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Speaker 1: Rudolph in motion. It's a toss, right, Dalvin turns it

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Speaker 1: up to the five, walks into the end zone. Yes,

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Speaker 1: he does touchdowns. Fucking out of the shotgun. He goes

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Speaker 1: back to pass Denil Hunter looking for a triple and

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Speaker 1: he got it three Sexy Denel Hunter and that one

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Speaker 1: goes all the way back to the twenty seven yard line.

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Speaker 1: It's a loss of twelve and Matt Prader will walk

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Speaker 1: in to Kim. Hey everyone, welcome to the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

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Speaker 1: This is your host Chris Corso along with producer Jane Nelson.

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Speaker 1: We are excited this week as the Vikings got back

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Speaker 1: on track nine and four with a twenty to seven

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Speaker 1: victory over the Detroit Lions. Jay, we're in a pretty

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Speaker 1: good mood this week. Yeah, you're looking at a final

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Speaker 1: three games season. What you saw on Sunday probably makes

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Speaker 1: you feel pretty good about what we could potentially do well. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the Vikings now become the only team in the NFL

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Speaker 1: six and oh at home. Obviously two more to go.

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Speaker 1: They're both division games against the Green Bay Packers and

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Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. But this was a game against the Lions.

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Speaker 1: They really didn't let the running game, get going at

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Speaker 1: all seventy total rushing yards and then you see Daniel

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Speaker 1: Hunter just making his impact felt very quickly as he

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Speaker 1: became the youngest rusher of all time to reach the

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Speaker 1: fifty sack mark at his age. How unbelievable is that,

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Speaker 1: Jay I think it's twenty five and forty days is

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Speaker 1: when he hit the record. It was a really good

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Speaker 1: game for him, and overall, the defense with their five

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Speaker 1: sacks really made an impact. All the complaints about the

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Speaker 1: Vikings defense in the Seattle game giving up those thirty

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Speaker 1: seven points, in this game, it was a little bit different.

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Speaker 1: They held the Detroit offense to ninety six yards in

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Speaker 1: the first half, a little cheap old touched down to

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Speaker 1: Kenny Galladay at the end of the game, so the

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Speaker 1: Vikings pass rush was felt all over. It also helps

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Speaker 1: on the front end when they get home like that,

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Speaker 1: because it helps force mistakes by quarterbacks, especially like blow

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Speaker 1: Smith and Sadhoe got the interceptions in this game. And

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Speaker 1: it's great to see the defense really solidify it and

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Speaker 1: just shut a team that they're supposed to down. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's the biggest takeaway for me is the last home

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Speaker 1: game we played was against a team like the Denver

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Speaker 1: Broncos who had a similar type of young quarterback. Not

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Speaker 1: a lot of film on Brandon Allen, and he came

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Speaker 1: through and did something which we all were not expecting

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Speaker 1: and put a ton of points on the board to

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Speaker 1: start the game. That's not what happened in this game.

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Speaker 1: The Vikings established their defense. It was one of those

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Speaker 1: real defensive performances at home that we're expecting of this

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Speaker 1: team every time they take the field at US Bank Stadium.

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Speaker 1: That the Lions really didn't have any chance. So let's

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Speaker 1: we went over the defense. I want to go over

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Speaker 1: to the offense. Now, obviously only twenty points scored, but

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Speaker 1: my biggest takeaway for the Vikings offense that put up

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Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty four total yards is that while

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Speaker 1: we did win the game and we knew the game

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Speaker 1: was over pretty much in that third quarter, we didn't

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Speaker 1: give away a lot of our plays. Going into the

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Speaker 1: last three games of the season, we didn't show too

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Speaker 1: much and we were able to really give Dalvin Cook

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Speaker 1: a break for the second half of this game. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and that's the thing with Delvin, you know, the last

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks, he's been nicked up and I'm sure

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Speaker 1: when they looked at this one, they said, we scored

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Speaker 1: the first touchdown and everyone kind of felt like we

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Speaker 1: were somewhat in cruise control. I know Zimmer had brought

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Speaker 1: up in one of the press conferences that they'd like

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Speaker 1: to see a little bit more killer mindset. But at

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Speaker 1: the same point, you know, these guys are looking at

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Speaker 1: this one going, let's get out of here without an injury,

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Speaker 1: and let's get out of here complete control and know

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Speaker 1: that if we can do this again coming up in

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Speaker 1: the next three games, we're gonna be sitting pretty Another

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Speaker 1: big takeaway for the Vikings offense his Cousins man. He

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Speaker 1: found eleven different wide receivers, one being Garrett Bradbury, who

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Speaker 1: kind of took advantage of a mistake that the lone

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Speaker 1: mistake that Cousins made in this game, with a little

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Speaker 1: pressure coming towards him, and he threw the ball right

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Speaker 1: in the heart of one of the Lions defenders and

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Speaker 1: Garrett Bradbury of catching that ball. But the bigger takeaway

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Speaker 1: is the way that Kirk Cousins, without Adam Thialan, is

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Speaker 1: able to spread the ball around to all of these

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Speaker 1: targets is like BC Johnson Irv Smith. Lakwan Treadwill, even

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Speaker 1: in the past few games, has really been a safety

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Speaker 1: point for him to throw to in the offense. Kyle Rudolph,

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Speaker 1: of course, But the big play was a play action

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Speaker 1: pass rolls out to the right and finds BC Johnson

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Speaker 1: in the corner of the end zone. My biggest takeaway

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Speaker 1: from that play is that Kirk put the ball on

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Speaker 1: a spot where only BC could catch the ball. In

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Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks, you've seen him throwing higher

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Speaker 1: on his targets. He's been doing that for Rudolph when

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Speaker 1: he's been making his one handed snags. Even in this game,

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Speaker 1: you saw Stefan Diggs have to kind of sky up

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Speaker 1: to grab one, even on the sideline. The thing that

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Speaker 1: you always love watching about Rogers and other quarterbacks like

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Speaker 1: that that are the elite of the elite is they're

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Speaker 1: putting the ball in a window and you're going, how

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Speaker 1: is this person on defense supposed to try and protect this?

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Speaker 1: Fact that you know they're making these catches is huge

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Speaker 1: for us and it just means that the def has

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Speaker 1: no shot. It's crazy because I think Kirk when he

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Speaker 1: was in here for under center this week we had

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Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook as the guests. You should go check that

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Speaker 1: out as soon as possible, because Dalvin was awesome on

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Speaker 1: that segment. But Kirk talked about the trust that he

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Speaker 1: has in some of these wide receivers, and it's impressive

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Speaker 1: to me because these are not the Adam Thielands and

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Speaker 1: the Stefan Diggs. We know the trust is there with

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Speaker 1: those guys. He trusts these guys to go up and

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Speaker 1: make a play on the ball and you have to.

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Speaker 1: I mean, if you're in that game, that's what they need.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna be where you're supposed to when you're supposed to,

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Speaker 1: and you're gonna make that grab when you get a chance.

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Speaker 1: Wrapping up on Kirk Cousins twenty four for thirty, I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's not much more that you can ask from the

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Speaker 1: Vikings quarterback, but it's going to be a big test

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Speaker 1: against three good teams coming up on the schedule. YEP.

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Speaker 1: One last player I wanted to touch on two was

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Speaker 1: Stefan Diggs because Diggs was doing Diggs type things once

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Speaker 1: again this week. Last couple of weeks, he'd been getting

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Speaker 1: some criticism for dropping some passes that he normally catches,

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Speaker 1: but this week there wasn't any issues with that at all.

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Speaker 1: He had the Todre grab on the sidelines and which

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Speaker 1: he and Darius Slay were going back and social media

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Speaker 1: given each other some mad respect. And then he hit

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Speaker 1: the forty four yard halland right before the half that

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Speaker 1: set up Dalvin Cook's touchdown that basically put the game

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Speaker 1: out of reach. So kudos just to find Diggs and

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Speaker 1: everybody for continuing to hum along. And if we get

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Speaker 1: this kind of stifine Diggs for the rest of the season,

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Speaker 1: we're go be sitting pretty. Diggs is as good as

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Speaker 1: they come in the NFL at tracking the ball over

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Speaker 1: his shoulder, and I think the combination of the deep

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Speaker 1: ball from Cousins and the play that Digs made on

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Speaker 1: the ball, that play was as good of a throw

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Speaker 1: as Kirk has made all year. All right, Chris, it's

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Speaker 1: all well and good with Detroit. But what does this

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Speaker 1: early mean for the last three games the season with

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. Yeah, so the Vikings are nine and four

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Speaker 1: and that leaves them at the sixth seed in the NFC.

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Speaker 1: The NFC is very, very top heavy this year. It

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Speaker 1: really is unbelievable because you have the two teams in

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Speaker 1: the NFC West, the San Francisco forty nine Ers and

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Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks that are battling it out a few

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Speaker 1: games ahead of the Vikings, so that those two teams

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Speaker 1: are going to be really tough to catch with only

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Speaker 1: three games to play, and the Vikings sit one game

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Speaker 1: behind those Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. So

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Speaker 1: for the Vikings, they're going to have to get a

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Speaker 1: two game switch because the Green Bay Packers have the

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Speaker 1: advantage with the tiebreaker over the Vikings. Yeah, due to

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Speaker 1: that win that they had in Green Bay earlier this season.

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Speaker 1: This upcoming weekend Packers versus Bears is going to be

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Speaker 1: very very critical for us. We're heavily rooting for the

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Speaker 1: Bears to pull one out this weekend. What it really

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Speaker 1: means for us is if you win all three games

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Speaker 1: and you get the Packers to drop at least one

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Speaker 1: of these last three, then that means that you leap

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Speaker 1: frog them and you're potentially potentially sitting in a three

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Speaker 1: seed hosting a playoff game. It's crazy because the Vikings

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Speaker 1: can either play the Green Bay Packers in the first

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Speaker 1: round as the six seed, with the Packers being the

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Speaker 1: three seed in the NFC North, or it can flip flop.

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Speaker 1: If the Vikings find a way to win out the

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Speaker 1: three games and the Packers lose two of three, it

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Speaker 1: would flip flop. The Vikings would then be the three

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Speaker 1: seed and the Packers would most likely be the sixth seed.

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Speaker 1: And if you, as a fan, would love to work

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Speaker 1: through every single scenario possible, highly recommend wasting a ton

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Speaker 1: of time during your day using the ESPN Playoff Machine

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Speaker 1: with the scenarios because you can literally go through the

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Speaker 1: entire league and the rest of the schedule for the

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Speaker 1: next three weeks and figure out exactly what you think

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Speaker 1: is going to happen. All right, Jay, Well, as we said,

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Speaker 1: the Vikings sit at nine and four with three games

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Speaker 1: to go. The next game on the docket is against

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Speaker 1: the LA Chargers. We'll get into that a little bit later.

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Speaker 1: That's in Los Angeles. But the final two games are

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Speaker 1: ones that a lot of these fans have had circled

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Speaker 1: on their calendar for a very long time. December twenty third,

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Speaker 1: the Vikings will take on the Green Bay Packers on

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Speaker 1: Monday Night Football. I'm going to knock on wood as

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Speaker 1: I always do, because Aaron Rodgers has not won a

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Speaker 1: game in US Bank Stadium and hopefully we keep that

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Speaker 1: street going as I knock on wood, and the final

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Speaker 1: game of the season is going to be a tough one.

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Speaker 1: And we don't want to think about the final game

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Speaker 1: last season because it's the same opponent and that's the

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Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. Last year, the Chicago Bears were the ones

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Speaker 1: who played spoiler and left the Vikings out of the

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Speaker 1: playoffs with that tough loss. I like to believe that

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Speaker 1: this team has taken that loss's motivation heading into this season.

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Speaker 1: But that game is going to have ramifications for the

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Speaker 1: Vikings and possibly the Bears who are battling for a

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Speaker 1: playoff spot here. And that's the thing for us. As

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Speaker 1: long as you handle your business, it'll get to week

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Speaker 1: seventeen and hopefully by then it's completely irrelevant for them.

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Speaker 1: That is the plan, Jay. So I think it's a

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Speaker 1: perfect time to go to our guests of the Week,

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Speaker 1: and that was ESPN dot COM's Courtney Cronin. We actually

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Speaker 1: had her on the Minnesota Viking podcast as a guest

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Speaker 1: during training camp and we made her do a little

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Speaker 1: what like Mad Lives Jay. It's basically fill in the

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Speaker 1: blank section and it was kind of pick her brain

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Speaker 1: as to going into the season what she thought was

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Speaker 1: going to be the critical components for this team to

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Speaker 1: be successful. We figured we'd crack open the list again

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Speaker 1: and hand it to her and see what she felt.

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Speaker 1: At the back end of twenty nineteen, all right, we

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Speaker 1: have a familiar guest, Courtney Cronin from ESPN, who joined us. Well,

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Speaker 1: was that training camp when you were here the second

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Speaker 1: or third week of August you laid down a for

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Speaker 1: the Viking season that I do. Now we're going to

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Speaker 1: actually revisit some of the fill in the blanks that

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Speaker 1: we had. Our producer here, Jay Nelson, has come up

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Speaker 1: with some of the information that we had to say

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Speaker 1: that day. I went through and dug through a kind

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Speaker 1: of the discussion points that happened at that point. But

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Speaker 1: I guess first, Courtney, I would ask you, do you

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Speaker 1: want to give us your assessment of what you've seen

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Speaker 1: so far this season, and then we'll kind of dive

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Speaker 1: back into then and now and see how you feel

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Speaker 1: at the same point that I love mad libs. Sure

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Speaker 1: this is a treat, So I guess I'll start with first.

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Speaker 1: One says special teams is blank compared to last year,

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Speaker 1: and I was trying to rack my brain of what

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Speaker 1: I could have possibly said about Special Teams in training

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Speaker 1: camp at the point of August fourteenth, which was right

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Speaker 1: around the time that they bring a new kicker in

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Speaker 1: have a long snapping competition, kind of in the thick

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Speaker 1: of that. So I will say Special Teams is overhauled

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Speaker 1: compared to last year, because I was I really can't

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Speaker 1: find the right adjective to describe the way that they've

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Speaker 1: played this year, other than the personnel is the first

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Speaker 1: thing that you look at and say, they are not

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Speaker 1: a lot of familiar faces back there, and it's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily a bad thing. At that time, you had the

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Speaker 1: discussion going on about what's going to happen with Vedvic,

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Speaker 1: what's going to happen with Austin Cutting. We had just

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Speaker 1: traded for Corey Vedvik, so you had all that stuff

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Speaker 1: training yeah, and that was it. So you had all

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Speaker 1: of these unknowns and the answer from before was Special

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Speaker 1: Teams is in the same spot compared to last year,

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Speaker 1: because I think you're you're feeling at the time was

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Speaker 1: that we were still kind of unsure of what was

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Speaker 1: going to happen and to see how it was going

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Speaker 1: to solidify, and in the end it completely flipped on

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Speaker 1: its head given what we had discussed from before. So

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Speaker 1: I guess you know, at this point for you kind

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Speaker 1: of what is your assessment at least at how special

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Speaker 1: teams has worked out this season and what you kind

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Speaker 1: of see moving forward. I think Dan Bailey's where I

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Speaker 1: start there. He's been terrific this season, really really good.

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Speaker 1: And you think about what was going on at the

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Speaker 1: time that we taped in August. There's a kicking competition

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Speaker 1: he's getting, he has a different holder all the time,

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Speaker 1: There's a long snap in competition, and the way that

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Speaker 1: he went through all of that, did it miss a

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Speaker 1: beat once they started bringing guys in, because you think

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Speaker 1: about that first part of camp. There was the one

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Speaker 1: training camp before that New Orleans game where he missed

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Speaker 1: three field goals in a period. I remember he kind

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Speaker 1: of did the walk of shame over to the side

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Speaker 1: field and was kicking on his own. You realize, Okay,

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Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer is going to be bringing in somebody here

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Speaker 1: because he's not liking the way that this was going.

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Speaker 1: And you realize at that point it's not the kicking game.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's the battery that they were trying

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Speaker 1: to fix, and it seems like they really have gotten

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Speaker 1: a good grasp on that. Our special teams as explosive

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Speaker 1: as maybe Zimmer wants. I don't know. I don't think.

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Speaker 1: I just don't think you're seeing return touchdowns much anymore.

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Speaker 1: They've had some coverage issues from time to time this season,

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Speaker 1: but by and large, I think this is probably the

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Speaker 1: middle of the pack unit. I think if you look

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Speaker 1: at most FPI rankings things like that, probably anywhere from

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Speaker 1: like you know, the twelve to fifteen range amongst the league.

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Speaker 1: And we're coming off a game where Dan Bailey was

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Speaker 1: three for three and made a fifty plus yard field goal,

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Speaker 1: which was great to see. Coach Zimmer continues to just

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Speaker 1: back Bailey. Yeah, in those press conferences when you guys

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Speaker 1: are peppering them with questions, he's pretty confident. The next

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Speaker 1: one was defensive depth. Our defensive depth is showing up

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Speaker 1: in the right moments like that. It's they're like I

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Speaker 1: think back to this past weekend when they played Detroit

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Speaker 1: and how they were able to rotate cornerbacks in because

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Speaker 1: that's something Mike Zimmer wanted to do specifically for that game.

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Speaker 1: I think It kind of points to the struggles at

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Speaker 1: Xavier Rhodes has had and realizing that you need to

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Speaker 1: get up some other bodies and you need to play

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Speaker 1: the matchups better. You're not having anybody's shadow a number

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Speaker 1: one receiver, you're not playing sides. But you're fixing it

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Speaker 1: by using more personnel, using more more bodies to maybe

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Speaker 1: give Xavier and Trey arrest on this series, bring in

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Speaker 1: Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, things like that. So I'm curious

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Speaker 1: because with the defensive line too, Like I was about

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Speaker 1: to say, what about the defensive line? They were really

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Speaker 1: good this past week, I think, and Stephen Weatherly it's

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Speaker 1: been really good, and and Jalil Johnson got that sack

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Speaker 1: against Detroit. The biggest issue I've noticed that they've had

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Speaker 1: this year is just like a lack of interior push.

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Speaker 1: Schmar Steffen is just not that guy from a pass

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Speaker 1: rushing standpoint. I mean, he's a great run stopper, but

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Speaker 1: you knew once you were getting rid of Sheldon Richardson

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Speaker 1: and going to sign Schmar Stephen, that's probably what you

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Speaker 1: were going to get. So the defensive ends are doing

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Speaker 1: their job and you're seeing an incredible level from Daniel Hunter,

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Speaker 1: an incredible level still from Everson Griffin. It's just kind

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Speaker 1: of what I've been concerned about and looking at is Okay, Well,

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Speaker 1: if guys are stepping up in the pocket and because

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Speaker 1: the ends are collapsing everything from the outside, it's probably

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Speaker 1: because there's still a little bit of an issue there.

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Speaker 1: But I do think that they got into a good rhythm,

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Speaker 1: and we saw that more against Detroit probably than any

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Speaker 1: other game. Like I can recall, Yeah, one thing that

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Speaker 1: Ron Johnson pointed out earlier today was Daniel Hunter. We're

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Speaker 1: kind of lining him up a little more outside, a

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Speaker 1: couple more steps than just being right on the end.

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Speaker 1: And for that to happen, the offensive line then has

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Speaker 1: to the tackles kind of out on an aisland there,

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Speaker 1: which then makes the entire line of opened up in

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Speaker 1: the gaps open up for guys like Shamar Stephen. I

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Speaker 1: mean a fadio Dnibo how to sack in that exact

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Speaker 1: way because he was playing on the inside, not on

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Speaker 1: the end. Um So the just the effect that Daniel

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Speaker 1: Hunter has on the rest of these young guys is

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Speaker 1: like unbelievable. Oh yeah, I mean his trajectory now, it's

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Speaker 1: it's hard to figure out where it goes from here.

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Speaker 1: I've heard Marcus where from Zimmer There have been a

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Speaker 1: lot of comparisons thrown out there. I remember talking to

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Speaker 1: Andre Patterson during training camp just trying to figure out, Okay,

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Speaker 1: well what's his ceiling? But can you can you mark

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Speaker 1: his ceiling or can you try to gauge where it

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Speaker 1: will be based on other players you've had? And I mean,

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Speaker 1: he's coached some really good defensive linemen in his career.

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Speaker 1: But that's kind of the one where he's like, I

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Speaker 1: won't compare him. I'm not going to do him that

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Speaker 1: disservice of comparing him because I don't know how much

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Speaker 1: better he can get. Because every time you see him

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Speaker 1: do something, you're you're not surprised by it, but it's like, well, gosh,

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Speaker 1: this guy just did this, what more can he do? Um?

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Speaker 1: It's pretty impressive, And I think we're kind of watching

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Speaker 1: something like the greatness in the making type thing. I mean,

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Speaker 1: for a guy'd have fifty sacks by time he's twenty five,

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Speaker 1: he's got ten more years of his career. Let's not

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Speaker 1: forget that he's gonna be like thirty five and still playing.

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Speaker 1: So his trajectory. I'm really excited to see where it goes. Well,

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Speaker 1: I saw nugget in an article as well, talking about

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Speaker 1: where Daniel is at as far as first five years

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Speaker 1: on the team in Vikings history, he's half a sack

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Speaker 1: behind Keith Millard, and then he's what twenty he's like

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Speaker 1: twenty two or twenty one sacks behind ja Allen. It's

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Speaker 1: it's one of those things like you're saying, I mean,

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Speaker 1: sky's the limit for this kid, especially at the age

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Speaker 1: of twenty five. So as far as your answer goes

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Speaker 1: for our defensive depth is the answer was questionable in spots,

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Speaker 1: and the points that you had made are actually kind

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Speaker 1: of what you addressed right now was saying corner and

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Speaker 1: safety depth looked a little suspect and just trying to

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Speaker 1: figure out who's gonna step up and who's gonna be

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Speaker 1: able to fill in if it got to the point

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Speaker 1: where we needed to really push the depth at that point.

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Speaker 1: And then the other side was with d Line you

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Speaker 1: were talking about, well, people like Jalen Holmes and Mataafa

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Speaker 1: mature into their roles, and then on top of that

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Speaker 1: is what you just said, will they miss Sheldon Richardson?

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Speaker 1: So seeing how that's the ball. She's pretty good. He's

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Speaker 1: on the ball there, and it's trying to make sure

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Speaker 1: that there have been times that you know, teams have

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Speaker 1: definitely exploited certain pieces. But at the same point, you've

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Speaker 1: had enough bodies who've gone through all of these different

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Speaker 1: spots that I think they don't necessarily feel too scared

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Speaker 1: to have somebody go in there and say they're not

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Speaker 1: gonna be able to make it happen. So yeah, even

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Speaker 1: in armand Watts batting the ball against Russell Wilson and

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Speaker 1: causing it a touchdown for the first touchdown of the

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Speaker 1: season for the Vikings defense. Let's go to the next one.

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Speaker 1: Stefanski and Kubiak first year of the marriage there have

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Speaker 1: found they have found the formula. Sure offensively, I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's pretty evident when you look at this season in

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Speaker 1: two blocks, where the first one is weeks one through four,

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Speaker 1: yea inconsistent Kirk up and down play. They're running the

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Speaker 1: ball thirty plus times against the Falcons and Kirk's throwing

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Speaker 1: ten times. And then you've got a game like in

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Speaker 1: Chicago where you know, Kirk struggles and he's checking down

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Speaker 1: to the fullback and it's just like not a good look.

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Speaker 1: But you also have the Raiders game and how good

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Speaker 1: they were coming back against Green Bay. It's just it

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Speaker 1: was just this hodgepodge and then there's like then I

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Speaker 1: look at it is weeks five through the current day,

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Speaker 1: where it's been a totally different Kirk. It's been a

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Speaker 1: totally different approach where you know, the run game. Not

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Speaker 1: everything here has to go through the run game, which

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Speaker 1: I think it's It's interesting because I write an MVP

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Speaker 1: article every few weeks for ESPN dot com, just kind

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Speaker 1: of gauging whose stock is rising, who's is falling, Where's

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Speaker 1: k Kirk actually just entered the conversation. It's me and

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Speaker 1: eight other seven other writers. We'd vote one through ten,

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Speaker 1: and um Lamar Jackson's getting this award. I don't think

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Speaker 1: anybody is going to question that. But the names that

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Speaker 1: enter the conversation or that still kind of hang around

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Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers still hanging around, Dak Prescott despite all the

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Speaker 1: ups and downs, and he is I mean, it's receivers

404
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Speaker 1: are the ones who are you hurting his MVP season

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Speaker 1: because they have twenty three drops. But Kirk's just entered

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Speaker 1: the conversation for the first time this week. And I

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Speaker 1: think the reason for that is not everything. He's not

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Speaker 1: a game manager. Shed that label, like, I mean, that

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Speaker 1: was a question I post back like week three of

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Speaker 1: the season, like is he an eighty four million dollar

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Speaker 1: game manager? And I think that he's proven because of

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Speaker 1: this system, because of the outside zone leading to the

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Speaker 1: play action, leading to more explosive plays, and it's not

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Speaker 1: just predicated on your run game. That's the recipe for

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Speaker 1: success for for Dalvin Cook, for for Kirk Cousins, for

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Speaker 1: these receivers. And I bring that up to say, like

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Speaker 1: with the MVP article, like Dalvin Stock technically has fallen,

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Speaker 1: like just from our voting, but I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of people think that in the generals, in the general sense,

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Speaker 1: it's no knock on what Dalvin's doing, but it's because

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Speaker 1: of Kirk's uptick and what he's been able to do.

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Speaker 1: Where you're getting ahead in games by passing the ball

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Speaker 1: and not just running the ball, and you're able to

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Speaker 1: maintain a pretty explosive attack with tight end screens, running

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Speaker 1: back screens, not just relying on Stefan Diggs and Adam Phelan.

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Speaker 1: That that's a really good look for Kirk Cousins, you're

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Speaker 1: a previous answer from before his consistency and stability, especially

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Speaker 1: on the old line. So that was kind of the

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Speaker 1: focus at that point was what are we going to

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Speaker 1: get at old line? What's going to get I think

431
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 1: that's that's probably checking the box because the offensive line,

432
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,080
Speaker 1: I mean, there have been moments this season where you look,

433
00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:07,720
Speaker 1: you say, Okay, it's still a work in progress, but

434
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,840
Speaker 1: by and large, this scheme fits this group much better

435
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,800
Speaker 1: than in twenty eighteen. Yeah, and you know, and my

436
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,520
Speaker 1: thought was balancing in balance, right, because the whole thing

437
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,680
Speaker 1: is you show one thing, you do another, and then

438
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,240
Speaker 1: if they're keying off of Dalvin, that gives Kirk time

439
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:22,920
Speaker 1: to do his thing. And if they turn around and

440
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,320
Speaker 1: drop back in coverage, that's when you're hitting Dalvin and

441
00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,879
Speaker 1: getting big chunks out of it. So balancing in balance

442
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,000
Speaker 1: and the things that the offensive line has done this year,

443
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 1: Garrett Bradbury guys like I mean, I know Pat Elfine

444
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,959
Speaker 1: gets his fair share of criticism, but the way they've

445
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,240
Speaker 1: really blocked for the running game as well as the

446
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,560
Speaker 1: passing game, I mean, yeah, these guys are young, and

447
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 1: I mean my favorite of them all is Brian O'Neill. Yeah, No,

448
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's a really good mix, and they

449
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,160
Speaker 1: have not had to turn to a lot of their

450
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,640
Speaker 1: depth pieces outside of Dacoda Dozer because of a few

451
00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,679
Speaker 1: injuries here and there, Like they've been really lucky to

452
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,359
Speaker 1: stay healthy. The last one is Cousins second year is

453
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:03,400
Speaker 1: MVP caliber. I'm okay, you're just being positive because you're

454
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 1: on our show. No, No, I mean I think that

455
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,440
Speaker 1: that's a look at his numbers, like he's gonna he's

456
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,480
Speaker 1: on pace to have a four thousand yard, twenty five

457
00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,439
Speaker 1: touchdown season. Another one like he's putting up historic number

458
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,959
Speaker 1: tier that could easily rival this type of stuff that

459
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,159
Speaker 1: you saw last with what Brett Farve Dante Culpepper. Like,

460
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,920
Speaker 1: this franchise is not headquarterback stability and they finally are

461
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 1: seeing a window for it here. I still think that

462
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: you judge Kirk on what happens down the stretch here,

463
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,120
Speaker 1: like a get into the playoffs, be win a playoff game.

464
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 1: I mean, those are two more boxes to check for

465
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 1: this team for things that he has not done yet

466
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 1: to justify maybe an extension of a contract, things like that.

467
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,399
Speaker 1: But since Week four, I mean, we can we can

468
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,080
Speaker 1: laugh about the apology to Adam feeling and kind of

469
00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 1: like the receivers quote unquote calling him out things like that.

470
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,840
Speaker 1: But there's undeniably that was a turning point for this season.

471
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:55,639
Speaker 1: Like you can look at the season in two halves

472
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,480
Speaker 1: if you want to, from like one through eight and

473
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 1: then eight through seventeen, but that's not the story year.

474
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,199
Speaker 1: The story was week five on. That defines kind of

475
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,959
Speaker 1: where this offense is because you know, this has been

476
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 1: a defensive team since twenty fourteen, since Mike Zimmer got here.

477
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 1: And I think that even Zim will concede a little

478
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 1: bit to be like, this is, you know, we have

479
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 1: an offensive identity. Yeah, they invested in the offense clearly

480
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,200
Speaker 1: in the draft going with all those draft picks, early

481
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 1: early draft picks were all on the offense, not on

482
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 1: the defense, which is I mean, that's been unheard of

483
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 1: since I've been here. So I think it's just been

484
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: amazing the way Kirk, the way he spread the ball around,

485
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: not having Adam Thling. I mean he threw the ball

486
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 1: to eleven wide receivers, one being Garrett By, one being

487
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,320
Speaker 1: Garrett Bradbury to add to that eleventh. But it's been unbelievable.

488
00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 1: Let's hear what she said at the beginning. Your answer

489
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,560
Speaker 1: from before was cousin, second year will be better based

490
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,720
Speaker 1: on personnel and scheme, and the points you made where

491
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: the scheme is set up to benefit his strengths and

492
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 1: play calling lines up with what they said they wanted

493
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,199
Speaker 1: to do in the offseason. There was this push in

494
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,159
Speaker 1: the offseason to try to go a certain way and

495
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 1: that you finally started to see that in training camp

496
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,959
Speaker 1: and it feels like it's kind of come to fruition. Yeah. Absolutely,

497
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,959
Speaker 1: I think that they are a lot of that plays

498
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: true to today. I mean of just like the system

499
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 1: that Kirk is in right now, it's shifted like early

500
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,880
Speaker 1: on it was a very run heavy focus, and now

501
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,440
Speaker 1: they realize, hey, we don't have to rely on that,

502
00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: Like we don't need other parts of the offense to

503
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,920
Speaker 1: bail out our quarterback, like the way he's playing, and

504
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,360
Speaker 1: you know, it all kind of goes hand in hand.

505
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,479
Speaker 1: It's not just oh, Kirk's you know, doing this all

506
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 1: on his own. I mean he's going to credit the

507
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: type of game that Kevin Stefanski's calling. He's going to

508
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,879
Speaker 1: credit the scheme that Gary Kubiak brought here in the

509
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: team's now running and obviously the host of playmakers that

510
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 1: they put around him, that's huge. You cannot look past that,

511
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,639
Speaker 1: Like you know, most teams like look at the Eagle situation,

512
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,480
Speaker 1: like they were down to potentially Josh McCollum going in

513
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: at wide receiver the other night. Like this team has

514
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 1: a lot of depth despite not having Adam Feeland for

515
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,400
Speaker 1: six weeks. And I think that's the coolth and they've

516
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: worked around it, and I'll be curious to see when

517
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,959
Speaker 1: he's healthy how they can implement him back in. Yeah,

518
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,720
Speaker 1: so we tested you in training camp and you you

519
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 1: pretty much checked out, So now we want to test

520
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,680
Speaker 1: you going forward. And the Vikings now sit at nine

521
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 1: and four. They are at the sixth seed. There's three

522
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 1: games left, as everyone knows, Chargers, then home at Green

523
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: Bay and then home against the Bears. What is your

524
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 1: fill in the blank for where the Vikings will end

525
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 1: up this season? I think they stay the sixth seeds.

526
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,159
Speaker 1: They will win the division. No, I do not believe

527
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: so Um and I play around with our playoff machine

528
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 1: all the time. It's fantastic. I think we're looking at it.

529
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 1: The other day. It's you get to work on all

530
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,240
Speaker 1: these scenarios. The way I explained it on a different

531
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,679
Speaker 1: podcast I did, was, you know, like when you were

532
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 1: in finals, like in high school, and you wanted to

533
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: maintain a certain grade. It's like, well, could I get

534
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:52,960
Speaker 1: a thirty eight percent on this final and still get

535
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: a B plus? Yeah? Um, I like looking at it

536
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,480
Speaker 1: from that perspective, But no, I mean, the fact that

537
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 1: Week seventeen could matter for them getting into the playoffs

538
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: isn't necessarily a great spot for any team. I don't

539
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,399
Speaker 1: think fans like, you know, if you're a fan of

540
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: this team, you want them to have it locked up

541
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,400
Speaker 1: before then. But it's another measuring to stick type thing

542
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,240
Speaker 1: for Kirk Cousins in the offense that game, and specifically

543
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,280
Speaker 1: two for the defense. Considering Chicago seems to have this

544
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 1: team's number, But yeah, I do. I mean I predicted

545
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:28,240
Speaker 1: ten and six before the season started. It fluctuated between

546
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 1: that and eleven and five. I think they probably are

547
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:33,679
Speaker 1: an eleven and five team here. I think that that

548
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: loss could come against Green Bay. I know that they're

549
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 1: at home, and I know Rogers is struggling with some

550
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:40,160
Speaker 1: of his weapons right now. He doesn't have a lot

551
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: of downfield depth, which is why you're seeing so much

552
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 1: of their offense go through their run games, their running backs,

553
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 1: even the running backs as wide receivers. Yeah, I mean

554
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,640
Speaker 1: they're running a ton underneath routes, throwing passes to running

555
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 1: backs out of the backfield. I don't know how that

556
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 1: stands up for the Packers in the playoffs, but I mean, granted,

557
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,120
Speaker 1: look at their schedule, like they have a far easier

558
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,480
Speaker 1: stretch here. I mean, they're playing last place schedule bese

559
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 1: there six and ten last year, so it makes sense.

560
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean it's it's going to be really

561
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 1: interesting to see if there is some way that the

562
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: Vikings could somehow jump them for the three seed potentially

563
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 1: as playing around with that. Yes, um, and that's the

564
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,399
Speaker 1: one that I'd be really curious about because then they

565
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 1: get home playoff game. Have you seen somewhat how that

566
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,800
Speaker 1: would shake out at this point, because I have a

567
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 1: little bit correct me if I'm wrong, I know that

568
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,720
Speaker 1: it's that the Packers have to lose the Chicago have

569
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: to lose to the Chiefs, and then the Packers have

570
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: to lose to the Vikings here in Minneapolis, and then

571
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,959
Speaker 1: Minnesota has to win out essentially the three seed from

572
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 1: what I've seen is you have to win out. Green

573
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 1: Bay has to lose to Chicago, and then we have

574
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:41,919
Speaker 1: and we have to beat green Bay as part of

575
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,360
Speaker 1: that winning out part. And it basically because they would

576
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: have the tiebreak, Yeah, exact, Chicago, Sure, so you would

577
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 1: flip flop. And the whole thing at this point is,

578
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: given what you just said, you're predicting ten and six

579
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: and eleven to five, the fact that that is the

580
00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 1: razor's edge of being a six seed or nine, how

581
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: top heavy the NFC is, and just that separation. I

582
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 1: know that the Rams are chasing this team and they've

583
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: got a tough stretch to coming down these final three games,

584
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,239
Speaker 1: but then it's like everyone else and the fact that

585
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: Dallas is a six and seven team sitting in the

586
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,000
Speaker 1: four seed right now, that's you know, I wish they

587
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: would personally change the structure of how they get teams

588
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: into the playoffs a little frustrating first. Yeah, and I mean, honestly,

589
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 1: the Eagles could get in there this weekend. It's just

590
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 1: wild that that playoff machine was showing me everything from

591
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,439
Speaker 1: us being the six to the three, Chicago getting in

592
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: as the six, Philly sliding in, you know, Dallas out

593
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: kind of a thing. It was, And everything that I

594
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: was doing, I wasn't trying to do anything that was

595
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: like super facetious. It was trying to be plausible, just

596
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: trying to make it so it's like, okay, what realistically

597
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: could happen? And we're like, okay, what if these two

598
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 1: games flip kind of a piece And it was crazy

599
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,360
Speaker 1: to see how how dynamic the whole thing was. Literally

600
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,959
Speaker 1: one game in the last three week stretch can completely

601
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 1: flip the entire picture on its head. And to finish

602
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: this off, we could be the first NFC team in

603
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 1: NFL history to have the sixth seed and be twelve

604
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 1: and four. Yeah, that would be the first first time

605
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: that ever happened. So that is unbelievable. We tested you

606
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: one more time again and hopefully we'll have you on

607
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 1: following a super Bowl and then we can kind of

608
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 1: throw this all on your face when we're division champions.

609
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 1: So we appreciate it. We appreciated Courtney, and we'll catch

610
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: up with you coming up here as we go through

611
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 1: the last couple games of the season. Thank you, all right,

612
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,399
Speaker 1: that was awesome having Courtney cronin on the show. She's

613
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: one of the top beat reporters in the area that

614
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,480
Speaker 1: covers the Minnesota Vikings. I encourage all Vikings fans to

615
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,960
Speaker 1: check out her work, and she gives as good as

616
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: the Vikings insight as you're going to get from the media.

617
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: So thanks again to Courtney, and I think it's time

618
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 1: Jay to look forward to next week's game against the

619
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,959
Speaker 1: LA Chargers. Let's look at what we got here with

620
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 1: the five and eight bolts, the Minnesota Viking and Chargers

621
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 1: regular season record. At this point, we are deadlocks six

622
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: and six all time, and I went through digging through

623
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 1: to see exactly what that meant, and there's some really

624
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: kind of crazy nuggets in here. So no team has

625
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 1: won back to back games in this series. And when

626
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 1: you go through and new look at it, it it goes

627
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: LWLWLW the entire list of all twelve games, which is

628
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: kind of bananas. So the scary part about that is

629
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,040
Speaker 1: the last time we played was in twenty fifteen at

630
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 1: TCF Bank Stadium. I remember it well and the Minnesota

631
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,720
Speaker 1: Vikings won that game. So let's buck a trend here

632
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 1: and make sure that we get a win against these

633
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: LA Chargers. You know, what I do want to bring

634
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 1: up that game. It was a thirty one to fourteen

635
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 1: victory for the Vikings. It was at TCF Bank Stadium.

636
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: At the time, Philip Rivers was having a spectacular season

637
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: for that team, and that's when the Vikings defense was

638
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,640
Speaker 1: really starting to establish its dominance across the league and

639
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: the Chargers. In that game, they had a few offensive

640
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 1: linemen that were injured, and we made Philip Rivers feel

641
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 1: it from the beginning of the game. I think we

642
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 1: might have sacked him like eight times in that game.

643
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 1: There was a Keenan Allen and there certainly was a

644
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: more nimble Philip Rivers. The thing about it with that

645
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 1: offense is they still have those weapons, and like you said,

646
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,160
Speaker 1: they're veterans, they're established, they know each other, they know

647
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: how each other plays, they know if Philip gets in trouble,

648
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:18,440
Speaker 1: what he's looking for down the field. So look for

649
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 1: this offense to potentially give you fits if you give

650
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers too much time. Looking at the Chargers offense,

651
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:29,400
Speaker 1: now it's a totally totally different group in the backfield.

652
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: So that's really what I went on focus on. The

653
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: Austin Ecklers of the world did not exist in twenty fifteen.

654
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,960
Speaker 1: He is what you call a dual threat running back. Yeah,

655
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,280
Speaker 1: and they had a guy before named lt who was

656
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 1: you know, Thomlinson was one hundred percent that guy where

657
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 1: either he can you know, kill you up the medal

658
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 1: or you're gonna throw a little dumpass to him and

659
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 1: watch him go for fifty. Austin Eckler has been putting

660
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 1: both of it together. He's got eight hundred and thirty

661
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 1: receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns alone, let alone his

662
00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 1: offensive rushing production. He has been a huge, huge weapon

663
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 1: for them this season. Melvin Gordon as well. They had

664
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 1: a contract situation at the beginning of the year which

665
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: kind of cost him the first couple games of the season,

666
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 1: but he's back in the fold now. We know that

667
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 1: he's one of the more established running backs in the

668
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: league as well. Yeah, and we all watched him having

669
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,840
Speaker 1: to play at Wisconsin and the kind of stuff that

670
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 1: he did there. The fact that they've now got the

671
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,280
Speaker 1: combo platter of Eckler and Gordon, who've already put up

672
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 1: a thousand and four rushing yards eight rushing tds and

673
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,240
Speaker 1: they are averaging seventy one point seven yards per game.

674
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: This is a definite, definite dual threat backfield. Yeah, and

675
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 1: the Chargers have some weapons for Philip Rivers to throw

676
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: the ball too as well. I mean, Keenan Allen, we

677
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,280
Speaker 1: addressed him already, but Mike Williams is about as good

678
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 1: of a big play threat as there is out there. Yeah,

679
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 1: he's a great possession receiver. And you always see Keenan's

680
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 1: gonna get your double teams because everybody knows what he

681
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: can do. Mike Williams is that sure handed guy who

682
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 1: can run down the sideline and snakes some toe drag

683
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,520
Speaker 1: swag type catches as well. The two of them have

684
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 1: combined for seventeen hundred and eighty eight receiving yards this year,

685
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 1: six receiving touchdowns. They're putting up a one hundred and

686
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: twenty seven point seven yards per game. Add in Hunter

687
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: Henry at the tight end position, who's not having as

688
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,320
Speaker 1: great of a season. But you have those three guys,

689
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: plus your Ecklers and your Melvin Gordon's, they can definitely

690
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 1: definitely do some damage. Yeah, the Chargers have four players

691
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 1: with five hundred plus receiving yards, so we know that

692
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,360
Speaker 1: this is an explosive offense. This team is completely eliminated

693
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 1: from playoff contention, but they put up forty five points

694
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: on a Jacksonville Jaguars defense last week, and they're doing

695
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 1: things that you really need to scheme against. And what

696
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 1: I mean by that is Jay they have a running

697
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,719
Speaker 1: back who can catch the ball, as we noted Austin Eckler,

698
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,680
Speaker 1: who's lined up with a Anthony Barr or Eric Hendricks.

699
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 1: That's gonna cause some matchup problems yea. And so what

700
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 1: that really means is for a guy like Philip Rivers,

701
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 1: he needs to have his time in order to make

702
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: those kind of plays. This is where our defensive line

703
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 1: can jump in and try to wreak some havoc because

704
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 1: you know, with Philip Rivers, if you get in his face,

705
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,960
Speaker 1: as he's got four games with two or more interceptions,

706
00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,080
Speaker 1: if you don't, he's got eight games with two or

707
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: more touchdowns. So he's very very boomer bust this year. Absolutely,

708
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 1: And he don't really remember too many seasons where Philip

709
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,560
Speaker 1: Rivers has thrown just five less interceptions as he has

710
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 1: touchdowns twenty touchdowns, fifteen interceptions. It has not been the

711
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,719
Speaker 1: guns slinger year that we're used to from Philip Rivers.

712
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 1: Going to the defensive side of the ball. This is

713
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 1: a group that is much improved over the last couple

714
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 1: of years. I think the best way to describe this

715
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: defense is their defensive backs and their secondary. They have

716
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,440
Speaker 1: a lot of players who can make big plays, and

717
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 1: one of those guys who's back this week from an

718
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 1: injury is Derwin James. Derwin James is a complete game

719
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 1: changer on that back end, and I really do attribute

720
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,040
Speaker 1: the fact that they're five and eight this year. They've

721
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,640
Speaker 1: had a lot of games where they've been in close battles,

722
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 1: and I do think a guy like Derman James is

723
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 1: that big of a difference maker. Think about if Harrison

724
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 1: Smith was off of this team. I think that backfield

725
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: and the secondary would look very, very different for the

726
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: messot Ofvikings. Yeah, and I want to note one thing

727
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 1: that the New England Patriots did this Chargers team in

728
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,880
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year, because this is a defense that

729
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,240
Speaker 1: sometimes you'll even see the Chargers defense put like five

730
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,360
Speaker 1: to six defensive backs on the field rather than playing

731
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 1: any linebackers. That's how different it is what they're doing.

732
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,520
Speaker 1: So the way the Patriots attack that in the playoff

733
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: game was they pretty much ran the ball down the

734
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 1: Chargers throats rather than trying to attack downfield and go

735
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 1: out some of these defensive backs. They said, we're going

736
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,319
Speaker 1: to establish the run and we're gonna stick with the run.

737
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 1: And in that game, Sony Michelle had one of his

738
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 1: best games as a New England Patriot, and I think

739
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,160
Speaker 1: that might be the attack that the Vikings might want

740
00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 1: to go with. And the numbers this year, you know,

741
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 1: warrant looking at it that way as well, because right

742
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,800
Speaker 1: now they're seventeenth against the rush, but they're fourth against

743
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:45,719
Speaker 1: the past, So it makes all the sense in the

744
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 1: world that you're going to focus on trying to get

745
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,240
Speaker 1: them up the middle, control the line of scrimmage, control

746
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 1: the time of possession, and really make them pay that way.

747
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 1: I'm happy your numbers kind of supported my opinion. I

748
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,439
Speaker 1: appreciate that. You're welcome, but yeah, this is a game

749
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,280
Speaker 1: where the Vikings need to not look at the record

750
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 1: of the Chargers, not think about the fact that they're

751
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 1: out of playoff contention. You're going to a stadium where,

752
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,600
Speaker 1: I mean maybe generously seats thirty thousand people, so it's

753
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,640
Speaker 1: a small soccer stadium out there. In Los Angeles, and

754
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: we saw when the Packers played them this year. I

755
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 1: mean they most of the time the road teams with

756
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,640
Speaker 1: fan bases that travel well like our Vikings. We know

757
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:26,560
Speaker 1: that they fill this stadium up and I know some

758
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 1: people personally that are actually going out to this one.

759
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,719
Speaker 1: They're looking for the warmer weather and everything, but they've

760
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 1: had this circle down their calendar. To me, this is

761
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 1: the beginning of your playoff push. You've been trying to

762
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,000
Speaker 1: establish what you had to the last couple of weeks,

763
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:41,800
Speaker 1: but if you think about it, these last three games

764
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 1: are as critical as they get to make the playoffs.

765
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:45,919
Speaker 1: This is the beginning of your playoff push, and let's

766
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 1: make it look like it. I expect good things for

767
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,840
Speaker 1: the Vikings heading into this game. Mike Zimmer addressed the

768
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,080
Speaker 1: media on Wednesday and he seemed very very confident. So

769
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,320
Speaker 1: another note I want to touch on is the Vikings

770
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 1: released the first injury report of the week on Wednesday

771
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,480
Speaker 1: and the only player to not practice for the team

772
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,319
Speaker 1: was Alexander Madison, with it with an ankle injury. So

773
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,040
Speaker 1: the Vikings are healthy. It's the time of year where

774
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 1: no team is fully healthy, and I think the Vikings

775
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 1: are in a pretty good spot as Adam Feeling returned

776
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,400
Speaker 1: to practice in limited fashion on Wednesday. Knock on, what

777
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 1: on that one? Like we've been talking about for weeks

778
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,160
Speaker 1: and weeks and weeks at this point, whenever they can

779
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: get him back at full go, he's going to be

780
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 1: a difference maker and maybe we'll get a small glimpse

781
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,799
Speaker 1: into what this offense can be moving into the rest

782
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,520
Speaker 1: of the season. All right, Chris, let's wrap this sucker up.

783
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,600
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl voting ends Thursday. So what do you think

784
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 1: the fans should do? I want to encourage fans out

785
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 1: there to go check out some of the Vikings entertainment

786
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,839
Speaker 1: Nowhere content. There have been some videos produced, one for

787
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:45,959
Speaker 1: CJ Ham as well as one for Dalvin Cook which

788
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: is kind of funny, and Chisom Cooking oh Man a

789
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 1: little cooking studio and Brian O'Neill that's right, and they

790
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 1: have a special recipe. Pounding the Beef Jay was awesome.

791
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,040
Speaker 1: The best part for me is watching a live studio

792
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,960
Speaker 1: audience all chanting pound the beef. It was very very

793
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,560
Speaker 1: well done by our vend guys. Check it out and

794
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 1: more than anything, get your votes in online social media.

795
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 1: Go retweet as much as possible, get as many guys

796
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: in Purple that we can to the Pro Bowl this year. Yeah,

797
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: I know, as we record, Dalvin Cook is currently fourth

798
00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:17,799
Speaker 1: overall in the NFC. I want to see him kind

799
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,320
Speaker 1: of move up a little bit. Kirk Cousins kneejer support

800
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,319
Speaker 1: with those twenty four touchdowns and foreign receptions this year,

801
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:26,920
Speaker 1: But we also want to focus on the guys who

802
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,440
Speaker 1: haven't been there before. CJ. Hamm, that is CJ Hamm,

803
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: the Vikings fullback leading the way for Dalvin Cook, and

804
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:38,279
Speaker 1: of course Eric Kendricks, who leads all NFL linebackers with

805
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,120
Speaker 1: passes defense this year. He is having, I mean, an

806
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: incredible year, the best year I've seen out of him

807
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 1: so far. It's fantastic. And like we said, get as

808
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,279
Speaker 1: many people in purple jerseys down to Orlando as we can.

809
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,240
Speaker 1: All right, Chris, what we got left here for Vikings programming?

810
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: All right? I just want to give you guys some

811
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:58,240
Speaker 1: programming notes under center this week already aired on CAFAN

812
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 1: on Tuesday Night. Guest was Dalvin Cooks. So this is one, now,

813
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 1: I mean, this is one that you don't want to miss.

814
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:07,839
Speaker 1: Make sure you catch it on the Vikings podcast platforms

815
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,239
Speaker 1: if you didn't catch it live, that is one that

816
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,440
Speaker 1: I would go check out. This is the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

817
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 1: You'll also find this on the Vikings podcast network. But

818
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 1: I really want to encourage you Vikings fans out there

819
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,279
Speaker 1: to listen to school Stories this week because it was

820
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,840
Speaker 1: a great guest, the legendary Bud Grant went and sat

821
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,320
Speaker 1: down with our Mark Rosen. That will air on Thursday

822
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,400
Speaker 1: night at six thirty on KAFAN. You can also find

823
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,880
Speaker 1: that after the live show on the Vikings podcast platforms,

824
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: and of course Vikings Final Prep that will be Yours

825
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,600
Speaker 1: truly and si Omindson recapping all the best sounds of

826
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 1: the week as we get you set for that game

827
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,359
Speaker 1: against the Los Angeles Chargers. I'm really excited this time

828
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 1: of year. This is one everything that you started working

829
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:55,399
Speaker 1: on in April. This is why it matters is right now, conditioning,

830
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 1: all the meetings, everything is right now. Playoff push is

831
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,319
Speaker 1: officially kicked in. This is your last chance to get

832
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,160
Speaker 1: that critical roadwin in the regular season. But here's the thing.

833
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,440
Speaker 1: You're gonna need to play on the road coming up

834
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 1: for the playoffs. So get a signature win against a

835
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 1: very athletic and good defense and a veteran quarterback and

836
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 1: set the sucker up for you to go in Monday

837
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 1: night football against the Green Bay Packers and potentially potentially

838
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 1: grab the division title. Thank you, Jay, And let's get

839
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 1: that purple in the stands in Los Angeles. I know

840
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 1: it's very very cold out here in Minneapolis. Get away

841
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 1: from that negative five weather. Go out there and get

842
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,439
Speaker 1: some sun and watch a Vikings victory over the Los

843
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:39,800
Speaker 1: Angeles Chargers at three ZHO five pm. We'll see it

844
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:40,520
Speaker 1: here next week