October 18, 2024 • 32 mins
On this episode of the Twentyman in the Huddle podcast presented by Microsoft, Tim Twentyman is joined by Alim McNeill, Jeremy Reisman and Kevin Seifert, previewing the Detroit Lions’ first NFC North matchup of the season when they visit the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Liots show with pressure double a gap. Look there they called,
they're bringing the house price. Gott it trouble. Alim McNeil
leaning on him and dropping him, oh fifty four k
through there and said not today, dah. Welcome back to
the twenty litt Huddle Podcast. I am very excited to
welcome in the newly re signed defensive tackle Ali McNeil,
(00:22):
Aleem big Week, ninety seven million dollars, a four year extension,
fifty five million dollars guaranteed. I see the subtle smile there,
has it? Because has it come almost a realization yet?
That ninety seven million, fifty five guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I don't think I ever will. I'm being out as
I don't think I ever will. Honestly, I'm spieces. I'm
lost for words on it. I don't know what to
say or what to do, but it's definitely. I'm definitely grateful.
I'm definitely thankful. All the hall work is paying off
and it's going to continue to pay off. Religious getting started.
But that's huge, and I appreciate the order. I appreciate everybody, mom, dad,
(01:02):
everybody is supporting me. T attorney tell you, I don't
know what to say about it. But it's great.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Is it weightlifted off? And I know we talked, you know,
in the spring, and you said, look, I'm gonna deal
with football. That's why I have an agent, That's why
I have business people that deal with that part of it.
But when you get the call, when they say, hey,
this is done, is it just kind of a weight
lifted off the shoulders a little bit that now football
is really all you need to focus about, folks on Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I mean, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't
a weightlifted off. I wasn't that in tune with it
because I told just my agents to handle it. But
in the back of my head that's you know, I
how did you not think about that? But I was.
I was locked in as could be, and I feel
like that's what helped me a lot for this lock
these last couple of weeks as well. But I you know,
(01:46):
I feel like it is a weightlifted off for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
For sure. Talk about your performance last week, seven quarterback pressures,
two sacks. I mean you were all over the place.
What was what was the mindset going into that game?
And how do you kind of transfer that action now
to Sunday in Minnesota, and then weeks weeks forward.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Mindset was to get off the ball. No no thinking,
no no worried about what's going on. If you get
offoot ball, everything that solve itself. And that's just gonna
be my mindset going into every one of these weeks.
Just get off the ball, get your hands on people,
and get off blocks. Because if you do that every
play and you have a chance to be able to
do anything you want in the game. So that's just
what my mentality was, was get off the ball and win
(02:25):
this football game.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
You guys played such complimentary football all three phases against
Dallas blowout when there, but did a little bit of
the win come out of the sales a little bit
when when ninety seven went down and you kind of
knew the severity of that, And how tough is that
as a player on the field to watch a guy
that you go to work with every day, that you're
with that's almost hast to feel like family, you know,
(02:47):
be be on the field like that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Deal with that, that's very tough, especially someone like Hutch
And I'm not gonna just say I mean for anyone
that would be significant, but someone like Hutch. The work,
the amount of time work that Hutch puts in, it's
almost second to none. To be honest, there's not too
many people that's doing more than he does. And to
see that happen, it does suck. It does suck, really
really bad. I was when it happened. I was just
(03:10):
hoping Aboule to just get on up. But how to
tell you it is part of the sport, but it's
a violent sport we play. But that does suck to
see stuff like that. Havev many people who put in
so much time and effort to this. I just wish
nothing but the speed of recovery to him. I know
he's gonna come back, probably even better. So it does
it does hurt to see that.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Though, how much confidence do you guys have that you
can feel some of the void. You're not gonna be
able to replace ninety seven, you can, I mean, he
was on his way to probably being the defensive player
of the year, you know, But how do you feel
you know a portion of that A good portion of
that production obviously, I think guys like like yourself and
the performance day that you had last Sunday, if you
(03:51):
can continue that, that helps a lot too, But you're
confident that you have the guys here and the defensive
coordinator that can help figure it out, and you guys
will be fine.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Oh yeah, hundred I believe so more than now than ever.
We're just gonna have to lean on each other. We're
gonna have to play a lot compmentary football. We're gonna
have to be in good chemistry. Everything's got to be firing,
and I believe that we can do the same things
that we've been doing. We just gotta rite quarterbacks, get pressure,
get pressure back there on run plays. So I do
think we have the guys who have more than enough
(04:21):
to be able to do that. We just got to
play commmentary football, make sure that we know we're doing
out there.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What jumps out Sunday about Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
As far as a team or offense or I think
to me offensively, what jumps out is they kind of
do a lot of there's some throwback to them a
little bit. As far as offensive wise, they'll drop back
and dot whether just have a regular quarterback and the
center running back behind. Not be any teams really do
that too often nowadays, but they do a lot of
drop back and die with two backs. They do a
(04:49):
lot of full back sets with in the running back,
so they do a lot of different things. And you know,
they have some dynamic receivers, they have some good playmakers,
so some things jump out to them. But you know,
our planers should always to be an attack and you know,
and that's just what we're gonna do. We wanna get
off the ball. We feel like we match up better,
so we was going to play football at that point.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
All right, two non football things. First, I wanted to
ask you the strongest guy in the team. I've heard
that you are on that list and it's a subtle smile.
DJ Reader has come to town. There's some other guys
that are Are you still the strongest guy on the team?
In my head? Yes, in my head.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But realistically it is probably Chris Smith. Really, yes, Chris
Smith probably throw Christoph probably bench about five fifteen five.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Really, do you guys even max out anymore?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Chris?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Really? If I if I could, if you could max,
if we could max out five hundred, I'd probably max
out too, right, throw that away a little bit five hundred, Yeah,
it might throw you. No, that's a lot of weight,
and how much how much have you ever maxed out
for seventy five. For seventy five, most have maxed out
on the bench.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah that was in college. So now I don't know,
probably about four sixty five, just cause we don't do
that as much Max and stuff. Chris easily hit about
five to twenty five fifteen, Yeah, he's up there.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And then ninety seven million dollars. Is that gets you
a pretty nice new studio? Music studio?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Now, I will see.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I don't know if I would have dropped that much
of the studio. It ain't my career, but I don't know.
It might make a couple upgrades, might get a new
mic or something, but no, not a whole studio.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
How much you guys looking forward to this game? It's
obviously a huge one Division matchup, but five and oh,
this is a great NFC North five and oh, you
guys are four and one Green Bay in Chicago. Four
and two? These are important. How much you're looking forward
to Sunday?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
We're looking forward to somewhere superstoke for Sunday, super excited.
These are the games we live and play for. You know,
you got an undefeated teams Division game? I mean, I
much better could have give than this, So I think
it's gonna be a much watch TV type game. It's
gonna be a lot going on, some good defense. They
got dynamic players. We got dynamic players, so I think
it'll be a good one. This is it's gonna be
(06:59):
a good game.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
We'll go good after him. Get your first, give them
their first loss and and continue the North. And congratulations
on the contract, much deserved. You're one of the core
pieces here now, one of the guys that they count on.
And uh, it's good to see when the organization, you know,
reward somebody who has put in the time and effort
that you have and you're playing some pretty good football.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Now, thanks, appreciate, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You welcome to pre seven of the NFL season. And
this is a pretty big one. Jeremy Reisman, Lions beat
reporter for Pride of Detroit is my guest for three
keys this week.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
And you probably knew it was gonna be, you know,
the best game in the NFL Week seven, Minnesota Vikings
five and o versus Detroit Lines four to one. When
the schedule came out, this one circled the biggest big
one of the week.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Especially when JJ McCarthy goes out for the season, I'm like, oh, yeah,
the Vikings are gonna bounce back. They're gonna they're gonna
lead the division after six weeks. It's it's a pretty
crazy story.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It's and and look, you love games like this, right,
And I know Dan Campbell talked about it. I'm sure
Kevin O'Connell loves it. But when your division division is good,
like the NFC North is right now, I mean that
just keeps you on your toes sharply. You know, metal
sharpens metal, right, and you can continue to be a
good football team longer because you know you're gonna have
to play good football you know teams, And so I
(08:16):
like it.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I'm one hundred percent with you. If this team truly
has Super Bowl aspirations having these kind of high intensity
games six times during the regular season, that yeah, all
your sharpens aren't exactly They're they're going to have that
championship mentality every single week because I have to if
they're gonna survive.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
All right, So we're here for three keys to the game.
So it's every week, it's it's kind of the three
big matchups, the three big keys, And you look at
the first and foremost with this one, with how good
Minnesota's defense is playing right now, I think handling that
Minnesota blitz is probably I think one of the biggest
keys for Detroit coming in. You agree, yeah, no question.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I imagine every offensive coordinator facing the Vikings is staying
up extra late at night trying to figure this one out.
And luckily, you know, this isn't the first time the
lines have seen it. Obviously, this is you know, year
two for Minnesota, and some of the coaches said, like,
it's you know, too to one for them, but it's
to a one for the Lions against the Vikings as well.
And you know, they really actually did a pretty good
job last year. I think Jared Golf was only sack
(09:13):
twice in both games, combined three touchdowns er interceptions. So
they know what they're doing. It's just a matter of
you know, it's it's one thing to know what to
do on Monday through Friday, but doing it on actual
Sunday when the pressure is there, when they got eight
guys crowding the box, it's a whole different level there.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, in the second year in Flora's game, it just
looks like those guys are comfortable right now. And obviously
you add guys like Van Ginkel, great Gnard, you know,
some of the personnel that fits them a little bit
better too. Now you're seeing the results and you know
it's coming, and you know, I looked at the statistics Chearman.
I think it was one hundred and six blitzes they
have in five games. Next on that list is Denver
(09:48):
they have ninety four and they've played an extra football
game right, played six, So I mean they're gonna come
at you forty percent of the time. They lead the
NFL in hurries with thirty four, they lead with quarterback
knockdowns thirty, they're third in sec. Oh hey, they're second
against the run too, so they stop that. Well, how
big of a game is this for Frank Ragnow Jared
Golf get the protections right and to have those veteran
(10:09):
offensive lineman just be on the same page.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, no question. I think it's a great week to
have Frank Ragnow back. And obviously he got his feet
wet last week and look just fine. And so yeah,
those guys are, like I said, they did it well
last year, but it's going to be a challenge with
it with the better personnel, and it's really I think,
going to be key to get into good down in
distances too, right, because if you find yourself in a
third and long against this defense, good luck. They got
(10:33):
a whole bunch of plans for things like that. So
first and second down are going to be really key.
But like you said, this is a good Vikings defense
against the run too.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, Ben Johnson versus Brian Flores that that's probably one
of the biggest matchups this week. We talk all the
time about the guys in between the lines, but those two,
that's gonna be a fun matchup too.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Yeah, no question. I mean these are guys that that
have you know, really been in conversations for head coaching jobs,
and for good reason, because you can really develop an
entire team and ed Terry identity behind those two brilliant
minds on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Another big key going into this one. You felt so
great about that game in Dallas when you watched it
and how they just handed the Cowboys their launch, But
the kind of air went out of the Lion's sail
a little bit when when Ad Hutchinson went down and
obviously broke his tibia and fibula that's gonna be a
four six month injury, likely not to be back, and
(11:21):
now starts the process of replacing Aiden Hutchinson. How do
you do it?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, I think you first have to make sure that
you know you're not going to do it like there's
not a one for as you can't exactly And so
what I really like about what some of the coaches
have said already is it's it's not just about who
you're going to be standing in that spot, whether it's uku,
whether it's a gooday, whether whoever it is. That whole
line now needs to kind of step their game up,
and it probably starts with money Man himself and McNeil right,
(11:48):
good point. You know, he's coming off a two SAT game.
He's gonna get a little bit more attention. It might
not be as easy for him going forward. But with
with what the Lions like to do, you know, I
look back to the Dallas game. They had eleven core
hits in that game. Only three came for me. There's
there's spread the love there. And for as much as
we talk about what Minnesota likes to scheme of defensively,
(12:09):
Aaron Glenn has done a pretty good job Schemeal pressures
himself as well, and so you know expect it maybe
coming from the linebacker level, maybe from the safety level.
We know Brian Branch can can pressure, and so they
might have to ramp up that aggression a little bit
more to create that pass rush. But yeah, there's there,
there's clearly going to be a gaping hole there on
the left side of the defensive line that you just
can't replace.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
No, I think it's a good point by you, DJ Reader,
big Lee McNeil, big. Any quarterback will tell you the
worst pressure that they can feel is that pressure up
the middle, and that's what Dak felt. And so if
you get that and you can get that consistently, I
think that can help the less production you get on
the edge. But two other names, Josh Pascal, like this
is his opportunity. Now. We talked about it when you
know Marcus Davenport went down. But now you've got both
(12:51):
your guys. Now you've got to step up. This is
your time. You've seen everybody get contract extensions, have huge seasons.
This is your opportunity unity, It's laid right at your
feet and it's your chance. And I would say the
same thing with Levi Oazerike. We've seen him have some
good production, has had a couple half sacks, but I
could see him move outside maybe a little bit more
(13:12):
now now out of necessity, you know, you did it
a little bit, but you really love him from the interior,
But now you're pressed into a position where I think
he's got to move outside a little bit more and
play that big end spot. And you hope he he,
you know, takes advantage of that opportunity as well.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
No question, And I think so far you have to
be pretty impressed with how both those players have stood up.
Like I mean, it's not easy to kind of come
off when you're spending all of training camp repping with
the twos, maybe, but coming in there and yeah, I
think you are going to see a little bit of
a change in how they're gonna line up everybody, and
whether that means on Zerique being on the left edge
an in spot or Pascal being over there, they're gonna
(13:50):
figure something out. Because again, one really nice thing that
I thought Dan Campbell said this week is this isn't
the first time that they've had to adjust on the fly.
They've had secondary issues in terms of injuries and the
PA They've had linebacker injuries in the past and they've
gotten through it. And a lot of that is because
Aaron Glenn is a good offense, good defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And you made the point about blitzing to right now,
they blitzed about thirty one percent of the time. That's
sixth most in the league. I could see that percentage going,
you know, crowding up for sure. U all right. Third
one is the pass defense, yea. And it's that test
that you have with Justin Jefferson and those that that
passing game right now, that that's you know, really flier sham.
(14:29):
Minnesot is twenty eighth in rushing, but they're really getting
it done via the passing game. And Sam Darnold is
playing great, having a rejuvenation of his career in Minnesota.
It fits with Kevin O'Connell. And you just look at
Justin Jefferson his last three games against Detroit, Jeremy twelve
catches one hundred and ninety two yards a touchdown, six
catches one hundred and forty one yards in a touchdown,
(14:51):
eleven catches two hundred and twenty three yards. Is Detroit
in a better place now to maybe help contain him
though to.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Say so, right, I mean, they did a decent job
last week against Ceedee Lamb. Maybe in previous weeks it
was up and down a little bit, but you're seeing
these cornerbackscrow Obviously, Carlton Davis continue to play it at
a pretty darn good level. And Terry on Arnold is
coming along. He had his first kind of fresh clear
game of penalties last week. He's progressing. But really, I
think that the key this week is keep everything from
(15:22):
going over the top. And that's what the lines have
been excellent at this year because I think they have
arguably the best safety duo in the league with Kirby
Joseph and Brian Branch both making plays, and so the
opportunity I think is going to be there for them
to maybe get a takeaway or two in this game.
Are you going to stop Justin Jefferson all game? No,
you just aren't. He could very well have another three
digit receiving yards game. But the matter is, let's not
(15:46):
make that those ten fifteen yard games go into twenty
thirty forty yards.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Do you feel better about it coming off the Dallas game?
Because Dallas went into that game last week, Number two
in passing Ceedee Lamb is obviously a guy who is
just like Justin Jefferson, known as one of the best,
and Detroit really shut it down in all regards. I
don't know if they can do that in Minnesota because
I just trust Kevin O'Connell in that system a little
bit more. But it makes me feel a little bit
(16:10):
better watching what they did last week to that Dallas
team and though at that personnel that they're in better
shape to do it this week. No question.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
You do obviously have to worry about Jordan Edison too.
I think he's a guy that is very much a
guy that's going to challenge them on the boundaries and
then we'll see maybe we see TJ. Hockinson in this
game too, and that that's kind of a new challenge.
The Lions haven't faced a ton of really good tight
ends this so far the season, so I think that's
an additional challenge that the Vikings are going to post
this week.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
First five games of the Vikings six different players with
a receiving touchdowns. So we talk about Justin Jefferson, but
they move it around. They spread it around. Also got
Jalen Naylor. There's who's played pretty well. So it's a
great test for this line secondary. But I think we
both agree. I think they're better equipped to do it.
Hopefully they'll have Carlton Davis, who's dealing with an injury
this week. Will know more at the end of the
week if he's going to be available to play. But
(16:59):
I thought you made a great point with the safeties
with Kirby and Brian. That just makes me feel so
much better about this secondary. I think Brian branch is
is playing at an all pro level. If he continues
this pace, yeah, we could have an all pro safety.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
I mean it's almost like you could have two because obviously,
I mean you've got four interceptions. Yeah, but yeah, I
think just the fact that Brian branch does everything right.
It's the deep coverage, it's the coming down and covering
a tight end if he has to. It's it's being
strong in run defense, and then also adding an extra
development to your your pass rush.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
He had a really good pressure last week against Dallas,
and so having a guy that can literally just do
everything and now, unlike last year's on the field one
hundred percent of the time, really changes to the dynamic
of that secondary.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Week seven first place matchup in the NFC nor I
think it's an undefeated Minnesota's team. Who would have known,
right the.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Nfel's great and it's so great, I mean having honestly like,
it's so cool to have this kind of big matchup
with the lines involved that that is very much considered,
you know, the game of the week.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
It should be a fun one one o'clock in Minneapolis,
good road test for Lions. Early he is Jeremy Riceman.
You catch everything he does on Friday. Detroit does a
great job over there. Jeremy, thanks for taking thats I
appreciate you. Appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Man.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Welcome back to the twenty in the Huddle podcast, and
I am very happy to welcome in Kevin Seffert. He's
the Vikings and pro football writer for ESPN. He has
been doing it for a long time over there in Minneapolis,
and if you want to know anything about the Minnesota Vikings,
he is the source for you. Kevin, thanks for joining me.
I appreciate you.
Speaker 6 (18:33):
Thanks for having me. Tim, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So you know, admit it, you know when the schedule
came out, when the season started, you knew that Week
seven Detroit Minnesota was going to be the best football
game in the NFL that.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Week, right, absolutely, absolutely, there was no doubt about it.
I knew that was gonna be a fun game. I
did not think that the Vikings would be. I thought
it was going to be part of a very difficult
opening schedule for the Vikings that was going to leave
them in a tough spot by the time they got
to this point.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, but it's not. I mean, it's five and zero,
They've been playing great, They're coming off their bye week,
and this sets up a huge matchup. You know this week.
Obviously it's a division game, it's four first place in
the division. Though we're talking week seventeen. There's a lot
of football left. But really, Kevin, when you watch this
team over the first five games, what's really been the
biggest catalyst for you for their success and then their
(19:28):
five and oh start?
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Well, I know that sam Donold has gotten a lot
of attention and he's absolutely played probably the best football
of his NFL career. But the Vikings defense has just
not only been one of the best, not only been
the best defense in the NFL this year, it's had
one of the best five game starts.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Really in the past forty to fifty years.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
If you go back and look at some of the
advanced analytics DVOA and some of those other types of
ways of comparing historical periods, they are just not only
are they playing lights out and really confusing quarterbacks, but
they've created a ton of turnovers, many of them early
in games. And when you look at the Vikings getting
to these big leads, whether it was against San Francisco
(20:13):
or Houston or Green Bay or against the Jets, a
lot of it is because the defense either scored a
touchdown themselves or set the Vikings offense up in great
field position to score early touchdowns and really take control
of this game. So Brian Flores has really had these
guys playing on another level than they did last year.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
They were pretty good for a good portion of last year,
but they have gotten.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
To five and zero on the strength number one of
the defense, and it's one of the best five game
stretches for any defense that I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah, you can really see what a difference being in
the second year of that scheme makes. And then you
add guys like Greenard Van Ginkle, you know, guys like
that that just fit what they do versatile, you know,
can blitz but also play coverage. It just seems like
everything fits for them right now. And and Kevin, to
your point, I mean, top three in points allowed, twenty sacks,
(21:06):
eleven interceptions, number two against the run. So it's not
like it's one thing. It's like they are good across
the board defensively. And how fun is that matchup going
to be this week against a Detroit Lions team that
comes in having scored eighty nine points in their last
two games, both wins against Seattle and Dallas, and probably
playing some of the best football in the league right
now offensively? What a matchup between those two? It almost
(21:27):
feels like the part of this matchup is Ben Johnson
versus Brian Flores and they won't even be on the field.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
No, and so, and that's interesting you say that because
Brian Flores was asked this week about like, how do
you prepare for this Lion's offense? And he said, like,
the really hard and difficult part is that almost every
week when he looks at an opposing offense, there's something
in there that is a weakness or maybe not something
that a team is going to emphasize. And that's where
they're really going to attack it. And it could be
(21:54):
something as small as the left guard's pass protection, or
it could be something as big as a quarterback not
being able to read coverages. So he always has found
something with most with every opponent. He said that that
they can try to at least try to exploit and
have a plan for exploiting. And he said that for
(22:15):
the and maybe he was just saying this because they're
playing the lines this week. He said this week there
really isn't like something certainly isn't anything obvious and really
hasn't been something even on a minor scale that he
feels like they can definitely exploit. So you know, I
think he knows and everyone knows that there they won't
win if they can't slow down to the lions running
(22:35):
attack and make like, if you're going to make somebody
one dimensional, you want to make them one dimensional as.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
A passing offense.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And that's not to criticize or downgrade Jared Goff and
the group and what they've done, but like, if you
can't stop the run, you just have no chance to win.
And that's so I think that that's where their focus
will be.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It's not a.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Weakness that they can exploit.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
But that's the focus I think for these guys and
then to take their chances and coverage in the back end.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Minnesota has early by a week, just like Detroit. Did
you know Week five, Detroit came out of that, you know,
pretty healthy. Obviously had had some the devastating injury to
to Hutchinson last week. But injury wise, from the Minnesota side,
Aaron Jones, I know he was kind of weak to
week last week and he updates on him and Dalton
Risner looks like he could be coming back. How is
Minnesota coming out of the buy injury wise?
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, the Aaron Jones one is the big one. He
as you said, was they decided he was weak to
week coming out of that game in London where he
had a hip injury. But he they had a sort
of a walk through speed practice on Monday and he
was out there for that. They didn't there was no
contact and it was only about an hour, but it
(23:47):
was interesting that he was out there, and so I
think they'll take it all the way to the weekend.
You know, they have historically been I don't want to
say conservative, but they've been careful, especially with prominent players
that have an injury that might be considered relatively minor
but could become a chronic thing if they don't manage
(24:08):
it well in the moment. And so if you just
look at their history in those situations, like I think
that they might be inclined to be careful with Aaron
Jones this week. It's a huge game, as you outlined,
but if it meant that he was going to be
more available over the course of the second half of
the season, if they held him out, I think they
probably choose that. So we'll see if that's where they
(24:29):
end up leaning.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
T J.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Hopkinson, who Lions fans know very well, is still in
his pup window. He is in theory eligible to come
off of it and play against the Lions Sunday. I
doubt that's going to happen. They have a quick turnaround
next week to on a Thursday night game at the Rams,
and that is a more likely spot for him, and
it could even be the week after that. But from
(24:53):
a health perspective, those are the primary guys you said.
You also mentioned Dalton Reisner. Yeah, he's he's full could
probably be full go this week during his pupp or
ir window. If he plays, it'll be to displace their
current right guard at Ingram, who hasn't really played well
(25:13):
at times this year. But we'll see if they are
ready to pull the trigger on that move quite yet.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You know, we talked about the defense to begin and
one of the things when you look at Kevin is
just the blitz and how effective they are at blitzing.
I just looked at the numbers. I think it was
one hundred and six blitzes for Brian flores In in
five games, and the next on the list was Denver
who has ninety four and they've played an extra game.
I mean, they really come after you, but there's one
(25:42):
thing to blitz and just kind of throw your head
at the wall. But they're really effective when they do
it when you watch them. Why is that blitz so
effective with Minnesota?
Speaker 5 (25:51):
In a lot of ways, it's when they're using it.
There's other reasons as well, but they are heavy. If
you break it down by the downs, most of I
think they're blitz rates on first and second down or
even higher than their total, and then it comes way
down on third down. So they're in the obvious quote
unquote passing downs. They're actually playing more coverage. And what
they do is they take their entire defensive line off
(26:12):
the field because Brian Flores is a madman, and they
use four edge rushers as their four defensive line. And
there's a linebacker they signed in free agency name Jihad Ward.
Was a big linebacker. He's like two hundred and eighty pounds,
but he is a linebacker, and they put him basically
at nose tackle, and then they have three of their
other edge rushers and so that's sort of their third
down pass rush set, and they play coverage behind that
(26:34):
more often than not. So there's a lot of reasons
why they're good at at the blitzing because they also
have a lot more I think it where the next
Gen stats have them at is about fifty percent of
their snaps at the snap, at least one member of
who of their defense that's lined up on the defensive
line drops back, and that really can wreak havoc even
(26:58):
on the best of quarterbacks.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Brock Purdy had a hard time with that.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
C J. Stroud had a hard time with that because
you get the quarterback gets the line of scrimmage and
they see who's there, and at some point they have
to make a decision about what they think is coming
in terms of pass rush, in terms of coverage and
set the line and all that sort of thing, and
then boom at the snap, somebody drops back or somebody
replaces him, and that's not you didn't account for yeah,
(27:23):
and that's or you accounted for him and you didn't
need to. And so you thought he was blitzing, and
you have a guy who's set up to block him,
but he's not there. And then you're sped up and
you think you have to throw and the guy that
would be your read is open.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
But because you're so.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
Discombobulated, this happened to block Purty a lot. You just
don't get You're off your on your timing in rhythm.
And so those are not things that only the Vikings
do or only Brian Flores do, but the frequency that
they do it, and the variety in which it could
be any of those six or seven guys or even
eight guys that might at one point be on the
(28:00):
line of scrimmage prior to the snap just has really
made their their their blitzing effective, the timing of their blitzes,
and really left quarterbacks, especially early in games, before they
can kind of get their feet underneath them. Really at
a loss to do the things that modern NFL quarterbacks
have to do in terms of reading coverage and setting
(28:21):
out protections.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
A couple more for you, Kevin Again, I'm talking with
Kevin Seffert does a great job covering everything Minnesota Vikings
for ESPN. Maybe who's a new player? Well, you know,
these are obviously teams that are very familiar with each other,
being within the division, playing twice a year. But is
there a new guy maybe Lions fans don't know yet
who you expect to impact the game on Sunday or
who Lions fans will will will know after Sunday.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, a player that not even a lot of Vikings
fans knew prior to him signing. And you mentioned him
at the beginning with Andrew van Ginkel, and he's potentially
in the running for defensive Player of the Year at
this point.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
He's a He was.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
Drafted in Miami when Florest was in Miami, so they
have that connection. And he saw something in him when
in college and they drafted him the fifth round. And
he's in theory an edge rusher, but he just basically
plays everywhere unbelievable football iq and instincts, Like he's already
returned two interceptions for touchdowns and in both In one
(29:21):
of the cases he just stepped back on a screen
pass and saw it coming and reached up and grabbed it.
That was against the Giants and then against the Jets
and Aaron Rodgers, he just kind of sense that a
play was coming into a certain spot and moved himself there.
Aaron Rodgers had no like he has seen a lot
of coverages and he's seen a lot of different things
(29:41):
in his career, did not expect him to be there,
and and and uh Ben Ginkle intercepted it.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
And had and ran it back for a touchdown.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
So he's already had two pick six's as a as
an edge rusher, so very unique set of skills. He's
got a few three sacks, I think, and not necessarily
on your classic speed rush around the edge, but just
like getting himself into the position where a quarterback.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
Would think that he has some space. Just so.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
If it continues the way it has started, like at
some point the Lions fans will see him make a
play and be like, how did that even happen? Like
that was you never see that happen in football, and
so he's been just a really fun guy to watch
play and to see sort of open doors that you
didn't think were open.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
And he's right up there with Abs AZALONEI for best
hair in the NFL. Is he a contender?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
I think, well, it's certainly longer.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
I think I haven't seen Alex in while, but I
think it mean it's long, Like he asked, like, I'd
be curious what his helmet size would be if he
didn't have to, you know, account for all that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
All right, Last one, keV, what's the biggest key in
your opinion for the Vikings on Sunday? The Vikings walk
out of walk out of US bank six and zero
in command of the division.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
If they do what win the turnover battle?
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Since ke O'Connell and this is not this is true
for many teams, but since Kevin O'Connell started here, when
they win the turnover battle there I think twenty and
zero and so like, which speaks to some of their
losses being pretty self inflicted. Why when they commit a
lot of turnovers, So if the Lions defense gets after
(31:19):
them and forces Sam Darnold into some interceptions or pulls
a few balls away and puts them on the defensive
on both sides of the ball. Then that's a pretty
good formula for the Lions. But if the Vikings can
just I mean, they're gonna make mistakes, but if they
can avoid the turnover kind of mistakes, that's been a
lights out formula for them since so Connell got here.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, it should be a fun one. Who knew? Week
seven five in old Minnesota Vikings four and one Detroit Lions.
It should be a great one Sunday at US Bank, Kevin,
thanks so much for taking the time. Always enjoy it,
my friend, and we will see you in Minneapolis this weekend.
Speaker 6 (31:54):
Sounds good. Safe travels, Tim,
Liots show with pressure double a gap. Look there they called,
they're bringing the house price. Gott it trouble. Alim McNeil
leaning on him and dropping him, oh fifty four k
through there and said not today, dah. Welcome back to
the twenty litt Huddle Podcast. I am very excited to
welcome in the newly re signed defensive tackle Ali McNeil,
(00:22):
Aleem big Week, ninety seven million dollars, a four year extension,
fifty five million dollars guaranteed. I see the subtle smile there,
has it? Because has it come almost a realization yet?
That ninety seven million, fifty five guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I don't think I ever will. I'm being out as
I don't think I ever will. Honestly, I'm spieces. I'm
lost for words on it. I don't know what to
say or what to do, but it's definitely. I'm definitely grateful.
I'm definitely thankful. All the hall work is paying off
and it's going to continue to pay off. Religious getting started.
But that's huge, and I appreciate the order. I appreciate everybody, mom, dad,
(01:02):
everybody is supporting me. T attorney tell you, I don't
know what to say about it. But it's great.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Is it weightlifted off? And I know we talked, you know,
in the spring, and you said, look, I'm gonna deal
with football. That's why I have an agent, That's why
I have business people that deal with that part of it.
But when you get the call, when they say, hey,
this is done, is it just kind of a weight
lifted off the shoulders a little bit that now football
is really all you need to focus about, folks on Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I mean, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't
a weightlifted off. I wasn't that in tune with it
because I told just my agents to handle it. But
in the back of my head that's you know, I
how did you not think about that? But I was.
I was locked in as could be, and I feel
like that's what helped me a lot for this lock
these last couple of weeks as well. But I you know,
(01:46):
I feel like it is a weightlifted off for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
For sure. Talk about your performance last week, seven quarterback pressures,
two sacks. I mean you were all over the place.
What was what was the mindset going into that game?
And how do you kind of transfer that action now
to Sunday in Minnesota, and then weeks weeks forward.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Mindset was to get off the ball. No no thinking,
no no worried about what's going on. If you get
offoot ball, everything that solve itself. And that's just gonna
be my mindset going into every one of these weeks.
Just get off the ball, get your hands on people,
and get off blocks. Because if you do that every
play and you have a chance to be able to
do anything you want in the game. So that's just
what my mentality was, was get off the ball and win
(02:25):
this football game.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
You guys played such complimentary football all three phases against
Dallas blowout when there, but did a little bit of
the win come out of the sales a little bit
when when ninety seven went down and you kind of
knew the severity of that, And how tough is that
as a player on the field to watch a guy
that you go to work with every day, that you're
with that's almost hast to feel like family, you know,
(02:47):
be be on the field like that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Deal with that, that's very tough, especially someone like Hutch
And I'm not gonna just say I mean for anyone
that would be significant, but someone like Hutch. The work,
the amount of time work that Hutch puts in, it's
almost second to none. To be honest, there's not too
many people that's doing more than he does. And to
see that happen, it does suck. It does suck, really
really bad. I was when it happened. I was just
(03:10):
hoping Aboule to just get on up. But how to
tell you it is part of the sport, but it's
a violent sport we play. But that does suck to
see stuff like that. Havev many people who put in
so much time and effort to this. I just wish
nothing but the speed of recovery to him. I know
he's gonna come back, probably even better. So it does
it does hurt to see that.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Though, how much confidence do you guys have that you
can feel some of the void. You're not gonna be
able to replace ninety seven, you can, I mean, he
was on his way to probably being the defensive player
of the year, you know, But how do you feel
you know a portion of that A good portion of
that production obviously, I think guys like like yourself and
the performance day that you had last Sunday, if you
(03:51):
can continue that, that helps a lot too, But you're
confident that you have the guys here and the defensive
coordinator that can help figure it out, and you guys
will be fine.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Oh yeah, hundred I believe so more than now than ever.
We're just gonna have to lean on each other. We're
gonna have to play a lot compmentary football. We're gonna
have to be in good chemistry. Everything's got to be firing,
and I believe that we can do the same things
that we've been doing. We just gotta rite quarterbacks, get pressure,
get pressure back there on run plays. So I do
think we have the guys who have more than enough
(04:21):
to be able to do that. We just got to
play commmentary football, make sure that we know we're doing
out there.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What jumps out Sunday about Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
As far as a team or offense or I think
to me offensively, what jumps out is they kind of
do a lot of there's some throwback to them a
little bit. As far as offensive wise, they'll drop back
and dot whether just have a regular quarterback and the
center running back behind. Not be any teams really do
that too often nowadays, but they do a lot of
drop back and die with two backs. They do a
(04:49):
lot of full back sets with in the running back,
so they do a lot of different things. And you know,
they have some dynamic receivers, they have some good playmakers,
so some things jump out to them. But you know,
our planers should always to be an attack and you know,
and that's just what we're gonna do. We wanna get
off the ball. We feel like we match up better,
so we was going to play football at that point.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
All right, two non football things. First, I wanted to
ask you the strongest guy in the team. I've heard
that you are on that list and it's a subtle smile.
DJ Reader has come to town. There's some other guys
that are Are you still the strongest guy on the team?
In my head? Yes, in my head.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But realistically it is probably Chris Smith. Really, yes, Chris
Smith probably throw Christoph probably bench about five fifteen five.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Really, do you guys even max out anymore?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Chris?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Really? If I if I could, if you could max,
if we could max out five hundred, I'd probably max
out too, right, throw that away a little bit five hundred, Yeah,
it might throw you. No, that's a lot of weight,
and how much how much have you ever maxed out
for seventy five. For seventy five, most have maxed out
on the bench.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah that was in college. So now I don't know,
probably about four sixty five, just cause we don't do
that as much Max and stuff. Chris easily hit about
five to twenty five fifteen, Yeah, he's up there.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And then ninety seven million dollars. Is that gets you
a pretty nice new studio? Music studio?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Now, I will see.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I don't know if I would have dropped that much
of the studio. It ain't my career, but I don't know.
It might make a couple upgrades, might get a new
mic or something, but no, not a whole studio.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
How much you guys looking forward to this game? It's
obviously a huge one Division matchup, but five and oh,
this is a great NFC North five and oh, you
guys are four and one Green Bay in Chicago. Four
and two? These are important. How much you're looking forward
to Sunday?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
We're looking forward to somewhere superstoke for Sunday, super excited.
These are the games we live and play for. You know,
you got an undefeated teams Division game? I mean, I
much better could have give than this, So I think
it's gonna be a much watch TV type game. It's
gonna be a lot going on, some good defense. They
got dynamic players. We got dynamic players, so I think
it'll be a good one. This is it's gonna be
(06:59):
a good game.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
We'll go good after him. Get your first, give them
their first loss and and continue the North. And congratulations
on the contract, much deserved. You're one of the core
pieces here now, one of the guys that they count on.
And uh, it's good to see when the organization, you know,
reward somebody who has put in the time and effort
that you have and you're playing some pretty good football.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Now, thanks, appreciate, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You welcome to pre seven of the NFL season. And
this is a pretty big one. Jeremy Reisman, Lions beat
reporter for Pride of Detroit is my guest for three
keys this week.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
And you probably knew it was gonna be, you know,
the best game in the NFL Week seven, Minnesota Vikings
five and o versus Detroit Lines four to one. When
the schedule came out, this one circled the biggest big
one of the week.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Especially when JJ McCarthy goes out for the season, I'm like, oh, yeah,
the Vikings are gonna bounce back. They're gonna they're gonna
lead the division after six weeks. It's it's a pretty
crazy story.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It's and and look, you love games like this, right,
And I know Dan Campbell talked about it. I'm sure
Kevin O'Connell loves it. But when your division division is good,
like the NFC North is right now, I mean that
just keeps you on your toes sharply. You know, metal
sharpens metal, right, and you can continue to be a
good football team longer because you know you're gonna have
to play good football you know teams, And so I
(08:16):
like it.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I'm one hundred percent with you. If this team truly
has Super Bowl aspirations having these kind of high intensity
games six times during the regular season, that yeah, all
your sharpens aren't exactly They're they're going to have that
championship mentality every single week because I have to if
they're gonna survive.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
All right, So we're here for three keys to the game.
So it's every week, it's it's kind of the three
big matchups, the three big keys, And you look at
the first and foremost with this one, with how good
Minnesota's defense is playing right now, I think handling that
Minnesota blitz is probably I think one of the biggest
keys for Detroit coming in. You agree, yeah, no question.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I imagine every offensive coordinator facing the Vikings is staying
up extra late at night trying to figure this one out.
And luckily, you know, this isn't the first time the
lines have seen it. Obviously, this is you know, year
two for Minnesota, and some of the coaches said, like,
it's you know, too to one for them, but it's
to a one for the Lions against the Vikings as well.
And you know, they really actually did a pretty good
job last year. I think Jared Golf was only sack
(09:13):
twice in both games, combined three touchdowns er interceptions. So
they know what they're doing. It's just a matter of
you know, it's it's one thing to know what to
do on Monday through Friday, but doing it on actual
Sunday when the pressure is there, when they got eight
guys crowding the box, it's a whole different level there.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, in the second year in Flora's game, it just
looks like those guys are comfortable right now. And obviously
you add guys like Van Ginkel, great Gnard, you know,
some of the personnel that fits them a little bit
better too. Now you're seeing the results and you know
it's coming, and you know, I looked at the statistics Chearman.
I think it was one hundred and six blitzes they
have in five games. Next on that list is Denver
(09:48):
they have ninety four and they've played an extra football
game right, played six, So I mean they're gonna come
at you forty percent of the time. They lead the
NFL in hurries with thirty four, they lead with quarterback
knockdowns thirty, they're third in sec. Oh hey, they're second
against the run too, so they stop that. Well, how
big of a game is this for Frank Ragnow Jared
Golf get the protections right and to have those veteran
(10:09):
offensive lineman just be on the same page.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, no question. I think it's a great week to
have Frank Ragnow back. And obviously he got his feet
wet last week and look just fine. And so yeah,
those guys are, like I said, they did it well
last year, but it's going to be a challenge with
it with the better personnel, and it's really I think,
going to be key to get into good down in
distances too, right, because if you find yourself in a
third and long against this defense, good luck. They got
(10:33):
a whole bunch of plans for things like that. So
first and second down are going to be really key.
But like you said, this is a good Vikings defense
against the run too.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, Ben Johnson versus Brian Flores that that's probably one
of the biggest matchups this week. We talk all the
time about the guys in between the lines, but those two,
that's gonna be a fun matchup too.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Yeah, no question. I mean these are guys that that
have you know, really been in conversations for head coaching jobs,
and for good reason, because you can really develop an
entire team and ed Terry identity behind those two brilliant
minds on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Another big key going into this one. You felt so
great about that game in Dallas when you watched it
and how they just handed the Cowboys their launch, But
the kind of air went out of the Lion's sail
a little bit when when Ad Hutchinson went down and
obviously broke his tibia and fibula that's gonna be a
four six month injury, likely not to be back, and
(11:21):
now starts the process of replacing Aiden Hutchinson. How do
you do it?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, I think you first have to make sure that
you know you're not going to do it like there's
not a one for as you can't exactly And so
what I really like about what some of the coaches
have said already is it's it's not just about who
you're going to be standing in that spot, whether it's uku,
whether it's a gooday, whether whoever it is. That whole
line now needs to kind of step their game up,
and it probably starts with money Man himself and McNeil right,
(11:48):
good point. You know, he's coming off a two SAT game.
He's gonna get a little bit more attention. It might
not be as easy for him going forward. But with
with what the Lions like to do, you know, I
look back to the Dallas game. They had eleven core
hits in that game. Only three came for me. There's
there's spread the love there. And for as much as
we talk about what Minnesota likes to scheme of defensively,
(12:09):
Aaron Glenn has done a pretty good job Schemeal pressures
himself as well, and so you know expect it maybe
coming from the linebacker level, maybe from the safety level.
We know Brian Branch can can pressure, and so they
might have to ramp up that aggression a little bit
more to create that pass rush. But yeah, there's there,
there's clearly going to be a gaping hole there on
the left side of the defensive line that you just
can't replace.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
No, I think it's a good point by you, DJ Reader,
big Lee McNeil, big. Any quarterback will tell you the
worst pressure that they can feel is that pressure up
the middle, and that's what Dak felt. And so if
you get that and you can get that consistently, I
think that can help the less production you get on
the edge. But two other names, Josh Pascal, like this
is his opportunity. Now. We talked about it when you
know Marcus Davenport went down. But now you've got both
(12:51):
your guys. Now you've got to step up. This is
your time. You've seen everybody get contract extensions, have huge seasons.
This is your opportunity unity, It's laid right at your
feet and it's your chance. And I would say the
same thing with Levi Oazerike. We've seen him have some
good production, has had a couple half sacks, but I
could see him move outside maybe a little bit more
(13:12):
now now out of necessity, you know, you did it
a little bit, but you really love him from the interior,
But now you're pressed into a position where I think
he's got to move outside a little bit more and
play that big end spot. And you hope he he,
you know, takes advantage of that opportunity as well.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
No question, And I think so far you have to
be pretty impressed with how both those players have stood up.
Like I mean, it's not easy to kind of come
off when you're spending all of training camp repping with
the twos, maybe, but coming in there and yeah, I
think you are going to see a little bit of
a change in how they're gonna line up everybody, and
whether that means on Zerique being on the left edge
an in spot or Pascal being over there, they're gonna
(13:50):
figure something out. Because again, one really nice thing that
I thought Dan Campbell said this week is this isn't
the first time that they've had to adjust on the fly.
They've had secondary issues in terms of injuries and the
PA They've had linebacker injuries in the past and they've
gotten through it. And a lot of that is because
Aaron Glenn is a good offense, good defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And you made the point about blitzing to right now,
they blitzed about thirty one percent of the time. That's
sixth most in the league. I could see that percentage going,
you know, crowding up for sure. U all right. Third
one is the pass defense, yea. And it's that test
that you have with Justin Jefferson and those that that
passing game right now, that that's you know, really flier sham.
(14:29):
Minnesot is twenty eighth in rushing, but they're really getting
it done via the passing game. And Sam Darnold is
playing great, having a rejuvenation of his career in Minnesota.
It fits with Kevin O'Connell. And you just look at
Justin Jefferson his last three games against Detroit, Jeremy twelve
catches one hundred and ninety two yards a touchdown, six
catches one hundred and forty one yards in a touchdown,
(14:51):
eleven catches two hundred and twenty three yards. Is Detroit
in a better place now to maybe help contain him
though to.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Say so, right, I mean, they did a decent job
last week against Ceedee Lamb. Maybe in previous weeks it
was up and down a little bit, but you're seeing
these cornerbackscrow Obviously, Carlton Davis continue to play it at
a pretty darn good level. And Terry on Arnold is
coming along. He had his first kind of fresh clear
game of penalties last week. He's progressing. But really, I
think that the key this week is keep everything from
(15:22):
going over the top. And that's what the lines have
been excellent at this year because I think they have
arguably the best safety duo in the league with Kirby
Joseph and Brian Branch both making plays, and so the
opportunity I think is going to be there for them
to maybe get a takeaway or two in this game.
Are you going to stop Justin Jefferson all game? No,
you just aren't. He could very well have another three
digit receiving yards game. But the matter is, let's not
(15:46):
make that those ten fifteen yard games go into twenty
thirty forty yards.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Do you feel better about it coming off the Dallas game?
Because Dallas went into that game last week, Number two
in passing Ceedee Lamb is obviously a guy who is
just like Justin Jefferson, known as one of the best,
and Detroit really shut it down in all regards. I
don't know if they can do that in Minnesota because
I just trust Kevin O'Connell in that system a little
bit more. But it makes me feel a little bit
(16:10):
better watching what they did last week to that Dallas
team and though at that personnel that they're in better
shape to do it this week. No question.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
You do obviously have to worry about Jordan Edison too.
I think he's a guy that is very much a
guy that's going to challenge them on the boundaries and
then we'll see maybe we see TJ. Hockinson in this
game too, and that that's kind of a new challenge.
The Lions haven't faced a ton of really good tight
ends this so far the season, so I think that's
an additional challenge that the Vikings are going to post
this week.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
First five games of the Vikings six different players with
a receiving touchdowns. So we talk about Justin Jefferson, but
they move it around. They spread it around. Also got
Jalen Naylor. There's who's played pretty well. So it's a
great test for this line secondary. But I think we
both agree. I think they're better equipped to do it.
Hopefully they'll have Carlton Davis, who's dealing with an injury
this week. Will know more at the end of the
week if he's going to be available to play. But
(16:59):
I thought you made a great point with the safeties
with Kirby and Brian. That just makes me feel so
much better about this secondary. I think Brian branch is
is playing at an all pro level. If he continues
this pace, yeah, we could have an all pro safety.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
I mean it's almost like you could have two because obviously,
I mean you've got four interceptions. Yeah, but yeah, I
think just the fact that Brian branch does everything right.
It's the deep coverage, it's the coming down and covering
a tight end if he has to. It's it's being
strong in run defense, and then also adding an extra
development to your your pass rush.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
He had a really good pressure last week against Dallas,
and so having a guy that can literally just do
everything and now, unlike last year's on the field one
hundred percent of the time, really changes to the dynamic
of that secondary.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Week seven first place matchup in the NFC nor I
think it's an undefeated Minnesota's team. Who would have known,
right the.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Nfel's great and it's so great, I mean having honestly like,
it's so cool to have this kind of big matchup
with the lines involved that that is very much considered,
you know, the game of the week.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
It should be a fun one one o'clock in Minneapolis,
good road test for Lions. Early he is Jeremy Riceman.
You catch everything he does on Friday. Detroit does a
great job over there. Jeremy, thanks for taking thats I
appreciate you. Appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Man.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Welcome back to the twenty in the Huddle podcast, and
I am very happy to welcome in Kevin Seffert. He's
the Vikings and pro football writer for ESPN. He has
been doing it for a long time over there in Minneapolis,
and if you want to know anything about the Minnesota Vikings,
he is the source for you. Kevin, thanks for joining me.
I appreciate you.
Speaker 6 (18:33):
Thanks for having me. Tim, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So you know, admit it, you know when the schedule
came out, when the season started, you knew that Week
seven Detroit Minnesota was going to be the best football
game in the NFL that.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Week, right, absolutely, absolutely, there was no doubt about it.
I knew that was gonna be a fun game. I
did not think that the Vikings would be. I thought
it was going to be part of a very difficult
opening schedule for the Vikings that was going to leave
them in a tough spot by the time they got
to this point.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, but it's not. I mean, it's five and zero,
They've been playing great, They're coming off their bye week,
and this sets up a huge matchup. You know this week.
Obviously it's a division game, it's four first place in
the division. Though we're talking week seventeen. There's a lot
of football left. But really, Kevin, when you watch this
team over the first five games, what's really been the
biggest catalyst for you for their success and then their
(19:28):
five and oh start?
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Well, I know that sam Donold has gotten a lot
of attention and he's absolutely played probably the best football
of his NFL career. But the Vikings defense has just
not only been one of the best, not only been
the best defense in the NFL this year, it's had
one of the best five game starts.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Really in the past forty to fifty years.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
If you go back and look at some of the
advanced analytics DVOA and some of those other types of
ways of comparing historical periods, they are just not only
are they playing lights out and really confusing quarterbacks, but
they've created a ton of turnovers, many of them early
in games. And when you look at the Vikings getting
to these big leads, whether it was against San Francisco
(20:13):
or Houston or Green Bay or against the Jets, a
lot of it is because the defense either scored a
touchdown themselves or set the Vikings offense up in great
field position to score early touchdowns and really take control
of this game. So Brian Flores has really had these
guys playing on another level than they did last year.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
They were pretty good for a good portion of last year,
but they have gotten.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
To five and zero on the strength number one of
the defense, and it's one of the best five game
stretches for any defense that I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah, you can really see what a difference being in
the second year of that scheme makes. And then you
add guys like Greenard Van Ginkle, you know, guys like
that that just fit what they do versatile, you know,
can blitz but also play coverage. It just seems like
everything fits for them right now. And and Kevin, to
your point, I mean, top three in points allowed, twenty sacks,
(21:06):
eleven interceptions, number two against the run. So it's not
like it's one thing. It's like they are good across
the board defensively. And how fun is that matchup going
to be this week against a Detroit Lions team that
comes in having scored eighty nine points in their last
two games, both wins against Seattle and Dallas, and probably
playing some of the best football in the league right
now offensively? What a matchup between those two? It almost
(21:27):
feels like the part of this matchup is Ben Johnson
versus Brian Flores and they won't even be on the field.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
No, and so, and that's interesting you say that because
Brian Flores was asked this week about like, how do
you prepare for this Lion's offense? And he said, like,
the really hard and difficult part is that almost every
week when he looks at an opposing offense, there's something
in there that is a weakness or maybe not something
that a team is going to emphasize. And that's where
they're really going to attack it. And it could be
(21:54):
something as small as the left guard's pass protection, or
it could be something as big as a quarterback not
being able to read coverages. So he always has found
something with most with every opponent. He said that that
they can try to at least try to exploit and
have a plan for exploiting. And he said that for
(22:15):
the and maybe he was just saying this because they're
playing the lines this week. He said this week there
really isn't like something certainly isn't anything obvious and really
hasn't been something even on a minor scale that he
feels like they can definitely exploit. So you know, I
think he knows and everyone knows that there they won't
win if they can't slow down to the lions running
(22:35):
attack and make like, if you're going to make somebody
one dimensional, you want to make them one dimensional as.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
A passing offense.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And that's not to criticize or downgrade Jared Goff and
the group and what they've done, but like, if you
can't stop the run, you just have no chance to win.
And that's so I think that that's where their focus
will be.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It's not a.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Weakness that they can exploit.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
But that's the focus I think for these guys and
then to take their chances and coverage in the back end.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Minnesota has early by a week, just like Detroit. Did
you know Week five, Detroit came out of that, you know,
pretty healthy. Obviously had had some the devastating injury to
to Hutchinson last week. But injury wise, from the Minnesota side,
Aaron Jones, I know he was kind of weak to
week last week and he updates on him and Dalton
Risner looks like he could be coming back. How is
Minnesota coming out of the buy injury wise?
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, the Aaron Jones one is the big one. He
as you said, was they decided he was weak to
week coming out of that game in London where he
had a hip injury. But he they had a sort
of a walk through speed practice on Monday and he
was out there for that. They didn't there was no
contact and it was only about an hour, but it
(23:47):
was interesting that he was out there, and so I
think they'll take it all the way to the weekend.
You know, they have historically been I don't want to
say conservative, but they've been careful, especially with prominent players
that have an injury that might be considered relatively minor
but could become a chronic thing if they don't manage
(24:08):
it well in the moment. And so if you just
look at their history in those situations, like I think
that they might be inclined to be careful with Aaron
Jones this week. It's a huge game, as you outlined,
but if it meant that he was going to be
more available over the course of the second half of
the season, if they held him out, I think they
probably choose that. So we'll see if that's where they
(24:29):
end up leaning.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
T J.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Hopkinson, who Lions fans know very well, is still in
his pup window. He is in theory eligible to come
off of it and play against the Lions Sunday. I
doubt that's going to happen. They have a quick turnaround
next week to on a Thursday night game at the Rams,
and that is a more likely spot for him, and
it could even be the week after that. But from
(24:53):
a health perspective, those are the primary guys you said.
You also mentioned Dalton Reisner. Yeah, he's he's full could
probably be full go this week during his pupp or
ir window. If he plays, it'll be to displace their
current right guard at Ingram, who hasn't really played well
(25:13):
at times this year. But we'll see if they are
ready to pull the trigger on that move quite yet.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You know, we talked about the defense to begin and
one of the things when you look at Kevin is
just the blitz and how effective they are at blitzing.
I just looked at the numbers. I think it was
one hundred and six blitzes for Brian flores In in
five games, and the next on the list was Denver
who has ninety four and they've played an extra game.
I mean, they really come after you, but there's one
(25:42):
thing to blitz and just kind of throw your head
at the wall. But they're really effective when they do
it when you watch them. Why is that blitz so
effective with Minnesota?
Speaker 5 (25:51):
In a lot of ways, it's when they're using it.
There's other reasons as well, but they are heavy. If
you break it down by the downs, most of I
think they're blitz rates on first and second down or
even higher than their total, and then it comes way
down on third down. So they're in the obvious quote
unquote passing downs. They're actually playing more coverage. And what
they do is they take their entire defensive line off
(26:12):
the field because Brian Flores is a madman, and they
use four edge rushers as their four defensive line. And
there's a linebacker they signed in free agency name Jihad Ward.
Was a big linebacker. He's like two hundred and eighty pounds,
but he is a linebacker, and they put him basically
at nose tackle, and then they have three of their
other edge rushers and so that's sort of their third
down pass rush set, and they play coverage behind that
(26:34):
more often than not. So there's a lot of reasons
why they're good at at the blitzing because they also
have a lot more I think it where the next
Gen stats have them at is about fifty percent of
their snaps at the snap, at least one member of
who of their defense that's lined up on the defensive
line drops back, and that really can wreak havoc even
(26:58):
on the best of quarterbacks.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Brock Purdy had a hard time with that.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
C J. Stroud had a hard time with that because
you get the quarterback gets the line of scrimmage and
they see who's there, and at some point they have
to make a decision about what they think is coming
in terms of pass rush, in terms of coverage and
set the line and all that sort of thing, and
then boom at the snap, somebody drops back or somebody
replaces him, and that's not you didn't account for yeah,
(27:23):
and that's or you accounted for him and you didn't
need to. And so you thought he was blitzing, and
you have a guy who's set up to block him,
but he's not there. And then you're sped up and
you think you have to throw and the guy that
would be your read is open.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
But because you're so.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
Discombobulated, this happened to block Purty a lot. You just
don't get You're off your on your timing in rhythm.
And so those are not things that only the Vikings
do or only Brian Flores do, but the frequency that
they do it, and the variety in which it could
be any of those six or seven guys or even
eight guys that might at one point be on the
(28:00):
line of scrimmage prior to the snap just has really
made their their their blitzing effective, the timing of their blitzes,
and really left quarterbacks, especially early in games, before they
can kind of get their feet underneath them. Really at
a loss to do the things that modern NFL quarterbacks
have to do in terms of reading coverage and setting
(28:21):
out protections.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
A couple more for you, Kevin Again, I'm talking with
Kevin Seffert does a great job covering everything Minnesota Vikings
for ESPN. Maybe who's a new player? Well, you know,
these are obviously teams that are very familiar with each other,
being within the division, playing twice a year. But is
there a new guy maybe Lions fans don't know yet
who you expect to impact the game on Sunday or
who Lions fans will will will know after Sunday.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, a player that not even a lot of Vikings
fans knew prior to him signing. And you mentioned him
at the beginning with Andrew van Ginkel, and he's potentially
in the running for defensive Player of the Year at
this point.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
He's a He was.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
Drafted in Miami when Florest was in Miami, so they
have that connection. And he saw something in him when
in college and they drafted him the fifth round. And
he's in theory an edge rusher, but he just basically
plays everywhere unbelievable football iq and instincts, Like he's already
returned two interceptions for touchdowns and in both In one
(29:21):
of the cases he just stepped back on a screen
pass and saw it coming and reached up and grabbed it.
That was against the Giants and then against the Jets
and Aaron Rodgers, he just kind of sense that a
play was coming into a certain spot and moved himself there.
Aaron Rodgers had no like he has seen a lot
of coverages and he's seen a lot of different things
(29:41):
in his career, did not expect him to be there,
and and and uh Ben Ginkle intercepted it.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
And had and ran it back for a touchdown.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
So he's already had two pick six's as a as
an edge rusher, so very unique set of skills. He's
got a few three sacks, I think, and not necessarily
on your classic speed rush around the edge, but just
like getting himself into the position where a quarterback.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
Would think that he has some space. Just so.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
If it continues the way it has started, like at
some point the Lions fans will see him make a
play and be like, how did that even happen? Like
that was you never see that happen in football, and
so he's been just a really fun guy to watch
play and to see sort of open doors that you
didn't think were open.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
And he's right up there with Abs AZALONEI for best
hair in the NFL. Is he a contender?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
I think, well, it's certainly longer.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
I think I haven't seen Alex in while, but I
think it mean it's long, Like he asked, like, I'd
be curious what his helmet size would be if he
didn't have to, you know, account for all that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
All right, Last one, keV, what's the biggest key in
your opinion for the Vikings on Sunday? The Vikings walk
out of walk out of US bank six and zero
in command of the division.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
If they do what win the turnover battle?
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Since ke O'Connell and this is not this is true
for many teams, but since Kevin O'Connell started here, when
they win the turnover battle there I think twenty and
zero and so like, which speaks to some of their
losses being pretty self inflicted. Why when they commit a
lot of turnovers, So if the Lions defense gets after
(31:19):
them and forces Sam Darnold into some interceptions or pulls
a few balls away and puts them on the defensive
on both sides of the ball. Then that's a pretty
good formula for the Lions. But if the Vikings can
just I mean, they're gonna make mistakes, but if they
can avoid the turnover kind of mistakes, that's been a
lights out formula for them since so Connell got here.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, it should be a fun one. Who knew? Week
seven five in old Minnesota Vikings four and one Detroit Lions.
It should be a great one Sunday at US Bank, Kevin,
thanks so much for taking the time. Always enjoy it,
my friend, and we will see you in Minneapolis this weekend.
Speaker 6 (31:54):
Sounds good. Safe travels, Tim,
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