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January 13, 2025 • 42 mins
We take a listen to some drive by interviews PA did with Vikings players ahead of Vikings/Rams. Ben Leber calls in from AZ to help preview the playoff matchup.
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Join nine to noon's Eric nor Quest. Hey I know
that guy.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
This Saturday at seven pm at Tom's Watch Bar for
a kfan Wild watch party. Will have all of the
games live on the big screens, including your hometown hockey team,
delicious food and drinks, and your chance to secure exclusive
kfan swag. Get all the details now at kfpan dot com.
Keyword calendar.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, it's actually going to be sweet.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
The Minnesota Wild, I believe they're chilling today and they
host Edmonton on Wednesday, and then they are at Nashville
at the Pretz on Saturday. Going to be at Tom's
Watch Bar. That's going to be blast. Actually going to
get to do a few of those some Wild related,
some Wolves related as well. You've done some of those

(00:54):
appearances thus far during the season as well, haven't you. Yes, sir,
I just had one last week. Y in the best
an absolute blast. You get the chance to meet listeners
and pump up your favorite squad, even though the Wild
everyone on the freaking team is hurt right now. And
with the basketball team it's like, you know, you're trying
to hoodie who Yeah, you're doing the best you can try.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
I thought I had one loaded up. You know, I
was clearing the throat out for one after that three.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Game win streak, and then yeah, then they blew it
in the fourth quarter against So we're hoping for Hoodie
Who's we're hoping for mister Joe Donald gold calls. We're
hoping for two of those teams to get back in
the mix. But all of that, I must say, we
have to put that on hold. Go howl at the
Wizards tonight. Their massive favorites, like fourteen or fifteen point favorites.
The Wizards are brutal and so they should get that win.

(01:42):
But it's all about the Vikings tonight five pm. Pre game,
six pm on the Vikings Radio Network, seven pm ISH
kickoff the Boom, Pa and Pete right here in your
home for Vikings Football, the fan, the Vikings. It's winner,
go home, and it's down in Arizona this evening against
mcvay's Rams. We know what happened earlier this season, thirty
to twenty loss Byron Young nearly pulled Sam Darnold's head off.

(02:04):
That was ugly, but frankly in spots you could speak
to the ugliness of the Vikings offense that led to
that situation. Mcveigh's team just relentless answering every single one
of our scores with scores, and when we're kicking field
goals and they're scoring touchdowns. That's a simple math equation
right there. You're not going to win a lot of games,
right So that's where we're focused on tonight. I do

(02:26):
have a bunch of text messages I want to dig
into at some point, maybe on the back end of this,
but I know that the host of nine to Noon
on Saturday was busily working his way through the facility
and he got the chance to talk to a few
member of a few members of the Minnesota Vikings. How
about the All Pro mister Depaula, the long snapper Byron
Murphy Junior Arizona Native, and the Gink the Gink, The

(02:48):
gink is on fire, Andrew Van Ginkle. I believe you
talked with all three of them. So let's just let's
listen to his talkbacks from Saturday.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
Andrew Depaoulo three two All Pro once again, congratulations. How
do you feel about that?

Speaker 5 (02:59):
That's cool.

Speaker 6 (03:00):
It's really exciting just to be recognized for all the
work that goes into it.

Speaker 5 (03:04):
It's really neat and.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
It's obviously in a team game, a collective effort, and
when people think long snapper, they're immediately going to think, Okay,
he's first team All Pro because all the snaps are
on time. But there's a lot more to it, right,
not only with coverage, but your gunners and everything.

Speaker 6 (03:20):
Oh yeah, there's a lot more that goes into it.
And I think there's a little too much that we
can cover right now. But you know, I will say
that Dallas Turner and bow Richter, my guards on PONT,
do an amazing job of making me look a lot
better than I am. And likewise, we got Dalton Reisner
and David Questenberry, my guards on p atfield goal, who
just hold it down to protect me. So all I
really have to worry about is a snap. Part makes

(03:40):
life a little bit easier.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
Well, let's discuss one of those gunners, Trent Rfield Senior,
and I've just been very impressed with him this year,
given I know he played gunner earlier in his career,
but he was kind of coming off a layoff doing
that full time. What's it like playing with him and
how does he help?

Speaker 6 (03:56):
Yeah, coming into this season, we really needed a guy
to fill that role. And he just showed up and
has put in the work from day one, and that's
been amazing just knowing that he's out there. He's a presidence.
He's some guy that teams have to circle and know
where he is. Anytime you get a guy like that
on the field playing for you, it's a really good
feeling just knowing he's gonna get down there at least
forced they gotta go a certain direction.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
Makes life when the coverage scheme a little bit easier.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
And when it comes to coverage for a long snapper,
all right, you snap and you and long snappers get
down the field lickety split, you know, I mean as
long snappers would go. What that facet of the game like,
how do you work on that to get good at it?

Speaker 5 (04:37):
What are some keys?

Speaker 6 (04:38):
Yeah? I really try and study the film and see
which way they're setting up their return. If they're setting
up the return be a left, right or a middle,
usually that's keyed off of one or two guys.

Speaker 5 (04:46):
That can be with the rush that they have coupled
with how they drop, or it.

Speaker 6 (04:51):
Could be the return scheme they have dropping right away
on the snap. So I try to watch this enough
film that I can to kind of get some of
those keys so that I kind of know ahead of time, Right,
this is what the return they're running.

Speaker 5 (05:01):
I can maybe call it out.

Speaker 6 (05:03):
I am a speed demon, so I'll usually get down
there before a lot of the other guys trying direct
traffic when I can. But yeah, it just comes down
to film study in preparation.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
Now, just two more here. Andrew Depaulos or Pope, the
long snapper for the Vikings. He along with Andrew Van
Ginkel and Justin Jefferson, are a three all pros for
your Minnesota Vikings set to play the Rams in Arizona
Monday night. The the punter and the kicker with whom
you work is where I want to close. But but
before that, your your career has had some downs. I

(05:33):
mean these are ups, but from an injury standpoint, I
know you've had downs. Like to say, what was the
lowest point to really appreciate where you are now, it
would be you know, a little dark. But in that
vein with where you are now, what have you been through?

Speaker 5 (05:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (05:51):
I mean again, you know it's hard to cover all
of it in just this little snippet here, but I mean,
you know, I've been to a point where I tore
my a c L the last game, the last play
of a season. Just that uncertainty of not knowing what
was gonna happen, and then plus being on an expiring contract,
So then being on the street starting in March, not
knowing where you're gonna be, if you were gonna be anywhere,

(06:12):
was a little scary, a little unnerving. And then I
turned that around, turned that into a positive again, came
back two seasons after that toward my other ACL wound
up getting cut the next year and then not getting
picked up by another team for a year and a half. Yeah,
it's a little scary too, and not just having a kid,
So I mean, it's there's a lot.

Speaker 5 (06:34):
Of factors you can throw into it.

Speaker 6 (06:35):
But like like I've said, or like to say, ups
and downs were part of life.

Speaker 5 (06:40):
It's just how you handle them, how you react to them.

Speaker 6 (06:42):
And you kind of got to understand that going through it,
because you know if you don't, they can get the
best of you.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
Okay, now, you being the last one the veteran in
the room, so just speak, and the punters in his
third year and the kickers are rookie. So I'm not
gonna say sir rigod dad, sir get big brother, like
you know, say you know what. They're all very competitive,
say things don't go the right way in a game
or a practice. They get a little down on themselves.
Is part of the job, being a veteran and seeing

(07:10):
what you've seen from the bottom to be in it all.

Speaker 5 (07:13):
Pro How do you work with them? Well?

Speaker 6 (07:16):
I love those times when those guys get challenged and
they face the little diversity, because then I want.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
To see who are you? How do you respond? Who
are you in those moments?

Speaker 6 (07:22):
And I can only say that they've both responded excellently.
They both show up every day, just want to work,
want to get better. They always ask, hey, can I
get a couple more snaps? Can I a little bit
extra this? Can we do a what extra that? And
I love that coming from those guys. They don't hang
their head, they don't hang their cleats and say okay,
I'll try again later. They say, you know what, let
me go right back to work. Let's do the fundamentals,
let's do the little things, let's talk about this, let's

(07:43):
get this figured out. And I love that, and I
think just being that driving force and saying like hey,
this is the way.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
This is what you guys are supposed to do. Follow me.

Speaker 6 (07:53):
I think that's big time for both of those guys,
and I'm happy to fill that role for him.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
The Vikings are looking for one in a row, Surpo,
the All Pro. Thank you, thanks guys, might check one
check check Andrew van Ginkel Pro Bowl all right three
two All Pro, congratulations.

Speaker 7 (08:16):
Thank you. Pretty pretty amazing man.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
Special And obviously, football being a team game, it's a
collective effort.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
How much.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
You know, we hear a lot about players meshing with scheme,
so therefore you've been good all your career, but in
this individual defense with these players, how much does that
help you?

Speaker 6 (08:36):
Uh?

Speaker 8 (08:37):
You know, it makes a big difference obviously when you
got teammates that you can count on and trust, and
you know, it's kind of been.

Speaker 7 (08:44):
A collective collective effort. You know.

Speaker 8 (08:47):
Obviously we've had guys in the back end make interceptions
and force them all out, and you know, we just
cause a lot of panic in the offense and offensive
coordinators and put them into pressure situations where hopefully they
do something out of character or give.

Speaker 7 (09:02):
Us a chance to make a play.

Speaker 8 (09:03):
And it just goes to show about the guys on
this defense that have been able to step up, and
I think, dang, they're almost everybody on the defense has
got interception.

Speaker 7 (09:11):
So it's just it's just cool to.

Speaker 4 (09:12):
See Andrew with with the game against them week A
compared to what you're gonna see coming up Monday night.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
Much different with them.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
I mean, I know Nikua and Cup have been playing
of late, but outside of.

Speaker 8 (09:24):
That, uh yeah, obviously they're a great team, and them
two receivers are some of the top receivers in this league.
So we gotta come prepared and we gotta you know,
just continue to practice and execute at a high level.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Are there receivers specifically Nakula and Cooper Cup, how are
they in the run blocking because I've always known Cooper
to be really scrappy with that.

Speaker 5 (09:49):
Pookah's younger than him. How are they with that?

Speaker 9 (09:52):
You know?

Speaker 8 (09:52):
That's what that's a good thing about that makes it
challenging about their schemes. They put those receivers kind of
right next to the edge defenders and kind of muddy
it up, and it's just it's just an extra set
of hands, you know, I can get on you and
just you know, just make you play out of out
of you know, your technique and fundamentals, and it allows

(10:12):
the tackles and tied ends to get on you quicker.
And you know it can if you're not prepared for
it can make you off balance. And you know that's
how they, you know, try to attack the edges and
you know they do a great job of it.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
Last one, my man, Mike Patt in your position, coach,
how has Mike helped you from a tutelage standpoint, whether
with technique or motivation or whatever, how has Mike helped
you get to all pro status?

Speaker 5 (10:41):
You know?

Speaker 8 (10:42):
I think it just it goes to show off his
knowledge and kind of his Uh yeah, I would just
say knowledge of the game and how many different How
do I want.

Speaker 7 (10:54):
To describe this?

Speaker 8 (10:55):
Just he he's seen it all, so you know he
can be able to tell me and gimme clues and
hints and which allows me to play with my instincts
and allows me to play fast. And so I know
I give him a lot of cudit for that.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Congratulations, great season and best of luck Monday night against
those Rams.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Okay, all right, that is Andrew van Ginkel with PA
A couple of drive buys. What we're gonna do, Max,
is We're going to reset because I made a mistake again.
You know, whether it's posting gopak go or in this case,
taking an audio file, not listening to it and then
just having you post it on the play it on
the radio. I need to make sure that there was

(11:34):
no in between conversations or anythings that we you know,
we don't maybe want to air, right, you know, the
check one twos of the world, the all right three twos,
the rambling, the wandering through the facility trying to find
said guests. Maybe we don't want to air that. That
is my fault. So what we're gonna do is, we're
gonna pause, We're gonna come back. I got a bunch

(11:54):
of text messages you'll hear, PA I believe with Byron
Murphy Junior. That's all next on the Fan. But first,
a cash winning opportunity from Max.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
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Speaker 1 (12:20):
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Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's KFN dot com keyword contests to enter.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Welcome back nine to noon, Ben Leiber around the corner
at ten forty, Bursich eleven, alec Lewis of the Athletic,
all of these individuals covering the Vikings. You'll hear from
Pete and Ben of course on the broadcast recevening kickoff
shortly after seven pm, and alec Lewis is in Arizona
covering Rams and Vikings. Viking still two and a half

(13:00):
point favorites. That's where it opened up at. Then there
was this big swing headed towards the Rams, and then
it slowly eked back. Change a venue may have had
something to do with that as well. But before we
get to Ben Lieber, let's jump back to that audio
file that I did not proof listen to, and I
believe Max has identified the correct starting point where PA

(13:22):
had the chance to talk with Vikings. Cornerback six or
seven picks this year. Byron Murphy Junior is an Arizona native.
Let's hear the Vox chat with Byron.

Speaker 4 (13:31):
So, due to unfortunate circumstances, the Vikings playoff game against
the Rams is going to be a State Farm stadium,
as everybody knows, and that's where the Arizona Cardinals play,
and Byron Murphy Junior and the Vikings are playing the
Los Angeles Rams. Now. Being a Scottsdale, Arizona native and

(13:51):
playing at Warrow High School in Scottsdale, I want to
begin here. In your senior year, you had twenty one
receiving touchdowns. So when you went to Washington, why corner
and not receiver?

Speaker 10 (14:05):
You know, I was definitely going to try to play both, obviously,
but deaf, I think dB just took over. That was
kind of, you know, my mindset going into college wanted
to play defense. I just felt like I was a
better corner. Obviously, playing receiver did have some fun. I
think I still could have played both, but yeah, I
just I think dB was definitely a position for me.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
Now, you know, I'm not gonna say Phoenix s Gottsdale
like that greater region is high school football hotbed but
maybe it is. You know, could you hear a lot
about Texas and South Florida and offensive linemen from western
Pennsylvania and southern California and stuff, But Arizona and Phoenix
Area high school football? Did you play against anybody who's
in the league now, Like, like, you know, how good

(14:45):
is it?

Speaker 10 (14:46):
I definitely think we're kind of underrated. I always say,
but Arizona football, it is kind of on the you know,
downside of people say California, Texas and Florida and all
those things. But I definitely got a chance. Went to
transfer my junior year to tomorrow. Then I was with
team that's with Christian Kirk. So that was one person
who kind of, you know, just showed me the ropes.
That's one of the guys you know, just showed me
everything once I got there. Nick Harry also went to

(15:08):
school with him as well, So those are two guys
right there off the top. There's definitely a lot of
guys I played against. Is Weell b John Robinson he's
from Arizona as well. There's a whole bunch of guys.
So I feel like Arizona football is on the come up.

Speaker 4 (15:20):
Whenever you know your new deal happens, and there will
be a new deal eventually. Getting one of those Christian
Kirk deals wouldn't be the worst in the world.

Speaker 7 (15:27):
What it definitely not.

Speaker 10 (15:28):
Definitely need them numbers, definitely need those numbers. Yeah, but yeah,
definitely looking forward to that for sure.

Speaker 4 (15:34):
Okay, now, what of the game? And Byron picked off
Matthew Stafford week eight. He also got him when he
played with the with the Arizona Cardinals, when when Matthew
just started with the l A. Ram So what are
some keys to playing a crafty veteran like Matthew Stafford?

Speaker 10 (15:48):
Definitely, I always say that the number one thing is
being tight in coverage. Obviously, he got playmakers around him.
Obviously he's a competitor, probably one of the best competitor
quarterbacks I've seen I've played against. And obviously he's trying
to get the all to his guys, and that's the
one thing he's gonna not I wouldn't say he's forces it,
but sometimes he does force it to his playmakers.

Speaker 5 (16:05):
So that's the things we could go, you know, go
take advantage of time. What makes Pooka Naku a tough?
I mean, he's not the fastest in the world. But
he's big. Looks like he mixes it up.

Speaker 4 (16:14):
Like Cooper Cup in the run blocking game too, when
they you know, get tight to the tackles and stuff.
But like, like what overall makes him tough? I just
feel like he's just an overall a good receiver. You know,
it comes down to like route running all those things.
But another thing is scheme.

Speaker 10 (16:26):
I a would say they do a good job at
getting him the ball, getting him in space, Like I said,
even screenplays, all those little things, but just getting him
the ball in space and let him go make those plays.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
So again, due to unfortunate circumstances and prayers and blessings
to everybody going through those fires in southern California. But
the game is here. It's Monday night, and Byron's from Scottsdale.
So to close, a lot of friends and family coming
to the game, or how are you gonna handle that?

Speaker 10 (16:49):
Oh man, I'm still getting text right now to this
day about tickets.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
But no, definitely a lot of family. I expected that.

Speaker 10 (16:55):
Definitely still want my family to be there. But obviously
I got to, you know, tell them I only could
get this amount of ticket, but that probably yeah, they
don't have to go buy some of their own tickets,
but definitely don't have a lot of support there, and
definitely a lot of Viking support obviously because we played
the Vikings a lot of purple in there, so I
think we will kind of be the home team, so
we can take advantage of that as well.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
You're fantastic, Thank you very much, thank you, And that
is that's Byron Murphy Junior. Six picks on the season
Viking's best corner back through twenty twenty four, and then
he was chatting a little drive by for you from
Saturday before the team ultimately yesterday would embark on a
journey to Arizona where they will face the Rams this evening.

(17:33):
Of course, ongoing tragedy taking place in southern California, and
so the game had to be moved.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Now.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
During that conversation, actually popped in my head, Byron Murphy
Junior is going to be and I hate to look forward.
I've stood pretty tall on this over the course of
the season that you know, I'm not thinking about Sam Darnold.
I'm not thinking about you know, the contract or whatever
that looks like, right, why kind of I'm about to

(18:01):
do that with Byron Murphy here Byron Murphy. Okay, twenty
seven made about eight and change this year. He's gonna
need a new deal. How are you gonna pay cam
binam He only made a million this year. He's been terrific, right.
Oh wait, Stefan Gilmour is a free agent. Oh wait,
Shaq Griffin is a free agent. Well it's cool because

(18:25):
we do have Josh Mittellis. We absolutely do well at
least we can absolutely depend on Harrison Smith for another
six years. Oh wait, this this is this is it's
it's incredible from the standpoint Aaron Jones will be, will be.
I mean, you can look this up yourselves. I went
to spo track or spot rack however you want to.

(18:46):
You want to frame it up. Maybe over the cap
probably has this too, But just take a take a
peek when you do have a spare minute. Maybe not today,
because we're all focused in Vikings beating the Rams. That's
what we want to see happen, and Biron Murphy Junior
will be a part of that, so will cam bind
them and Stefan Gilmour and Jack Griffin and Emma tell
Us and the hit Man and everybody. But this is

(19:07):
crazy with with twenty four free agents on the board
into the spring. That will then be part of the
Sam Darnolds conversation from a money standpoint, and you know,
we're hoping the best and health wise of course for
Christian Darisol, but Cam Robinson his contract will be coming
to a conclusion. And then it is I mean, Dalton Reisner,

(19:28):
love him or hate him, he's the starting offensive lineman
on your team. He's going to be a free agent,
and you can kind of just continue to go down
that list. You know, you solved the Justin Jefferson related
contract conversation, You solved the Christian Darisaw mentioned him. You
re up these guys and you were able to do
so because of how measured and smart you were in
free agency, that being of course Quacy and bringing in

(19:51):
I mean the most expensive contract that he found over
the course of the off season was was Jonathan Renard
four and seventy two seventy six ish. Otherwise, really smart
moves with with Van Ginkel, I mean, what a financial
value that he has been. The productivity match with the contract.
Blake Cashman has been nothing but terrific when he's healthy
and in the games. You started looking at that that's

(20:14):
that's a boogeyman right there. That is who that's a
to do list for mister Quasia Doo famensa.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
But that is not for today.

Speaker 3 (20:23):
So back on track the text message machine six four
six eighty six, some talkbacks as well.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
I don't have that in front of me, but I
will get it.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
And then when we finished the show today, it's going
to be a combination of Max's vikes bites brought to
you by Thousand Hills, and then it will also be
just kind of looking ahead to the game with your
with you the listener, your input as well text and talkbacks.
But I've been getting this a bunch this morning, talking
specifically speaking of Dalton Reisner, the Minnesota moving company, and

(20:59):
for me, that is absolutely an a topic into the game.
You know, I can't expect that all of you are
listening to nine to Noon every single minute, every single
segment of every single day, although if you do, we
love you for it and we appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Whether you listen one minute or the whole show, it's
all good.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
But I'm thinking, you know, over the course of the season,
first of all, how impressive it was when Christian Deisaw
went down in that Rams game on that Thursday night
and you have to make the move. You do. Quesnberry
stands in, does his thing, but you make the move
for Cam Robinson and a journeyman never going to be
the All Pro, but certainly you're not screaming oh no

(21:38):
on a.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Regular basis with Cam Robinson.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Now in recent weeks we've seen some penalties which I mean,
it's just awful.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
You can't be doing that.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
A lot of it's at home as a matter of fact,
and it's it's annoying and it's a pain in the ass.

Speaker 5 (21:49):
I get it.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
But Cam Robinson the ability on the fly for Quacy
to identify that option and opportunity in Jacksonville and bring
him in and for the most part, you don't miss
a beat and you come back against Indianapolis and ultimately
you win nine games in a row. Cam Robinson, you
can speak to him being a part of that. Brian
O'Neil staying healthy, we love that part of it, but

(22:12):
the interior of the offensive line. So last week, getting
back to to what we were talking about, is Tuesday,
we have Kevin O'Connell on the show, as we do
every single week.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
Playoff edition we're pumped for Monday night. The whole thing.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
Everything's good, but in the vein of if you listen
long enough, or if he talks long enough, the head
coach will kind of tell you where his mind is
at on certain things that he otherwise wouldn't be explicitly
fourth right about or forthcoming about. And that was Sam's footwork,
and that was the offensive line, because I mean the

(22:44):
way that we'll end up breaking this thing down is
you look specifically. You know, this is pretty easy and
in some ways low hanging fruit. It's like, well, obviously
you don't want to do what you did in that
Lions game. You're three to thirteen on third down in
that game. Now you're all a four in the red zone.
You're zero to three in goal to go situation, So yes,
don't do that right, Well, is it chicken and egg?

(23:07):
Chicken or egg? Where you're looking at those moments where
Sam's missing, Guys, Sam's footwork is off. I don't like
the term seeing ghosts, although the the Detroit Lions sent
a ton of pressure throughout that game and needed to
in lieu of you're Aiden Hutchinson's of the world and
Marcus Davenport has constantly heard Alee McNeil not in the mix.

(23:28):
I mean, they're just sending anybody they can and they
needed to do that, and they were successful in throwing
Sam off his spot. How much of it was just
Sam having an absolute l of all l's ever to
L type of game, and how much of it was
the interior of this offensive line? And I think it
was a little bit of a little bit of both,
a solid mix of that, and you kind of heard

(23:49):
it alluded to from the head coach ultimately in one
I forget which part of the interview was on Tuesday,
but effectively, the head coach is like.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
And Sam's getting hit in too much. He was getting
hit too much. We can't have that happen.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Well, that's on Reisner, that's on Bradbury, that's on Blake Brandell.
Blake Brandell maybe had one of the poorer games he's
had as a member of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday
night against Detroit. That can't happen. Now, there was a
moment in that game, too, where Brandell just got so cooked,
so worked, so pushed back that I believe he stomped

(24:23):
on Darnald's foot. You're already getting your butt kicked, and
then Brandell stomps on your foot like, can you have
a worse night if you after said Darnald, that just
just insult to injury and everything. It was brutal and
it doesn't get better when you watch it back.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
So wipe that slate clean. It's a playoff game. You
gotta win it, you gotta be better.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
But this offensive line plays into exactly we were talking
about it with Pa and I bet it's gonna come
up with liber two kind of the idea of Okay,
Sam has the right to make some tweaks and be
more of the guy that won nine straight games in fourteen. Overall, well,
then be the guy we saw under the bright lights
in Detroit the other night. So he's the right to
kind of switch that around. And I would guess that

(25:08):
this is more. This is certainly more of a mental thing.
And if you focus on the mental thing, then the
physical thing, like the footwork he's been so committed to
and so good at this year. I think those changes
happen in line with each other. But this offensive line
is part of the story of taking pressure off of Sam.
If you're going to have an effective night running the ball,
that's the interior of the offensive line and if you're

(25:31):
going to have an effective night, getting TJ in the mix.
And again, this is a team that has long developing
routes and we're going to push that ball downfield.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
Rams are pretty good at that too.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
That offensive line, an offensive line that has gotten way
better on the Rams side and protecting Matt Stafford and
his immobile, his immobility and playing that quick game and
all of that they've been They've done damn good since
we faced them on that Thursday night earlier. This year
of improving. Can our offensive line do the same? Absolutely
plays into it. It's absolutely an a topic because in

(26:03):
the end you're looking at Verse, You're looking at Fisk Byron.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Young face mask guy in the end zone.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
Well, he's also just a really good player when he's
not tearing our QB's head off. And so these guys
are These guys are bringing it tonight and this has
to be the best performance of the season for this
Minnesota moving company. It's it's an absolute a topic into
the game this evening shocker. I'm not breaking news here,
I get it, but I do want to discuss that

(26:32):
what that looks like and just how this team could
beat the Rams offensive line included with Ben Leeber, weekly
guest on Thursdays, of course, but also sideline analyst Vikings
Radio Network. He's in Arizona and he's going to join
us next nine to noon here on the fan there.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Want to chime in on what's happening with your favorite
kfan program. Make your voice heard on the Bradshawn Bryant
text line. Let us know what you have to say
by texting your message to six four six eighty six.
That's six four six eight six standard message in data
rates apply.

Speaker 3 (27:06):
Joining me now from the greater Phoenix area, maybe Scottsdale, Ish?
I guess I'm not sure. Ben Lieber, weekly guest nine
to noon, How you doing, Ben.

Speaker 9 (27:16):
Nordo, I cannot complain. I was just telling Max that
I am sitting outside having the sun just just beat
down on me. It's not super warm. I'm still like
in a hoodie. It's that desert morning air. But you
know what, it's a lot better than.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Five degrees five degrees Okay.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Well, I just opened up my app and it says
in Saint Louis Park up.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
We just switched to one.

Speaker 3 (27:38):
It was zero, you know, and dude, I wonder whether
you were living, you know, Coronado Island in the San
Diego days, did you ever have to worry about like
the feels like number or was it just it was
beautiful every day and it just felt like paradise. You
were never worried in this case, feels like fifteen below.
You never had that part of the weather report down

(28:00):
in whether it be in Arizona where you are now,
maybe the heat part of it, but then in Paradise,
San Diego.

Speaker 9 (28:08):
It's funny that you say that. I don't recall ever
looking at the fields like number. Maybe sometimes in the
summertime because I live when I played, I lived more inland,
and there is quite a difference between the coastal temperature
and then when you're like ten miles inland. So sometimes
in the summer you're like, man, is it how hot?

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Is it?

Speaker 9 (28:30):
Like, well, yeah, you know, it feels like it's ninety five,
But never never had to really use it in the
winter time.

Speaker 3 (28:37):
No, first couple of things for you. I'm focused in
the trenches. So first I want to start with our
defense Flores his group and take you back in time,
of course, to week eight when the Vikings on a
short week, went to La. Part of that conversation was
the lack of mobility for Matthew Stafford and how this
was a game we might be able to get to
him and affect things. Forget about Cooper and forget about Pookah.

(29:01):
It was just we can get to Stafford. The team couldn't,
and it was the quick game. And how McVeigh adjusted
to that. And as a matter of fact, in including
that game, so Stafford's last ten games, he has not
been sacked in seven of those. So combination of the
offensive line, combination of Stafford getting the ball out, how

(29:21):
do we get to and affect matt Stafford tonight.

Speaker 9 (29:27):
Well, what we didn't do in the first game that
we're doing much more now is playing man defense. And
that's going to be a wrinkle that you know they're
going to have to prepare for. Obviously by watching the film,
it's not going to be anything they're gonna be surprised about.
But I still think that even if we are playing
some of that zone coverage that we played a lot of,
especially in that Week eight game, I think our corners

(29:49):
and our secondary and our linebackers they got to be
right in these guys's space. You know, whether they're going
to drop out and cover three or cover four. I
still think that you need to give the illusion that
you're going to take those quick things way, that you're
going to disrupt these guys at the line of scrimmage.
They have to be physical with them. And then you know,
from the snap of the ball to whatever the Rams

(30:09):
want to run, we have to have some sort of
presence in somebody in their face. And we've been doing
a much better job of communication on the back end
of playing that man coverage and and flows. You know,
got a lot of confidence those in those guys now
and a lot of part of the season run that
man coverage, So that'll be a big difference. And all
we really need is, you know, a little hesitation by

(30:30):
Stafford because I think our guys can get to them.
And let's let's reference you know, the Van Ginkel would
be interception from last week. You know that was that
was a called peel on the outside because of all
the quick game, because of the screen game, they had
built in calls for the guys on the edges. I
think you're going to see a lot of those same
calls implemented tonight.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
And is that really what it comes down to.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
As you mentioned, Ben, that it's it's a confidence that
has grown from Flores a standpoint to to deploy more
man coverage over the course of this year.

Speaker 9 (31:00):
Yeah, it's a confidence thing, and also it's just a
repetoire thing, you know, like the more tools that you
have in your toolbox, the better. And I don't think
that he felt confidence with our group early in the
season to run so much man coverage, but now that
he's put it on tape, just like our offense was
looking at Detroit's defense last week and it was confusing

(31:22):
because they ran a lot of different things. They made
a lot of things look the same and you never
knew what they were in. And I think that's the
new thing with Flora's defense now, is you don't know
exactly what they're going to be in because we have
ran a fair amount of zero coverage in the field,
We have ran a fair amount of cover one man
coverage and then we drop out in the cover three

(31:43):
and then we also played Cover two and then two man.
So his ability to disguise has gotten even deeper.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
With now to the other side of things, the Minnesota
Moving company, I was talking about it, and some text
messages coming through. A lot of disappointment, really off and
this is the recent the aspect of it, of course,
but a lot of disappointment of the off the Lions game,
Sam missing all those throws, but some negativity in regard
to I thought Blake Brandell had just an awfully tough game,

(32:11):
and then you you know the trials and tribulations, ebbs
and flows of Bradbury and Reisner. We've talked about this
many times throughout the season. But when I'm looking at Fisk,
when I'm looking at Jared Vers, I mean this super
young defense with a bunch of speed, Byron Young, his
ability to get into the backfield. How do we match
up as they've continually got better, how are we looking

(32:33):
on the offensive line? Standpoint to, I need Sam to
make those open throws, but I need to keep them
up right, and I need to keep people out of
his face as well.

Speaker 9 (32:42):
Well, that's gonna be the biggest challenge. That would be
the biggest test. And they can do a lot of
the same things that Detroit did to us last week.
Detroit did a great job of of movement with their
defensive front. They didn't always have to blitz, although they
did a fair amount of blitze, but they're front four.
It was a lot of slants, you know, two three
man slants, guy wrapping around. They had a lot of games,

(33:02):
a lot of movement up front that that sort of
confused our guys and allowed a little bit more pressure
than we were expecting. And I think this is a
much better defensive front than than Detroit has. You know,
you do add in Dalton Reisener. He was not the
starter right guard from the last time we played. You know,
we all know that the derisot got injured in the
game yep previously, and question Berry did as well as

(33:24):
he could just coming off the bench. So I think
we should be more solidified across the board on our
offensive line. So yeah, that will be the test. You know,
can our guys communicate? Can they not only block the
guy that's in front of them, but can they block
the guy that ends up maybe wrapping around or looping
around in some of these twists and stunts. The guy
that I'm the most fearful of is Braden Fisk. I mean,

(33:47):
the guy that they call the kingpin. He is He's
the number one guy in the front that I think
is the biggest disruptor. He can line up on the
on the tackle spots and then loop all the way
back around in the a gaps. He does it with
such velocity and ferocity that he can really really affect
the game.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
The Vikings at Rams tonight in Arizona, and I'm just curious.
I mean, you play, you played the game and for
a long time, Ben, you know, the ability to shake
off just your worst performance of a season and then
to bounce back and maybe have to have your best
performance of the season. Do you feel that they're in
the right mental space into this thing. Not that you're

(34:26):
in the locker room with them every moment, but the
ability to in a lot of ways, kind of pretend
that Sunday didn't happen and try to get back to
what brought you to fourteen wins.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
You feel like they're they're in that spot.

Speaker 9 (34:38):
Yeah, I definitely think they're in that spot. You know.
I was talking to Harrison Phillis about this on Monday
last Monday night, and he just made a really I
think a stuit just sort of observation just what they've done.
He's like, you know, when we went on the eight
to nine game win streak. You know, we get these
victory Mondays, and yes, we watched the film when we
come in on Wednesdays as a group, but there's sort

(35:00):
of a hand selected twelve to fifteen plays in which
we got to go over. But you're not having these really,
really tough, critical sit down group moments on Mondays after
the game after a loss and really break down every
single play, both goods and bads. He's like, and that's
the dose that we got on that particular days after
the Lions game, first time in many, many weeks where

(35:21):
they've sat down and had to really critically analyze every
detail of the game. He's like, Look, it was a
hard session, but it was needed. It was something that
we needed to refocus really think about the details of
our game. And if the defense was doing that, I
know the offense was doing the same thing. And the
other thing is it's not like Dard has to come
out and have his very best game. He just got

(35:42):
to go out and just play at the level that
he's been playing at all season. He makes a couple
of those throws in the Detroit game and it's a
way different story. And even even if statistically he walks
away from that game, being like, yeah, that was an
average game, but he made just just enough throws because
the throws were there. This game had beaten Aaron Glenn's
scheme a few times. If he makes just a couple

(36:04):
throws and the guys make a couple catches and we're
talking to three different plays, that's it. That changes the
whole outcome of the game.

Speaker 3 (36:11):
A few more for you here, Ben, I'll let you
get on to enjoy what sounds like just a beautiful
morning in basking in beautiful morning sunlight in Arizona. Kyen Williams,
So I know he's not Jumior Gibbs. I know that
they are different backs, but there is just something that
has kind of stuck with me in a consistency in
these losses, whether it's Gibbs and Montgomery getting off against

(36:33):
the Purple in those losses, or Kyraen Williams and it
took him some work, like twenty five or so carries
to get to about ninety seven just on the cusp
of one hundred yards. But I think they can use
him in a similar way to Gibbs, at least in
the we're going to grind you out four yards at
a clip and statistically the Vikings rush defense among the

(36:54):
best in the league. Some a game flow dictates a
bit of that as well, But in the end, Iron
Williams for me, like I'm worried about them getting him
going and finding those four yard runs whenever they need it.
You think about Kyron and all into this game.

Speaker 9 (37:12):
I am. You know, we we've got statistically a great
run defense, but we've all seen that. You know, we're
susceptible to get and gashed every once in a while,
especially last week with Gibbs. But they're just two different animals.
They're two different beasts. I don't want to take anything
away from Kyron, but he's he's not Jamior Gibbs, and
I have no doubt that they're going to use him

(37:33):
in some capacity, just like you were talking about, you know,
slide through on a couple, a couple of gaps here
and there, get a couple of decent runs. But he's
not necessarily an explosive back. He's he can just kind
of move the chains, and you know, he can be
a frustrating back, but I don't think that he's near
the capacity of Gibbs is. And so yeah, this is

(37:54):
the defense in our defense that you know, we will
give up some first downs. You know we are this bend,
but don't break. I don't. I don't want to sweat
too much the fact that they use Khyen to pick
up a few first downs and we're like it might
be a little frustrat at times, but I don't think
he's going to take over the game as much as
we saw last week. We certainly have to pay attention
to it. But my biggest concern is affecting Matthew Stafford

(38:14):
in the pocket, not letting him have a bunch of
easy throws. And then it's the yards after catch. I mean,
we have to be outstanding tacklers. The first guy cannot miss.
The first guy at least has to slow down the
ball carrier, especially on the edges, and then we'll wait
for the rest of the troops to rally. But the
yards after catch and affecting Matthew Stafford much more important.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
Yeah, isn't it interesting with Puka? I mean Puka from
a physical standpoint, not the most He's not the tallest,
the most imposing, But is there anybody better that just
than at staying on his feet and finding those extra
yards after catches? Pooka's just terrific.

Speaker 9 (38:53):
Well, I was surprised the first time when I saw
him in week eight. He is he is thicker than
you think. You know, I know TV is supposed to
add ten or fifteen pounds, but there's something about when
you see him in person, you're like, dang, he's got
some real thickness to him, really, And and then you
watch the guys just sort of bounce off of him,

(39:14):
and he always is going forward. He is just he's
a tremendously strong athlete, kind of a sneaky athlete in
the way that maybe like an Adam Steeling is when
when you play against him, you're like, dang, he's a
lot he's a lot stouter, He's a lot stronger than
a lot of people expect you think.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
You think O'Connell just really wants to smash McVeigh in
this one. I was talking with PA about it, and
the PA was saying, you know, they're almost kind of
like quieter, they're almost kind of trying to allude to
the idea that that's not a factor. I think it
would absolutely be a factor. Right, you want to beat
your old boss. You already lost to him earlier. This season,
like you just want to you want to hand it
to McVeigh to night. If you're O'Connell, oh I would.

Speaker 9 (39:53):
I mean, they're going to say the right things. But
human nature is like, of course you want to you know,
a rip your guy. I mean, they they love each other, obviously,
they have a lot of respect for each other, but
in this highly competitive environment, with everything that's at stake, man,
it would be hard not to make it somewhat personal
and not personal in a bad way, but just personal
in a friendly, competitive way. They're going to say the

(40:15):
right things. But I think everybody knows that KOC wants
to take tem mc bay.

Speaker 1 (40:20):
How are you feeling about this one tonight?

Speaker 9 (40:23):
Are good about it?

Speaker 1 (40:24):
We go to Philly? If we went I was, that's.

Speaker 9 (40:28):
Right, Yeah, I know that's that is not the best
situation for me personally, And we can talk about that
later next week if we walk away with a win.
But I was I was really confident last week. I
really was. I really thought that we were going to
beat Detroit and and so I want to go into
this game with a little bit more maybe more realism

(40:48):
that you know, I think we're the better team. I
think we should win but it might be it might
be hard. I mean, for all the things we talked about,
this is a really really dynamic defensive front, and we
have to get the run game going. You know, we
know that Acres is a little bit of an illness.
Aaron Jones just seems to be banged up consistently these
last few games, so we know that he's not at

(41:09):
one hundred percent, and Norda, we have to get the
run game going. We can't. We can't put all this
pressure on Sam Darnold in this receiving core, especially after
what happened last week with all the dis guy's coverages
and all the misthrows. We got to find a way
to find some balance. And if we can't do that,
it's going to be real tough. We're going to have
to lean in our defense to get the ball and
take it away and maybe score.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
Thanks for joining me, man, have fun down in az
and fire a bullet tonight.

Speaker 9 (41:34):
All right, all right, we'll do thanks, Norda.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
Thanks man.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
That's Ben Leber, Sideline Analysts, Vikings Radio Network down there
in Paradise waiting for kickoff five pm. Pre game seven
pm ish kickoff Vikings at the Rams in the Cardinals Stadium,
and here we are the finale to the wildcard weekend.
A fourteen win team playing a wildcard game still makes
you want to pull your hair out, There's no doubt
about that. But we're gonna pause and we're gonna head

(41:57):
back down to a Z and chat with the analyst.
Pete Bursag is going to join us next as we
continue pumping you up.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
It's game day, the vikings in.

Speaker 3 (42:06):
The playoffs, and an opportunity to advance. Forget about Philly,
Let's just let's handle Let's mangle McVeigh. Now that sounds weird.
It was alliterative, but I don't like it. Let's just
beat the Rams. How about that?

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Wrangle the Rams?

Speaker 3 (42:20):
Now, let's go with that, right, we'll work shop it
over the final hour. Okay, that's what we're doing here
on a Monday, on a game day on the fan.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Bursages next
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