Speaker 1: What a scintillating victory for the Minnesota Vikings beating the
Speaker 1: Seattle Seahawks. Mike zimmer Head, coach, joins us. Now, the
Speaker 1: fans arrived early, there were a lot of them. They
Speaker 1: were loud, they stayed late, and it was just wonderful.
Speaker 1: What'd you like about it? Yeah, the crowd was great.
Speaker 1: They were extremely loud. You know, they're they're very, very
Speaker 1: important to us when we play games at home. It
Speaker 1: gives us a great home field advantage and the energy
Speaker 1: level helps with our team and the opportunity to help
Speaker 1: is right in front of you. This weekend, Sunday at noon,
Speaker 1: Cleveland is in town. Very good Cleveland Browns team. They're
Speaker 1: two and one from the AFC North and they like
Speaker 1: to run. Number one in the NFL in rushing attempts,
Speaker 1: number one in rushing touchdowns. You see it that way,
Speaker 1: I mean statistically that's correct, But is that what they
Speaker 1: want to do? First with offense? Run? Yeah, first, first
Speaker 1: and foremost, they want to run. They've got two great backs.
Speaker 1: You know, both these two guys run extremely hard. Their
Speaker 1: offensive line is very good. They've got a good scheme
Speaker 1: um and then you know, the play actions come off
Speaker 1: of that when when you see their offense head coach
Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski, a lot of Vikings feel with the Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 1: a lot of former coaches here or there. When you
Speaker 1: see their offense, do you see yours? Do you see
Speaker 1: San Francisco's? Is it kind of all the same? There's
Speaker 1: some of that. Bill call is their offensive line coach,
Speaker 1: and he's done a great job for a number of years. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they've got they've got the zone scheme and
Speaker 1: they've got the gap schemes. So they'll they'll run counters
Speaker 1: and stutters and then they'll run to the normal press
Speaker 1: plays like wide zone like we do with the With
Speaker 1: the two running backs they use most specifically Nick Chubb.
Speaker 1: What what does Nick Chubb do? Well? Well, they are
Speaker 1: both extremely hard runners, but he's got great vision, sees
Speaker 1: the sees the holes. Um, you know, I think, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's able to cut back, but he's
Speaker 1: able to get the perimeter as well. And with Kareem Hunt,
Speaker 1: I'm more defined for his catching in Kansas City than
Speaker 1: his running. Is it still like that? Yeah, they use
Speaker 1: him in third down. He's the third down back, but
Speaker 1: they'll use him in there, and really run the same
Speaker 1: exact runs with him. They have this number twenty five,
Speaker 1: this rookie, Demetric Demetric Felton, the UCLA rookie. And they
Speaker 1: don't use him a ton. But in that Houston game,
Speaker 1: a couple of catches fifty one yards. He dropped a
Speaker 1: pass last game that probably would have been a touchdown
Speaker 1: or something like that. What are they doing with him? Well,
Speaker 1: one was a screen and they're using him as a rocket,
Speaker 1: you know, as a guy that used the jet sweeps
Speaker 1: and things like that. So let's start using him in
Speaker 1: motion to line him up as a wide receiver, could
Speaker 1: be in a running back. Sometimes they'll scat him out
Speaker 1: of the the backfield in past protection. And you mentioned their
Speaker 1: their offensive line, Bill Callahan, as Mike said, super well respected.
Speaker 1: He's their offensive line coach, their reich guard Wyatt Teller.
Speaker 1: Is he one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of people know who he is, but
Speaker 1: all I hear is that he's fantastic. Yeah, he's a
Speaker 1: very good player. But you know, the whole offensive line
Speaker 1: is very good. They're all big guys. They do a
Speaker 1: great job. Um, they're all on the same page. Uh.
Speaker 1: JC Trotter gets them in the right in the right
Speaker 1: plays and then the guards they do a good job
Speaker 1: and the tackles do a good job to a lot
Speaker 1: of different schemes. Well, their offensive line, like Seattle's offensive line,
Speaker 1: they rotated the right tackles with shell down. But with
Speaker 1: the lines you've seen so far Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, then
Speaker 1: this one with Pierce, Tomlinson, Kendricks, Harrison Smith. What you
Speaker 1: bring a teams like, how how does it match up
Speaker 1: compared to what you've seen. Well, they do a lot
Speaker 1: of things out of like a three tight end, one back,
Speaker 1: one wide receiver formation, and they'll give you a lot
Speaker 1: of different looks. They'll open up to open up the formations,
Speaker 1: and then they'll give you a lot of two tight ends,
Speaker 1: two wides like like we like to do. Um. So
Speaker 1: they give a lot of different things. We're gonna have.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to make sure we're very solid on tackling.
Speaker 1: They're gonna try to make our corners tackle, get bounced
Speaker 1: the ball to the perimeter, make our corners tackles. We've
Speaker 1: got to do a great job there. So so now
Speaker 1: that your former offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski has been there
Speaker 1: a couple of years and a couple of off seasons.
Speaker 1: Can you see a feel for what he's building with
Speaker 1: this offense, with the running game, the offensive line, sneaky
Speaker 1: little felt in stuff like that, because I remember in
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen when he became your interim offensive coordinator, first
Speaker 1: game against Miami, you ran for like two sixty and
Speaker 1: and you know, and that's what's important to you to
Speaker 1: compliment your defense. Are you seeing that there? Well, I
Speaker 1: think that's that's a lot of his EMO. Now. You know,
Speaker 1: they're run running the football lot he'll run. You know,
Speaker 1: in certain situations, they run a reverse pass, they run
Speaker 1: a fleet flicker, they've got some some of the trick
Speaker 1: plays that they'll throw in there in double pass one time.
Speaker 1: So you know we're gonna have to be on our
Speaker 1: p's and q's in that area too. So it all
Speaker 1: comes off the running game, though. Big game for the players,
Speaker 1: big game for the coaches, just like every single one is.
Speaker 1: But seriously big game for the fans too, coming to
Speaker 1: hup a win because if they want to run first,
Speaker 1: if they get any second and third longs, and you
Speaker 1: get a chance to make them left handed as a
Speaker 1: pass first team, and that's like big right, Yeah, that's huge. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they don't want to be in third and
Speaker 1: long situations if they can help it. But uh, you
Speaker 1: know they they're gonna use there, They're gonna spread spread
Speaker 1: out in uh no backs at times, and so they
Speaker 1: can get some quick throws in there. So we got
Speaker 1: to do a great job in uh really first and
Speaker 1: second down. Mike zimmer x'es and O's Vikings and Brown's
Speaker 1: noon KFA in Vikings Radio Network Sunday, Baker Mayfield their quarterback.
Speaker 1: What do you see in him? You know, he's he's
Speaker 1: playing really well. Uh. He will scramble when there's times ago,
Speaker 1: but he's thrown he's throwing the ball well. I've seen
Speaker 1: him make a lot of strides over the years, and uh,
Speaker 1: I think he's doing a great job. You know, they've
Speaker 1: got the two first picks in the draft, you know,
Speaker 1: with with him and Garrett so um, they've they've got
Speaker 1: a lot of number ones in their in their system.
Speaker 1: And uh and with the Vikings offensive line, their first
Speaker 1: round pick Christian Dara saw yet to play. But nevertheless,
Speaker 1: you know, all those penalties in the Cincinnati game eight
Speaker 1: yards alone on the offensive line last two games looking
Speaker 1: at it calling the game from afar, seems like it's
Speaker 1: been fantastic with your offensive line. Yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 1: We're not shooting ourselves in the foot. We're not taking
Speaker 1: a lot of negative plays. Uh, you know, we're advancing
Speaker 1: the football, which is always important. Um Cousins has been
Speaker 1: playing outstanding. Um. You know, we've got a great effort
Speaker 1: this week from from um Um Madison. Madison got it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: got a great effort from Madison this week. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know on the offensive line did a great job,
Speaker 1: tight ends and and the backs, all of receivers all
Speaker 1: did a great job with with Cousins and Um and
Speaker 1: just what he's doing through three games, no interceptions so far,
Speaker 1: a bunch of touchdowns. Um. The you've you've mentioned twice
Speaker 1: now after after games, his leadership and you know, without
Speaker 1: expounding too much, I would imagine when when you look
Speaker 1: for leadership from Kirk that maybe you haven't seen the
Speaker 1: first three years, Like what are you looking for? Well,
Speaker 1: I think it's just partly the control of the offense
Speaker 1: and then and then the other the other part is
Speaker 1: you know, uh, there's some been some off schedule plays
Speaker 1: that he's made this year that maybe he hasn't made before,
Speaker 1: but we've We've had a lot of good conversations Kirk
Speaker 1: and I and uh, you know, I understand where he's
Speaker 1: coming from a lot of ways. And that's why I
Speaker 1: talk about the leadership, and he's talked about wanting to
Speaker 1: be a better leader, and I think that's come to fruition.
Speaker 1: So when like in the Arizona game, when you see
Speaker 1: kJ Osborne get fed early on the busted coverage, but
Speaker 1: then late on a huge play, Kirk's thinking about him,
Speaker 1: then Conklin scores in the next game. Is that I mean,
Speaker 1: is that just the play or somebody willingly thinking about
Speaker 1: players other than Justin and Adam? Yeah, I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't think Kirk is really willingly thinking about certain plays.
Speaker 1: I think what he's what he's doing is all right,
Speaker 1: here's my read. This is the matchup I have, And
Speaker 1: let's go to here first and then go to the
Speaker 1: second one. You know, not always were those guys that
Speaker 1: caught balls that you're talking about being might not have
Speaker 1: been the first read. You see Conklin every day in practice.
Speaker 1: Is obviously seen him all of his career. Have you
Speaker 1: ever seen him run as fast as he did? In
Speaker 1: that last game on that play the win straight down
Speaker 1: the field whole week. Hal is he fast? Yeah, he's fasts.
Speaker 1: He's been fast his whole time. Uh, you know that's
Speaker 1: why we drafted him. We like him. Yeah, for sure,
Speaker 1: Tyler with a nice touchdown against Seattle UM. And lastly
Speaker 1: on Kirk, is it fair to look at it, Mike
Speaker 1: that with what you're getting from him and the sliding
Speaker 1: and the ducking and the twenty nine yard run through
Speaker 1: all of that, you're loving it. His yards per attempt
Speaker 1: at seven point seven, so that can even be better, right,
Speaker 1: So maybe there's better on the horizon. Yeah, and a
Speaker 1: lot of it. Again, it's it depends on what the
Speaker 1: defense has given you. You know, they're they're taking away
Speaker 1: some of our deep shots. Uh and so. But but
Speaker 1: advancing the football. Getting a five eight eight yard game
Speaker 1: is big. His announced third in two or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: and we have opportunities to to do. You know, we
Speaker 1: did much better this last week on third downs and
Speaker 1: that was one of our goals this past week. Brown's
Speaker 1: head coach Kevin Stefanski came here with Brad Childress and
Speaker 1: and you know, through from Childress through Leslie Frasier, uh,
Speaker 1: into into Mike Zimmer. I mean, how rare is it
Speaker 1: to last that long through three regimes? What are some
Speaker 1: qualities that lead to that with him? Yeah, well you
Speaker 1: have to be uh, he's very diligent about his work.
Speaker 1: He's he's he's a thinker, he wants to analyze things,
Speaker 1: he wants to be very organized. Um, you know, and
Speaker 1: then then he's got a calm, calming personality that I
Speaker 1: think allows the players to play well. Uh. The Brown
Speaker 1: special teams coordinator, Mike Preefer was also with Mike Zimmer
Speaker 1: and Prefers protege Ryan Ficken is the special teams coordinator. Now,
Speaker 1: so we talk about Kevin wants to run, you love
Speaker 1: to stop the run. Um, and Kevin used to work
Speaker 1: here with you and then Prefer and Thick in one
Speaker 1: and one A for so many years that I mean,
Speaker 1: what I don't think I've ever asked you this. What
Speaker 1: do you think of that special team's coaches matchup? Yeah? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's at the end of the day, we're
Speaker 1: similar in a lot of ways, similar to their special teams.
Speaker 1: And what we got to do is have our players
Speaker 1: play really good and and uh, hopefully we break some things.
Speaker 1: You know, I think I think we've improved on special
Speaker 1: teams this year. I think we've been more fundamentally sound.
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, we've had some returns. We
Speaker 1: had a penalty last week, but we had a twelve
Speaker 1: yard return. Um. You know, we've had had some good coverage.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, some of our punts have been
Speaker 1: better than what we've had in the pass. So I
Speaker 1: think all those things are kind of a combination of
Speaker 1: really being diligent and about fundamentals and technique. Now we're
Speaker 1: into three. So Patrick Peterson, I mean, sometimes just gets
Speaker 1: no action for long patches of time overall, outside of
Speaker 1: the sideline play at Cincinnati where maybe he got a
Speaker 1: little lost. What have you been seeing from him from Patrick? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think he's done a good job. I
Speaker 1: think for the most part. Uh, you know, he's he's
Speaker 1: done a really good job. He's trying to do different things.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, he's trying to understand the coverages that
Speaker 1: we're trying to work. And I think he's been uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he takes challenges every single week. You know,
Speaker 1: he's he was lining up on metcalf some last week,
Speaker 1: he was he was on sixteen some last week, you know, so, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he takes those challenges personally, do you overall
Speaker 1: lastly sent your team preshen doing a little not to
Speaker 1: the top, But hey, Cincinnati we had this, then Arizona
Speaker 1: we had this, then we want and had this? I mean,
Speaker 1: is it is it building the way you wanted to
Speaker 1: at this stage? Well, I think the big thing, Paul,
Speaker 1: is that we're starting to have some confidence. You know,
Speaker 1: we believe that we have a chance to have a
Speaker 1: good football team. But when you go out and you
Speaker 1: go out and prove it, and you see the things
Speaker 1: like offensively the last two ball games, what we what
Speaker 1: we've done offensively, and then defensively, when we're good, we're
Speaker 1: really good, you know. And unfortunately when we were bad
Speaker 1: a couple of times, we're pretty bad. But you know,
Speaker 1: if we continue to take those little steps and keep
Speaker 1: working on fundamentals and technique and everybody being on the
Speaker 1: same page, I think we have a chance to be
Speaker 1: a good team. And I think they're starting to believe that.