December 1, 2024 • 29 mins
Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings continued their winning ways and defeated the Arizona Cardinals 23-22 on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings and Cardinals traded field goals throughout the first half and the Cardinals took a 12-6 lead in the 3rd quarter on a Chad Ryland 40-yard field goal. The Cardinals extended their lead to 19-6 on a Marvin Harrison Jr. touchdown deep into the 3rd quarter, but then it was Minnesota's turn. The Vikings offense came alive on a 70-yard drive and Johnny Mundt capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown in 3:20. The Vikings and Cardinals traded field goals once again and the Vikings again went 70 yards and hit Aaron Jones for a 5-yard touchdown pass to take the lead for good. Shaquill Griffin sealed the game for the Vikings on a 4th down interception with 0:40 left in the 4th quarter. Sam Darnold finished the game 21-of-31 for 235 yards passing, 2 passing touchdowns, and 22 yards rushing. Darnold, Aaron Jones, and Cam Akers all finished with 22 yards rushing. WR Justin Jefferson led the Vikings with 99 yards receiving on 7 receptions. Parker Romo went 3-for-4 on field goals and 2-of-2 on extra points. Defensively, Jonathan Greenard was credited with the lone Vikings sack, while both Shaquill Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr. recorded interceptions on Kyler Murray. The Vikings will be back at U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday to face the 6-6 Atlanta Falcons. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich breakdown the victory versus Arizona, including: Sam Darnold coming up clutch in the backend of the game, kicker Park Romo's 4 game experience, Byron Murphy Jr.'s big day against his old team, and the atmosphere coming back to U.S. Bank Stadium. 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 (00:11):
Hey, Welcome to the Vikings postgame report with former player
and coach and analystp Bursige.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm Paul Allen.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
The Minnesota Vikings basically trailed ninety eight and a half
percent of this game against the Arizona Cardinals today was
nothing but field goals from Shad Ryland and Parker Romo,
and then all of a sudden, Aaron Jones, who had
kind of a nondescript day. In fact, some I wouldn't
say bad moments, but some moments of which he's probably
(00:38):
not super proud, like dropping a pass in the end zone,
a fumble that he lost to fumbles total. But Aaron
Jones from Sam Darnold tied it to twenty two. The
Vikings win twenty three to twenty two. They won five
in a row. They're ten and two. How did they
get there?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well, you know, the crazy part is it just took
them a long time to find their groove. You look,
with eight and a half minutes left to go in
the third quarter, we had ninety two yards of offense
on twenty five plays, and then you turn around and
you look and we ended up with twenty three. So
we figured a few things out. Protection got better. And
I don't think that was necessarily just the offensive line.
(01:14):
It was the running backs and the tight ends and
all those other guys chipping in. It gave Donald the
opportunity to step up in the pocket, Paul, and when
our Donald on those last couple series able to step
up in the pocket, was absolutely firing bullets when he
had to the touch. On the throws, especially that one
over the fingertips of Jesse Luketta, I mean, just some beautiful,
(01:36):
beautiful throws. And credit Donald man. I think he really
put everything on his shoulders that we're a passing team,
that's who we are. And he answered the call today
so unbelievably impressed with Sam Donald toward the end of
this football game.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And you know, I think I think we would be
remiss to not also congratulate and thank kicker Parker Romo. Oh,
I mean, seriously, you don't talk about ers a lot
unless they go Blair Walsh on it at the College
stadium and all of a sudden, you don't have it tomorrow,
you're not playing anymore. But Romo, he you know, this
is certainly not speaking for the team, but the assumption
(02:12):
is the rookie will Reikert will return next game against Atlanta.
So Romo had a four game sample size. First three
outdoors on grass, Super Wendy and Jacksonville Wonky Turf and
Soldier Field. He got Wendy near the end of the game.
He walked off in overtime as a winner. And granted
he missed a field goal today, but that last extra
(02:32):
point kicked the Minnesota Vikings into the Winter Circle. Good
for Parker Romo. He's definitely earned himself the opportunity to
kick somewhere.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Else, right, And that's the life of a kicker man.
You get stuck in. It's a tough life to begin with,
and then to get your opportunity, you get stuck in
a very difficult situation, right, And he came in and
answered the call. He and Jake McQuaid, who you know,
did a fabulous job with the long snapping as well.
So the special teams element wasn't a huge part of today,
but the kicking game, you know, ended up being ended
(03:03):
up being huge.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Biron Murphy Junior a former member of the Arizona Cardinals.
You know, the Arizona Cardinals, like had been his favorite
team all of his life. Why he is from Scottsdale, Arizona,
taken in the second round out of Washington in twenty
nineteen by the Cardinals. Then at the end of his
first deal, they're like, hey, you can go ahead and walk.
So he came here to Minnesota and he made a
big difference today. Three passes defense, he had his fifth interception,
(03:27):
and he's two to zero against his former squad.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Right with Byron Murphy. When he's engaged and he is
giving and everything he has, he's a very very good corner.
There are some times when he'll drift. There's sometimes when
you know, some he looks like there's some indecision. But
a game like today played absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I think Fabian Moreau actually stepped up. Outside of that
one hitch that he threw that Murray threw to the
far sideline where he kind of got double moved.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yea.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I think he did a really good job. He had
a huge pass interference penalty. I was. I think in
that case they hung them out to dry a little bit,
meaning there was no deep mental help. So I don't
know why that wasn't there, But Fabian more stepped in
did I think a pretty good job. We saw theo
Jackson in there a little bit. We saw the most
of Dallas Turner that we've seen all year, So they're
(04:17):
starting to get these these other legs in there as
we get laid into the season and that, you know,
that's important because you want to be playing your best
ball going into the playoffs, and today we just didn't
have it in the beginning, right. You can just feel it,
you you you felt it before the game too. It
was that it's cold, people are gonna you know, they're
they're You got to give them a reason to cheer,
(04:37):
and this team didn't really give them anything until the
secon you know, really the second half of the second
half almost right, So everybody leaves happy. But these are
games that in the past this team has lost, and
they found a way today to win.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, had this
to say following a one point victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Injury updates for you guys, Steph gil Stefan Gilmore did
get a hamstring left hamstring did not return. You know,
I'm hoping we avoided a longer term issue there. He
was thinking about possibly coming back in but able to
hold on to the win there, guys making some play
stepping up and then Pat Jones did have the right
(05:21):
knee was able to come back in and finish the game.
Proud of our guys. Got our tenth win you know
by December first, which I think is an accomplishment. Games
are hard to win. I do think that's a really
you know, well coached, playoff caliber football team in that
other locker room. Want to give the Cardinals a lot
of credit. They made it very hard on us. We've
(05:42):
got to be a lot better offensively, and you know,
see if we can not put ourselves in a hole.
But I will say, you know, when we absolutely needed
it to put those excuse me, to put those drives
together and uh, you know, find a way to get
the points and needed to win the game. Is obviously
the intent of everything here. But as we continue to
(06:05):
take a close look at at what we do, they'll
always be room for improvement. But very much looking forward
to attacking it with these guys. And I did congratulate
them on getting the ten wins. You know, as as
we kick off a very important month of December, what
does it say about.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
This team they you guys seem to play your best
when the heat really turns on.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah. One of our you know, one of our mottos
is being situational masters, and that's expresses itself a lot
of different ways. I know, I feel like I know
me personally. I feel an obligation as the play caller
to be at uh, you know, be at your best,
and that's overcoming a lot of things. I mean, we,
you know, to take some sacks on third down. I
(06:45):
want to compliment the scheme and kind of forcing some
of those plays, but at the same time, our guys
need to communicate better and make sure we get those
things blocked up and give ourselves a chance to operate.
But with that type of you know, strong for much
of the game on third down, for us to kind
of eliminate that play for the most part all together
(07:05):
and find ways to get explosives. I think we had
nine over kind of the last three drives of the game,
and we needed every single one of them. And love
the fact that even though it wasn't you know, Aaron's
best day to come to him there to punch the
ball and take the lead, punch the ball in on
that kind of designer kind of play, there didn't hesitate
(07:25):
for a second that he wasn't going to make that
play and we would go up by one.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I think Sam throws for one hundred some yards in
the fourth quarter. What can you say about him in
the second week in a row, in a tight game
making that kind of a performance.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, you know, I think we continue to learn things
about our team that will pay a lot of dividends
moving forward. And really two weeks in a row now
finding a way, you know when you know most really
last week, momentum was taken from us up eleven, and
they're able to kind of come back and tie it up,
and then we march the ball down the field that
(07:58):
he didn't have any incompletion ninety yards and did what
we had to do to win that one. And then
not one time did anybody on our team flinch, And
we did what we had to do to get the
win today. But at the same time, we know there's
a lot of things throughout a four quarter football game
that we've got to continue to improve at, and that's
what we're gonna do.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I came through or of an effort to get the
ball to Justin in the second half.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, there was an effort early too, and you know,
we had them, might have had them on a couple
of plays and and either we climbed up and tried
to check the ball down or even on the you know,
Aaron Aaron's fumble on his catch was a checkdown and
and the ball gets punched out, But I might have
had him there. We'll watch the tape and continue to
(08:42):
find ways to move them and and all the different
tools we had. But we we definitely tried to find
different types of things as we went, you know, trying
some things out, doing some things that maybe weren't on
the call sheet, and kind of went into into that
world a little bit. Because I do want to compliment
them on a really good defensive game plan. I talked
about it throughout the week. You know, it's a hard
(09:03):
team to run the ball against because of where Boot
is in the scheme, and if they play that personnel grouping,
which I knew they would and we saw the majority
of the day, it can force some some real things,
both in protection and in the run game. So you know,
credit those guys that put together a great plan, played
well enough to win. We just were able to come
back and get them in the end. What's your thought
(09:24):
process with Aaron Jones. He has a too early Yeah,
but as you said, you did never lost faith. You're
going to put them in at the end. Like I mean,
we've seen the way the league goes. We've seen lots
of times where guys just you know, take a seat
for the day. Yeah, and he you know, he did
sit down for you know, non non scheduled and and
just kind of really if anything, you know, I have
total trust in Aaron. You guys can see it all
(09:47):
over his face the disappointment he has. But we've got
to find a way to fix it. And because we've
had too many times that the ball does end up
on the ground early on in games, and that's a
huge momentum play. Giving them such a short field, what
a response by our defense to you know, keep them
out of the end zone and ultimately push them back
far enough that they miss a field goal. But listen,
(10:08):
there's a reason why I called the play I did.
In the end, he's one of our best players who
is going to continue to be one of our best players.
And there's not a guy in that locker room that
doesn't absolutely love playing with Aaron Jones. And we got
his back without any hesitation or question. You had to
have a series in a third whereas three and out
you lose five. Fans are frustrated. What flip because from
(10:28):
that pointing on and I think you scored the next
three person. Yeah, we got pretty aggressive, you know, seet
with you know, some sequences where you're kind of looking
up at it. And even if we were able to
hold them to three, I thought we we kind of
needed to, you know, do whatever we could, maybe rish
reward a little bit more on some plays for some chunks,
but they didn't necessarily maticulate or articulate themselves down down
(10:50):
the field as much as finding ways to attack the
deep part of the field and continue to find space
in the intermediate part, which is what I thought our
as did. I mean, Sam found Speedy on a nice hit.
We're able to get Jordan kind of on that last
drive for a nice hit, and then I thought, justin
you know, was was pretty huge as far as just
(11:11):
I mean, we line him up in the backfield, he
starts to drive off with a catch for a positive play,
and then just even that fourth down catch, you know,
just the detail being locked in being able to those
guys playing through me using some tempo to try to
see if I can get us into a rhythm throughout
the game, which I knew, would you know, possibly tax
our defense, they've been on the field a lot, but I,
(11:33):
you know, I thought it was the way we were
going to get the lead back eventually was with that,
and then we'd find a way to get off the field,
which our defense did. Hell of a play by Shack,
but they want to compliment Shack Murph and I gave
Jalen Redman a game ball he jumped out to me
just at various times in the game with his play
style and physicality for a young player that keeps getting
(11:53):
better and better.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Went into the decision to deactivate Ingram.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
To yeah, I'm glad you asked that. So Cam Robinson
did a hell of a job working through that, working
through that foot, and he was gonna give it a go.
But we wanted to make sure we felt pretty stressed
a little bit in Chicago, only having one tackle up
for the game beyond Cam, so we wanted to get
rouse up and then with that needed Dan Feeney to kiss.
(12:20):
Dan Feenie's one of our backup centers. So really Jurggins
and Ingram both those guys. It was just the necessity
of the numbers for the day. Wouldn't read anything into it.
Ed's been doing a great job, and I would anticipate
as we get healthy and you know, can put a
stack a full week for for Cam together and I
would I would anticipate Ed being back up. Absolutely nothing
(12:41):
to do with anything larger picture or anything than that
down converted lant Justin, can you just describe what yourself? Yeah,
so you know, basically we wanted to have, you know,
in a world like that, that's just got to have
it as it gets We clearly we needed to have
an all out rush your answer. We needed to have
(13:01):
a fire zone answer. And we you know, anticipating if
it is coverage, we're probably getting some variation where they
may try to you know, have some cloud coverage to
that side. So if we were able to get the
ball to Jordan off that little motion that we've hit
a few times now in some big moments, great, But
Jay Justin was I mean the landmark, the location where
(13:23):
he snapped up Sam starting his arm. It was a
big time, you know, a big time play of execution
by both those guys. And then I thought we had
you know, the ball got tipped on a couple of plays.
Uh there that TJ on one, I know, you know
probably finds a way in the end zone on the
previous drive. And then you know on the before the
(13:43):
fourth down, Uh, you know, I thought we had a
good chance at justin, but they, you know, brought another
all out pressure and wanted to get the ball out
and they did a great job batting it down. So,
like I said, they made some that's a that's a
team that causes a lot of consternation. And then when
we showed up today kind of overc'm in a little
bit of a maybe a lack of energy whatever it
would be post Thanksgiving. But I do want to compliment
(14:06):
our fans at the end of the football game coming
to life in a way that felt very uh you know,
we feel very fortunate to have our group with us
all the way for sixty minutes and and they're they're
overcoming it with us, and they've been a huge part
of us finding our way to ten wins this year
so far. You've learned a lot in each week out
his team. Yeah, you know, Sam had this level of boys. Yeah,
(14:31):
I think I've learned that I can the dialogue between
him and I through the headset, the the you know,
the ability for him to be detailed and so focused
in those moments and then flat out throw the football
at a really high level. There's there's very few there's
very few plays you go back and say, I'll shoot
(14:52):
he just missed that fundamentally. Uh, kind of coming off
of a stretch there where maybe we had some turnover issues.
He really played really good football uh now pretty consistently
and been a huge driving force behind us winning games.
And my confidence level on him is sky high. To
play the game however we need to play it, which
(15:12):
we know we're gonna get uh, We're gonna get back
to work and keep improving. And Sam has been absolutely
huge for us in these moments where everybody needs him.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Can you talk about Jonathan Grenard and yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Think, uh, you know, I think he was dealing with
you know, change of seasons or whatever it is. He
was pretty congested and kind of you know, feeling uh,
you know, head cold, whatever it was. And then to
play that many snaps and and to give it everything
got he forces the ball out there earlier in the
sequence and then I really took the time out. Uh,
there on fourth down, uh, to see if we can
(15:49):
get him back in there because he was gassed and
just left everything out on the field today. JG has
been huge for us all season long. You know, you
can look at a lot of men tricks and stats
and all those things. I just know the guy's been
an incredibly impactful player on our defense, on our organization
and very very fortunate to have him here.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Kevin Justin looks like he had a few where he's
able to press the safety vertically and then find space.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Ye how much is he feeling his way through all
of this?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
I know he's seen a lot of it, but just
finding ways to detail his routes to make plays in.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
The Yeah, I think it's a I think it's a
great point. Ben. I think he's having too. You know,
he's just having to play through it sometimes, you know,
And it's it's very similar to you know, when a
guy's playing basketball and sometimes there's just not going to
be some shots no matter what you do for a guy.
But within that you kind of you kind of work
(16:43):
through leverages and techniques and Okay, where's the help coming from?
Can we you know, can we you know, attack that
with clean pocket can we overcome some of the pressure
looks that they bring and then allow him to go
to work. So we you know, we try to get
him the ball quicker on some plays. We got him
a screen today off of a kind of a receiver screen.
We you know, I thought he had a huge block
(17:04):
for Sam on a scramble and for Ja on that
kind of low red zone bubble play we ran. We
were running the ball and kind of had a run
solution on there. So I just I just think he's
incredibly productive considering the circumstances of what he has to
do in a sixty minute game. But nobody's going to
make any excuses. It's my job to find a way
(17:26):
to get him the ball as our best player, and
we're going to continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
McBride today, huge volume. Yeah about defensively what a handful
is to match up.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
But yeah, I told him pregame. He came up to
me pregame and said some really nice things to me,
and I said, hey, man, I think you're you know,
I think you're one of the best going right now
in the NFL because he does it so many different ways.
I think that's where he saw the volume come into
play today where you know, maybe they want to be
ready for some pressure looks and things like that, but
at the same time, he's essentially on many of those
(17:59):
downs acting against the third wide receiver underneath catching run
tons of yards after catch, had a huge conversion there
underneath the sticks and able to get that first down.
And then when you really study them on tape, there's
just I mean, they're designing ways to get him the ball.
And he's also a really good blocker. So it can
really be a tough to ask as a defense because
(18:21):
you got to basically account for the whole playbook when
he's in there based upon his skill set. Really really
special player. I told him that before the game, and
then I was kind of hoping he would go a
little easier honest than he did, which he did not.
He was incredibly impactful today.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So when you're ten and two, you've won five in
a row versus the second time this season Atlanta next
on the horizon, second of three consecutive at home. So
you being a former player or a coach, when you're
beating middling teams like Arizona right at the wire at home,
but you improved to ten and two, is it still
(18:56):
don't tell me how rough the waters are. Just get
the ship ashore, or you know, like as we cast
our gaze the way of the playoffs, knowing out of
our left eye we see what the Lions are doing.
Out of our right eye, we see what the Eagles
are doing. Does that matter? I think it does, And
I think here's the difference. You go down to Jacksonville
and throw three interceptions in the red zone and then
(19:17):
you have a game like this here. When these guys
go to watch the film on Monday, there's gonna be
a lot of teaching tape, especially offensively, a lot of mistakes,
not a lot going your way, but you were still
So you get the humbling part of it where the
team's like, yeah, we need to get on our game,
we need to get in our game. But it didn't
take a loss to do it. You still found a
(19:37):
way to win. So that's the subtle difference between the
you know, the really good teams, the great teams, and
just the good teams.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, And you know we talk about all the time,
you know, be at your best when when the situation
calls for it. Yeah, we saw that today. But there's
no reason at all that this game should have been
and looked the way it did going into that, you know,
going into the going into the end of the game. Now,
I got to give a lot of credit to the
coaching staff of Arizona. They had a game plan. The
(20:07):
improvements that Kyler Murray has made. He was paul outside
of the you know, the the interception, he was cold
blooded all day. The accuracy with which he can throw.
I was very, very impressed with the way he handled
himself all the way up until the end. So that
coaching staff from Arizona, they got a bunch of rookies
and fifth and sixth and seventh round picks on that defense,
and they're flying around making plays.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I mean, uh, that's a that's a that's a team
on the ascent over there. And they they got to
turn around now and play Seattle at home to try
to still maintain a shot I win in that division.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Vikings twenty three to
twenty two. Sam Darnold ended with two touchdown passes off
the best game he's had of his career at Soldier Field,
his only three hundred plus yard passing game with the Vikings.
He was sacked five times today and had a lot
to overcome, but he put it together be dutifully late
(21:01):
when they needed it most. Found Aaron Jones for what
ended up being the game tying touchdown. Then Parker Romo
hits the extra point the Vikings win twenty three to
twenty two. Here's Sam the Man after the game.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
Another resilient win. Yeah, just you know, a first and
foremost man. The way the way our defense played, the
way that they were able to stop him to field
goals early on, even late late in the game as well.
You know, they continue to come up big for us,
and you know, just a resilient, resilient, you know, effort
by the offense man as a as a group. Obviously,
(21:35):
it wasn't the first half that we wanted. You know,
we got to get better in a in a lot
of ways and learning from that first half is going
to be huge. But the way we battled in the
second half was was awesome. And you know, I give
a lot of credit to to Arizona. You know, their defense,
their players, they played really really hard. Buddha Baker obviously
(21:56):
on the other side as a as a heck of
a player, the way that he flies around all game. Really,
you know, all their guys, you know, we're flying around
all game. And yeah, just a lot of credit to
the way Arizona came out and but yeah, just proud
of proud of all the guys in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So what makes their defensive structure so tough?
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Yeah, you know, I think just you know, some of
the way they mix up certain coverages, presenting different looks.
You know, it's obviously a lot of similarities between their
defense and the way our our defense plays. So yeah,
just uh, you know, you know, there were a couple
of times I felt like early on, you know, I
could have you know, made some calls that would have
(22:41):
changed some of the protections and kept me from getting hit.
But you know, in those situations, just got to continue
to protect the ball, which I felt like I had
a good job all day of when something wasn't there,
whether it was just taking a sack or throwing the
ball away. But yeah, I felt like their defense was
rolling today. And just again proud, proud of the way
(23:02):
we responded.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And what was your sense of how Aaron Jones was
dealing with a day and uh and just being ready
to make the catch that you know, on that final play.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
I mean, you want to talk about a guy who's mature,
been through a lot in his career, you know, just
so so proud of him, you know the way obviously
he responded really really well in the Chicago game. He
did the same thing today, and uh, you know, we're
just going to continue to continue to trust him. I'm
(23:33):
gonna continue to trust him throw him the ball because man,
he's a heck of a player and he does a
lot of good stuff for us. Sam, what is your
mentality He's coming back on a field of three minutes
of play, seconds left, knowing you need to go to the
land to it. Yeah, just one play at a time,
you know. That's that's my been my mentality all year.
You know, I think early on in the drive, completions
(23:54):
that's another big one.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
And and if you know they present.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
Us with, you know, a look where I feel like,
I can you fit fit the ball in there or
you know, make a big play. Obviously I'm gonna take
it in time, you know, within the timing of my
feet in my eyes. But yeah, I think other than that,
if it's not there, just being able to get completions
to to start the drive, especially Justin said when the.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Play called for that fourth and five came in, he
thought he was going to be free. I guess just
what was your first impression of that call and then what.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
You see on the plane.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yeah, I love the call obviously.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
You know, it was just a really good job by Jets.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
He did the same same thing in practice, just finding
that soft spot in the zone, and you know, we
connected on it really very similarly to the way we
did on Thursday and practice, and so you know, just
they brought they brought a really you know, a good
pressure on that play as well. But I was able
to get the ball out, you know, and uh and convert.
(24:53):
It was a huge play obviously by Jets, really by
all eleven to be able to execute on that fourth down.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I definitely get them and challenges in the first half.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
One of the adjustments trying to get a little quicker
hits and felt like, you guys, a lot quicker development
plays in.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
The second half of that part of it.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Yeah, you know, there there were a few adjustments that
we made in the second half. Not gonna go into
a ton of detail on that, but yeah, you know,
we made we made a few adjustments and you know,
I was very obviously happy with the way we came out.
I want to put the ball in the end zone obviously,
but you know, just the way that we responded, especially
(25:34):
when you know Arizona was able to take the ball back,
score get up to possessions, to be able to go
down and score a touchdown was absolutely critical. And just
uh yeah, I can say it a million times in
this press conference, but the way that our offense and
our defense, our special teams, our whole team just kept
our heads down and and you know, just just played
(25:55):
through that game all the way until the end. And
uh yeah, it was awesome to.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
See you learned anything about yourself this year.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
I haven't really had time to think about that, to
be honest, but dude, I'm just going to continue to
do my job every single day and we're just going
to keep it that simple.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
How about having ten wins in December? First, you coach
made a pretty big deal about that post game.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Yeah, obviously, it's it's nice, you know, to be able
to get that tenth win in December, especially early, but
you know, we still, you know, we got a lot,
you know, a long way to go to be the
team that we want to be. You know that that
first half wasn't wasn't our brand of football, and you
know we're going to continue to learn, watch it and
(26:40):
grow as a team. But it's nice when you can play,
you know, like that in the first half and continue
to grind through it and get a win. It's awesome
when that happens, obviously.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
So in closing what what Pete was referencing earlier with
the Vikings postgame report is when you play three consecutive
on the road, and Pete would know it better than
Nassi played and coach, when you run out of that
adversarial tunnel, you have ninety five percent of the crowd
hating you, cussing at you, booing you, and yelling, yelling
at you. Then you see the Vikings fans voluminous pretty
(27:11):
much everywhere we go, and it's a different form of
motivation into a game. You come home, it's cold outside
Minnesota fans not not chiding the fans at all. They'll
be loud early, but then they want to sit back
and be entertained. And when you get sacks or you
get touchdowns or long runs by Jefferson after catches, well
then they get out of their seats and they cheer,
(27:32):
but it definitely had some human nature to it today,
trying to motivate themselves through playing relatively poorly early, specifically offensively.
They got through it and they won by one.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Yeah, they did. And that's something that you have to
be careful of because you have a comfort level at home.
Right when you're on the road, it's a it's a
different hotel, it's everything you know every week, it's something different.
But when you're back home, you kind of want to go, ah,
i'm home, just like we do every day when you
get home, right, like, oh, I'm fine, only home. Well,
you got to really really protect yourself against that, and
(28:05):
I think today was a great learning experience, you know
for this team. The offense in the first half, especially
being behind almost the entire game. Paul right, we'd been
ahead in the beginning of the season. It was like
completely the opposite way. So we found again find a
way to win. They did, and the Vikings, you know,
your two lost team, you're still a two lost team.
(28:27):
You're keeping the heat on Detroit. You're not letting the
Packers catch up to you. I mean Detroit looked human
the second half of that game against Chicago. I'm very
interested to see how they play this Thursday night. So man,
it's exciting. It's exciting. So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
The Vikings improved to ten and two with a twenty
three twenty two victory over Arizona for Pete Bursich. I'm
Paul Allen. This is an Eric Davidson production. And hey,
on Thanksgiving, if the feast on turkey wasn't good enough
for you, well your Vikings feasted on a bird of
a different variety today, the Arizona Cardinals. They only won
(29:03):
by one, but they got to the winner circle and
that matters most. Thank you for listening to the Vikings
postgame report at vikings dot com
Hey, Welcome to the Vikings postgame report with former player
and coach and analystp Bursige.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm Paul Allen.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
The Minnesota Vikings basically trailed ninety eight and a half
percent of this game against the Arizona Cardinals today was
nothing but field goals from Shad Ryland and Parker Romo,
and then all of a sudden, Aaron Jones, who had
kind of a nondescript day. In fact, some I wouldn't
say bad moments, but some moments of which he's probably
(00:38):
not super proud, like dropping a pass in the end zone,
a fumble that he lost to fumbles total. But Aaron
Jones from Sam Darnold tied it to twenty two. The
Vikings win twenty three to twenty two. They won five
in a row. They're ten and two. How did they
get there?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well, you know, the crazy part is it just took
them a long time to find their groove. You look,
with eight and a half minutes left to go in
the third quarter, we had ninety two yards of offense
on twenty five plays, and then you turn around and
you look and we ended up with twenty three. So
we figured a few things out. Protection got better. And
I don't think that was necessarily just the offensive line.
(01:14):
It was the running backs and the tight ends and
all those other guys chipping in. It gave Donald the
opportunity to step up in the pocket, Paul, and when
our Donald on those last couple series able to step
up in the pocket, was absolutely firing bullets when he
had to the touch. On the throws, especially that one
over the fingertips of Jesse Luketta, I mean, just some beautiful,
(01:36):
beautiful throws. And credit Donald man. I think he really
put everything on his shoulders that we're a passing team,
that's who we are. And he answered the call today
so unbelievably impressed with Sam Donald toward the end of
this football game.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And you know, I think I think we would be
remiss to not also congratulate and thank kicker Parker Romo. Oh,
I mean, seriously, you don't talk about ers a lot
unless they go Blair Walsh on it at the College
stadium and all of a sudden, you don't have it tomorrow,
you're not playing anymore. But Romo, he you know, this
is certainly not speaking for the team, but the assumption
(02:12):
is the rookie will Reikert will return next game against Atlanta.
So Romo had a four game sample size. First three
outdoors on grass, Super Wendy and Jacksonville Wonky Turf and
Soldier Field. He got Wendy near the end of the game.
He walked off in overtime as a winner. And granted
he missed a field goal today, but that last extra
(02:32):
point kicked the Minnesota Vikings into the Winter Circle. Good
for Parker Romo. He's definitely earned himself the opportunity to
kick somewhere.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Else, right, And that's the life of a kicker man.
You get stuck in. It's a tough life to begin with,
and then to get your opportunity, you get stuck in
a very difficult situation, right, And he came in and
answered the call. He and Jake McQuaid, who you know,
did a fabulous job with the long snapping as well.
So the special teams element wasn't a huge part of today,
but the kicking game, you know, ended up being ended
(03:03):
up being huge.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Biron Murphy Junior a former member of the Arizona Cardinals.
You know, the Arizona Cardinals, like had been his favorite
team all of his life. Why he is from Scottsdale, Arizona,
taken in the second round out of Washington in twenty
nineteen by the Cardinals. Then at the end of his
first deal, they're like, hey, you can go ahead and walk.
So he came here to Minnesota and he made a
big difference today. Three passes defense, he had his fifth interception,
(03:27):
and he's two to zero against his former squad.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Right with Byron Murphy. When he's engaged and he is
giving and everything he has, he's a very very good corner.
There are some times when he'll drift. There's sometimes when
you know, some he looks like there's some indecision. But
a game like today played absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I think Fabian Moreau actually stepped up. Outside of that
one hitch that he threw that Murray threw to the
far sideline where he kind of got double moved.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yea.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I think he did a really good job. He had
a huge pass interference penalty. I was. I think in
that case they hung them out to dry a little bit,
meaning there was no deep mental help. So I don't
know why that wasn't there, But Fabian more stepped in
did I think a pretty good job. We saw theo
Jackson in there a little bit. We saw the most
of Dallas Turner that we've seen all year, So they're
(04:17):
starting to get these these other legs in there as
we get laid into the season and that, you know,
that's important because you want to be playing your best
ball going into the playoffs, and today we just didn't
have it in the beginning, right. You can just feel it,
you you you felt it before the game too. It
was that it's cold, people are gonna you know, they're
they're You got to give them a reason to cheer,
(04:37):
and this team didn't really give them anything until the
secon you know, really the second half of the second
half almost right, So everybody leaves happy. But these are
games that in the past this team has lost, and
they found a way today to win.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, had this
to say following a one point victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Injury updates for you guys, Steph gil Stefan Gilmore did
get a hamstring left hamstring did not return. You know,
I'm hoping we avoided a longer term issue there. He
was thinking about possibly coming back in but able to
hold on to the win there, guys making some play
stepping up and then Pat Jones did have the right
(05:21):
knee was able to come back in and finish the game.
Proud of our guys. Got our tenth win you know
by December first, which I think is an accomplishment. Games
are hard to win. I do think that's a really
you know, well coached, playoff caliber football team in that
other locker room. Want to give the Cardinals a lot
of credit. They made it very hard on us. We've
(05:42):
got to be a lot better offensively, and you know,
see if we can not put ourselves in a hole.
But I will say, you know, when we absolutely needed
it to put those excuse me, to put those drives
together and uh, you know, find a way to get
the points and needed to win the game. Is obviously
the intent of everything here. But as we continue to
(06:05):
take a close look at at what we do, they'll
always be room for improvement. But very much looking forward
to attacking it with these guys. And I did congratulate
them on getting the ten wins. You know, as as
we kick off a very important month of December, what
does it say about.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
This team they you guys seem to play your best
when the heat really turns on.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah. One of our you know, one of our mottos
is being situational masters, and that's expresses itself a lot
of different ways. I know, I feel like I know
me personally. I feel an obligation as the play caller
to be at uh, you know, be at your best,
and that's overcoming a lot of things. I mean, we,
you know, to take some sacks on third down. I
(06:45):
want to compliment the scheme and kind of forcing some
of those plays, but at the same time, our guys
need to communicate better and make sure we get those
things blocked up and give ourselves a chance to operate.
But with that type of you know, strong for much
of the game on third down, for us to kind
of eliminate that play for the most part all together
(07:05):
and find ways to get explosives. I think we had
nine over kind of the last three drives of the game,
and we needed every single one of them. And love
the fact that even though it wasn't you know, Aaron's
best day to come to him there to punch the
ball and take the lead, punch the ball in on
that kind of designer kind of play, there didn't hesitate
(07:25):
for a second that he wasn't going to make that
play and we would go up by one.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I think Sam throws for one hundred some yards in
the fourth quarter. What can you say about him in
the second week in a row, in a tight game
making that kind of a performance.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, you know, I think we continue to learn things
about our team that will pay a lot of dividends
moving forward. And really two weeks in a row now
finding a way, you know when you know most really
last week, momentum was taken from us up eleven, and
they're able to kind of come back and tie it up,
and then we march the ball down the field that
(07:58):
he didn't have any incompletion ninety yards and did what
we had to do to win that one. And then
not one time did anybody on our team flinch, And
we did what we had to do to get the
win today. But at the same time, we know there's
a lot of things throughout a four quarter football game
that we've got to continue to improve at, and that's
what we're gonna do.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I came through or of an effort to get the
ball to Justin in the second half.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, there was an effort early too, and you know,
we had them, might have had them on a couple
of plays and and either we climbed up and tried
to check the ball down or even on the you know,
Aaron Aaron's fumble on his catch was a checkdown and
and the ball gets punched out, But I might have
had him there. We'll watch the tape and continue to
(08:42):
find ways to move them and and all the different
tools we had. But we we definitely tried to find
different types of things as we went, you know, trying
some things out, doing some things that maybe weren't on
the call sheet, and kind of went into into that
world a little bit. Because I do want to compliment
them on a really good defensive game plan. I talked
about it throughout the week. You know, it's a hard
(09:03):
team to run the ball against because of where Boot
is in the scheme, and if they play that personnel grouping,
which I knew they would and we saw the majority
of the day, it can force some some real things,
both in protection and in the run game. So you know,
credit those guys that put together a great plan, played
well enough to win. We just were able to come
back and get them in the end. What's your thought
(09:24):
process with Aaron Jones. He has a too early Yeah,
but as you said, you did never lost faith. You're
going to put them in at the end. Like I mean,
we've seen the way the league goes. We've seen lots
of times where guys just you know, take a seat
for the day. Yeah, and he you know, he did
sit down for you know, non non scheduled and and
just kind of really if anything, you know, I have
total trust in Aaron. You guys can see it all
(09:47):
over his face the disappointment he has. But we've got
to find a way to fix it. And because we've
had too many times that the ball does end up
on the ground early on in games, and that's a
huge momentum play. Giving them such a short field, what
a response by our defense to you know, keep them
out of the end zone and ultimately push them back
far enough that they miss a field goal. But listen,
(10:08):
there's a reason why I called the play I did.
In the end, he's one of our best players who
is going to continue to be one of our best players.
And there's not a guy in that locker room that
doesn't absolutely love playing with Aaron Jones. And we got
his back without any hesitation or question. You had to
have a series in a third whereas three and out
you lose five. Fans are frustrated. What flip because from
(10:28):
that pointing on and I think you scored the next
three person. Yeah, we got pretty aggressive, you know, seet
with you know, some sequences where you're kind of looking
up at it. And even if we were able to
hold them to three, I thought we we kind of
needed to, you know, do whatever we could, maybe rish
reward a little bit more on some plays for some chunks,
but they didn't necessarily maticulate or articulate themselves down down
(10:50):
the field as much as finding ways to attack the
deep part of the field and continue to find space
in the intermediate part, which is what I thought our
as did. I mean, Sam found Speedy on a nice hit.
We're able to get Jordan kind of on that last
drive for a nice hit, and then I thought, justin
you know, was was pretty huge as far as just
(11:11):
I mean, we line him up in the backfield, he
starts to drive off with a catch for a positive play,
and then just even that fourth down catch, you know,
just the detail being locked in being able to those
guys playing through me using some tempo to try to
see if I can get us into a rhythm throughout
the game, which I knew, would you know, possibly tax
our defense, they've been on the field a lot, but I,
(11:33):
you know, I thought it was the way we were
going to get the lead back eventually was with that,
and then we'd find a way to get off the field,
which our defense did. Hell of a play by Shack,
but they want to compliment Shack Murph and I gave
Jalen Redman a game ball he jumped out to me
just at various times in the game with his play
style and physicality for a young player that keeps getting
(11:53):
better and better.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Went into the decision to deactivate Ingram.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
To yeah, I'm glad you asked that. So Cam Robinson
did a hell of a job working through that, working
through that foot, and he was gonna give it a go.
But we wanted to make sure we felt pretty stressed
a little bit in Chicago, only having one tackle up
for the game beyond Cam, so we wanted to get
rouse up and then with that needed Dan Feeney to kiss.
(12:20):
Dan Feenie's one of our backup centers. So really Jurggins
and Ingram both those guys. It was just the necessity
of the numbers for the day. Wouldn't read anything into it.
Ed's been doing a great job, and I would anticipate
as we get healthy and you know, can put a
stack a full week for for Cam together and I
would I would anticipate Ed being back up. Absolutely nothing
(12:41):
to do with anything larger picture or anything than that
down converted lant Justin, can you just describe what yourself? Yeah,
so you know, basically we wanted to have, you know,
in a world like that, that's just got to have
it as it gets We clearly we needed to have
an all out rush your answer. We needed to have
(13:01):
a fire zone answer. And we you know, anticipating if
it is coverage, we're probably getting some variation where they
may try to you know, have some cloud coverage to
that side. So if we were able to get the
ball to Jordan off that little motion that we've hit
a few times now in some big moments, great, But
Jay Justin was I mean the landmark, the location where
(13:23):
he snapped up Sam starting his arm. It was a
big time, you know, a big time play of execution
by both those guys. And then I thought we had
you know, the ball got tipped on a couple of plays.
Uh there that TJ on one, I know, you know
probably finds a way in the end zone on the
previous drive. And then you know on the before the
(13:43):
fourth down, Uh, you know, I thought we had a
good chance at justin, but they, you know, brought another
all out pressure and wanted to get the ball out
and they did a great job batting it down. So,
like I said, they made some that's a that's a
team that causes a lot of consternation. And then when
we showed up today kind of overc'm in a little
bit of a maybe a lack of energy whatever it
would be post Thanksgiving. But I do want to compliment
(14:06):
our fans at the end of the football game coming
to life in a way that felt very uh you know,
we feel very fortunate to have our group with us
all the way for sixty minutes and and they're they're
overcoming it with us, and they've been a huge part
of us finding our way to ten wins this year
so far. You've learned a lot in each week out
his team. Yeah, you know, Sam had this level of boys. Yeah,
(14:31):
I think I've learned that I can the dialogue between
him and I through the headset, the the you know,
the ability for him to be detailed and so focused
in those moments and then flat out throw the football
at a really high level. There's there's very few there's
very few plays you go back and say, I'll shoot
(14:52):
he just missed that fundamentally. Uh, kind of coming off
of a stretch there where maybe we had some turnover issues.
He really played really good football uh now pretty consistently
and been a huge driving force behind us winning games.
And my confidence level on him is sky high. To
play the game however we need to play it, which
(15:12):
we know we're gonna get uh, We're gonna get back
to work and keep improving. And Sam has been absolutely
huge for us in these moments where everybody needs him.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Can you talk about Jonathan Grenard and yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Think, uh, you know, I think he was dealing with
you know, change of seasons or whatever it is. He
was pretty congested and kind of you know, feeling uh,
you know, head cold, whatever it was. And then to
play that many snaps and and to give it everything
got he forces the ball out there earlier in the
sequence and then I really took the time out. Uh,
there on fourth down, uh, to see if we can
(15:49):
get him back in there because he was gassed and
just left everything out on the field today. JG has
been huge for us all season long. You know, you
can look at a lot of men tricks and stats
and all those things. I just know the guy's been
an incredibly impactful player on our defense, on our organization
and very very fortunate to have him here.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Kevin Justin looks like he had a few where he's
able to press the safety vertically and then find space.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Ye how much is he feeling his way through all
of this?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
I know he's seen a lot of it, but just
finding ways to detail his routes to make plays in.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
The Yeah, I think it's a I think it's a
great point. Ben. I think he's having too. You know,
he's just having to play through it sometimes, you know,
And it's it's very similar to you know, when a
guy's playing basketball and sometimes there's just not going to
be some shots no matter what you do for a guy.
But within that you kind of you kind of work
(16:43):
through leverages and techniques and Okay, where's the help coming from?
Can we you know, can we you know, attack that
with clean pocket can we overcome some of the pressure
looks that they bring and then allow him to go
to work. So we you know, we try to get
him the ball quicker on some plays. We got him
a screen today off of a kind of a receiver screen.
We you know, I thought he had a huge block
(17:04):
for Sam on a scramble and for Ja on that
kind of low red zone bubble play we ran. We
were running the ball and kind of had a run
solution on there. So I just I just think he's
incredibly productive considering the circumstances of what he has to
do in a sixty minute game. But nobody's going to
make any excuses. It's my job to find a way
(17:26):
to get him the ball as our best player, and
we're going to continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
McBride today, huge volume. Yeah about defensively what a handful
is to match up.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
But yeah, I told him pregame. He came up to
me pregame and said some really nice things to me,
and I said, hey, man, I think you're you know,
I think you're one of the best going right now
in the NFL because he does it so many different ways.
I think that's where he saw the volume come into
play today where you know, maybe they want to be
ready for some pressure looks and things like that, but
at the same time, he's essentially on many of those
(17:59):
downs acting against the third wide receiver underneath catching run
tons of yards after catch, had a huge conversion there
underneath the sticks and able to get that first down.
And then when you really study them on tape, there's
just I mean, they're designing ways to get him the ball.
And he's also a really good blocker. So it can
really be a tough to ask as a defense because
(18:21):
you got to basically account for the whole playbook when
he's in there based upon his skill set. Really really
special player. I told him that before the game, and
then I was kind of hoping he would go a
little easier honest than he did, which he did not.
He was incredibly impactful today.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So when you're ten and two, you've won five in
a row versus the second time this season Atlanta next
on the horizon, second of three consecutive at home. So
you being a former player or a coach, when you're
beating middling teams like Arizona right at the wire at home,
but you improved to ten and two, is it still
(18:56):
don't tell me how rough the waters are. Just get
the ship ashore, or you know, like as we cast
our gaze the way of the playoffs, knowing out of
our left eye we see what the Lions are doing.
Out of our right eye, we see what the Eagles
are doing. Does that matter? I think it does, And
I think here's the difference. You go down to Jacksonville
and throw three interceptions in the red zone and then
(19:17):
you have a game like this here. When these guys
go to watch the film on Monday, there's gonna be
a lot of teaching tape, especially offensively, a lot of mistakes,
not a lot going your way, but you were still
So you get the humbling part of it where the
team's like, yeah, we need to get on our game,
we need to get in our game. But it didn't
take a loss to do it. You still found a
(19:37):
way to win. So that's the subtle difference between the
you know, the really good teams, the great teams, and
just the good teams.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, And you know we talk about all the time,
you know, be at your best when when the situation
calls for it. Yeah, we saw that today. But there's
no reason at all that this game should have been
and looked the way it did going into that, you know,
going into the going into the end of the game. Now,
I got to give a lot of credit to the
coaching staff of Arizona. They had a game plan. The
(20:07):
improvements that Kyler Murray has made. He was paul outside
of the you know, the the interception, he was cold
blooded all day. The accuracy with which he can throw.
I was very, very impressed with the way he handled
himself all the way up until the end. So that
coaching staff from Arizona, they got a bunch of rookies
and fifth and sixth and seventh round picks on that defense,
and they're flying around making plays.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I mean, uh, that's a that's a that's a team
on the ascent over there. And they they got to
turn around now and play Seattle at home to try
to still maintain a shot I win in that division.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Vikings twenty three to
twenty two. Sam Darnold ended with two touchdown passes off
the best game he's had of his career at Soldier Field,
his only three hundred plus yard passing game with the Vikings.
He was sacked five times today and had a lot
to overcome, but he put it together be dutifully late
(21:01):
when they needed it most. Found Aaron Jones for what
ended up being the game tying touchdown. Then Parker Romo
hits the extra point the Vikings win twenty three to
twenty two. Here's Sam the Man after the game.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
Another resilient win. Yeah, just you know, a first and
foremost man. The way the way our defense played, the
way that they were able to stop him to field
goals early on, even late late in the game as well.
You know, they continue to come up big for us,
and you know, just a resilient, resilient, you know, effort
by the offense man as a as a group. Obviously,
(21:35):
it wasn't the first half that we wanted. You know,
we got to get better in a in a lot
of ways and learning from that first half is going
to be huge. But the way we battled in the
second half was was awesome. And you know, I give
a lot of credit to to Arizona. You know, their defense,
their players, they played really really hard. Buddha Baker obviously
(21:56):
on the other side as a as a heck of
a player, the way that he flies around all game. Really,
you know, all their guys, you know, we're flying around
all game. And yeah, just a lot of credit to
the way Arizona came out and but yeah, just proud
of proud of all the guys in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So what makes their defensive structure so tough?
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Yeah, you know, I think just you know, some of
the way they mix up certain coverages, presenting different looks.
You know, it's obviously a lot of similarities between their
defense and the way our our defense plays. So yeah,
just uh, you know, you know, there were a couple
of times I felt like early on, you know, I
could have you know, made some calls that would have
(22:41):
changed some of the protections and kept me from getting hit.
But you know, in those situations, just got to continue
to protect the ball, which I felt like I had
a good job all day of when something wasn't there,
whether it was just taking a sack or throwing the
ball away. But yeah, I felt like their defense was
rolling today. And just again proud, proud of the way
(23:02):
we responded.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And what was your sense of how Aaron Jones was
dealing with a day and uh and just being ready
to make the catch that you know, on that final play.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
I mean, you want to talk about a guy who's mature,
been through a lot in his career, you know, just
so so proud of him, you know the way obviously
he responded really really well in the Chicago game. He
did the same thing today, and uh, you know, we're
just going to continue to continue to trust him. I'm
(23:33):
gonna continue to trust him throw him the ball because man,
he's a heck of a player and he does a
lot of good stuff for us. Sam, what is your
mentality He's coming back on a field of three minutes
of play, seconds left, knowing you need to go to the
land to it. Yeah, just one play at a time,
you know. That's that's my been my mentality all year.
You know, I think early on in the drive, completions
(23:54):
that's another big one.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
And and if you know they present.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
Us with, you know, a look where I feel like,
I can you fit fit the ball in there or
you know, make a big play. Obviously I'm gonna take
it in time, you know, within the timing of my
feet in my eyes. But yeah, I think other than that,
if it's not there, just being able to get completions
to to start the drive, especially Justin said when the.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Play called for that fourth and five came in, he
thought he was going to be free. I guess just
what was your first impression of that call and then what.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
You see on the plane.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yeah, I love the call obviously.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
You know, it was just a really good job by Jets.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
He did the same same thing in practice, just finding
that soft spot in the zone, and you know, we
connected on it really very similarly to the way we
did on Thursday and practice, and so you know, just
they brought they brought a really you know, a good
pressure on that play as well. But I was able
to get the ball out, you know, and uh and convert.
(24:53):
It was a huge play obviously by Jets, really by
all eleven to be able to execute on that fourth down.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I definitely get them and challenges in the first half.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
One of the adjustments trying to get a little quicker
hits and felt like, you guys, a lot quicker development
plays in.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
The second half of that part of it.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Yeah, you know, there there were a few adjustments that
we made in the second half. Not gonna go into
a ton of detail on that, but yeah, you know,
we made we made a few adjustments and you know,
I was very obviously happy with the way we came out.
I want to put the ball in the end zone obviously,
but you know, just the way that we responded, especially
(25:34):
when you know Arizona was able to take the ball back,
score get up to possessions, to be able to go
down and score a touchdown was absolutely critical. And just
uh yeah, I can say it a million times in
this press conference, but the way that our offense and
our defense, our special teams, our whole team just kept
our heads down and and you know, just just played
(25:55):
through that game all the way until the end. And
uh yeah, it was awesome to.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
See you learned anything about yourself this year.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
I haven't really had time to think about that, to
be honest, but dude, I'm just going to continue to
do my job every single day and we're just going
to keep it that simple.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
How about having ten wins in December? First, you coach
made a pretty big deal about that post game.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Yeah, obviously, it's it's nice, you know, to be able
to get that tenth win in December, especially early, but
you know, we still, you know, we got a lot,
you know, a long way to go to be the
team that we want to be. You know that that
first half wasn't wasn't our brand of football, and you
know we're going to continue to learn, watch it and
(26:40):
grow as a team. But it's nice when you can play,
you know, like that in the first half and continue
to grind through it and get a win. It's awesome
when that happens, obviously.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
So in closing what what Pete was referencing earlier with
the Vikings postgame report is when you play three consecutive
on the road, and Pete would know it better than
Nassi played and coach, when you run out of that
adversarial tunnel, you have ninety five percent of the crowd
hating you, cussing at you, booing you, and yelling, yelling
at you. Then you see the Vikings fans voluminous pretty
(27:11):
much everywhere we go, and it's a different form of
motivation into a game. You come home, it's cold outside
Minnesota fans not not chiding the fans at all. They'll
be loud early, but then they want to sit back
and be entertained. And when you get sacks or you
get touchdowns or long runs by Jefferson after catches, well
then they get out of their seats and they cheer,
(27:32):
but it definitely had some human nature to it today,
trying to motivate themselves through playing relatively poorly early, specifically offensively.
They got through it and they won by one.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Yeah, they did. And that's something that you have to
be careful of because you have a comfort level at home.
Right when you're on the road, it's a it's a
different hotel, it's everything you know every week, it's something different.
But when you're back home, you kind of want to go, ah,
i'm home, just like we do every day when you
get home, right, like, oh, I'm fine, only home. Well,
you got to really really protect yourself against that, and
(28:05):
I think today was a great learning experience, you know
for this team. The offense in the first half, especially
being behind almost the entire game. Paul right, we'd been
ahead in the beginning of the season. It was like
completely the opposite way. So we found again find a
way to win. They did, and the Vikings, you know,
your two lost team, you're still a two lost team.
(28:27):
You're keeping the heat on Detroit. You're not letting the
Packers catch up to you. I mean Detroit looked human
the second half of that game against Chicago. I'm very
interested to see how they play this Thursday night. So man,
it's exciting. It's exciting. So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
The Vikings improved to ten and two with a twenty
three twenty two victory over Arizona for Pete Bursich. I'm
Paul Allen. This is an Eric Davidson production. And hey,
on Thanksgiving, if the feast on turkey wasn't good enough
for you, well your Vikings feasted on a bird of
a different variety today, the Arizona Cardinals. They only won
(29:03):
by one, but they got to the winner circle and
that matters most. Thank you for listening to the Vikings
postgame report at vikings dot com
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