Minnesota Vikings Podcast: 11-13-25

Tatum Everett from VEN is back for the MVP!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Man, Welcome into the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I am your host,
Tatum Everett from the Vikings Entertainment Network. The Purple are
gearing up for a huge NFC North showdown against the
Chicago Bears this Sunday at us Bank Stadium.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
The Vikings come in.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
At four and five, looking to bounce back after a
tough loss to Baltimore, while the Bears are riding high
at six and three with Caleb Williams leading a string
of late game heroics.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
We've got a great lineup for you on this show.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
ESPN's Courtney Cronin checks in to chat about the Bears,
who have been four and one since the bye. Plus,
we have Eric Nordquist from nine to noon to give
us a Roobs perspective into Sunday's divisional game. We'll dive
into key matchups and all the storylines heading into Sunday's
matinee matchup, bringing us in on this lovely Thursday. Although

(00:53):
we record this on a Tuesday, it is Eric Nordquist
from nine to noon.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
I like to.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Preface these with that because it's it is so hard
sometimes to really focus on the game ahead when we
are sitting here recording on a Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Do you find that more difficult?

Speaker 4 (01:06):
You mean, like we're still reeling a little bit on
a Tuesday, right, a little bit. Wow, everything that happened
against the Ravens game was within reach. But it is
theater of the mind though, because there are those out there,
wonderful listeners of the fan. It's a Thursday for you.
So I'm going to say, happy Thursday, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
All those beautiful weekend here?

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, now that we're entering week eleven and I have
only played two division games, So as much as maybe
the four and five record isn't pretty, they're not out. No,
you're not, because you could still win all these divisional games.
Get the birth right. So that's the positivity optimistic outlook
right then and there. But when you think about this

(01:45):
Bears team that we've only faced what ten weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Ago, Yeah, it feels like they have had.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
A shift and identity the more that they have played.
How have you seen that play out?

Speaker 4 (01:56):
Well, not necessarily as much as shift, but an evolution
and the creation of an identity where Ben Johnson, you know,
what are you going to get week one out of
your team? First chance leading the team? What are you
know behind the scenes. He talked about tearing Caleb Williams
down to the studs and trying to rebuild him after
his rookie year last year.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
With a different coach and ibra flus.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
How much can you really take from Week one in
terms of the QB you saw on Caleb Williams different,
the running attack that you you know it was. It
was fine at times, they got swift down to space,
but overall really not very effective against the Purple Week one.
The only game that they lost to the Ravens was
the one game in which they weren't able to really
get things going on the ground. So the Bears we'll

(02:37):
see on Sunday are different than the Bears we saw
week one. But I think in the spirit of what
Ben Johnson wants to do, it's still going to come
down to some similar principles where if you can limit
the run, talked about that a lot this year. But
then then in terms of Caleb Williams, the playmaking ability,
second chance opportunities, He's making fewer mistakes, the play actions

(02:59):
working better, and they're finding some aggression through the air
with some explosives. This is a different team than what
we saw. It's also a team. I think specifically from
a yards perspective, I'm excited to see JJ McCarthy get
up and down the field nicely on Sunday against these Bears.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
What did you make of Jalen Naylor's emergens in this game?
And can you how confident could you be at this
point to feel like the Vikings have may have found
their wide receiver number three?

Speaker 4 (03:31):
Well, yeah, I think I think Jalen Naylor in some
ways it shouldn't be a new revelation, at least in
the regard where I think when when Jordan Addison a
year ago was out for a game, may have been
like Week two. Let's just say he was out the
Niners game. I forget there was one or two games
there early on where Addison missed. Naylor started the season

(03:55):
off with a touchdown in three straight games to begin
the season, and it felt like the season turn for
him with the Lambeau muff on the punt in that
game late first half, teams up like twenty eight and nothing.
It got way more interesting than it should have been
and Vikings get out with the victory.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
So we dig that.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
But then he just kind of he kind of disappeared,
and so you know, I think with JJ McCarthy, you
see whether it's the Ravens game.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean, how about how about.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
Seven total catches for Addison and Jefferson this last Sunday
on twenty three targets. Meanwhile, right out of the gates,
how about Naylor? And and that's a play by the
way where the kid QB who's made some mistakes, also
does some cool things where he identifies coverage sees he's
going to have that opportunity Addison with the legal yet

(04:45):
kind of if he pick play to get one one
v one on Naylor and then you just have to
have the beautiful, gorgeous fade ball that you saw that
we would be lauding the Mahomes and the josh Allens
of the world for seeing the same pass we saw
that from JJ. And then he makes the play Naylor
does after the catch to to make you know, a
thirty yard catch sixty two So you dig that, Yeah,

(05:07):
I mean I think he he right now. And speaking
of cricket sounders, in lieu of TJ. Hawkinson being productive
in this offense, the third best option for JJ McCarthy
absolutely is Jalen Naylor, a guy that the coach is lauded,
you know, and again he's he's not lighting up the statue,
but he's running the routes. I would bet Jalen Naylor's

(05:30):
probably been missed on three four five touchdowns this year
just by being in a just a high end route runner,
consistent production coverage being drawn to number eighteen and number three,
and Naylor's been that guy and it was cool to
see him have that jump out game.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Love it. Look man, what a roller coaster this season.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, I know. Thank you so much for your time,
marnopgiate you. You can also catch him on fan line
after the games on kfan as well as with Paul
Allen on nine to noon every weekday on KF. We'll
have more for you have the break, including a fun
catchup with ESPN's Courtney Cronin, who covers the Bears regularly,

(06:09):
and she will join us to talk a little bit
more about Caleb Williams and them Bears. Woo say hello
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Speaker 2 (06:42):
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Speaker 1 (06:44):
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luxury of Spallan Montage. Welcome back into the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.

(07:07):
I'm Tatum Everett from the Vikings Entertainment Network and the
Vikes are back in divisional play this week, so let's
get to it. It's Bears week, so that means we
get the pleasure of having ESPN's Courtney Cronin on our
Channel's Courty obviously used to cover the Vikings, but now
you cannot miss.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Her on ESPN.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
She'll be covering the Vikings Bears game at us Bank
Stadium for ESPN NFL Countdown on.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Sunday, Courtney.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Wonderful to say, you're excited to come back to Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Anytime I get to go back to Minnesota, which was
home for so long, and to play the game indoors
where I don't have to stand outside early in the
morning and freeze, I will sign up for that. Ten
out of ten.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, that's the one thing I'm sure you missed a
little bit about this place. But speaking of the Bears,
who have been really turned their season around, they only
have one loss in the last seven games. What's really
led to their success in recent weeks.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well, I think Vikings fans can resonate with this because
they remember all those one score games their team was
in back in twenty twenty two, and this sort of
has a little feel like that here in Chicago. Given
the way that the Bengals game went, and then this
last weekend against the New York Giants, and of course
Washington in Week six and the Raiders before that, there's

(08:23):
been a little bit of this like heart palpitation sort
of thing that the Bears have given their fans over
the last couple of weeks. Given that they're now a
six and three team and they've gotten by and by
the skin of their teeth on a couple of these games,
and certainly the key to that has been Caleb Williams
putting this team in position with four fourth quarter game
winning drives the season, tied for the most in the

(08:46):
NFL currently. But beyond that, like big picture wise, this
team is winning games that it would have lost a
year ago, and players have admitted that. Ben Johnson has
said just as much too, that you learn how to
win like you learn how to shrink the margins when
you can close the gap on teams that you might
have let hang around far too long in a game

(09:08):
that you didn't put away when you had an opportunity to,
when you let penalties come into play, when you let
teams back in games the way they did two weeks
ago in Cincinnati. But being on the winning end of those,
you're not going to apologize for wins. Certainly they wish
that they could, you know, and hopefully for that their sake,
to be able to carry this thing forward, to be
able to win games far sooner than the final two minutes.

(09:28):
But they've shown that they can pull it off, and
so far it's worked and has them sitting tied for
first place. In the division.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, I mean, how how much of that is the
Ben Johnson effect?

Speaker 3 (09:41):
I think that's a big part of it, And there
seems to be a different level of coaching acumen and
decision making when it comes to late game situations. And
the play that I like to point out comes from
Cincinnati two weeks ago. It's not just that the defense
gives up two touchdowns in a forty nine second stretch
and then Caleb Williams go and hits Colston Lovelin for
that fifty eight yard touchdown. To me, it's the plays

(10:05):
beyond that. In the final sequence with Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Flacco,
who has a bum shoulder, is getting ready to launch
a hail Mary pass, and unlike the hail Mary of
last year, that torpedo the Bear season, they rush the
pass or this time they send for they pressure, they're aggressive,
they're on the attack. That to me is emblematic of
what this coaching staff is bringing to these games and

(10:27):
bringing to their players that their players are then taking
into games. It's a competency thing that I think boils
down to the very nitty gritty level from play to play,
where they've got coaches that trust their players, but players
who also know that their coaches are going to put
them in a better situation than we would have seen
last year at this time, and that has carried over

(10:48):
to the belief that they have in each other, the
belief that this locker room has, that you've got a
quarterback who has a switch he can flip in a
two minute mode, whether it's at the end of the
first half, end of the second half, the second highest
QBR in the NFL right now two minutes or less
either half. So clearly they've got the right people in
place right now to be able to be sitting at

(11:09):
six and three. But I also know that they talk
about the fact that nothing is clean enough just yet
you got to put together like they have not played
a full complimentary football game this year, and that still
remains to be seen how and when they will do that.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, this is does feel like some of the Vikings games.
How you when you speak about this team, some of
the Vikings teams from twenty twenty two and even some
of those games last year, very very familiar. And someone
who's very familiar with this Bears offense is Vikings defensive
coordinator Brian Flores, who said today that Caleb Williams thrives
in these late game situations.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Now, how have you seen that play out?

Speaker 3 (11:50):
He's right, he does thrive. And I know that Caleb
made this remark a couple of weeks ago that his
heart rate actually drops in those moments, So I just
figured I was like, let me ask him about this,
like do you measure your heart right? He's like, well, no,
it's not like he's wearing an Apple watch, but it's
more of a feeling where I actually do think like
in more pressure packed moments he performs better. And maybe

(12:10):
it's because of a processing he doesn't have to process
as much. Maybe it's just seaball get ball sort of
thing for the receivers in that moment, and it feels
like the game, like I don't want to use the
cliche term, slows down for him, but it feels simpler
because it's a do or die situation. And really, the
last two weeks we've seen him get this team in

(12:31):
position with his legs to go win games Like that
fifty eight yard touchdown pass to Colston Lovelin does not
happen in Cincinnati unless he converts that critical third down
with his legs. Last week, the twenty nine yard scramble,
which was the longest of his career, sets up the
two yard touchdown pass to get the Bears back in
in the fourth quarter, and then the go ahead scores
him running in a seventeen yard touchdown. So we know

(12:53):
that he can make plays out of structure and he
can make throws on the run. That's his bread and butter.
That's what one a heisman at USC But I think
him tapping into his legs as a weapon. Like I
talked to Dj Moore, Bears wide receiver, about this on
Sunday and he said, I feel like he's got the
green light more because he's seeing defenses playing two man

(13:13):
quarters man to man. It's giving him more running lanes
to be able to attack a team that he might
not have shown on tape at previous points of his career.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
He's twenty plus games into his career as a.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Starter by now, and a lot of talk is made about,
you know, working quarterbacks coming in they need that time
to develop. You've watched this process play out for Caleb.
How do you think the process is going to play
out or what are you seeing from the process with
JJ McCarthy Now four games in and really just finding
that consistency.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
I think for JJ it's different just because it's been
stop start with injuries and he you know, he has
a great game here in Chicago in Week one, and
then the setback happens against Atlanta week two, and then
he's out, he misses a significant amount of time and
then to get back on the field. You know, for Caleb,
he's had a clean bill of health, which I know

(14:06):
is not a guarantee by any stretch in the NFL,
and that has helped him stay consistent out there because
he's not missing time. We know that Kevin O'Connell has
done a really solid job throughout his career of developing
different types of quarterbacks, older, established veteran quarterbacks, younger quarterbacks
who you know, have shown that they have the capability

(14:29):
but haven't put all of that potential together yet. So
I still think that the you know what he's doing
with JJ McCarthy, it's you get an incomplete grade on
it right now because there's just not a big enough
sample size to see the development in action. I think
that JJ had some good moments against the Detroit Lions
and that win, but then what happened against the Baltimore

(14:49):
Ravens and the two interceptions that he threw early and
some of the off target passes. Those are things that
you work through as a young quarterback. And when you
have a play caller who was so who was dedicated
to you your development, will you're the guy that he chose,
there's going to be that different level of emphasis on
I'm going to help sure or I'm going to help
make sure that you get it right. I mean, we
saw it here with Caleb Williams. Ben Johnson looked at

(15:11):
Caleb the day he was hired in the audience and said,
I came here because of you, but it's going to
take more than just you to make this thing work,
which I think is the case for any young quarterback.
But it's unique to see around the league right now,
the play callers and these second year qbs, the six
of whom were drafted in the first round. Bonix has

(15:33):
already had proof of concept because he got this team
to the playoffs last year. He's had a quieter couple
of games. Their offense is kind of in a rut.
But I saw it up close when I was on
the call for Eagles Broncos back in Week six, like
there's a belief from play caller to quarterback to go
win the game in critical moments. We're starting to see
it here with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. We are
seeing it in New England with Josh McDaniels and Drake May.

(15:57):
I think with time you'll see that more with Kevin o'
connell and JJ McCarthy. But you know, you have to
have that level of consistency of consistent games in which
the quarterback's able to be out there and playing in
order to know if it's working.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, I mean, even though it's a small sample size,
he has played the Bears before, which is kind of
ironic for him moving forward, and that was a very
different game. And obviously Week one you almost have to
like wipe the slate clean now that we're heading into
Week eleven. And so as you go into this game, Courtney,
what is like one of the major storylines you are
now following heading in.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
It's so interesting anytime the Bears played Brian Flores, and
particularly Caleb Williams, because I remember his first game last
year was at Week twelve at Soldier Field when they
played Week twelve or Week thirteen when they played the Vikings.
He was anticipating, you know, Flora's sending every blitz he's
ever drawn up in his entire coaching career at him,

(16:54):
and he called him king of Cover zero and he is.
But then it's like there's this perception there that was
obviously carried into this season. Week one and twenty six
of his dropbacks, Caleb Williams face like standard for a
man pressure. So it's I think that that's so fascinating
the chess match here where somebody and his emo of
being an aggressive, dial it up, send the kitchen sinkatchew

(17:17):
sort of defensive play caller versus I might these might
be simulated pressures, it might look like a blitz, it's not.
That's the cat and mouse game that I think was.
It really does test an offensive coordinator in a play caller.
And so for Ben Johnson, he said it reminds him of,
you know, early on in his career when he was
with the Dolphins and they played the New England Patriots

(17:38):
as often as they did twice a year because they
were in division. Because flow comes from that system when
a team can change its identity week to week and
what they're going to do that makes it so challenging,
and certainly Flora's defenses have done that throughout his time
in Minnesota, throughout his time in Miami as well. Like
he he can make it really tricky. So very curious

(18:00):
to see how differently, now that this is their second
time playing the Bears this year, how differently that game
plan will look from Week one, Because you obviously have
to account for Harrison Smith wasn't playing week one, Jonathan
Grenard his status, his availability with the shoulder injury. We
don't know if you might have your best edge rusher.
So I think there's a lot of cool things that
come into play about what the defensive game plan could

(18:23):
look like for the Vikings against this Bears offense, which
you know is a cool part of the chess match
that we really won't get to see until it starts
to unfold on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
It's a very fair evaluation.

Speaker 3 (18:36):
I think.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
When I was speaking to Blake Cashman after the Lions game,
he was talking about how they were focused on reverse psychology,
like we know that Jared Goff plays us and knows
what to expect with this, and so we're going to
do the exact opposite, but make you still think we're
doing that, and so it's.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
All about that chess match, which of course we can't
wait to see.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
But before I let you get going, I just want
to ask you, since you also just look at the
league from a bird's eye view as well. The NFC
North is again one of the stronger divisions.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
There are several teams.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Going up and down the leader board in that division.
How do you evaluate where this NFC North is? You know,
halfway through the year.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
Now, yeah, I mean that game on Monday night in
Green Bay was It's not going to be one that's
a burn the tape game of how ugly that one looked.
But it's November in a cold weather part of the country.
Those games are going to happen. And to see green
Bay lose. I remember going into last week thinking there
could be some significant jockeying of positioning based on some

(19:40):
of the games obviously Vikings Ravens and where the Bears
were playing the Giants and getting the win, and you
know what Detroit did against a Washington team that doesn't
have its starting quarterback. Like to see the shift take place,
to see Detroit and the Bears with identical records, obviously
Detroit currently has the tie breaker because you know, if
it ended today, they the one win over Chicago and

(20:01):
then to see where the Vikings and the Packers are, like,
I tell people like just you know, don't don't expect
it to stay this way. I think it remains like
a very competitive division division. I think that the NFC
West is certainly taking the cake on that this year.
They're my pick for the division that gets three in
like the NFC Nor did last year. But I still

(20:24):
think in order to get into the postseason for any
of these teams, a division winner and for the wildcard spot,
I think it does take double digit wins in this division.
And you know, a team like the Bears, they've got
the Vikings coming up, they've got Green Bay twice, they've
got the Lions the end of the season, you know,
to start in an O two hole, whereas the Vikings

(20:44):
are on the opposite side of that. With a couple
early division wins. It's this is about as critical of
a game as it could possibly be in a week's
eleven scenario for a team that has to show we
can beat the teams that you might call the you know,
a different category, the bad teams. In the NFL. Go
beat a good team and do it in their place

(21:04):
and gain some ground in what's a competitive division just
about every year.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, thank you so much, Courtney, and we appreciate you
making your media rounds here with Minnesota Today.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
A big thank you to Courtney Cronin again.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
You can catch her on ESPN NFL Countdown reporting live
from US Bank Stadium on Sunday at noon.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
Of course, you can hear the pregame show.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
On Kfan beginning at ten am with mus Paul Allen
and Pete Bursach. And we've just got so much great
things happening here as far as content goes. You can
check out a film with Pete Bursag currently online as
he breaks down the Bears.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
We also have the latest episode.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Of Vikings Weekly that will encompass everything to get you
ready for Sunday's game. Just check out vikings dot com
or the Vikings app.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Thank you so much for listening to MVP.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I'm your host, Tatum Everett signing off and saying, have
a wonderful evening and let's skull Vikes on Sunday kickoff
is at noon on Fox. Hive is extending their support
of local families by providing affordable meals for families until
November fourteenth, from four to seven pm at all stores
with hot food service. These meals will continue to be

(22:18):
available for children ages twelve and under for free. For
everyone else, the same meal will be available for three
dollars with options for dine in or takeout. This week,
the Minnesota Vikings will support this effort at the Cottage, Grove, Egan,
and Lakeville locations. So stop buy your local high v
to see your favorite Minnesota Vikings cheerleader, legend or Victor

(22:38):
the Viking