January 14, 2025 • 10 mins
Minnesota Tim discusses the aftermath of the Minnesota Vikings' season, focusing on the implications of Sam Darnold's performance in the playoffs. He highlights how Darnold's struggles have clarified the Vikings' quarterback situation for the offseason, making it easier for the organization to move forward. Tim also reflects on Kevin O'Connell's candid remarks about Darnold's performance and the overall direction of the team as they look to the future.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
The reaction continues, and the reaction will continue for most
of the off season, because not what you talk about.
The Minnesota Vikings season is over, and this is a
six times a week Minnesota Vikings podcast, so lots of speculation,
lots of reaction, lots of off season discussion is coming.
(00:28):
And my first off season reaction to the Minnesota Vikings
fourteen win year is that Sam Donald, in the final
two weeks of the season just did the Minnesota Vikings
organization a humongous favor. Why is that? Why did Sam
(00:52):
Donald just give the Minnesota Vikings organization a huge favor?
It's because their off season decision is no longer controversial.
It's no longer a debatable topic. It's no longer all
should the Minnesota Vikings do this? Should the Minnesota Vikings
do that? The offseason decision is now something everybody can
(01:17):
agree upon. And let's just walk through why that is
and what point I'm trying to make. Donald implodes against
the Lions. Happens. They're playing with the number one seed,
Detroit had home field, they were pumped up, they're energized,
(01:40):
and then he implodes again against the Los Angeles Rams
first round of the playoffs. If Sam Donald responded against
the Rams three or four touchdowns, passer rating in the
one hundreds, looked dialed in, it in control offensively, but
(02:00):
Matthew Stafford, Cooper cup Phukin Naku and those boys just
dominated the Vikings defense. We would be looking at a
completely different discussion this morning. If Donald threw for three
touchdowns four touchdowns and the Vikings lost, the topic of
who's the QB one next season is still in play,
(02:23):
and it's still debated, controversial, it's fascinating. But because of
the way Donald played in the final two weeks of
the year, the whole Minnesota, the Vikings organization, from ownership
on down to general manager and head coach to assistant
coach can now agree that Sam Donald is not ready
(02:49):
for the big boy moments in the playoffs, and we
can move on now to JJ McCarthy as QB one
and Daniel Jones as QB two. We can make j. J.
McCarthy become the quarterback whom we drafted him to be.
So ESPN, National Talking Heads, FS one, National Talking Heads,
(03:13):
local Minnesota Vikings beat writers and on air people podcast hosts.
Everyone's an agreement right now. The Minnesota Vikings should let
Sam Donald walk. They're not gonna sign him to a
franchise tag and give him forty one million dollars a year.
The only way I see any possibility of Sam Donald
(03:34):
coming back to the Minnesota Vikings organization is if Donald
signs a one year, fifteen to twenty million dollar deal,
and he's certainly going to have a bigger market than
that in free agency. Despite the two terrible games that
(03:55):
he played in against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Ramps.
So as much as this loss stings and it hurts,
it's almost better than losing thirty to twenty seven and
Donald goes off for four touchdowns and Vikings missing an
(04:16):
extra point that's how they get twenty seven. It's almost
better than you know. On the Minnesota Vikings competing all
game long, Donald's dialed, he's looking unbelievable. He's looking like
hisself earlier in the year, because then what do you do.
The Vikings lost, Donald was unbelievable, so it wasn't his fault.
But Donald has now proved that he's not ready. And
(04:40):
Kevin O'Connell sort of made some honest comments postgame about
Sam Donald, and you don't really see Kevin O'Connell make
comments like this. Where did it go to an ad
Of course it did. Of course it went to an ad.
Here it is, I had a little here refreshed. I
(05:02):
just want to say it's very important we all think
about Sam's body of work, what he was able to
do this year when not many people thought he would
be able to lead a team to fourteen wins. O'Connell said,
it did not work out in the end. And I
think Sam would be the first one to tell you
he could have played better tonight. I'm sure he would
tell you he could have. Could I have coached better?
(05:25):
I'm positive I could have. Of course he takes a
little bit of the brunt and says, you know, I'm
sure I could have coached better. But this is as
honest as he'll ever see, Kevin O'Connell. This is as
honest a press conference that Kevin O'Connor will ever get.
It's probably the most frustrated that he'll ever be to
go fourteen and three, to have a spectacular season like
(05:47):
the Vikings had, and then just to have it fall
off the face of the earth because QB one who
played like a top five quarterback all year long. Cannot
throw the ball into the ocean, missing Jaalen Naylor, missing
and missing, Justin Jefferson holding out of the ball too long,
taking nine sacks for a loss of eighty two yards.
(06:08):
It was just a pathetic performance on all fronts from
Sam Donald. Of course, there's problems that need to be
fixed with the offensive line, and we'll talk about that
at a later time, but Donald also has to take
a lot of the responsibility for it because the Los
(06:32):
Angeles Rams as quick as they were to enter the
pocket of the Minnesota Vikings. There were countless plays in
this game where Donald is just literally sitting with the
football in his hands, and this is something that great
quarterbacks do. Great quarterbacks get rid of the football. Donald
(06:54):
holds onto it forever. A sack is devastating to an
NFL drive, and Matthew Stafford proved that he is one
of the greats that can avoid sex with the shovel
pass to Pukinakua that Minnesota Vikings fans want to argue
all day and all night that was a fumble, which
(07:16):
it was not. It was a shovel pass, and that's
a big high IQ play from Matthew Stafford. He wasn't
trying to complete a pass, but it kept the drive alive.
And Sam Darnold sometimes throwing the ball out of bounds
in the direction of Justin Jefferson, sailing it twenty yards
(07:39):
over their heads just to remain at a second and
nine or a third and eight, or a first and ten,
or whatever the case may be, instead of a second
and seventeen or a third and sixteen. It's like those
are massive plays that get overlooked. You gotta get rid
of the ball. You cannot take nice sacks. And Matthew
(08:01):
Stafford did such a tremendous job of three step drop
step into your throw and deliver. And as he's delivering,
he's getting creamed by a Minnesota Vikings linebacker. He took
the hit and released the throw on time and on target.
And that's something that we did not see Sam Donald do.
(08:24):
And that's why the Minnesota Vikings struggled to get any
pressure on Matthew Stafford. He only took two sacks and
lost seven yards. He certainly got hit more than that.
But Matthew Stafford does such an elite job getting rid
of the ball and getting rid of the ball on
time and on target, or at least getting rid of
(08:45):
the ball and not taking a devastating sack. So the
decision is now easy. And Donald did the Minnesota Vikings fans,
organization coaches a big favor by proving that he was
not ready for the stage by melting down at the
end of the year and once controversial debatable topic is
(09:10):
no longer won. And going back a few weeks ago
against the Green Bay Packers, when the Vikings won, I
came on this podcast and I said their celebration was ridiculous.
It proves that they hadn't won anything. You don't celebrate
like that after a regular season win. Yeah, you're fourteen
and two cool. Legacies aren't made in the regular season,
(09:35):
and to celebrate like that just proves to me and
to everybody that you hadn't won a thing. And then
when it matters most Donald melts against the Lions and
melts against the Los Angeles Rams not only melted, but imploded.
(09:56):
But this offseason the quarterbacks decisions, that whole situation just
got a whole lot easier if you're a Minnesota Vikings
member inside that organization. So we'll see what happens, but
it certainly looks like Darnold will be looking for his
next team, and Kavin O'Connell kind of made note of
(10:19):
that in his postgame press conference. Thank you for watching.
Hit that subscribe button wherever you're watching or listening. Thank
you for making this podcast a part of your day.
Hit that subscribe button, because we're gonna be here all
off season. This podcast that going anywhere. I appreciate you all,
and thanks for making this podcast a part of your day.
The reaction continues, and the reaction will continue for most
of the off season, because not what you talk about.
The Minnesota Vikings season is over, and this is a
six times a week Minnesota Vikings podcast, so lots of speculation,
lots of reaction, lots of off season discussion is coming.
(00:28):
And my first off season reaction to the Minnesota Vikings
fourteen win year is that Sam Donald, in the final
two weeks of the season just did the Minnesota Vikings
organization a humongous favor. Why is that? Why did Sam
(00:52):
Donald just give the Minnesota Vikings organization a huge favor?
It's because their off season decision is no longer controversial.
It's no longer a debatable topic. It's no longer all
should the Minnesota Vikings do this? Should the Minnesota Vikings
do that? The offseason decision is now something everybody can
(01:17):
agree upon. And let's just walk through why that is
and what point I'm trying to make. Donald implodes against
the Lions. Happens. They're playing with the number one seed,
Detroit had home field, they were pumped up, they're energized,
(01:40):
and then he implodes again against the Los Angeles Rams
first round of the playoffs. If Sam Donald responded against
the Rams three or four touchdowns, passer rating in the
one hundreds, looked dialed in, it in control offensively, but
(02:00):
Matthew Stafford, Cooper cup Phukin Naku and those boys just
dominated the Vikings defense. We would be looking at a
completely different discussion this morning. If Donald threw for three
touchdowns four touchdowns and the Vikings lost, the topic of
who's the QB one next season is still in play,
(02:23):
and it's still debated, controversial, it's fascinating. But because of
the way Donald played in the final two weeks of
the year, the whole Minnesota, the Vikings organization, from ownership
on down to general manager and head coach to assistant
coach can now agree that Sam Donald is not ready
(02:49):
for the big boy moments in the playoffs, and we
can move on now to JJ McCarthy as QB one
and Daniel Jones as QB two. We can make j. J.
McCarthy become the quarterback whom we drafted him to be.
So ESPN, National Talking Heads, FS one, National Talking Heads,
(03:13):
local Minnesota Vikings beat writers and on air people podcast hosts.
Everyone's an agreement right now. The Minnesota Vikings should let
Sam Donald walk. They're not gonna sign him to a
franchise tag and give him forty one million dollars a year.
The only way I see any possibility of Sam Donald
(03:34):
coming back to the Minnesota Vikings organization is if Donald
signs a one year, fifteen to twenty million dollar deal,
and he's certainly going to have a bigger market than
that in free agency. Despite the two terrible games that
(03:55):
he played in against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Ramps.
So as much as this loss stings and it hurts,
it's almost better than losing thirty to twenty seven and
Donald goes off for four touchdowns and Vikings missing an
(04:16):
extra point that's how they get twenty seven. It's almost
better than you know. On the Minnesota Vikings competing all
game long, Donald's dialed, he's looking unbelievable. He's looking like
hisself earlier in the year, because then what do you do.
The Vikings lost, Donald was unbelievable, so it wasn't his fault.
But Donald has now proved that he's not ready. And
(04:40):
Kevin O'Connell sort of made some honest comments postgame about
Sam Donald, and you don't really see Kevin O'Connell make
comments like this. Where did it go to an ad
Of course it did. Of course it went to an ad.
Here it is, I had a little here refreshed. I
(05:02):
just want to say it's very important we all think
about Sam's body of work, what he was able to
do this year when not many people thought he would
be able to lead a team to fourteen wins. O'Connell said,
it did not work out in the end. And I
think Sam would be the first one to tell you
he could have played better tonight. I'm sure he would
tell you he could have. Could I have coached better?
(05:25):
I'm positive I could have. Of course he takes a
little bit of the brunt and says, you know, I'm
sure I could have coached better. But this is as
honest as he'll ever see, Kevin O'Connell. This is as
honest a press conference that Kevin O'Connor will ever get.
It's probably the most frustrated that he'll ever be to
go fourteen and three, to have a spectacular season like
(05:47):
the Vikings had, and then just to have it fall
off the face of the earth because QB one who
played like a top five quarterback all year long. Cannot
throw the ball into the ocean, missing Jaalen Naylor, missing
and missing, Justin Jefferson holding out of the ball too long,
taking nine sacks for a loss of eighty two yards.
(06:08):
It was just a pathetic performance on all fronts from
Sam Donald. Of course, there's problems that need to be
fixed with the offensive line, and we'll talk about that
at a later time, but Donald also has to take
a lot of the responsibility for it because the Los
(06:32):
Angeles Rams as quick as they were to enter the
pocket of the Minnesota Vikings. There were countless plays in
this game where Donald is just literally sitting with the
football in his hands, and this is something that great
quarterbacks do. Great quarterbacks get rid of the football. Donald
(06:54):
holds onto it forever. A sack is devastating to an
NFL drive, and Matthew Stafford proved that he is one
of the greats that can avoid sex with the shovel
pass to Pukinakua that Minnesota Vikings fans want to argue
all day and all night that was a fumble, which
(07:16):
it was not. It was a shovel pass, and that's
a big high IQ play from Matthew Stafford. He wasn't
trying to complete a pass, but it kept the drive alive.
And Sam Darnold sometimes throwing the ball out of bounds
in the direction of Justin Jefferson, sailing it twenty yards
(07:39):
over their heads just to remain at a second and
nine or a third and eight, or a first and ten,
or whatever the case may be, instead of a second
and seventeen or a third and sixteen. It's like those
are massive plays that get overlooked. You gotta get rid
of the ball. You cannot take nice sacks. And Matthew
(08:01):
Stafford did such a tremendous job of three step drop
step into your throw and deliver. And as he's delivering,
he's getting creamed by a Minnesota Vikings linebacker. He took
the hit and released the throw on time and on target.
And that's something that we did not see Sam Donald do.
(08:24):
And that's why the Minnesota Vikings struggled to get any
pressure on Matthew Stafford. He only took two sacks and
lost seven yards. He certainly got hit more than that.
But Matthew Stafford does such an elite job getting rid
of the ball and getting rid of the ball on
time and on target, or at least getting rid of
(08:45):
the ball and not taking a devastating sack. So the
decision is now easy. And Donald did the Minnesota Vikings fans,
organization coaches a big favor by proving that he was
not ready for the stage by melting down at the
end of the year and once controversial debatable topic is
(09:10):
no longer won. And going back a few weeks ago
against the Green Bay Packers, when the Vikings won, I
came on this podcast and I said their celebration was ridiculous.
It proves that they hadn't won anything. You don't celebrate
like that after a regular season win. Yeah, you're fourteen
and two cool. Legacies aren't made in the regular season,
(09:35):
and to celebrate like that just proves to me and
to everybody that you hadn't won a thing. And then
when it matters most Donald melts against the Lions and
melts against the Los Angeles Rams not only melted, but imploded.
(09:56):
But this offseason the quarterbacks decisions, that whole situation just
got a whole lot easier if you're a Minnesota Vikings
member inside that organization. So we'll see what happens, but
it certainly looks like Darnold will be looking for his
next team, and Kavin O'Connell kind of made note of
(10:19):
that in his postgame press conference. Thank you for watching.
Hit that subscribe button wherever you're watching or listening. Thank
you for making this podcast a part of your day.
Hit that subscribe button, because we're gonna be here all
off season. This podcast that going anywhere. I appreciate you all,
and thanks for making this podcast a part of your day.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.