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Speaker 1: Cam has that nobility. He's shown that ability already that

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Speaker 1: if I see something in that instant and I can

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Speaker 1: go make a play, I'm gonna go make the play.

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Speaker 1: When they say let Dalvin Clickbay mean you can't let

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Speaker 1: him have the big explosive plays that he's pop off

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Speaker 1: against so many teams, you know he's where it begins

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Speaker 1: if you're a defender against Minnesota. Hey Vikings fans, Chris

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Speaker 1: Corso here with episode seventy three of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.

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Speaker 1: It is a Christmas week edition, as we are not

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Speaker 1: so happy this week following a tough loss to the

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Speaker 1: Chicago Bears thirty three to twenty seven. Season is most

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Speaker 1: likely over, Jay, as we look at some of the

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Speaker 1: playoff projections in scenarios. Don't crush my heart, don't crush

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Speaker 1: my hope here, Corso, come on, man, we still got it.

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Speaker 1: We got a chance. You're saying there's a chance, Jay,

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Speaker 1: that is correct. Don't give up the hope until it's dead,

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Speaker 1: dead dead. The Vikings are six and eight following the

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Speaker 1: loss to the Bears. On Sunday at US Bank Stadium,

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Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals won their game, putting them up two

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Speaker 1: games over the Vikings with two games remaining, as the

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Speaker 1: Vikings at six and eight need a total disaster for

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Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals to lose out as well as a

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Speaker 1: loss for the Chicago Bears in the final two games,

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Speaker 1: and then the Vikings would find their way into the

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Speaker 1: playoffs this year. I gotta have some sort of hope here, man.

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Speaker 1: I just want to make sure that it's not dead

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Speaker 1: dead dead. Yes, it's bleak. I think it's what like

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Speaker 1: a two or three percent chance at this point. And

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Speaker 1: given the way these last two games have gone, it's

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Speaker 1: been it's been frustrating and disappointing to see it, to

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Speaker 1: say the least. If everything does end up dying this weekend,

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Speaker 1: then it'll just make that last one even tougher to watch.

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Speaker 1: But you know, it's it's been a crazy season. It's

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Speaker 1: been a frustrating season. And have little extra egg nog

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Speaker 1: and brighton brighton the day a little bit. So I'm

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Speaker 1: looking forward to this game on Friday, and hopefully the

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Speaker 1: Vikings can get a win and make everybody a little

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Speaker 1: happier on Viking Land. We're gonna get into all of

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Speaker 1: that and preview the game against the New Orleans Saints

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Speaker 1: in a very short week for your Minnesota Vikings. But

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Speaker 1: let's go through what we have in store for this

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Speaker 1: episode of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I sat down and

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Speaker 1: talked to Ben Lieber about the twenty twenty season look

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Speaker 1: ahead to the Christmas Day game, and he pretty much

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Speaker 1: told me what it's like as a player to go

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Speaker 1: into the Mercedes Been Superdome. He definitely had some cool

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Speaker 1: stories about that. Vikings team reporter Eric Smith talks to

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Speaker 1: Saints team reporter John day Shazir's and obviously they are

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Speaker 1: having a very exciting season there. Um, we'll hear a

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Speaker 1: lot from from John over there with a ton of

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Speaker 1: cool interviews this week on the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. But first, Jay,

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Speaker 1: let's quickly recap what happened on Sunday against the Bears.

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Speaker 1: I mean, thirty three to twenty seven. As we said,

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Speaker 1: the Bears pretty much had their way on offense with

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Speaker 1: the Vikings, and it was really shocking to me because

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Speaker 1: of what happened the first time we played the Bears

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Speaker 1: this year at Soldier Field, and this game was completely different.

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Speaker 1: You have a new guy under center, a hot quarterback

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Speaker 1: in Mitchell Trubisky, and it seemed that Matt Nagy and

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Speaker 1: his offensive staff pretty much dialed up a complete play

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Speaker 1: action running attack and have one hundred and ninety nine

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Speaker 1: yards rushing. So, Jay, what did you kind of see

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Speaker 1: from the Bears offense in this game? The way they

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Speaker 1: attacked our defense, which was very shorthanded in this game,

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Speaker 1: I think what you've seen a couple of times this

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Speaker 1: season has been, you know, teams attacking certain positions on

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Speaker 1: our defensive line trying to get to that outside edge.

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Speaker 1: You saw a motivated offensive line. I think they were.

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Speaker 1: They were frustrated and angry with the way that first

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Speaker 1: game had gone and knowing that they they didn't have

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Speaker 1: what it took that day, and on this one, they're like, listen, man,

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Speaker 1: we finally got we have a running game back. We

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Speaker 1: have a quarterback who they had some faith in given

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Speaker 1: the way that things had gone the week before. For me,

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Speaker 1: the hardest part was watching it happen and just knowing

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Speaker 1: if you've got a David Montgomery with thirty two rushes

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Speaker 1: in one hundred and forty six yards, which his career high,

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Speaker 1: and two touchdowns in that game, like that was the

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Speaker 1: difference makers. The Bears did what they wanted and it

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Speaker 1: was hard to stomach it at the end of the game.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. Jay. I mean, it seems like

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Speaker 1: the common theme in a lot of these losses is

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Speaker 1: the other team comes out and strikes first, and strikes

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Speaker 1: early and controls the time of possession, which is clearly

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Speaker 1: what happened in this game. And the other thing I

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Speaker 1: want to touch on is the fact that they ran

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Speaker 1: this play action for a majority of the game with

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Speaker 1: the running attack of David Montgomery and Mitchell Trubisky, who

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Speaker 1: was fifteen of twenty one on the day with two

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Speaker 1: hundred and two yards. He was eleven of fourteen on

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Speaker 1: the play action pass in this game, and Mike Zimmer

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Speaker 1: talked about it in his postgame press conference. He talked

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Speaker 1: about it a few days after that. Clearly the Vikings

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Speaker 1: young defensive backs were really confused with what was going

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Speaker 1: on in the play action game, and that could have

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Speaker 1: cost the Vikings this season. To lose a game like

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Speaker 1: that at home to a division opponent, that's definitely not

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Speaker 1: playoff football when you're trying to make a run. So

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Speaker 1: I'm looking at the offensive side of the ball. Justin

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Speaker 1: Jefferson has his sixth one hundred yard game and it's

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Speaker 1: just amazing. I mean, he broke Randy Moss's rookie receptions

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Speaker 1: record eight receptions one hundred four yards. And the craziest

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Speaker 1: part of it for me, Jay, is that the seventy

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Speaker 1: three receptions that he's had in fourteen games, he's really

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Speaker 1: only played key snaps in twelve of those games, so

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Speaker 1: that's more like seventy three receptions in twelve games. Randy

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Speaker 1: Moss in nineteen ninety eight had sixty nine receptions in

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Speaker 1: his full games. The only stat where Randy Moss has

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Speaker 1: a key upgrade over Justin Jefferson is the seventeen touchdowns

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Speaker 1: that he had in his rookie year, and Jefferson has seven.

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Speaker 1: But man, Jay, I don't know how much more excited

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Speaker 1: you could be as a Vikings fan watching this guy's

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Speaker 1: rookie season and what he's been able to do. I

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Speaker 1: think the best part for me has been hearing veterans

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Speaker 1: who watch him, who say he's doing the small things

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Speaker 1: right already. And if he's already at this point, then

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Speaker 1: what does that mean for the future. I think you

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Speaker 1: watch him and how crispy is, how great his hands

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Speaker 1: are in his moves. You're seeing a lot of things

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Speaker 1: in a very first season that feel very polished compared

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Speaker 1: to what you would normally expect from a rookie. And

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Speaker 1: I think part of it is similar to ninety eight,

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Speaker 1: and that you have this combo platter of a top

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Speaker 1: tier other reception machine and a Chris Carter in ninety eight,

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Speaker 1: and you've got to feel in this year, who's eaten

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Speaker 1: up in the red zone. I think a guy like Justin,

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Speaker 1: that long lanky type. I spect in year two he's

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Speaker 1: going to come back with some extra meat on his bones.

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Speaker 1: He's going to be out muscling guys, and I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, you watch what he does, and just watch

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Speaker 1: the way that everybody else is reacting to him, let

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Speaker 1: alone getting the Pro Bowl accolades at this point. I

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Speaker 1: just think it's going to be even more motivation for

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Speaker 1: him next year. He is going to be a huge

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Speaker 1: focal point moving forward for years and years to come.

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Speaker 1: And as long as you keep getting these kind of seasons,

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Speaker 1: these kind of receptions, these kind of yards, I think

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Speaker 1: there's gonna be giant smile in his face knowing that

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Speaker 1: he's going to be a focal point in this offense.

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Speaker 1: And think of it this way too. Not only do

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Speaker 1: you have feeling, but you also just resigned Delvin to

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Speaker 1: a longer term contract as well, so at running back

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Speaker 1: and wide receiver, and then even guys like Ierf Smith

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Speaker 1: and Conklin who stepped up here recently. You have a

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Speaker 1: great crop of young talent for this offense for years

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Speaker 1: to come. So hopefully we can keep putting up some

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Speaker 1: points week to week and season to season for the

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Speaker 1: next three to five year window that these guys are

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Speaker 1: all going to be superstars on this team. Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: really good point, Jay, I mean, this op fense is

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Speaker 1: going to be completely intact from a playmaker position going forward.

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Speaker 1: And you love to see what we saw from Tyler

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Speaker 1: Conklin in the past few weeks stepping up in Kyle

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Speaker 1: Rudolph's absence, because eventually Kyle Rudolph isn't gonna be around

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Speaker 1: anymore and you're gonna be depending on it's Tyler Conklin

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Speaker 1: and Nerve Smith Junior in these games, and those guys

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Speaker 1: have had a few touchdowns these past few weeks, being

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Speaker 1: capped off with a very impressive touchdown from Tyler Conklin

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Speaker 1: in this game, which brought us right back into it.

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Speaker 1: And the best thing I liked about Tyler's touchdown was

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Speaker 1: he had to fight through three different tackles in order

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Speaker 1: to get there, and he did. And you know, this

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Speaker 1: is his first one. This is a special one. So

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Speaker 1: hopefully for him that I'll go on the trophy case

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Speaker 1: and it can become a week to week thing where

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Speaker 1: guys like Conklin and irv are definitely becoming a bigger

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Speaker 1: part of the offense. At this point, just putting a

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Speaker 1: bow on this game because feeling was definitely minimized for

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Speaker 1: the offense again this week. Two receptions, eleven yards. He

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Speaker 1: did have the touchdown as he's done all season long,

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Speaker 1: but definitely he was not as much of a part

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Speaker 1: of the offense like he has been recently for the team.

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Speaker 1: But I'm going down the list. Dan Bailey made all

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Speaker 1: of his kicks this week, Jay, I mean he made

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Speaker 1: two field goals, three extra points. After a week where

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Speaker 1: he was scrutinized and being his job was being called

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Speaker 1: out for by national media, local media, he came back

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Speaker 1: and drilled all his kicks in this game. Pregame, he

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Speaker 1: was out there for some extra time getting some extra

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Speaker 1: kicks in there. We were watching him and he was

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Speaker 1: drilling everything and so put a smile on my face

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Speaker 1: after he hit the first one in the game, just

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Speaker 1: to say, all right, this guy's dialed in today and

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Speaker 1: hopefully it goes well. And it definitely did with him

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Speaker 1: hitting all five of his kicks for the game. So

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Speaker 1: it was great to see Dan kind of get back

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Speaker 1: to normal forum and hopefully kind of put this whole

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Speaker 1: thing to rest moving forward. I think Dan's a great

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Speaker 1: veteran to have and as long as he's still got

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Speaker 1: strengthened that leg, it's it's great to have him on

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Speaker 1: that field for us. Last thing I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about is just the offense as a whole, and to

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Speaker 1: put up over four hundred net yards in a game,

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Speaker 1: I think it just says a lot about what the

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Speaker 1: Vikings offense is capable of doing this year against a

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Speaker 1: very good Bears defense and Kirk Cousins. If he throws

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Speaker 1: a few more touchdowns on Thursday, he has his career

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Speaker 1: high in passing touchdowns. So the things that this Vikings

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Speaker 1: offense has done all year long, we know Dalvin Cook

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Speaker 1: is a pro bowler again along with Justin Jefferson. I

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Speaker 1: cannot wait to see what's in store for this Vikings

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Speaker 1: offense going forward, you have Jefferson as the superstar, you

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Speaker 1: have one of the best running backs in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: and I think other than drafting offensive lineman going forward,

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Speaker 1: I don't think you change anything. I really don't think

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Speaker 1: you change much other than trying to get either an

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Speaker 1: interior offensive lineman or maybe even another tackle once Riley

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Speaker 1: reef Is is kind of getting into his older years here.

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Speaker 1: But other than that, there's really not much I would

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Speaker 1: change in this Vikings offense. Yeah, I think the fact

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Speaker 1: you did have younger guys step up and produce the

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Speaker 1: season has definitely been a positive. Like you said, you know,

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Speaker 1: everyone has been hypering on the offensive line now for

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Speaker 1: multiple years. I know they've they've tried drafting guys and

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Speaker 1: addressed it, and you found some some definite people you

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Speaker 1: think have some promise here moving forward. I think the

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Speaker 1: addition of Ezra Cleveland during the season was definitely something

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Speaker 1: that made a lot of people smile. I just think

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Speaker 1: for a lot of those guys that get another year

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Speaker 1: under their belt, hopefully in the offseason they can have

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Speaker 1: a normal off season. I think that's the biggest thing

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Speaker 1: for me. With all these young guys that have been

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Speaker 1: playing they've had to kind of learn on the fly

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Speaker 1: as the season's been going on. For the offense, they

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Speaker 1: should be proud of the fact that they've been putting

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Speaker 1: up some decent offense, some decent numbers. There's still those

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Speaker 1: those fourth and one type players that are rearing their

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Speaker 1: ugly heads that are that are costing us serious points

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Speaker 1: that we need to finalize games and push us over

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Speaker 1: the edge. There's a lot of promise on this team.

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Speaker 1: At the same point, there's still a lot to clean up.

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Speaker 1: And so hopefully if it's Kubiak back next year and

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Speaker 1: he and Clinton and coach Zimmer and everybody can sit

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Speaker 1: down and just really go through and figure out what

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Speaker 1: they need to address, I'm hoping that this team has

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Speaker 1: a great offseason, a great plan to come back and

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Speaker 1: make a run here in twenty twenty one. Moving forward,

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Speaker 1: well before that, we will celebrate a Christmas holiday. So

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Speaker 1: why not join Adam Thuen and the Salvation Army in

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Speaker 1: providing food, shelter, and care for our neighbors in need.

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Speaker 1: Text skull to two four three six five again, that's

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Speaker 1: two four three six five to donate today. Join me

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Speaker 1: Paul Allen along with former Vikings linebacker and current radio

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Speaker 1: analyst Ben Lieber. After every Vikings game, as we host

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Speaker 1: Between the Lines, analyze the game, break it down from

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Speaker 1: all angles, and discuss what it means for your favorite

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Speaker 1: team moving forward. Watch each week via Vikings dot com,

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Speaker 1: the Vikings App, YouTube, and all of the team's other

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Speaker 1: digital and social platforms. For information, visit Vikings dot com

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Speaker 1: slash Lean the Lines. All right, j Now we look

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Speaker 1: forward to the Christmas Day game against the New Orleans Saints,

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Speaker 1: a game where they have a lot of guys on

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Speaker 1: the injury report. I mean, when you play a game

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Speaker 1: on a Friday and you have a quick week after

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Speaker 1: giving it everything you have against the Chicago Bears, obviously

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Speaker 1: there's going to be a lot of players on the

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Speaker 1: Vikings injury report. So I'm just looking at the list here.

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Speaker 1: I want to touch on a quick before we break

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Speaker 1: down the game. Um, Kyle Rudolph, Eric Kendricks, c J Hamm,

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Speaker 1: Alexander Madison, Troy Dye, Todd Davis, and Jalen Holmes. We're

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Speaker 1: not listed as practicing for Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow is

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Speaker 1: a travel day, so we'll get another designation for Thursday,

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Speaker 1: but they will be traveling to New Orleans to play

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Speaker 1: on Friday afternoon, Christmas Day. So Jay, it's a quick week.

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Speaker 1: We have a pretty beaten up team here heading into

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Speaker 1: this game, but the Vikings lead this series all time,

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Speaker 1: twenty three to twelve. The last game, We'll never forget it.

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Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins first playoff win, end playoff game winning drive

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Speaker 1: with a pass that he threw deep to Adam Thuland,

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Speaker 1: and the Vikings were able to earn an overtime win

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Speaker 1: at the hands of Kyle Rudolph in the corner of

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Speaker 1: the end zone, one of the one of the most

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Speaker 1: exciting Vikings wins since I've been a member of the organization.

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Speaker 1: So there are so many reasons, Jay to get up

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Speaker 1: for this game and at least not embarrass yourself on

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Speaker 1: national television on Christmas Day. The thing for me about

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Speaker 1: this game is I just look at it and it

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Speaker 1: feels eerily similar to one we played Tampa a couple

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Speaker 1: weeks ago. You know, Tampa had been flying high, but

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Speaker 1: they had a couple of stumbles right beforehand. For them,

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Speaker 1: they had to buy a week the week before US.

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Speaker 1: But you know the Saints team, you figured they had

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Speaker 1: a week one win versus Tampa that was on the

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Speaker 1: national stage. It was very impressive, thirty four to twenty three.

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Speaker 1: They lost two in a row to last Vegas Green Bay.

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Speaker 1: They then go ahead and rip off nine straight and

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Speaker 1: they've lost their last two at Philly and then that

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Speaker 1: hard fought game against Kansas City. I think for them,

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Speaker 1: they not only had Drew Breese out for four weeks

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Speaker 1: with broken ribs and a punctured lung, which is insane

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Speaker 1: to think about the fact that he came back last

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Speaker 1: week against Kansas City, but this Saints team doesn't have

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Speaker 1: the chance to kind of rest on their laurels. They're

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Speaker 1: still fighting for a number one seed. So I just

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Speaker 1: I look at this and say, these Saints are going

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Speaker 1: to give us everything they've got because they still need

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Speaker 1: to put together a complete game. Haven Drew back and

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Speaker 1: make sure that you know, confidence wise Drew in this

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Speaker 1: offense feels like they can still produce and put up

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Speaker 1: those kind of points to get a solid win. So

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Speaker 1: given all the history we've had recently in the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years, I'm sure there's a lot of people

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Speaker 1: on that team, including Cameron Jordan, who's been very vocal

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Speaker 1: about the fact that this game, this team that the

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Speaker 1: Vikings playing the Saints has been one that he always

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Speaker 1: circles on his calendar just because of things like the

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Speaker 1: miracle were so painful. I think we're definitely going to

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Speaker 1: get a handful here from the Saints, and that defense

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Speaker 1: is absolutely nasty, So our Vikings offense is definitely gonna

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Speaker 1: have to mind their Peace and Ques coming up on Friday.

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Speaker 1: They've had two tough kind of matchups as of late.

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Speaker 1: I know they've lost their last two, but before that

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Speaker 1: they won nine in a row. Jay, so this is

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Speaker 1: a very competitive team. Let's start off at the top.

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Speaker 1: Drew Brees comes back for the first time since Week four,

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Speaker 1: having the serious rib injuries, and it's just amazing that

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Speaker 1: he came back against the Chiefs and he was fifteen

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Speaker 1: to thirty four in the game, two hundred and thirty

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Speaker 1: four yards, three passing touchdowns, but he also threw an

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Speaker 1: interception and was sacked once. So this is a different

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Speaker 1: Drew Brees Jay than years passed when you're seeing him

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Speaker 1: have these insane passing numbers and stuff like that. And

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Speaker 1: the Vikings have actually done a pretty good job against

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Speaker 1: Breeze in the past couple games. Yeah, I think the

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Speaker 1: key to that has been the pressure that they had

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Speaker 1: the infamous playoff game last year where they snuck the

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Speaker 1: two defensive ends on the inside and kind of went

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Speaker 1: up the gut and tried to make Drew super uncomfortable.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's going to be a key this

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Speaker 1: week is if you can get pressure on him. I

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Speaker 1: know last week with Kansas City, they were definitely coming

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Speaker 1: after him and trying to give him some shots, saying,

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Speaker 1: we know you're not comfortable, we know you're not one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent. And I think Sean Payton after the game,

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Speaker 1: when somebody asked if he thought Drew one hundred percent,

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Speaker 1: he just said no. And I think a guy like

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Speaker 1: Drew Brees, he's such a gamer and he knows that

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Speaker 1: he doesn't have much time left as a starting quarterback.

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Speaker 1: I think he's going to come out here and he's

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Speaker 1: going to improve on those numbers. I don't think he's

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Speaker 1: only gonna be hit in fifteen to thirty four. But

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Speaker 1: what that says to me was he was trying to

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Speaker 1: get that ball out of there as fast as possible,

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Speaker 1: just trying to avoid taking some of those hits, and

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Speaker 1: Kansas City did a good job of making him uncomfortable

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Speaker 1: and speeding him up. So if we can do a

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Speaker 1: similar thing, hopefully we'll have a little bit more success

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Speaker 1: and can potentially get him off his game again this week.

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Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara has just been an absolute monster for them

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Speaker 1: this season. Seven hundred and seventy seven rushing yards, ten

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Speaker 1: touchdowns rushing, but he also has seven hundred and thirty

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Speaker 1: nine yards and eighty receptions receiving and five receiving touchdowns,

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Speaker 1: So he got to look at both of those numbers

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Speaker 1: when you look at him. And then obviously Vikings fans

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Speaker 1: are pretty familiar with O'tavius Murray and what he can

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Speaker 1: do as a secondary back, and when you blend him

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Speaker 1: with an Alvin Kamara, it's very similar to blending him

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Speaker 1: with a Derek McKinnon the way that the Vikings have

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Speaker 1: done in years past. But just going through some of

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Speaker 1: some of these receivers, Emmanuel Sanders, who he's having a

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Speaker 1: pretty good year with five hundred eighty yards and four touchdowns,

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Speaker 1: trey Quan Smith has been there for a few years

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Speaker 1: with four hundred forty yards and four touchdowns, and Michael Thomas.

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Speaker 1: Man to see Michael Thomas with four hundred and thirty

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Speaker 1: eight receiving yards and zero touchdowns. Jay, I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: it's unbelievable. Yeah, those are completely atypical numbers to what

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Speaker 1: he would normally do in a season, and it sounded like,

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Speaker 1: you know, they shut him down and just realized, listen,

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Speaker 1: if we can get this guy back with a somewhat

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Speaker 1: healthy ankle, and we can bring him back for the

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Speaker 1: playoffs and just have him potentially be another boost on offense.

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Speaker 1: That's what they're doing with him. And I think the

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Speaker 1: thing it's going to be frustrating for the Saints now

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Speaker 1: is Tracon Smith. He showed up on the injury report

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Speaker 1: as well with a leg injury. That wide receiving corps

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Speaker 1: is getting a little thin. They have another guy who's

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Speaker 1: just coming off of IR but I think seeing a

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Speaker 1: guy like Michael Thomas only have seven games four to

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Speaker 1: thirty eight yards, that is not what anybody expected one

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Speaker 1: of the best wide receivers in the NFL to be

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Speaker 1: able to do during the season. So, no, he won't

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Speaker 1: be there this week. I'm curious to see what he

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Speaker 1: does here coming up in the playoffs once the Saints

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Speaker 1: actually punched their ticket and play that first round game.

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Speaker 1: Jared Cook has the tight end for this team, thirty receptions,

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Speaker 1: three hundred and seventy nine yards, and he has probably

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Speaker 1: picked up some of those touchdowns that Michael Thomas has

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Speaker 1: not had with six touchdowns on this team, which obviously

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Speaker 1: leads the team in receiving touchdowns. So I want to

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Speaker 1: dive into this defense day. They are the number one

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Speaker 1: defense against rushing touchdowns. They have only allowed eight rushing

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Speaker 1: touchdowns all season. I mean, that's really impressive from a

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Speaker 1: defensive front that's led by Cam Jordan. But Sheldon Rankins

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Speaker 1: in the middle of this defense. He is having one

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Speaker 1: of the best years UM out of out of any

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Speaker 1: interior defender in the NFL. And and we've seen it

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Speaker 1: in years past. UM the the effect that he's had

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Speaker 1: on the game, he's very similar to the way a

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Speaker 1: Kiem Hicks plays UM against the rushing attack, like Dalvin Cook.

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Speaker 1: Here he stuffs guys right up the middle UM and

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Speaker 1: they've They've just had an incredible year. Their second for

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Speaker 1: rushing first downs allowed UM, which is a crazy stat,

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Speaker 1: their fourth best in rushing yards allowed UM, and and

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Speaker 1: then the pass game fifth best verse passing yards, sixth

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Speaker 1: best in takeaways with twenty one turnovers. UM eighthan interceptions.

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Speaker 1: They have thirteen interceptions this year UM and one thing

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Speaker 1: is that they do allow a decent amount of passing

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Speaker 1: touchdowns in twentieth and passing touchdowns, So look for Kirk

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Speaker 1: Cousins to really try to air it out in this game. Jay,

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Speaker 1: that front four is absolutely nasty and having Cam Jordan,

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Speaker 1: Sheldon Rankins, david On Yamata, and then Trey Hendrickson. Trey

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Speaker 1: Hendrickson is having a crazy sneaky season two. He's tied

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Speaker 1: for first in the NFL and SAX. He's got twelve

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Speaker 1: and a half so far, and he's had three games

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Speaker 1: where he's had two sacks in a game. This front

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Speaker 1: four is going to be a meal for that offensive line.

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Speaker 1: We know what has happened this season when Kirk has

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Speaker 1: got pressured, that is when he's tended to make mistakes

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Speaker 1: at times. The fact that we put up four hundred

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Speaker 1: and seven yards of offense on that Bears defense was promising.

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Speaker 1: I think it should feel a little promising as well

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Speaker 1: versus the Saints defense. Given what you just went through,

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Speaker 1: it should feel very very similar. But the fact that

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Speaker 1: Cam Jordan got kicked out of that game last week

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Speaker 1: for throwing a punch at an offensive lineman. I just

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Speaker 1: think this Saints defensive runt especially is going to be

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Speaker 1: so dang surly uh that that we're gonna definitely have

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Speaker 1: our hands full. Um. The one thing was I saw

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Speaker 1: that Trey Hendrickson was limited participant on the injury report

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Speaker 1: that came out, and so if he's a little gimpy,

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Speaker 1: I'm curious to see what that might do for us.

432
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,239
Speaker 1: You know, maybe they'll start if if he can't go

433
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 1: for some reason and whoever's backup is, maybe they'll try

434
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 1: to focus on him and see if we can get

435
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 1: some more rushing lanes going that way with Delvin. But

436
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 1: if you're this offensive offensive line, you know, Kirk needs

437
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,920
Speaker 1: his time. These guys are all super athletic, and it's

438
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: going to be a tough game here on Friday. Like

439
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 1: I said, the linebacker play has improved as well, Damario

440
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,040
Speaker 1: Davis who's been there for years, but they also add

441
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,640
Speaker 1: Kwon Alexander this year who has been a big part

442
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,480
Speaker 1: of this defense as well. I'm looking at the cornerbacks.

443
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 1: We know the names the savvy veterans there in Genres Jenkins,

444
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,640
Speaker 1: Malcolm Jenkins, Uh, Marcus Williams and Marshawn Lattimore. So they

445
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 1: have some some really really good corners man corners and

446
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,840
Speaker 1: really good defensive backs on this team. You've laid out

447
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,400
Speaker 1: some of the keys that we need to pretty much

448
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,920
Speaker 1: follow to find a way to win this game. And

449
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: number one is something that I've been talking about all year.

450
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 1: It's Kirk getting the ball out quick. He needs to

451
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 1: avoid the sack. He needs to protect the football, and

452
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: he needs to not turn it over. And that's something

453
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 1: that's happened in the past couple of weeks. If he

454
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,160
Speaker 1: sacked five or six times again in this game, Jay,

455
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 1: I really don't like our chances. I think that's gonna

456
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 1: be tough. Like we said before, if they are as

457
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: good as they are with creating turnovers, whether it's fumbles,

458
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,399
Speaker 1: picks in the secondary, etc. I mean, this team, the

459
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,359
Speaker 1: Saints defense sack Mahomes four times last week, caused two

460
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: fumbles by him. Kurt's got to get the ball out

461
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,480
Speaker 1: this week or he's got to get in space and

462
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,879
Speaker 1: get some more time, especially if they bring some pressure

463
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: up the gut. And I think if you're the Vikings offense,

464
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 1: you know there's gonna be a lot of screens. There's

465
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,000
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of short routes and crossing routes

466
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,880
Speaker 1: in order to make sure that guys like Justin Jefferson

467
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: and Dalvin Cook can make some moves and joke some

468
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 1: guys out of their shoes and get those extra five

469
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,119
Speaker 1: six seven yards. One thing to think about was that

470
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: Tampa game. They took away the deep pass and they

471
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,640
Speaker 1: made us go across the metal and forced our tight

472
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 1: ends and those short intermediate routes to do more. That

473
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 1: just means then you have to convert on your first downs.

474
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: You have to control the time of possession, and that

475
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: means you're just going to have to be patient, and

476
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,440
Speaker 1: once you get into the red zone and those zones

477
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,600
Speaker 1: kind of squeeze down, you absolutely have to convert. Otherwise

478
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna be trading touchdowns for field goals and that's

479
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 1: where this team gets in trouble. So your next key

480
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 1: is stopping Alvin Kamara in the screen game. I think

481
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,480
Speaker 1: it's great because we know that Drew brees injuries and

482
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 1: everything that he's went through this year. I don't know

483
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: if they want to throw the ball down the field

484
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: as they normally have in years pass against the Vikings.

485
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,959
Speaker 1: So look for Alvin Kamara in the screen game and

486
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 1: also just as a flat out receiver, and we know

487
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: what he's capable of with those seven hundred plus yards

488
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 1: receiving at the running back position. And then another guy,

489
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 1: one of Size favorite players, Taysom Hill. He's still a

490
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 1: component in this offense. And that's a good point, Jay,

491
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 1: because this guy can do it all. He can line up.

492
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 1: We've seen him on Fantasy listed as a tight end,

493
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: We've seen him listed as a wide receiver or running back.

494
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,160
Speaker 1: We know what he's done at the quarterback position. But

495
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 1: we saw it in the playoff game last year. He

496
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: had a really explosive play against the Vikings defense. And

497
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 1: he's a guy that we still need to need to

498
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: focus on stopping. He's a Swiss army knife. I know

499
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: I've said it in the past. He's a Swiss army

500
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: knife for this team. I tongue in cheekly put Size favorite.

501
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,440
Speaker 1: I know it's I always sits there and kind of

502
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,120
Speaker 1: rolls aside, and he's just like, I don't know why,

503
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: I Taysom Hell always makes people pay. He's not that good,

504
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: I'd Taysom Hill is. He's good at a lot of things.

505
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: He might not be a great quarterback, he might not

506
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,199
Speaker 1: be a great running back, he might not be a

507
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,720
Speaker 1: great tight end, but he is a playmaker and he converts.

508
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: And so the fact that they had him step up

509
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: for Drew Brees while he was out with the rib injury.

510
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 1: And he's also currently ranked third on the team in

511
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 1: rushing for yards. He's got seventy five attempts, three ninety

512
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 1: eight rushing yards, six touchdowns, but he's also got seven fumbles.

513
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: So if he gets the ball, I think some of

514
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 1: our defensive guys going to be ripping and punching at

515
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 1: that ball trying to see if they can cause him

516
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 1: to have an issue there. He's only had six receptions

517
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: seventy four yards, but he does a receiving touchdown. Taysom Hill,

518
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: when he gets on that field, I think there's gonna

519
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: be a lot of eyeballs kind of looking out at

520
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: the corner of their eye, pay attention to what he's doing,

521
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 1: because when he's on the field, he can do it all.

522
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,479
Speaker 1: And I think as much as people want to give

523
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: him a hard time, or as people want to discount

524
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: this guy, Taysom Hill as a playmaker man, and he's

525
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: been scoring a bunch of this year, So keep your

526
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: eyes out for him. He's gonna make your day miserable.

527
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: I gotta feeling come Friday, absolutely, and just going through

528
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,439
Speaker 1: the remaining keys to the game here. Controlling time of

529
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: possession forty one plus minutes of the Kansas City Chiefs

530
00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: offense last week against this team. Clearly it resulted in

531
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: a win with New Orleans only having the ball for

532
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 1: eighteen plus minutes. So the thing that stands out in

533
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:07,959
Speaker 1: some of the games that we've played this team and

534
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,959
Speaker 1: really had successes, we control the time of possession, and

535
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: we don't let Drew Brees get going early. I think

536
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: in the Minneapolis Miracle game he had a turnover early

537
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,479
Speaker 1: in the game. We sacked him a few times, stopped

538
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: him on some three and outs, and it wasn't until

539
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: the second half that he really started to attack the

540
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 1: Vikings team and eventually take the lead in that game,

541
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,159
Speaker 1: which we then gained back on a miraculous play. But

542
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 1: and the same thing went for the game last year

543
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. We stopped him early, the Vikings took

544
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 1: advantage on the ground, they controlled the time of possession

545
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: and they had to pretty much battle back in that

546
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 1: game as well, which we again had a miraculous win.

547
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 1: So that's the plan of attack when you're going against

548
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:56,120
Speaker 1: Drew brees Back for the twenty twenty season is Pass

549
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,320
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550
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: weekly life. End up bea digital trading cards that are

551
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: randomly given to you. Users can elect to keep the

552
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Speaker 1: first card sent to them and insert that player into

553
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554
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555
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556
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 1: Fans can win weekly and season long prizes. For information,

557
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: visit Vikings dot com slash Pass or Play. We have

558
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,680
Speaker 1: a bunch of interviews coming up for you on this

559
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings podcast. But first, it's Game Day. Any day

560
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,360
Speaker 1: play the new Vikings scratch game from the Minnesota Lottery

561
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,080
Speaker 1: with a top prize of one hundred thousand dollars. Are

562
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563
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Speaker 1: mn lottery dot com. All right, we're moving forward as

564
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 1: team reporter Eric Smith sat down with his counterpart at

565
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints. It's on day Shazier from the

566
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints. Let's take a listen to that interview.

567
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 1: I'm Viking team reporter Eric Smith, and I'm now joined

568
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: by John de Shazer of the New Orleans Things. John,

569
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: thanks for coming on today. How are you. I'm doing great, Eric,

570
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you guys having me. Yeah, no problem.

571
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 1: So first things first, as we get ready for a

572
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 1: Friday game on Christmas Day, how did future Hall of

573
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,200
Speaker 1: Famer Drew Brees look Sunday in his return? I know

574
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 1: he'd missed I think four game with them rib injuries.

575
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: He looked rusty. He did not look like the Drew

576
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 1: Brees were accustomed to see. Now, some of that probably

577
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: is attributable to Michael Thomas not playing. He's number one receiver,

578
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: he's on injured reserve, he won't play the rest of

579
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: the regular season, and so some of the targets he was,

580
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: you know going forward on Sunday, little Jordan Humphrey and

581
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 1: Juwan Johnson or not guys that Drew Brees is accustomed

582
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 1: to throw in the football too, so that chemistry was lacking.

583
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: But you know, still he did look rusty. There were

584
00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: some throws that were accustomed to see and Drew Brees

585
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 1: make and complete that he didn't make and complete and

586
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 1: so you know, he said he's still working back. He did,

587
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,920
Speaker 1: you know, experience some discomfort, So he's still working through

588
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 1: that process. In the NFL, unfortunately, it's very unforgiving. You

589
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: can work through the process, but when you do it

590
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 1: in the middle of a game against the team like

591
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 1: Kansas City, sometimes the process cannot look as smooth as

592
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: you would like for it to look. So hopefully he

593
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,680
Speaker 1: will be a little bit more Drew Brees like on Friday,

594
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 1: you meant to kind of being smooth for a while there.

595
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: You know, it was pretty smooth sailing for the Saints.

596
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,120
Speaker 1: You know, they had won nine in a row, but

597
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 1: they've actually lost two straight to Philadelphia and then Kansas City.

598
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,720
Speaker 1: So is there any reathing for panic with Tampa Bay

599
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: only one game back in the in the NFC South,

600
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,800
Speaker 1: or you know, did the same kind of expecting to

601
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 1: get back on track this week. Well, the fact of

602
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 1: the matter is Saints fans always panting, so they never

603
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 1: believe the Saint should lose a game. Now, internally, I

604
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,000
Speaker 1: don't believe there, I don't believe. I know there's no

605
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 1: panic because the Saints understand that, you know, they still

606
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: control what they can control it. They win a game,

607
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,280
Speaker 1: they win the NFC South Division, they guarantee themselves a

608
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 1: home game, So they're not necessarily worried so much about

609
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay as they are with their own performance these

610
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 1: last couple of games. The Philadelphia game one that they

611
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,560
Speaker 1: didn't they admit they didn't show up ready to play

612
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: from the beginning, down seventeen nothing at halftime. That's not

613
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 1: who the Saints are. And then this game against Kansas City,

614
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 1: the defense showed up and played Kansas City. You say

615
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 1: the other gave up. They gave up thirty two points

616
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 1: and they gave up four hundred yards, But I'm telling

617
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 1: you they were on the field for ninety two plays.

618
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: That's about as much as you can expect for a

619
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 1: defense to do against that Kansas City offense. So there's

620
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 1: no internal panning. Now. Fans, of course want to see

621
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,520
Speaker 1: the team go fifteen to one to sixteen and oh

622
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,440
Speaker 1: and they're only going to be satisfied with the Super Bowl.

623
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: But the team understands, you know, you go through patches

624
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,800
Speaker 1: during the season, they're still in control of winning the

625
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: division and that's the main thing. Right now. You mentioned

626
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 1: the New Orleans defense, you know, they ranked third overall

627
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 1: with you know, I think three hundred and sixth yards

628
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,959
Speaker 1: allowed per game. They're six with shift over twenty one

629
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: points allowed per game. You know that defense has been

630
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 1: good for a while. But what made that unit so

631
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 1: good in twenty twenty And who's the name that Vikings

632
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 1: fans should watch out for on Friday? Well, they're good

633
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: because they stop the run. Up until these last couple

634
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,960
Speaker 1: of games, they've stopped the run, and you know it's

635
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: the NFL on Minnesota has been able to do it

636
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: over the years. We've seen other good teams do it.

637
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 1: When you stop the run and you make your opponent

638
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 1: one dimensional, now you can kind of dictate what happens

639
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: because now you're in a position where you can just

640
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 1: rush the pass or you can play coverage and you

641
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 1: can hopefully win the game that way. So they've been

642
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 1: able to make teams one dimensional by stopping the run.

643
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,640
Speaker 1: And that's been the achilles these last couple of games,

644
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 1: these couple of losses where Philadelphia ran for I think

645
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,920
Speaker 1: two hundred and forty six yards and then you come

646
00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: back in Kansas City against another one hundred and sixty

647
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy that's not who this Saints defense has been,

648
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,760
Speaker 1: and that's not what this Saints defense wants to be.

649
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: So they need to get back to stopping to run.

650
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,720
Speaker 1: If you're looking for a name, watch out for CJ.

651
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 1: Gardener Johnson, second year defensive back. A feisty dude, the

652
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 1: type guy that if he's on your team, you love him.

653
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 1: If you're playing against him, you hate his guts. He's

654
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: one of those guys he can rile up and rally

655
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,680
Speaker 1: his teammates because he plays extremely physical. You know, he

656
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 1: chirps a little bit with when he chirps a lot

657
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,760
Speaker 1: when he's on the field, but he backs it up.

658
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 1: He's really good as a slot corner, even though you

659
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,959
Speaker 1: know he's kind of a hybrid I got. You know,

660
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 1: they list him just as a defensive back because he's

661
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,320
Speaker 1: not really a safety. He can do corner things and

662
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,440
Speaker 1: he is really able to put him in a box,

663
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: you can rush him, you can do just about anything

664
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: you want to do with him as a defensive back.

665
00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 1: The Vikings and things obviously know each other well, you know,

666
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 1: especially when it comes to the same defense and the

667
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: Vikings offense. You know, from that playoff game a year ago,

668
00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 1: pretty much everyone is back for Minnesota's offense. And but

669
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,640
Speaker 1: the Vikings have added Justin Jefferson. You know if he

670
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,640
Speaker 1: if he the one guy the defense is gonna key on,

671
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 1: or the Dalvin Cook who's sort of that one guy

672
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,920
Speaker 1: that Sean Payton is, it's really focusing on. Well, Justin

673
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,040
Speaker 1: Jefferson is fantastic and probably the NFL offensive rookie of

674
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 1: the year. Uh. And we know Adam feeling Is has

675
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,360
Speaker 1: been a thorn in the Saints side for several years.

676
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 1: Big target, great hands, great route runner and a speed.

677
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:28,520
Speaker 1: You know, he can do everything you need a receiver

678
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:30,600
Speaker 1: to do. But the Saints of key and on Dalvin

679
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,520
Speaker 1: Cook because Dalvin Cook is you know when they say

680
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:37,640
Speaker 1: let Dalvin Cook, they mean um. He is a fantastic runner.

681
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,360
Speaker 1: He was the key to the playoff game offensively for

682
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,360
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. If Dalvin Cook is on the field,

683
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 1: he's the key to what they want to do offensively

684
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 1: because he keeps some balance. Just the threat of him,

685
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: even if you can stop him from running, you have

686
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,400
Speaker 1: to devote so much attention to him that it should

687
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,759
Speaker 1: free up receiver. So he's the guy that has the

688
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,040
Speaker 1: Saint's attention, especially after giving up back to back games

689
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 1: where they've allowed more than four hundred yards rushing. They

690
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:04,760
Speaker 1: feel like they've got to be able to do something

691
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,319
Speaker 1: with Dalvin Cook. If you can't stop him, you got

692
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,720
Speaker 1: to be able to contain him, control him somehow another

693
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,799
Speaker 1: you can't let him have the big explosive plays that

694
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 1: he's pop off against so many teams. Now, that's a

695
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,720
Speaker 1: whole lot easier said than done, but you know, he's

696
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 1: where it begins if you're a defender against Minnesota. Last

697
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,799
Speaker 1: question before we get you out here, what does this

698
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 1: game mean to New Orleans? You know, do they want

699
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,200
Speaker 1: revenge for you know, the recent you know, heartbreaking playoff

700
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:32,799
Speaker 1: losses to the Vikings or kind of like what you

701
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,080
Speaker 1: talked about earlier. Are they focused more on the president

702
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,879
Speaker 1: trying to win the NFC South and maybe even catch

703
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,000
Speaker 1: green Bay for the NFT's number one seed. They're focused

704
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 1: on the President. I don't necessarily know that they believe

705
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,279
Speaker 1: now that they can catch Green Bay because they need

706
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 1: so much help. And that's the thing. You don't want

707
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 1: to put yourself in the position of needing that much help.

708
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 1: And so you know, now they're can concentrating on what

709
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 1: they can control, but they control is winning a game Friday,

710
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,200
Speaker 1: or if it comes to it, winning the last game

711
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 1: of the regular season and still win the NFC South.

712
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,439
Speaker 1: That's what they can control. They did have the number

713
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,759
Speaker 1: one seed, they lost a couple of games, so now

714
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 1: they don't have control of that. So that's one of

715
00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,239
Speaker 1: those things where they can't really worry about. Do they

716
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:12,600
Speaker 1: want some revenge? Of course they'll say no. But look,

717
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,359
Speaker 1: anybody who played in that playoff game, anybody who played

718
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,839
Speaker 1: in the Minnesota miracle, you know you feel some type

719
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,319
Speaker 1: of way. I mean, you're human. I mean you want

720
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: to beat that team that eliminated you from the playoffs.

721
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,799
Speaker 1: Even though it's a regular season game, you still want

722
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,200
Speaker 1: to beat that team. And I don't care who you are. Yes,

723
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:30,360
Speaker 1: did the next team on the schedule, Yes, the Saints

724
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,439
Speaker 1: need to win, but it happens to be Minnesota, and

725
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 1: those guys can't feel great about what Minnesota has been

726
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:40,120
Speaker 1: able to complicate accomplish against them the last couple of years.

727
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: So you know, I'm sure they'll say it's not a

728
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 1: rivalry game. Sean Payton and Mike Zimmer have the utmost

729
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 1: respectful one another. Those two guys are as close a

730
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 1: friends as head coaches can be. But player wise, of course,

731
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: the Saints want to win this one, and yeah, it

732
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:55,919
Speaker 1: goes hand in hand. You win it and you get

733
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,360
Speaker 1: the double. You get the double byproduct you beat a

734
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,799
Speaker 1: team that eliminated you from the playoff and you win

735
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 1: your division. All right, John, that was great. Thanks for

736
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,440
Speaker 1: joining us. Hey, I appreciate it. Thank you guys for

737
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,920
Speaker 1: having me. All right, from one interview to another, I

738
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:13,319
Speaker 1: had the chance to sit down with former Viking linebacker

739
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,760
Speaker 1: Ben Lieber and current Viking analyst on the Vikings Radio

740
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 1: Network and he makes his appearances each week on the

741
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 1: Vikings Postgame Report podcast. Let's listen to Ben Lieber on

742
00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:29,040
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty Minnesota Vikings season. Welcome back to the

743
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings Podcast and thanks to our friends at Microsoft Surface,

744
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,360
Speaker 1: we get to see Ben Leeber's gorgeous face here on

745
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. So thank you Ben for joining us.

746
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,839
Speaker 1: And man, we have a lot to cover today as

747
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:47,240
Speaker 1: the Vikings lost a tough game to the Chicago Bears

748
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 1: last week. What are your overall thoughts just on this

749
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 1: season and what we have to look forward to on

750
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:55,880
Speaker 1: Christmas Day. Well, first of all, Chris, you're making me

751
00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,040
Speaker 1: blush with that intro. I gotcha. I gotta give love

752
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 1: to Microsoft Surf. Yeah, it's what you said about me

753
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,799
Speaker 1: that made me blush. You know, it's amazing what just

754
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: a few a few days. You know that we always

755
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,279
Speaker 1: have that twenty four hour rule in football where you

756
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:16,160
Speaker 1: don't make any don't make any like rash judgments and

757
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,480
Speaker 1: kind of let your emotions calm down, whether it's a

758
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:21,760
Speaker 1: win or a loss, because you have to to critically

759
00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:26,080
Speaker 1: analyze everything from a business standpoint and from a true

760
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,919
Speaker 1: football standpoint, and sometimes when you analyze things right after

761
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 1: a game, you're just going off pure emotion. And that's

762
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:35,480
Speaker 1: kind of the way it's it's always been for me.

763
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,759
Speaker 1: You know. When we talked after the game, you know,

764
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,600
Speaker 1: I was probably more upset after the game and disappointed

765
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: because I really think that we had a team that

766
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,880
Speaker 1: should have won that game, you know, although we didn't

767
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 1: play well enough to win. I obviously understood that. But

768
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 1: now that we're a couple of days removed, I think

769
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,200
Speaker 1: I just have this sense of just acceptance. You know,

770
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: I think this team did a great job the whole

771
00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:05,840
Speaker 1: year of just kind of putting together some quality wins

772
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 1: and keeping us as the fan base engaged and they

773
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,280
Speaker 1: were competitive. They had some fourth quarter runs that were awesome.

774
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,320
Speaker 1: You know, Kirk and the offense look great at times,

775
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,359
Speaker 1: but let's be honest. I mean, there was deficiencies on

776
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 1: both sides that I think just I think all just

777
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,000
Speaker 1: came to fruition in that game on Sunday. And that's

778
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 1: kind of where I'm at now, is like, I know

779
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: that we have a couple of games left in the season,

780
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:31,879
Speaker 1: but the Vikings kind of are who we I think

781
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:33,840
Speaker 1: we thought they were at the start of the season,

782
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:35,839
Speaker 1: and maybe we lied to ourselves at times about who

783
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:40,400
Speaker 1: they could be, but they're in They're in a realistic

784
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:44,359
Speaker 1: situation based on where we are talent wise, especial in defense. Yeah,

785
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,720
Speaker 1: so they moved to six and eight on the season

786
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,399
Speaker 1: and your two games behind the Arizona Cardinals with two

787
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,640
Speaker 1: games to go. If we're looking at any sort of

788
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,840
Speaker 1: lottery scenario here where we make a run at the playoffs,

789
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:01,239
Speaker 1: it would be the Cardinals losing out, Vikings winning out,

790
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 1: and then the Bears also have to lose a game

791
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,720
Speaker 1: as well. So there is a scenario where the Vikings

792
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 1: get in. Do you see that any chance of that

793
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,680
Speaker 1: happening for our guys here. No, not at all. And

794
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 1: I know this is the Vikings podcast, and I realized that,

795
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: you know, we're in the business of selling selling hope.

796
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 1: And that's fine. I mean, the way you laid it

797
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 1: out there, we have what a three or four percent

798
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:25,120
Speaker 1: chance of actually making the playoffs. You know, we still

799
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,399
Speaker 1: have to take control and take care of the games

800
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 1: that are in front of us as far as the

801
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: Vikings go, and you need some help from everybody else.

802
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,960
Speaker 1: But you know, from my perspective, if I was a player,

803
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:37,959
Speaker 1: I would say there's no chance. I mean I would

804
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:39,520
Speaker 1: go into the I would go into the next two

805
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:44,359
Speaker 1: games of let's play competitive football on a personal level.

806
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 1: Let's not embarrass yourself on national TV on Friday. Let's

807
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,799
Speaker 1: try to get out of the season healthy. I think

808
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:56,120
Speaker 1: you get into self perseverance mode and preservation, self preservation

809
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,080
Speaker 1: mode of just trying to take care of yourself. And

810
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 1: I think that's yeah, that's human nature. I mean, you're

811
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,920
Speaker 1: gonna go out there and you're gonna play high competitive football.

812
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:06,879
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you're gonna see

813
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:08,880
Speaker 1: some guys probably turning hits down. You're gonna see some

814
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:10,799
Speaker 1: guys doing things that make sure that they take care

815
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: of their body because they don't want to be in

816
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 1: the training room ball offseason. That's the reality of where

817
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,400
Speaker 1: we're at. And if you can do all of that

818
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,800
Speaker 1: and still win a game, awesome. And if if Arizona

819
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 1: loses in Chicago loses, that's great. You still have to

820
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 1: go go out and beat the Lions in Detroit on

821
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,359
Speaker 1: the following weekend, and you still have to have some

822
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:31,879
Speaker 1: other help. So you're gonna say you can say all

823
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,000
Speaker 1: you can say, all the positive, hopeful things that you want.

824
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,640
Speaker 1: Me personally, it's over twenty twenty season to me is over.

825
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: Heading into this game on Christmas Day, you have a

826
00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:42,839
Speaker 1: national audience, a bunch of young players, especially on the

827
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. So how are these guys

828
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 1: getting up for this game this week? Like you're a player,

829
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:50,319
Speaker 1: take us in the mindset of an NFL player going

830
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,319
Speaker 1: into this game on Christmas Day? Well, you know, even

831
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:55,279
Speaker 1: though they're young, they're still gonna go through the same

832
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 1: roller coaster of emotions where they they thought forecasting going

833
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:01,799
Speaker 1: into the last weekend that all right, we take care

834
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 1: of Chicago and we have an absolutely one hundred percent

835
00:42:05,239 --> 00:42:08,400
Speaker 1: meaningful game on Christmas Day and what a game to

836
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,960
Speaker 1: go out and hopefully win that game and showcase myself.

837
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:13,680
Speaker 1: And now they have to fight that emotion of okay,

838
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,240
Speaker 1: the season's lost. Um, You've got to go through that emotion.

839
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 1: And then you also have to realize, hey, as a

840
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 1: young player on a national stage, I can go out

841
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 1: and you know, put put myself in the Justin Jefferson

842
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,560
Speaker 1: world of maybe I can become a household name. You know,

843
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,799
Speaker 1: maybe Jeff Glide can go out and show people why

844
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,800
Speaker 1: he's got such a high ceiling. Same thing with Cam Danzler,

845
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 1: and and so there's there. You have to look at

846
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: those opportunities because those are real. Because on the flip

847
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,879
Speaker 1: side of that, you go out and embarrass yourself, people

848
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,120
Speaker 1: are going to remember that, you know, that's the first

849
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,640
Speaker 1: time that you've heard this name in a in an

850
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 1: NFL game. Because there's gonna be millions of people that

851
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:55,359
Speaker 1: have not watched the Vikings play this whole season, and

852
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,040
Speaker 1: and they want to see what Dalvin Cook is about.

853
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:00,319
Speaker 1: They want to see what Kirk Cousin's about. They want

854
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,360
Speaker 1: to see who Justin Jefferson is like is he is

855
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:04,720
Speaker 1: he really living up to the hype, and as fair

856
00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: or unfair as that is to judge somebody off of

857
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 1: one game, that's what people are going to do when

858
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:13,479
Speaker 1: they look at these young these young rookies. And so

859
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:16,040
Speaker 1: you have to quickly put all those things that I

860
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:20,279
Speaker 1: mentioned about what happened on Sunday, put that to bed, Refocus, recalibrate,

861
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,760
Speaker 1: find a new motivation to not get embarrassed and actually

862
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,920
Speaker 1: showcase yourself. You spoke about a lot of these young rookies,

863
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:29,040
Speaker 1: and I want to ask you what rookie on the

864
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:31,960
Speaker 1: Vikings defense has really impressed you the most. I want

865
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,600
Speaker 1: you to pick one, because there's a bunch of them

866
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 1: who have really grown over the course of the season.

867
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 1: But which one has impressed you the most with his

868
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:43,040
Speaker 1: girl this year? I would say Danceller as much as

869
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:46,279
Speaker 1: I think Gladney has a high ceiling as well, and

870
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 1: I think is probably more athletically talented than Cam. If

871
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,520
Speaker 1: Cam hadn't had been in the lineup every week of

872
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,920
Speaker 1: the season, and he had been dependable and hadn't gotten injured,

873
00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: I think that you would have, you know, twice as

874
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 1: manner options. I think you'd have twice as many game

875
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 1: changing plays and difference making plays. I just think for

876
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: him it comes down in really whatever profession, like you

877
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,799
Speaker 1: have to make the plays that are presented in front

878
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,359
Speaker 1: of you, but you also have to create plays. You know,

879
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,160
Speaker 1: look what look at Anthony Harris did a year ago.

880
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:24,520
Speaker 1: He had some interceptions in his in twenty nineteen that

881
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:28,360
Speaker 1: he created himself, you know, whether whether it was moving

882
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:31,800
Speaker 1: around pre snap, disguising things, putting himself in a different position,

883
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,840
Speaker 1: and then just being a football player playing instinctful football,

884
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,400
Speaker 1: jumping a route that maybe you shouldn't have any business

885
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 1: jumping that route because that's not your responsibility, but you're

886
00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 1: going to go out and make a play. Cam has

887
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:47,399
Speaker 1: that ability. He's shown that ability already that you know what,

888
00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:48,960
Speaker 1: I'm going to jump in front of this tied end

889
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,120
Speaker 1: and make this interception. You know, I know that my

890
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: technique tells me to be in a trail position, you know,

891
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:55,560
Speaker 1: being a position to knock this ball down. But if

892
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: I see something in that instant and I can go

893
00:44:58,080 --> 00:44:59,839
Speaker 1: make a play, I'm going to go make the play.

894
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:03,120
Speaker 1: And I don't think that we've had a rookie outside

895
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:06,800
Speaker 1: of Justin Jefferson that has done that, that has really

896
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:09,719
Speaker 1: shown that, Hey, I'm just gonna go make a play.

897
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,520
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play with football instincts. So defensively, i'd have

898
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:19,160
Speaker 1: to say Cam. Now. Obviously, offensively, Justin Jefferson is out

899
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,680
Speaker 1: of this world. I mean he almost forget that he

900
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:25,160
Speaker 1: is a rookie. You know, when you think about rookies

901
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:27,080
Speaker 1: on this team, you're like, my god, we've heard his

902
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 1: name called so often and people will talk about him

903
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: so much, you forget that he's a rookie and congratulations

904
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,960
Speaker 1: to him going the Pro Bowl. So you know, obviously,

905
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:42,320
Speaker 1: offensive guy is Justin. Defensively it's it's Cam. Yeah. Obviously

906
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:44,440
Speaker 1: there's a lot of positives to look forward to for

907
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,000
Speaker 1: the Vikings with all of these draft picks. I mean,

908
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,960
Speaker 1: you have Justin Jefferson. Literally only two rookies in the

909
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,160
Speaker 1: NFL make the Pro Bowl, and the other one was

910
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:54,879
Speaker 1: Chase Young who went really high in the draft. So

911
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson really impressive this year. On Danceler, I think

912
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:01,839
Speaker 1: it's impressive the way he had those two interceptions in

913
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,560
Speaker 1: big moments. The past couple of weeks, Vikings had a

914
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:08,280
Speaker 1: team that didn't have any interceptions from their cornerback position

915
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,680
Speaker 1: before Dancer made that play. A few weeks ago, so, um,

916
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 1: definitely a lot to look forward to. But now I

917
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:17,440
Speaker 1: want to take it back to your experiences going to

918
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:22,400
Speaker 1: that Mercedes Been Superdome, because I know that there's players

919
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,640
Speaker 1: out there that say it's like the loudest place in

920
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:28,040
Speaker 1: the NFL to play. And I know Christmas Day it's

921
00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 1: not going to be the same with with COVID and

922
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,000
Speaker 1: stuff going on. But what were your experiences playing in

923
00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:37,240
Speaker 1: that place? And just obviously the Viking Saints rivalry is

924
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,600
Speaker 1: has become I mean we've had their number as of late,

925
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 1: that's for sure. You know. I know a lot of

926
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,160
Speaker 1: Vikings fans don't want to hear this, but it's it's

927
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:48,160
Speaker 1: the best. It's the best dome experience, inside stadium experience

928
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,799
Speaker 1: that you can you can go through. Um, And that

929
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:53,920
Speaker 1: it all starts really the second that you land. You know,

930
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,080
Speaker 1: it's it's just a different city. I mean, you know,

931
00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:00,720
Speaker 1: they pride themselves on being a on a convention events

932
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,160
Speaker 1: driven city and they know how to throw a party. Um.

933
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:06,239
Speaker 1: And and especially if you look at some of the

934
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: bigger games, you know, look at the NFC Championship game.

935
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 1: The moment that we landed in New Orleans, you can

936
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,040
Speaker 1: just feel the football energy and that was all around

937
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:20,520
Speaker 1: town and and as as great as the Viking fans are, um,

938
00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:23,400
Speaker 1: Minneapolis is just is not built like that. You know,

939
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,000
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot of people that have interests outside

940
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,759
Speaker 1: of football. And for the core passionate Viking fans that

941
00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:32,759
Speaker 1: we have, yeah, they can be loud and boisterous. But

942
00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:35,520
Speaker 1: when a whole city and really a whole state kind

943
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:39,160
Speaker 1: of gravitates and rallies behind one team, um, it definitely

944
00:47:39,239 --> 00:47:41,600
Speaker 1: is something that's palpable and you can feel. And then

945
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:43,839
Speaker 1: you get to outside the stadium on game day, I

946
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:48,960
Speaker 1: mean it's nuts. I mean and by sheer number of people.

947
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:52,799
Speaker 1: You know, our Viking fans are loud, but they can

948
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,120
Speaker 1: pack in what ten to twelve thousand more people in

949
00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:58,520
Speaker 1: that stadium, So you get you get a passionate fan

950
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:00,920
Speaker 1: base that's that's loud and crazy, and you and you,

951
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,720
Speaker 1: and you multiply that by by ten or fifteen thousand

952
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 1: more people, it's just a louder environment. I mean there's

953
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:10,399
Speaker 1: there's a sound, and there's a there's a buzz that

954
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:14,720
Speaker 1: that truly pulsates through your body that is unlike anything

955
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:17,480
Speaker 1: that you'll ever feel. So it's awesome. It is an

956
00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:21,000
Speaker 1: awesome experience. I just you know, I wish that in

957
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,800
Speaker 1: my experience that we saw more of shedding their fans

958
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,080
Speaker 1: up than then listen to them cheer. Um. But it's

959
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:29,480
Speaker 1: unfortunate that it's gonna be a Christmas Day game. It

960
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:32,879
Speaker 1: would normally be rowdy and crazy, and are the young

961
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,160
Speaker 1: the young rookies on this team would get to feel

962
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,960
Speaker 1: that experience, but unfortunately they can't. They can't do it

963
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,280
Speaker 1: this year. Yeah, that's for sure. Hopefully it's a positive

964
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:44,719
Speaker 1: experience for some of these young rookies going against one

965
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:47,120
Speaker 1: of the best teams in the NFL on Christmas Day.

966
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:49,759
Speaker 1: But um, last question, I just want to ask you

967
00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:53,160
Speaker 1: just looking forward, because we were joking before the show

968
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 1: about how every odd year the Vikings have been making

969
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,239
Speaker 1: the playoffs since twenty fifteen, and every even year, which

970
00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:03,520
Speaker 1: obviously twenty twenty is a unique year in itself, we

971
00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:06,319
Speaker 1: have not made the playoffs and finished around this five

972
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:11,800
Speaker 1: hundred realm. So I'm thinking you get Danielle hunterback, Michael Pierce,

973
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:15,920
Speaker 1: Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks healthy again. You have all the

974
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 1: pieces coming together with the young guys we were just

975
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 1: talking about, and I don't know about you, but I am.

976
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:25,440
Speaker 1: I have a high expectations for the year twenty twenty one.

977
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:29,160
Speaker 1: Hopefully the whole world is different, um and the Vikings

978
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 1: are not three and five in an empty US Bank

979
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:35,360
Speaker 1: Stadium for a year. So what are your expectations going

980
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:37,439
Speaker 1: forward for this Vikings team? You know, for all those

981
00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:39,759
Speaker 1: things that you mentioned, getting getting those players, those core

982
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:41,920
Speaker 1: players back are going to be huge, you know, because

983
00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:44,759
Speaker 1: you look at I look at the totality of the year,

984
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:49,239
Speaker 1: and we didn't fail offensively. We were We had an

985
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:52,360
Speaker 1: offense that was that is explosive, puts up a lot

986
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:57,000
Speaker 1: of points, can play winning football. Despite the fact that

987
00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:00,719
Speaker 1: we can, we can complain about you know, sometimes the

988
00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:02,880
Speaker 1: offensive line isn't as strong as we'd like them to be.

989
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:04,840
Speaker 1: Are there gonna be new pieces and there's gonna be

990
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:08,640
Speaker 1: some guys mixed in and around to better our offensive team. Absolutely,

991
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:11,480
Speaker 1: that happens every year. So I think that the foundation

992
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:14,400
Speaker 1: that's been laid in twenty twenty on offense, is this

993
00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:17,759
Speaker 1: going to get better in twenty twenty one. Now defensively,

994
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:20,760
Speaker 1: you add just those guys back that you talked about,

995
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:22,400
Speaker 1: it's a whole different defense, you know. I think that

996
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:24,800
Speaker 1: we can stop the run better, we put ourselves in

997
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:28,759
Speaker 1: better third managable situations. As a defense, I think our

998
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:33,840
Speaker 1: scoring defense dramatically improves and thus with the same offense

999
00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:36,600
Speaker 1: a better defense, we have more more wins. And we're

1000
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:41,120
Speaker 1: talking about playoffs now in an odd year in twenty

1001
00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:43,759
Speaker 1: twenty one. So we'll stay we'll stay on trend with

1002
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:49,319
Speaker 1: that cyclical nature. But I do think that we are

1003
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:53,600
Speaker 1: going to have a much better football team now I haven't.

1004
00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:54,960
Speaker 1: I mean, we don't know what the schedule is going

1005
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:57,839
Speaker 1: to be. Obviously, we don't know what draft picks we're

1006
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:00,600
Speaker 1: going to get. I would like to see some free agents,

1007
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:04,640
Speaker 1: uh come into play, but we we are going to

1008
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,960
Speaker 1: in the short term half half to as an organization,

1009
00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:10,879
Speaker 1: makes some tough decisions. You know. As of right now,

1010
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:12,799
Speaker 1: we're still up against the cap when it comes to

1011
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:17,000
Speaker 1: salary cap. Hopefully that number changes and it and it

1012
00:51:17,040 --> 00:51:19,279
Speaker 1: gets bumped up for what the projections are, so we're

1013
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:23,200
Speaker 1: not staring at a situation where over the cap either way.

1014
00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:25,320
Speaker 1: I think you're going to see some veteran players that

1015
00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 1: that we've we've liked here in the Purple probably have

1016
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,600
Speaker 1: to get released and let go. So it's it's going

1017
00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:34,959
Speaker 1: to be in the short term, I think a tough

1018
00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:38,279
Speaker 1: offseason because I don't see how you can keep some

1019
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:40,359
Speaker 1: of the veteran guys on the team that are making

1020
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,719
Speaker 1: a lot of money. Um, you know, one of the

1021
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 1: guys that you mentioned already may or may not be

1022
00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:49,839
Speaker 1: a team because the salary cap purposes. Um. So I'm

1023
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,320
Speaker 1: really excited and looking forward to I'm from a business

1024
00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:55,800
Speaker 1: standpoint where where we go the next two or three months. Yeah, absolutely,

1025
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:58,080
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a fun offseason. The track can't wait

1026
00:51:58,120 --> 00:52:01,520
Speaker 1: to ask you about all the draft a draftees coming

1027
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:06,439
Speaker 1: up after covering college football all year, So we appreciate it. Ben,

1028
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:08,840
Speaker 1: thanks again for joining us, and thanks to our friends

1029
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:12,799
Speaker 1: at Microsoft's Surface for bringing you to us visually and

1030
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:16,920
Speaker 1: me making you blush on this show. You have a

1031
00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:20,960
Speaker 1: way of doing that, Chris, all right, Well, thanks as

1032
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,279
Speaker 1: always to Ben Lieber. I mean he just gives me

1033
00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:27,560
Speaker 1: input that that I learned something new every day when

1034
00:52:27,600 --> 00:52:29,160
Speaker 1: I talked to Ben, so that that was a really

1035
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:32,000
Speaker 1: good conversation. But um, looking forward, we have a couple

1036
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:34,959
Speaker 1: of notes here as we kind of wrap the bow

1037
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:38,400
Speaker 1: on the Viking season. The Pro Bowl was announced this week.

1038
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:42,160
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook makes his second straight Pro Bowl, leading the

1039
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:45,600
Speaker 1: fan voting for running backs with almost almost three hundred

1040
00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:49,440
Speaker 1: thousand votes, the second highest vote total in the NFC,

1041
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:53,920
Speaker 1: trailing only Russell Wilson. Clearly, he's a huge part of

1042
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:57,280
Speaker 1: everything the Vikings do. U with that those fifteen rushing

1043
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,840
Speaker 1: touchdowns and over fourteen hundred yards this season, it's pretty

1044
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:02,960
Speaker 1: amazing the things that he was able to do. Yeah,

1045
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:05,799
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak was very public and just saying that Delvin

1046
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:07,719
Speaker 1: is a huge part of the team. It's just been

1047
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:09,520
Speaker 1: fun for me to be around him, and I'm very

1048
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:11,920
Speaker 1: fortunate to be around some really good ones along the way.

1049
00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:13,879
Speaker 1: It's fun to watch this guy work and get ready

1050
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:16,400
Speaker 1: to play, and he's special and I think anybody who's

1051
00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:18,560
Speaker 1: watched any of his games this year knows how much

1052
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:20,680
Speaker 1: he means to this offense. It's been great to see

1053
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:23,560
Speaker 1: Delvin have a great season, get rewarded with a good contract,

1054
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:25,919
Speaker 1: and to see him actually pay it off here during

1055
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:28,520
Speaker 1: this twenty twenty season. So it's been it's been fun

1056
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,680
Speaker 1: and I'm just happy and proud of him that he's

1057
00:53:31,719 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 1: had this success. In the recognition for the twenty twenty season,

1058
00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:38,080
Speaker 1: same ghost for Justin Jefferson, who just had an outstanding season.

1059
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:40,840
Speaker 1: We've went through all the numbers earlier in the show.

1060
00:53:41,239 --> 00:53:45,920
Speaker 1: Seventy three receptions and seven touchdowns over a thousand receiving

1061
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,560
Speaker 1: yards as a rookie. It's just amazing. Each week we

1062
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:52,800
Speaker 1: just talk about the next milestone that he's passed, and

1063
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:56,800
Speaker 1: he's at the point where he's passing Randy Moss records

1064
00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:01,040
Speaker 1: from that magical nineteen ninety eight season. So it's just

1065
00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:03,319
Speaker 1: amazing what Justin has been able to do. And the

1066
00:54:03,360 --> 00:54:07,000
Speaker 1: fact that he is the only rookie Pro bowler on

1067
00:54:07,040 --> 00:54:10,279
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the ball, joined by Chase Young

1068
00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:13,120
Speaker 1: as the second rookie Pro bowler. It's it's definitely an

1069
00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:16,680
Speaker 1: amazing thing. So looking forward, we have this game on

1070
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:20,040
Speaker 1: Christmas Day against the New Orleans Saints, and Jay, I

1071
00:54:20,080 --> 00:54:22,280
Speaker 1: just want to ask you if you have any last

1072
00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:25,680
Speaker 1: thoughts heading into this game. Now. I think we all

1073
00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:27,600
Speaker 1: know what's at stake here. We all know that the

1074
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:31,520
Speaker 1: playoff chances right now are pretty thin, but it is

1075
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:34,120
Speaker 1: the Saints. It doesn't matter. Anytime we've played the Saints,

1076
00:54:34,200 --> 00:54:36,840
Speaker 1: especially in recent history, it's just been a barn burner.

1077
00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:40,120
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it. The national spotlight will be

1078
00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:43,480
Speaker 1: on these guys. If they can't come out and put

1079
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:46,160
Speaker 1: a good one on this week, you know, at minimum

1080
00:54:46,160 --> 00:54:48,000
Speaker 1: for Pride, it's going to be something that's going to

1081
00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:50,240
Speaker 1: leave a bad taste in their mouth. So I'm hoping

1082
00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:52,759
Speaker 1: that defensively we can get some pressure on Breeze, like

1083
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:55,239
Speaker 1: we said, and this Vikings team can have a good

1084
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:59,480
Speaker 1: showing and help everybody enjoy their holiday. We will certainly

1085
00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:04,000
Speaker 1: try to enjoy a Christmas Day meal. Hopefully alongside of

1086
00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:07,280
Speaker 1: Vikings win over the New Orleans Saints as an underdog,

1087
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:09,760
Speaker 1: they will move to seven to eight on the season

1088
00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:12,240
Speaker 1: and hopefully head into the last week of the season

1089
00:55:12,440 --> 00:55:15,040
Speaker 1: with a sliver of a chance to make the NFC

1090
00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 1: playoff push. A couple of laundry list notes here to

1091
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:21,360
Speaker 1: end off the show. Check out this week's episode of

1092
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:24,760
Speaker 1: under Center with Kirk Cousins where Kirk talks to these

1093
00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:29,959
Speaker 1: special people Serving people holiday event. It was a really

1094
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:32,479
Speaker 1: cool event where Kirk was able to talk to two

1095
00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:36,360
Speaker 1: families and help them unwrap some gifts. That will be

1096
00:55:36,360 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 1: a really fun interview to listen to if you get

1097
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:42,279
Speaker 1: the time, and then also tune into the Vikings Postgame

1098
00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:45,719
Speaker 1: Live this week, it will be a little different than

1099
00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:49,000
Speaker 1: it is from weeks past. Vikings Postgame Live will stream

1100
00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:54,120
Speaker 1: on all Vikings platforms on Monday afternoon rather than Christmas

1101
00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:57,520
Speaker 1: Day Friday, so look for that. On Monday afternoon, you'll

1102
00:55:57,520 --> 00:56:00,800
Speaker 1: get inside analysis of the game against the Saints, a

1103
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:05,239
Speaker 1: breakdown with Mark Rosen, Pete Bursch, and Ben Leeber on

1104
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:09,239
Speaker 1: all the Vikings social media platforms, and then finally check

1105
00:56:09,280 --> 00:56:13,200
Speaker 1: out a special Christmas Eve edition of school Stories with

1106
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:16,000
Speaker 1: one of the fan favorites. I know he's my favorite.

1107
00:56:16,080 --> 00:56:20,040
Speaker 1: Jared Allen, the former Vikings defensive end, joined Mark Rosen

1108
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:23,480
Speaker 1: and Pete Bursch to talk just about everything from his

1109
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:27,759
Speaker 1: college choice in Idaho State and then obviously he's a

1110
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:32,040
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Fame semi finalist, which is awesome

1111
00:56:32,040 --> 00:56:35,120
Speaker 1: to have a guy like that be recognized for his

1112
00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:38,480
Speaker 1: career in Purple and his career in the NFL. So

1113
00:56:38,800 --> 00:56:41,799
Speaker 1: check that out at six thirty pm on Christmas Eve

1114
00:56:41,880 --> 00:56:46,080
Speaker 1: on k FAN Really Special Show. And with that, we

1115
00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:48,640
Speaker 1: are down to our final two games of the twenty

1116
00:56:48,719 --> 00:56:53,359
Speaker 1: twenty NFL season. There's a razor thin chance to make

1117
00:56:53,719 --> 00:56:58,040
Speaker 1: the NFC playoffs and for what this year was. We've

1118
00:56:58,080 --> 00:57:01,680
Speaker 1: been through a lot injuries, we've been through COVID, we've

1119
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:04,959
Speaker 1: been through no fans at US Bank Stadium. Let's wrap

1120
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,000
Speaker 1: it up with a few wins here and get to

1121
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:09,560
Speaker 1: that five hundred at eight and eight and let the

1122
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:12,680
Speaker 1: chips fall where they made Jay, that'll do it for

1123
00:57:12,719 --> 00:57:16,600
Speaker 1: this edition of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast, Episode seventy three.

1124
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:21,160
Speaker 1: Stay safe, Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, and as Jay says

1125
00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:22,800
Speaker 1: to all of you, have a good night.