
Speaker 1: same thing, the Packers didn't do it, and what happened.
Speaker 1: Adam Feeling gets a touchdown, kJ Osborne gets a huge
Speaker 1: touchdown and they both step up with eight targets. Eight
Speaker 1: targets went to other guys, then other guys in Justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson when he comes to the receiving room and those
Speaker 1: eight a piece where kJ Osborne and Adam Feeling. You
Speaker 1: saw Adam Feeling early with a great play design and
Speaker 1: then again kJ Osborne with a great play design to
Speaker 1: end the game. So Kevin O'Connell is gonna have to
Speaker 1: do that a little bit more. Kirk Cousins is gonna
Speaker 1: have to stop thinking he has to go to Justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson every time, because I think more than not, what's
Speaker 1: gonna started to happen. If the season goes on, if
Speaker 1: he spreads the ball around like this, then Justin Jefferson's
Speaker 1: gonna go back to getting single covered like he did
Speaker 1: last year, where teams you cannot just sit on Jefferson
Speaker 1: double him. Brackett feeling well, if kJ Osbour is gonna
Speaker 1: get one on one against a guy like Mike Hughes,
Speaker 1: he's gonna win nine times out of ten. So that's
Speaker 1: my third takeaway feeling and Osborne found a way to
Speaker 1: step up and that to do it. For my three
Speaker 1: takeaways from today's game of the Vikings and a Lions.
Speaker 1: Back to you at the stadium, Pa, Thank you, Ron
Speaker 1: four Pete versus. I'm Paul Allen. That is the postgame
Speaker 1: report podcast. Thank you very much for listening. The Vikings
Speaker 1: beat the Detroit Lions twenty twenty four and improve to
Speaker 1: two and one and an undefeated two and oh at home. Hey, fellas,
Speaker 1: when we talked on Tuesday of this last week, we knew,
Speaker 1: we knew that we didn't play our best ball last week.
Speaker 1: But not only did we have to persevere a week
Speaker 1: of preparation where you guys prepared, but I saw the
Speaker 1: look in your eye all week long that no matter
Speaker 1: what the captained out there today, we were gonna come
Speaker 1: in here for the second time with this feeling right here.
Speaker 1: All right, it's addicting, man to come in here with
Speaker 1: you guys and see these looks on your faces. Know
Speaker 1: when you just earned that against a good football team.
Speaker 1: We're gonna play again, all right, There are all kinds
Speaker 1: of things we could do better across the board. But
Speaker 1: what I love the most. As adversity hit, we could
Speaker 1: have been checked out. We could have looked across and said, no,
Speaker 1: you know what, we're doing our thing today, but they
Speaker 1: ain't doing their job, not one come. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're two and oh with the vision and we're two
Speaker 1: and oh at home. But we just learned a whole
Speaker 1: lot more about our team and our heart than that
Speaker 1: right there. So lock this away. We got a hell
Speaker 1: of a week ahead of us. We're traveling to a
Speaker 1: different continent to take this slay. Disbelief is understanding of
Speaker 1: who we are as a football team. You go on
Speaker 1: the road with this thing, you guys, what mean you
Speaker 1: guys gonna be Kike. That's gonna get a break down.
Speaker 1: You