Speaker 1: Hey, Vikings fans, Ben Lever here. I'm so excited to
Speaker 1: be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.
Speaker 1: They love the tennis, the pick a ball, the basketball,
Speaker 1: and of course the yummy cafe. Check them out at
Speaker 1: Lifetime dot life to find a club nearest you.
Speaker 2: You're not listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast. Football finally
Speaker 2: back in the Twin Cities after almost a month since
Speaker 2: the last home game. The Vikings face the four and
Speaker 2: one Lions, their second divisional matchup of the season, and
Speaker 2: we're so lucky to be joined by Vikings veteran safety
Speaker 2: Harrison Smith, still out there proving he's the hit man
Speaker 2: each and every game. And I wanted to ask you
Speaker 2: first off the top, how much fun are you having
Speaker 2: right now?
Speaker 3: Playing in year thirteen.
Speaker 4: It's just a group of guys. We got the whole
Speaker 4: staff feeling in the building. It's a lot of fun,
Speaker 4: especially what we're doing on defense. You know, from my
Speaker 4: role individually, it's a lot of fun. So I've been
Speaker 4: around long enough to know that these kind of situations
Speaker 4: don't always come up every year, So definitely take advantage
Speaker 4: of the opportunity for sure.
Speaker 3: And I mean, you're surrounded a bunch of guys who
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: I'm sure you had the early bye week, but it
Speaker 2: was easy to walk back into the building. What was
Speaker 2: it like to be reunited after, you know, a week off.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's the early buye.
Speaker 4: But I was talking to Jonathan Bullard and he was like, man,
Speaker 4: I was kind of ready for the buye to be
Speaker 4: over with.
Speaker 5: So I think that is that goes along with the kind.
Speaker 4: Of the joy that we're having, like we want to
Speaker 4: get back to work, we want to get back to it.
Speaker 5: So that's a good sign.
Speaker 2: Recently in the Jets game, you were you joined an
Speaker 2: elite group of people, a Hall of Fame style if
Speaker 2: you want to say that, you're only the seventh dB
Speaker 2: in NFL history to have twenty plus sacks thirty plus interceptions.
Speaker 2: And on the sideline in London, I heard a lot
Speaker 2: of the guys being like twenty piece, like you got
Speaker 2: this side they did? They know, like what numbers you're at?
Speaker 4: Yeah, just because last year I got to nineteen and
Speaker 4: a half early in the year and kind of know
Speaker 4: that that's like I wrote down like twenty twenty, twenty picks,
Speaker 4: twenty sacks in like probably twenty fourteen.
Speaker 5: I probably wrote that down, So I've been waiting for
Speaker 5: it for a while.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it was it was cool and you know,
Speaker 4: all the guys being excited for me, that's that's fun.
Speaker 4: That's part of football. So it's a yeah, it's pretty
Speaker 4: cool club to be a part of.
Speaker 2: So now that it's twenty twenty four and you've hit
Speaker 2: that mark, do you make new marks? Is there like
Speaker 2: a new number you have in your mind you like
Speaker 2: want to end on.
Speaker 4: I've always got some things written down, but it's always
Speaker 4: team goals and then it kind of trickles down from there.
Speaker 4: So whatever we can do to keep winning is all
Speaker 4: that matters for sure.
Speaker 2: For what it's worth, though, as a defensive back, how
Speaker 2: hard is it, like putting it into a perspective for
Speaker 2: fans to be able to reach that thirty twenty mark.
Speaker 3: I mean, you're only the seventh to do it. Just
Speaker 3: how difficult is it?
Speaker 4: I mean, you definitely have to be a multiple type player,
Speaker 4: a guy that can be trusted playing and coverage in
Speaker 4: getting after the passer. It also has a lot to
Speaker 4: do with the schemes that you play in. You know,
Speaker 4: we know that flow Flow likes to be aggressive in
Speaker 4: certain spots so it's it's not just an individual thing.
Speaker 4: It's it's this games I've played in. It's the players
Speaker 4: I've played around, and then when the opportunities arise, take
Speaker 4: advantage of them.
Speaker 2: One of those players that you're playing around who's having
Speaker 2: a really great start to the season is Andrew van Ginkoll,
Speaker 2: with his second pick six of the season. I have
Speaker 2: a trivia question for you, and I see a s mark.
Speaker 2: I feel like you probably know where this is. My
Speaker 2: idea is, do you know who the last Vikings defender
Speaker 2: was who had two pick sixes in a season?
Speaker 5: It's probably me in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3: Ingo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, There's only been ten of you guys in
Speaker 2: Viking's history to be able to do that.
Speaker 3: If he beats you, I mean, yeah, that's okay. That's
Speaker 3: okay though.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I told him I think I'm I think I'm like
Speaker 4: the franchise leader and pick sixes as a Viking with four,
Speaker 4: and I was like, gink you're going to beat me
Speaker 4: in one season, man, Let's.
Speaker 3: Keep it going.
Speaker 2: Let's keep it going at this rate for sure. What
Speaker 2: do you think Van ginkle has added to this defense?
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's you know.
Speaker 4: Kind of like I was saying with the interceptions and
Speaker 4: sacks and stuff like, he's a he's a multiple type
Speaker 4: player that can rest the passer, you know, beat tackles, beatbacks,
Speaker 4: He's really good in games. He can play off the ball.
Speaker 4: He has a really great feel for coverage and dropping
Speaker 4: and finding where the ball is.
Speaker 5: Going to go. He's just to me, he's just he's
Speaker 5: just a football player.
Speaker 4: Like if you played him on offense, he'd figure out
Speaker 4: how to help the team. And if you got you
Speaker 4: got a few guys like that, you can do something
Speaker 4: with it.
Speaker 2: It feels like there are several players like that on
Speaker 2: the team who positional flexibility is so important in what
Speaker 2: Brian Flores is running. So how can you explain to
Speaker 2: those who maybe don't know the ins and outs of
Speaker 2: what you guys are doing how critical it is to
Speaker 2: have players like that who can be flexible in their positions.
Speaker 4: I mean, you can't do it without not just one
Speaker 4: guy like that, but a handful or more. And you
Speaker 4: got to have depth because just the reality of the
Speaker 4: NFL season, guys are going to miss some games here
Speaker 4: and there, and that's that's like the physical requirements, but
Speaker 4: then there's mental requirements too, as far as being able
Speaker 4: to like be flexible and recognize things and play at.
Speaker 5: A high IQ level.
Speaker 4: You know, when you watch it unfold, it doesn't always
Speaker 4: look that complicated, but to get to that point is
Speaker 4: normally a few steps, and to be able to do
Speaker 4: it collectively is another thing. So we're always practicing and
Speaker 4: trying to get it right, and luckily we have a
Speaker 4: coaching staff that trusts us and players that can get
Speaker 4: it done.
Speaker 2: So before week six, this defense ranked first and hurries
Speaker 2: knockdowns and pressures second in sacks. However, you guys are
Speaker 2: blitzing at a little rate than you were last season
Speaker 2: under Flores.
Speaker 3: How are you able to blitz a little bit less
Speaker 3: but still get.
Speaker 2: Enough pressure on the quarterback to affect them more this year?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think that's it's, you know, credit to the guys
Speaker 4: up front, different ways that we're doing. It's not always
Speaker 4: just sending more than they can block. And then obviously
Speaker 4: being in the right calls that stresses what offenses are doing.
Speaker 4: You know, that starts with Flow and Deronte and Swerve
Speaker 4: and the coaching staff and we just try to try
Speaker 4: to execute there their plan. You know, we're just the
Speaker 4: pieces on the board and every now and then we can,
Speaker 4: you know, kind of go outside of our of our
Speaker 4: movement pattern. But if we execute the plan collectively, it's
Speaker 4: normally going to give us a good shot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have the analogy written in my notes that
Speaker 2: it just feels like Brian Flores is playing chess out
Speaker 2: there and everybody else is playing checkers.
Speaker 3: I mean, you've made a bunch of.
Speaker 2: Quarterbacks look like rookies out there, or at least as
Speaker 2: much as you can. For a second and third, your
Speaker 2: players look looking to be back to their rookie seasons.
Speaker 2: As you're watching the defense affect the way that their
Speaker 2: game is going. How does that feed you guys as
Speaker 2: a unit? You know, because you're seeing them go through
Speaker 2: their mind, They're like, I can't.
Speaker 3: Figure this out.
Speaker 2: Then you see a guy like Aaron Rodgers and he
Speaker 2: has the same problems.
Speaker 4: We definitely take into account who the quarterback is an
Speaker 4: experience level, and what they're going to recognize and what
Speaker 4: we can maybe make harder on them. It's really just
Speaker 4: about trying to make it harder on them. They're going
Speaker 4: to make their plays here and there, but if we
Speaker 4: can if we can add anything to their thought process
Speaker 4: pre snap, post snap, and just make it a little
Speaker 4: a little harder to tell exactly what's going on. That's, uh,
Speaker 4: that's what we're looking to do.
Speaker 3: How do you do that to Jared Goff on Sunday?
Speaker 4: Same plan as far as you know the ideas of
Speaker 4: what we're trying to get done. He's obviously a veteran
Speaker 4: guy with a lot of success, a very good, very
Speaker 4: good player, can make a lot of big throws, and
Speaker 4: has a lot of a lot of good players, a
Speaker 4: lot of offensive skilled players, good o line, good running backs,
Speaker 4: so they they do a really good job over there,
Speaker 4: and and and Goff is a huge piece of that.
Speaker 5: So just trying to make it hard on him like
Speaker 5: we do on everybody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Brian was really funny this week saying that
Speaker 2: he likes to fight fire with fire when asked about
Speaker 2: the Lion's aggressive play, calling, in your eyes, what's fire
Speaker 2: going to look like?
Speaker 5: I mean, it's not it's not far off from what
Speaker 5: you've seen before.
Speaker 3: But they it doesn't seem like they can figure it
Speaker 3: out though.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, normally in the NFL, there's enough
Speaker 4: good coaches and players out there that people are going
Speaker 4: to figure some stuff out. And you got to adjust
Speaker 4: and Ben Johnson their offensive coordinator. He's fantastic and he's
Speaker 4: you know, kind of like you mentioned fire with fire
Speaker 4: like it's similar they do. They do some things that
Speaker 4: are aggressive and can be tricky for defenses, so it
Speaker 4: should be a good matchup.
Speaker 2: Recently, you were in tell Us with Mattelus with Josh
Speaker 2: and we notice that you're not really a phone guy.
Speaker 2: You got the blank background screen. It's just for communication.
Speaker 2: So just to let you know. On social media right now,
Speaker 2: everyone's talking about, you know, the Vikings and they're one
Speaker 2: of two undefeated teams left in the league. There's other
Speaker 2: guys on the team that are looking at their phone,
Speaker 2: especially the younger guys. How do you make sure that
Speaker 2: they don't buy into all these narratives that they're seeing.
Speaker 3: As a leader and a veteran on this team, it's
Speaker 3: human nature.
Speaker 4: You'll hear good things about you and react a certain way,
Speaker 4: or negative things about you and get caught up in that,
Speaker 4: and everyone operates a little differently. Like some guys can
Speaker 4: handle seeing it, some guys should probably just stay away
Speaker 4: from it. So just kind of figuring out how you
Speaker 4: operate and keeping your eye on like the things that
Speaker 4: really matter, and those things are typically the things in
Speaker 4: the building, you know, your family at home. But there's
Speaker 4: no reason to be affected by it at this point.
Speaker 4: You know, we kind of knew who we were before
Speaker 4: the season started. Most people didn't. Some people are coming
Speaker 4: around to it, and it doesn't really change anything for us.
Speaker 2: Speaking of family at home, you've got two little ones
Speaker 2: on a the age of three.
Speaker 3: If I'm not mistaken, you were.
Speaker 2: What I've noticed though, that one of you and your
Speaker 2: wife's favorite months is October. It feels like you've got
Speaker 2: some pretty epic Halloween costumes over the years. Has it
Speaker 2: been fun to include the kids? Like, are you guys
Speaker 2: family brainstorming on what to do each year?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Now it's it's become you know, my wife kind of
Speaker 4: kind of runs the show with the costumes, but now
Speaker 4: like the focal point is the kids, and then we
Speaker 4: we kind of fill in where we need to. So
Speaker 4: we've got a few different ideas.
Speaker 3: I like that.
Speaker 2: So, I mean the holidays, I think having children probably
Speaker 2: changes that a little bit. What's been the best part about,
Speaker 2: you know, seeing them experience Halloween or Christmas time?
Speaker 4: Well, this is kind of the first year that our
Speaker 4: daughter will like really get into it.
Speaker 5: She's just getting old enough.
Speaker 4: She was just kind of a prop last year, and
Speaker 4: our son will be still kind of a prop. But
Speaker 4: it's fun to it's it's definitely fun to see our
Speaker 4: daughter get into it. She likes she likes us stuff too.
Speaker 4: She's like her mom, so we'll definitely have fun.
Speaker 2: She cracked me up the other day when I was
Speaker 2: on the field she before one of the games.
Speaker 3: She was just flat out laying on the turf and the.
Speaker 2: Grass, like totally comfortable being there and being herself.
Speaker 3: Which is so awesome to see.
Speaker 2: What's it like as a father to be able to
Speaker 2: give these unique experiences to your children, who are, you know,
Speaker 2: growing up around such a different world.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4: Something I didn't think about for the majority of my career,
Speaker 4: but seeing my teammates who had kids kind of old
Speaker 4: enough to enjoy the experience of the NFL and the
Speaker 4: team and everything. So now that now that I get
Speaker 4: to do it with my kids, it's I realize how
Speaker 4: special that is. And hopefully they'll remember some of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you might be playing a little bit
Speaker 2: longer they'll be able to remember. I'm sure they will
Speaker 2: be in attendance on Sunday, the noon kick against the Lions.
Speaker 2: The crowd there is always something that is really special.
Speaker 2: It's been almost a month since we've had a home game,
Speaker 2: and last time we were there it was the Texans
Speaker 2: game and it really affected what the Texans were able
Speaker 2: to do on offense. How much does that crowd noise
Speaker 2: actually play into what you guys are able to do defensively?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a big deal.
Speaker 4: It's a legitimate home field advantage, which I don't think
Speaker 4: is the case everywhere in the NFL, but it's a.
Speaker 5: Big advantage for us.
Speaker 4: It also you normally don't think about it from a
Speaker 4: defensive standpoint, but it kind of makes it harder for
Speaker 4: us too. But we're okay with that, like we've done
Speaker 4: it enough. We'll figure it out. And then the road
Speaker 4: games on the flip side are like completely silent when
Speaker 4: we're out there, so it does.
Speaker 5: It's normally not how fans.
Speaker 4: Think of it from a home field away a standpoint,
Speaker 4: but we preferred as loud as possible.
Speaker 3: I love it. Well, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 3: We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Best of luck this season, and uh let's go six
Speaker 2: and oh right, that's the point.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Another big thank you to Harrison Smith for joining the
Speaker 2: first half of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. We still have
Speaker 2: another half to go and we will be joined by
Speaker 2: Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho with his take on why the
Speaker 2: Vikings are one of the best teams in the league.
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Speaker 2: Unveil is back with their limited edition Vikings drop head
Speaker 2: to unurl dot com for more details. Welcome back into
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. My name is Tatum Everett and
Speaker 2: there's a big old game looming. On Sunday, the undefeated
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings take on the four and one Lions at
Speaker 2: US Bank Stadium. To help us preview this matchup, I
Speaker 2: had a chance to catch up with Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho,
Speaker 2: and while he had some great insight on what's to
Speaker 2: come in that game, I also asked him why he
Speaker 2: believed in this Minnesota Vikings team early on. We're very
Speaker 2: excited to be joined by Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho right now,
Speaker 2: the former college linebacker, former NFL linebacker now on the
Speaker 2: facility on FS one mornings at nine am our Central
Speaker 2: time zone. Manuel, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2: It looks like you guys are having so much fun.
Speaker 2: Lashawn McCoy, James Jones, Chase Daniel. It's a great combo
Speaker 2: you've got going on, man.
Speaker 6: We appreciate it. It's a television experience.
Speaker 7: I try to tell people, not just the TV show,
Speaker 7: but it's the only show on daily television that's all athletes,
Speaker 7: and so we really want fans, We want viewers to
Speaker 7: experience TV differently. We don't just want to debate, we
Speaker 7: want to discuss. We think that debating has been played out.
Speaker 7: I think the fans are educated enough to understand the game.
Speaker 7: And so when you got all athletes thirty nine years
Speaker 7: of NFL experience, four Super Bowls sitting at one desk,
Speaker 7: there's nothing like it.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, I love that discussion versus debate that we could
Speaker 2: have a whole other side conversation about that.
Speaker 3: But we're here to talk about the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 2: And in your Monday morning pressers, you've alerted fans NFL
Speaker 2: fans for weeks now that you got to believe in
Speaker 2: this Vikings team. Why did you feel so passionately about
Speaker 2: that from the jump?
Speaker 7: Really, I believe the Vikings have a top three coaching
Speaker 7: staff in football. I spent a few days with Kevin
Speaker 7: O'Connell last year at Mark Sanchez, a close friend of
Speaker 7: mine's wedding. We were in Mexico. I got some time
Speaker 7: to just pick his brain. But even more than picking
Speaker 7: Koc's brain, I got some time to get to know
Speaker 7: him the man, him, the human.
Speaker 6: Incredible leader of men.
Speaker 7: He can get along with and galvanize any group. So
Speaker 7: realizing that he is the leader at the Helm. But
Speaker 7: then obviously Brian floor As being a defensive wizard outside
Speaker 7: of Andy Reid and Steve Spagnola, I don't think there
Speaker 7: is a greater offensive defensive mind currently combination in the
Speaker 7: game of football. So when you look at those minds
Speaker 7: and then you look at what they're putting on tape,
Speaker 7: it's breathtaking. You got two savants out there, two wizards
Speaker 7: out there calling the game. But because of the trust
Speaker 7: the players have in the coaching scheme, it's just brilliant.
Speaker 7: And so for that reason, I'm really all in on
Speaker 7: the Vikings this year. As long as Sam Donald continues
Speaker 7: to play at.
Speaker 6: A high level.
Speaker 2: Well, you mentioned Sam Donald and your conversations with Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 2: What do you think he's been able to elevate in
Speaker 2: Sam's game? Or really, I mean, I'm sure he's had
Speaker 2: it all along, but what has he made it work?
Speaker 2: For Sam to be so confident this early on in
Speaker 2: this system.
Speaker 7: The first and foremost he's believed in an individual. Oftentimes
Speaker 7: you just need somebody to believe in you. Sam Donald
Speaker 7: has always been talented, and I was a college analyst
Speaker 7: before an NFL analyst at USC.
Speaker 6: Sam Donald was incredibly talented.
Speaker 7: But when you don't have offensive coaches around you, and
Speaker 7: you don't have that belief in you will never be
Speaker 7: able to see your talent. So the first thing is
Speaker 7: he believed in Sam Donald, which is an unherlded coaching trait.
Speaker 7: We only talk about exes and o's, forget x's and o's.
Speaker 7: Do I believe in you as a player, because if
Speaker 7: I believe in you, you'll begin to believe in you.
Speaker 7: That's the first thing. The second thing we have to
Speaker 7: remember success begets success and failure begets failure. The more
Speaker 7: you succeed as a player, the more you'll continue to
Speaker 7: succeed as a player. So I think Sam Donald has
Speaker 7: tasted success, He's tasted winning, and now you kind of start.
Speaker 6: Liking that tastes of success.
Speaker 7: And beyond that, I think schematically, Kevin O'Connell does a
Speaker 7: really good job with pre snap motions, does a really
Speaker 7: good job with pre snap shifts.
Speaker 6: He does a really good job telling.
Speaker 7: Sam Donald where to throw the football formationally, so he
Speaker 7: doesn't have to tell him in the headset.
Speaker 2: Well, it's also very helpful for Sam Donald to have such.
Speaker 3: An amazing defense on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 2: And you've mentioned Brian Flores and his wizardry so far,
Speaker 2: I think it was this week that you recently said
Speaker 2: the Vikings defense could be a generational defense at taking.
Speaker 3: The ball away.
Speaker 2: Why do you think this group is executing that at
Speaker 2: such a high level.
Speaker 7: Well, I think it's what you got to go back
Speaker 7: to nineteen eighty eight to find a Vikings defense allowing
Speaker 7: this few points per game plus eleven I think eleven
Speaker 7: interceptions something along those lines. Eleven interceptions, maybe twenty takeaways. Truly,
Speaker 7: it is the trust and the scheme married together. What
Speaker 7: I mean by that is you have defensive backs that
Speaker 7: are playing zero coverage. I will talk as though people
Speaker 7: have no idea what I'm talking about. Obviously they do,
Speaker 7: but you have defensive backs playing zero coverage, meaning they
Speaker 7: have no help. They have to trust that the rush
Speaker 7: is going to get there. If you're playing zero coverage
Speaker 7: with no help, one of the rushers will be unblocked.
Speaker 7: But the defensive backs have to trust that the rusher
Speaker 7: is going to be unblocked and that the rusher is
Speaker 7: going to get home, and the rusher has to get home.
Speaker 7: When you marry the trust and the execution together, the
Speaker 7: play will win. If the defensive back does not trust
Speaker 7: that the rusher will get home and as a result,
Speaker 7: the defensive back he plays a little more aggressive, he'll
Speaker 7: get beat. If the rusher doesn't get home, then you'll
Speaker 7: never land. But I do I challenge the viewers go back.
Speaker 7: Rewatch the Van Ginkle interception for a touchdown versus the Jets,
Speaker 7: and rewatch the Harrison Smith sack. It's on third and six.
Speaker 7: Both of those plays. What you'll see is trust. You'll
Speaker 7: see the defensive backs trusting the rush and you'll see
Speaker 7: the rust trusting the defensive back. And it's the trust
Speaker 7: that makes it all work. Everybody runs zero coverage. Everybody
Speaker 7: runs it like the Vikings running.
Speaker 2: You know, they put five games on tape by now
Speaker 2: how sustainable is this way of play as you go
Speaker 2: into now what is going to be a twelve plus
Speaker 2: game stretch.
Speaker 7: There are weaknesses to Brian floor as a scheme. I
Speaker 7: know some of the weaknesses to the scheme, but I
Speaker 7: think it would take Andy Reid to expose it. Like
Speaker 7: not everybody like I'm waiting for one coach to simply
Speaker 7: do what I'm like, Dude, this is all you have
Speaker 7: to do.
Speaker 3: Well, don't tell us.
Speaker 7: I'm like, I'm like, I'm not saying what I'm and
Speaker 7: it'll get But I think it would take Andy Reid. Okay,
Speaker 7: I don't know that many coaches who can expose it.
Speaker 6: Maybe Sean McVay, maybe Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 7: But you need a coach, and you need the players,
Speaker 7: and then you need the execution again, just to nerd
Speaker 7: out real quick. Those that are listening and watching, go
Speaker 7: back and look at the Mike Williams drop. I think
Speaker 7: it was the twelve minute fit fifty four second mark
Speaker 7: of the Jets versus the Bills game most recently. The
Speaker 7: Bills ran the exact same defense as the Vikings, and
Speaker 7: the reason they did so was because the Vikings had
Speaker 7: so much success with it against the Jets.
Speaker 6: It's a copycat league.
Speaker 7: So just because you know what the Vikings are doing,
Speaker 7: and just because you practice against what the Vikings are doing,
Speaker 7: can you execute it?
Speaker 6: I think it would take Andy Reid to do it.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, now that we know that you're officially
Speaker 2: an encyclopedia of football, I do not know how you
Speaker 2: keep it all in.
Speaker 3: Your brain enough.
Speaker 7: So.
Speaker 2: The Lions will be playing in Viking at the US
Speaker 2: Bank Stadium against the Vikings this weekend, and obviously they
Speaker 2: have an offense that even Brian Flores said, it's hard
Speaker 2: to find a weakness on.
Speaker 3: So what do the Vikings need to.
Speaker 2: Do to I guess disrupt what the Lions do.
Speaker 7: Keep them behind the sticks. The Vikings' best attribute is
Speaker 7: when they get a team in third and six or longer.
Speaker 7: If you get a team in third and six or longer,
Speaker 7: you can zero pressure. And that's really what makes the
Speaker 7: Vikings defense great. The Vikings defense is cool, but it's
Speaker 7: the zero pressure scheme that makes them next level. But
Speaker 7: you can zero pressure on third and two or third
Speaker 7: and three, or third and four or third and one.
Speaker 6: You got to play straight. Simply put, you just kind
Speaker 6: of kind.
Speaker 7: Of call basic man the man, you know, even cover ones,
Speaker 7: even jet cover ones, even one robbers.
Speaker 6: I'm just giving all different play calls.
Speaker 7: But if you get them in third and six or
Speaker 7: third and seven, or third and eight or third and nine,
Speaker 7: that's when you get to have fun. That's when you
Speaker 7: get to bring out your prowler package, or you get
Speaker 7: to bring out your fun package. You can do the
Speaker 7: stuff that the Vikings did where you got nine players
Speaker 7: standing up and only two players' hands in the ground.
Speaker 7: The problem is the Lion's gonna run that football. They
Speaker 7: gonna run, they're gonna get in third and two, third
Speaker 7: and three. So whoever wins this game will be whoever
Speaker 7: won on first down. Don't look at the final score,
Speaker 7: just look at who won on first down. Whoever wins
Speaker 7: on first down will win the game if it goes
Speaker 7: to second and eight advantage Vikings. If it goes to
Speaker 7: second and six, second and five advantage.
Speaker 2: Lines, well, thank you so much, Manuel for sharing your
Speaker 2: time today.
Speaker 3: We really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: If you're not following him on x or Twitter or
Speaker 2: whatever it's called these, you definitely should. He is a
Speaker 2: wonderful follow You can also catch him on the facility
Speaker 2: on FS one every morning or weekday morning at nine
Speaker 2: am Central time. And if college football is your jam,
Speaker 2: you're still doing that too.
Speaker 3: Again, I don't know how you do it all, Tatum,
Speaker 3: thanks so much, no, thank you, appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Thank you again so much to Emmanuel Acho and our
Speaker 2: first interview this Minnesota Vikings podcast, Harrison Smith. If you
Speaker 2: miss that one, be sure to go to our podcast
Speaker 2: channel or check out Vikings dot com for our conversation
Speaker 2: with the hit Man.
Speaker 3: There is a game on Sunday. It's gonna be a
Speaker 3: big one at US Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set.
Speaker 2: For noon against the Lions. You can catch that on Fox.
Speaker 2: You can also hear it right here on kfan. Thank
Speaker 2: you again so much for listening to MVP. I'm Tatum
Speaker 2: Everett and let's watch these vikings go six and