Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings made a statement against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with a 42-21 win at U.S. Bank Stadium. Sam Darnold was on fire today. Darnold finished the game 22-of-28 passing, had 347 yards in the air, and 5 touchdowns split between Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson. Darnold almost had a perfect QBR when he finished with a 157.9 on the day. Justin Jefferson became the fastest player to 7,000+ yards in his career and ended the day with 7 receptions for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jordan Addison also had a monster day, finishing with 133 yards in the air and 3 touchdowns. Aaron Jones was the leading rusher for the Vikings, finished with 73 yards on the ground, and hit paydirt for 15 yards for the final score of the game. Will Reichard came back this week and finished the game 6-of-6 in XPA's and 0-of-1 in FG attempts. Defensively, the Vikings squad bent but didn't break giving up 496 total yards but had 2 critical interceptions on Cousins at key moments. Josh Metellus snagged a pass across the middle in the 2nd quarter and Byron Murphy Jr. had a 1-handed grab on the 2-yard line late in the 4th quarter. Jamin Davis tallied the lone Vikings sack on the day and C.J. Ham recovered a key special team's fumble recovery in the 4th quarter. The Vikings will be back at U.S. Bank Stadium next Monday night against the Chicago Bears for Monday Night Football. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich breakdown the Vikings 6th straight victory, including: Sam Darnold going to another level this week, turnovers once again being the key stat for the game, the importance of playing a complete game, Atlanta's choice to play our WR's with single coverage, and the highly competitive playoff push facing the Vikings for the final 4 weeks. 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 (00:12):
Holy cal with that game against the Atlanta Falcons. Welcome
to the postgame reports with Pete Versage. I'm Paul Allen.
The Minnesota Vikings had a legitimate blowout for the first
time since late September when they played the Houston Texans.
They blew out the Atlanta Falcons forty one to twenty one.
Six consecutive wins for the Minnesota Vikings, improving to eleven
(00:33):
and two, and this game against Kirk Cousins, quarterback for
the Atlanta Falcons, has been widely discussed since he left
Minnesota and went to Atlanta. The schedule came out, we
learned where it would be, and then this week up
to the game. Cousins zero touchdown passes, Sam Darnold five
touchdown passes, a career high for him.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Your thoughts, Pete and what's going on? I mean, yeah,
it was it was fun to have a you know,
multiple score game. One of you knew that was in hand,
you know. For Cousins, Paul, I think he did do
some good things. He knew what to do with the football.
He got us on a couple but our defense was
a little bit leaky, especially on the ground game. But
what we did is tighten things up around the end zone. Yeah,
(01:18):
we gave up two touchdowns, but two of those drives
ended in field goals. That was a difference maker today.
There were nine hundred and twenty nine yards of offense
executed today. It's an ugoddenly number, but being plus three
on the take give that's the huge thing. Conversely, we
talk about Donald in his day, I mean, I don't know,
(01:39):
I don't know if he's going to have a day
better than the one he just had today. Five touchdowns,
one fifty seven point nine rating and you know, no
turnovers though, and I think that's the key. Aaron Jones
held out in the football, got a nice rushing touchdown
in the fourth quarter. It's just this group played very,
very well today. It was a little bit up in
(02:00):
the air in the middle of it, but you know,
that second half it's again the turnovers and special teams
coming up big. Being plus three that puts us I believe,
at plus eight for the season. Yeah, yeah, plus eight,
one of the tops in the NFL. Two more interceptions
is definitely gonna get us add or near. You know,
we have nineteen twenty interceptions now, yeah, twenty one. Yeah,
(02:22):
so we've got to be any we gotta know you're right, Yeah,
somewhere near add or near the top, yep. So just
make it big plays on defense. That's the only thing
they've concerns you is that you got to keep making
those big plays to win.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Now, Peter, we're gonna hear from head coach Kevin O'Connell shortly.
Kevin has been like a lot of coaches, and you
coached for half a decade and you played for longer
than that, so you've heard it a million times. We
need a complete game. We want a complete game. We
want a complete game. All right, Well, you got Jefferson
and Addison with five receiving touchdowns, Aaron Jones ran one in,
(02:55):
you had those interceptions and awesome Wah caused a fumble
on a kick return recovered by c. J. Ham and
Reiker welcome back made all of his extra points. That yeah,
that's a complete game.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, pretty much, I mean very much. So we had
one missed field goal attempt and that was really about it.
I mean, you know, I'll say this for Kevin O'Connell,
I guarantee you this is one of his favorite wins
of all time because you know, we're down the field.
Passing style of offense. Defenses want to blitz, right, they
want to do some things. And we saw it happen
a week ago against the Cardinals. Five sacks. They're getting
(03:29):
pressure and once you put that on tape, other teams go,
you know what, I think we could do the same thing, right,
And so Atlanta today they were aggressive.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
They they you know, they pined their ears back, they blitzed,
and they just felt like their dbs could cover our
guys down the field. And the thing is is if
you don't, if you blitz and don't get there, you
gotta burn him on defense. And that's exactly what O'Connell did.
They you know, he saw what they were trying to
do and he beat him exactly how you have to
(03:59):
beat him. So I guarantee you the passing game and
the numbers and the touchdowns they he is going to
be so thrilled as to the as how this game
played out. And you know, congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings
in really showing up protection, especially in the second half.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We will hear from quarterback Sam Darnold shortly Kevin O'Connell first,
but to Sam, the man on the fan twenty two
of twenty eight, three hundred and forty seven yards, five touchdowns,
and zero picks, once again the first five touchdown game
of Sam's career. Aaron Jones finished with seventy three rushing
yards and a touchdown. Addison and Jefferson combined for fifteen receptions,
(04:38):
two hundred and sixty five yards and five touchdowns. Are
you kidding me with those numbers? I mean you played
for the ninety eight Vikings with Moss and Carter. That
that's Moss and Carter esque exactly right. And so what
does that mean. It means the Bears are going to
take a look at this tape and they're gonna be like, yep,
we're not leaving those guys. Man, Aaron Jones should go
for one seventy five, you would hope.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And again that goes back to so it's again that
ebb and flow of the season. And the other thing
that was nice to see was this Atlanta team is
still in the mix, yeah to win their division. And
once we recovered that fumble on that kickoff return, they
folded their tents. They said we're done because they had played,
they had played hard the entire game. They were in it,
(05:21):
and so to see us just shut a team down
like that. It's that time of year, right you had
the guys, teams that are getting in teams that may
not be you know, for us, we're gonna be playing
mostly playoff teams the rest of the way, so we're
never going to really get that garbage game, so to speak.
But for us to force that issue, right, to just
take it out of their take the wind out of
their sales. You know, this defense gave up only one
(05:44):
hundred and eighty seven yards last week against the Los
Angeles Chargers, and we put up four hundred and thirty
three against them, five touchdowns through the air. So they
they had felt the bounce back, right, they were feeling
good about themselves, and we just said, no, not the
this week, but not this week, guys.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
The Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons forty two twenty one
at US Banks Stadium. Here's head coach Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Really proud of our team. That's a talented, you know,
well coached team over there. I think Rahim does a
really great job and one of those people that I've
been fortunate enough to work with. I have so much
respect for him and talented team for sure, but I just,
you know, I just felt like, you know, winning the
turnover battle was huge for us, and then being able
to you know, really put together a complete half on
(06:33):
offense that included you know, pretty high level things in
the passing game, and then to have that ninety eight yarder,
ninety eight yard drive in a mode like.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
That to go score.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I think we grew up a lot today, you know, offensively,
and I think Sam Darnold, justin j was pretty spectacular.
To just watch them, and it all comes back to
little things execution and the details at which they came
to the game to you know, game with today, I
think think we're still improving as a team and there's
gonna be a lot of things we've got to get
cleaned up.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
And we got an.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Extra day here before Monday night home game in the division,
which will be very very important for us. Don't have
a lot of real injury updates, really nothing of concern
at this point. We did hold Pat Jones out, just
couldn't couldn't quite get there, but he was kind of
the only one in the questionable group. But it's good
to see Gabe Murphy get some action as well as
(07:27):
you know, just we're able to get some guys in
there at the end to get some you know, valuable
work as well, but a lot of really good stuff.
Didn't know some of the you know, twenty years or
so since it's been a five touchdown uh five performance
by a quarterback, JA and justin believe it. I was
shocked to hear that we haven't had you know, two
(07:48):
one hundred yard receivers with two touchdowns each in our history.
I'm thinking, you know, back, we've had some of the
some of some great combinations in our league's history that
have worn this uniform. So pretty spectacular by those two guys,
and it's what I believe we're capable of, you know,
as an offense. And Sam Darnold just continues to play
(08:08):
at a massively high level that is really fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
What was most impressive view about what you saw for.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Your same team?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I think you know, Justin's second touchdown, Uh. They they
you know, had obviously seen something on tape to try
to generate a free runner and his ability to you know,
navigate a very very uneasy pocket, to say the least,
and get up and out and still keep his eyes
up and find Justin, who really, you know, is on
(08:38):
a route there that can declare a lot of different ways.
So finding him, even though you know he was by
himself back there, was you know, quite a task considering
the movement he just had to make. I think he
was fantastic in the red zone. Decisive, you know to
Justin on his first touchdown. I thought the uh, you know,
the last you know, the last j touchdown. Really the
(09:01):
last two were just pretty elite fundamentals and techniques, reads progressions,
not forcing anything, but just kind of big field vision
and putting the ball exactly where it needs to go
and just seems so incredibly calm, total ownership command. And then,
like I said, I was really proud of the guys
up front and Jo and Johnny and CJ coming in.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
We got kind of big on that drive and.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Went ninety eight yards, which is hard to do, you know,
when a team knows you're trying to work the clock
and able to that was you know, one of the
more you know, special drives I think we've had here
because considering you know, how we did it and the
type of execution we had throughout there, and the.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Throw he makes on the second touchdown to justin just
in terms of making that throw on the run, cleaning
it downfield like he did. How many quarterbacks can make
that throw or how difficult is that?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, not very many.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And that's exactly what I told him when he walked
off the field. I was a little bit more detailed
with Sam, but I'm not going to tell you what
I told him in regards to my opinion on how
many guys make that throw.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
Team to take the next step, because you were able
to put a team away like this, I mean, you
had a lot of close games up until now.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, I think that the number one stat that I
look at is is the turnover margorin you know, we
generated a turnover in the kicking game, and we had
two interceptions that all of which you know, we were
able to kind of at least we didn't turn them
all directly into points, but we were at least able
to you know, sustain some successful plays and move the
ball win field position, and then and then we were
(10:28):
able to turn some of those second half turnovers into points.
But I just think when you don't do things to
lose the game or make it easier on your opponent,
whether it's you know, things that I need to be
better at always starts with me, or or it's the
execution level, or it's you know, us having some some
turnovers that allow teams to have some greater chances of
(10:51):
you know, maybe getting into the game and keeping it
close till the end. We sure, we sure are comfortable
in those moments, but I was proud of the way,
like it just felt like it was one of those
days where we needed to, you know, keep the gas
pedal down. And I think it's the first time you know,
getting over forty since I've been here, and it really
you know, fifty three plays. We didn't really have a
(11:11):
ton of plays, but we did get a lot of
you know, long yardage on a penalty on one pass
interference and then obviously getting a short field there off
the CJ.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Ham recovery of BA.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Brian just continues to show up on special teams and
really thriving in that role, which is making our football
team a really good team because we've got a lot
of guys in that kicking game phase that can affect
the game in a really positive way like he did.
Speaker 8 (11:34):
And just proud of him and was that in these
last four games for Sam, Like if you had to
put your finger on what's flipped for him.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
If you agree that he's flipped, well, I think there
can be incredible growth.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
In moments where maybe on the outside, it seemed leaving
Jacksonville like, you know, there's something really wrong.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
They didn't score a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I think that's why I was so excited that day
to win the game and have such a teachable moment
where in a lot of ways, Sam's going back in
Monday morning based upon a lot of things that Josh
and Grant and myself talked to him about almost self
coaching in a lot of ways, well if I just,
you know, have better feet there, or I should you know,
where were my I don't know why my eyes were there.
(12:16):
And what it was is that, in my opinion, was
an incredible growth moment for him to then just come
right back the next week and start stacking some things
that are kind of leading into a layered kind of
success type approach, which is what happens to a lot
of quarterbacks in this league, especially the ones that their
trajectory is over the course of a season or their
(12:37):
careers is point in sky high. They're able to stack
days and this day will be something that he can
build off of. I truly do believe that in our offense,
and you know, there was a lot of things that
we'll be able to really highlight of who we want
to be about as a football team that are going
to show up on this tape at the end of
the game.
Speaker 8 (12:54):
I'm not sure if you can see on the on
the jumbo tron they have, you know, Sam's up there
doing the towel and all that.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Very fired up for him.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Yeah, I just you know, you you guys know, I'm
good for a little emotional moment every now and again,
but I'm just I'm just proud of them. I mean,
days like this are so many hours upon hours of
hard work and committing to you know, being a Minnesota
Viking and making sure that everything I do, every waking
(13:22):
moment I have, is built on earning the trust of
my teammates, performing at a high level, and then stacking
you know, successful practices, days, meetings, games on one another.
And then when you have a result like this, everyone's
going to talk about the result, and I hope they do.
But for me and Sam and our team, there's not
very many guys in that locker room that are surprised
(13:44):
about the performance he had today.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You mentioned you.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Felt like the offense grew up a lot today.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
What do you see as evidence of that?
Speaker 6 (13:51):
Where do you what kind of sticks out to you
and that every.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, I think the ninety eight yard drive is a
critical thing. That's hard to do, especially when you you
know you're the momentum of you think you're going to
be starting at the twenty and then you're starting at
the two and you you know you're able to stack together,
which I thought that drive was a lot longer, but
with the Jo catch, you know where we had a
few guys available to.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Us on that one.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
It was only seven plays and to put you know,
put the ball over the goal line right there, and
because you just never know, you go three and out
down there, you give them a short field, Kirk, And
as explosive as they were today, uh, they were going
to find a way to.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Make it a game. So I just thought it was
a critical, critical drive.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I think some of the off schedule plays mixed with
some really pretty pure execution details, motion landmarks, guys being
exactly where they're supposed to be, Sam's feet being one
locked and loaded, throwing the ball on time, when when
he could and when he when he had you know,
guys available, seeing the field, seeing coverage, some unique covered
(14:51):
structures that we've seen throughout the year showed up again.
And I just think it's a lot of things been
that kind of come together, and then the execution of
our players. This is one hundred percent the players, you know,
continue to strive for that, you know, a total complete win.
And I think our defense gave up some yards, but
forcing the two turnovers on a day where our offense
(15:12):
is you know, able to you know, have seven point
seven yards of play, We're going to eventually find our
way into the red zone.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
I thought third down was huge.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I don't know what we were I think eight to
twelve and then four four in the red zone via
you know, Sam and our and our skilled players making
some places.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Okay, Moling on the field goal? Was that something that
you guys had seen at all before the game and
kind of had an eye on that something they'd do.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I mean, it's just not a call you see very much. No, Yeah,
I can't.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I can't say that I that I had, you know,
I'll definitely talk to Matt Daniels normally on things like that.
I know about you know, some some pretty clear cut
things that we want to chat with the officials about
before the game, but that you know, that didn't seem
to be something that was on our radar.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And uh, you know, I was glad we were able to.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Cause you take the points off the board and then
I get the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
It's a big momentum and that could go either way
at the moment.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
There were a few plays where they had defensive backs
turning their own way or completely removed from the where
the ball ended up. Yeah, that scheme is that great moves?
Speaker 5 (16:11):
How does that?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
How does that happen?
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Well? I think you know, there was a few plays
where you know, how they handled motions kind of gave
us some information that we were able to maybe make
some adjustments on some things to try to stress, you know,
if that was indeed the case, how some things would
play out, and you know it did on you know,
there was a you know justin you know, catches a
touchdown his first one where he's you know, getting ends
(16:35):
up matched up on the nickel with that motion and
then kind of anticipating a little bit of maybe, okay,
we got to make sure we we don't allow that again.
Now they you know, they keep you know, twenty four
locked on them there and opens up some pretty good
leverage for Jordans. So a lot of those things that's uh,
you know, if you've guys got the time, we can
go through all that nerdy stuff and it'd be you've
(16:56):
got the time.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
But there's a but all that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Honestly, Jim is you know, it's one of those things
where players got to be able to execute it. Sam's
got to be able to see it and throw it.
And that's why I just give one hundred percent to
our guys. Great week of prep and it showed up
today and proud, proud of our whole team.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
But offensively, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think we were you know, we were waiting for
kind of a game where we kind of, you know,
just hit the gas and we're the driving force for
our team because lord knows, the defense has been like
that for us all season long and many many huge moments.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
And yeah, you mentioned did.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You get an explanation on the shared reception and reception?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Yeah, The reason why I challenged it is, you know,
I just saw only one hand from the receiver on
the ball and it looked like Shaq secured it first,
So you know, that looked to me like it was
not going to be a tie. You know, goes to
the receiver situation. It was a big, big play in
the game. I thought it was worth a challenge, and
I thought we had enough information to at least make them,
(17:59):
you know, have to take a real look at it.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
It was.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
It was seemed to be a catch, and we moved
on down the road. But I did not I did
not get an explanation.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Would you say.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
A lot afterward.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I just told him, you know, there's very few days
that I get to be the coach of not only
this team, but just a coach in general. With my
journey early on around Kirk and then the two years
we had together here, I just told him, I'm so thankful,
you know, for our time that that I had coaching
him as a position coach and then obviously as the
head coach when when I got here, you know, going
(18:32):
on coming up on three years ago. I love him.
I love him as a person. I think he's a
great human being, great father, great husband. He you know,
he stands for so many great things that you know,
I always really valued and uh, you know, I'm proud
of the way he's transitioned down to a new place
this year, and and uh, you know, he's he's had
a lot of success and and I think he's going
(18:54):
to continue to do.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So. That's a talented team with a.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Good quarterback and a great coaching staff who a bunch
of them that I respect, you know, a ton in
this league.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
So yeah, it was great to see him.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I didn't get a chance to see him pre game,
so I wanted to make sure I got a chance
to see him after there.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
You mentioned today's kind of a validation for Sam of
all the work he gets to put in to earn
the trust of the teammates. Is there any of that
for you guys, just in the sense of you do
make a quarterback switch from a guy that's been here
for a long time and you know, trusting yourself that
you can.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Make this happen.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Is there any part of this game that's a validation
of add at all for you in front office?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
No, okay, I was ready for no, very eloquent question,
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
O'Connell talked about it a little bit, but I mean
you elaborated pretty hard on it during the game. Earlier
in the game when it was still a game where
it was Atlanta was blitzing and it was like Addison
was left one on one, kept making them pay. Then
they backed off a little, but then when they blitzed again,
it was like Jefferson one on one, like like how
did all that happen?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Well, and that's and that's kind of the they had.
This is going back to them playing a foremat front,
sometimes a five man front. I think that they like
Cayden Ellis as a fifth kind of pass rusher instead
of dropping back in zone. And they were having some
success our running backs, you know, cam Akers gave up
a sack or at least a hit, you know. So
the thing is is if you're gonna send five, you
(20:17):
got to get there. If you're gonna all outlits, you
better get there. Because that's exactly what happened in that
big play that Donald had to justin. Jefferson was justin.
Simmons was unblocked right coming through the interior and and
Donald was able to you know, scoop to his left,
make his way out and just really throw not even
a fifty to fifty ball that was like a pop up,
you know, to JJ who was standing there all by himself.
(20:40):
So you know, you the Atlanta Falcons chose which way
they wanted to proverbially die, and that is we're gonna
be aggressive, We're gonna Pianiers back, we're gonna get after
the quarterback, and we're gonna put our dbs on islands
and the beauty of it. That's again why I go
back to Koc and him loving this game, is that, hey,
they tried to do that to us, and we burned
him and burned them over and over and over again.
(21:02):
That's what this offense has to have. They have to
have this in their repertoire going into these playoff games
because you're gonna start seeing defenses that are better defenses
that don't give as much up maybe or it maybe
can hold up for a while on the outside. So overall,
just just a great game, you know, great game I
think for the defense and the big plays give up.
(21:24):
Gave up way to me, they almost gave up five
hundred yards of offense. So that's something that they're gonna
have to figure out and talk about. But teams that
come in here, do they have enough patience to run
the football over? And you know, can they run and
if they get behind then they can't keep running the ball.
So you know, I'm sure they'll try to shore that
show that thing up and as we get healthy in
(21:45):
our defensive front, I think that'll help.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Too, Pete said. The Falcons kept getting burned repeatedly. The
chief arsonist was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, and here's
what he had to say following the game.
Speaker 9 (21:57):
Guys, obviously, uh, complete team effort out there today, you know,
with the way that you know, things were going in
the first half kind of you know, back and forth
a little bit there, and then just the way that
we were able to kind of pull away in that
second half, our defense getting big turnovers, special teams coming
up with that huge turnover and there there another field
(22:20):
and uh, you know we were able to capitalize as
an offense. Big credit obviously to to our offensive line.
I feel like the way they played today was was special.
The way that they were able to give me time
when needed was was incredible. And obviously everyone around me
as well doing their part, and our defense man stepping up.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
When when we needed them.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
And uh yeah, just like I said, complete team effort
and it was, uh, it was a fun time in
there today.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Man, our our fans.
Speaker 9 (22:50):
Uh came right to role and that was that was
a huge part of that win as well.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
Say, what was it like for you to to hear
some MVP chance as yourself bringing on the cidecle.
Speaker 9 (23:02):
Obviously a lot of emotion there on the sideline, but
you know, with with those things, you know the season
is so you know, it is what it is. I
think at the end of the day, the v m
VP chants are great, but you know, at the end
of the day, we just gotta continue to grow and
get better there. I thought there were a lot of
things in the first half that we can get better at.
(23:24):
So just gotta continue to grow from from you know
everything today.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Same when you were waving the towel, just like what
was going through your head the camera caught you.
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Yeah, I was just you know, that was a lot
of emotion for me. I was just excited.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Man.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
Just I feel like I couldn't just sit there.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
You know and just kind of you know, stoic and
you know, just straight faced. I feel like I had
to show a little.
Speaker 9 (23:49):
Bit of emotion for the fans and you know, gave
them what they wanted.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So, Uh, that was a special moment for me.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
How many times can you remember yourself doing that after
a game at any point in your college you.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
Know, whatever, going, It's happened before, but very rarely, yeah,
very rarely does that happen.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
What was the what was the reason for the occasion today?
Speaker 9 (24:08):
Oh, you know, I just felt the buzz in the
you know, and and that was pure you know, pure passion,
you know, pure joy.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Man.
Speaker 9 (24:15):
Just the way that we were able to kind of
finish that game out, and even our defense there at
the end getting that huge stop.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
It was a fun game to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Jordan and jj both get over a hundred yards, both
find the ends on a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Is how nice? How nice it to have that kind
of production?
Speaker 9 (24:30):
Yeah, obviously they're they're really good players, so you know,
to to be able to find them whenever I get
a chance to, you know, is a benefit for the
entire team.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Jordan's ability to, i mean check down those deep balls.
But then also just kind of the complete route tree
from him in his second season. Like, how how good
you feel about the way he's playing right now?
Speaker 9 (24:49):
Yeah? Jay's playing a very high level of football right now,
you know, and for him to just obviously early on
in the season, just keeping his head down and continuing
to work.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I think that was the biggest thing for him.
Speaker 9 (25:02):
And obviously, you know, if teams want to try to
push a little bit of coverage over to Jets, we
got another guy to be able to make him pay.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Sam.
Speaker 6 (25:11):
Kevin talked a little bit about how he felt like
the offense grew up a lot today. Where did you
see that happen over the course of the game.
Speaker 9 (25:19):
Yeah, I think it was just like I kind of
said in the beginning, you know, kind of not not
really having our stride in the in the first half
and then being able to come out and just play
really really good football, consistent football. Obviously some things aren't
going to go our way. We had a false start
here and there, but you know, being able to get
back on track, put ourselves in really good down in
distances and.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Just move the football down the field.
Speaker 10 (25:42):
See, it was any part of that passion emotion like
gratitude just from the work that you put in, because
I mean Kevin talked about how much you guys have
put in this year and you put in for a
long time.
Speaker 9 (25:54):
Yeah, that's a huge part of it. I think whenever
whenever I show passion. Whenever our entire team shows passion,
you know, on the field and it comes out as emotion,
you know that that is a huge testament to kind
of the amount of work we put in.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
That's that's all it is.
Speaker 9 (26:09):
When you see it come to fruition, it's such a
great feeling and uh, sometimes.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
It's really hard to hide that.
Speaker 9 (26:14):
So yeah, it was just ah all encompassing emotion on
the field today, and uh it was a like I
continue to say, man, just our fans, the way that
they were able to bring that energy today was was incredible.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
What was you read and process on that second touchdown
to Justin?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (26:32):
Which one was that? The scramble? Yeah? Yeah, just uh,
you know, they brought a really good pressure. Again, a
lot of credit to to Atlanta. The scheme that Raheem
and those guys have over there is is really tough
to go against. And obviously they got some really good
dudes on the back end, you know, and Justin Simmons
(26:53):
and Baits obviously really good players all around the field
as well. So they brought a really good pressure that
got home and I was able to kind of make
Justin miss a little bit, and uh, just got out
scrambled and and was able to find him down the.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Field when you were out of it.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
When you get out of that scrambling, you're looking downfield.
Did you see Justin down there waving his arm? What
did you see that?
Speaker 9 (27:13):
I did see him wave his arm, you know, and
that's kind of one of the first signs as a
quarterback like I should probably throw this to him, and uh, yeah, no,
it was Uh, it was a great play by him.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
You know. I heard on the sideline that.
Speaker 9 (27:25):
If I would have had time, he absolutely cooked the
dude on the route that was called for him. And
for him to be able to score on a play
that he probably would have scored on if I had time. Anyways,
that was awesome to see just.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
The most complete team performance. Would you say, at this
point in the year, you got defense, gets a couple
of takeaways, often score six touchdowns.
Speaker 9 (27:45):
Yeah, I think it was a It was a good
team performance for sure, But again, like I said, I
feel like the first half we could have played a
lot better. But yeah, I think the way that we
finished it was, uh was our standard.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
He's just out in more clutch and better game by
game since that Jacksonville game. Sam's gone one thirty eight
consecutive without a pick, and he'll have an opportunity to
extend that streak on Monday Night football against the Chicago Bears.
That'll finish three consecutive at home, Vikings two and oh there,
after going three consecutive on the road, they went three
and oh there. The Vikings have won six consecutive games,
(28:22):
keeping pace with the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagle.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, and what I like, Paul, is that there hasn't
been anything in the in the in the realm of
a wake up call, if you will, with these home games.
It seems like this team comes out kind of you know,
not too high, not too low, right where they need
to be, and you know, continue, you know, continue to
stack up the wins.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
So, yeah, the Chicago Bears coming in next. They you know,
it took us to overtime last time we played them, right, right,
Caleb Williams was a problem. They have a new head
coach now, so you're gonna get that bump this week.
So I'm very anxious to see what the Bears do
and then going in and you know, going in the
next week, some that might start to start to roll away.
So My point is is if you come out and
(29:04):
take care of business early against the Bears, you should
be in a really good situation on a Monday night
and then you know, again taking care of the NFC
South or I'm sorry, yeah, the NFC South because of
the playoff implications. Yeah, meaning you know, maybe we have
to go back to Atlanta. I'm fine with it right now.
Right so, we play the best team in the NFC
(29:25):
West in Seattle coming up too. So it's not like
we're just rolling ourselves and coasting into the postseason. This
team is continually being challenged and getting better.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Thank you, Pete, great call and we'll see you so
thank you. Let's Pete Bursage and I'm Paul Allen. We
call games on FM one hundred point three KFA in
and the Vikings Radio Network, and we call games for
a team that has won six consecutive games. They had
a five game winn East Raak earlier this season. Now
they've won six in a row. Your Vikings are eleven
and two after blasting Kirko Chains and the Atlanta Falcons
(29:58):
and doing so for two twenty one. This is an
Eric Davidson production. Thank you for listening to the Vikings
postgame report
Holy cal with that game against the Atlanta Falcons. Welcome
to the postgame reports with Pete Versage. I'm Paul Allen.
The Minnesota Vikings had a legitimate blowout for the first
time since late September when they played the Houston Texans.
They blew out the Atlanta Falcons forty one to twenty one.
Six consecutive wins for the Minnesota Vikings, improving to eleven
(00:33):
and two, and this game against Kirk Cousins, quarterback for
the Atlanta Falcons, has been widely discussed since he left
Minnesota and went to Atlanta. The schedule came out, we
learned where it would be, and then this week up
to the game. Cousins zero touchdown passes, Sam Darnold five
touchdown passes, a career high for him.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Your thoughts, Pete and what's going on? I mean, yeah,
it was it was fun to have a you know,
multiple score game. One of you knew that was in hand,
you know. For Cousins, Paul, I think he did do
some good things. He knew what to do with the football.
He got us on a couple but our defense was
a little bit leaky, especially on the ground game. But
what we did is tighten things up around the end zone. Yeah,
(01:18):
we gave up two touchdowns, but two of those drives
ended in field goals. That was a difference maker today.
There were nine hundred and twenty nine yards of offense
executed today. It's an ugoddenly number, but being plus three
on the take give that's the huge thing. Conversely, we
talk about Donald in his day, I mean, I don't know,
(01:39):
I don't know if he's going to have a day
better than the one he just had today. Five touchdowns,
one fifty seven point nine rating and you know, no
turnovers though, and I think that's the key. Aaron Jones
held out in the football, got a nice rushing touchdown
in the fourth quarter. It's just this group played very,
very well today. It was a little bit up in
(02:00):
the air in the middle of it, but you know,
that second half it's again the turnovers and special teams
coming up big. Being plus three that puts us I believe,
at plus eight for the season. Yeah, yeah, plus eight,
one of the tops in the NFL. Two more interceptions
is definitely gonna get us add or near. You know,
we have nineteen twenty interceptions now, yeah, twenty one. Yeah,
(02:22):
so we've got to be any we gotta know you're right, Yeah,
somewhere near add or near the top, yep. So just
make it big plays on defense. That's the only thing
they've concerns you is that you got to keep making
those big plays to win.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Now, Peter, we're gonna hear from head coach Kevin O'Connell shortly.
Kevin has been like a lot of coaches, and you
coached for half a decade and you played for longer
than that, so you've heard it a million times. We
need a complete game. We want a complete game. We
want a complete game. All right, Well, you got Jefferson
and Addison with five receiving touchdowns, Aaron Jones ran one in,
(02:55):
you had those interceptions and awesome Wah caused a fumble
on a kick return recovered by c. J. Ham and
Reiker welcome back made all of his extra points. That yeah,
that's a complete game.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, pretty much, I mean very much. So we had
one missed field goal attempt and that was really about it.
I mean, you know, I'll say this for Kevin O'Connell,
I guarantee you this is one of his favorite wins
of all time because you know, we're down the field.
Passing style of offense. Defenses want to blitz, right, they
want to do some things. And we saw it happen
a week ago against the Cardinals. Five sacks. They're getting
(03:29):
pressure and once you put that on tape, other teams go,
you know what, I think we could do the same thing, right,
And so Atlanta today they were aggressive.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
They they you know, they pined their ears back, they blitzed,
and they just felt like their dbs could cover our
guys down the field. And the thing is is if
you don't, if you blitz and don't get there, you
gotta burn him on defense. And that's exactly what O'Connell did.
They you know, he saw what they were trying to
do and he beat him exactly how you have to
(03:59):
beat him. So I guarantee you the passing game and
the numbers and the touchdowns they he is going to
be so thrilled as to the as how this game
played out. And you know, congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings
in really showing up protection, especially in the second half.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We will hear from quarterback Sam Darnold shortly Kevin O'Connell first,
but to Sam, the man on the fan twenty two
of twenty eight, three hundred and forty seven yards, five touchdowns,
and zero picks, once again the first five touchdown game
of Sam's career. Aaron Jones finished with seventy three rushing
yards and a touchdown. Addison and Jefferson combined for fifteen receptions,
(04:38):
two hundred and sixty five yards and five touchdowns. Are
you kidding me with those numbers? I mean you played
for the ninety eight Vikings with Moss and Carter. That
that's Moss and Carter esque exactly right. And so what
does that mean. It means the Bears are going to
take a look at this tape and they're gonna be like, yep,
we're not leaving those guys. Man, Aaron Jones should go
for one seventy five, you would hope.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And again that goes back to so it's again that
ebb and flow of the season. And the other thing
that was nice to see was this Atlanta team is
still in the mix, yeah to win their division. And
once we recovered that fumble on that kickoff return, they
folded their tents. They said we're done because they had played,
they had played hard the entire game. They were in it,
(05:21):
and so to see us just shut a team down
like that. It's that time of year, right you had
the guys, teams that are getting in teams that may
not be you know, for us, we're gonna be playing
mostly playoff teams the rest of the way, so we're
never going to really get that garbage game, so to speak.
But for us to force that issue, right, to just
take it out of their take the wind out of
their sales. You know, this defense gave up only one
(05:44):
hundred and eighty seven yards last week against the Los
Angeles Chargers, and we put up four hundred and thirty
three against them, five touchdowns through the air. So they
they had felt the bounce back, right, they were feeling
good about themselves, and we just said, no, not the
this week, but not this week, guys.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
The Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons forty two twenty one
at US Banks Stadium. Here's head coach Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Really proud of our team. That's a talented, you know,
well coached team over there. I think Rahim does a
really great job and one of those people that I've
been fortunate enough to work with. I have so much
respect for him and talented team for sure, but I just,
you know, I just felt like, you know, winning the
turnover battle was huge for us, and then being able
to you know, really put together a complete half on
(06:33):
offense that included you know, pretty high level things in
the passing game, and then to have that ninety eight yarder,
ninety eight yard drive in a mode like.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
That to go score.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I think we grew up a lot today, you know, offensively,
and I think Sam Darnold, justin j was pretty spectacular.
To just watch them, and it all comes back to
little things execution and the details at which they came
to the game to you know, game with today, I
think think we're still improving as a team and there's
gonna be a lot of things we've got to get
cleaned up.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
And we got an.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Extra day here before Monday night home game in the division,
which will be very very important for us. Don't have
a lot of real injury updates, really nothing of concern
at this point. We did hold Pat Jones out, just
couldn't couldn't quite get there, but he was kind of
the only one in the questionable group. But it's good
to see Gabe Murphy get some action as well as
(07:27):
you know, just we're able to get some guys in
there at the end to get some you know, valuable
work as well, but a lot of really good stuff.
Didn't know some of the you know, twenty years or
so since it's been a five touchdown uh five performance
by a quarterback, JA and justin believe it. I was
shocked to hear that we haven't had you know, two
(07:48):
one hundred yard receivers with two touchdowns each in our history.
I'm thinking, you know, back, we've had some of the
some of some great combinations in our league's history that
have worn this uniform. So pretty spectacular by those two guys,
and it's what I believe we're capable of, you know,
as an offense. And Sam Darnold just continues to play
(08:08):
at a massively high level that is really fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
What was most impressive view about what you saw for.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Your same team?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I think you know, Justin's second touchdown, Uh. They they
you know, had obviously seen something on tape to try
to generate a free runner and his ability to you know,
navigate a very very uneasy pocket, to say the least,
and get up and out and still keep his eyes
up and find Justin, who really, you know, is on
(08:38):
a route there that can declare a lot of different ways.
So finding him, even though you know he was by
himself back there, was you know, quite a task considering
the movement he just had to make. I think he
was fantastic in the red zone. Decisive, you know to
Justin on his first touchdown. I thought the uh, you know,
the last you know, the last j touchdown. Really the
(09:01):
last two were just pretty elite fundamentals and techniques, reads progressions,
not forcing anything, but just kind of big field vision
and putting the ball exactly where it needs to go
and just seems so incredibly calm, total ownership command. And then,
like I said, I was really proud of the guys
up front and Jo and Johnny and CJ coming in.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
We got kind of big on that drive and.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Went ninety eight yards, which is hard to do, you know,
when a team knows you're trying to work the clock
and able to that was you know, one of the
more you know, special drives I think we've had here
because considering you know, how we did it and the
type of execution we had throughout there, and the.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Throw he makes on the second touchdown to justin just
in terms of making that throw on the run, cleaning
it downfield like he did. How many quarterbacks can make
that throw or how difficult is that?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, not very many.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And that's exactly what I told him when he walked
off the field. I was a little bit more detailed
with Sam, but I'm not going to tell you what
I told him in regards to my opinion on how
many guys make that throw.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
Team to take the next step, because you were able
to put a team away like this, I mean, you
had a lot of close games up until now.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, I think that the number one stat that I
look at is is the turnover margorin you know, we
generated a turnover in the kicking game, and we had
two interceptions that all of which you know, we were
able to kind of at least we didn't turn them
all directly into points, but we were at least able
to you know, sustain some successful plays and move the
ball win field position, and then and then we were
(10:28):
able to turn some of those second half turnovers into points.
But I just think when you don't do things to
lose the game or make it easier on your opponent,
whether it's you know, things that I need to be
better at always starts with me, or or it's the
execution level, or it's you know, us having some some
turnovers that allow teams to have some greater chances of
(10:51):
you know, maybe getting into the game and keeping it
close till the end. We sure, we sure are comfortable
in those moments, but I was proud of the way,
like it just felt like it was one of those
days where we needed to, you know, keep the gas
pedal down. And I think it's the first time you know,
getting over forty since I've been here, and it really
you know, fifty three plays. We didn't really have a
(11:11):
ton of plays, but we did get a lot of
you know, long yardage on a penalty on one pass
interference and then obviously getting a short field there off
the CJ.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Ham recovery of BA.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Brian just continues to show up on special teams and
really thriving in that role, which is making our football
team a really good team because we've got a lot
of guys in that kicking game phase that can affect
the game in a really positive way like he did.
Speaker 8 (11:34):
And just proud of him and was that in these
last four games for Sam, Like if you had to
put your finger on what's flipped for him.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
If you agree that he's flipped, well, I think there
can be incredible growth.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
In moments where maybe on the outside, it seemed leaving
Jacksonville like, you know, there's something really wrong.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
They didn't score a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I think that's why I was so excited that day
to win the game and have such a teachable moment
where in a lot of ways, Sam's going back in
Monday morning based upon a lot of things that Josh
and Grant and myself talked to him about almost self
coaching in a lot of ways, well if I just,
you know, have better feet there, or I should you know,
where were my I don't know why my eyes were there.
(12:16):
And what it was is that, in my opinion, was
an incredible growth moment for him to then just come
right back the next week and start stacking some things
that are kind of leading into a layered kind of
success type approach, which is what happens to a lot
of quarterbacks in this league, especially the ones that their
trajectory is over the course of a season or their
(12:37):
careers is point in sky high. They're able to stack
days and this day will be something that he can
build off of. I truly do believe that in our offense,
and you know, there was a lot of things that
we'll be able to really highlight of who we want
to be about as a football team that are going
to show up on this tape at the end of
the game.
Speaker 8 (12:54):
I'm not sure if you can see on the on
the jumbo tron they have, you know, Sam's up there
doing the towel and all that.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Very fired up for him.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Yeah, I just you know, you you guys know, I'm
good for a little emotional moment every now and again,
but I'm just I'm just proud of them. I mean,
days like this are so many hours upon hours of
hard work and committing to you know, being a Minnesota
Viking and making sure that everything I do, every waking
(13:22):
moment I have, is built on earning the trust of
my teammates, performing at a high level, and then stacking
you know, successful practices, days, meetings, games on one another.
And then when you have a result like this, everyone's
going to talk about the result, and I hope they do.
But for me and Sam and our team, there's not
very many guys in that locker room that are surprised
(13:44):
about the performance he had today.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You mentioned you.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Felt like the offense grew up a lot today.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
What do you see as evidence of that?
Speaker 6 (13:51):
Where do you what kind of sticks out to you
and that every.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, I think the ninety eight yard drive is a
critical thing. That's hard to do, especially when you you
know you're the momentum of you think you're going to
be starting at the twenty and then you're starting at
the two and you you know you're able to stack together,
which I thought that drive was a lot longer, but
with the Jo catch, you know where we had a
few guys available to.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Us on that one.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
It was only seven plays and to put you know,
put the ball over the goal line right there, and
because you just never know, you go three and out
down there, you give them a short field, Kirk, And
as explosive as they were today, uh, they were going
to find a way to.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Make it a game. So I just thought it was
a critical, critical drive.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I think some of the off schedule plays mixed with
some really pretty pure execution details, motion landmarks, guys being
exactly where they're supposed to be, Sam's feet being one
locked and loaded, throwing the ball on time, when when
he could and when he when he had you know,
guys available, seeing the field, seeing coverage, some unique covered
(14:51):
structures that we've seen throughout the year showed up again.
And I just think it's a lot of things been
that kind of come together, and then the execution of
our players. This is one hundred percent the players, you know,
continue to strive for that, you know, a total complete win.
And I think our defense gave up some yards, but
forcing the two turnovers on a day where our offense
(15:12):
is you know, able to you know, have seven point
seven yards of play, We're going to eventually find our
way into the red zone.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
I thought third down was huge.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I don't know what we were I think eight to
twelve and then four four in the red zone via
you know, Sam and our and our skilled players making
some places.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Okay, Moling on the field goal? Was that something that
you guys had seen at all before the game and
kind of had an eye on that something they'd do.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I mean, it's just not a call you see very much. No, Yeah,
I can't.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I can't say that I that I had, you know,
I'll definitely talk to Matt Daniels normally on things like that.
I know about you know, some some pretty clear cut
things that we want to chat with the officials about
before the game, but that you know, that didn't seem
to be something that was on our radar.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And uh, you know, I was glad we were able to.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Cause you take the points off the board and then
I get the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
It's a big momentum and that could go either way
at the moment.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
There were a few plays where they had defensive backs
turning their own way or completely removed from the where
the ball ended up. Yeah, that scheme is that great moves?
Speaker 5 (16:11):
How does that?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
How does that happen?
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Well? I think you know, there was a few plays
where you know, how they handled motions kind of gave
us some information that we were able to maybe make
some adjustments on some things to try to stress, you know,
if that was indeed the case, how some things would
play out, and you know it did on you know,
there was a you know justin you know, catches a
touchdown his first one where he's you know, getting ends
(16:35):
up matched up on the nickel with that motion and
then kind of anticipating a little bit of maybe, okay,
we got to make sure we we don't allow that again.
Now they you know, they keep you know, twenty four
locked on them there and opens up some pretty good
leverage for Jordans. So a lot of those things that's uh,
you know, if you've guys got the time, we can
go through all that nerdy stuff and it'd be you've
(16:56):
got the time.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
But there's a but all that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Honestly, Jim is you know, it's one of those things
where players got to be able to execute it. Sam's
got to be able to see it and throw it.
And that's why I just give one hundred percent to
our guys. Great week of prep and it showed up
today and proud, proud of our whole team.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
But offensively, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think we were you know, we were waiting for
kind of a game where we kind of, you know,
just hit the gas and we're the driving force for
our team because lord knows, the defense has been like
that for us all season long and many many huge moments.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
And yeah, you mentioned did.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You get an explanation on the shared reception and reception?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Yeah, The reason why I challenged it is, you know,
I just saw only one hand from the receiver on
the ball and it looked like Shaq secured it first,
So you know, that looked to me like it was
not going to be a tie. You know, goes to
the receiver situation. It was a big, big play in
the game. I thought it was worth a challenge, and
I thought we had enough information to at least make them,
(17:59):
you know, have to take a real look at it.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
It was.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
It was seemed to be a catch, and we moved
on down the road. But I did not I did
not get an explanation.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Would you say.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
A lot afterward.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I just told him, you know, there's very few days
that I get to be the coach of not only
this team, but just a coach in general. With my
journey early on around Kirk and then the two years
we had together here, I just told him, I'm so thankful,
you know, for our time that that I had coaching
him as a position coach and then obviously as the
head coach when when I got here, you know, going
(18:32):
on coming up on three years ago. I love him.
I love him as a person. I think he's a
great human being, great father, great husband. He you know,
he stands for so many great things that you know,
I always really valued and uh, you know, I'm proud
of the way he's transitioned down to a new place
this year, and and uh, you know, he's he's had
a lot of success and and I think he's going
(18:54):
to continue to do.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So. That's a talented team with a.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Good quarterback and a great coaching staff who a bunch
of them that I respect, you know, a ton in
this league.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
So yeah, it was great to see him.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I didn't get a chance to see him pre game,
so I wanted to make sure I got a chance
to see him after there.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
You mentioned today's kind of a validation for Sam of
all the work he gets to put in to earn
the trust of the teammates. Is there any of that
for you guys, just in the sense of you do
make a quarterback switch from a guy that's been here
for a long time and you know, trusting yourself that
you can.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Make this happen.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Is there any part of this game that's a validation
of add at all for you in front office?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
No, okay, I was ready for no, very eloquent question,
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
O'Connell talked about it a little bit, but I mean
you elaborated pretty hard on it during the game. Earlier
in the game when it was still a game where
it was Atlanta was blitzing and it was like Addison
was left one on one, kept making them pay. Then
they backed off a little, but then when they blitzed again,
it was like Jefferson one on one, like like how
did all that happen?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Well, and that's and that's kind of the they had.
This is going back to them playing a foremat front,
sometimes a five man front. I think that they like
Cayden Ellis as a fifth kind of pass rusher instead
of dropping back in zone. And they were having some
success our running backs, you know, cam Akers gave up
a sack or at least a hit, you know. So
the thing is is if you're gonna send five, you
(20:17):
got to get there. If you're gonna all outlits, you
better get there. Because that's exactly what happened in that
big play that Donald had to justin. Jefferson was justin.
Simmons was unblocked right coming through the interior and and
Donald was able to you know, scoop to his left,
make his way out and just really throw not even
a fifty to fifty ball that was like a pop up,
you know, to JJ who was standing there all by himself.
(20:40):
So you know, you the Atlanta Falcons chose which way
they wanted to proverbially die, and that is we're gonna
be aggressive, We're gonna Pianiers back, we're gonna get after
the quarterback, and we're gonna put our dbs on islands
and the beauty of it. That's again why I go
back to Koc and him loving this game, is that, hey,
they tried to do that to us, and we burned
him and burned them over and over and over again.
(21:02):
That's what this offense has to have. They have to
have this in their repertoire going into these playoff games
because you're gonna start seeing defenses that are better defenses
that don't give as much up maybe or it maybe
can hold up for a while on the outside. So overall,
just just a great game, you know, great game I
think for the defense and the big plays give up.
(21:24):
Gave up way to me, they almost gave up five
hundred yards of offense. So that's something that they're gonna
have to figure out and talk about. But teams that
come in here, do they have enough patience to run
the football over? And you know, can they run and
if they get behind then they can't keep running the ball.
So you know, I'm sure they'll try to shore that
show that thing up and as we get healthy in
(21:45):
our defensive front, I think that'll help.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Too, Pete said. The Falcons kept getting burned repeatedly. The
chief arsonist was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, and here's
what he had to say following the game.
Speaker 9 (21:57):
Guys, obviously, uh, complete team effort out there today, you know,
with the way that you know, things were going in
the first half kind of you know, back and forth
a little bit there, and then just the way that
we were able to kind of pull away in that
second half, our defense getting big turnovers, special teams coming
up with that huge turnover and there there another field
(22:20):
and uh, you know we were able to capitalize as
an offense. Big credit obviously to to our offensive line.
I feel like the way they played today was was special.
The way that they were able to give me time
when needed was was incredible. And obviously everyone around me
as well doing their part, and our defense man stepping up.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
When when we needed them.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
And uh yeah, just like I said, complete team effort
and it was, uh, it was a fun time in
there today.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Man, our our fans.
Speaker 9 (22:50):
Uh came right to role and that was that was
a huge part of that win as well.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
Say, what was it like for you to to hear
some MVP chance as yourself bringing on the cidecle.
Speaker 9 (23:02):
Obviously a lot of emotion there on the sideline, but
you know, with with those things, you know the season
is so you know, it is what it is. I
think at the end of the day, the v m
VP chants are great, but you know, at the end
of the day, we just gotta continue to grow and
get better there. I thought there were a lot of
things in the first half that we can get better at.
(23:24):
So just gotta continue to grow from from you know
everything today.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Same when you were waving the towel, just like what
was going through your head the camera caught you.
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Yeah, I was just you know, that was a lot
of emotion for me. I was just excited.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Man.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
Just I feel like I couldn't just sit there.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
You know and just kind of you know, stoic and
you know, just straight faced. I feel like I had
to show a little.
Speaker 9 (23:49):
Bit of emotion for the fans and you know, gave
them what they wanted.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So, Uh, that was a special moment for me.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
How many times can you remember yourself doing that after
a game at any point in your college you.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
Know, whatever, going, It's happened before, but very rarely, yeah,
very rarely does that happen.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
What was the what was the reason for the occasion today?
Speaker 9 (24:08):
Oh, you know, I just felt the buzz in the
you know, and and that was pure you know, pure passion,
you know, pure joy.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Man.
Speaker 9 (24:15):
Just the way that we were able to kind of
finish that game out, and even our defense there at
the end getting that huge stop.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
It was a fun game to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Jordan and jj both get over a hundred yards, both
find the ends on a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Is how nice? How nice it to have that kind
of production?
Speaker 9 (24:30):
Yeah, obviously they're they're really good players, so you know,
to to be able to find them whenever I get
a chance to, you know, is a benefit for the
entire team.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Jordan's ability to, i mean check down those deep balls.
But then also just kind of the complete route tree
from him in his second season. Like, how how good
you feel about the way he's playing right now?
Speaker 9 (24:49):
Yeah? Jay's playing a very high level of football right now,
you know, and for him to just obviously early on
in the season, just keeping his head down and continuing
to work.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I think that was the biggest thing for him.
Speaker 9 (25:02):
And obviously, you know, if teams want to try to
push a little bit of coverage over to Jets, we
got another guy to be able to make him pay.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Sam.
Speaker 6 (25:11):
Kevin talked a little bit about how he felt like
the offense grew up a lot today. Where did you
see that happen over the course of the game.
Speaker 9 (25:19):
Yeah, I think it was just like I kind of
said in the beginning, you know, kind of not not
really having our stride in the in the first half
and then being able to come out and just play
really really good football, consistent football. Obviously some things aren't
going to go our way. We had a false start
here and there, but you know, being able to get
back on track, put ourselves in really good down in
distances and.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Just move the football down the field.
Speaker 10 (25:42):
See, it was any part of that passion emotion like
gratitude just from the work that you put in, because
I mean Kevin talked about how much you guys have
put in this year and you put in for a
long time.
Speaker 9 (25:54):
Yeah, that's a huge part of it. I think whenever
whenever I show passion. Whenever our entire team shows passion,
you know, on the field and it comes out as emotion,
you know that that is a huge testament to kind
of the amount of work we put in.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
That's that's all it is.
Speaker 9 (26:09):
When you see it come to fruition, it's such a
great feeling and uh, sometimes.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
It's really hard to hide that.
Speaker 9 (26:14):
So yeah, it was just ah all encompassing emotion on
the field today, and uh it was a like I
continue to say, man, just our fans, the way that
they were able to bring that energy today was was incredible.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
What was you read and process on that second touchdown
to Justin?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (26:32):
Which one was that? The scramble? Yeah? Yeah, just uh,
you know, they brought a really good pressure. Again, a
lot of credit to to Atlanta. The scheme that Raheem
and those guys have over there is is really tough
to go against. And obviously they got some really good
dudes on the back end, you know, and Justin Simmons
(26:53):
and Baits obviously really good players all around the field
as well. So they brought a really good pressure that
got home and I was able to kind of make
Justin miss a little bit, and uh, just got out
scrambled and and was able to find him down the.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Field when you were out of it.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
When you get out of that scrambling, you're looking downfield.
Did you see Justin down there waving his arm? What
did you see that?
Speaker 9 (27:13):
I did see him wave his arm, you know, and
that's kind of one of the first signs as a
quarterback like I should probably throw this to him, and uh, yeah, no,
it was Uh, it was a great play by him.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
You know. I heard on the sideline that.
Speaker 9 (27:25):
If I would have had time, he absolutely cooked the
dude on the route that was called for him. And
for him to be able to score on a play
that he probably would have scored on if I had time. Anyways,
that was awesome to see just.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
The most complete team performance. Would you say, at this
point in the year, you got defense, gets a couple
of takeaways, often score six touchdowns.
Speaker 9 (27:45):
Yeah, I think it was a It was a good
team performance for sure, But again, like I said, I
feel like the first half we could have played a
lot better. But yeah, I think the way that we
finished it was, uh was our standard.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
He's just out in more clutch and better game by
game since that Jacksonville game. Sam's gone one thirty eight
consecutive without a pick, and he'll have an opportunity to
extend that streak on Monday Night football against the Chicago Bears.
That'll finish three consecutive at home, Vikings two and oh there,
after going three consecutive on the road, they went three
and oh there. The Vikings have won six consecutive games,
(28:22):
keeping pace with the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagle.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, and what I like, Paul, is that there hasn't
been anything in the in the in the realm of
a wake up call, if you will, with these home games.
It seems like this team comes out kind of you know,
not too high, not too low, right where they need
to be, and you know, continue, you know, continue to
stack up the wins.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
So, yeah, the Chicago Bears coming in next. They you know,
it took us to overtime last time we played them, right, right,
Caleb Williams was a problem. They have a new head
coach now, so you're gonna get that bump this week.
So I'm very anxious to see what the Bears do
and then going in and you know, going in the
next week, some that might start to start to roll away.
So My point is is if you come out and
(29:04):
take care of business early against the Bears, you should
be in a really good situation on a Monday night
and then you know, again taking care of the NFC
South or I'm sorry, yeah, the NFC South because of
the playoff implications. Yeah, meaning you know, maybe we have
to go back to Atlanta. I'm fine with it right now.
Right so, we play the best team in the NFC
(29:25):
West in Seattle coming up too. So it's not like
we're just rolling ourselves and coasting into the postseason. This
team is continually being challenged and getting better.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Thank you, Pete, great call and we'll see you so
thank you. Let's Pete Bursage and I'm Paul Allen. We
call games on FM one hundred point three KFA in
and the Vikings Radio Network, and we call games for
a team that has won six consecutive games. They had
a five game winn East Raak earlier this season. Now
they've won six in a row. Your Vikings are eleven
and two after blasting Kirko Chains and the Atlanta Falcons
(29:58):
and doing so for two twenty one. This is an
Eric Davidson production. Thank you for listening to the Vikings
postgame report
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