Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Tennessee Titans 23-13 Sunday afternoon down at Nissan Stadium to improve to 8-2 on the season. The Titans kicked a field goal early to take a 3-0 lead and then the Vikings ran off 16 straight points for the remainder of the first half. The Vikings and Titans traded touchdowns in the 3rd quarter and the Titans kicked another field goal to get within 10 points early in the 4th quarter. The Vikings sealed the deal with a Harrison Smith interception in the final minutes of the contest. Sam Darnold finished the game 20-of-32 passing for 246 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and a 1 yard rushing touchdown. Darnold's passing touchdowns included a 47 yard pass to Jordan Addison in the 1st quarter and a 3 yard pass to Cam Akers in the 3rd quarter. Running back Aaron Jones led the Vikings rushing attack with 39 yards on the ground and Justin Jefferson once again led the receiving game with 6 receptions for 81 yards. Defensively, Andrew Van Ginkel led the team with 8 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 tackles for loss. Pat Jones II also had 2 sacks and Blake Cashman notched the 5th sack of the game for the squad. Harrison Smith's Interception late in the game was the Vikings only turnover on Sunday. Kicker Park Romo hit a 40 yard field goal and completed 2 extra points on 3 attempts. The Vikings now move on and look to complete their 3 game road trip next week at Soldier Field in Chicago. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich breakdown the victory versus Tennessee, including: the Vikings offense overcoming the challenges from the Titans top tier defense, Sam Darnold's adjustments week-to-week, why time of posession was a key against Will Levis, and the challenges the Bears present next week. 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
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Tennessee Titans twenty three thirteen,
and I'm Paul Allen joined by Vikings radio network analyst
Pete Persich ten point victory from Nissan Stadium, and the
Vikings have swept the AFC South and did so today
with Sam Darnold throw him for a couple of touchdowns.
He also plunged ahead for one, meaning his first rushing
(00:35):
touchdown wearing the Vikings colors. But the big story today
ten tackles for loss by the Vikings and five sacks,
including two by Andrew Van Ginkel and two by Patrick Jones.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You know, and you take a look at the numbers
after the game, and they had thirty three yards of rushing,
eighteen of which came by the legs of Will Levis.
So between their two running backs, yeah, they had fifteen yards.
My point, their offense had to be one sided. And
when you have the situation like they have at right
tackle where they have trotted out four different right tackles
(01:09):
in the last two weeks, Yeah, it just goes to
show that the vice, you know, again, it's having a
weakness and then having the ability and the scheme to
be able to take advantage of that defensively, I thought
today minus you know, a couple of simple mistakes won
by Mattellis and then Shack Griffin getting caught flat footed obviously. Uh,
(01:32):
the defense played another gem of a football game.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well you you mentioned the uh the Valley Hood rushing
defense for the Vikings. Uh, the the Titans ran for
thirty three yards, like Pete said, just a quick look
here at Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Steelers ran for well
over one hundred. And why I bring that up is
because the Vikings were second in the NFL rushing yards
allowed a game, not that far behind Baltimore. Uh, they
(01:58):
might have cut into that and have the number one
rushing defense in the NFL. And you know you mentioned
you mentioned Will Levis and that long pass you said
minus whatever that ninety eight yard touchdown to Nicholas Westbrook
a kine. Okay, so josh Joshua and Mattellis was on
the coverage. I mean that that's a tough spot for Joshua.
(02:19):
I mean he's not a corner. You know, he singled
up against a guy with five touchdowns. What could he
have done better?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, he just could have taken a better angle. To
the football. I mean the way the route, the way
the route transpired with the inside guy, you know, running
an out route and Steffan Gilmour was sitting right there
for that. The vertical routes really just a clearing route
in that in that aspect, and Mattellas saw it. He
was right on top of it. Again, he just took
a bad angle to the football. So you know those
(02:48):
you know, those things happen. You don't see mattelis playing
a lot of deep half safety right so usually that's
the area where Harrison Smith or cam Byn them live.
And I think if it had it been Harry or
cam bind him, that would have been a different type
of a play. But because of disguise and a number
of other things, you're gonna have some people playing a
little bit out of position. And I'm sure it's a
play Mattellus wishes he had back to come out with
(03:11):
a win. I'm sure makes it more a little more
tolerable for him. But yeah, just a bad angle to
the football resulted in a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
A week after, Sam Darnold threw three interceptions and no touchdowns,
but the team beat Jacksonville. He finishes this game against
the Titans twenty of thirty two for two forty six,
had a forty seven yard touchdown to Jordan Addison, then
a shorter one a little later to cam Akers. But
the a topic here was after going oh for five
(03:40):
in the red zone inside the twenty at Jacksonville, five trips,
zero touchdowns, let's put that in perspective. Yeah, through Kevin
O'Connell's first forty four games as head coach, they were
oh for five on touchdowns in the red zone in
a combined forty four games. Then in the Jacksonville game,
they went oh of five strictly in that game and
two for two today.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
That's that's that's huge. And you know, again the turnovers
on offense, the you know, the pitch fumble, that was
a bad one, and then you know, I don't know
if we had another one on offense. It was ruled down.
They ruled down my contact. But you know, if Jalen
Naylor comes up with that football, he throws for three, right,
and then it's an unbelievable day career. Yeah, you know,
(04:22):
an unbelievable day. So great job by Sam Donald. The rebound.
He looked good, you know, going after the middle of
the field. This is a very very good defensive front,
better than you're gonna see in a week and a
week got And that was one of the things that
kind of worried me going in this game was the
record and what you saw in film didn't match up.
(04:44):
Right two and seven, You're expecting to see a really
bad team, but defensively, very solid, the number one passing
defense in the league. So this is a big challenge
for our offense. And you know, I thought they did
a good job.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Let's hear from Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin o Connall.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I knew it was gonna be a tough, hard fought game,
especially against their defensive side. I was proud of the
way we kind of responded whenever it seemed like they
you know, they did make a play against our defense. Obviously,
the big one over the top when they were backed up.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
You know, that.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Position could have you know, really could have swung the
whole game right there. But I was just proud of
the way we played relatively clean. I know we had
the early turnover, which was frustrating because those types of
things can't happen, But I thought Sam Darnold played really well.
I thought you know, to get to close it out
with another turnover to break even in that department was
(05:35):
really important. And then the turnover on downs, you know,
making it hard there in the second half. I thought
we had some other opportunities maybe put the game away.
Tried to stay aggressive and and you know one down
there to speedy, but he'll make that play.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Total confidence and trust in him.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And now we've got to continue to build on another
road challenge next week against a good Bears team that's
gonna be a tough place to go play. Yeah, a
lot of the things we really talked about, you know,
as starting points for for his play.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I thought his feet and eyes were really good.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I thought, as he's done most of the season, his
ability to kind of extend some plays, that's a good front,
really good interior front. That there's gonna be some push.
There's gonna be some times where you need to move
with two hands on the ball some of those play
extending you know, plays to keep drives alive and then
give us some earned first down ops to then activate
some of the play passes like Jay's and and like
(06:29):
I said to the you know speedies op later on
in the game, and I thought justin ran some great
routes today as well, uh, you know, winning against you know,
a lot of the similar program we saw last week,
but just you know, continuing to be he's you know,
best I've ever been around, but continues to improve regardless
of how he's being defended. So across the board, you know,
I thought Sam was a really driving force behind us
(06:52):
offensively pass game, and and wanted to commit against a
really tough group up front to run the ball against.
Wanted to commit to it and try to possess the
football and not sure did we end up winning the
We did win the time of possession, I believe, don't
have it right in front of me, but just felt
like felt like it was, you know, a game that
(07:13):
we maybe uh maybe could have you know, just compressed
a little more success in there and a couple of
chunks in the game on on either side of the
ball and maybe put it away a little earlier. But
it's a talented team, tough, physical team. So proud we've
been able to go on the road and win to
in a row. Now we got to do it again.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Making the response after the first turnover, with all the
talk about the turnovers, that's a couple of you, Sam comes
down and has the touchdown driving then after they had
the big one come back in there to what's I
say about him in those moments where he came through, I.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Think I think it speaks to kind of where he's
at right now and and and just really proud of
the way he played, and that's a great I mean,
how he played in those moments was a huge indicator
of a guy that had put the work in and
was confident and just going out there and do his
job and a lot of plays and then also overcome
some things around him to make some plays, which was
which was critical for us, especially in those moments where
(08:03):
you know, we're able to kind of once we got
the two score lead or the double digit lead, at
least we were able to kind of continue to extend
it back out when they when they maybe got a
little closer.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
So I think any we are on the road, it's
hard to win on the road.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But I do want to say I thought the turnout
of our fans was unbelievable. One of the best parts
about this job is seeing all the purple when we're
on the road like that. It's it's an awesome feeling
know when we got the best fan base in the
National Football League.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Kevin, how do you reflect on the last three weeks just
finding wins anyway you can?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I mean, look, I know that it would probably
be really fun for us to just steamroll the NFL
every single week. It's just not the way it's going
to go, which also, in my opinion, provides a lot
of opportunity to grow and get better and understand exactly
what happened on some of the plays that they made,
either offense, defense or special teams, and coach and improve
(08:55):
and and just constantly chase that progression. Knowing that we're
a good football team. Through ten games, we've won eight
of them. We've got the right mindset. But I do
believe our you know, hopefully our best football is ahead
of us, because we're working towards that while also winning games.
So proud of that, proud of our group, proud of
our staff. But it's time to go back to work.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Wedding margin like today, how much of a factor with
their thirteen penalties that they took versus your three?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, you know, i'd have to Obviously, penalties are a
critical critical stat and I know there were some impactful
ones to either extend drives or take away some explosives
for them. But yeah, I you know, one of those
things is it would be naive for me to sit
up here and say, although maybe those went heavily in
our favor today, you know, I've had some dialogue about
(09:44):
some other plays over the last few weeks as well,
you know, albeit more than likely surrounding our quarterback and
things like that. So I've learned whatever I say really
does not matter. They're trying to do the best they can.
The game's happening fast out there. REPLACE says stepping in
when they can to to you know, help, you know,
correct some things that happened fast. But they got a
(10:06):
tough job and fortunately some of those players were big.
But I do know that we still did execute and
still did get off the field there on some fourth
downs and take the ball away at the end, and
did have that response to to go score.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
The decision to move at Inger for Dalton.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Reiser today, yeah, just you know, I thought I wanted
to take a look, with Dalton being healthy now, seeing
if we could get a little bit more just of
a veteran presence in there consistent. It was a tough challenge,
you know, to have Dalton's you know, first start on
the right side, be against those Simmons and Sweat, and
that's two of the best interior guys right now playing
(10:43):
in this league, and they're a huge part of how
they're able to play all that shell coverage and really
eat up combinations and all those things. We'll look at
the tape and see how Dalton did. I just felt
his play style. I felt him you know, totally into
the game. And at the same time, I was proud
of the way Ed handled the week as well. He
was knowing he'd be one snap away. He was asking
great questions, and he was prepared and.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Ready to roll.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
So we'll continue to try to find that that best five,
and it's definitely not going to be a week to
week thing, but we are going to allow some competition
to play out. Well, the season is still you know,
seven games left in the ability to try to hunt
that best five and get the most out of all
those guys.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
How is Jordan's leg was holding him out just precautionary, No.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
He was cramping.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
He cramped and and we tried to you know, we
tried to do all the different tactics you do when
that happens. But he just wasn't able to get there
to get back in the game, which you know would
have been great to see him come back and get
a couple of those ops that eventually might have helped
us put the game away. But like I said, I
got all the confidence in the world and speedy to
(11:45):
step in and you know, make those plays when they
come to him, just like he has all season long.
So yeah, so Addison obviously cramps, Josh Oliver got an ankle.
He'll just need to be evaluateable see what that looks
like here as we're able to get back to Minnesota
and take another look, you know, at where he's at.
But other than that, I think we came out pretty clean.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Production for Pat kind of matched earlier in the season
after a couple of games where he didn't have quite.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Jones, Yeah, he's so consistent.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Rightly so, Jonathan Gernard and Andrew Van Ginkel get a
ton of credit as they should. They've played outstanding football.
JG's playing as well as anybody in the league in
my opinion. Gang shown up again. Now he's got a
career high. Pat Jones has got a career hide sacks.
I think it just shows the versatility of that group.
Dallas Turner, you know, had some really nice rushes as well,
(12:38):
and just kind of athletic plays out there. That group
as a whole is really the strength pair that with
our safeties and our inside backers.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
When we're really rolling our veteran corner.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Play, you know, and we're getting a lot of good
impactful snaps out of our interior d line.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
That's a team that wants to run the ball.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You got to get him into those you know, weightier
third downs, longer distances, and then you know, try to
get some pressure, get off the field or force a turnover. Yeah,
they you know, it's kind of a it was an
odd you know, an odd defensive you know structure with
(13:15):
Simmons dropping and bringing kind of double edge pressure there
that you know, growth of our offense. That was something
where maybe a year ago we wouldn't have been able
to get a you know, a touch out there, but
jo Josh Oliver is awareness to see it and then
the line pushing out on the other side clean pocket
against a look like that with a concept like we
had on the expected a little bit of pressure, expected
(13:36):
some edge pressure, but the execution there and then and
then once I saw the space in there, the only
question was whether he was going to score or not,
and he did.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
You guys are a good team? How good do you
think you can be?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
You know, the same way I'm old enough to remember
when nobody thought we were very good. So the same
way that I answered that question, I'll answer it now.
We just got to continue to get better. Improve Eating
two means absolutely nothing. Got a divisional test on the
road next week, you know, against a really a really
(14:09):
tough Chicago team that you know that we we better
put together a really good week of prep. And that's
what the NFC North is. That's what it is, and
that's what we know is out in front of us.
And honestly, Kevin, I do think it's just about not
really looking too far ahead, but just we're a team
that needs to improve and know that we're a good
team and we have confidence in that. But that's been
(14:29):
the name of the game all season long. It's just
chasing constant improvement, understanding where we can improve based upon
performances like today where we do get the win, and uh,
you know, keep stacking chances to win football games and
then finding ways to do it good.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Second time in three seasons you've been able to go
five and oh against the AS lineup.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That Yeah, I think, you know, it's a it's a
division with some really good defenses. When you're thinking about,
you know, these guys and obviously Jacksonville's got a lot
of really talented players. Houston, you know, has proven with
what Demiko is doing there, and then I think, uh,
(15:07):
you know Indie with I'll tell you this much, this
division isn't lacking for interior, d line or edge players
for that matter. So happy to come in and get
the win, but it's just on to the next and
we got to keep improving because, like I said, it's
gonna be a tough outfit to play against in Chicago
next week.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Kevil Harrison home state game, finching it off with.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
The yeah, it was Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I was walking in the tunnel after the game, and
you know, I heard some chance going on and I
should he they. I was wondering, maybe this is it
for me, Maybe I finally arrived, and then I realized
Harrison was walking right next to me and they were
saying Harry, So I started chanting to because I love
him such an impactful player for this organization. How many
times has he made a play like that in a
(15:53):
moment like that where his team needs him and he's
there to make the play, and uh, you know, one
of my all time favorites. It's not close. I absolutely
love Harrison Smith.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You see him get so close earlier in the game.
You can't get the feeling that you will get another time.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I just it's Russian coverage working together, whether we're sending
pressures and you know, tried to stay aggressive and get
home a few times, and they made some place to
you know, I credit will on that.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Back to up ninety eight yarder.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I mean, you know, able to see kind of a
palm z quarters feel out there and threw a dime
down the sideline. They make the play, and it was
a perfect op for everyone on our team to kind of,
you know, kind of say oh no, but we get
the response offensively, defense gets some fourth down stops and
then the turnover. So I'm proud of the guys for
that and Harry obviously being a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Bears are next. But this this was a game where
you had that bad exchange between Darnold and Aaron Jones,
A bad toss. So the Vikings go minus one at
that point of the game and the take give, but
the Titans only got a field goal out of it.
Then the Vikings came back, march down the field, got
that forty seven yard touchdown hit to Jordan Addison and
(17:03):
they never looked back after that, Didn't you just kind
of feel from that moment on, Yeah, somehow, some way
the Vikings were going to win this game.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, I did, and mainly because it was very difficult
for the Tennessee Titans to sustain anything offensively, right, They
had a little bit of a chain moving bit with
the quarterback option and then Grenard said, you know what,
forget the dive, I'm just gonna go after the quarterback
and came up huge on a third down or may
maybe been a fourth down with a tackle for loss.
(17:30):
So you know, it's they were extremely one dimensional, meaning
they could throw the football, but they could not run it.
And you know, throughout a sixty minute game, you figure
some things out along the way, like they figured some
things out at halftime, some changes of the protection up front,
and you know, bought Levis a little bit more time,
but we had worn that group out by the end
(17:53):
of the game where it was a jail break to
Levis and so you know that if the game goes
to overtime or the longer the game goes, the more
of advantage it's going to be to the Vikings. And
and uh so to your point, no, I I I did.
I mean, I didn't feel threatened really at any at
any time.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
It was a bounce back Sunday for Sam Darnold, quarterback
for the Minnesota Vikings. Here's what he had to say
after the game.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
Obviously a really exciting win, you know for us as
an offense. You know, early mistake with the fumble, but
I felt like we bounced back really well with that,
and I thought our defense special teams played played really well.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
And uh yeah, it was nice to.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Be able to just kind of move the ball up
and down the field and kind of got stalled a
little bit in the second half, but I feel like
when we moved the ball and we were able to
get into the red zone, you know, we we weren't
turned the ball over, we were able to uh turn
those into points, and you know, that was huge for
us today. And you know, just really proud of the
guys in.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
The locker room.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Characters like so much.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
Yeah, I think you know, when better if it's a
dagger throw or another type of route coming into a
window against his own defense. You know, it's always just
kind of feeling that space and feeling very confident in
being able to rip it. And so that's just kind
of what I felt on that play and Jay did
the rest.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Is there anything in the world that can simulate the
pocket movement that we were doing?
Speaker 6 (19:24):
No, I mean we uh, you know, I think, you know, well,
we'll watch it on tape.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
I felt like there were some times where I could
have you know, uh, I was able to hang in
the pocket. Obviously, moving around and converting third downs is great,
but you know, some of those third downs, like I
mentioned early in the second half, I felt like I
was able to kind of sit in there and maybe
deliver a throw. But yeah, I just got to continue
to learn from that and continue to have feel with
(19:51):
those kind of plays. And yeah, I think that's the
biggest thing is just you know, throughout the season learning
from plays like that.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Think you feel like.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
Is really close.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
A game, man.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Uh, you know, sometimes they're gonna you know, they're breathing
down your neck, especially the way that this defense plays. Man,
A lot of credit to that defense and that team
over there, you know, a really tough group. You know. Obviously,
defensive rankings are what they are for a reason, you know,
and uh, you know, I just felt like the way
that we prepared throughout the week for certain pressures and
(20:30):
for their certain looks. You know, again, credit to our
coaching staff for being able to put together a lot
of you know, just really solid look teams and and
you know, the scout teams this past week were unbelievable
with that kind of stuff, with some of their pressures
and different coverages that they play with those pressures. So yeah,
just a really overall I just felt like this as
(20:54):
an organization, this was a great win for us.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Say, how do you reflect on the last three weeks?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Then a whole just biding wins anyway, anyway gets game.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Yeah, that's that's this league.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
You just got to find a way to win, you know,
And we're just going to continue to to try to
do that. And uh, you know, take it one week
at a time and take it one day at a time,
and and we're just going to continue to you know,
watch the tape from this, grow from it, and then
get ready for uh for Chicago next week. He obviously
from this state.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
What's tends up the most felt being around that guy,
and I thank you, got bet.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Yeah, he's a special player, you know, but an even
better person. You know, he's just a great, you know,
steady presence in the locker room. Obviously he's been in
this league for a while, been on that team, been
on this team for a while, and uh, yeah, he's
just he's an incredible teammate. Like I said, Like even
when he makes a huge play, he's just right here
(21:50):
every time. You know, he's so steady, and that's what
we love about him.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The Vikings are going to conclude a three game road
trip where they're looking to go three and oh with
thectories at Jacksonville, at Nashville, and then at Soldier Field.
And no matter how much turmoil the Bears have, no
matter how up and down their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams
is firing offensive coordinators the whole thing, it's just really
(22:15):
difficult winning a Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, it's very, very difficult to win there. And you're right,
you got the turmoil now, normally teams. When someone gets fired,
you get a good week bump out of them, right,
and then you kind of settle back in. But they
played the Packers down to the wire from what I've
seen or from what I've heard. So, but you know,
two home games in a row for the Bears, they've
got they've got some issues internally, and maybe they've worked
(22:38):
them out. We'll see, but you can't let them get
healthy this week this coming week, right, And we've in
the past, we've had success against young quarterbacks Will Levice.
I think this is the only sixteenth game as a starter. Yeah,
so they let you know, just these inexperienced even though
they're athletic, but inexperienced quarterbacks. We seem to do really
(22:58):
well on because the looks and different things that we
do upfront. So hopefully that bodes well for the Vikings.
But yeah, it's going to be a tough, tough game
to go into Chicago.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
The Vikings have improved to eight and two, still trailing
the Detroit Lions in the NFC North, but eight and
two wonderful record. After ten and they beat the Tennessee
Titans from Nissan Stadium twenty three to thirteen for Pete
ursache I, Paul Allen. This is an Eric Davidson production.
It's the postgame report, and we had good news on
(23:28):
this Sunday
The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Tennessee Titans twenty three thirteen,
and I'm Paul Allen joined by Vikings radio network analyst
Pete Persich ten point victory from Nissan Stadium, and the
Vikings have swept the AFC South and did so today
with Sam Darnold throw him for a couple of touchdowns.
He also plunged ahead for one, meaning his first rushing
(00:35):
touchdown wearing the Vikings colors. But the big story today
ten tackles for loss by the Vikings and five sacks,
including two by Andrew Van Ginkel and two by Patrick Jones.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You know, and you take a look at the numbers
after the game, and they had thirty three yards of rushing,
eighteen of which came by the legs of Will Levis.
So between their two running backs, yeah, they had fifteen yards.
My point, their offense had to be one sided. And
when you have the situation like they have at right
tackle where they have trotted out four different right tackles
(01:09):
in the last two weeks, Yeah, it just goes to
show that the vice, you know, again, it's having a
weakness and then having the ability and the scheme to
be able to take advantage of that defensively, I thought
today minus you know, a couple of simple mistakes won
by Mattellis and then Shack Griffin getting caught flat footed obviously. Uh,
(01:32):
the defense played another gem of a football game.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well you you mentioned the uh the Valley Hood rushing
defense for the Vikings. Uh, the the Titans ran for
thirty three yards, like Pete said, just a quick look
here at Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Steelers ran for well
over one hundred. And why I bring that up is
because the Vikings were second in the NFL rushing yards
allowed a game, not that far behind Baltimore. Uh, they
(01:58):
might have cut into that and have the number one
rushing defense in the NFL. And you know you mentioned
you mentioned Will Levis and that long pass you said
minus whatever that ninety eight yard touchdown to Nicholas Westbrook
a kine. Okay, so josh Joshua and Mattellis was on
the coverage. I mean that that's a tough spot for Joshua.
(02:19):
I mean he's not a corner. You know, he singled
up against a guy with five touchdowns. What could he
have done better?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, he just could have taken a better angle. To
the football. I mean the way the route, the way
the route transpired with the inside guy, you know, running
an out route and Steffan Gilmour was sitting right there
for that. The vertical routes really just a clearing route
in that in that aspect, and Mattellas saw it. He
was right on top of it. Again, he just took
a bad angle to the football. So you know those
(02:48):
you know, those things happen. You don't see mattelis playing
a lot of deep half safety right so usually that's
the area where Harrison Smith or cam Byn them live.
And I think if it had it been Harry or
cam bind him, that would have been a different type
of a play. But because of disguise and a number
of other things, you're gonna have some people playing a
little bit out of position. And I'm sure it's a
play Mattellus wishes he had back to come out with
(03:11):
a win. I'm sure makes it more a little more
tolerable for him. But yeah, just a bad angle to
the football resulted in a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
A week after, Sam Darnold threw three interceptions and no touchdowns,
but the team beat Jacksonville. He finishes this game against
the Titans twenty of thirty two for two forty six,
had a forty seven yard touchdown to Jordan Addison, then
a shorter one a little later to cam Akers. But
the a topic here was after going oh for five
(03:40):
in the red zone inside the twenty at Jacksonville, five trips,
zero touchdowns, let's put that in perspective. Yeah, through Kevin
O'Connell's first forty four games as head coach, they were
oh for five on touchdowns in the red zone in
a combined forty four games. Then in the Jacksonville game,
they went oh of five strictly in that game and
two for two today.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
That's that's that's huge. And you know, again the turnovers
on offense, the you know, the pitch fumble, that was
a bad one, and then you know, I don't know
if we had another one on offense. It was ruled down.
They ruled down my contact. But you know, if Jalen
Naylor comes up with that football, he throws for three, right,
and then it's an unbelievable day career. Yeah, you know,
(04:22):
an unbelievable day. So great job by Sam Donald. The rebound.
He looked good, you know, going after the middle of
the field. This is a very very good defensive front,
better than you're gonna see in a week and a
week got And that was one of the things that
kind of worried me going in this game was the
record and what you saw in film didn't match up.
(04:44):
Right two and seven, You're expecting to see a really
bad team, but defensively, very solid, the number one passing
defense in the league. So this is a big challenge
for our offense. And you know, I thought they did
a good job.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Let's hear from Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin o Connall.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I knew it was gonna be a tough, hard fought game,
especially against their defensive side. I was proud of the
way we kind of responded whenever it seemed like they
you know, they did make a play against our defense. Obviously,
the big one over the top when they were backed up.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
You know, that.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Position could have you know, really could have swung the
whole game right there. But I was just proud of
the way we played relatively clean. I know we had
the early turnover, which was frustrating because those types of
things can't happen, But I thought Sam Darnold played really well.
I thought you know, to get to close it out
with another turnover to break even in that department was
(05:35):
really important. And then the turnover on downs, you know,
making it hard there in the second half. I thought
we had some other opportunities maybe put the game away.
Tried to stay aggressive and and you know one down
there to speedy, but he'll make that play.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Total confidence and trust in him.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And now we've got to continue to build on another
road challenge next week against a good Bears team that's
gonna be a tough place to go play. Yeah, a
lot of the things we really talked about, you know,
as starting points for for his play.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I thought his feet and eyes were really good.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I thought, as he's done most of the season, his
ability to kind of extend some plays, that's a good front,
really good interior front. That there's gonna be some push.
There's gonna be some times where you need to move
with two hands on the ball some of those play
extending you know, plays to keep drives alive and then
give us some earned first down ops to then activate
some of the play passes like Jay's and and like
(06:29):
I said to the you know speedies op later on
in the game, and I thought justin ran some great
routes today as well, uh, you know, winning against you know,
a lot of the similar program we saw last week,
but just you know, continuing to be he's you know,
best I've ever been around, but continues to improve regardless
of how he's being defended. So across the board, you know,
I thought Sam was a really driving force behind us
(06:52):
offensively pass game, and and wanted to commit against a
really tough group up front to run the ball against.
Wanted to commit to it and try to possess the
football and not sure did we end up winning the
We did win the time of possession, I believe, don't
have it right in front of me, but just felt
like felt like it was, you know, a game that
(07:13):
we maybe uh maybe could have you know, just compressed
a little more success in there and a couple of
chunks in the game on on either side of the
ball and maybe put it away a little earlier. But
it's a talented team, tough, physical team. So proud we've
been able to go on the road and win to
in a row. Now we got to do it again.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Making the response after the first turnover, with all the
talk about the turnovers, that's a couple of you, Sam comes
down and has the touchdown driving then after they had
the big one come back in there to what's I
say about him in those moments where he came through, I.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Think I think it speaks to kind of where he's
at right now and and and just really proud of
the way he played, and that's a great I mean,
how he played in those moments was a huge indicator
of a guy that had put the work in and
was confident and just going out there and do his
job and a lot of plays and then also overcome
some things around him to make some plays, which was
which was critical for us, especially in those moments where
(08:03):
you know, we're able to kind of once we got
the two score lead or the double digit lead, at
least we were able to kind of continue to extend
it back out when they when they maybe got a
little closer.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
So I think any we are on the road, it's
hard to win on the road.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But I do want to say I thought the turnout
of our fans was unbelievable. One of the best parts
about this job is seeing all the purple when we're
on the road like that. It's it's an awesome feeling
know when we got the best fan base in the
National Football League.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Kevin, how do you reflect on the last three weeks just
finding wins anyway you can?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I mean, look, I know that it would probably
be really fun for us to just steamroll the NFL
every single week. It's just not the way it's going
to go, which also, in my opinion, provides a lot
of opportunity to grow and get better and understand exactly
what happened on some of the plays that they made,
either offense, defense or special teams, and coach and improve
(08:55):
and and just constantly chase that progression. Knowing that we're
a good football team. Through ten games, we've won eight
of them. We've got the right mindset. But I do
believe our you know, hopefully our best football is ahead
of us, because we're working towards that while also winning games.
So proud of that, proud of our group, proud of
our staff. But it's time to go back to work.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Wedding margin like today, how much of a factor with
their thirteen penalties that they took versus your three?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, you know, i'd have to Obviously, penalties are a
critical critical stat and I know there were some impactful
ones to either extend drives or take away some explosives
for them. But yeah, I you know, one of those
things is it would be naive for me to sit
up here and say, although maybe those went heavily in
our favor today, you know, I've had some dialogue about
(09:44):
some other plays over the last few weeks as well,
you know, albeit more than likely surrounding our quarterback and
things like that. So I've learned whatever I say really
does not matter. They're trying to do the best they can.
The game's happening fast out there. REPLACE says stepping in
when they can to to you know, help, you know,
correct some things that happened fast. But they got a
(10:06):
tough job and fortunately some of those players were big.
But I do know that we still did execute and
still did get off the field there on some fourth
downs and take the ball away at the end, and
did have that response to to go score.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
The decision to move at Inger for Dalton.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Reiser today, yeah, just you know, I thought I wanted
to take a look, with Dalton being healthy now, seeing
if we could get a little bit more just of
a veteran presence in there consistent. It was a tough challenge,
you know, to have Dalton's you know, first start on
the right side, be against those Simmons and Sweat, and
that's two of the best interior guys right now playing
(10:43):
in this league, and they're a huge part of how
they're able to play all that shell coverage and really
eat up combinations and all those things. We'll look at
the tape and see how Dalton did. I just felt
his play style. I felt him you know, totally into
the game. And at the same time, I was proud
of the way Ed handled the week as well. He
was knowing he'd be one snap away. He was asking
great questions, and he was prepared and.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Ready to roll.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
So we'll continue to try to find that that best five,
and it's definitely not going to be a week to
week thing, but we are going to allow some competition
to play out. Well, the season is still you know,
seven games left in the ability to try to hunt
that best five and get the most out of all
those guys.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
How is Jordan's leg was holding him out just precautionary, No.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
He was cramping.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
He cramped and and we tried to you know, we
tried to do all the different tactics you do when
that happens. But he just wasn't able to get there
to get back in the game, which you know would
have been great to see him come back and get
a couple of those ops that eventually might have helped
us put the game away. But like I said, I
got all the confidence in the world and speedy to
(11:45):
step in and you know, make those plays when they
come to him, just like he has all season long.
So yeah, so Addison obviously cramps, Josh Oliver got an ankle.
He'll just need to be evaluateable see what that looks
like here as we're able to get back to Minnesota
and take another look, you know, at where he's at.
But other than that, I think we came out pretty clean.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Production for Pat kind of matched earlier in the season
after a couple of games where he didn't have quite.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Jones, Yeah, he's so consistent.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Rightly so, Jonathan Gernard and Andrew Van Ginkel get a
ton of credit as they should. They've played outstanding football.
JG's playing as well as anybody in the league in
my opinion. Gang shown up again. Now he's got a
career high. Pat Jones has got a career hide sacks.
I think it just shows the versatility of that group.
Dallas Turner, you know, had some really nice rushes as well,
(12:38):
and just kind of athletic plays out there. That group
as a whole is really the strength pair that with
our safeties and our inside backers.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
When we're really rolling our veteran corner.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Play, you know, and we're getting a lot of good
impactful snaps out of our interior d line.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
That's a team that wants to run the ball.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You got to get him into those you know, weightier
third downs, longer distances, and then you know, try to
get some pressure, get off the field or force a turnover. Yeah,
they you know, it's kind of a it was an
odd you know, an odd defensive you know structure with
(13:15):
Simmons dropping and bringing kind of double edge pressure there
that you know, growth of our offense. That was something
where maybe a year ago we wouldn't have been able
to get a you know, a touch out there, but
jo Josh Oliver is awareness to see it and then
the line pushing out on the other side clean pocket
against a look like that with a concept like we
had on the expected a little bit of pressure, expected
(13:36):
some edge pressure, but the execution there and then and
then once I saw the space in there, the only
question was whether he was going to score or not,
and he did.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
You guys are a good team? How good do you
think you can be?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
You know, the same way I'm old enough to remember
when nobody thought we were very good. So the same
way that I answered that question, I'll answer it now.
We just got to continue to get better. Improve Eating
two means absolutely nothing. Got a divisional test on the
road next week, you know, against a really a really
(14:09):
tough Chicago team that you know that we we better
put together a really good week of prep. And that's
what the NFC North is. That's what it is, and
that's what we know is out in front of us.
And honestly, Kevin, I do think it's just about not
really looking too far ahead, but just we're a team
that needs to improve and know that we're a good
team and we have confidence in that. But that's been
(14:29):
the name of the game all season long. It's just
chasing constant improvement, understanding where we can improve based upon
performances like today where we do get the win, and uh,
you know, keep stacking chances to win football games and
then finding ways to do it good.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Second time in three seasons you've been able to go
five and oh against the AS lineup.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That Yeah, I think, you know, it's a it's a
division with some really good defenses. When you're thinking about,
you know, these guys and obviously Jacksonville's got a lot
of really talented players. Houston, you know, has proven with
what Demiko is doing there, and then I think, uh,
(15:07):
you know Indie with I'll tell you this much, this
division isn't lacking for interior, d line or edge players
for that matter. So happy to come in and get
the win, but it's just on to the next and
we got to keep improving because, like I said, it's
gonna be a tough outfit to play against in Chicago
next week.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Kevil Harrison home state game, finching it off with.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
The yeah, it was Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I was walking in the tunnel after the game, and
you know, I heard some chance going on and I
should he they. I was wondering, maybe this is it
for me, Maybe I finally arrived, and then I realized
Harrison was walking right next to me and they were
saying Harry, So I started chanting to because I love
him such an impactful player for this organization. How many
times has he made a play like that in a
(15:53):
moment like that where his team needs him and he's
there to make the play, and uh, you know, one
of my all time favorites. It's not close. I absolutely
love Harrison Smith.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You see him get so close earlier in the game.
You can't get the feeling that you will get another time.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I just it's Russian coverage working together, whether we're sending
pressures and you know, tried to stay aggressive and get
home a few times, and they made some place to
you know, I credit will on that.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Back to up ninety eight yarder.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I mean, you know, able to see kind of a
palm z quarters feel out there and threw a dime
down the sideline. They make the play, and it was
a perfect op for everyone on our team to kind of,
you know, kind of say oh no, but we get
the response offensively, defense gets some fourth down stops and
then the turnover. So I'm proud of the guys for
that and Harry obviously being a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Bears are next. But this this was a game where
you had that bad exchange between Darnold and Aaron Jones,
A bad toss. So the Vikings go minus one at
that point of the game and the take give, but
the Titans only got a field goal out of it.
Then the Vikings came back, march down the field, got
that forty seven yard touchdown hit to Jordan Addison and
(17:03):
they never looked back after that, Didn't you just kind
of feel from that moment on, Yeah, somehow, some way
the Vikings were going to win this game.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, I did, and mainly because it was very difficult
for the Tennessee Titans to sustain anything offensively, right, They
had a little bit of a chain moving bit with
the quarterback option and then Grenard said, you know what,
forget the dive, I'm just gonna go after the quarterback
and came up huge on a third down or may
maybe been a fourth down with a tackle for loss.
(17:30):
So you know, it's they were extremely one dimensional, meaning
they could throw the football, but they could not run it.
And you know, throughout a sixty minute game, you figure
some things out along the way, like they figured some
things out at halftime, some changes of the protection up front,
and you know, bought Levis a little bit more time,
but we had worn that group out by the end
(17:53):
of the game where it was a jail break to
Levis and so you know that if the game goes
to overtime or the longer the game goes, the more
of advantage it's going to be to the Vikings. And
and uh so to your point, no, I I I did.
I mean, I didn't feel threatened really at any at
any time.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
It was a bounce back Sunday for Sam Darnold, quarterback
for the Minnesota Vikings. Here's what he had to say
after the game.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
Obviously a really exciting win, you know for us as
an offense. You know, early mistake with the fumble, but
I felt like we bounced back really well with that,
and I thought our defense special teams played played really well.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
And uh yeah, it was nice to.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Be able to just kind of move the ball up
and down the field and kind of got stalled a
little bit in the second half, but I feel like
when we moved the ball and we were able to
get into the red zone, you know, we we weren't
turned the ball over, we were able to uh turn
those into points, and you know, that was huge for
us today. And you know, just really proud of the
guys in.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
The locker room.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Characters like so much.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
Yeah, I think you know, when better if it's a
dagger throw or another type of route coming into a
window against his own defense. You know, it's always just
kind of feeling that space and feeling very confident in
being able to rip it. And so that's just kind
of what I felt on that play and Jay did
the rest.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Is there anything in the world that can simulate the
pocket movement that we were doing?
Speaker 6 (19:24):
No, I mean we uh, you know, I think, you know, well,
we'll watch it on tape.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
I felt like there were some times where I could
have you know, uh, I was able to hang in
the pocket. Obviously, moving around and converting third downs is great,
but you know, some of those third downs, like I
mentioned early in the second half, I felt like I
was able to kind of sit in there and maybe
deliver a throw. But yeah, I just got to continue
to learn from that and continue to have feel with
(19:51):
those kind of plays. And yeah, I think that's the
biggest thing is just you know, throughout the season learning
from plays like that.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Think you feel like.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
Is really close.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
A game, man.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Uh, you know, sometimes they're gonna you know, they're breathing
down your neck, especially the way that this defense plays. Man,
A lot of credit to that defense and that team
over there, you know, a really tough group. You know. Obviously,
defensive rankings are what they are for a reason, you know,
and uh, you know, I just felt like the way
that we prepared throughout the week for certain pressures and
(20:30):
for their certain looks. You know, again, credit to our
coaching staff for being able to put together a lot
of you know, just really solid look teams and and
you know, the scout teams this past week were unbelievable
with that kind of stuff, with some of their pressures
and different coverages that they play with those pressures. So yeah,
just a really overall I just felt like this as
(20:54):
an organization, this was a great win for us.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Say, how do you reflect on the last three weeks?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Then a whole just biding wins anyway, anyway gets game.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Yeah, that's that's this league.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
You just got to find a way to win, you know,
And we're just going to continue to to try to
do that. And uh, you know, take it one week
at a time and take it one day at a time,
and and we're just going to continue to you know,
watch the tape from this, grow from it, and then
get ready for uh for Chicago next week. He obviously
from this state.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
What's tends up the most felt being around that guy,
and I thank you, got bet.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Yeah, he's a special player, you know, but an even
better person. You know, he's just a great, you know,
steady presence in the locker room. Obviously he's been in
this league for a while, been on that team, been
on this team for a while, and uh, yeah, he's
just he's an incredible teammate. Like I said, Like even
when he makes a huge play, he's just right here
(21:50):
every time. You know, he's so steady, and that's what
we love about him.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The Vikings are going to conclude a three game road
trip where they're looking to go three and oh with
thectories at Jacksonville, at Nashville, and then at Soldier Field.
And no matter how much turmoil the Bears have, no
matter how up and down their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams
is firing offensive coordinators the whole thing, it's just really
(22:15):
difficult winning a Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, it's very, very difficult to win there. And you're right,
you got the turmoil now, normally teams. When someone gets fired,
you get a good week bump out of them, right,
and then you kind of settle back in. But they
played the Packers down to the wire from what I've
seen or from what I've heard. So, but you know,
two home games in a row for the Bears, they've
got they've got some issues internally, and maybe they've worked
(22:38):
them out. We'll see, but you can't let them get
healthy this week this coming week, right, And we've in
the past, we've had success against young quarterbacks Will Levice.
I think this is the only sixteenth game as a starter. Yeah,
so they let you know, just these inexperienced even though
they're athletic, but inexperienced quarterbacks. We seem to do really
(22:58):
well on because the looks and different things that we
do upfront. So hopefully that bodes well for the Vikings.
But yeah, it's going to be a tough, tough game
to go into Chicago.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
The Vikings have improved to eight and two, still trailing
the Detroit Lions in the NFC North, but eight and
two wonderful record. After ten and they beat the Tennessee
Titans from Nissan Stadium twenty three to thirteen for Pete
ursache I, Paul Allen. This is an Eric Davidson production.
It's the postgame report, and we had good news on
(23:28):
this Sunday
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