January 2, 2025 • 25 mins
Welcome to episode 302 of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented by Pepsi - Made for Vikings watching! Tatum Everett welcomes Detroit native Ron Johnson to the show to breakdown the storylines of the huge week 18 game at Ford Field. Ron reviews the implications for winning the #1 seed in Sunday night's game, the possible fallout for all teams in the NFC playoffs, reviews his preseason predictions, discusses why he feels Kevin O'Connell and Sam Darnold deserve postseason awards, and gives us a glimpse into how the city of Detroit is ramping up their festivities prior to the season finale on Sunday night. All of this and more is in episode 302 of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented by Pepsi - Made for Vikings watching!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome into the fourteen and two Minnesota Vikings podcast. I'm
your host Tatum Everett from the Vikings Entertainment Network, and
what a game it was. On Sunday, the Vikings secured
their ninth straight victory by giving the old season sweep
to the Green Bay Packers. This is now set up
the biggest game in regular season history between the Vikings
(00:24):
and the Lions. Winner clinches the NFC North title and
NFC number one seed, which means a first round playoff
by and home field advantage throughout the postseason. So needless
just say, a lot on the line this weekend, and
as you may have seen, a game of this significance
means the NFL wants all eyes on it. Vikings take
(00:46):
on the Lions at Ford Field first Sunday Night football.
Let's give a big warm welcome to Ron Johnson. He's
one of our favorite Vikings analysts and the Twin Cities
we love. We see you on some of our Vikings content.
It is a week of New Year's of twenty twenty five.
Have you made any new resolutions or anything?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think my twenty twenty five resolution is gonna be
don't sweat the small stuff. I think oftentimes I worry
about the little things that don't really matter in the big,
grand scheme of life. So today I'm gonna have my
last days or hours or minutes of sweating small stuff
because it's not twenty twenty five yet. And then when
I wake up tomorrow, I'm gonna pray and try my
(01:27):
heart is to not sweat the small stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And when this airs, though, they will, we will already be
in twenty twenty five. So if you see Ron, make
sure you remind him to stay calm. Just kidding, because
that always works telling someone to calm, be calm, right.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yes, stay calm. We're going to the playoffs. Don't don't
sweat the small stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
There you go, speaking of I mean, this might be,
and honestly, historically it is the biggest regular season game
the NFL has ever seen. Would you argue that point.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
No, I would not argue that point.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And I'm blinking on the guy's name, but the NFL scheduler,
I think this is his last season. So what better
way to send him on his way out the door
than with the game two hundred.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And seventy two.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So this two hundred and seventy second game of the
season is going to be the Minnesota Vikings versus the
Detroit Lions, so one an NFC North rival in NFC rival,
but also for the number one seed. And so not
only is the world watching, but a lot of the
teams are watching because if you're the Falcons or the
Rams or the Bucks, you're waiting to see who am
(02:31):
I playing? Am I playing the Vikings? Am I playing
the Lions?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Are hoping to get in the playoffs too?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I mean some of them still may have it out
there on the outside looking in.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yep, Falcons need help right now.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
It looks like the Bucks and if the Bucks, if
the Seahawks beat the Rams, the Bucks would get the
three seed and the Rams would get the four seed,
and then the five seed would travel to Glorious La.
And so if you're the Falcons, you're watching hoping that
somebody falters and loses, which is basically you need the
Buccaneers to lose and for Michael Pennix to be because
I think that's the That's also another story where if
(03:01):
the Vikings travel back to Atlanta for Kirk Cousins to
be the backup for that game. I mean, that is
the table like Disney Channel rom Com, you know, where
Pinnis possibly gets hurt, and then Kirk Cousins comes in
like a knight and shining armor, you know, and he
tries to wield the team back, but then he ends
up losing in the end, and then Kevin O'Connell picks
(03:21):
him ab off the ground like it's okay, Kirk, It's okay,
I got you, Like, don't worry.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
It sounds like you've been dreaming about this for a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
A movie script for this, you know, you know, and
and and when you redo it, when you redo this,
you know, Zach Efron is probably gonna play Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'm not sure. I don't I don't know who would
play Michael Pennix at that time.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Sound darn Old Cambina might have to be himself so
that he can do the dances the movie.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it would be cam Bina playing himself.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
But when you when you look at the playoffs and
the way the schedule was written, I don't think you know,
as much as people joke about, there's a script, you
could not screw this any better. For one, the lions
to be where they are and the vikings to be
where they are and to have this flex opportunity to
flex them to the because imagine this was a noon
game for the one seed.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
It'd kind of be like lackluster, like oh, okay, it's over.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I mean it would be it would feel big, but
then you wouldn't have this like anticipation building up because
it's the twenty eight combined wins between two teams in
a regular season game is an all time record. The
previous record was twenty five wins. But teams that have
had fourteen wins or more each that have played each other.
(04:36):
It's only happened five times in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And even for the Packers like to do everything they've
done to say, man, we're still the third best team
in the conference.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, I mean the NFC North's the winningest division in
NFL history.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, and that's what I'm saying, Like the Bears did
everything they could just to screw it up, but the
other three teams did their job. But yeah, I know,
this is a huge game. Nothing's ever been this magnitude.
And the best part of this is the Vikings players
sitting in a hotel don't have to watch football and say,
oh if this happens when we're in If this happens
for number two, it's just let's relax, Let's watch our iPads,
(05:09):
lets get ready to go to the stadium, and then
when we lace them up, let's lay it all on line.
Because if we win this game, we don't have to
play next week. And I think that's the key for
both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It's funny that you bring up scheduling and predictions and
things like that, because I took a look back on
your season prediction that you do every year for Vikings
dot Com.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
And you know, admittedly we like to.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Give the Vikings a positive spin. We want our guys
to do good, so you know, they have a winning
record in our eyes every single season, and not even
Ron had it predicted well enough.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
For what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Ron, you had the Vikings going ten and six, which
still is very good, but for them to overachieve in
this way it is more than what you even expected.
So have you looked back on that and kind of
followed what you've said versus what's happened.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I have not.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I remember when we were first sitting down going over this,
I was like torn between like nine to eleven wins.
I'm like, where where are some of these games gonna
play out? I think think I got like that stretch
of roll games right when I said they would just.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Did you did?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
I think it was the start of the season that
I think surprising.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The start of the season threw me off.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Yeah, not just you, but everyone else.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Really forty nine Ers Buffalo Bills, Like a lot of
those games you just would assume going to Lambeau versus Lambeau,
you know, versus the Packers coming to Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I think I said they would split.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I think even the Bears I thought about, like, man,
that Monday night game could get kind of weird. But
that early start for the Vikings going five and zero,
I don't think anybody in the world predicted that. And
that's where it threw me off. If I if I
changed those early on games, yeah, I think there are
thirteen wins, and so because I think I had them
like two to three to start the season or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So you you changed those three, I'm right there, thirteen wins.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
It's understandable, Ron because so many of the things that
people were not willing to be excited about, they were
they didn't know what.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
They were going to get.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
In Sam Donald, and I think that has completely changed
everyone's mind on what this team is capable of the
amount of resiliency and toughness that he has showcased. His
decision making with the coaching and developing from Kevin O'Connell
has been so much so that it's really driven him
to be this dark horse MVP.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Candidate late in the season.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I don't think that people are picking him as the
MVP yet, but I do think they're mentioning his name
right about now. Have you been hearing those conversations?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I mean I think Kevin O'Connell and Sam Donald both
deserve Year in awards. Like it's the trouble And here's
the problem. Somebody else tweeted about, like a certain coach
that won a certain number of games and he didn't
get any recognition they took. They talked about, Oh, Ryan
Tannehill was my rost recent tweet. I just saw somebody
say Ryan Tannehill led the Titans back to back. You know,
I think game yep, and you know, forty touchdowns and
(07:59):
all this other stuff, and he wasn't even in the conversation.
So I think that plays into it because it's a
popularity contest. I mean, speaking of high school musical That's
what this NFL voting is like. It's like, who's the
most popular kid in the hallway? We think he should
be the champion of the you know, quarterbacks and MVPs,
and who's the favorite coach.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Who's the guy that everybody loves?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, Dan Campbell likes to bite kneecaps, and so yeah,
let's let's put him in this coner. I mean, last time,
I think it was Kevin Stefanski though because of all
the adversity he overcame. And I don't know if having
Sam Donald as a quarterback is considered adversity. And same
with Sam Donald losing his offensive tack, his starting left tackle,
does that give you enough to say, Man, this guy's
still doing it. Not having Jordan Nadisen for the whole season,
(08:39):
not having TJ. Hockinson for the whole season, there's a
lot Sam Donald's gone through. And I don't know if
that's gonna help with some of these conversations. But I
mean we know the names and names. Everybody loves Patrick Mahomes,
everybody loves Joe Burrow, everybody loves Josh Allen and then sorry,
it wasn't the Bills. I actually was the Texans. I
struggle with too, because the Texans with CJ. Stroud, that
was another one that everybody assumed like CJ. Strow was
(09:01):
gonna be one of the top five quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
He's not. Right now.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
The top five actually are very underwhelming names. And that's
what's so funny is I think somebody just tweeted that too.
You had Geno Smith, Sam Donald, Baker Mayfield, and I'm
drawing a blank on the other two.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Those are, like, I mean, Jared Goff because his numbers
are very similar to Sam Darnold right now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yep, Jared Goff, and then Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So those five are the top five statistically quarterbacks right now,
and nobody wants to put them in the MVP conversation
other than Burrow. If Burrow had won fourteen games, he
for sure is the NFL MVP. He just hasn't won games,
and so it's tough for them to always argue, well,
it's look at Mahomes won fifteen games, he's the MVP,
(09:43):
you know. Or Brady won this many games and he
threw this many yards, he's the MVP.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, what's going on with Burrow.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So that's why I think they're struggling, because if you
give it to Borrow based off stats, then you have
to go back and look at all the guys that
had better stats.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But didn't win the MVP, and now you become a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I don't envy anyone that has to make those decision
because I do.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Like your point.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You know that every year it feels like the criteria changes,
which is not always bad. You know, you think of
the coach of the year like Kevin O'Connell and first
two seasons two of three seasons with the Vikings with
thirteen plus wins is something that has only been done
two other times.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
In NFL history.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
He's the first Vikings coach to have thirteen plus two
thirteen plus win seasons. You know, he's been making a
lot of marks and I think deserves a lot of
the credit for what he's been able to do with
in a quarterback who was promising but unproven, and you
know the fact that Brian Flores's defense has been so
(10:45):
lights out. To me, that is the biggest difference from
this team from this year's team to the twenty twenty
two NFC North title team is the fact that if
I see the matchup on Sunday, and I know the
Lions offense is so good, but I am still confident
that our defense can put up a few stops. That'll
(11:06):
be a difference maker on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, and that's gonna be the key.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So when you look at what the Lions do, my
latest kind of game time thought, and I'm gonna say
this on the pregame show as well, you have to
almost treat the Lions' third downs as if it's fourth down,
which means because a lot of people on third down,
let's say, for instance, third and eight, they're like, hey,
if we give up six yards, man, we're good.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's still fourth down. No, you cannot do that against
the Lions.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
If you get them in fourth and two or fourth
and one, they are gonna go for it.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They went forth three times.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
And so you have to look at what Dan Campbell,
how he plays it where he's at on the field,
Like if they're on their own twenty even and it's
fourth and one, he might go for it because that's
the type of guy he is, where he trusts his
offense enough to say, hey, look, my defense can't stop
a running nose right now. So I am going to
try to do everything I can and keep that other
(11:58):
offense off the field. My best defense is my quarterback's
time of possession. And so my key is if it's
third and six, you got to stop them cold. You
gotta make it fourth and six. You got to make
those fourth downs very unfavorable to where they're like, eah,
we got a punt it.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
But I feel like he still goes for those depending
on field possession because they didn't punt in the game
last Monday.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Correct, and neither of the forty nine ers like that was.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It was like the craziest like stat of like games
without a punt or plays without a punt.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
But when you think about the way the Lions play it.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
It's field position, and you're right if they if they
feel like they're too far to kick a field goal,
but they know it's not worth punting, they're gonna go
for it regardless. But that's why you keep it at
If it's fourth, third and eight, you keep it at
third and eight. You make that a hard fourth down
to get. You make him have to throw to the
sticks if he can run the ball with Gibbs on
third and three to get maybe two more yards and
say we're going for it anyway.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Then you're you're playing on your heels.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
If you can get him in third long, and then
even fourth and long, you're now you you're on the offense.
And then you don't want them even do a fake
punt because we know that too. We know that's in
his we know he's willing to do that stuff.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Still to come.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I ask Ron, who is a Michigan native, about how
the city of Detroit will handle such a big game
and if he thinks Viking fans will be well represented.
That's to come after this.
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alltrue dot com slash code. Welcome back into the Minnesota
Vikings Podcast. If you're just tuning in, I'm your host,
Tatum Everett, part of the Vikings Entertainment Network, and we've
been super busy getting you guys ready for the big
NFC North showdown in Detroit on Sunday Night football. That's right,
(14:23):
the fourteen in two Vikings will face the fourteen and
two Lions.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
That twenty eight combined wins is an.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
NFL record for a regular season game and something that's
only happened in five previous playoff contests.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
It's going to be huge.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
And we have been talking to Vikings analyst Ron Johnson
to get us ready for Sunday's big game. I want
to know, like you see the trickery every single week,
this this game that doesn't really mean anything against the
forty nine ers.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You see the lateral from was Saint.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Brown to William and then you see the uh. I
mean even in the Bears game where they did like
the stumble Rooski.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I don't know what it's called.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I just have Andy Reid doing a commressional band stumble
bumble that said thank you. So then like you have
this stumble bumble, right, you have all these trick plays
like you know you're going to see at least one
of those in this game. So as a defense, like,
how do you prepare for a moment like that? You
don't know when it's coming, but you know it's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Don't chase the rabbit, which masically means keep your eyes
on what you're supposed to do. So if you're outside contained,
just contain the outside. Don't follow the running back that
all of a sudden looks like appetizing because he's setting
you up for something else. The other way, if there
is a quick hitch or something, just let the one
guy that's supposed to tackle that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
You guys rally to the ball.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
The other guys keep coming because don't just stop assuming
he's down, because there might be another secondary play. And
that's what happened to the forty nine ers. You see
a quick you see a curl and you're like, okay,
I'm good. Like why is Jameis and Williams running full
speed towards the curl out whatever, It's not going to
him anyway. I'm gonna slow down as DBS do and
boom now he gets the ball. So you have to
(16:10):
kind of play through the whistle. And that's the key
is just play through the whistle, like don't stop until
you see that guy on the ground and the referees
blowing the whistle, and I say, have to shoot the lines.
Other than that, it's like all that stuff in the backfield,
all that you like, if it's somebody yells fumble, let
the guys around the ball get the fumble. There's no
reason for you to turn your head and look for
who's got the fumble. So we can go celebrate and
do the next great trend, Like don't worry about all
(16:31):
that and that's the only way to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, how much of what the Vikings defense and really
offense right now do is about just not beating yourself,
Like you're more worried about you at this point, Like, yes,
you're looking at scheme, you know the deans, but you've
already played this team.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
It's been a very long time.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
How much of it at this point though, when you're
going into the playoffs and stuff, is it just like
not beating yourselves because you know you can win, like
you're a fourteen win team.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
You know that you find different ways to win. Can't
beat yourself in this point.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, it's about hustle.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So think about the Blake Cashman where he caught up
to Jordan Love after he had already run by him.
Blake Cashman runs by Missus, Jordan Love gets pushed through
the pocket, Jordan Love escapes and then like it's gonna
make a move to go to his left, well, Blake Cashman. Basically,
it's called retrace your steps, so you don't run in
a weird path, just retrace your steps. If you went up,
you just go back. He retrace his steps and it
(17:25):
put him right back to where Jordan Love was coming.
If he had given up and just kind of like
got pushed through the pocket and said, okay, I'm turn
it down. Correct, Jordan Love gets a first down. So
that's part of it. It's just playing through the whistle,
playing to like like put it all on the line,
like there's no reason to rest And that's why I
love the All twenty two and coaches do too, because
you might like on TV, you're only seeing where the
(17:46):
play happened. Coaches, the DV coaches are watching the entire play,
like why are you the backside cornerback just standing there
waiting for the guys on the other side to make
the play, Like start migrating towards the play, like you
never know if somebody's gonna free, somebody's gonna come out.
I guarantee if you watch the forty nine ers or
some of these Lions plays, they might have given up
a little bit. Like you see on offense when a
(18:07):
guy is running, if a guy doesn't hustle and block.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So when they say you have contained, just contain.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
When they say you have spy, meaning you're spying the quarterback,
don't worry about the running back that just ran the bubble.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Somebody else has him over there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I got to keep my eyes on Jared Golf, and
it could be for whatever reason. It could be like, hey,
I got a thought here that Jared Golf might be
doing like a naked boot and he might keep it
thinking that we're not honoring him on any like run
fakes you got to honor the quarterback on the run
fakes as well. So it's a lot. That's why these
guys get paid so much money. In the coordinator get
(18:40):
paid so much money. But good teams do these things.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
I'm really looking forward to the chess match on Sunday
because I feel like Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell are
two of the better coaches in our league, and they
have such different styles. You know. I feel like Floras
embodies that kind of Dan Campbell toughness. Maybe Johnson kind
of embodies what Kevin O'Connell is is a play caller,
(19:04):
and they're both like have these like mad scientists on
either side of this of the field going head to
head and what's going to be one of the.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Most epic games. Ron.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I know that you are Michigan native, and you know
you know a lot about the Detroit Lions, and and
just speaking from that perspective, like how how is this
city going to handle this game this weekend? You've got
so much on the line, the margins razor thin between
the fifth seed and playing next week or the number
(19:35):
one seed and having the week off and knowing what
that city has been through, knowing what the Minnesota Vikings
organization and this or and this area has been through.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Like how is the city going to handle this on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I think they're ready for I mean they've already been
to an NFC championship, so this is like year two.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Of this, so they not in their own place, not
in their.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Own place, but they're used to winning. They're used to
winning there used to be in there. But it's gonna
be packed, Like I will say that, like it's a holiday,
so nobody has to work until Monday most likely, or
go to school until Monday. Sorry, Like some people are
going to work this week, but they are going to
be amped up.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
It's a night game now.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
So the casinos, I've already saw posts because you know,
of course a lot of my Facebook is Detroit. The
casinos are doing like pregame stuff, so go right, you
can go gamble, you can drink, you can hang out.
They're gonna have NFL games on the casinos, in the
sports books. They're gonna have all kinds of like my
my sisters is telling me about an NFC uh you
know game, which is the Vikings Lions a watch party.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So they have all this stuff going on.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Downtown Detroit, and then you have a short walk if
you if you're going to one of the casinos, a
short uber, a short walk over to the stadium, and
it's gonna be loud.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
It's gonna be loud.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
People are again, people are super excited for this because
they know this is not.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
The last game. They know this is just the game.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
And then their hope is instead of having to go
to San Francisco, that the NFC North Championship or NFC
Championship goes through Detroit, which could be the Vikings and
the Lions. Again, if the way it plays out, because
I've drawn it up where I'm like, well, the Packers
might be able to knock off the Eagles, and so
then the Lions would draw the lowest seed, which would
(21:17):
be the Packers, and now the Vikings would get the
next winner, which could be the Commanders.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Or the Rams.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Thinking about it, and so now.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It could be the Vikings and the Commanders, or the
Vikings and the Rams, you know, or the Vikings and
the Bucks. And then the winner of that game goes
to play the winner of the Packers Lions game, which
could could easily be the Vikings going back to Detroit
to play for who goes to the super Bowl. So again,
if you're a scriptwriter, oh yeah, it could be. It
could be the Lions having to come to Minnesota. But
(21:48):
I know that Detroit and Detroit fans are hoping for
that there. They won an NFC championship game in Detroit inside.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
No Weather's a factor, and I think that's the key.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
That's a great point. No Weather's factor.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
If you if the roles reversed and it's the Vikings there,
they don't have to worry about that too. I'm just
I think this is, for me, a different team than
the team we saw against the Lions the first time.
In both cases, so I'm just very interested to see
how both teams respond to what happened. I don't think
that the Lions feel like they have this easy setup.
(22:20):
I think that they are very much you know, they
respect what the Vikings have done this season. As far
as the atmosphere, Ford Field is low key, like one
of my favorites. I I think it's very underrated. The
atmosphere and there's awesome. I love the open air press box.
I like a closed stadium in cold weather. I'm not,
(22:42):
you know, interested in being outside and getting rained on
like I did in Seattle.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
So I am. I'm very excited for that game. Ron.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I hope the best for you this weekend as you
will be covering that game. Tell us where we can
find you on game day. What does your schedule look like?
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Uh So, game day, we're gonna have some of course
k fan hits here and there, but the main one
is gonna be on Fox nine.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We're gonna be doing the pregame show.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
We're not sure yet if it's gonna be a thirty
ty'lock's gonna be pushed back to clock on Fox nine. Yeah,
so once they set the pre game because if there's
a game on Fox before the vikings line, yeah, that
goes into a factor.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
So there's all kinds of things we have to deal with.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
But yeah, we're gonna have some hits here and there
with Fox, and then of course we're gonna have some
stuff here and there on my Instagram and my my
Twitter because we will then send them over to YouTube
with does some shorts or some you know, here's some
interviews we've done, and then.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Fan line fan line it'll be January fifth.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Of course, after the game ends, we will be on
the fan line and look, people win, loser draw. Let's
just have a good fan line, like the world is
not over, the sky is not falling, because we know
when when the Vikings lose, people lose their minds, and
when they win, everybody.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Wants to steal nitpicks.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So let's just have a good fan line for twenty
the first fan line of TWI let's make it a
good one.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Make it a good one.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, definitely, I love that.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
And I think you'll have some very spirited folks being
that it's a evening time.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Okay, yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yes, some characters may come out to play.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Got to screen those calls, we know that. Well.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Thank you Ron so much for joining us, and we
appreciate your insight.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
As always.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Let's do this again really soon because we have a
few more shows we'll have to crank out as the
Vikings make.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
A playoff run.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Thank you so much to Ron Johnson for being our
guest on this episode of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. If
you want more content, be sure to tune into Vikings
dot com or the Vikings app for everything you need
to know to gear you up for Sunday's game. You
can also see past episodes of our podcast on our
podcast channel, as well as the latest episode of The Tailgate,
(24:53):
which you don't get to listen to in just a bit.
If you're listening to this on kfan. If not, be
sure to like and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, whoever you
listen to your podcast. We are going to have some
exciting programming coming up for you as we enter this
playoff push. Until then, let's finish the regular season out
strong Vikings and Lions on Sunday Night Football. We need
(25:16):
all your support and all your fandom that.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
We can get.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Stick with Vikings dot com for all the latest. Thank
you so much for tuning in and let's get a
big skull Vikes
Welcome into the fourteen and two Minnesota Vikings podcast. I'm
your host Tatum Everett from the Vikings Entertainment Network, and
what a game it was. On Sunday, the Vikings secured
their ninth straight victory by giving the old season sweep
to the Green Bay Packers. This is now set up
the biggest game in regular season history between the Vikings
(00:24):
and the Lions. Winner clinches the NFC North title and
NFC number one seed, which means a first round playoff
by and home field advantage throughout the postseason. So needless
just say, a lot on the line this weekend, and
as you may have seen, a game of this significance
means the NFL wants all eyes on it. Vikings take
(00:46):
on the Lions at Ford Field first Sunday Night football.
Let's give a big warm welcome to Ron Johnson. He's
one of our favorite Vikings analysts and the Twin Cities
we love. We see you on some of our Vikings content.
It is a week of New Year's of twenty twenty five.
Have you made any new resolutions or anything?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think my twenty twenty five resolution is gonna be
don't sweat the small stuff. I think oftentimes I worry
about the little things that don't really matter in the big,
grand scheme of life. So today I'm gonna have my
last days or hours or minutes of sweating small stuff
because it's not twenty twenty five yet. And then when
I wake up tomorrow, I'm gonna pray and try my
(01:27):
heart is to not sweat the small stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And when this airs, though, they will, we will already be
in twenty twenty five. So if you see Ron, make
sure you remind him to stay calm. Just kidding, because
that always works telling someone to calm, be calm, right.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yes, stay calm. We're going to the playoffs. Don't don't
sweat the small stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
There you go, speaking of I mean, this might be,
and honestly, historically it is the biggest regular season game
the NFL has ever seen. Would you argue that point.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
No, I would not argue that point.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And I'm blinking on the guy's name, but the NFL scheduler,
I think this is his last season. So what better
way to send him on his way out the door
than with the game two hundred.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And seventy two.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So this two hundred and seventy second game of the
season is going to be the Minnesota Vikings versus the
Detroit Lions, so one an NFC North rival in NFC rival,
but also for the number one seed. And so not
only is the world watching, but a lot of the
teams are watching because if you're the Falcons or the
Rams or the Bucks, you're waiting to see who am
(02:31):
I playing? Am I playing the Vikings? Am I playing
the Lions?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Are hoping to get in the playoffs too?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I mean some of them still may have it out
there on the outside looking in.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yep, Falcons need help right now.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
It looks like the Bucks and if the Bucks, if
the Seahawks beat the Rams, the Bucks would get the
three seed and the Rams would get the four seed,
and then the five seed would travel to Glorious La.
And so if you're the Falcons, you're watching hoping that
somebody falters and loses, which is basically you need the
Buccaneers to lose and for Michael Pennix to be because
I think that's the That's also another story where if
(03:01):
the Vikings travel back to Atlanta for Kirk Cousins to
be the backup for that game. I mean, that is
the table like Disney Channel rom Com, you know, where
Pinnis possibly gets hurt, and then Kirk Cousins comes in
like a knight and shining armor, you know, and he
tries to wield the team back, but then he ends
up losing in the end, and then Kevin O'Connell picks
(03:21):
him ab off the ground like it's okay, Kirk, It's okay,
I got you, Like, don't worry.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
It sounds like you've been dreaming about this for a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
A movie script for this, you know, you know, and
and and when you redo it, when you redo this,
you know, Zach Efron is probably gonna play Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'm not sure. I don't I don't know who would
play Michael Pennix at that time.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Sound darn Old Cambina might have to be himself so
that he can do the dances the movie.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it would be cam Bina playing himself.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
But when you when you look at the playoffs and
the way the schedule was written, I don't think you know,
as much as people joke about, there's a script, you
could not screw this any better. For one, the lions
to be where they are and the vikings to be
where they are and to have this flex opportunity to
flex them to the because imagine this was a noon
game for the one seed.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
It'd kind of be like lackluster, like oh, okay, it's over.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I mean it would be it would feel big, but
then you wouldn't have this like anticipation building up because
it's the twenty eight combined wins between two teams in
a regular season game is an all time record. The
previous record was twenty five wins. But teams that have
had fourteen wins or more each that have played each other.
(04:36):
It's only happened five times in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And even for the Packers like to do everything they've
done to say, man, we're still the third best team
in the conference.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, I mean the NFC North's the winningest division in
NFL history.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, and that's what I'm saying, Like the Bears did
everything they could just to screw it up, but the
other three teams did their job. But yeah, I know,
this is a huge game. Nothing's ever been this magnitude.
And the best part of this is the Vikings players
sitting in a hotel don't have to watch football and say,
oh if this happens when we're in If this happens
for number two, it's just let's relax, Let's watch our iPads,
(05:09):
lets get ready to go to the stadium, and then
when we lace them up, let's lay it all on line.
Because if we win this game, we don't have to
play next week. And I think that's the key for
both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It's funny that you bring up scheduling and predictions and
things like that, because I took a look back on
your season prediction that you do every year for Vikings
dot Com.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
And you know, admittedly we like to.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Give the Vikings a positive spin. We want our guys
to do good, so you know, they have a winning
record in our eyes every single season, and not even
Ron had it predicted well enough.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
For what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Ron, you had the Vikings going ten and six, which
still is very good, but for them to overachieve in
this way it is more than what you even expected.
So have you looked back on that and kind of
followed what you've said versus what's happened.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I have not.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I remember when we were first sitting down going over this,
I was like torn between like nine to eleven wins.
I'm like, where where are some of these games gonna
play out? I think think I got like that stretch
of roll games right when I said they would just.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Did you did?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
I think it was the start of the season that
I think surprising.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The start of the season threw me off.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Yeah, not just you, but everyone else.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Really forty nine Ers Buffalo Bills, Like a lot of
those games you just would assume going to Lambeau versus Lambeau,
you know, versus the Packers coming to Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I think I said they would split.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I think even the Bears I thought about, like, man,
that Monday night game could get kind of weird. But
that early start for the Vikings going five and zero,
I don't think anybody in the world predicted that. And
that's where it threw me off. If I if I
changed those early on games, yeah, I think there are
thirteen wins, and so because I think I had them
like two to three to start the season or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So you you changed those three, I'm right there, thirteen wins.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
It's understandable, Ron because so many of the things that
people were not willing to be excited about, they were
they didn't know what.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
They were going to get.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
In Sam Donald, and I think that has completely changed
everyone's mind on what this team is capable of the
amount of resiliency and toughness that he has showcased. His
decision making with the coaching and developing from Kevin O'Connell
has been so much so that it's really driven him
to be this dark horse MVP.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Candidate late in the season.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I don't think that people are picking him as the
MVP yet, but I do think they're mentioning his name
right about now. Have you been hearing those conversations?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I mean I think Kevin O'Connell and Sam Donald both
deserve Year in awards. Like it's the trouble And here's
the problem. Somebody else tweeted about, like a certain coach
that won a certain number of games and he didn't
get any recognition they took. They talked about, Oh, Ryan
Tannehill was my rost recent tweet. I just saw somebody
say Ryan Tannehill led the Titans back to back. You know,
I think game yep, and you know, forty touchdowns and
(07:59):
all this other stuff, and he wasn't even in the conversation.
So I think that plays into it because it's a
popularity contest. I mean, speaking of high school musical That's
what this NFL voting is like. It's like, who's the
most popular kid in the hallway? We think he should
be the champion of the you know, quarterbacks and MVPs,
and who's the favorite coach.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Who's the guy that everybody loves?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, Dan Campbell likes to bite kneecaps, and so yeah,
let's let's put him in this coner. I mean, last time,
I think it was Kevin Stefanski though because of all
the adversity he overcame. And I don't know if having
Sam Donald as a quarterback is considered adversity. And same
with Sam Donald losing his offensive tack, his starting left tackle,
does that give you enough to say, Man, this guy's
still doing it. Not having Jordan Nadisen for the whole season,
(08:39):
not having TJ. Hockinson for the whole season, there's a
lot Sam Donald's gone through. And I don't know if
that's gonna help with some of these conversations. But I
mean we know the names and names. Everybody loves Patrick Mahomes,
everybody loves Joe Burrow, everybody loves Josh Allen and then sorry,
it wasn't the Bills. I actually was the Texans. I
struggle with too, because the Texans with CJ. Stroud, that
was another one that everybody assumed like CJ. Strow was
(09:01):
gonna be one of the top five quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
He's not. Right now.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
The top five actually are very underwhelming names. And that's
what's so funny is I think somebody just tweeted that too.
You had Geno Smith, Sam Donald, Baker Mayfield, and I'm
drawing a blank on the other two.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Those are, like, I mean, Jared Goff because his numbers
are very similar to Sam Darnold right now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yep, Jared Goff, and then Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So those five are the top five statistically quarterbacks right now,
and nobody wants to put them in the MVP conversation
other than Burrow. If Burrow had won fourteen games, he
for sure is the NFL MVP. He just hasn't won games,
and so it's tough for them to always argue, well,
it's look at Mahomes won fifteen games, he's the MVP,
(09:43):
you know. Or Brady won this many games and he
threw this many yards, he's the MVP.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, what's going on with Burrow.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So that's why I think they're struggling, because if you
give it to Borrow based off stats, then you have
to go back and look at all the guys that
had better stats.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But didn't win the MVP, and now you become a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I don't envy anyone that has to make those decision
because I do.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Like your point.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You know that every year it feels like the criteria changes,
which is not always bad. You know, you think of
the coach of the year like Kevin O'Connell and first
two seasons two of three seasons with the Vikings with
thirteen plus wins is something that has only been done
two other times.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
In NFL history.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
He's the first Vikings coach to have thirteen plus two
thirteen plus win seasons. You know, he's been making a
lot of marks and I think deserves a lot of
the credit for what he's been able to do with
in a quarterback who was promising but unproven, and you
know the fact that Brian Flores's defense has been so
(10:45):
lights out. To me, that is the biggest difference from
this team from this year's team to the twenty twenty
two NFC North title team is the fact that if
I see the matchup on Sunday, and I know the
Lions offense is so good, but I am still confident
that our defense can put up a few stops. That'll
(11:06):
be a difference maker on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, and that's gonna be the key.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So when you look at what the Lions do, my
latest kind of game time thought, and I'm gonna say
this on the pregame show as well, you have to
almost treat the Lions' third downs as if it's fourth down,
which means because a lot of people on third down,
let's say, for instance, third and eight, they're like, hey,
if we give up six yards, man, we're good.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's still fourth down. No, you cannot do that against
the Lions.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
If you get them in fourth and two or fourth
and one, they are gonna go for it.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They went forth three times.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
And so you have to look at what Dan Campbell,
how he plays it where he's at on the field,
Like if they're on their own twenty even and it's
fourth and one, he might go for it because that's
the type of guy he is, where he trusts his
offense enough to say, hey, look, my defense can't stop
a running nose right now. So I am going to
try to do everything I can and keep that other
(11:58):
offense off the field. My best defense is my quarterback's
time of possession. And so my key is if it's
third and six, you got to stop them cold. You
gotta make it fourth and six. You got to make
those fourth downs very unfavorable to where they're like, eah,
we got a punt it.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
But I feel like he still goes for those depending
on field possession because they didn't punt in the game
last Monday.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Correct, and neither of the forty nine ers like that was.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It was like the craziest like stat of like games
without a punt or plays without a punt.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
But when you think about the way the Lions play it.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
It's field position, and you're right if they if they
feel like they're too far to kick a field goal,
but they know it's not worth punting, they're gonna go
for it regardless. But that's why you keep it at
If it's fourth, third and eight, you keep it at
third and eight. You make that a hard fourth down
to get. You make him have to throw to the
sticks if he can run the ball with Gibbs on
third and three to get maybe two more yards and
say we're going for it anyway.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Then you're you're playing on your heels.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
If you can get him in third long, and then
even fourth and long, you're now you you're on the offense.
And then you don't want them even do a fake
punt because we know that too. We know that's in
his we know he's willing to do that stuff.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Still to come.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I ask Ron, who is a Michigan native, about how
the city of Detroit will handle such a big game
and if he thinks Viking fans will be well represented.
That's to come after this.
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alltrue dot com slash code. Welcome back into the Minnesota
Vikings Podcast. If you're just tuning in, I'm your host,
Tatum Everett, part of the Vikings Entertainment Network, and we've
been super busy getting you guys ready for the big
NFC North showdown in Detroit on Sunday Night football. That's right,
(14:23):
the fourteen in two Vikings will face the fourteen and
two Lions.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
That twenty eight combined wins is an.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
NFL record for a regular season game and something that's
only happened in five previous playoff contests.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
It's going to be huge.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
And we have been talking to Vikings analyst Ron Johnson
to get us ready for Sunday's big game. I want
to know, like you see the trickery every single week,
this this game that doesn't really mean anything against the
forty nine ers.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You see the lateral from was Saint.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Brown to William and then you see the uh. I
mean even in the Bears game where they did like
the stumble Rooski.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I don't know what it's called.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I just have Andy Reid doing a commressional band stumble
bumble that said thank you. So then like you have
this stumble bumble, right, you have all these trick plays
like you know you're going to see at least one
of those in this game. So as a defense, like,
how do you prepare for a moment like that? You
don't know when it's coming, but you know it's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Don't chase the rabbit, which masically means keep your eyes
on what you're supposed to do. So if you're outside contained,
just contain the outside. Don't follow the running back that
all of a sudden looks like appetizing because he's setting
you up for something else. The other way, if there
is a quick hitch or something, just let the one
guy that's supposed to tackle that guy.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
You guys rally to the ball.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
The other guys keep coming because don't just stop assuming
he's down, because there might be another secondary play. And
that's what happened to the forty nine ers. You see
a quick you see a curl and you're like, okay,
I'm good. Like why is Jameis and Williams running full
speed towards the curl out whatever, It's not going to
him anyway. I'm gonna slow down as DBS do and
boom now he gets the ball. So you have to
(16:10):
kind of play through the whistle. And that's the key
is just play through the whistle, like don't stop until
you see that guy on the ground and the referees
blowing the whistle, and I say, have to shoot the lines.
Other than that, it's like all that stuff in the backfield,
all that you like, if it's somebody yells fumble, let
the guys around the ball get the fumble. There's no
reason for you to turn your head and look for
who's got the fumble. So we can go celebrate and
do the next great trend, Like don't worry about all
(16:31):
that and that's the only way to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, how much of what the Vikings defense and really
offense right now do is about just not beating yourself,
Like you're more worried about you at this point, Like, yes,
you're looking at scheme, you know the deans, but you've
already played this team.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
It's been a very long time.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
How much of it at this point though, when you're
going into the playoffs and stuff, is it just like
not beating yourselves because you know you can win, like
you're a fourteen win team.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
You know that you find different ways to win. Can't
beat yourself in this point.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, it's about hustle.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So think about the Blake Cashman where he caught up
to Jordan Love after he had already run by him.
Blake Cashman runs by Missus, Jordan Love gets pushed through
the pocket, Jordan Love escapes and then like it's gonna
make a move to go to his left, well, Blake Cashman. Basically,
it's called retrace your steps, so you don't run in
a weird path, just retrace your steps. If you went up,
you just go back. He retrace his steps and it
(17:25):
put him right back to where Jordan Love was coming.
If he had given up and just kind of like
got pushed through the pocket and said, okay, I'm turn
it down. Correct, Jordan Love gets a first down. So
that's part of it. It's just playing through the whistle,
playing to like like put it all on the line,
like there's no reason to rest And that's why I
love the All twenty two and coaches do too, because
you might like on TV, you're only seeing where the
(17:46):
play happened. Coaches, the DV coaches are watching the entire play,
like why are you the backside cornerback just standing there
waiting for the guys on the other side to make
the play, Like start migrating towards the play, like you
never know if somebody's gonna free, somebody's gonna come out.
I guarantee if you watch the forty nine ers or
some of these Lions plays, they might have given up
a little bit. Like you see on offense when a
(18:07):
guy is running, if a guy doesn't hustle and block.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So when they say you have contained, just contain.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
When they say you have spy, meaning you're spying the quarterback,
don't worry about the running back that just ran the bubble.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Somebody else has him over there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I got to keep my eyes on Jared Golf, and
it could be for whatever reason. It could be like, hey,
I got a thought here that Jared Golf might be
doing like a naked boot and he might keep it
thinking that we're not honoring him on any like run
fakes you got to honor the quarterback on the run
fakes as well. So it's a lot. That's why these
guys get paid so much money. In the coordinator get
(18:40):
paid so much money. But good teams do these things.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
I'm really looking forward to the chess match on Sunday
because I feel like Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell are
two of the better coaches in our league, and they
have such different styles. You know. I feel like Floras
embodies that kind of Dan Campbell toughness. Maybe Johnson kind
of embodies what Kevin O'Connell is is a play caller,
(19:04):
and they're both like have these like mad scientists on
either side of this of the field going head to
head and what's going to be one of the.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Most epic games. Ron.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I know that you are Michigan native, and you know
you know a lot about the Detroit Lions, and and
just speaking from that perspective, like how how is this
city going to handle this game this weekend? You've got
so much on the line, the margins razor thin between
the fifth seed and playing next week or the number
(19:35):
one seed and having the week off and knowing what
that city has been through, knowing what the Minnesota Vikings
organization and this or and this area has been through.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Like how is the city going to handle this on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I think they're ready for I mean they've already been
to an NFC championship, so this is like year two.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Of this, so they not in their own place, not
in their.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Own place, but they're used to winning. They're used to
winning there used to be in there. But it's gonna
be packed, Like I will say that, like it's a holiday,
so nobody has to work until Monday most likely, or
go to school until Monday. Sorry, Like some people are
going to work this week, but they are going to
be amped up.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
It's a night game now.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
So the casinos, I've already saw posts because you know,
of course a lot of my Facebook is Detroit. The
casinos are doing like pregame stuff, so go right, you
can go gamble, you can drink, you can hang out.
They're gonna have NFL games on the casinos, in the
sports books. They're gonna have all kinds of like my
my sisters is telling me about an NFC uh you
know game, which is the Vikings Lions a watch party.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So they have all this stuff going on.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Downtown Detroit, and then you have a short walk if
you if you're going to one of the casinos, a
short uber, a short walk over to the stadium, and
it's gonna be loud.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
It's gonna be loud.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
People are again, people are super excited for this because
they know this is not.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
The last game. They know this is just the game.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
And then their hope is instead of having to go
to San Francisco, that the NFC North Championship or NFC
Championship goes through Detroit, which could be the Vikings and
the Lions. Again, if the way it plays out, because
I've drawn it up where I'm like, well, the Packers
might be able to knock off the Eagles, and so
then the Lions would draw the lowest seed, which would
(21:17):
be the Packers, and now the Vikings would get the
next winner, which could be the Commanders.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Or the Rams.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Thinking about it, and so now.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It could be the Vikings and the Commanders, or the
Vikings and the Rams, you know, or the Vikings and
the Bucks. And then the winner of that game goes
to play the winner of the Packers Lions game, which
could could easily be the Vikings going back to Detroit
to play for who goes to the super Bowl. So again,
if you're a scriptwriter, oh yeah, it could be. It
could be the Lions having to come to Minnesota. But
(21:48):
I know that Detroit and Detroit fans are hoping for
that there. They won an NFC championship game in Detroit inside.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
No Weather's a factor, and I think that's the key.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
That's a great point. No Weather's factor.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
If you if the roles reversed and it's the Vikings there,
they don't have to worry about that too. I'm just
I think this is, for me, a different team than
the team we saw against the Lions the first time.
In both cases, so I'm just very interested to see
how both teams respond to what happened. I don't think
that the Lions feel like they have this easy setup.
(22:20):
I think that they are very much you know, they
respect what the Vikings have done this season. As far
as the atmosphere, Ford Field is low key, like one
of my favorites. I I think it's very underrated. The
atmosphere and there's awesome. I love the open air press box.
I like a closed stadium in cold weather. I'm not,
(22:42):
you know, interested in being outside and getting rained on
like I did in Seattle.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
So I am. I'm very excited for that game. Ron.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I hope the best for you this weekend as you
will be covering that game. Tell us where we can
find you on game day. What does your schedule look like?
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Uh So, game day, we're gonna have some of course
k fan hits here and there, but the main one
is gonna be on Fox nine.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
We're gonna be doing the pregame show.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
We're not sure yet if it's gonna be a thirty
ty'lock's gonna be pushed back to clock on Fox nine. Yeah,
so once they set the pre game because if there's
a game on Fox before the vikings line, yeah, that
goes into a factor.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
So there's all kinds of things we have to deal with.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
But yeah, we're gonna have some hits here and there
with Fox, and then of course we're gonna have some
stuff here and there on my Instagram and my my
Twitter because we will then send them over to YouTube
with does some shorts or some you know, here's some
interviews we've done, and then.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Fan line fan line it'll be January fifth.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Of course, after the game ends, we will be on
the fan line and look, people win, loser draw. Let's
just have a good fan line, like the world is
not over, the sky is not falling, because we know
when when the Vikings lose, people lose their minds, and
when they win, everybody.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Wants to steal nitpicks.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So let's just have a good fan line for twenty
the first fan line of TWI let's make it a
good one.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Make it a good one.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, definitely, I love that.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
And I think you'll have some very spirited folks being
that it's a evening time.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Okay, yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yes, some characters may come out to play.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Got to screen those calls, we know that. Well.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Thank you Ron so much for joining us, and we
appreciate your insight.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
As always.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Let's do this again really soon because we have a
few more shows we'll have to crank out as the
Vikings make.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
A playoff run.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Thank you so much to Ron Johnson for being our
guest on this episode of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. If
you want more content, be sure to tune into Vikings
dot com or the Vikings app for everything you need
to know to gear you up for Sunday's game. You
can also see past episodes of our podcast on our
podcast channel, as well as the latest episode of The Tailgate,
(24:53):
which you don't get to listen to in just a bit.
If you're listening to this on kfan. If not, be
sure to like and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, whoever you
listen to your podcast. We are going to have some
exciting programming coming up for you as we enter this
playoff push. Until then, let's finish the regular season out
strong Vikings and Lions on Sunday Night Football. We need
(25:16):
all your support and all your fandom that.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
We can get.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Stick with Vikings dot com for all the latest. Thank
you so much for tuning in and let's get a
big skull Vikes
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