November 10, 2024 • 28 mins
Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 12-7 in a game where Parker Romo hit four field goals to seal the victory. Romo hit from 45, 33, 34, and 29 yards in the game. The Vikings dominated statistically with 402 yards of offense, they controlled the clock for 42:19, and ran 82 plays on offensive versus the 43 plays by the Jaguars. The Jaguars did intercept Sam Darnold 3 times in the game, with two of them being inside the redzone. Darnold finished the game with 241 yards passing. Mac Jones scored the lone touchdown for the Jaguars on a 1-yard run in the 1st quarter, but the Vikings defense took over from there. They turned over Mac Jones 3 times in the 4th quarter, including: Harrison Phillips' fumble recovery, Bryon Murphy Jr.'s interception, and Cam Bynum's game sealing interception. Cashman, Pace Jr., and Van Ginkel all had a sack each on Mac Jones. Aaron Jones led the rushing attack for the Vikings with 88 yards on the ground and T.J. Hockenson hauled in 8 receptions for 72 yards in the passing game. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich breakdown the victory from Jacksonville, including: Romo's big game off a crazy week, the defensive pressure being put on defensively each week, and the need to finish drives when getting inside the redzone. Plus, Kevin O'Connell and Sam Darnold spoke in the postgame press conferences about the victory. All of this and more is in tonight's edition of the Vikings Postgame Report.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ho League Cow. Welcome to the postgame report with Minnesota
Vikings radio network analyst Bet Bursa. I'm Paul Allen. The
Vikings beat the Jaguars twelve to seven, and I'm just
gonna let you take it away here because this was
such a zany game. The Vikings didn't score a touchdown
for the first time since December of last year. It
(00:33):
was the Dobbs game at Vegas. They won that game
three zero, didn't score a touchdown today, and Parker Romo
making his National Football League debut kicking. He went four
for four on field goals. There's so much more, but
your Minnesota Vikings are seven and two after a five
point victory from Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
And you know, Paul, you look at this game and
I have I haven't seen a game this one sided
in so long. Four hundred and two yards of offense
for the Vikings and only one hundred and forty three
for Jacksonville. Time of possession forty two minutes and nineteen
seconds for the Vikings. The Jaguars wait to seventeen forty one.
(01:17):
You've called games since O seven. You played for more
than a handful of years for the Vikings. You coach
for half a decade. Have you ever come across anything
time of possession wise close to this? No, not close
to this. I've seen. I have witnessed maybe some thirty
seven to thirty eight the twenty twos, but nothing, nothing,
this one sided Paul, And I think the other key
(01:39):
thing too, is you look at the last you look
at the last couple of weeks. This defense given up
the last two weeks, given up twenty points. Wow, that's
only ten per game. Now. Are we having trouble putting
points on the board. Absolutely, But the defense today absolutely
came through to be down three, to take gift going
(02:01):
in in halftime, and then to finish this game back
at zero. Man, what a great effort by that group
we talked about at the close of the game. I
think Blake Cashman made a very very big difference. Not
that you know he yeah, he got after the quarterback,
he had a couple, you know, got some pressure, but
just overall just settling down this defense, getting everybody lined up.
(02:22):
They look fantastic on that side of the football.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Welcome back Cashy, Eden, Prairie go Crazy. Blake Cashman hadn't
played in three games and he came back and he
had I believe he had the Vikings first sack, and
then we thought he had the second his second sack,
but there was a face mask on on Mac Jones
that nullified had kept the Jags in the game. Cashman
had a lot of pop today and after last night
(02:46):
chatting with Kevin O'Connell for the pregame on KFAM. When
when I learned Cashman was going to play, the number
one thing that O'Connell kept talking about was communication. And
it's not like Ivan Pace Junior has been with the
Green dott He hasn't. But now when you get cash
Men with Ivan Pace Junior, Van Ginkole gets to go
to the outside. He had a sack. Grenard didn't have
(03:09):
a sack, but he disrupted the running game the entire day.
Having Cashy back, He's like the heart and soul of
this defense.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
He really, yeah, he really is. Just they operated it
seemed at a much higher level. Not a lot of confusion,
guys getting in and out. That's settling that swagger. It
gives the defense more of a swagger when they're out there.
And now you know more numbers for you. Donald was
twenty four to thirty eight for two forty one, zero tds,
three interceptions for forty eight point two rating, not to
(03:39):
be out done by Mac Jones, who had only one
hundred and eleven yards throwing, two interceptions, no touchdowns and
a thirty eight point.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Three Well coach, that's another astounding part of this game.
Jacksonville plus three in the take give in the first half,
Vikings plus three in the take given the second half.
The Jags have now gone ten games this season where
they have not won the turnover battle, and they were
plus three at one point.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You're absolutely right, and you know the early touchdown and
they believe it was the second drive of the game.
After that they had they had absolutely nothing. And that's
kind of the beauty of playing defense. I think today
is a great lesson in this regard. It didn't matter
how many times they had to take the field after
an interception or after a turnover. They went out and
(04:30):
took care of business. Now granted, our offense never really
put our defense out with a short field, but they
still they answered the call. The defense absolutely answered the call.
They were aggressive all day. They stayed aggressive all day.
That's the thing. That's one thing I love is it's
so when you get that one score game. You're getting late.
Coordinators want to just keep everything in front of them
(04:51):
and pull some things back. Not flores Man. He kept
his foot on the gas pedal, kept getting after mac Jones,
and mac Jones really finished where he started. He had
maybe one series where it was you know, and it
was really not even it was run after the catch
that got us. We had a couple of mistackles on
that series. We had one coverage blunder and that resulted
(05:13):
in their in their touchdown drive. But outside of that,
Holy cow, this defense played lights out.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And before we hear from Kevin O'Connell and quarterback Sam Darnold,
who threw three interceptions for the first time since twenty
twenty one when he played for the Carolina Panthers. Covenant colapse,
however you want to celebrate it. Aaron Jones, I mean
Jones was on one knee, tried to get up and walk,
went down to two knees, and then went down to
the field. Ben Lieber told us from the sideline that
(05:38):
he went back to the locker room. It looked like
he was all done. Lo and behold. Late in the game,
there's Aaron Jones grinding away to help the Vikings to victory.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
One hundred and sixty nine yards on the ground, Paul,
And you know that's when you talk about balance offensively.
That's why you can't be a one sided offense because
there are going to be days where you know, if
your team that loves to throw the football, it's just
not there. Quarterbacks having an off day, right, But this
type of a scenario, the time of possession, the whole thing,
(06:09):
our offensive line, in our running game being able to
put up one hundred and sixty nine yards on the
ground absolutely huge, absolutely huge.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Do it with me one time, two in a row,
four ko in a row, four KO. Kevin O'Connell said
this after the twelve seven victory.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Only real injury update, Aaron Jones was just evaluated for
some ribs but did return. Took a hit right there
and he was able to tough it out and come back.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Really resilient team win.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I cannot say enough about our defense, the way they
battled and after time and time again answering the call,
getting the ball back in the in the second half
and clearly tons of time of possession, tons of yards
we moved it.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
But not good enough offensively.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
If we're we're not scoring points, and even then to
turn it over the way we did, We've got to
find a way to execute and find a way to
end the ball with the possession in our hands and
the snap with the possession in our hands. I know
we will rectify that problem and go back to putting
points on the board when we get down there. But
(07:16):
just you know, just looking even the interesting I don't
know if I've been a part of one of these
stat lines wise with that kind of time of possession
eighty two plays, you know, getting that many run attempts off.
But it's proud of the way the guys just kept
playing defense picked him up. And then Park shows up
on you know, on Tuesday and with McQuaid and Ryan
right had a couple of nice holes in there as well.
(07:38):
It looked like from the blind's eye, So execution of
a team around you know, when you don't have the
performance that you want in any other aspect of your team,
that's a team win. These guys can have a lot
of confidence moving forward from that getting that win here today.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
How do you walk up the field think in those SAMs?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, I think you know, the first interception ball gets
tip up, we're trying to throw justin a slant and
defender does a nice job not letting him in there.
And and maybe, you know, I just think there's times
his confidence in guys is is maximum to take some
chances on some of those close plays. But you know, listen,
we were able to you know, Sam made a lot
(08:18):
of plays too. Ran the offense got us into some
in and out of some plays into the right runs.
You know, execution was you know, really gonna come down
to those three plays when you look at the when
you look at the whole the whole day. Really, I
thought the uh, I thought that the second you know,
the last two interceptions are more so him just trying to.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Make a play.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And he's a competitive guy, but when you're in the
scoring zone. I think one of them was on a
second down, and then we had you know, and then
we had one you know, on a third down and
a little.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Bit further out.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Either as as space shrinks, you either have to anticipate
and and put the ball in a place where you
want to, or you got to protect football and progress
in rhythm.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And he knows that we'll go.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Back to we'll go back to just emphasizing those things throughout,
But I did think he you know, he can't have
four hundred yards of offense without your quarterback moving the
ball and making some throws and plays and running the show.
So we can improve as an offense starts with me.
I'll find a way to make sure we're able to
execute some plays without turning the football over and activate
our playmakers and rely on our team to continue to
(09:21):
find whatever ways we need to win a game. Proud
of our guys seven and two with a day kind
of feeling like that. Those are the types of games
that good teams find a way to win, regardless of
what you know, what what it looks like all day,
And I'm proud of that, but absolutely a lot of
things we need to correct and fix.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
It looked like I think after the interception where he's
on the return, he came off the field kind of
squeeze his hand and clenching it.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, just I.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Think it was on the return of the interception, you know,
had a little swordus in there for a sec. Tyler
checked him out, but he returned and didn't didn't miss
a snap.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
Could you feel his confidence weighing at all to the
like as he wrote.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That no, you know, I didn't, and I think we
you know, it was one of those days. I mean,
ninety plus shell coverage. They're just not going to give you,
you know, a chance to really if you're taking chances
down the field over and over and over again, bad
things are gonna happen because they're just putting a roof
on it. That's why we were able to get that
many rush attempts off tight ends, you know, leading us
(10:22):
in receptions because there's a lot of space.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
In the middle of the field.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But when you throw the ball in the middle of
the field, we had ja I thought on one there
on the two minute drive where I'd like to see
that one hit for a drive starter. Chunk had some
other opportunities down the middle, and we're just a little
off or good little reroutes underneath whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
But they weren't going to allow us to, you know,
have a lot of success.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Just throwing the ball to Jordan and Justin and trying
to find ways to activate some things to.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Get them going.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I thought Jordan made an unbelievable catch there early in
the second half, trying to get him some touches to
get him going a little bit and then I thought
there were some other as it made some really nice catches,
some good run after catch with some space out there.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So just picking each.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Other up all day long. And Sam Donald's played a
lot of football at a really high level this year.
Huge reason why we're seven and two and looking back
on it, this can be a critical moment that we
all kind of absorb and understand we're still one confident
in Sam, there would be it would be craziness not
to be but at the same time a great opportunity
to figure out exactly, you know, as we after action,
(11:28):
exactly what happened and uh, you know, as coaches and
players put it together in a way where we will
will be able to use this as a very healthy
win to also improve when we go.
Speaker 6 (11:39):
Through that after action stuff with him. What how do
you coach him through that when he's making those split
teching decisions of being aggressive but also put in the right.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I mean, that's that's the That's why this position
is so hard, because you're you're asking a guy to
be aggressive feet and eyes, and first and foremost you
got to unpack all the fundamentals and techniques. Where we're
your eyes, Where were your feet? Protection. You know what
that look and feel like to you? Did you get
sped up by something otherwise? Continuing too, I thought there
were some good examples of him checking the ball down,
(12:07):
finding Aaron on one, finding the underneath coverage, you know,
seeing that underneath coverage, get some depth and really try
to put that lid over us. I thought we did
have a chance to Jordan down the field. Got to
go back and look at that throw there. It felt
like we had a little bit more grass maybe inside
out in front, but that was really, you know, the
best way we could to try to get over the
top of them, and ended up, you know, being a
(12:30):
play where they I think they called the hands of
the face on Justin on that. So keep finding ways
to get the ball down the field, attack the areas
the defenses are allowing to have us attack and get
the rushing attempts off. If it's going to be a
close to one hundred percent split safety game.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
It would be craziness to not have confidence.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's I assume means that there was never a moment
where you not one all day long.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
In fact, I was looking at it as a great
opportunity to see growth and continue to move the team,
So because we're gonna we're gonna check back in on
this moment and use it the right way, and Sam's
gonna be better off for it.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I truly do believe that. Kevin.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Defensively, it kind of felt like I have of the
first couple of Jacksville drives, you guys sort of turn
up the heat a little bit. I mean, how much
were you part of those commers or like what went in?
Do you feel like you guys?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, Like I think Flowing his staff did a great
job kind of really kind of tightening up the game
plan after that drive. But yeah, my only you know,
I have to be It's especially in a game where
we're getting one hundred percent shell on the other side
half the time, the reaction is just send them flow,
send them all. And I gotta be careful about that because, uh,
you know, he just let him call his game and
(13:41):
do his thing, and because it does get like that sometimes.
And my confidence in those guys when we do send them,
as you can tell, is pretty sky high.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So yeah, I just thought in general.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
That the way he used it, the way he used
the looks and then causing some confusion there still getting
our dbs in space.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
I thought that some unbelievable defensive performances.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Murph with a pick in the third game in a
row cam tracking that last one, you know, kind of
all off of a pressure look and being visual to
be able to go get that ball HP, you know,
getting the fumble recovery there, and then there were sacks
by Gink. You know, I felt JG, I felt Cash
and Ip back in there again.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
So it was it was, it was really good. We
needed it.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
We needed it to win a game like that with
that kind of imbalance and yardage and time of possession,
uh doubling their the amount of plays that they had,
So we needed.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
That returning like impact, the rest and deep.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, I thought it was big Blake's There's a reason
why went and got him. He's been having a great
year and and getting back to I PM Blake and
those safeties in the front felt really good to have
that group back together. Give a lot of credit to
him for working his way back to Van.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
You've been consistent for a long time just about your
want to be aggressive in the passing game.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
How much like is that tied to the importance of
explosive plays and turn of moving the football or what
do I guess you it seems like you're you're so
consistent with that. I wonder why you're you're that like confidence?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, I think you know, scoring scoring becomes easier on
any drive when you you know you can generate and explosive.
We got a lot of ways to do it, a
lot of players capable of doing it. I think we
had I'm not quite sure the number, the amount of
drives we had, you know, over ten plays. I mean,
it just felt like we were driving the football pretty
consistently all day and just would you know, get down
(15:31):
to the scoring zone and either have one of those
turnovers happen or just not finish it out the way
we needed to. And I thought as the game went on,
you know, anytime you're calling the plays and kind of
trying to play through the quarterback, but also knowing you've
got a defense playing the way we are special teams
with park putting points on the board, you know you
can this is gonna be a game that you're gonna
(15:52):
have a chance to get the lead. It might not
be the prettiest of leads, it might not be one
we'll hang up, you know in the offensive unit room,
but it'll it'll definitely be one that as a team,
I think we can We're learning we can win a
lot of different ways, especially when one phase picks up
the other, or two phases pick up the third.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
In regards to how we need to win.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
You mentioned tight ends just having TJ, Like, how much
of a luxury is that on?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, I mean some of those third downs, there's a
reason why he's catching it underneath the coverage. It's a
lot a lot of attention. Going to eighteen and three
and TJ having him back, I thought that there was
a big there was an explosive there to him on
the the in cut there when he you know, got
one on one coverage in man with split safety defense
all dedicated to Justin and we were able to bring
(16:36):
Justin to his side and activate. That's really you know,
you guys have heard me talk about that probably on
and off the record, of just TJ with Justin away
from the passing strength and what that means in a
critical moment like that, because that's one of the ways
where maybe he didn't even have the play up, which
was not necessarily you know, a huddle call type play,
but you're just trying to find ways of accessing the
(16:59):
points of the field that you want to while also
mitigating risk.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Knowing that you've turned it over a few times.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
What was the thought process in a third and one
there late where your Aaron is running and you decided
to go with the pass there.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, it was they were starting to, you know, in
their four minute defense, they were starting to really load
up there, so that the chances of you know, we
just didn't get great execution on the play, you know,
had that guy go inside of the tight end, we
really should have kind of a full turn kind of
where we can cut that guy's legs down and simulate
you know, guys firing off and try to get a try.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
To get an easy one.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I was, you know, just thinking that you could feel
a little bit of the desperation starting to show up
from a standpoint of committeing defenders the line of scrimmage,
So didn't want to take a sack or things like that.
In fact, I was I believe our first one all day.
I think the line protected pretty well for the most part,
considering those edge rushers and things. But yeah, I wanted to,
(17:51):
you know, if we we kinda get single higher, potentially
no safety back there see if we can probably you know,
pop one there for even a walk off, but they
were able to get immediate pressure and kind of execute
a little bit.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Better on Aaron. Do you and just paid any kind
of further evaluation.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Or yeah, I'm sure he'll get checked out. A tough player,
but he was. He was able to kind of kind
of get his win back.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
It was. It was one of those things.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And once he was able to go, he was, he
was itching to get back in there.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
That's good. The kicker got here on Tuesday. I think
just what what about.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The job he did to make four where you guys win?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah, you know, he was huge and we had park
We had Parker Romo in our you know, with our
team before we drafted Will Reikert and had a lot
of confidence through the early part of that kind of
off season program. Was about two weeks old at that
point when we pulled Will's card in the draft, and
we had confidence and we were gonna let them compete,
and they did. Will's just you know, been fantastic since
(18:46):
he got here. And you can't carry two. But we
always knew, in fact, when we let Park go, I said,
you should be kicking in the NFL this year. With
your talent and the confidence that I have with you,
we were just lucky he was available in that moment
to go get him.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Coach predictably praising the Minnesota Vikings defense coordinated by Brian Flores.
You know, the Vikings came into the game having outscored
the opposition seventy two to ten in the first quarter. Well,
they got outscored in the first quarter and the Vikings
didn't score a touchdown in the first half for a
second consecutive game. What do you think of that into
(19:20):
the Titans game.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
I guess the problem is it's not getting down there.
It's not getting down in the red zone. It's not
moving the football. That's the problem. It's just a matter
of the decisions that are making that you're making in
the red zone. All three of Darnld's interceptions, he was
trying to get the ball to Justin Jefferson, one of
which was an absolute laser beam that was tipped. The
second one was he threw the ball on it was
(19:43):
like two or three yards behind him. And then the
last one was really on a corner route at around
the red zone. So that's the part that you have
to look at Donald looked off today from an accuracy standpoint.
He just didn't look like himself. That the question I
think coming out of this one for him. But man
(20:05):
with the tight ends and talking about picking up the slack,
Hockinson and Josh Oliver, those two guys had a phenomenal day.
That's exactly how you want to really attack this Jaguar
defense that plays at umbrella type two deep coverage. You
got a lot of room underneath to operate and we
took advantage of that. So it didn't take us long,
(20:26):
you know, And Kevin O'Connell stayed true to who he is.
He wants to throw the football, he wants to be
aggressive through the air. We unfortunately the players did not
answer that call. They did not execute the way you'd
want him to. But you know, you stick with who
you are and that's what we did offensively and defensively.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Hockinson nine targets, eight catches, more than half of them
for first down seventy two yards. Josh Oliver after a
five to fifty eight and one against Indy, Oliver goes
four catches fifty two yards. Well done, eighty four. Justin
Jefferson five catches forty eight yards and justin by the way,
past Adam Thielen for the fourth most receiving yards in
(21:04):
the history of Minnesota Vikings football with his effort today.
And speaking of Sam Darnold, here's what he had to
say following the game.
Speaker 9 (21:12):
Yeah, obviously, you know, a great job by first and
foremost our whole team just getting a win. You know,
Jags are a tough team, and uh, you know, our defense,
special teams, man, they stepped up today. I gotta do
a lot better job to take care of the football.
I think that's obvious, and just just being situationally aware
(21:34):
of kind of where we're out in the field and
first and second down, like just being able to put
the ball in play and let our guys go run
with it. You know, I thought I could have done
a lot better job of that today, But we'll just
you know, look at the tape and learn from it
that way.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
So Kevin talked a lot about them playing shell coverage
early on. I mean, how how did you feel like
that affected you guys?
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Maybe early?
Speaker 9 (21:56):
Yeah, just gotta you know, continue to stay patient in
the moments when you know they're playing shell coverage or
they're playing you know, whatever type of shell man they
want to play. Just got to continue to be patient
and take what they give.
Speaker 8 (22:10):
Me from those interceptions where they're I mean, I don't
know if you've looked back at them or just in
your mind, like where there are other places you couldn't
slash it, have thrown it or just run it or
throw away or what do you think?
Speaker 9 (22:20):
Yeah, I think, you know in some of those instances
like just being able to you know, like the first
one was a tough play, you know, ball gets tipped
up and picked off by by the linebacker. And then
the last two, you know, just like to have a
better ball location, you know, I think the I think
the one to Jets in the right corner kind of
(22:42):
giving him, you know, if I am gonna throw it,
give him a chance. And if he doesn't, you know,
get the ball, have the ball hit the ground, you know, don't.
We can't put the ball at risk, especially on second
down like that. So I just got to continue to
manage those situations and and be better that way.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
And that one was the decision making or the ball
come off differently than you wanted to put it. How
did you feel about the accuracy.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
On that one?
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Yeah, you know, it was just not not the place
that I wanted to put the ball. You know, I
think with that, just got to continue to be better
and work on stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
So you've talked a lot about next play, keeping the
mindset that you want to keep consistently. How what what
goes through your head after you after throws occur like that, Like,
what is your kind of process?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (23:32):
I think you know, whenever you turn the ball over it,
especially during the course of a game, you have to
have a you know, next play mentality and you know,
being able to understand what happened, you know, and just
moving on.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
It's as simple as that.
Speaker 9 (23:48):
And you know, when those things do happen in the
course of a game, uh you know, I know, I
have full faith that our defense is going to go
out there and get a stop and uh you know,
we'll get the ball right back and and go down
and get a score. So you know, that's kind of
my mindset when when things like that happen.
Speaker 7 (24:05):
Same, how do you balance that that aggression with the
other side of maybe drawing into it, Like, how do
you balance that in real time?
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (24:11):
You just gotta you know, I think, like I said
on first and second down, play smart football. Give our
guys if I am gonna you know, try to thread
the needle and and make a tough throw, put it
in a place where just our guy can catch it.
And then on third down, Uh, just being able to
understand that, you know, in the red zone we do
have points. So just continue to you know, understand situations
(24:37):
during the flow of a game, and we'll just you know,
continue to look at the tape and get better through
those things.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
What was it like to have TJ on some of
those third down opportunities?
Speaker 9 (24:48):
Yeah, TJ was great today. Just his presence out there,
being able to you know, run the routes that he's
able to run, find find kind of those zones, uh,
you know in there if they do want to play
zone coverage on third down. You know, TJ's a TV
is a great football player, and I'm happy to have
him back.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
You on the interception, you came off trying to make
a tackler. It looks like it came out kind of
squeezing your hand. And how did your hand feel after that?
Speaker 9 (25:12):
And to be able to finish it, Yeah, hand felt good,
good enough to be able to finish it, and it
feels pretty good.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Right now.
Speaker 9 (25:18):
So, yeah, you're.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Nothing You're worried about going forward there now?
Speaker 9 (25:23):
No, I'm not worried about it.
Speaker 7 (25:24):
You mentioned the defense, like, just what is it like
to have that side of the ball that you can
rely on if if you don't.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Have your best game?
Speaker 9 (25:31):
Yeah, I mean hopefully we don't have to do that
every single game, but yeah, it's it's awesome to be
able to have a defense like that, to be able
to go out there and play the way that they do.
You know, I've said it, you know, ever since you know, April,
ever since the spring. You know, I've understand the kind
of players that we have over there, and it's a
special group and I'm you know, very fortunate to have
(25:54):
them as teammates.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
You were trying to get the ball to justin a
lot of type.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
What were your conversations like with him during the game
about whatever?
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing was, you know, some
games are going to be different than others. You know,
I think it's just about keeping the energy and keeping
you know, throughout the course of a game, you know,
all the ebbs and the flows. You just got to
continue to have a consistent mindset. And you know, I
feel like as a as an entire offense, as a team,
(26:23):
I feel like we do a really good job with
that of just being able to stay the course of
a game and finish until the last whistle.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
The Vikings are three and zero against the a f C. South.
They wrap up the games against the a f C
South next week against Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And this was a physical game today too, so there
there could be some some bodies that are sore early
in the week into that Titans game, right.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I think so. I mean mainly offensively because those guys
are on the field for such a long time. And
the main thing there is Aaron Jones and and how
he's feeling. He's definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Cam
Akers has been has been playing very very well, and uh,
you know that running back room. It's why you got
to have some depth. You've got to find a way
to take care of business, regardless of who's back there.
(27:07):
So the main concern right now is just this accuracy
thing with Donald and some of the throws you know,
miss reads if you will or whatever, but if you know,
give him time. This is his first full season, so
you're gonna have these dips in the roads. It's the
first time he's really in his career having to overcome
right a couple of games like this, So hopefully he'll
(27:29):
spring back, he'll get back on it. Another outdoor game
coming up this weekend. I mean, it's a perfect opportunity
for him to turn it back around and just make
himself that more resolute.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Great job today, brother, Thank.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
You, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Pete Bercich analyst for the Vikings Radio Network, and I'm
Paul Allen. The postgame report is an Eric Davidson production,
and we have good news. The Vikings behind four field
goals by new guy Parker Romo beat the Jacksonville Jaguars
twelve seven. Thank you for listening.
Ho League Cow. Welcome to the postgame report with Minnesota
Vikings radio network analyst Bet Bursa. I'm Paul Allen. The
Vikings beat the Jaguars twelve to seven, and I'm just
gonna let you take it away here because this was
such a zany game. The Vikings didn't score a touchdown
for the first time since December of last year. It
(00:33):
was the Dobbs game at Vegas. They won that game
three zero, didn't score a touchdown today, and Parker Romo
making his National Football League debut kicking. He went four
for four on field goals. There's so much more, but
your Minnesota Vikings are seven and two after a five
point victory from Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
And you know, Paul, you look at this game and
I have I haven't seen a game this one sided
in so long. Four hundred and two yards of offense
for the Vikings and only one hundred and forty three
for Jacksonville. Time of possession forty two minutes and nineteen
seconds for the Vikings. The Jaguars wait to seventeen forty one.
(01:17):
You've called games since O seven. You played for more
than a handful of years for the Vikings. You coach
for half a decade. Have you ever come across anything
time of possession wise close to this? No, not close
to this. I've seen. I have witnessed maybe some thirty
seven to thirty eight the twenty twos, but nothing, nothing,
this one sided Paul, And I think the other key
(01:39):
thing too, is you look at the last you look
at the last couple of weeks. This defense given up
the last two weeks, given up twenty points. Wow, that's
only ten per game. Now. Are we having trouble putting
points on the board. Absolutely, But the defense today absolutely
came through to be down three, to take gift going
(02:01):
in in halftime, and then to finish this game back
at zero. Man, what a great effort by that group
we talked about at the close of the game. I
think Blake Cashman made a very very big difference. Not
that you know he yeah, he got after the quarterback,
he had a couple, you know, got some pressure, but
just overall just settling down this defense, getting everybody lined up.
(02:22):
They look fantastic on that side of the football.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Welcome back Cashy, Eden, Prairie go Crazy. Blake Cashman hadn't
played in three games and he came back and he
had I believe he had the Vikings first sack, and
then we thought he had the second his second sack,
but there was a face mask on on Mac Jones
that nullified had kept the Jags in the game. Cashman
had a lot of pop today and after last night
(02:46):
chatting with Kevin O'Connell for the pregame on KFAM. When
when I learned Cashman was going to play, the number
one thing that O'Connell kept talking about was communication. And
it's not like Ivan Pace Junior has been with the
Green dott He hasn't. But now when you get cash
Men with Ivan Pace Junior, Van Ginkole gets to go
to the outside. He had a sack. Grenard didn't have
(03:09):
a sack, but he disrupted the running game the entire day.
Having Cashy back, He's like the heart and soul of
this defense.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
He really, yeah, he really is. Just they operated it
seemed at a much higher level. Not a lot of confusion,
guys getting in and out. That's settling that swagger. It
gives the defense more of a swagger when they're out there.
And now you know more numbers for you. Donald was
twenty four to thirty eight for two forty one, zero tds,
three interceptions for forty eight point two rating, not to
(03:39):
be out done by Mac Jones, who had only one
hundred and eleven yards throwing, two interceptions, no touchdowns and
a thirty eight point.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Three Well coach, that's another astounding part of this game.
Jacksonville plus three in the take give in the first half,
Vikings plus three in the take given the second half.
The Jags have now gone ten games this season where
they have not won the turnover battle, and they were
plus three at one point.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You're absolutely right, and you know the early touchdown and
they believe it was the second drive of the game.
After that they had they had absolutely nothing. And that's
kind of the beauty of playing defense. I think today
is a great lesson in this regard. It didn't matter
how many times they had to take the field after
an interception or after a turnover. They went out and
(04:30):
took care of business. Now granted, our offense never really
put our defense out with a short field, but they
still they answered the call. The defense absolutely answered the call.
They were aggressive all day. They stayed aggressive all day.
That's the thing. That's one thing I love is it's
so when you get that one score game. You're getting late.
Coordinators want to just keep everything in front of them
(04:51):
and pull some things back. Not flores Man. He kept
his foot on the gas pedal, kept getting after mac Jones,
and mac Jones really finished where he started. He had
maybe one series where it was you know, and it
was really not even it was run after the catch
that got us. We had a couple of mistackles on
that series. We had one coverage blunder and that resulted
(05:13):
in their in their touchdown drive. But outside of that,
Holy cow, this defense played lights out.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And before we hear from Kevin O'Connell and quarterback Sam Darnold,
who threw three interceptions for the first time since twenty
twenty one when he played for the Carolina Panthers. Covenant colapse,
however you want to celebrate it. Aaron Jones, I mean
Jones was on one knee, tried to get up and walk,
went down to two knees, and then went down to
the field. Ben Lieber told us from the sideline that
(05:38):
he went back to the locker room. It looked like
he was all done. Lo and behold. Late in the game,
there's Aaron Jones grinding away to help the Vikings to victory.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
One hundred and sixty nine yards on the ground, Paul,
And you know that's when you talk about balance offensively.
That's why you can't be a one sided offense because
there are going to be days where you know, if
your team that loves to throw the football, it's just
not there. Quarterbacks having an off day, right, But this
type of a scenario, the time of possession, the whole thing,
(06:09):
our offensive line, in our running game being able to
put up one hundred and sixty nine yards on the
ground absolutely huge, absolutely huge.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Do it with me one time, two in a row,
four ko in a row, four KO. Kevin O'Connell said
this after the twelve seven victory.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Only real injury update, Aaron Jones was just evaluated for
some ribs but did return. Took a hit right there
and he was able to tough it out and come back.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Really resilient team win.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I cannot say enough about our defense, the way they
battled and after time and time again answering the call,
getting the ball back in the in the second half
and clearly tons of time of possession, tons of yards
we moved it.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
But not good enough offensively.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
If we're we're not scoring points, and even then to
turn it over the way we did, We've got to
find a way to execute and find a way to
end the ball with the possession in our hands and
the snap with the possession in our hands. I know
we will rectify that problem and go back to putting
points on the board when we get down there. But
(07:16):
just you know, just looking even the interesting I don't
know if I've been a part of one of these
stat lines wise with that kind of time of possession
eighty two plays, you know, getting that many run attempts off.
But it's proud of the way the guys just kept
playing defense picked him up. And then Park shows up
on you know, on Tuesday and with McQuaid and Ryan
right had a couple of nice holes in there as well.
(07:38):
It looked like from the blind's eye, So execution of
a team around you know, when you don't have the
performance that you want in any other aspect of your team,
that's a team win. These guys can have a lot
of confidence moving forward from that getting that win here today.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
How do you walk up the field think in those SAMs?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, I think you know, the first interception ball gets
tip up, we're trying to throw justin a slant and
defender does a nice job not letting him in there.
And and maybe, you know, I just think there's times
his confidence in guys is is maximum to take some
chances on some of those close plays. But you know, listen,
we were able to you know, Sam made a lot
(08:18):
of plays too. Ran the offense got us into some
in and out of some plays into the right runs.
You know, execution was you know, really gonna come down
to those three plays when you look at the when
you look at the whole the whole day. Really, I
thought the uh, I thought that the second you know,
the last two interceptions are more so him just trying to.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Make a play.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And he's a competitive guy, but when you're in the
scoring zone. I think one of them was on a
second down, and then we had you know, and then
we had one you know, on a third down and
a little.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Bit further out.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Either as as space shrinks, you either have to anticipate
and and put the ball in a place where you
want to, or you got to protect football and progress
in rhythm.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And he knows that we'll go.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Back to we'll go back to just emphasizing those things throughout,
But I did think he you know, he can't have
four hundred yards of offense without your quarterback moving the
ball and making some throws and plays and running the show.
So we can improve as an offense starts with me.
I'll find a way to make sure we're able to
execute some plays without turning the football over and activate
our playmakers and rely on our team to continue to
(09:21):
find whatever ways we need to win a game. Proud
of our guys seven and two with a day kind
of feeling like that. Those are the types of games
that good teams find a way to win, regardless of
what you know, what what it looks like all day,
And I'm proud of that, but absolutely a lot of
things we need to correct and fix.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
It looked like I think after the interception where he's
on the return, he came off the field kind of
squeeze his hand and clenching it.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, just I.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Think it was on the return of the interception, you know,
had a little swordus in there for a sec. Tyler
checked him out, but he returned and didn't didn't miss
a snap.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
Could you feel his confidence weighing at all to the
like as he wrote.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That no, you know, I didn't, and I think we
you know, it was one of those days. I mean,
ninety plus shell coverage. They're just not going to give you,
you know, a chance to really if you're taking chances
down the field over and over and over again, bad
things are gonna happen because they're just putting a roof
on it. That's why we were able to get that
many rush attempts off tight ends, you know, leading us
(10:22):
in receptions because there's a lot of space.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
In the middle of the field.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But when you throw the ball in the middle of
the field, we had ja I thought on one there
on the two minute drive where I'd like to see
that one hit for a drive starter. Chunk had some
other opportunities down the middle, and we're just a little
off or good little reroutes underneath whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
But they weren't going to allow us to, you know,
have a lot of success.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Just throwing the ball to Jordan and Justin and trying
to find ways to activate some things to.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Get them going.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I thought Jordan made an unbelievable catch there early in
the second half, trying to get him some touches to
get him going a little bit and then I thought
there were some other as it made some really nice catches,
some good run after catch with some space out there.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So just picking each.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Other up all day long. And Sam Donald's played a
lot of football at a really high level this year.
Huge reason why we're seven and two and looking back
on it, this can be a critical moment that we
all kind of absorb and understand we're still one confident
in Sam, there would be it would be craziness not
to be but at the same time a great opportunity
to figure out exactly, you know, as we after action,
(11:28):
exactly what happened and uh, you know, as coaches and
players put it together in a way where we will
will be able to use this as a very healthy
win to also improve when we go.
Speaker 6 (11:39):
Through that after action stuff with him. What how do
you coach him through that when he's making those split
teching decisions of being aggressive but also put in the right.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I mean, that's that's the That's why this position
is so hard, because you're you're asking a guy to
be aggressive feet and eyes, and first and foremost you
got to unpack all the fundamentals and techniques. Where we're
your eyes, Where were your feet? Protection. You know what
that look and feel like to you? Did you get
sped up by something otherwise? Continuing too, I thought there
were some good examples of him checking the ball down,
(12:07):
finding Aaron on one, finding the underneath coverage, you know,
seeing that underneath coverage, get some depth and really try
to put that lid over us. I thought we did
have a chance to Jordan down the field. Got to
go back and look at that throw there. It felt
like we had a little bit more grass maybe inside
out in front, but that was really, you know, the
best way we could to try to get over the
top of them, and ended up, you know, being a
(12:30):
play where they I think they called the hands of
the face on Justin on that. So keep finding ways
to get the ball down the field, attack the areas
the defenses are allowing to have us attack and get
the rushing attempts off. If it's going to be a
close to one hundred percent split safety game.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
It would be craziness to not have confidence.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's I assume means that there was never a moment
where you not one all day long.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
In fact, I was looking at it as a great
opportunity to see growth and continue to move the team,
So because we're gonna we're gonna check back in on
this moment and use it the right way, and Sam's
gonna be better off for it.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I truly do believe that. Kevin.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Defensively, it kind of felt like I have of the
first couple of Jacksville drives, you guys sort of turn
up the heat a little bit. I mean, how much
were you part of those commers or like what went in?
Do you feel like you guys?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, Like I think Flowing his staff did a great
job kind of really kind of tightening up the game
plan after that drive. But yeah, my only you know,
I have to be It's especially in a game where
we're getting one hundred percent shell on the other side
half the time, the reaction is just send them flow,
send them all. And I gotta be careful about that because, uh,
you know, he just let him call his game and
(13:41):
do his thing, and because it does get like that sometimes.
And my confidence in those guys when we do send them,
as you can tell, is pretty sky high.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
So yeah, I just thought in general.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
That the way he used it, the way he used
the looks and then causing some confusion there still getting
our dbs in space.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
I thought that some unbelievable defensive performances.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Murph with a pick in the third game in a
row cam tracking that last one, you know, kind of
all off of a pressure look and being visual to
be able to go get that ball HP, you know,
getting the fumble recovery there, and then there were sacks
by Gink. You know, I felt JG, I felt Cash
and Ip back in there again.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
So it was it was, it was really good. We
needed it.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
We needed it to win a game like that with
that kind of imbalance and yardage and time of possession,
uh doubling their the amount of plays that they had,
So we needed.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
That returning like impact, the rest and deep.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, I thought it was big Blake's There's a reason
why went and got him. He's been having a great
year and and getting back to I PM Blake and
those safeties in the front felt really good to have
that group back together. Give a lot of credit to
him for working his way back to Van.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
You've been consistent for a long time just about your
want to be aggressive in the passing game.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
How much like is that tied to the importance of
explosive plays and turn of moving the football or what
do I guess you it seems like you're you're so
consistent with that. I wonder why you're you're that like confidence?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, I think you know, scoring scoring becomes easier on
any drive when you you know you can generate and explosive.
We got a lot of ways to do it, a
lot of players capable of doing it. I think we
had I'm not quite sure the number, the amount of
drives we had, you know, over ten plays. I mean,
it just felt like we were driving the football pretty
consistently all day and just would you know, get down
(15:31):
to the scoring zone and either have one of those
turnovers happen or just not finish it out the way
we needed to. And I thought as the game went on,
you know, anytime you're calling the plays and kind of
trying to play through the quarterback, but also knowing you've
got a defense playing the way we are special teams
with park putting points on the board, you know you
can this is gonna be a game that you're gonna
(15:52):
have a chance to get the lead. It might not
be the prettiest of leads, it might not be one
we'll hang up, you know in the offensive unit room,
but it'll it'll definitely be one that as a team,
I think we can We're learning we can win a
lot of different ways, especially when one phase picks up
the other, or two phases pick up the third.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
In regards to how we need to win.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
You mentioned tight ends just having TJ, Like, how much
of a luxury is that on?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, I mean some of those third downs, there's a
reason why he's catching it underneath the coverage. It's a
lot a lot of attention. Going to eighteen and three
and TJ having him back, I thought that there was
a big there was an explosive there to him on
the the in cut there when he you know, got
one on one coverage in man with split safety defense
all dedicated to Justin and we were able to bring
(16:36):
Justin to his side and activate. That's really you know,
you guys have heard me talk about that probably on
and off the record, of just TJ with Justin away
from the passing strength and what that means in a
critical moment like that, because that's one of the ways
where maybe he didn't even have the play up, which
was not necessarily you know, a huddle call type play,
but you're just trying to find ways of accessing the
(16:59):
points of the field that you want to while also
mitigating risk.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Knowing that you've turned it over a few times.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
What was the thought process in a third and one
there late where your Aaron is running and you decided
to go with the pass there.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, it was they were starting to, you know, in
their four minute defense, they were starting to really load
up there, so that the chances of you know, we
just didn't get great execution on the play, you know,
had that guy go inside of the tight end, we
really should have kind of a full turn kind of
where we can cut that guy's legs down and simulate
you know, guys firing off and try to get a try.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
To get an easy one.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I was, you know, just thinking that you could feel
a little bit of the desperation starting to show up
from a standpoint of committeing defenders the line of scrimmage,
So didn't want to take a sack or things like that.
In fact, I was I believe our first one all day.
I think the line protected pretty well for the most part,
considering those edge rushers and things. But yeah, I wanted to,
(17:51):
you know, if we we kinda get single higher, potentially
no safety back there see if we can probably you know,
pop one there for even a walk off, but they
were able to get immediate pressure and kind of execute
a little bit.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Better on Aaron. Do you and just paid any kind
of further evaluation.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Or yeah, I'm sure he'll get checked out. A tough player,
but he was. He was able to kind of kind
of get his win back.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
It was. It was one of those things.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And once he was able to go, he was, he
was itching to get back in there.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
That's good. The kicker got here on Tuesday. I think
just what what about.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The job he did to make four where you guys win?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah, you know, he was huge and we had park
We had Parker Romo in our you know, with our
team before we drafted Will Reikert and had a lot
of confidence through the early part of that kind of
off season program. Was about two weeks old at that
point when we pulled Will's card in the draft, and
we had confidence and we were gonna let them compete,
and they did. Will's just you know, been fantastic since
(18:46):
he got here. And you can't carry two. But we
always knew, in fact, when we let Park go, I said,
you should be kicking in the NFL this year. With
your talent and the confidence that I have with you,
we were just lucky he was available in that moment
to go get him.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Coach predictably praising the Minnesota Vikings defense coordinated by Brian Flores.
You know, the Vikings came into the game having outscored
the opposition seventy two to ten in the first quarter. Well,
they got outscored in the first quarter and the Vikings
didn't score a touchdown in the first half for a
second consecutive game. What do you think of that into
(19:20):
the Titans game.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
I guess the problem is it's not getting down there.
It's not getting down in the red zone. It's not
moving the football. That's the problem. It's just a matter
of the decisions that are making that you're making in
the red zone. All three of Darnld's interceptions, he was
trying to get the ball to Justin Jefferson, one of
which was an absolute laser beam that was tipped. The
second one was he threw the ball on it was
(19:43):
like two or three yards behind him. And then the
last one was really on a corner route at around
the red zone. So that's the part that you have
to look at Donald looked off today from an accuracy standpoint.
He just didn't look like himself. That the question I
think coming out of this one for him. But man
(20:05):
with the tight ends and talking about picking up the slack,
Hockinson and Josh Oliver, those two guys had a phenomenal day.
That's exactly how you want to really attack this Jaguar
defense that plays at umbrella type two deep coverage. You
got a lot of room underneath to operate and we
took advantage of that. So it didn't take us long,
(20:26):
you know, And Kevin O'Connell stayed true to who he is.
He wants to throw the football, he wants to be
aggressive through the air. We unfortunately the players did not
answer that call. They did not execute the way you'd
want him to. But you know, you stick with who
you are and that's what we did offensively and defensively.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Hockinson nine targets, eight catches, more than half of them
for first down seventy two yards. Josh Oliver after a
five to fifty eight and one against Indy, Oliver goes
four catches fifty two yards. Well done, eighty four. Justin
Jefferson five catches forty eight yards and justin by the way,
past Adam Thielen for the fourth most receiving yards in
(21:04):
the history of Minnesota Vikings football with his effort today.
And speaking of Sam Darnold, here's what he had to
say following the game.
Speaker 9 (21:12):
Yeah, obviously, you know, a great job by first and
foremost our whole team just getting a win. You know,
Jags are a tough team, and uh, you know, our defense,
special teams, man, they stepped up today. I gotta do
a lot better job to take care of the football.
I think that's obvious, and just just being situationally aware
(21:34):
of kind of where we're out in the field and
first and second down, like just being able to put
the ball in play and let our guys go run
with it. You know, I thought I could have done
a lot better job of that today, But we'll just
you know, look at the tape and learn from it
that way.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
So Kevin talked a lot about them playing shell coverage
early on. I mean, how how did you feel like
that affected you guys?
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Maybe early?
Speaker 9 (21:56):
Yeah, just gotta you know, continue to stay patient in
the moments when you know they're playing shell coverage or
they're playing you know, whatever type of shell man they
want to play. Just got to continue to be patient
and take what they give.
Speaker 8 (22:10):
Me from those interceptions where they're I mean, I don't
know if you've looked back at them or just in
your mind, like where there are other places you couldn't
slash it, have thrown it or just run it or
throw away or what do you think?
Speaker 9 (22:20):
Yeah, I think, you know in some of those instances
like just being able to you know, like the first
one was a tough play, you know, ball gets tipped
up and picked off by by the linebacker. And then
the last two, you know, just like to have a
better ball location, you know, I think the I think
the one to Jets in the right corner kind of
(22:42):
giving him, you know, if I am gonna throw it,
give him a chance. And if he doesn't, you know,
get the ball, have the ball hit the ground, you know, don't.
We can't put the ball at risk, especially on second
down like that. So I just got to continue to
manage those situations and and be better that way.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
And that one was the decision making or the ball
come off differently than you wanted to put it. How
did you feel about the accuracy.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
On that one?
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Yeah, you know, it was just not not the place
that I wanted to put the ball. You know, I
think with that, just got to continue to be better
and work on stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
So you've talked a lot about next play, keeping the
mindset that you want to keep consistently. How what what
goes through your head after you after throws occur like that, Like,
what is your kind of process?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (23:32):
I think you know, whenever you turn the ball over it,
especially during the course of a game, you have to
have a you know, next play mentality and you know,
being able to understand what happened, you know, and just
moving on.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
It's as simple as that.
Speaker 9 (23:48):
And you know, when those things do happen in the
course of a game, uh you know, I know, I
have full faith that our defense is going to go
out there and get a stop and uh you know,
we'll get the ball right back and and go down
and get a score. So you know, that's kind of
my mindset when when things like that happen.
Speaker 7 (24:05):
Same, how do you balance that that aggression with the
other side of maybe drawing into it, Like, how do
you balance that in real time?
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (24:11):
You just gotta you know, I think, like I said
on first and second down, play smart football. Give our
guys if I am gonna you know, try to thread
the needle and and make a tough throw, put it
in a place where just our guy can catch it.
And then on third down, Uh, just being able to
understand that, you know, in the red zone we do
have points. So just continue to you know, understand situations
(24:37):
during the flow of a game, and we'll just you know,
continue to look at the tape and get better through
those things.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
What was it like to have TJ on some of
those third down opportunities?
Speaker 9 (24:48):
Yeah, TJ was great today. Just his presence out there,
being able to you know, run the routes that he's
able to run, find find kind of those zones, uh,
you know in there if they do want to play
zone coverage on third down. You know, TJ's a TV
is a great football player, and I'm happy to have
him back.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
You on the interception, you came off trying to make
a tackler. It looks like it came out kind of
squeezing your hand. And how did your hand feel after that?
Speaker 9 (25:12):
And to be able to finish it, Yeah, hand felt good,
good enough to be able to finish it, and it
feels pretty good.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Right now.
Speaker 9 (25:18):
So, yeah, you're.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Nothing You're worried about going forward there now?
Speaker 9 (25:23):
No, I'm not worried about it.
Speaker 7 (25:24):
You mentioned the defense, like, just what is it like
to have that side of the ball that you can
rely on if if you don't.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Have your best game?
Speaker 9 (25:31):
Yeah, I mean hopefully we don't have to do that
every single game, but yeah, it's it's awesome to be
able to have a defense like that, to be able
to go out there and play the way that they do.
You know, I've said it, you know, ever since you know, April,
ever since the spring. You know, I've understand the kind
of players that we have over there, and it's a
special group and I'm you know, very fortunate to have
(25:54):
them as teammates.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
You were trying to get the ball to justin a
lot of type.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
What were your conversations like with him during the game
about whatever?
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing was, you know, some
games are going to be different than others. You know,
I think it's just about keeping the energy and keeping
you know, throughout the course of a game, you know,
all the ebbs and the flows. You just got to
continue to have a consistent mindset. And you know, I
feel like as a as an entire offense, as a team,
(26:23):
I feel like we do a really good job with
that of just being able to stay the course of
a game and finish until the last whistle.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
The Vikings are three and zero against the a f C. South.
They wrap up the games against the a f C
South next week against Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And this was a physical game today too, so there
there could be some some bodies that are sore early
in the week into that Titans game, right.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I think so. I mean mainly offensively because those guys
are on the field for such a long time. And
the main thing there is Aaron Jones and and how
he's feeling. He's definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Cam
Akers has been has been playing very very well, and uh,
you know that running back room. It's why you got
to have some depth. You've got to find a way
to take care of business, regardless of who's back there.
(27:07):
So the main concern right now is just this accuracy
thing with Donald and some of the throws you know,
miss reads if you will or whatever, but if you know,
give him time. This is his first full season, so
you're gonna have these dips in the roads. It's the
first time he's really in his career having to overcome
right a couple of games like this, So hopefully he'll
(27:29):
spring back, he'll get back on it. Another outdoor game
coming up this weekend. I mean, it's a perfect opportunity
for him to turn it back around and just make
himself that more resolute.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Great job today, brother, Thank.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
You, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Pete Bercich analyst for the Vikings Radio Network, and I'm
Paul Allen. The postgame report is an Eric Davidson production,
and we have good news. The Vikings behind four field
goals by new guy Parker Romo beat the Jacksonville Jaguars
twelve seven. Thank you for listening.
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