Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings dropped their regular season finale 31-9 at Ford Field in Detroit. It was tough sledding all night, with the Vikings Offense only generating 262 yards on 62 plays. Cam Akers led the running game with 65 yards on the ground and Justin Jefferson had 54 yards on 3 receptions. Will Reichard connected on 3-of-4 field goal attempts on the night. Defensively, the guys made some big plays, forcing 2 turnovers, including: Harrison Smith's second quarter interception and Ivan Pace's early pick in the third quarter. Jonathan Greenard and Jonathan Bullard both had a sack in the game and Ivan Pace Jr. led the team with 10 total tackles. The Vikings will return home and flip their sights to their Wild Card Weekend matchup at Sofi Stadium versus the Rams on Monday Night Football on January 13th. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich breakdown the week 18 contest, including: the Lions defensive pressure was a problem for the offense, the team needs to have a short memory this week, offensively they need to finish redzone drives, and our 14-3 season was very good but we need to fix the deficiencies we showed very quickly. Plus, Kevin O'Connell and Sam Darnold spoke in the postgame press conferences about the victory. All of this and more is in tonight's edition of the Vikings Postgame Report.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
It's Pete Persis with your Shirley Paul Allen, two thirds
of the KFA and Vikings Radio Network broadcast team, and
the regular season has come to a conclusion for all
teams in the NFL, including the Minnesota Vikings, and the
sad news for Motown. It's a sad song for Motown.
The Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings thirty one to nine,
(00:34):
so the Vikings nine game winning streak snapped. They'll finish
the season with a wonderful, gaudy record of fourteen and three.
But Pete, not just because it's a generally speaking prisoner
of moments society, I think a majority of fans are
going to a lot of people are gonna look at
this game and the magnitude of it where you could
(00:56):
have gotten the one seed in the NFC and won
the division and you didn't lose, you got killed, but
you still finish fourteen and three.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
How do you split that?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Well?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
You know?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
And the other thing too, is the two teams that
you lost to during the regular season were Detroit and
the Rams, and now we're playing We just played Detroit
and lost again, and now you got to play the Rams. Well,
I mean, as a player. You gotta have a very
short memory. By the time this plane touches down back
in Minneapolis at whatever time in the morning, it's going
(01:27):
to be you got it. You have to have forgotten
about it, and you have to figure out what's going on.
And I think it's pretty obvious that our passing game
just fell apart. I mean, you take a look at
Darnold who came out of this game. How many games
over one hundred on a passer?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Andy did he have? Ten? Thirteen?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
If he had had one tonight, he would have tied
Aaron Rodgers for the most in a single season history
of the NFL.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Fourteen. That's an NFL record.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Right, And he put up a fifty five point five
tonight without any interceptions. Now, defensively, we come away plus,
we come away plus two, right, I mean we're plus two.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
We have that pass call clip late, so yeah, but
we won the take in.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
Yeah, we want to take give. And then you look
at us situationally on third down three or thirteen on
fourth down, we were zero for three, red zone, oh
for four, goal to go, oh for three, all these situations,
and you know, you look at this and you look
at the flip card and you go, you got Kendall
Wilder out there for a quarter and a half of football.
(02:28):
We had the match. You would think our receivers, we
would have that matchup, our tight ends on their linebackers,
and none of it came to fruition. None of it
to the point where even later in the game, we
just we really just abandoned the drop back passing game.
We were throwing swing routes and all these other things.
So our i mean, our offense just got left handed quickly,
(02:50):
number one. And then they they never really recovered from it,
which is bizarre because we haven't seen this all year, right,
So what is that all about? Well, I mean, that's
why you got to watch film, and that's why coaches
get paid a lot of money because you have to
figure that out and then you have to get it
fixed before you go out to you know, Los Angeles
(03:10):
to play on Monday night. So very concerning overall, very concerning.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
A couple of things here.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Pete referenced Detroit Lions backup corner Kendallviildor. Okay, he used
to play for the Chicago Bears, played for US, and
Kendall has had significant troubles in his NFL career on
the field. Last game against the San Francisco forty nine Ers,
he played six plays for the Lions. Two of those
plays he got beat. A game before that or two
(03:39):
games before that against the Buffalo Bills, he was forced
into action and he played seventy percent of the snaps
and the Lions almost gave up fifty points and they
kept going at Bildhor and that just did not come
to fruition tonight for the Vikings, Vildor played a majority
of the second half. Now, secondly, you know Ben Lieber
on the Vikings radio networksdeline analyst, he said something late,
(04:02):
you know, as we as Jay Ward was coming in
and Gabriel Murphy and all that, and it was pretty
much rendered a preseason game at that stage, Lions winning
thirty one nine. He's like, all, you know, you got
to make sure and you guys would know better than me, man,
because you played the game. All the positivity from the
fourteen wins, the winning streak, Darnold's reclamation project, just the
(04:25):
whole thing. Because of the way tonight transpired. You cannot
let any of this linger where you're second guessing yourselves,
you know, yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
No, absolutely That's why I was That's what I'm saying.
When the plaint touches down, you gotta forget about this,
and then, no doubt, you got to really dig in
and figure out what went wrong and how you're gonna
fix it, because you know this is a copycat league,
and so the Rams are gonna sit there and watch
very very closely what the Lions did tonight. A lot
of it had to do with pressure, So I think,
you know, I'm seeing we're gonna we're gonna be faced.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
In the Viking slide. More than any team all season.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
They blitzed us a And the thing that was crazy
was just the fact that Darnold was bailing out right away.
Plays weren't even to develop. He wasn't even stepping up
in the pocket. He was just bailing as if he
just didn't want to throw the football for some reason.
Now early on that we had tons of opportunities early on,
and we missed him right. We had overthrows two to
(05:19):
JJ and the end zone, two to Hocketson, one of
which would have netted us a new two Both of
them to Hockson would have netted us first downs. But
against the defense. Paul again that has given up thirty
two and a half points the last four weeks in
San Francisco putting up thirty four, Chicago putting up some
Buffalo putting him forty eight, Green Bay thirty one. We
(05:40):
didn't even score touchdown. We've scored two touchdowns in two
games against this Lion's defense. So anybody who sees you
can get lucky once. But I think anybody that sees
that's gonna really really look at this film closely of
how the Vike the Lions played the Vikings, not only
in game one, but this game two, and try to
(06:01):
imitate and figure out what it was that they did.
And we're gonna So my point is, if you don't
get this fixed, you're you're copy It's copycat League. You're
gonna see this again.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
So, and the way I see it, I mean, you know,
you you look at Jared Verst and some of the
other bodies that they have, Brandon Fisk, and then we
played in the first time they had Pukainaku and Cooper Cup. Yeah,
they're they're they're they're there. But and we almost beat
and we should have. I mean, we had every we
came down to the wire. But if you don't fix
(06:31):
what's going on offensively quickly, then you know, then then
then you have to start worrying about what's going on overall.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
The Detroit Lions of beating the Minnesota Vikings five consecutive times,
they are the one seed in the NFC and a
one seed in their conference for the first time in
the history Alliance Football.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So they'll play in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Like Pete said, Vikings at so far to take on
the Rams a week from Monday, so that'll be January thirteenth,
seven o'clock Central. That there was an a topic from
the game I wanted to discuss momentarily, or shall we
call it a Jay topic, But first let's hear from
Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Obviously a disappointing, disappointing effort, but you know, you have
to compliment, you know, those guys on the other side for.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Playing a really good football game.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
And you know, we didn't do a lot of the
things that we've consistently done, you know, all season long,
and and this game came down to, you know, finishing
in the red zone, weighty downs, third downs, you know,
pitching and catching, and I thought our defense battled just
you know, uh, you know, asked a little bit too
much of them, and uh, that's gonna happen against a
(07:39):
good team. But we, uh have done a lot of
really really good things. This has been a phenomenal football
year for for our team. And that locker room is
already ready to go. Guys are ready to respond, and
we'll get ready to go for a huge opportunity coming
up on Monday night, going on the road.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah saying normal, Yeah, I just early on, you know,
I think there was some there.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
I gotta obviously go back and look at uh you know,
whether you know what it was like for him in
the pocket or seemed to be some opportunities, you know,
particularly chances maybe to you know, put seven on the
board and and listen, he's he said a lot of
those all season long, and and not one, not one
of those plays did uh did I call? And and
(08:30):
the outcome of that play change, you know, my mentality
for Sam the rest of the day just I always
believe he's gonna hit the next one, and I got
to do a better job, you know, given you know, uh,
you know, giving him some some other opportunities maybe and
clearly they you know, they had a It was a
physical game. On the outside, there was you know, there
(08:52):
was a lot of uh you know, challenging guys coming
up and playing man a man and you know, like
I said, it was a physical game required some pretty
detailed and pitching and catching and also you know, execution
of our offense against certain certain looks and we just
seem to be a play away for for much of the.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Day and against a team like that, you.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Know, you're hoping to you know, you're you're hoping to
get seven a few of those times to to try
to give yourself a real chance to win it in
the end. Issue less scoring, yeah, I thought, Uh, you know,
we had you know, we had some opportunities and then
some other times, you know, they did some they did
(09:35):
some good things, you know in man coverage and got
us off our you know, first or second reads, and.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
You know, just just didn't put the ball in the
end zone.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
You know, at a at a at a level we've
been doing.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
You know, we've you know, we've been at a pretty
strong clip down there, finishing with touchdowns over the last
you know, six seven weeks or so. Uh, and that
did not happen tonight. We got to take a look
at it and uh, you know, be ready to try
to improve immediately and know the challenge that we have
going going to LA.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Thinking those goal to go situations where's like eleven of
my one point and threw a nine and twice.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I think guess what was?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Yeah, there was there was quite a few there second
in fours and threes, and you know really where you know,
there's there's some opportunities for some first down runs and
then some of our plays, you know, we have the
option on some of those plays based upon the looks
to get another runoff or you know, maybe attack the
coverage via you know, cans at the line of scrimmage
(10:35):
and kind of either or mentality and uh, just how
it fell. We you know, probably you know, ended up
getting some more looks and man coverage to throw the
football and they were able to defend us. So sometimes
that happens, and we've got to you know, find different
ways to help guys get open and when there are
guys to potentially you know, throw and catch, we've got
(10:56):
to be.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Able to do that.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
We've done it at a very high level this year
and and just didn't really show up on the weight
he downs.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You think technique flies with Sam, what did the an
accuracy you.
Speaker 6 (11:07):
Know, as as the you know, early on in the game,
it seemed the miss was a little high, you know,
a little high, and uh so we've got to take
a look at it fundamentals, techniques and take a look
at the plays that things happened on. H Well, you know,
having the Monday night game, we'll be able to do uh,
you know, we'll be able to have a real full
kind of debrief and understanding of what took place, because
(11:30):
clearly it starts with me. I got to have I've
got to have our team ready to execute and pitch
and catch and do the little things. You know, we
didn't you know, we won the turnover battle, but we
had opportunities to put the ball on the end zone
and just didn't do it. So clearly we need to
take a look at it and be ready to improve immediately.
It doesn't change anything about the fact that what this
(11:51):
team's made up of.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You know, we can't always just.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
You know, we can't win nine in a row and
then we lose one and and allow that to change
how we operate. But that also doesn't mean you can't
improve and late season improvement when you have been playing
really good football in the month of December. You know,
sometimes you get hit in the mouth a little bit
and you've got to respond. And I know we've built
this thing in a way where we're going to do that,
(12:17):
and we know it's going to be a challenge, Ben,
but that's what we're going to do.
Speaker 7 (12:22):
It's a chance that you guys might be coming back
to the chord given a read day, but you can
take a look at some of the business drugs that
you got to say, especially in the raison.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Do you think that in order.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
It's a you know, it's obviously they're excited about their team.
It's a great atmosphere for sure. But that's what football
this time of year is, especially coming to a place
where teams have the success.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
They've had, it's definitely going to be a challenge for sure.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
You know, was a part of a team in twenty
twenty one where we lost our last game and found
a way to do what we needed to do to
have a chance to play for a World championship. So
regardless of your path, uh that that either team will
go on, uh, you're still you know, both these teams
are guaranteed sixty minutes and ours happens to be next
Monday night.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
We're gonna get ready to.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Play football game and hopefully get back to doing a
lot of the things we've done pretty consistently all season
long as a team. When broadcast look like Dad Kelson
and getting boys be you know that what he said,
he did, Yeah he did. You know, there was some
(13:30):
you know, there was some they were activating some things
that you know, we would go fast and had some
chances at some completions.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Hit hit a few of them.
Speaker 6 (13:39):
They had some you know, there were some stunts and
some picks and things where they were able to get
to us and and maybe limit our.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Chances to truly attack the man coverage.
Speaker 6 (13:48):
We did have some ball out kind of plays where
that we're effective at least moving it between the twenties
and things like that. But once again, this can this
came down to our ability to put seven on the
board in the first half and take advantage of a
short field turnover, take advantage of getting the ball in
the fifty yard line, and you've got to turn those
things into into some some real points against a team
(14:11):
like that.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
You know, if we're kicking field goals all day against
that offense.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
You know, it's just we're gonna have to score some
touchdowns eventually to give ourselves a chance to win the game.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Got obvious, was it when he got into the job
on stile on offense? But when they got engineered gets all.
Speaker 6 (14:28):
How Yeah, he's he's a He's as explosive as anybody
in the National Football League. And I thought we did
a pretty good job on him for the most part.
But against a player like that, you know, all all
it takes is a little bit of space. All it
takes is a little bit of uh, you know, a
grasp for him to hit that thing. And h He's
(14:49):
going to be tough to tackle in space when he
gets out there, and we knew that coming in. I
thought Flowing the guys did some really really good things
in the first half to keep us in the football game.
And like I said, you know this, this game could
look differently in the end, very easily with one or
two more plays down in the red zone being successful
and the way that works with momentum and the way
that works for the energy of your whole team. I
(15:11):
thought the guys fought. I thought they battled. It got
to a point there at the end. Once, you know,
once we weren't successful on you know, our second to
last drive, knowing we're going to be playing Monday night,
I wanted to make sure we started taking some guys
out and it was about starting to prepare for Monday night,
even though that game hadn't ended yet.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Kevin, you mentioned that you guys hadn't lost it a
couple of months, just like, what is the key to
turning the page quickly?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Yeah, I think that's what we do, Dane, regardless of
the result.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
And that's what's made this team so special is these
guys just continue to go back to work regardless of
the outcome.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now, what I told those guys, if if.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
We're going to be any different when the results don't
go our way, that's going to be a problem. And
every single man in that locker room responded to that
the way I expected them to. And I know we'll
go back to work and not the outcome any of
us wanted at all.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
But that's you know, that's part of a.
Speaker 6 (16:05):
Journey of a football team is sometimes you're gonna get
hit in the mouth, you're gonna get knocked down. What's
defined this team regardless of when and where that happened
and how it happened. We've responded. So the DNA of
this team is to do that, and that's my expectation
that we'll all do it. And then, like I said,
it starts with me to hold.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Them to Wanting to think on their first seven possessions,
how impressed were you with what flows demo?
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Yeah, I thought, you know, for the way they answered
the bell, you know, in that first half, and you know,
turning the football over and give us, giving us ops,
getting stops and having the ability to to you know,
in game response when you're kind of against a team
like that, you've got to capitalize on some of those
and you never want to be reckless, but you know,
(16:51):
I want you know, we were going to go down
there and try to get seven points and we just
didn't do it. And uh, you're not going to beat
a team like that, regardless of some of the other
metrics in the game, when the weighty downs kind of
go the way it did, and weighty as they get,
they don't get more weighty than scoring plays and having
the opportunity to maybe do so or not or you know,
(17:12):
me not giving the guys a better answer and or
path to doing so.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
So it's all of us. We're all gonna be in
this together.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I'll be standing right out in front, right out in
front of this thing, and you know, we'll press onward
and we get another opportunity in uh, you know, in
a few days there in l.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
A H four where you decided to keep the field,
I guess.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
What was the we're willing miss?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
What was the thought process?
Speaker 6 (17:36):
Yeah, I thought at that point, I believe it would
have made it a five point game just with the way.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
You know, our defense was playing.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
It would have been a chance to you know, get
that uh, get that three in there, and then see
if we can get one stop and go down and
put the ball on the end zone and take the lead.
You know, at that point in time, you know you're
gauging how your whole football team's playing.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And I have a on of confidence and will I
always do and and always will.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
So didn't work out for us there, but I thought
it was a moment you know where you know, getting
three right there and making it a five point game. Uh,
you know, would have given us a chance for a
stop and a score to take the lead and see
what it looked like.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
In the end. Were there any any injuries coming?
Speaker 6 (18:23):
Uh No, I mean, you know, Aaron the same thing
Aaron's been dealing with. You know, he got a little sore,
but was he was able to play through it and
he'll be fine. And outside of that, we were we
came out pretty clean for a pretty physical football game.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
And you know we'll turn over and get ready to go.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Just what did your where did they cover?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Just?
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Yeah, it was you know, a lot of man and
man coverage with help over the top. Some of the
times we drew some some flags. Uh, I think Justin
drew on and uh there was some TJ might have
had a couple. I mean games like that, when it's
contested on every down and there's you know, hand to
hand combat going on and you are single covered, there's
(19:04):
gonna be some opportunities. I think we'll look at the
tape and see some chances. Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Some we capitalize, many we didn't.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
But at the same time, there's you know, it's going
to be competitive at the highest level and they you know,
they had a good plan that they mixed the way
they were, you know, covering some of the other guys
and tried to take Justin out of the football game.
So if some of those weighty downs, when you those
bang bang plays with matchups that you feel pretty good about,
they don't go your way, You're you're either off the
(19:31):
field or you're having to decide to go forward on
four town.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Well, Kevin talked about it a little bit, but the
j topic would be Jamiir Gibbs. Okay, he's phenomenal, He's fantastic.
He's on his way to potentially becoming the best overall
running back in the National Football League. He's only two
years into this thing, but in his career against the
Minnesota Vikings, he scored eight touchdowns in four games.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
And our offensive scored too.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I mean at seven on the ground, one in the air.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So if you meet the Lions again, man, you got
to figure that.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
You got to figure him out. And and you know
what though, I mean, I don't. I'm not you come
away from this game. I'm not afraid of coming back
here at some point down the road if we have
to come back here.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm not.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
Defensively, I thought we did a very very good job.
I mean, you're you know, you're plus you're plus two
in the take give for a while there, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I think we were.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
We were containing Gibbs. He wasn't getting a whole lot,
you know, early on. So the defense was doing a
really really good job, I mean, and Jonathan Grenard was
absolutely giving Taylor Decker everything you can hold on to
or handle. And so we My point is is we
had that offense, the best offense in the league from
(20:45):
a point scoring standpoint on, you know, kind of on
its heels, and because we couldn't put any pressure on
them offensively, they took a step back, gathered their feet,
and then reset and then came back at and just
kept coming and kept going, you know, kept after us,
and eventually really what basically wore us down, and they
(21:05):
did so with Gibbs on the ground for the most
part of it. So I'm not I'm not too afraid
of coming back here. Yeah, but especially with the way
the defense played this game. It's just the enigma of
our offense. And and uh, man, is it a head scratch?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And we're gonna hear from Sam Darnold here in a
minute with Donald. There's an A topic or maybe it's
a B topic, and we'll explain what that means momentarily.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
But here's Sam.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Yeah, obviously uh, disappointing game. I felt like we just
you know, for me personally, didn't didn't hit the throws
that I that I should hit in the red zone,
especially early on. Yeah, just didn't execute the way that
we wanted to. You know, felt our defense played really well.
They kept us in the game for most of the game,
and you know, just going down in the red zone
(21:52):
and kicking field goals, you know that's not gonna cut it.
I guess a good team like that, So just gotta
be a lot better, you know, for myself personally, got
to hit the throws in tight coverage and but uh,
you know, we're we're looking forward to the challenge against
l A moving forward. But you know, I gotta gotta
watch this tape and learn from it and get better.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Say, why was the accuracy in issue?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (22:17):
Just uh, you know, I think for me personally, gotta
watch the tape first of all, you know, to see
but just gotta hit the throws as simple as un all.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
No, So you nives and rhythm you how much did
you feel as much?
Speaker 4 (22:39):
No?
Speaker 7 (22:39):
I felt like, you know, I felt like my feet
and my eyes, I felt like I was, you know,
good from that standpoint.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I felt like, you know, I made some of the
right reads.
Speaker 7 (22:48):
I missed a couple, but for the most part, especially
early on, I felt like I went to the right
place with the ball.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I just got to hit the throw.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Variety. As soon as the guys your loan come here.
Speaker 7 (23:02):
Yeah, you know they we knew that they were gonna
have a good plan, you know, brand pressures and different
coverages behind it. So you know, again like if we
executing the red zone early on, I think it's a
different game.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
So obviously it's a different game.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
So we just got to execute early on in the
red zone and you know, like I said, just just
got to execute better.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Look at the.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Com Yeah, he was just saying, you know, we're we're
good man.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
You know we uh obviously didn't have the day that
we wanted to have, but you know, we're you know
looking forward to the challenge that awaits, you know, with
with playoffs and everything.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
You know, just you know, getting ready to you know,
for you know, that next step and going want to
know next.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Week when a team is playing as a physical as
they do, uh on the outside or the receivers, like,
what's the additional challenge on your end in terms of
delivering the ball.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
There is any Yeah, like I said, I mean they
you know, I think they do a good job in
their man coverage, you know, but for us or for me,
I again, I got to locate the ball a little
bit better, and but I think I'll have a little
bit you know, some more answers.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
When I watch this tape, you got a lot of
success and here what was different?
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Just gotta hit the throws. I mean, it's uh, it
really is as simple as that. You know, I missed
a couple of jets in the red zone that you
know I'd like to have back. But you know, that's
how the game goes sometimes, you know, I think for
me personally, like you know, I gotta look at the tape,
see you know, just my feet and and you know,
(24:45):
just correct everything from a you know, mechanics standpoint, not
look too deep into it, but just you know, get better.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Mm hm.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
How hard is that balance?
Speaker 6 (24:54):
And we're just like kid, you have played the last
seven weeks when played like ballance and not trying to over.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Do just.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah again it's don't get me wrong, like losing sucks,
but it is what it is. At the end of
the day.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
You know, I miss and throws, and you know, we
lost to a good team, and you know, we have
an opportunity to go to the playoffs and and you
know play another really good team in LA And you
know that's kind of the story from our end, you guys.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Obviously I had to do some of the saddle account
stuff in Seattle air of this kind of environment. How
difficult is the communication when I imagine this was a
lot of spends, you guys plays.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Here so far.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Yeah, you know, I thought, you know, we handled it
really well from that aspect. So yeah, I think from
from you know, a operational standpoint, I felt like we
handled it pretty well.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
Say, we're already looking for when you need to take
just weird beating where your beat are.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
Yeah, there's you know, just looking at my feet, you know,
feeling like on some of those red zone plays could
have been a little more grounded instead of trying to
you know, backpedal or escape. But again, those are you know,
some throws that you know I've made before are a
lot in my career. So just uh, you know, not
gonna look too deep into it, but uh, just gotta
gotta be better.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
So the A topic, which really is the B topic,
with Sam Darnold, and you just triggered me to think
of this.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I didn't even say it during our game call.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Blitz is he was blitzed more than I don't have
the metrics or the numbers in front of me, but
with a lot, yeah, I mean it was almost every
play a lot. And it seems like Aaron Glenn, the
defensive coordinator for the Lions, basically said, I got Alex
Azeloni back. He's my best blitzer, but you need more
than that to win. I guess a good offense like
the Vikings. I'm tired of watching film and watching this
(26:48):
guy bounce around in the pocket with three four and
five man rushes and just pick teams apart. If he's
going to beat us. He's going to beat us because
he can handle the pressure of a blitz. And we're
gonna keep bringing it, keep bringing it, keep bringing it.
And I'm just wondering if Sam was second guessing things
because he didn't know where the heat was coming from.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
I think a couple of things. Number One, early on,
he wasn't on the money. And when you play, when
you play against Manda Man, we saw we saw golf
to it a couple of times. Tight coverage. You got
to sling that ball and get it exactly where it
needs to be. And I don't know if he had
the confidence tonight to do that right, and he just
didn't have that. So what happened toward later in the
(27:28):
third quarter and then the fourth quarter is Donald would
start bailing out of the pocket before the routes even developed.
They were developing twelve fifteen yards down the field, and
he was already loopid and getting and getting himself out
of the pocket. So it's like the confidence that Donald
has shown his ability to stand in the pocket, take
(27:48):
a hit, deliver a strike just evaporated somewhere during the
point during during this game and again never got it back.
And that's kind of the part that worries me the most.
It's not as if the fourth quarter of the game
he was back on right but a little too little,
too late type situation. It was a deal where it
(28:09):
went wayward early and just never. I mean, we saw
JJ wide opening the end zone, missed, We saw JJ
in a crossing route, yeah, and back the end zone missed.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
You see two throws to Hockinson would have been first downs,
both of them both missed. It's it's a head scratcher, man,
it is a absolute head scratcher.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
What happened? Well, here's the deal.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
The Good Times, Bad Times copyright led Zeppelin. The Good Times,
your Minnesota Vikings finished the season fourteen and three. All right,
that's a fantastic record. Obviously, the bad Times is the
way it ended. You got killed by a division rival,
the Detroit Lions. They get the one you don't, and
the Vikings had to sofi to play the Rams with
Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua and the
(28:55):
rest of those luminaries. Monday, January thirteenth, The Boom on
a Fan with Ben Lieber, Pete Bersig, and your Shirly
Paul Allen takes place at seven o'clock Central.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
A great job on the call despite the way things develop, right.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
So they say, one more thing you got you have
to you mentioned how this how this season ended, but
better now than next week, and now you have an
opportunity to fix it. And if you can fix what's
going on and figure this thing out, you can come
back here right down the road and feel that much
more confident that you could take care of this Detroit team.
(29:31):
Because they're just gonna rinse and repeat. Right, it's not broke,
don't fix it. So the opportunity is there. The one thing,
like you said, you have to forget, you have to
move on. You have to just let this one go
and move on to the Rams game because if you
let this thing linger, you know, it could be disastrous
(29:51):
for the season.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
That's the Vikings postgame report, the final one for the
regular season. Pete and I will chat with you in
podcast format next week again. The La Rams in the
playoffs after the twenty twenty four Seedson The Lions win
thirty one to nine.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Thank you for listening.
It's Pete Persis with your Shirley Paul Allen, two thirds
of the KFA and Vikings Radio Network broadcast team, and
the regular season has come to a conclusion for all
teams in the NFL, including the Minnesota Vikings, and the
sad news for Motown. It's a sad song for Motown.
The Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings thirty one to nine,
(00:34):
so the Vikings nine game winning streak snapped. They'll finish
the season with a wonderful, gaudy record of fourteen and three.
But Pete, not just because it's a generally speaking prisoner
of moments society, I think a majority of fans are
going to a lot of people are gonna look at
this game and the magnitude of it where you could
(00:56):
have gotten the one seed in the NFC and won
the division and you didn't lose, you got killed, but
you still finish fourteen and three.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
How do you split that?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Well?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
You know?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
And the other thing too, is the two teams that
you lost to during the regular season were Detroit and
the Rams, and now we're playing We just played Detroit
and lost again, and now you got to play the Rams. Well,
I mean, as a player. You gotta have a very
short memory. By the time this plane touches down back
in Minneapolis at whatever time in the morning, it's going
(01:27):
to be you got it. You have to have forgotten
about it, and you have to figure out what's going on.
And I think it's pretty obvious that our passing game
just fell apart. I mean, you take a look at
Darnold who came out of this game. How many games
over one hundred on a passer?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Andy did he have? Ten? Thirteen?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
If he had had one tonight, he would have tied
Aaron Rodgers for the most in a single season history
of the NFL.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Fourteen. That's an NFL record.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Right, And he put up a fifty five point five
tonight without any interceptions. Now, defensively, we come away plus,
we come away plus two, right, I mean we're plus two.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
We have that pass call clip late, so yeah, but
we won the take in.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
Yeah, we want to take give. And then you look
at us situationally on third down three or thirteen on
fourth down, we were zero for three, red zone, oh
for four, goal to go, oh for three, all these situations,
and you know, you look at this and you look
at the flip card and you go, you got Kendall
Wilder out there for a quarter and a half of football.
(02:28):
We had the match. You would think our receivers, we
would have that matchup, our tight ends on their linebackers,
and none of it came to fruition. None of it
to the point where even later in the game, we
just we really just abandoned the drop back passing game.
We were throwing swing routes and all these other things.
So our i mean, our offense just got left handed quickly,
(02:50):
number one. And then they they never really recovered from it,
which is bizarre because we haven't seen this all year, right,
So what is that all about? Well, I mean, that's
why you got to watch film, and that's why coaches
get paid a lot of money because you have to
figure that out and then you have to get it
fixed before you go out to you know, Los Angeles
(03:10):
to play on Monday night. So very concerning overall, very concerning.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
A couple of things here.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Pete referenced Detroit Lions backup corner Kendallviildor. Okay, he used
to play for the Chicago Bears, played for US, and
Kendall has had significant troubles in his NFL career on
the field. Last game against the San Francisco forty nine Ers,
he played six plays for the Lions. Two of those
plays he got beat. A game before that or two
(03:39):
games before that against the Buffalo Bills, he was forced
into action and he played seventy percent of the snaps
and the Lions almost gave up fifty points and they
kept going at Bildhor and that just did not come
to fruition tonight for the Vikings, Vildor played a majority
of the second half. Now, secondly, you know Ben Lieber
on the Vikings radio networksdeline analyst, he said something late,
(04:02):
you know, as we as Jay Ward was coming in
and Gabriel Murphy and all that, and it was pretty
much rendered a preseason game at that stage, Lions winning
thirty one nine. He's like, all, you know, you got
to make sure and you guys would know better than me, man,
because you played the game. All the positivity from the
fourteen wins, the winning streak, Darnold's reclamation project, just the
(04:25):
whole thing. Because of the way tonight transpired. You cannot
let any of this linger where you're second guessing yourselves,
you know, yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
No, absolutely That's why I was That's what I'm saying.
When the plaint touches down, you gotta forget about this,
and then, no doubt, you got to really dig in
and figure out what went wrong and how you're gonna
fix it, because you know this is a copycat league,
and so the Rams are gonna sit there and watch
very very closely what the Lions did tonight. A lot
of it had to do with pressure, So I think,
you know, I'm seeing we're gonna we're gonna be faced.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
In the Viking slide. More than any team all season.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
They blitzed us a And the thing that was crazy
was just the fact that Darnold was bailing out right away.
Plays weren't even to develop. He wasn't even stepping up
in the pocket. He was just bailing as if he
just didn't want to throw the football for some reason.
Now early on that we had tons of opportunities early on,
and we missed him right. We had overthrows two to
(05:19):
JJ and the end zone, two to Hocketson, one of
which would have netted us a new two Both of
them to Hockson would have netted us first downs. But
against the defense. Paul again that has given up thirty
two and a half points the last four weeks in
San Francisco putting up thirty four, Chicago putting up some
Buffalo putting him forty eight, Green Bay thirty one. We
(05:40):
didn't even score touchdown. We've scored two touchdowns in two
games against this Lion's defense. So anybody who sees you
can get lucky once. But I think anybody that sees
that's gonna really really look at this film closely of
how the Vike the Lions played the Vikings, not only
in game one, but this game two, and try to
(06:01):
imitate and figure out what it was that they did.
And we're gonna So my point is, if you don't
get this fixed, you're you're copy It's copycat League. You're
gonna see this again.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
So, and the way I see it, I mean, you know,
you you look at Jared Verst and some of the
other bodies that they have, Brandon Fisk, and then we
played in the first time they had Pukainaku and Cooper Cup. Yeah,
they're they're they're they're there. But and we almost beat
and we should have. I mean, we had every we
came down to the wire. But if you don't fix
(06:31):
what's going on offensively quickly, then you know, then then
then you have to start worrying about what's going on overall.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
The Detroit Lions of beating the Minnesota Vikings five consecutive times,
they are the one seed in the NFC and a
one seed in their conference for the first time in
the history Alliance Football.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So they'll play in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Like Pete said, Vikings at so far to take on
the Rams a week from Monday, so that'll be January thirteenth,
seven o'clock Central. That there was an a topic from
the game I wanted to discuss momentarily, or shall we
call it a Jay topic, But first let's hear from
Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Obviously a disappointing, disappointing effort, but you know, you have
to compliment, you know, those guys on the other side for.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Playing a really good football game.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
And you know, we didn't do a lot of the
things that we've consistently done, you know, all season long,
and and this game came down to, you know, finishing
in the red zone, weighty downs, third downs, you know,
pitching and catching, and I thought our defense battled just
you know, uh, you know, asked a little bit too
much of them, and uh, that's gonna happen against a
(07:39):
good team. But we, uh have done a lot of
really really good things. This has been a phenomenal football
year for for our team. And that locker room is
already ready to go. Guys are ready to respond, and
we'll get ready to go for a huge opportunity coming
up on Monday night, going on the road.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah saying normal, Yeah, I just early on, you know,
I think there was some there.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
I gotta obviously go back and look at uh you know,
whether you know what it was like for him in
the pocket or seemed to be some opportunities, you know,
particularly chances maybe to you know, put seven on the
board and and listen, he's he said a lot of
those all season long, and and not one, not one
of those plays did uh did I call? And and
(08:30):
the outcome of that play change, you know, my mentality
for Sam the rest of the day just I always
believe he's gonna hit the next one, and I got
to do a better job, you know, given you know, uh,
you know, giving him some some other opportunities maybe and
clearly they you know, they had a It was a
physical game. On the outside, there was you know, there
(08:52):
was a lot of uh you know, challenging guys coming
up and playing man a man and you know, like
I said, it was a physical game required some pretty
detailed and pitching and catching and also you know, execution
of our offense against certain certain looks and we just
seem to be a play away for for much of the.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Day and against a team like that, you.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Know, you're hoping to you know, you're you're hoping to
get seven a few of those times to to try
to give yourself a real chance to win it in
the end. Issue less scoring, yeah, I thought, Uh, you know,
we had you know, we had some opportunities and then
some other times, you know, they did some they did
(09:35):
some good things, you know in man coverage and got
us off our you know, first or second reads, and.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
You know, just just didn't put the ball in the
end zone.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
You know, at a at a at a level we've
been doing.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
You know, we've you know, we've been at a pretty
strong clip down there, finishing with touchdowns over the last
you know, six seven weeks or so. Uh, and that
did not happen tonight. We got to take a look
at it and uh, you know, be ready to try
to improve immediately and know the challenge that we have
going going to LA.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Thinking those goal to go situations where's like eleven of
my one point and threw a nine and twice.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I think guess what was?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Yeah, there was there was quite a few there second
in fours and threes, and you know really where you know,
there's there's some opportunities for some first down runs and
then some of our plays, you know, we have the
option on some of those plays based upon the looks
to get another runoff or you know, maybe attack the
coverage via you know, cans at the line of scrimmage
(10:35):
and kind of either or mentality and uh, just how
it fell. We you know, probably you know, ended up
getting some more looks and man coverage to throw the
football and they were able to defend us. So sometimes
that happens, and we've got to you know, find different
ways to help guys get open and when there are
guys to potentially you know, throw and catch, we've got
(10:56):
to be.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Able to do that.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
We've done it at a very high level this year
and and just didn't really show up on the weight
he downs.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You think technique flies with Sam, what did the an
accuracy you.
Speaker 6 (11:07):
Know, as as the you know, early on in the game,
it seemed the miss was a little high, you know,
a little high, and uh so we've got to take
a look at it fundamentals, techniques and take a look
at the plays that things happened on. H Well, you know,
having the Monday night game, we'll be able to do uh,
you know, we'll be able to have a real full
kind of debrief and understanding of what took place, because
(11:30):
clearly it starts with me. I got to have I've
got to have our team ready to execute and pitch
and catch and do the little things. You know, we
didn't you know, we won the turnover battle, but we
had opportunities to put the ball on the end zone
and just didn't do it. So clearly we need to
take a look at it and be ready to improve immediately.
It doesn't change anything about the fact that what this
(11:51):
team's made up of.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You know, we can't always just.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
You know, we can't win nine in a row and
then we lose one and and allow that to change
how we operate. But that also doesn't mean you can't
improve and late season improvement when you have been playing
really good football in the month of December. You know,
sometimes you get hit in the mouth a little bit
and you've got to respond. And I know we've built
this thing in a way where we're going to do that,
(12:17):
and we know it's going to be a challenge, Ben,
but that's what we're going to do.
Speaker 7 (12:22):
It's a chance that you guys might be coming back
to the chord given a read day, but you can
take a look at some of the business drugs that
you got to say, especially in the raison.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Do you think that in order.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
It's a you know, it's obviously they're excited about their team.
It's a great atmosphere for sure. But that's what football
this time of year is, especially coming to a place
where teams have the success.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
They've had, it's definitely going to be a challenge for sure.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
You know, was a part of a team in twenty
twenty one where we lost our last game and found
a way to do what we needed to do to
have a chance to play for a World championship. So
regardless of your path, uh that that either team will
go on, uh, you're still you know, both these teams
are guaranteed sixty minutes and ours happens to be next
Monday night.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
We're gonna get ready to.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Play football game and hopefully get back to doing a
lot of the things we've done pretty consistently all season
long as a team. When broadcast look like Dad Kelson
and getting boys be you know that what he said,
he did, Yeah he did. You know, there was some
(13:30):
you know, there was some they were activating some things
that you know, we would go fast and had some
chances at some completions.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Hit hit a few of them.
Speaker 6 (13:39):
They had some you know, there were some stunts and
some picks and things where they were able to get
to us and and maybe limit our.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Chances to truly attack the man coverage.
Speaker 6 (13:48):
We did have some ball out kind of plays where
that we're effective at least moving it between the twenties
and things like that. But once again, this can this
came down to our ability to put seven on the
board in the first half and take advantage of a
short field turnover, take advantage of getting the ball in
the fifty yard line, and you've got to turn those
things into into some some real points against a team
(14:11):
like that.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
You know, if we're kicking field goals all day against
that offense.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
You know, it's just we're gonna have to score some
touchdowns eventually to give ourselves a chance to win the game.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Got obvious, was it when he got into the job
on stile on offense? But when they got engineered gets all.
Speaker 6 (14:28):
How Yeah, he's he's a He's as explosive as anybody
in the National Football League. And I thought we did
a pretty good job on him for the most part.
But against a player like that, you know, all all
it takes is a little bit of space. All it
takes is a little bit of uh, you know, a
grasp for him to hit that thing. And h He's
(14:49):
going to be tough to tackle in space when he
gets out there, and we knew that coming in. I
thought Flowing the guys did some really really good things
in the first half to keep us in the football game.
And like I said, you know this, this game could
look differently in the end, very easily with one or
two more plays down in the red zone being successful
and the way that works with momentum and the way
that works for the energy of your whole team. I
(15:11):
thought the guys fought. I thought they battled. It got
to a point there at the end. Once, you know,
once we weren't successful on you know, our second to
last drive, knowing we're going to be playing Monday night,
I wanted to make sure we started taking some guys
out and it was about starting to prepare for Monday night,
even though that game hadn't ended yet.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Kevin, you mentioned that you guys hadn't lost it a
couple of months, just like, what is the key to
turning the page quickly?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Yeah, I think that's what we do, Dane, regardless of
the result.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
And that's what's made this team so special is these
guys just continue to go back to work regardless of
the outcome.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now, what I told those guys, if if.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
We're going to be any different when the results don't
go our way, that's going to be a problem. And
every single man in that locker room responded to that
the way I expected them to. And I know we'll
go back to work and not the outcome any of
us wanted at all.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
But that's you know, that's part of a.
Speaker 6 (16:05):
Journey of a football team is sometimes you're gonna get
hit in the mouth, you're gonna get knocked down. What's
defined this team regardless of when and where that happened
and how it happened. We've responded. So the DNA of
this team is to do that, and that's my expectation
that we'll all do it. And then, like I said,
it starts with me to hold.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Them to Wanting to think on their first seven possessions,
how impressed were you with what flows demo?
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Yeah, I thought, you know, for the way they answered
the bell, you know, in that first half, and you know,
turning the football over and give us, giving us ops,
getting stops and having the ability to to you know,
in game response when you're kind of against a team
like that, you've got to capitalize on some of those
and you never want to be reckless, but you know,
(16:51):
I want you know, we were going to go down
there and try to get seven points and we just
didn't do it. And uh, you're not going to beat
a team like that, regardless of some of the other
metrics in the game, when the weighty downs kind of
go the way it did, and weighty as they get,
they don't get more weighty than scoring plays and having
the opportunity to maybe do so or not or you know,
(17:12):
me not giving the guys a better answer and or
path to doing so.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
So it's all of us. We're all gonna be in
this together.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I'll be standing right out in front, right out in
front of this thing, and you know, we'll press onward
and we get another opportunity in uh, you know, in
a few days there in l.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
A H four where you decided to keep the field,
I guess.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
What was the we're willing miss?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
What was the thought process?
Speaker 6 (17:36):
Yeah, I thought at that point, I believe it would
have made it a five point game just with the way.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
You know, our defense was playing.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
It would have been a chance to you know, get
that uh, get that three in there, and then see
if we can get one stop and go down and
put the ball on the end zone and take the lead.
You know, at that point in time, you know you're
gauging how your whole football team's playing.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And I have a on of confidence and will I
always do and and always will.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
So didn't work out for us there, but I thought
it was a moment you know where you know, getting
three right there and making it a five point game. Uh,
you know, would have given us a chance for a
stop and a score to take the lead and see
what it looked like.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
In the end. Were there any any injuries coming?
Speaker 6 (18:23):
Uh No, I mean, you know, Aaron the same thing
Aaron's been dealing with. You know, he got a little sore,
but was he was able to play through it and
he'll be fine. And outside of that, we were we
came out pretty clean for a pretty physical football game.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
And you know we'll turn over and get ready to go.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Just what did your where did they cover?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Just?
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Yeah, it was you know, a lot of man and
man coverage with help over the top. Some of the
times we drew some some flags. Uh, I think Justin
drew on and uh there was some TJ might have
had a couple. I mean games like that, when it's
contested on every down and there's you know, hand to
hand combat going on and you are single covered, there's
(19:04):
gonna be some opportunities. I think we'll look at the
tape and see some chances. Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Some we capitalize, many we didn't.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
But at the same time, there's you know, it's going
to be competitive at the highest level and they you know,
they had a good plan that they mixed the way
they were, you know, covering some of the other guys
and tried to take Justin out of the football game.
So if some of those weighty downs, when you those
bang bang plays with matchups that you feel pretty good about,
they don't go your way, You're you're either off the
(19:31):
field or you're having to decide to go forward on
four town.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Well, Kevin talked about it a little bit, but the
j topic would be Jamiir Gibbs. Okay, he's phenomenal, He's fantastic.
He's on his way to potentially becoming the best overall
running back in the National Football League. He's only two
years into this thing, but in his career against the
Minnesota Vikings, he scored eight touchdowns in four games.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
And our offensive scored too.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I mean at seven on the ground, one in the air.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So if you meet the Lions again, man, you got
to figure that.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
You got to figure him out. And and you know
what though, I mean, I don't. I'm not you come
away from this game. I'm not afraid of coming back
here at some point down the road if we have
to come back here.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm not.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
Defensively, I thought we did a very very good job.
I mean, you're you know, you're plus you're plus two
in the take give for a while there, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I think we were.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
We were containing Gibbs. He wasn't getting a whole lot,
you know, early on. So the defense was doing a
really really good job, I mean, and Jonathan Grenard was
absolutely giving Taylor Decker everything you can hold on to
or handle. And so we My point is is we
had that offense, the best offense in the league from
(20:45):
a point scoring standpoint on, you know, kind of on
its heels, and because we couldn't put any pressure on
them offensively, they took a step back, gathered their feet,
and then reset and then came back at and just
kept coming and kept going, you know, kept after us,
and eventually really what basically wore us down, and they
(21:05):
did so with Gibbs on the ground for the most
part of it. So I'm not I'm not too afraid
of coming back here. Yeah, but especially with the way
the defense played this game. It's just the enigma of
our offense. And and uh, man, is it a head scratch?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And we're gonna hear from Sam Darnold here in a
minute with Donald. There's an A topic or maybe it's
a B topic, and we'll explain what that means momentarily.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
But here's Sam.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Yeah, obviously uh, disappointing game. I felt like we just
you know, for me personally, didn't didn't hit the throws
that I that I should hit in the red zone,
especially early on. Yeah, just didn't execute the way that
we wanted to. You know, felt our defense played really well.
They kept us in the game for most of the game,
and you know, just going down in the red zone
(21:52):
and kicking field goals, you know that's not gonna cut it.
I guess a good team like that, So just gotta
be a lot better, you know, for myself personally, got
to hit the throws in tight coverage and but uh,
you know, we're we're looking forward to the challenge against
l A moving forward. But you know, I gotta gotta
watch this tape and learn from it and get better.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Say, why was the accuracy in issue?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (22:17):
Just uh, you know, I think for me personally, gotta
watch the tape first of all, you know, to see
but just gotta hit the throws as simple as un all.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
No, So you nives and rhythm you how much did
you feel as much?
Speaker 4 (22:39):
No?
Speaker 7 (22:39):
I felt like, you know, I felt like my feet
and my eyes, I felt like I was, you know,
good from that standpoint.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I felt like, you know, I made some of the
right reads.
Speaker 7 (22:48):
I missed a couple, but for the most part, especially
early on, I felt like I went to the right
place with the ball.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I just got to hit the throw.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Variety. As soon as the guys your loan come here.
Speaker 7 (23:02):
Yeah, you know they we knew that they were gonna
have a good plan, you know, brand pressures and different
coverages behind it. So you know, again like if we
executing the red zone early on, I think it's a
different game.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
So obviously it's a different game.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
So we just got to execute early on in the
red zone and you know, like I said, just just
got to execute better.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Look at the.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Com Yeah, he was just saying, you know, we're we're
good man.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
You know we uh obviously didn't have the day that
we wanted to have, but you know, we're you know
looking forward to the challenge that awaits, you know, with
with playoffs and everything.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
You know, just you know, getting ready to you know,
for you know, that next step and going want to
know next.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Week when a team is playing as a physical as
they do, uh on the outside or the receivers, like,
what's the additional challenge on your end in terms of
delivering the ball.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
There is any Yeah, like I said, I mean they
you know, I think they do a good job in
their man coverage, you know, but for us or for me,
I again, I got to locate the ball a little
bit better, and but I think I'll have a little
bit you know, some more answers.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
When I watch this tape, you got a lot of
success and here what was different?
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Just gotta hit the throws. I mean, it's uh, it
really is as simple as that. You know, I missed
a couple of jets in the red zone that you
know I'd like to have back. But you know, that's
how the game goes sometimes, you know, I think for
me personally, like you know, I gotta look at the tape,
see you know, just my feet and and you know,
(24:45):
just correct everything from a you know, mechanics standpoint, not
look too deep into it, but just you know, get better.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Mm hm.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
How hard is that balance?
Speaker 6 (24:54):
And we're just like kid, you have played the last
seven weeks when played like ballance and not trying to over.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Do just.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah again it's don't get me wrong, like losing sucks,
but it is what it is. At the end of
the day.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
You know, I miss and throws, and you know, we
lost to a good team, and you know, we have
an opportunity to go to the playoffs and and you
know play another really good team in LA And you
know that's kind of the story from our end, you guys.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Obviously I had to do some of the saddle account
stuff in Seattle air of this kind of environment. How
difficult is the communication when I imagine this was a
lot of spends, you guys plays.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Here so far.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Yeah, you know, I thought, you know, we handled it
really well from that aspect. So yeah, I think from
from you know, a operational standpoint, I felt like we
handled it pretty well.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
Say, we're already looking for when you need to take
just weird beating where your beat are.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
Yeah, there's you know, just looking at my feet, you know,
feeling like on some of those red zone plays could
have been a little more grounded instead of trying to
you know, backpedal or escape. But again, those are you know,
some throws that you know I've made before are a
lot in my career. So just uh, you know, not
gonna look too deep into it, but uh, just gotta
gotta be better.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
So the A topic, which really is the B topic,
with Sam Darnold, and you just triggered me to think
of this.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I didn't even say it during our game call.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Blitz is he was blitzed more than I don't have
the metrics or the numbers in front of me, but
with a lot, yeah, I mean it was almost every
play a lot. And it seems like Aaron Glenn, the
defensive coordinator for the Lions, basically said, I got Alex
Azeloni back. He's my best blitzer, but you need more
than that to win. I guess a good offense like
the Vikings. I'm tired of watching film and watching this
(26:48):
guy bounce around in the pocket with three four and
five man rushes and just pick teams apart. If he's
going to beat us. He's going to beat us because
he can handle the pressure of a blitz. And we're
gonna keep bringing it, keep bringing it, keep bringing it.
And I'm just wondering if Sam was second guessing things
because he didn't know where the heat was coming from.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
I think a couple of things. Number One, early on,
he wasn't on the money. And when you play, when
you play against Manda Man, we saw we saw golf
to it a couple of times. Tight coverage. You got
to sling that ball and get it exactly where it
needs to be. And I don't know if he had
the confidence tonight to do that right, and he just
didn't have that. So what happened toward later in the
(27:28):
third quarter and then the fourth quarter is Donald would
start bailing out of the pocket before the routes even developed.
They were developing twelve fifteen yards down the field, and
he was already loopid and getting and getting himself out
of the pocket. So it's like the confidence that Donald
has shown his ability to stand in the pocket, take
(27:48):
a hit, deliver a strike just evaporated somewhere during the
point during during this game and again never got it back.
And that's kind of the part that worries me the most.
It's not as if the fourth quarter of the game
he was back on right but a little too little,
too late type situation. It was a deal where it
(28:09):
went wayward early and just never. I mean, we saw
JJ wide opening the end zone, missed, We saw JJ
in a crossing route, yeah, and back the end zone missed.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
You see two throws to Hockinson would have been first downs,
both of them both missed. It's it's a head scratcher, man,
it is a absolute head scratcher.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
What happened? Well, here's the deal.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
The Good Times, Bad Times copyright led Zeppelin. The Good Times,
your Minnesota Vikings finished the season fourteen and three. All right,
that's a fantastic record. Obviously, the bad Times is the
way it ended. You got killed by a division rival,
the Detroit Lions. They get the one you don't, and
the Vikings had to sofi to play the Rams with
Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua and the
(28:55):
rest of those luminaries. Monday, January thirteenth, The Boom on
a Fan with Ben Lieber, Pete Bersig, and your Shirly
Paul Allen takes place at seven o'clock Central.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
A great job on the call despite the way things develop, right.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
So they say, one more thing you got you have
to you mentioned how this how this season ended, but
better now than next week, and now you have an
opportunity to fix it. And if you can fix what's
going on and figure this thing out, you can come
back here right down the road and feel that much
more confident that you could take care of this Detroit team.
(29:31):
Because they're just gonna rinse and repeat. Right, it's not broke,
don't fix it. So the opportunity is there. The one thing,
like you said, you have to forget, you have to
move on. You have to just let this one go
and move on to the Rams game because if you
let this thing linger, you know, it could be disastrous
(29:51):
for the season.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
That's the Vikings postgame report, the final one for the
regular season. Pete and I will chat with you in
podcast format next week again. The La Rams in the
playoffs after the twenty twenty four Seedson The Lions win
thirty one to nine.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Thank you for listening.
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