November 19, 2024 • 8 mins
Minnesota Tim discusses the significance of Sam Darnold's performance against the Tennessee Titans, highlighting it as a crucial moment for the Minnesota Vikings as they prepare for a challenging stretch of games. He emphasizes the importance of having a 'tune-up' game to regain confidence and rhythm, especially after a disappointing performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The analysis covers Darnold's game logs, the impact of the upcoming schedule, and the necessity of performing well against weaker teams to build momentum for tougher matchups ahead.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
The matchup with the Tennessee Titans was exactly the matchup
needed for Sam Donald and the Minnesota Vikings to get
back in rhythm, figure things out, and get ready for
the final challenging stretch of the season, which includes what
(00:29):
a lot of divisional games. Two Bears games, Packers game,
Lions game, Cardinals are no joke. The Atlanta Falcons are
the most inconsistent team in the NFL. But when they're good,
they're good, and when they're bad, they get blown out
by the Broncos thirty four to six. So this game
against the Titans was much needed for the trajectory for
(00:50):
the final seven games of the season, particularly for Sam Donald.
The Longest Yard with Adams, Sam, Paul Crew, and them boys.
There was a scene from that movie that particularly stood
out to me that reminded me of the game that
(01:11):
Sam Darnold had against the Tennessee Titans. The warden brings
in Adam Sandler and they're having a conversation and he's
trying to whine and dine him like, Hey, will you
play for our team or will you coach our team?
Or The warden did a lot of work to pull
some strings get Paul Crewe at his prison and they're
(01:34):
walking around the football field. They're having a discussion and
he asks Paul Crewe, He said, what can we do
to get better? Because apparently the warden's playing victim. Here,
the Wharton's playing victim. And Paul his team was scheduled against
a really good football team to open up the season,
and he's like, give us some pointers. How can we
(01:55):
handle this? How can we respond? How can we be
ready to play this football game? And Paul Crew says, basically,
you need an easy game, relatively simple. You need a
tune up game. Game. Yeah, in college, we start every
season against Appalachian State or some slack Division two team
(02:16):
kick out of him, get their confidence out. Paul Crew
said they needed a tune up game. And that's exactly
what the Tennessee Titans was. For Sam Donald and the
Minnesota Vikings offense. It should have been the Jacksonville Jaguars game.
It should have been two tune up games in a row.
(02:37):
But Donald threw three picks in the red zone. And
you know, to bounce back from a terrible performance like
that can't be easy. But what makes it a lot
easier is a matchup versus the Tennessee Titans, and Kevin
O'Connell gave one of the game balls to Sam Donald
(02:57):
following the Titans matchup, probably because of his response to
his three pig, zero touchdown game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This could not have worked out any better for the
Minnesota Vikings this year. Let me take a look at
Sam Donald's game logs together. If you're watching on YouTube,
if you're listening, I'll do my best to describe it.
(03:20):
The Giant San Fran, Houston, Green Bay Jets. Donald was
sensational in all of those games, except for the Jets.
Tough part of the schedule, beat Sam Fran, beat Houston,
beat Green Bay, looking like an MVP, putting up MVP numbers.
And then you lose to the Lines by two points,
(03:41):
You lose to the Rams by ten points, and we
start to see a slow regression from Sam Donald at
that point. But you're playing two of the best offensive
minds in football. Those losses are not hideous. And then
the easy part of the schedule comes, and this is
actually when Sam Donald plays his worst football of the year. Sure,
(04:02):
he went twenty eight for thirty four against the Colts
two hundred and ninety yards but three touchdowns, two picks.
That's not very good. Took four sacks, it's not very good.
Jacksonville twenty four for thirty eight two hundred and forty
one yards, sixty three percent completion percentage, zero touchdowns, three picks,
took a sack. It's not very good. The fortunate part
(04:27):
for the Minnesota Vikings this season is that Sam Donald
has played his worst football I guess the worst teams
which the Minnesota Vikings were able to win anyways. Despite
Sam Donald not playing up to the par that we
saw in the first four weeks of the year, and
(04:48):
then against the Tennessee Titans, that get right game the
tune up game twenty for thirty two, two hundred and
forty six yards, sixty two percent completion percentage, two touchdowns,
zero picks along a forty seven took two sacks, passed
the r inning of one hundred and seven a QBR
sixty five point five. And he was elusive. He was
a quick decision maker. He threw dump down passes when
(05:11):
he needed to. He took the easy three yard pass,
let the guy run for a few yards to make
it a second and three versus a you know second
and fifteen if you hold onto the ball too long
and take a sack. So what we saw from Sam
Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings offense was essentially a tune
(05:32):
up against the Tennessee Titans because you take a look
at what is coming for the Minnesota Vikings. And I
talked about it a little bit earlier, but let's just
really break it down. You got the Bears Sunday at noon.
The following week, You've got the Arizona Cardinals at home.
(05:53):
It's WINNA Bowl game, but the Arizona Cardinals are playing good.
It's not an easy win. Then he got a home
versus the l of Falcons. Then he had a home
versus the Chicago Bears on the road at Seattle, versus
Green Bay at Detroit. So you got seven games left
of the season, and I would say that none of
(06:15):
these games. You look at the schedule and none of
these games are like a Jacksonville or a Tennessee or
that that's a win, that's a way, you know, Colls,
that's a win. All of these games could be close,
one score ball games. And to have the tune up
like Sam Donald did against the Tennessee Titans is essential
(06:35):
for the Vikings offense to be successful down the stretch
in the final seven games of the year. So the
scheduling could not have favored the Minnesota Vikings any more
than it did. And it's awesome. It worked out great
for Sam Donald because the last thing that you want
(06:55):
for the Minnesota Vikings for Sam Donald is Donald throwing
zero touchdowns three picks. Oh, next week, you got to
travel to Chicago and play that defense that is pretty good,
that features a lot of talented guys. The last thing
you would want, oh, Donald zero touched on three picks. Oh,
(07:17):
Now go beat the Green Bay Packers at home or
the Detroit Lions on the road. This worked out tremendously
in the Minnesota Vikings favor. And the reason why we
can be hopeful or confident is because Sam Donald got
a tune up game, got a tune up game against
(07:38):
the bottom feeders in the NFL, which is huge. The
Jaguars game should have been a blowout. It wasn't because
Donald didn't execute, but he responded well, made the correct throws,
made the right decisions against the Tennessee Titans. And now
I think we can anticipate Sam Donald not to play
(08:00):
to the level he did in the first four weeks
of the year, but definitely not to the level that
he played in against the Jacksonville Jaguars either because of
the tune up game. Thanks for making this podcast part
of your day.
The matchup with the Tennessee Titans was exactly the matchup
needed for Sam Donald and the Minnesota Vikings to get
back in rhythm, figure things out, and get ready for
the final challenging stretch of the season, which includes what
(00:29):
a lot of divisional games. Two Bears games, Packers game,
Lions game, Cardinals are no joke. The Atlanta Falcons are
the most inconsistent team in the NFL. But when they're good,
they're good, and when they're bad, they get blown out
by the Broncos thirty four to six. So this game
against the Titans was much needed for the trajectory for
(00:50):
the final seven games of the season, particularly for Sam Donald.
The Longest Yard with Adams, Sam, Paul Crew, and them boys.
There was a scene from that movie that particularly stood
out to me that reminded me of the game that
(01:11):
Sam Darnold had against the Tennessee Titans. The warden brings
in Adam Sandler and they're having a conversation and he's
trying to whine and dine him like, Hey, will you
play for our team or will you coach our team?
Or The warden did a lot of work to pull
some strings get Paul Crewe at his prison and they're
(01:34):
walking around the football field. They're having a discussion and
he asks Paul Crewe, He said, what can we do
to get better? Because apparently the warden's playing victim. Here,
the Wharton's playing victim. And Paul his team was scheduled against
a really good football team to open up the season,
and he's like, give us some pointers. How can we
(01:55):
handle this? How can we respond? How can we be
ready to play this football game? And Paul Crew says, basically,
you need an easy game, relatively simple. You need a
tune up game. Game. Yeah, in college, we start every
season against Appalachian State or some slack Division two team
(02:16):
kick out of him, get their confidence out. Paul Crew
said they needed a tune up game. And that's exactly
what the Tennessee Titans was. For Sam Donald and the
Minnesota Vikings offense. It should have been the Jacksonville Jaguars game.
It should have been two tune up games in a row.
(02:37):
But Donald threw three picks in the red zone. And
you know, to bounce back from a terrible performance like
that can't be easy. But what makes it a lot
easier is a matchup versus the Tennessee Titans, and Kevin
O'Connell gave one of the game balls to Sam Donald
(02:57):
following the Titans matchup, probably because of his response to
his three pig, zero touchdown game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This could not have worked out any better for the
Minnesota Vikings this year. Let me take a look at
Sam Donald's game logs together. If you're watching on YouTube,
if you're listening, I'll do my best to describe it.
(03:20):
The Giant San Fran, Houston, Green Bay Jets. Donald was
sensational in all of those games, except for the Jets.
Tough part of the schedule, beat Sam Fran, beat Houston,
beat Green Bay, looking like an MVP, putting up MVP numbers.
And then you lose to the Lines by two points,
(03:41):
You lose to the Rams by ten points, and we
start to see a slow regression from Sam Donald at
that point. But you're playing two of the best offensive
minds in football. Those losses are not hideous. And then
the easy part of the schedule comes, and this is
actually when Sam Donald plays his worst football of the year. Sure,
(04:02):
he went twenty eight for thirty four against the Colts
two hundred and ninety yards but three touchdowns, two picks.
That's not very good. Took four sacks, it's not very good.
Jacksonville twenty four for thirty eight two hundred and forty
one yards, sixty three percent completion percentage, zero touchdowns, three picks,
took a sack. It's not very good. The fortunate part
(04:27):
for the Minnesota Vikings this season is that Sam Donald
has played his worst football I guess the worst teams
which the Minnesota Vikings were able to win anyways. Despite
Sam Donald not playing up to the par that we
saw in the first four weeks of the year, and
(04:48):
then against the Tennessee Titans, that get right game the
tune up game twenty for thirty two, two hundred and
forty six yards, sixty two percent completion percentage, two touchdowns,
zero picks along a forty seven took two sacks, passed
the r inning of one hundred and seven a QBR
sixty five point five. And he was elusive. He was
a quick decision maker. He threw dump down passes when
(05:11):
he needed to. He took the easy three yard pass,
let the guy run for a few yards to make
it a second and three versus a you know second
and fifteen if you hold onto the ball too long
and take a sack. So what we saw from Sam
Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings offense was essentially a tune
(05:32):
up against the Tennessee Titans because you take a look
at what is coming for the Minnesota Vikings. And I
talked about it a little bit earlier, but let's just
really break it down. You got the Bears Sunday at noon.
The following week, You've got the Arizona Cardinals at home.
(05:53):
It's WINNA Bowl game, but the Arizona Cardinals are playing good.
It's not an easy win. Then he got a home
versus the l of Falcons. Then he had a home
versus the Chicago Bears on the road at Seattle, versus
Green Bay at Detroit. So you got seven games left
of the season, and I would say that none of
(06:15):
these games. You look at the schedule and none of
these games are like a Jacksonville or a Tennessee or
that that's a win, that's a way, you know, Colls,
that's a win. All of these games could be close,
one score ball games. And to have the tune up
like Sam Donald did against the Tennessee Titans is essential
(06:35):
for the Vikings offense to be successful down the stretch
in the final seven games of the year. So the
scheduling could not have favored the Minnesota Vikings any more
than it did. And it's awesome. It worked out great
for Sam Donald because the last thing that you want
(06:55):
for the Minnesota Vikings for Sam Donald is Donald throwing
zero touchdowns three picks. Oh, next week, you got to
travel to Chicago and play that defense that is pretty good,
that features a lot of talented guys. The last thing
you would want, oh, Donald zero touched on three picks. Oh,
(07:17):
Now go beat the Green Bay Packers at home or
the Detroit Lions on the road. This worked out tremendously
in the Minnesota Vikings favor. And the reason why we
can be hopeful or confident is because Sam Donald got
a tune up game, got a tune up game against
(07:38):
the bottom feeders in the NFL, which is huge. The
Jaguars game should have been a blowout. It wasn't because
Donald didn't execute, but he responded well, made the correct throws,
made the right decisions against the Tennessee Titans. And now
I think we can anticipate Sam Donald not to play
(08:00):
to the level he did in the first four weeks
of the year, but definitely not to the level that
he played in against the Jacksonville Jaguars either because of
the tune up game. Thanks for making this podcast part
of your day.
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