Ben Leber/Blake Cashman - Bumper to Bumper 12/8/25 Hour Three

Ben Leber makes his weekly appearance with Dan to review the Vikings win before current linebacker Blake Cashman joins the show to talk about the season so far and how they keep going despite their bleak playoff chances moving forward.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You mean.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nacho ben Lever is back with us for his regular
Monday late afternoon early evening appearance, brought to you by
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. I don't know who credited you
with this, but somebody wrote this online. I think that
you had run into Mark Craig, or Mark Craig had

(00:51):
run into you before the game, and you just said,
the Vikings will win the game if we do not
turn the ball over. To my knowledge, we didn't turn
the ball over, and to my knowledge, I do believe
the Vikings won the ball game.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, you know, he and I were walking in the
state about the same time, and you know, we did
have that conversation. It's like, hey, Mark, what do you think, man? Like,
what do you think is gonna happen today? We're just
kind of like shooting the breeze. And and I said, well,
let's be honest here. I mean, we have a good team.
If we just don't turn the ball over, then we're

(01:26):
gonna have a great chance to win this game. I mean,
I hate to break it down to be that simple,
but if McCarthy can play clean and make clean decisions,
then we know are the way our defense has been
playing the last couple weeks, but we should we should
win this game. And it kind of did come down
to that.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Did they did the head coach make it easier for
him to play clean with what he called in the
approach he took?

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, well, it seemed like that for sure. Natchall I
lost it.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
I lost it for a second.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
So sorry, you're figured as one of those either phones
like connecting or disconnecting to the car.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
That kind of a bit, that kind of a thing.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, yeah, they're back on you know, you're you're you're
good at this.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Well, I've been in that spot from so, you know,
it's it's kind of hard to know, you know, if
they really you know what the scheme wise, like they cut.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Down some routes. Did they you know, not attack some
of these coverages the way they normally do. Did they
take the plays from fifty down to twenty? Not really sure.
All I know is we ran the ball with commitment
and efficiency the way that we were all hoping that
we'd see throughout the whole season. We didn't just abandon
the run game after a couple of failed attempts, because

(02:51):
there were you know, there was you look back at
the run chart. There were some runs there that were zero, one, one,
a negative play early in this game, and then we
kind of would pop one for six or seven. So
I think that was a major, major contribute factor. And
then next thing you know, we're in second and manageable
and third manageable. So with all that being said, even

(03:14):
if you don't cut down the said playbook and simplify things,
it's a lot easier to convert those first downs when
you're more successful on first So, however, they got the
message across. However, they changed this scheme. It worked, and
I think that should be the formula for the rest
the season.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yeah, absolutely, I would agree that that's the question.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Can can he? Can he stick? Can the head coach
stick with that? Defensively, I want to talk a little
bit about the defense too. This looked to me very
much like a game in which Washington looked very poorly
prepared for or unable to react to the B flow
you know, pressure approach. I mean there were there were

(03:55):
this was before Daniels got hurt or left the game,
where he didn't really have much of it, and there
are people coming, you know, unblocked, and I don't know
how much responsibility is supposed to be on the quarterback
there to shift assignments, but it it didn't even to me,
it looked like they had no idea what to do
with the vikings pressure.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, it's fascinating that I feel like this is the
way it's been the last let's say three weeks. And
you know, we go back to that Seattle game, you know,
last week, and I was kind of shocked about how
much pressure free rushers, single blocks that we had, miss blocks,
you know, miscounts, And I'm like, are you guys, is

(04:37):
bfo all of a sudden changing the angles and the
guys that are blitzing. It doesn't only look like it
to me, but it does seem to be confusing for
these offensive coordinators that have a whole week to prepare.
And then I think, what you're kind of alluding to
in this last game, if if I'm just gonna guess, right,
is the end of the first half Harrison Smith. It

(05:00):
was virtually unblocked. Yes, three of the four blitzing coming
off the end. Yeah, and it they weren't disguising anything.
He was at the line of scrimmage. You know, he
was in a sprinter stance. It was like Hey, we
know that you're blitzing. We're gonna go ahead and just
leave you free, and we need to block the interior.

(05:21):
But the choices that Jaden was making was like, well,
that's not even an outlet, that's not even that. It
seems like a hot throw. It seemed like, yeah, we're
gonna we're gonna intentionally leave you uncounted, but then we're
gonna throw at you. Like I didn't understand the logic.
I didn't understand the confusion, but obviously I liked the confusion,
and I like what we're doing on defense.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
I it it appeared to me that the commanders did
not look that interested. You know, as the game went on,
they looked about as checked out as I've seen. They
had the well, obviously the one nice drive early, and
then he decided to throw three straight times from the
two I'll of the old KOC. But I as the

(06:03):
game was going on there and then I think as
Daniels you know, got hurt and went to the blue tent,
they they did not look to me like they were
interested in being there at all.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
You know, I really didn't get that feeling I heard.
I heard some people on social media saying like, well,
we shouldn't be so happy with ourselves. That was a
team very clearly they didn't want to be here and
they've given up on a season. And you know, I
have to say that in my experience, you know, unfortunately
being in that situation a few times, or you're not
playing for much at the end of the season with
five with five games left to go in the season,

(06:35):
that's not the time when you start shutting things down.
You know, they brought back their quarterback that's been often
injured throughout the season. They they I feel like, why
wouldn't you go out there and play hard for your
franchise quarterback. He would bring some juice I think to
the team. Their head coach took over defensive play calling

(06:58):
movies the two weeks prior, and everybody's talking about how
great of a play caller Dan Quinn is. This is
the defense that we wanted to see, and you know,
I think it was to me like they had stuff
to play for. I mean, it wasn't like, hey, we're
shutting this thing down. We've got two games to go
in the season, and we don't want to be here.
We don't want to get hurt. I did not get
that impression and all the things that I just mentioned

(07:21):
like that gives me the reason why they should go
out there with a lot of motivation and play hard.
And I think they did. I just think that we
handled our business. And then once we got late in
the game and they realized this thing's out of hand,
and especially after Daniels got hurt again, I think that's
really when the the win came out of their sales.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
This is from six to one to two.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Guy liber made a comment this morning on the powertrait
by Koc not giving the game ball to Oliver, who
caught two tds.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Instead of giving it to j J. Do you think
it's because.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Koc is trying to cover his bases, elevate his QB
and create some buy in.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
No, No, I don't think so. I don't think they were.
I think I mean, I'm not even sure it was,
you know, a mistake. I mean, I'm not trying to
say it was like a mistake or whatever. Watching that video,
I'm like, I'm like, oh, well, you know, if JJ
is going to get one and Jonathan Allen's going to
get one and Ben Ginkle is going to get one
for you know, making a splashy play. I'm like, well,

(08:17):
there's a guy on the opfensive side of all that
had two touchdowns on two catches, Like he should at
least get a game ball, right, So I don't know,
maybe they gave him a game ball on team meeting today.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Are you going to get him the hop splash Player
of the Game award? Is that maybe your way of
handling this situation internal, I'm actually not.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
I'm going to give it to I'm going to give
it to the guy, one of the guys I just mentioned,
Andrew Van Ginkel. I'm going to give the award to him,
and again it is you know, it's partly for just
being a smart football player and making a great play,
a play that he continues to make every you know,
it seems like every five or six games. I know

(08:57):
that's an exaggeration, but it seems like he's making them
play all the time time. But so much goes into
his game that people don't realize, like that that smart, sharp,
cerebral game awareness that he has on that particular play.
When you watch him play, he he plays like that
all the time. I mean, there are little things when

(09:17):
I went back and watched this film that he will,
you know, he'll be on the edge and if he
if he feels maybe emotion coming from the outside, like
he'll he'll shift his his weight and he'll look now
for a threat that was coming from the outside, even
if it is or it isn't, But like there's always

(09:37):
an awareness every single play he's thinking about how can
the offense attack me and what can I do to
counter that, whether it's the run game taken on polars,
whether it's you know, somebody trying to reach him where
he wasn't expecting. I just I just really appreciate, you know,
the the headiness of what he plays and he makes.
He makes a lot of plays and makes life easier

(09:59):
for defense because he does study tape and he is
situationally aware. So that's the reason, you know, I want
to give him this award this week.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
So again, the ball did not go much to Justin Jefferson.
He said all the right things. I'm interested in is winning.
What did you see, I mean, did you see coverages
as usual maybe even more so, centering on him on
Jefferson so much that there really weren't that many opportunities

(10:28):
to get to him. And if that's the case, what's
the answer here, because obviously he's not the first great
receiver to get extra attention, and you have to eventually.
In fact, I would say the rest of this season,
you're trying to win, but you're also trying to make
sure he gets more involved in what you do because
he's so important to the present in the future. So

(10:48):
what's the answer there.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
Well, I do think that part of his route tree
in the way that we've used him in the past
couple of years is deeper routes. They are coming off
off of complimenting routes to suck up a defender, he's
going to run a deep over across the field and
to the void or a deep dig. I do feel
like he's one of those players that does make a

(11:12):
lot of plays between the hashes and it's deeper down
the field, and unfortunately that's just not part of the
game that I think, you know, if we want to
talk about pairing down and simplifying things and you know,
going with a quicker read, I do feel like a
lot of Jets involvement in the offense is all those things,
and you know, there are some intentional ways, you know,

(11:32):
we had to play action deep shot down the field.
That's a way to basically get him in a single coverage.
You know, he had a couple of throws on the
outside were some out cutting routes where now you just
have to basically throw it to the boundary and throw
it to the sideline and away from the defenders, which
is again a safer throw. So I do think we
are seeing even though yesterday's game was it was great,

(11:55):
and it was it was well executed, the ball was
coming out quicker, and so I just think that yeah,
Justin unfortunately was you know, he was not involved in
that way, and we do have to find him, you know,
in those situations where maybe he's getting some of those
Addison type of throws, some shorter things that can get

(12:16):
him open. Because I'm sure the preach all week was
don't make don't make the forced throw into coverage if
you're unsure in what we do know that Justin Jefferson
has double covered a lot. He does face a lot
of bracket stuff. This was a defense yesterday was playing
a lot of zone coverage. They actually pared down their
man coverage when Dan Quinn took over the play calling

(12:38):
duties and they went a lot more zone, And I
just think that some of those cleaner reads are more
man coverages for Justin Jefferson, and not in these kind
of cloudy zones where safeties are roaming around and you're
not sure where they're going to end up. That's not
the safe throat. Don't throw into traffic, make the safe throw.
And that just wasn't a part of the game planned
yesterday for Justin.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, I thought that's true, and you know, there's got
to be eventually kind of a way to thread the needle.
But I think, to me, what I saw for McCarthy was,
and again I don't know how much this has to
do with play calls or just him feeling more protected
or him feeling a little bit calmer. Everything seemed quick,

(13:19):
you know, almost I felt like I wasn't doing the
stopwatch too how long he had the ball in his hands.
But for most of the time he was, especially the
most of those first two drives, the ball has gone quick.
Whatever the play called for, whatever he saw, he he
got it there very quickly.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
Yeah, and I would even say, maybe you've already talked
about this on your show, But the other hidden part
of his game yesterday was just his footwork. Yes In
his pocket presence. I know a lot of people because
the big question mark has been accuracy. It's been processing,
it's been decision making. But you know, when we did
call for longer routes, the pocket did collapse. You know,

(14:01):
the commanders were getting pressure on him. You know, we
did have we did have some opportunities. I thought to
get some deeper shots, to get maybe Justin Jefferson open
on one of those deep overs or something, but it
didn't work out for that particular play. In the way
that he was able to scramble around, extend plays, even
use his legs to pick up a first down, I
thought that was huge. I mean, the way that he
climbed out of the back of the end zone even

(14:24):
was it was a terrific play. That's not going to
show up in the stat book, but man, he showed
a lot of poise, a sense of urgency without a
sense of panic, And I think that's a big step forward,
a hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Ben Lieber kind enough to join us. Nacho liber Uh
brought to you by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. So
we've established the Hopsplash player of the game. We've talked
a little bit of defense, a little bit about offense.
Let's talk a little bit also about the running game,
because again it looked to me like it was effective

(14:58):
for most of the time and and also helped them
stay away from you know, third and fourteens or third
and fifteens, and we had I don't I don't know
how many penalts we had. Didn't feel like offensively we
had very many penalties as well or at all.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
But the running game, you know, a lot of people think.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
I'm constantly, I'm I'm on one track, that you got
to run forever. I don't even think you have to
run forever. But I do think, especially as he gets
his legs under him, the quarterback, that anything that can
help him do that. I think that's true of quarterbacks
more experienced and you know, accomplished than he going all
the way back to Aaron Rodgers frankly with the with

(15:39):
the Packers, that it just brings a certain sanity to
the situation. It takes away in many cases, I think,
you know, having to face like I said, third and
very long, and you got running backs especially I thought,
well both of them really, but especially Jones yesterday, who

(15:59):
can still do something.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
With the ball.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, I mean I'll go back to that, the first
down success that we had. You know we had we
had twenty five first down plays, four point seven yards
per play in first half, nearly six yards of play
in the second half on first down. And you know
they weren't all they weren't all runs. I mean, I
think nineteen nineteen runs to six passes on first down.

(16:25):
We scored two touchdowns passing the ball on first down.
And I think to what you're saying, to support what
you're saying, is that, yeah, it doesn't all Not every
run has to be successful in that like, oh that
went for six, seven, eight yards. But the idea that
you're committing to the run all of a sudden now
does open up opportunities for a Josh Oliver, who is

(16:48):
quote unquote a blocking tight end, to run up the
seam and catch a touchdown pass on first down. And
you know, as a as a former defensive player, I
know how frustrating that is when you know, all right,
this team is run the ball in first down. We
gotta you know, put the weight on the you know,
balls of our feet, and you got to stop whatever

(17:08):
run they're gonna give you. Even even being creative in
that first quarter where I think it was Nailor on
his first run of the season. Getting some of those
plays mixed in there, it just gives you a different
flavor on first down and throughout the whole game that
all right, they're gonna they're gonna try to establish the
run for four quarters and then now we have to

(17:31):
worry about a play action pass in which they've already
hit us on as well. It really just keeps the
defense guessing the whole time. And I think that's the
name of the game. It's not so much a a
chess match as it is, you know, the simplified checkers game,
where hey, fine, if you know that we're gonna run
on first down, okay, then stop it. You know we

(17:52):
don't have this one run. We have twenty type of runs,
So stop the one variety of run that we're gonna
throw at you this time. It'll keep every buddy guessing
and hope everything open up everything else in the passing
game as well.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
I think that's the one thing that Ben Johnson knows
and and and carried with him from Detroit as coordinator
to Chicago now again, to a certain extent, you have
to play to the strengths of your team, and that
not every team has the same strengths.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
But I think you nailed this.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
The the the idea you you actually want them to
not assume you're gonna run or pass because you're so
predictable either way, and you you aren't afraid as you
say this notion that well, you know, uh, the say
they brought the safeties down, we can't run now. Well,
maybe sometimes discretion is a better form of valor. But

(18:40):
sometimes if you're doing it right and you have people
who are doing their job, you say, as you said,
we're gonna still hand the ball off enough and you're
gonna We're gonna wait until you prove you can stop us,
whether you've brought the safeties down or not.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Well, let's go back a few years to one of
the greatest running backs to ever play the game in
Adrian Peterson. How many times did we hear we don't
care if you've got eight or nine guys in the box.
We have Adrian Peterson and we have a really good
offensive line, and guess what he can make us?

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Right?

Speaker 3 (19:10):
He was that type of player and Adrian he would
even talk about how I invite a heavy box because
if you squeeze all those defenders down to within four
or five yards, all I gotta do is break four
or five yards and then I'm gone. You know, I'm
off to the races. There's nobody in the back end
of the defense that's going to chase me down because
there's not there's not so much layers to the defense.

(19:33):
Now everything's been condensed down to the lion scrimmage. And
I know that's sort of an exaggeration of what we've
we're going to face, but that is the idea that
you know what, maybe it doesn't have to make sense
on paper. If they bring a safety down to the
box and they have an eight man box or a
heavy nine man box, fine, all right. We trust our
guys to be better than your guys and for our

(19:55):
running back to make one guy miss and all of
a sudden, now it's out the gate and it's a
splashy play. So I think sometimes again, maybe this goes
back to koc talking about even for himself to not
overthink things, just go with the flow of the game.
And if we're feeling it and our offensive line is
mashing their defensive line, doesn't matter if they have nine
guys in the box so we can still run it
with success.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
I want to broaden it out real quick before we
wrap things up with a look at the standings in
the National Football League here through thirteen games. I'm looking
at the AFC and in the East, New England is
eleven and two with the best record. Buffalo is still,
you know, more than lurking. They're at nine and four.

(20:35):
Look at the AFC North, the Bengals are buried again
an injury riddle, and it's Pittsburgh with a slight lead
over Baltimore. AFC South is Jacksonville nine and four. AFC West,
it ain't Kansas City, it's Denver at eleven and two.
The Chargers, who played a nine in thir gre ee
and four KC is effectively buried now at six.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Six and seven.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
So I guess the moral of the story for me
is we're seeing I don't know if we're seeing a
complete changing of the balance of power, at least in
the American Football Conference, but we are seeing some different
teams then we're accustomed to seeing at the top of
the standings. And now we're good thirteen weeks into this thing.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, and it's it's great. I mean It's that's why
we love the NFL. You just never you never know.
You know, look at what Houston's doing. I mean, Houston
is you know, there are a few games away from
getting something to consistently click, an offense to pair up
with that top ranked defense, and all of a sudden,
now they might be the most formidable team in the league.

(21:37):
Because if you're asking Houston to go up to New
England in cold weather with that defense, I might take Houston.
You know, It's like, all right, I mean the way
that Texans are playing, I mean, we all know that
defense wins championships. Like it doesn't all have to be
done the same way, and and I like kind of
the parody at which we're at the Look, Denver's got

(21:59):
a big test next week. I think they play a
three o'clock game against the Packers. The Packers come into town.
That's a great witmus test for both of those teams. Jacksonville,
sneakily is having a great season. I think three of
their next four games are absolutely winnable. I think they
might play Denver as well. But other than that, they've
got a really easy remaining schedule, so they could finish

(22:20):
with you know, twelve wins this season. I think we
all know that whoever comes out of the AFC North,
it's not going to be a factor. You know, none
of those teams are very strong. I think it's going
to come down to a really balanced offense that is Jacksonville,
a great defense in Houston obviously, the way that they're
playing ball in New England, and let's let's just see

(22:42):
how the Broncos do. You know, like I said this weekend,
against the team that we're very familiar with, who is the.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Best team in the National Football Conference?

Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know, I would hate to say Green Bay. They're
up there, and you know, I'm I might take them
right now over anybody. You know, I do love the Rams,
but there's sort of something, something a little more magical

(23:18):
I think that they have going on in Green Bay.
I think that they're probably better suited to play in
the playoffs if they have to play outside now they
might not have to, if you know, if they don't
hold that number one seed and you might have to
go to LA. But if you're looking at like a
tougher playoff caliber, you know, late December, you know, early

(23:42):
January sort of team, I think the Packers are probably better,
better suited for that environment.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Oh, we appreciate you and we will chat next week.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Thanks man, all right, thank you man.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
That's Nacho. Ben Lieber probably had more to get to
with him.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
But we got another guest coming up in fact, member,
a current member of the Minnesota Vikings, Blake Cashman, is
scheduled to join us next We've got more Vikings talking
points to get to. We got some college football controversies
to discuss, and owe so much more. Stay tuned six

(24:26):
four six eight six. That is the Bradshawn Brian Caffan
text line. We expect to call fairly soon, I should say,
from the Vikings with the Black Blake Cashman scheduled to
join us.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Good. A lot of good texts have come in though.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
In the last hour or so, which I am trying
to isolate and say, we have several more Vikings talking
points to discuss on this program.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
I didn't ask Liber.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Somebody asked wanted me to ask Liber what he thought
of the hit on Ertz, whether it was a clean
play or any different from the hit that hurt Hockinson
a few years ago.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Is there controversy on that play?

Speaker 5 (25:01):
I don't think a little bit I heard Bersage talking
about it with Pa to day and his response was,
I mean, what's he supposed to do? Yeah, he's he's
got to go up and get the guy. Can he
really hit him higher?

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Don't know?

Speaker 5 (25:14):
So I think I'm sure whenever anybody when it's obvious
it's a season ender like it was and that was
tough video, right, or it's just crying on the cards.
Mariotis over there, it's tough. But Bursus's point was I
wish people could understand how actually fast all this stuff
is going, yes, and the decisions you have to make
and how you go about things.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
And his contention was what was he supposed to do?

Speaker 2 (25:38):
This is an interesting text worthy of discussion. Football is
a fun game to dissect play calls and game plans,
but it often comes down to execution. Yesterday, the offense executed.
It's scaring touchdowns the first two drives. There's a lot
of the defense be more aggressive and allowed the offense
to dictate and run and pass when they wanted to.
We call it in the business complimentary football. Too often
this year they haven't executed, have fallen behind, and everything

(25:59):
gets more differentficult success breeds success failure breeds failure. Taking
the ball after winning the coin to us, something I'm
usually against, turned out to be a good move. There's
some merit to this in that we do tend to
get hung up in the well. Is he running too much?
Is he passing too much? Is he simplifying it enough?
Is he oversimplifying it? Is he making it too complicated?

(26:20):
And all those things are fair game, But a lot
of it is simply did you make the play? Did
the players who were ordered to make certain plays or
you know, certain moves on this given play?

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Did they do what they were supposed to do?

Speaker 2 (26:35):
And sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't, And sometimes
when they don't in spectacular fashion, it makes the play
itself look dumber than it really is.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
There is some truth to that, I mean to.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
An extent that goes back to McCarthy's his accuracy issues.
As I've talked about for weeks. I might want the
head coach to run more, But if the quarterback is
going to be as an accurate as he is in wild
as he has been, it renders a lot of the
stuff about run versus pass almost moot. Yesterday he was accurate.

(27:09):
Now you could say they they ordered him to make
easier throws. Are they called for easier throws? And that
is how this all works together. That's how coaching and execution.
Coaching can help give you a better chance to execute
on that basis. But I think there was only one
pass I remember that was well over the head of

(27:31):
a receiver.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
As to the right side, I can't remember who it
was over Sadison is that when hit That's true.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Which the funniest thing too from Breeze, you know, being
mister competitive, He's saying in the fourth quarter, well, you know,
the Washington's gonna have to They're gonna have to open
it up. And really, I mean they're way behind. We're
gonna have to throw the ball. And I think the
next four plays they ran it, which did which told
me that they just like I said, they wanted to
get the hell out of Dodge. They were no longer
really actively participating in the ball game. Anthony Edwards is

(28:02):
scheduled to play tonight. Originally I guess he was listed
as questionable. Got some illness going. He's I don't know
what it is, but he is going to go. And
I think Shannon also originally Listen is questionable. Is but upgraded.
He's going to play correct. Yes, that's what I think.
I saw her rotation.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
I don't even know. There's not any consistency with him
in the rotation right now, is there not? Really doesn't
seem like it.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't think we're playing him as as often as
we thought we would be at this point, which doesn't
mean he can't end up being in the rotation, but
I don't.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
And he's had some injury, some injuries, that's true too,
which was part of it. They sat him down for
a little while. That's very, very true.

Speaker 5 (28:37):
Davy Cashman will be calling momentarily the updates, so feel
free to keep going with what happened.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
If we talked about the fact that our entire offense
was healthy, I'm not playing that card. I'm not playing
that game. I heard it again about Washington if this
is accurate during the TV broadcast, they've largely been going
without their two best cover corners two not one, two best,
and their two best edge rushers. So you know the

(29:04):
idea that then you got an easy alibi for now.
It's good because we're healthier. I put it more on
we are healthier, but we're also I think executing better,
it works together, and I just don't I don't want
to go too far down the sympathy card in that
regard because every team I look at, they're talking about
the Bears defense. They haven't even hit this entire season

(29:26):
been I think they've on average had five regulars four
to five regulars out every week, different different players, different weeks.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
But nobody cares.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
It's not like that's going to be you know, it's
not going to be a loss against Green Bay. They
still lost the game to Green Bay, and in fact,
their best cover guy is at Jalen Johnson. He I
think he started the game and got hurt again. Another
one of their defensive backs got hurt in practice in pregame,
So you know, the line of than we wanted do.

(30:00):
We're obsessed with the injuries here because this is a
team we follow. So if we spend as much time
obsessing over the injuries on other teams, we'd find out, Well,
they all have their you know, their their crosses to bear.
It's it's all in fact, Well, our next guest missed
a month, didn't he with a hammy? Yeah, which is
not helpful to the club either.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
How much of a tackle machine that he can be
so well, well, I'm sure maybe we'll talk about some
of that with him. I just you know, I just
don't think. Yeah, is it help help to be healthy? Yes,
But the game of football, professional football is a game
of attrition, and quite frankly, every year it's not about

(30:40):
who's healthiest. It's often about which team that has had
injuries copes with those injuries better than others.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
That's to me a large part of it.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Now, if it's your quarterback and you've missed, you're starting
quarterbacks out for.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
The entire season or ten games? Yeah, I get that.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Then because of the position, the importance of the position,
that's very, very different.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Where were we here? Let me see if I can
get a couple more quick ones in.

Speaker 5 (31:09):
Oh well, while we're waiting, if there's a talking point
you could get to that, yeah, we could do that too.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
But in the meantime, there's a lot of talk about
whether Notre Name got screwed and because they the fighting
arshoul doc get named to the post to the postseason tournament.
I think the team that's bugging me more than Notre
Dame one way or the other is Alabama. I again,
I guess I can't say the argum about how can

(31:35):
you can't leave them out? But they had three losses, Yeah,
their third their their third loss. They weren't even competitive
in the conference title game.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
And what also.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Bugs me is that they've paid it appears week to
week almost no penalty in getting killed by not even
competitive in the SEC championship game. So I'm actually, you know,
that's the team. I wish there was more heat on Alabama.
And the conspiracy theory is, well, there's too many people
on the committee with SEC you know, biases. I don't

(32:07):
know what the makeup of the committee is, but to me,
I think Alabama should have been a little bit more
vulnerable than they were, or at least by at least
having them moved out a bit.

Speaker 6 (32:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
The problem is there's a million problems. First of all,
I think when you're arguing over you know, the last
team or two to get in in twelve, we do
this every year.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Sixteen, well, which they're going to have, you know.

Speaker 5 (32:29):
They're going to have four probably twenty four and then
forty eight and then every game is going to be
a playoff game. We're just going to start in August
and everybody's going to play. I think by and large,
I think this thing has worked out pretty well through
two years. Yes, and when you have a factor in,
you've got some of the non group of five schools,
a group of four schools, you know, like JMU and

(32:49):
like Tulane, Like you're going to leave out a blue
blood one way or the other at some point. Right,
there's a million different problems because the argument for Alabama's
third loss is how can you pay them for making
the SEC championship and having to play? But it looks
like they did do that with BYU because YU got crushed.
So whichever side of the argument you want to go on,

(33:10):
there's an easy counterplay.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
I think that's the problem.

Speaker 5 (33:12):
That's the whole problem is it's an imperfect situation that's
probably closer to a true champion than we've ever had.
Remember it used to be when you were covering the
Bulldogs in nineteen eighty. I think you just voted right
because everybody just plays all it's a mythical child. Then yeah, so,
and then they did two, and then they did four,
and now obviously they're up to twelve, and it looks
like there's a lot of momentum for sixteen and if

(33:33):
the if the SEC and Big Ten had their way
to be thirty five, and we'd be having wild Card
weekend right now with Iowa playing Michigan. You have to
get into the Big Ten. So I feel like they
are going to expand it. I think at some point
they're going to get rid of conference championship games, and
they probably are. There's there's too many moving parts with that,
with do you penalize them do you not? How can

(33:55):
a team that didn't play, how can their seeding be
impacted at all? It's complicated, so I never really feel
badly for anybody.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
By the way, speaking of nineteen eighty when Georgia played
Notre Dame then the mythical national championship game, which I
covered at the Sugar Bowl, I'm going through some old stuff,
old clips. I find the game story I write right
off of that game, and I guess I'd forgotten this.
Georgia completed one pass in that game and won.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
It just shows you what a different world we're living in.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
University of Georgia when the so called national championship game
with their quarterback Buck Blue, who's been a guest on
this show, completing one pass, I think for seven yards
and they still won the game. They were completely outgained
in that game, by the way. Yeah it was the
old outplayed. But then the Notre Dame made a couple
of mistakes, but one complain. I mean that again, that's

(34:48):
nineteen eighty, so that's a long time ago. But that
seems to strain credulity. Is it fair to say nobody
is going to win a national championship this year if
they don't like only able to complete one pass? Yeah,
that's what I thought, all right, phone, I think it's ringing.
So I think we're gonna get Blake Cashman here in
a minute, and then we'll get to maybe even more

(35:10):
reaction regarding who's in and who's out, and whether my
Indiana Hoosier's got a good draw or not as the
alleged number one overall seed for sure. So the Brancheawn
Bryant KFE and text line is available to each and
every one of you at six four six eight six.

(35:31):
They punished BYU this year for playing the championship game.
I think that's exactly the point that Guardsy was just making.
Blake Cashman, in fact, has indeed checked in via the
Connectico Water Systems hotline. Blake, thank you very much for
the time. We appreciate you giving us a minute or two.
Let me get the most important stuff off the top,
because we were just talking about the college football playoff.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Did Notre Dame get screwed? I think so?

Speaker 7 (35:57):
I mean, I haven't been keeping as close as an
eye as I normally do on college football this year
and how the playoff picture was shaking out. But you know,
you're talking about a program that because they started off
if I believe zero and two, and they've won ten straight,
they're a very hot team right now, a team with

(36:18):
you know, obviously a lot of winning in tradition. So
you would think that would be a team that the
committee would want to see in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Do you I mean, do you like the whole playoff system?
Do you like would you like to see a tweak?
Do we need to need more teams? And you know,
how far can you go with this thing?

Speaker 7 (36:37):
Oh, that's a tough question, you know.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
I do like the playoffs picture.

Speaker 7 (36:42):
I think it gives, you know, other schools an opportunity
to compete for the title that normally won. So I
really love that aspect of it. But you know, I've
already heard rumors or talks about, you know, should they
continue to keep expand? And I think where it's at

(37:03):
right now is you know good enough?

Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yes me, Yeah, I'm with you on that.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Although I think it's inevitable, it's probably gonna get a
little bit better. It's just too much money in it.
I think that's a big, very very big part of it.
Let's talk about your your club yesterday and you're well,
let's back up a little bit. Let's talk about even
the feel going into yesterday's game, because the week before,
or they certainly the game before, it could not have
been very much fun. I don't think from you you're

(37:33):
used to winning. This program is used to winning, and
you find yourself what going into that game yesterday, twelve
games in in a position of being a four and eight.
So give me a sense of how, as a competitive player,
obviously on a competitive team.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
How you process that, how you get to that place.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Where you're not feeling sorry for yourself or or you're
not saying God, this season has kind of gotten away
from us.

Speaker 7 (38:01):
Well, easy quick answer would be a lot of self talk,
but for real, just continuing to you know, plug away
and show up and put your best foot forward and
go to work.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (38:16):
You know, I think we have great coaches, great locker room,
great staff. So you just continue to you know, lean
on the people that you know, you trust, and you
know we're all in it together, and you know that's
how you you keep a focused mindset. But you know it,
it is frustrating. Uh, you know, it's obviously we see

(38:39):
the frustration, you know, for our fans and and whatnot,
But nobody's more frustrated than us, you know when we're
sitting at where we're at. But uh, at the end
of the day, we're professionals. We have a job to do,
and uh, you have to go out every week with
a high level of preparation and focus with the goal

(39:02):
to win. And that's why we worked so hard. It's
why we put the time that we do into this game,
and that's why we're compensated the way we're compensated.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
Well, you guys certainly did follow through yesterday, I think,
both offensively and defensively. And I was talking with Ben
Lieber earlier about this to me being one of those
games where it looked to me as if, look, your
whole game is a pressure game. Defensively, obviously that's the
B flow game and selectively using those pressures at the

(39:33):
right time. And I felt this looked like one of
those games where Washington was not prepared for it, or
if they were, they didn't know what the hell to
do about it.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
I mean, people are going through lining up with.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
The line of scrimmage and they're not being taken care of.
There's no adjustment being made. It looked like from the pattern,
so it appeared to me that it was a combo
platter of great scheme in this case, right calls being
made and then you guys executing what did you see?

Speaker 7 (40:00):
Well, you said it perfectly. You know, it definitely helps
when we start getting like a two score lead because
we can really lay it on our opponents and continue
to cause that, you know, stress and frustration because of
all the different looks and you know pressure looks that

(40:24):
will give teams. But you know that's that's how you
get to those positions, is playing complimentary football, getting you know,
the ball to your offense. And our offense did a
great job at you know, capitalizing off takeaways off you know,
a short field. You know, they they started fast. So

(40:45):
when all those things come together like that, you know,
it's just a recipe for success. But you know, we
do a really good job at you know, showing the
same look, but then you know, bringing pressure, throwing in
a tricky two coverage, throwing in a tricky three coverage,

(41:07):
bringing outside pressure, bringing into.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Your pressure, all based off.

Speaker 7 (41:11):
The same look.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
And we call that.

Speaker 7 (41:13):
You know, our presentations, you know, every week flow our
other defensive coaches they're talking about our presentations have to
be good on early down and on you know, second,
long and third down situation because you want to continue
to play that game of cat and mouse with your
opponent and you know, whoever's under center.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
You know what's weird to me is the game you
can lose sight of some aspects of the game, just
in the basis of a final score. The Seattle game,
you guys lose twenty six to Oho, and you could say,
well give it. You know, yielding twenty six points isn't
necessarily a great day defensively, But that was also a
game where there were a lot of interceptions, and that
enters into it. And I felt like the defense in

(41:58):
that game had Donald you're a guy you guys know,
well obviously Darnald on his feels a little bit as well,
and that it speaks to your point, it looks different
or plays differently because you're not getting anything going offensively
where you can maybe even be more aggressive. But I
thought you guys certainly played a representative game defensively against Seattle.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
How did you feel about that?

Speaker 7 (42:22):
Yeah? I think we did too. You know, really, I
think majority of the season, give or take a couple
of games, for majority of those football games, we've played
pretty good defense, and I think even the stats and
data would back that up. But the one thing, you know,

(42:44):
if you just want to focus on the deep other
side of the ball, that's been missing this year, yeah,
has been the takeaways. And we are very disruptive, disruptive
and getting takeaways last year. We haven't been able to
attain those goals this year. And you know, when we
were not taking the ball away, uh, you know, that's
just giving the offense, uh, your offensive opponent more opportunities,

(43:08):
and it's it's keeping your own offense on the sideline.
So against Washington, you know, we were able to take
the ball away and and it was a beautiful thing
where offense was able to capitalize when we did. And
that's why we were able to you know, run away
with that game.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
No question about that. You know you missed was it?
Was it a month or a month in change?

Speaker 7 (43:28):
Right?

Speaker 2 (43:28):
With with the with the muscle pull hammy? I believe
games the four games? Okay, So how tell me look
looking back on that? What's that whole process? Like you're
I like most players are all players. I guess you
want to play and it's but it's I feel like
it's the kind of injury you can't rush or you
could end up making things worse. What's that whole process?

(43:51):
And how separated from the team does any player feel
when they're out for that that amount of time.

Speaker 7 (44:00):
You know, when you go on IR, you're on somewhat
of a different schedule as the rest of the team
because your main focus is to get healthy, get your
body and be ready to go. You know right away
when you come off IR to you know, help your
football team win games. But you know, as somebody, that's

(44:21):
when I am on the field the green dot and
and being a linebacker, I'm still in meetings as much
as I can be in and you know, studying the
game plan because you know, just because I'm not playing,
I can you know help the guys that are having
to take on a new role or a bigger role.
So you know, you want to, like you said earlier,

(44:43):
continue to be a professional and you know, add value
where you can to the football team. But you know,
missing games is very frustrated. As players. We put in
a lot of time and effort, and we always say,
you know, they pay us to practice, not play, because
we love game day. That's where that that inner spirit
of when you're you know, a child playing this game

(45:04):
and where you first got to love you You start
feeling those feelings every Sunday because of the love and
passion we have for it. But you're right with with
any soft tissue injury, you have to be very diligent
about your recovery and rehab process because if you're not careful,
those are the type of injuries that can linger and

(45:27):
uh easy to reaggravate as the season goes on, and
that's not good for you, that's not good for the
football team.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
Play Cashman kind of to join us.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
There's a couple more things with him. Harrison Smith gets
another interception yesterday, and what struck me was the conversations
he had with the reporters in the locker room, very emotional,
and he's he's gotten I feel like more that way,
it's almost as if he knows he's closer to the

(45:57):
end than the beginning, and and that that's sort of
sort of setting in with him, that's kind of hitting him.
What are your observations on Obviously, at all time, Viking
is great and the way he sorts sort of is
sort of dealing with things these days.

Speaker 7 (46:13):
You know, I think he you know, handles or at
least in my two years now playing with him, he's
he handles everything as you would expect a future Hall
of Famer to handle things, whether it be a lot
of success or failures. But you know, he's a guy
that he's a face and leader of this football team,

(46:36):
a guy with a lot of experience and knowledge of
the game. And so especially when times get tough, you know,
a lot of players in our locker room, even coaches
you know, lean on him and want to get his opinion,
his two cents on things, because he is such an
important piece of his football team. And I think you know,
with it with you know his like you said, you

(46:58):
know the possibility of you know, his playing day is
coming to an end. You know, he's trying to, you know,
not take a moment for granted, because as football players,
we can always talk about you know that that bond,
the camaraderie you have, you know in the locker room.
You can never replicate that anywhere else. And you know,

(47:18):
those are the moments you're gonna you know, look back
on and and miss the most. So you know, he's
he just continues to embrace every moment, to enjoy his
time with with us and the coaches, and continues to
put his best foot forward no matter what our win
lost columns look like.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
I think you're twenty nine years old. I assume that's
still too young to think about your football mortality or
is it?

Speaker 6 (47:47):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (47:47):
You know I like to think I'm I age, Like fine,
why but yeah, you know the reality of it though,
is uh you know, I probably got less football ahead
than I do. Yeah behind me, you know, but you know,
I just take every every week and every season as
a blessing and uh, it's appreciative I get to still

(48:10):
play this this game and have this job at my age,
and you know, you just you can't you can't lose
sight of that. And that's something that you know, guys
like myself. Are you have to keep doing that self
talk when things get tough, because you know, at the
end of the day, Yeah, it's it sucks where we

(48:33):
expected to be, you know, in the in the playoff
picture right now. But you know, I still get to
wake up every day and go play football for a job,
and uh, that's what I've always wanted, That's what I
want to continue to do. So I just have a
lot of great appreciation for it.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
Very well said.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
We appreciate the time and good luck the rest of
the season. Thanks again, Blake.

Speaker 7 (48:59):
Thank you really appreciate Blake.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Cashman, Vikings linebacker, kind enough to join us on a
Monday afternoon Bratchew Brian Kafan text line is.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Uh, yeah, it's going pretty steadily right now.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
A lot of good stuff, some of it related to
college football and the playoffs and who's in and who's not.
Some reacting to the Vikings victory the Monday night game tonight,
I believe is Eagles Chargers. Correct, Yeah, we picked that
one on Friday, didn't we. I think we just part
of the pick. I believe he is. I believe he well,

(49:32):
I don't know if it's been officially announced, but when
I've been watching him on the field. It certainly looks
like he's given it a go, but who knows.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
I can't miss him. Well, if there's yeah, a fun
that's true.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
A final reading on that, I'm not exactly sure it's
a game I'm assuming we won't have on the fan
because we got wild hockey.

Speaker 5 (49:50):
We will until about eight forty five. Oh okay, then
we switch off. And you saw me in the score
a little bit earlier. I was cutting a liner, as
we say in the business, to tell people that thank
you for listening to Monday and Football right here on
the fan. You can follow it on kfaan plus ninety
six points seven. Now here's Kevin Faulness. It's wild cracking.
Even better, short pregame show again for Falmas. I assume
like the.

Speaker 1 (50:10):
Team minutes probably fifteen there.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
My favorite was nineteen sixty six, Michigan State of Notre
Dame were co champions after their two ten ten tie.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Nothing wrong with the tie.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Sometimes well, I don't think they ended up being co
champions because I believe later that season, and again that
was all ratings back in those days. I believe that season,
at least one of the ratings services I've always ap
or the coaches picked Notre Dame because they finished the season,
I want to say, crushing USC, like fifty one to nothing.

(50:44):
And this was when USC was good, and I think
one of them ended up picking Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Am I wrong?

Speaker 5 (50:49):
The final coaches poll, Yeah, had Notre Dame, right, Okay,
that's it. Yeah, Michigan State number ten two and then
I don't know about the other one.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
Maybe the other one did, but I I that that
not only is a game we've talked about before. We've
had a guest in studio who played in that game.
The great Alan Page participated in ten to ten and
still one of the craziest stories. Yeah, I'm still angrier
with the tie and his coach settling for a tie.

Speaker 5 (51:17):
He is, that's what's crazy about But that's why he's
allan Paige, we're not and we're not, that's exactly or bothered.
And he said, well, that's what the coach wanted to do,
and yeah, there was a we were fine with it.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
There was a gamble to not doing it that way,
and we're you know what if we'd have lost thirteen
to ten, Dan, by the way, Notre Dame did not
participate in bowl games from nineteen twenty five through nineteen
sixty eight.

Speaker 5 (51:37):
According to this Wikipedia, I'm assuming it was academics. Remember
that's yeah, remembering Ohio State turned down a Rose Bowl
one time because the professor is the school said no,
we're not doing that.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Goodbye. But think about it now, think goodbye. Right, that's
how it used to be.

Speaker 5 (51:51):
So what they're doing now basically taking their ball and
saying we're not playing in the the pop tart ball,
which was the ball they were going to go toes.
Did you see did you see that ad on dan
Patrick Todell? Whatzele tweet it because it's such a great
Wetzel line, But it's a direct quote from the ad
nothing against pop tarts?

Speaker 1 (52:11):
How stupid?

Speaker 5 (52:11):
College football is nothing against pop tarts, But we're not
doing the game.

Speaker 2 (52:15):
You know what was on Turner Classic Movies just within
the last three or four days, Kanute Rockney, Oh yeah,
all American, the famous film black and white film and
going going back a century probably and it it did
indicate a very different time in college football back in
the I think he coached in the twenties and thirties,

(52:36):
didn't he Canute sounds right and he wasn't Newt, at
least to his friends or his associates, a notre name.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
He was Canut. I never knew that.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
I don't know what the you know what he how
he pronounced it, and you also know that he died
in a plane crash. I do think I knew that
Rockney All American is a great movie. I get bored
featuring a young up and coming actor named Ronald Ray.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Didn't that craziest of you know? All right, let's get
caught up.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
We got some more Vikings talking points to discuss, and
we'll get back to the college football controversy on who's
in who's out in the post scenes.

Speaker 1 (53:11):
There's nothing like live hockey.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
You can experience Minnesota Wild Action at Grand Casino Arena
all season long, including Wild versus Stars on December eleventh
and Wild Versus Capitals on December sixteenth. Secure tickets now
at wild dot com, slash tickets and join the excitement.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Dan Minnesota's retweeted a piece of film from nineteen sixty six,
and it's it's being shown now because it matches. Apparently
Vikings Cowboys as a nineteen sixty six loss at the
Cotton Bowl.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
But the video is remarkable in that.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
It does, as it says via the account Vike Fans,
we show people who are too young to have seen
him what scrambling from fran Targanton look like a remarkable
seventeen point two five seconds before.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
He completed the pass.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
And it is astonishing because he literally goes from one
side of the backfield to the other side of the backfield,
back to the other side of the backfield, and in fact,
what he's rolling to the right, he cocks his arm
like he's gonna throw it, then brings the ball back
to his body, goes all the way back across the
field before he actually throws the pass, and it's a

(54:38):
completion at the risk of making the PST. You know
the quarterback right now who reminds me the most of
Targenton regarding his capability, and it's Caleb Williams. I see
a little of Caleb Williams in him in and he

(55:00):
showed some of that in the Green Bay game where
he even by modern you know, running quarterback standards, it
was just absurd how he was getting out of sacks
and targeted was a master at doing exactly that. Now
we talked about Sir Francis Sunday because did you hear
about his comments during a w f AN interview. No, so,

(55:23):
I don't know if he was hawking something because this
was in studio. I think it was with Boomer.

Speaker 5 (55:27):
Okay, and somehow he probably was the that's what he does,
which is fine, that's fair.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
Yeah, that's absolutely fine. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
But what's interesting was he was musing about he was
a quarterback for three of the four Viking Super Bowl losses,
and he was musing that one of the regrets he
has is that Bud did not believe in any practicing
in that dead week in between, you know, the two

(55:57):
week stretch between many super end of the playoffs in
Super Bowl. Interesting week one, fran Is claiming Bud never practiced,
the team never practiced, and he's trying to hold out
of that as maybe a partial explanation for how badly
the Vikings played in those Super Bowls. Now, what was

(56:20):
really interesting was he also said that he was responsible,
he was responsible for putting in the offense most weeks,
but that he didn't put in the offense for any
of those Super Bowl weeks because he was in Atlanta
because the team was off.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Now there's a lot of questions that follow up.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
To ask him, I would say, including, well, you didn't
have to leave I mean United State. And secondly, how
does the late great Jerry Burns feel about it? He
is he turning over in his grave saying, wait a minute,
I did have a lot to do with that offense too,
so I don't know it. You know, targeted had very
poor numbers postseason in the in the super Bowl, one

(57:06):
of those he has allegedly hurt his arm was was
not in good shape, but he did not have very
good numbers. I think for the three games combined, he's
like one touchdown, six picks, and his quarterback rating was
JJ McCarthy like to be honest with you before yesterday,
before yes before it all turned But you know, I
do think it's it's a little weird to not practice

(57:26):
at all. I will say that although that was a
long time ago, even though we know the Bud philosophy
was less is more, But I also think that might
be moved too simple an explanation all these decades later
for explaining the team's difficulties in those games.

Speaker 5 (57:40):
He has talked, he talked with you about the offense
that he and Burnsy put together together. I do remember
that vividly that he at least tried to take partial
credit at that point with Burnsey for what they did
offensively and how they came up with it and how
they developed it and how they nurtured it.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
So that you know, that's one of the mistakes I made.
I'm not sure I ever asked Burns see that question.
How much did Fran have to do?

Speaker 1 (58:05):
I wonder. I don't think I ever. I bet you
I never had.

Speaker 5 (58:07):
Last time we had burnsy on was around the time
that we had Fran on, so it may have come up.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Yeah, I'm not.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Even sure it ever came up with Bud on how
I know we talked about Fran, but I don't know
that we ever talked about Fran in context of what
it was the offense.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Those I think about, you know, what a what a
you know regret.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
I have that because I would have loved to hear hurt,
to have heard both of their answers.

Speaker 5 (58:32):
Yes, Buds and Burns. I can envision both of them
in my head. Yes, having a different version. Yes, I
think you're probably Fran. The non practicing thing is interesting
because now the whole cliche now is and That's what
I love about just sports and sports media is that
as time goes on, like right now, I'm gonna say
this tomorrow on pairing to Spare. One of my favorite

(58:53):
things about being a Heisman voter is this week you
have to say it's a requirement, you have to say
our vote. We're due on Monday. We're not allowed to
say who we voted for until it's you'll hear that
fifty times this week and more than that, if you
listen to any college football stuff, we can't tell you
who we voted for, okay until it's out. Once it's out,
and we can tell you like anybody cares like it's

(59:14):
just my favorite little side thing. I can't tell you
who I voted for. But super Bowl, the super Bowl covers.
Now it's well, the team is going to get most
of their practicing done on site in the in the
open week, because once you get to the super Bowl
practicing you can do. It's madness, it's chaos, worried about
family ticket. You got to make sure you get your
family right. But that's that's why the what Franz said

(59:36):
to me is interesting. Then that they had the off
week and that they first of all. I just I
it does sound like Bud that they you know, he
probably wanted to go ice fishing. That does sound right,
But why would the players leave for an extended period
of time.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (59:49):
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Check a
couple of you said we ought to check with Chuck Foreman,
and we could. That's very true, it's not, but you
haven't had Chuck on it.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Right now.

Speaker 5 (59:58):
I'm thinking I'm laughing about it all of that. I'm
hearing all of their responses to all of this because
we've had them on so long.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
It's true, that might be, it might be kind of fun.
We do have a little more. We got some more
vikings talking points to get to our final half hour.
The program will also let you know what's coming up
later tonight on the fan. It's kind of a busy
sports night, both locally for our local teams and nationally
in the National Football League as well, so we'll keep
you abreast there. When we were Oh, I thought maybe

(01:00:45):
you had something. I'll just let those those fifty little announcements.

Speaker 5 (01:00:49):
Yeah, once you hit the mic line, though, I let's
see your MIC's on. I usually lay out, okay, I
could tell you that you could experience world class hockey
in Minnesota. I don't see why not the twenty twenty
six IIHF World Junior Showcase, the future stars of the
game and an unforgettable tournament. And you can secure your
seats now at mnsportsanevents dot org and be part of
hockey history.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
Justin Herbert is cleared and is scheduled to start for
the Los Angeles Chargers of San Diego tonight Monday night
football in Los Angeles, right next to the Fabulous Forum
in Inglewood against the Philadelphia Eagles. There you have it, Chargers,

(01:01:31):
a team I can't really get a handle on, and
Eagles and they sometimes they're both champions. Yeah, that's it
might seem a little bit strange real quick before we
get to another talking point or two. Did my Hoosiers
receive a good draw? I think they have to play
the winner of Alabama Oklahoma?

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Correct?

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
I think that's who IU plays it Indiana gets a bye,
and then I believe that's.

Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
Who they would they would play in their.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
First game, second round of the tournament, with their first
game in the Rose Bowl. Yeah, by the way, you
got to go to that. It's too much work. I
think it's working all. I love being in the Barker.
You know me, Alabama, what do we do? I mean,
Alabama doesn't scare me. I don't think. But Bozich told
me Oklahoma. Oklahoma's defense is outstanding. Yeah, yeah, I mean,

(01:02:19):
if I'm looking.

Speaker 5 (01:02:21):
Seeing who else, I'd probably prefer the winner of Old
Miss and Tulane, which is who Georgia gets.

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
Is that true? Yeah, that's annoying. How'd that hall? That's
because of the way the ranks just work.

Speaker 5 (01:02:34):
Yeah, and if you recall part of the reason why
they changed it this year with the non power for
conference champions. Remember last year like Boise State gotta buy,
I think Arizona State gotta buy. They got rid of
that because Oregon at the Rose Bowl had to play
like eight seed Ohio State first round after being the
number one overall team. So I would kind of say, no,

(01:02:57):
they didn't get a great draw given. Yeah, it's Miami,
Texas A and m that will play Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (01:03:03):
I think that one's going to be in Dallas. But
you gotta do what you gotta do. I guess either
either you're good enough to handle it or not. That's
true at some point. There's some truth to that too,
although I might be scanting a different story they if
they end up losing, but that parts one hundred percent true.
We got more vikings talking points to discuss, including this
one we like to call channeling.

Speaker 1 (01:03:27):
KOC. That'll be a gain of two yards.

Speaker 8 (01:03:30):
That'll make it second and goal from the two for
the Washington Commanders.

Speaker 9 (01:03:35):
But you mentioned the success that the Commanders have had
in the red zone, and that's just because of the
running game right third in the league going into this
game six on a per play basis, Rodriguez averaging ten
yards of carry on this opening drive. It's no mystery.
What makes you better as a red zone offense when
your run threat is true. They have an extra offensive
lineman checked in at tight end, so probably another.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
Run right here.

Speaker 8 (01:03:58):
That's Brandon Coleman to the left to left tackle Laramie
Tunsls second in goal offset I right play action. Daniels
floats out to the left. Now he's gonna loop it
and throw it into the tunnel out of the end zone.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
Third down.

Speaker 9 (01:04:12):
Now, when you're averaging eight yards of carry as Rodriguez,
to go ahead and throw the football, I mean they
tried to trick us. A great job by Byron Murphy Junior,
just snipping that thing out in the past.

Speaker 8 (01:04:24):
The Brandon Coleman went in complete third and goal for
Washington from the one. Jadan Daniels out of the shotgun
Rodriguez to his left. Daniels takes the snap on third down.
He'll roll out to the right eyes in the end zone.
He's encountered and he throws it away and now trailing

(01:04:44):
seven zero with two forty six pe goal in the
first quarter. The Commanders have a fourth and goal from
the one. Two receivers left Daniel's empty backfield, three receivers
right now takes the snap on fourth down, bounces around,
fires to the end zone an deepo Samuel back center
of the end zone, putting hold onto it. Josh a

(01:05:06):
woman tell us with excellent coverage kind of vikings have
turned over the Commanders on downs.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
It really is uncanny how often these these geniuses can
outsmart themselves. And you heard it from versus, basically foreshadowing
the whole thing. Eight yards of carry. They got an
extra tight end coming in. Run the ball. Look again,
you don't have to run it on every down, but
don't you have to run it on one of those,

(01:05:33):
if not two or three of those, and maybe it
wouldn't have mattered because they really were not very competitive
from that point forward.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
But any chance they had to be in the ball game,
that was it. I mean, that was it. It's seven.

Speaker 8 (01:05:46):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
Even Blake Cashman said when you get up fourteen to nothing,
we can play with our toys even more, and that
we can throw stuff around and we can be even
more aggressive, and we can, you know, be a little
bit more daring try those things. There's I think there's
a lot of truth to that, especially with the way
Beflow wants to play defense. So we'll never know if
it would have changed at seven to seven. It was
just it was uncanny to me that soliloquy that Burst's

(01:06:11):
just had. I kept it all in there because I
don't remember which game it was. He had the exact
same soliloquy about Kevin O'Connell about the Vikings.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
At some point this season.

Speaker 5 (01:06:23):
It was one of the one of the weeks where
run the ball was a talking point. It could have
been three or four of them. I remember doing that
a lot, but it was the same thing, like, yeah,
we're running the ball. Let's get right up here. This
is a running situation, got another tight end, let's go
and then Pa says McCarthy back to pass. It's just
you can't make it. That's the whole thing up. Yeah,
and Bersich obviously sees the game clearly, so I'm sure

(01:06:44):
he's pleasantly stunned when Washington does that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 2 (01:06:47):
It really did look like Koc the the old Koc was.
Was was almost like, Okay, well, if I can't call
the game for my team the way I want to,
let me at least call it for the other team
the way I want to, and then I, you know,
might enjoy myself a little bit more. So we'll, uh,
we'll agree that that even as it was happening, yep,
not after the fact, even though it was happening, You're going, really,

(01:07:09):
who is the big guys the Rodriguez I think that
was his name. They had a big lummocks of a
running back who looked like a battering ram for God's sake, yep.
And again, over the course of the game, he didn't
stay as effective as he was early. But it's just
it's just a very bad look for Washington.

Speaker 5 (01:07:25):
You know why, though. You know why they're doing it.
Their offensive coordinator forty six year old, Yes, great BMI.

Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
Yes, Clift Kingsbury. You're right. The BMI boys can help them.

Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
He's the old Texas tech you know, air raids, sling
it all around quarterback former head coach Cardinals correct, like
they can't help themselves.

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
The BMI boys love to sling it. There's a hundred
that's one hundred percent true.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
We were talking with the Cashman about Hitman who got
an interception. Read the play perfectly bad trow but a
great re as well.

Speaker 8 (01:08:00):
It is second and nine for Washington Mariota going out
of the shotgun. Deebo Samuel in the backfield flexes out
to the left Mariota, He's going to throw to the left.

Speaker 6 (01:08:10):
In intercepting by Harrison Smith had a hit Man.

Speaker 8 (01:08:14):
Turns it up to the forty and he's taken down
at the thirty six yard line. That is the thirty
eighth interception in Harrison Smith's story career, meaning he has
passed Joey Browner her sole possession of fourth all time
in the annals of Minnesota Vikings history.

Speaker 2 (01:08:34):
My sources say the place was not full and it
was clear on the basis of even watching from the
barka that the folks were kind of tired and bored
and disinterested early.

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
Yeah, it almost was we're waiting to shower.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
Booze down upon you, and then they were like disappointed
that they couldn't because the team was dominating. We're playing well,
or yeah, we're actually in good shape, we're running the balls.
It didn't look like the atmosphere that we associate with
Minnesota Vikings football, and that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
It does make sense.

Speaker 5 (01:09:12):
It's not about the atmosphere was appropriate for how the
last month has gone.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
Searing can be hard, just like in the predictions.

Speaker 5 (01:09:19):
Yeah, I can't imagine being super on fire to be
at the game when you've got four and eight versus
three and nine. Right, that's not what you signed up for.
That's not what anybody signed up for. It that it's
tough on everybody. So that makes a ton of sense.
Can you get the breaking news sounder?

Speaker 2 (01:09:34):
By the way, that's too good if it's true and
it's espian so it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:39):
Must be Oh my gosh, Yeah, I just saw a
tweet about this.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
The Indianapolis Colts will work out Philip Rivers tomorrow in
the Lake Rivers news that your guy Daniel Jones is
out with an achilles another achilles?

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
Philip?

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
How old is Philip Rivers? How long has he been
out of the game? Was he just out last year?
Was that the was that the only season? Has it
been out two years?

Speaker 8 (01:10:00):
Are?

Speaker 5 (01:10:01):
I feel like it's two? How many people do you
think are googling Philip Rivers right.

Speaker 2 (01:10:05):
Now after this very last played in twenty twenty, according
to ESPN, last played in the NFL five years ago?
This is this is like a Jeff George kind of story,
isn't it It is? He's only forty four, he still
got you know, he's got an arm. Oh yeah, it's
never been the issue with Phil Rivers. No, God, it's

(01:10:27):
hard not to root for that story, isn't is it?
I mean, that'd be great, even if it ends up
being a disaster. It would add a little curiosity to
the Colts, who seem to be a little bit in
free fault.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
At this point, we've got a.

Speaker 2 (01:10:43):
One more Vikings talking point to discuss, and one Texter
who says that I got it all wrong yet again,
regarding the number of people in the seats and the
crowd enthusiasm. So we'll address all of that and that
last point when we returned.

Speaker 5 (01:11:02):
Show rap presented by American Pressure commercial grade Pressure washers
since nineteen seventy five.

Speaker 1 (01:11:06):
It's the bumper to bumper show wrap.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
This is an interesting theory being offered up by someone
who said he was there a pretty full definitely n
one hundred percentful. Part of the reason the crowd, or
at least I wasn't into it early, was because McCarthy
wasn't very good from the get go. Terrible throw to
Addison right before the first TD. Then the TD was
late and behind him, making it harder than it needed

(01:11:33):
to be. So yeah, it was great to get a
TD and drive one, but it's becoming increasingly concerning for
JJ as a as a fan, more concerned about next
year than this year.

Speaker 1 (01:11:41):
They call me negative. Yeah, I don't know what to
tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
I thought he looked especially compared to how he had looked,
relatively sharp, precise. Like I said earlier, I would call
it more of an adult quarterback performance, even if it
wasn't particularly flashy and not perfect.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
But I mean, what do I know? I do we
have time for what that last talking point, Yeah, we've
got about six seven minutes here.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
It's under that classification of turnovers and takeaways which we
talked about with Blake Cashman, who acknowledged, though we've one
thing we haven't done enough of defensively this year is
is taking the ball away, and certainly the offense has
given it away too much.

Speaker 1 (01:12:20):
And then the Commanders came to town.

Speaker 8 (01:12:22):
Fourth and three from the Pikings nineteen three receivers left
and one to the right. Jalen Daniels clapping for the
ball three on the play clock, gets a.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Drows loop right clip that is.

Speaker 1 (01:12:35):
Picked up by Andrew can't.

Speaker 6 (01:12:38):
Go and he goes steon into the fifteenth to the forty,
been sign the thirty and that's where he's taken down.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
The chick is on fire with.

Speaker 8 (01:12:48):
This first interception this season. Second and nine for Washington,
Mariota going out with the shotgun. Deebo Samuel in the backfield,
flexes out to the left. Mariota he's gonna throw to
the left and.

Speaker 6 (01:13:01):
Intercept in by Harrison Smith and a hit man turns
it up to the forty and he's taken down at
the thirty six yard line.

Speaker 8 (01:13:11):
That is the thirty eighth interception in Harrison Smith's storied career,
meaning he has passed Joey Browner her sole possession of
fourth all time in the annals of Minnesota Vikings history.

Speaker 6 (01:13:27):
Washington three and nine.

Speaker 8 (01:13:28):
On third down, Nick Nichols in the game is the
back with that nice pass protection and Marcus Mariota goes
out of the shotgun. It's a four man rush. The
veteran sprints out to the right outside the numbers. He
pumps and he turns it up at the twenty ball
popped out.

Speaker 1 (01:13:44):
But is it a recovered fumble by Javon Harvrave.

Speaker 8 (01:13:48):
Yes, it is jay Von Harvrave recovered to fumble. The
Vikings are plus three in the take give and they're
doing all of that with a thirty one zero lead
middle of a fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (01:14:04):
It's a simpler game, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
We all know that when you're up three or three
to zero in the takeaway turnover department as supposed being
down oh three. You know, I just happened to notice
next to the talking Pointsami part Okay, that might have

(01:14:30):
been one of my favorite tsunamis of all time was
that last year.

Speaker 5 (01:14:33):
It had to have been potatoes back they're still around.
I had some last week I.

Speaker 2 (01:14:38):
Think we needed that inspiration to get back in the
Snownami mode. We missed one already that was at least callable,
And I think if we're.

Speaker 1 (01:14:46):
Going to get I guess the questions were they going
to get enough.

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
Snow any of these days that it'll amount to an
amount that will make it. I guess, you know, justifiable
to name a snami because we need one, don't.

Speaker 5 (01:15:00):
We yea, and tonight the snow is less than half
an inch accumulation possible, same thing tomorrow one to three
maybe tomorrow all right, and then one to two for
tomorrow night, So to mostly we could do it.

Speaker 2 (01:15:12):
It may get yeah, may end up being enough to
where we can have some fun with that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
For for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:15:19):
Hitman looked like he felt bad. He had to intercept that.
Washington looks so disinterested at that point, it was almost sheepish.

Speaker 5 (01:15:27):
Well, so Drew Brees is trying to explain where Mariota
was going. Yes, I don't think Drew Brees was correct.
I don't think he knew. He's like he was looking
for the deep curl around. There was nobody there.

Speaker 1 (01:15:39):
There's nobody there that I could see.

Speaker 5 (01:15:40):
There was nobody in the vicinity I don't think that's
how bad of a throw it was, well, but you
gotta take him. You got to catch the ones that
they throw together. That's also true, which we haven't always
been very good at doing. I want to thank an
outstanding a ray of guests today that included John Athletic
at three thirty if you like to podcast the show later,

(01:16:01):
Ben Lieber usual time for forty seven, and Blake Cashman,
Vikings linebacker joined us. Had a nice conversation with him
at about five fifteen today. Tomorrow is usually a Luigi day,
but Louie is going to join us this week on Wednesday,
so tomorrow. Right now we have Kevin Seffert and working

(01:16:21):
on a couple of other possibilities as well on the
Tuesday show. I also want to give you some programming
reminders for tonight on the Fan when once we wrap
up in a matter of minutes here, Vikings rewind will
follow as is usual, and then you'll hear the start
of Monday Night football on the Flagship, and that is

(01:16:42):
Chargers hosting the Philadelphia Eagles. Then there will be an
abrupt departure for Wild versus Kraken tonight and a.

Speaker 1 (01:16:54):
Fifty you think it's a fifteen minute pregame show. Yes,
what times about eight forty five.

Speaker 2 (01:16:58):
And in addition, and don't forget that if you're interested
in the Wolves, tonight they're hosting the Phoenix Suns and
Anthony Edwards is a slated to play somebody, will you
double that might not be enough time yet, that Phoenix
might be down a player or two.

Speaker 1 (01:17:14):
We'll double check that if we have time.

Speaker 5 (01:17:16):
They are out. Devin Booker. Booker is out. Yeah, Booker
has a right groin strings rather large.

Speaker 2 (01:17:22):
But of course we've been there before where then we've
relaxed for whatever reason. That game will be available to
you tonight via the Timberwolves channel. That's via the iHeart
Radio app, so you'll you know, you can listen to
whatever you want. You just have to have the app
and hit the presets and you're gonna be all set
for tonight. We went to the game Saturday, Oh good
for us, And that was the Wally Duck game.

Speaker 1 (01:17:44):
The Wally Duck game. He was there.

Speaker 5 (01:17:46):
He did not appear too interested in throwing out the
T shirts. Oh really, He threw a couple and then
he was bored with hut. He was there too, Troy
Hudson he was sitting next to was there. He was there,
but it was Wally's night. He signed autographs a couple
of different times. But we got into our car and
I turned on the fan. Yeah, and it must have
been wild or something. Had a wild game later, and
I said, where's the Wolves game? I thought, because I

(01:18:07):
want to hear Horton's post game and I want to
hear Finchy of course. And I sat there while we
were waiting to get out, and I fired up the
Timberwolves channel and my Heart radio and the Wolves channels.

Speaker 1 (01:18:16):
A preset.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
You don't have to worry about signal strength any of
that stuff right there, listen to Horton's three facults. We
have to have internet, Yeah, you gotta have. You have
to have, you know, bluetooth for the via your car whatever.
How are you you get your however you consume, consume
your content, not consuming.

Speaker 5 (01:18:33):
I don't know why it's all about content and consuming verticals.
It sounds better. I prefer the industry is obsessed with it,
watching or.

Speaker 2 (01:18:40):
Listening or whatever the case be. But I guess that's
the way it necessarily has to be. Uh So we'll
we I've got I think an outside shot at either
Mitch Lawrence tomorrow or Sam Mitchell tomorrow. We haven't had
Sam on at all, I think, since the start of
the season, so that would be my goal. We have
had Mitch on I think once before, but if Sam's

(01:19:00):
not available, we may go to Mitch and a couple
of other things up our sleeve as well. Maybe even
might even put in a request for your guy and
my guy, lou Regoose, who's lately been offering up some
interesting videos. We played one of them, there was another
one today where he's I think, kind of attempting to

(01:19:21):
counter clap back media narrative elsewhere via the start to
view in my former newspaper. So maybe we'll put Regoose
into the mix as well, if at all possible, based
on his schedule. We appreciate your participation in today's program,
and we hope that you'll join us again when we
recommence start the whole thing all over again, beginning at

(01:19:42):
three o'clock. Now. For your kindness, thank you for your vision,
for your spirituality, for healing me, mostly though, Dan, thank
you for my life