Jeremiah Sirles wants to see more of Ty Chandler

Matthew Coller and former Minnesota Vikings Jeremiah Sirles talk about how Ty Chandler emerged as an RB1 type running back against the Cincinnati Bengals what the implications of that going forward. Plus why Brian Flores’ defense showed cracks in the foundation and an interesting stat for the future of the Vikings QB position.

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Hey everybody welcome to another episode of purple Insider Matthew caller here and it is time for another Tuesday morning left guard with none other than former Minnesota Viking Jeremiah CS although you know this week maybe you want to be former Carolina Panther you’ve got the sherd on and the Panthers

Were winners against the Atlanta Falcons somehow in a game that I hope no one actually watched uh but uh let’s let’s talk about so it’s it’s been a few days since the game everybody’s like maybe calmed down gotten over it a little bit and we’ve also talked in circles about

What it means for Kevin oconnell who should be pushing who’s tushy and all that stuff on QB sneaks and the way that the Vikings melted down but I want to talk about everything else like as we were so focused on the way that the game ended what did we miss Jeremiah and I

Think that we should start with the running game and Tai Chandler where Kevin oconnell said that Chandler is going to be a featured part of the backfield and by featured I hope that means like in the same way EMT Smith was featured for the Dallas Cowboys and uh

Yeah he had a backup and I’m sure that guy was wonderful but you know yeah I didn’t want to see him a whole lot so I think the same way should go for this where Alexander Madison is fine as an NFL backup running back this should be

The Tai Chandler show the Tai Chandler show from here till whenever and maybe even the Tai Chandler show going into next year I watched every Run play back and a couple of the screens to him and pass blocks was it perfect like no but man I was impressed by Tai Chandler in

This game Jeremiah yeah me too you know that’s the thing is I we watched the tape you know watching the game live you’re like man this guy’s having a hell of a day but when you really dive into the tape and the X’s and O’s and how he

Was patient in the Run reads he trusted the Run reads and then he hit the hole with such acceleration he looks like an every down NFL back right he’s really coming into that and you’ve seen kind of the steps he’s taken throughout the year

To get to this point and for when it was finally his show he made the most of it man I mean to have he had over 100 yards he did great the offensive line stepped up in a big way and helping him too but I think yeah it’s his show going forward

And it’s his spot to lose in my opinion from here out because he can bring a level to this offense that we’ve been begging for for a year now of like man just get this run game going find a way to get it going and you start seeing the

The building blocks of next year right I mean I hate saying it but building blocks of next year because you’re looking forward to it but even at the end of this year building off of a run game makes you feel a little bit better about maybe some options at quarterback

If you can start feeling really good about this but Tai Chandler was excellent in this game I thought the blocking tight ends were also excellent in this game a lot of good stuff in the Run game that kind of got glossed over because of the collapse but you can’t

Speak enough about the Run game coordinator and how all 11 guys were really keyed into getting this run game up and going yeah and it was a major part of overcoming even some bad uh circumstances to start driv so on one of the drives I think it’s coming out of

The second half or late in the first half late in the first half where they’re pinned back maybe by a penalty and the first play of the drive is Tai Chandler running for 30 yards and it’s a really simple play they just put two tight ends to one side and then all

Jordan Addison has to do is kind of run into a dude and it’s like all right it’s Tai Chandler versus their quarterback and he just blows right by their quarterback for 30 yards and that’s that’s speed it’s a speed position I mean Jerome Bettis uh you know weighed

260 pounds and ran over people and Derk Henry like is probably not the fastest 40 in the world at this point but basically just slams over people how many other running backs can really do that and what you’re usually asking is to hit very small spaces very quickly

And that’s what Tai Chandler can do and and another thing is I I went through the game I don’t remember more than maybe one negative run I mean like if you hand it off and you bounce off a dude and you go for like two yards that

Still keeps you moving like all right second and eight you can run again and you could try to get third and short you can go to a play action you could pass the ball you could do just about anything there were very few times where Cincinnati was able to just stop Tai

Chandler immediately that he was often falling forward and I think when we think of a dude who runs a a sub4 four it’s like oh well is he gonna be too light is he gonna get taken down easily but I don’t see that from him I I see

Him pushing forward on every play so even the bad runs are like three yards and not negative three yards that pretty much kills drives and we saw that way too often from Alexander Madison yeah and you know the thing that I always look at for a run game is called

Efficient runs Tony Spano was one of the guys that pounded this into our heads when we were players is you have to be efficient when you run the football and in his word an efficient run is four plus yards right that is an efficient run right because every every Run’s

Blocked on paper to score right it just is like everyone should be accounted for and it works but that’s just not the way it goes but if you can cover guys up get some movement at the point of attack a good running back should be able to efficiently get you four yards Tai

Chandler averaged 5.7 right 5. seven yards which is almost two yards past what an efficient run would be and so to your point what knocks down those yards per carry are the negative runs right a carry for a minus six or a carry for a minus five and those can be a

Combination of Free Runners right if a guy gets a free runner and there’s someone standing in the hole or if a guy’s trying to Just Dance too much in the back field instead of putting his feet and go and then the thing that Tai Chandler has going noticeably different

Than the rest of the running backs on this roster is the acceleration through the hole right the ability to put his foot in the ground see the hole and accelerate right it’s something saquon Barkley was fantastic at Young in his career it’s something Chris mcaffry is still incredibly successful at and you

Talk about all the backs that are great the acceleration through the hole through that immediate first line of contact like you said running through an arm tackle of a defensive lineman that is being blocked or a linebacker that’s covered up and using that burst and that acceleration to get on the second level

And then when you have that kind of speed you put those safeties in a bind because they think do I run up to this guy and try and get him on on the ground or do I try and crowl him a little bit here and wait for the calvary to come

And you saw the Bengals secondary time and time again getting stuck in that no man’s land right a safety at 11 yards he accelerates to the hole now there’s a five yard buffer between him and the safety and they have to make a decision

And a lot of times he just like you said blew right by him or made a Nifty little Nifty little shake to kind of Bounce and glance off them and turned a six-yard run into an eight or a 10 or a 20 and that was just really fun to watch and I

Me’s an old lineman I was like yes more keep it going going right like and and then we can Circle back to why didn’t you give it to on fourth and one or third and one but all to be said I loved it I loved every second of it I want to

See more of it I want it to become a staple because when you have an o line that trusts a back back there we just kind of start feeling ourselves a little bit more to like hey we have a home run hitter back here right it we felt it

When dvin cook was a rookie I’ll never forget we like dude this dude can take it the distance at any time and that’s what Tai Chandler brings is that explosiveness of we give him just a little crease he can accelerate and get through and this dude can be a

Legitimate home run threat every time he touches the football so this is the crazy thing coming out of the game if they squeeze forward for five more inches just pushes tush a little bit farther right a little bit harder maybe get Harrison Phillips in the back field

To do the uh now at some point we’re just going to have a defensive lineman grab the guy and throw him and then that’ll be fine I think that’ll be a good strategy like who’s willing to fly let’s have denil Hunter pick you up and just heave you over the line of

Scrimmage for a first down how fast would that get banned in the NFL just a three- yard running start hammer throw just when like when uh when Josh dos won the game in Atlanta there there was the video from the lock room and they’re all waiting for him to come and everything

Else Harrison Phillips just grabs him and puts him up on his shoulder like a child like an eight-year-old like come on little Timmy here you go up and like That’s How Strong some of these guys are like somebody could throw them I know somebody could throw Nick Mullins he’s

Not that big uh so what was the point I was getting to oh yeah that’s right if he could get if he gets that first down and they kick a game-winning field goal and we’re talking about still having you know a great chance to make the playoffs

Which they didn’t lose out on actually I saw the charts they lost like 8% for uh potential chances it didn’t mean a whole lot the way that the the other results were but we would be talking about this is the most dangerous the weapons have been I mean in the KOC era because

Jordan Addison is bringing more than Adam Thiel did last year and Tai Chandler in the couple of games where he’s gotten a ton of work in Denver and then in Cincinnati he’s been more Dynamic than Delvin cook was last year for them outside of a handful of really

Big plays I think we’d be saying that like the way that TJ hackinson is playing for the the entire second half of this season and yet the interpretation ends up completely different because T Higgins did some Space Jam stuff and went up and and made the most insane play and then they

Couldn’t get the first down on the tush push but like it makes you believe that they can go to- totoe with Detroit for at least one of these two wins and potentially beat the Packers because Tai Chandler is playing the way he is because Justin Jefferson came back and

Looked really really good in that game folks we are going all in on prize picks this football season every week we are playing and testing out our skills here on purple Insider to see if we could predict what numbers players will put up every Sunday if you haven’t heard of it

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Pick on the show on purple Insider so go to prize.com purple and use the code purple for a first deposit match up to $100 that’s prize.com purple with the code purple daily fantasy sports Made Easy yeah and it just it goes to it’s the eight old saying winning fixes everything right we

Win this football game and our tune is look out are the Vikings a team that you want to tussle with in the playoffs right all those things come into play and that’s why again because we’ve talked about it and I’ve listened to plenty of Vikings radio we talked about

The class like there’s a lot of good stuff on tape and I know there’s no participation trophies and I know that’s not what people want to hear but when you put your true tape hat on and you watch this game you’re going man for three quarters this was a dominant

Performance it really was defense was playing with their hair on fire the offense was um being very efficient they were hitting on all things Nick Mullen was doing exactly what we asked him to do outside of the crazy weird interception funniest one you’ll see all year but you know know throwing for over

300 yards managing the game good completions getting the ball in his playmaker’s hands like all of those things were just like really fun to watch and then they just all get brushed under the rug because one goes up in the lcol and that’s what football is that’s

How it goes the margin for air is so small each and every single week between winning and losing but you do have to highlight the fact that all the criticism can and should be pointed at times at KOC but what he’s been able to do with what he has with Nick Mullen and

Then featuring the guys that he feels he can put trust in like Tai Chandler that’s a big Plus in my book for KOC that’s big Plus on my playbook for this whole offensive staff of being able to adjust and adapt and pivot almost on a

Week in week out basis and still put a team out there that is competitive on offense every single week well and one thing with the struggles in the Run game is we can’t like use AI to simulate what it would have been like if someone else

Was in there and if there’s a reasonable criticism it’s okay I get that Tai Chandler may have not understood everything before but could he have understood more than you thought he could or some stuff how about like 40% of the car’s worth of information and I think he’s pass blocked just fine for

The most part also I tend to believe that latavius Murray is the only good pass blocker I’ve ever covered like these running backs are just not great at it and if it’s a younger inexperienced player and he makes a mistake they’re like oh my God we can

Never play him again if it’s Madison he makes a mistake they’re like it’s okay he’s a veteran like what I mean it’s the same result uh but that that to me is a miscue of just not believing enough in a guy with super talent that you can find

A way to have him on the field and uh I guess all’s well that ends well if you found your running back for the next couple of years here in Tai Chandler maybe I’m getting ahead of myself but I really see tons of talent there tons of

Talent with the football in his hands uh so the other thing is too uh what I what I was getting at is that the Run scheme you know was like is is it wrong is it weird is it bad no it’s not they just need a guy who runs really fast in order

To hit it which shocker right from the running back position but I thought even the Run blocking didn’t even look that bad to me over the whole season and PFF was grading it well and the nextg stats were grading it well and yet they couldn’t run it was like what is going

On here and I think we have now a pretty clear picture of what was going on is they needed Tai Chandler to run but I I wanted to ask you what you think happened on defense and whether that should be a blip and a strange Confluence of events or is that

Something that the Detroit Lions are going to go oh yeah baby we’re gonna use everything that they used in the second half of that game and look out Brian flores’s defense I think it’s a little bit of both I think Jake Browning made some really critical throws and critical

Moments almost to more than I’ve seen Goff make at times this year you know I think that’s a guy rising to high emotions battling it out like and sometimes that happens sometimes you run into a guy that’s just red hot and he’s seeing the field he’s seeing everything

And hats off to Jake Browning for being able to do that in those moments but I also think the offensive line for Cincinnati did a really good job of what I call sifting through the trash and what that means is just being able to get back off the ball let things develop

In front of them pick up who you can and then try and let your quarterback say okay we’ve got five guys we can block we’re going to block those five Mixon pick someone else up and go but also there was times where Mixon misses a blitz pickup I I distinctly remember I

Think it’s in the third quarter Blitz Mixon steps up and he’s looking around like this and here comes Ivan Pace screaming up the middle and he just kind of like I’ll just run out to the flat right and just forgets him and somehow brownon gets away and ends up dumping it

To Mixon for like an eight- yard gain right those things just kind of happened and those are just guys making plays so I do think it was a little bit Bengals Rose to the occasion but the thing that you did see was if we can pick up some

Of these blitzes and some of these Exotics the back end is still a little weak at the quarterback position and when you have Superstar receivers which Jamar Chase and T Higgins who hasn’t had the year that everyone expected him to but he’s still he’s been a great

Receiver in this league for a long time you can start to see where just give these guys some chances and maybe our receivers are just better than your DBS and that’s kind of what Jake Browning did and you talk about what the Lions can do with Alan R st Brown Sam leaport

Reynolds like they have some dudes that can go back there and make things happen but it all started because the guys up front in the blitz package could not get Browning on the ground right they just in the fourth quarter I’m talking specifically in the fourth quarter they

Couldn’t really get him on the ground he had time to get out there and make the throws so I think Flores is gonna have to go back and okay maybe we need to change some things up how we’re going to get to guys how we disguise some things

Because we obviously can’t just line up and go so I think it’s it’s more I don’t know if that really answered your question I think it was twofold I don’t think there’s anything glaring off that defense where I was like there it is there’s the there’s the in the

Armor right that’s the one besides the fact that sometimes the receivers are just better than your DBS and that was the case in the fourth quarter this week yeah I I’ve got a couple observations from the film I mean one of them was that they would run a bunch of clear

Outs and then stuff underneath it and the Vikings defense is kind of built on the back end to keep everything in front of them it’s like aggressive up front conservative in the back sort of like a reverse mullet defense and that you would see a receiver going deep like I’m

Running a go route and then somebody else coming underneath you know you could call it a dagger concept or whatever you want to call it but the defense would be kind of pushed back by some of those deep routes and then that one guy underneath there’d be something

There so for Jake Browning it was like seven 10 12 eight and and he was I think he completed like seven of eight passes at one point on one drive and none of them went more than maybe 10 yards through the air but they were clearing everybody out like pushing the safeties

Back with those deep routes and I thought that was pretty effective the other thing is too that and this is just a trend all year long these Corners cannot play the football so if teams are willing to put the ball up and this is probably going to be in the in the

Reports now at this point like put the ball up if there’s a one-on-one Corner Byron Murphy doesn’t play the ball particularly well Caleb Evans as we saw uh Makai Blackman In The End Zone against courland Sutton like these guys have been mossed this year Chris alive

Got them kand Sutton got them and now T Higgins got them and I think this is what you get with kind of like when we talk about well this guy was drafted in the second this guy was in the third this guy was in the fourth well they’re

Corners for a reason like that kind of stuff but none of them have some long history of being like s Gardner or Patrick Peterson or something if you give Patrick Peterson a chance to play the football that dude is picking it off like a wide receiver that is not what

They have right now so I do think that there’s some cracks in the armor here as in like teams know now what you can do that doesn’t mean they’re going to collapse the rest of the way but there are maybe more answers than it looked like coming out of the Raiders game if

You have a good team which of course the Detroit Lions do yeah and it all starts with just picking up what Flores wants to do up front the dude’s a gambler right I he sends six more than anyone else in the NFL and it’s not even close

I mean it’s like triple what the next team is as far as the pressure rate and it’s been successful so that’s why you’re like yeah we’re just going to keep coming back to the well but offensive line coaches and as you get better against better offensive lines

Which Detroit is one of the best offensive line and they’re finally healthy right they they they’ve been rotating guys in that middle and glasgow’s bumped out whatever their dudes are back Jackson’s back Glasgow back ragn now Decker Su top three unit in the entire NFL and when you can pair

Those dudes up with saying hey you just nailed The Perfect Storm they don’t have receiver they don’t have DBS that can play the football but they’re really effective at getting to the quarterback let’s neutralize them getting to the quarterback and then we’re going to win on the back end that’s the game plan

Against this defense right pick up the crazy stuff find a way to sift through the trash get everyone blocked that you can and then gof pick your matchup right Jordan love pick your matchup who do you want to throw the football to and give them a chance and and that’s kind of a

Feast or famine thing right you’re going to have ones maybe it’s a DPI maybe it is an interception or maybe it’s a big play but when you play feaster famine like that that’s it’s a hard place to live as a defense because you got to

Decide do I gamble do I do I sit back in protection or do I sit back in coverage and and all that stuff and you’re talking about some good receiving Crews coming down the stretch here it’s going to be tough it’s going to be tough sledding because you’re not going

Against I mean goof last week looked Elite right and that’s that’s the hard part golf like sometimes like dude top 10 quarterback look at this guy go you give him a good car to drive he can take you all the way and then other times you’re like maybe maybe henden hooker

Should come in and play right like you just you don’t know with him and so I think the plan is still be to Rattle goof right rattle goof get to his feet rattle him see if he’ll throw you one but if this offensive line can step up

And protect with denil Hunter and that crew then yeah there’s gonna be some serious is she’s on the back endend against Alan R st Brown and Sam Loro well and I was looking at some numbers about the Vikings defense in general dvoa which is the you know Aaron shots

The old football Outsider stat that uh is is pretty useful to give us kind of context about yardage and how strong is a team really that kind of thing like last year they really could not stand the Vikings dvoa and then it was pretty much right in the end of the day that

They were not as strong as their record so just looking through that comparing the Vikings defense to some of the other ones where Baltimore San Francisco the Jets the brown rounds are just another notch Above So this defense is very good but it what it does is adjusts for

Opponent and of course you know Aiden oconnell Tyson beun is mixed in Justin Fields a couple of times and I think even though Jake Browning is not that great of a quarterback The Supporting Cast and the coach are so good there that that was a level up from a lot of

The teams that they had really dominated so we should have expected a tougher challenge which it will be with Detroit as well and more answers to be found and more receivers to make catches and so forth and I think that when a team has multiple weapons they’re going to be

Bringing Gibbs out of the backfield now Jameson Williams is involved like this is going to be a tougher challenge but that’s where you look at the rosters and go okay I get it like San Francisco Cleveland Baltimore there’s just Stars across you know the the entire defense

Where with this team it’s like you know Harrison Smith and uh okay denil Hunter and anybody else you got that’s like a proven star and that kind of comes into play in some of those bigger moments which could get them down the stretch and that’s why as we think of everything

As shortterm and longterm like shortterm that probably will get them to not have another pass rusher unless Davenport comes back haven’t heard anything about that happening so DJ wanham asking Harrison Phillips to play like every snap and try to get after the quarterback that’s pretty tough I think

They brought Sheldon Day Off the Bench to use him sometimes because they were like maybe he get some pressure up the middle like I don’t know uh that that part of it is still a little bit short which I think will show up as they play

A team like the Detroit Lions but the crazy part is that they only need two of these games but maybe even only need one to get in the playoffs so what does it mean to you if they reach the playoffs I think I think no one’s going

To sit here and say we’re Super Bowl contenders I I just I don’t you watch football across the league and it’s a pretty clear cut of like yeah that team right there has all the key pieces needed to make a run to win it all but

You also look at some of these teams that are quote unquote in the hunt right like and you’re like yeah they could get frisky and fun in the playoffs but they’re not going to be a team that’s going to be a contender at the end of

The day and that’s where I group the Vikings is like yeah you guys could be frisky and fun and get in and maybe make a little noise in the first round but at the end of the day you’re not a contender and that’s what everyone’s trying to be in the NFL is they’re

Trying to build their roster and build their organization to be contenders and so yeah is it great that they make the playoffs yeah I think with the turmoil that this roster has been through with the injuries and the up and down it’s a great moral Victory to make the playoffs

And as a player you’re like man we we got to the dance like we we did our best now let’s go make a run z z everyone’s record let’s go you know but from sitting back where we are I think we have to appreciate the fact that if they

Make the playoffs we have to appreciate the ride that they took us on right and we have to sit there and go okay this was fun it was crazy it was all over the place like we appreciate all that you’ve done but let’s be realistic and say okay

Let’s start thinking about what we’re doing for next year because in no way shape or form do I think this is the nine and seven Giants team that snuck in in the wild card and going to go all the way but so for me I’d be excited for the

Team I’d be obviously a fan cheering them along but as a player you kind of look at it like well we did our best we achieved our ceiling and I think the ceiling for this team is to sneak into the playoffs well that’s what I was

Going to ask what you think of like the the best possible outcome for these last couple games and let’s just put aside that they lose all three and then trade up for Jaden Daniels and then we all finally uh you know have a quarterback to talk about although I do have a what

Does that stat mean for you in a second that I that I’m very excited to to bring you that I I think points to the potential quarterback of the Vikings future so there’s a there’s a tease for five minutes from now but uh the as far as like what what’s the best possible

Way that these games could go I mean for me it’s all right you’re probably going to lose one or two of them out of three whether you make the playoffs may end up just coming down to how it goes how everybody else plays scenarios tie Breakers whatever else we’ve been

Through this a bunch times and this Super Bowl feels really really really far away after after what we saw against the Bengals but I always think of things as like like on a slider are you sliding closer or farther away from the Super Bowl with everything you do with every

Off season with every move with every game like and it’s impossible for me to to not say that’s a double negative that they’ve got let me put it a different way I think they’ve gotten closer and it’s probably by quite a bit from even where they were last year like last year

When they lost to the playoffs I was like I don’t don’t think you got closer I think you’re in the same exact spot but with the number of players even including most recently Tai Chandler who I believe now are part of this long-term thing that they could build around if

They make the playoffs that means those guys will have continued to play really well and it’s hard not to argue that they’ve gotten closer because of that I I think this year is a true example of what a competitive rebuild actually looks like honestly you know you you

Take Kirk out of the equation right Kirk was always the lynchpin of like we can’t be competitively rebuilding when we’re paying our quarterback this much money right like that’s always that was always the argument of how are you rebuilding when you’re paying a quarterback go win

A Super Bowl type of money right so as soon as you took and eliminated kurk cousins from the equation we’ve seen what a competitive rebuild really looks like which is we have really good players we have young players that we’re trying to bring along and so we’re going

To be competitive in every game that we play in we hope but in the end of the day the goal is to rebuild to like I said in our ear segment to make ourselves contenders and so I completely agree with you those steps have been

Taken this year and you see some of the youth show up at times but you also see the superstars show up at times and the thing that I love too is our Superstars actually got better this year too if that makes sense you know I think that denil Hunter is still playing at

Extremely high level Harrison Smith still playing extremely high level I didn’t see drop off from those end of guys TJ hackinson took big steps in the back half of the year of becoming the guy at tight end like that we expected earlier in the year just kind of wasn’t

There so you see big steps there darasa continue to be one of the best left tackles excuse me Garrett Bradberry stepping up elevating like all these pieces that have been around are not maxed out of their Potential from what you see on tape so that’s really it’s frustrating because you’re

Like we’re right there but it’s also just it’s reassuring to me that the coaches are still getting the most out of these guys and so yes you’re competitive but this was a rebuild season and an 89 win season looked at as a bit of a rebuild and now you can go

Into next offseason go now we’re competitive no more rebuild right no more re we have the building blocks that we need now it’s just about inputting certain pieces that will Elevate us from this competitive rebuild area to maybe we’re contenders we got to develop into contenders but I think you nailed it the

Steps have been taken to put us in position next year to truly think that we could be competitive I also feel like when you can reasonably say and it’s not some sort of weird Twisted logic that you were very close to being just competitive after taking a rebuild

Approach which doesn’t happen that often usually if you take a rebuild approach you get a rebuild but instead had Kirk Cousins stayed healthy you’re at least one more win than you’re at right now I would say but it might even be two the way that they were playing on defense

Through that run they wouldn’t have had to be that great on offense and Kirk was really clicking in to the offense at that time so you were farther ahead than you probably even thought you were because of the number of players that did develop and come along including

Jordan Addison who we just are like oh he’s great now who else can we talk about that’s that’s one of the most frustrating things about football is always like all right that guy darasa is like the best left tackle in the league other than Trent Williams who else we

Got it’s like wait a minute can we just stop and recog Iz that the Tre that like he put himself in that TR Williams ballpark with the way that he performed this year that’s now two years in a row of Superstar meast Star level left tackle play and I swear it’s just

Because darasa is so chill and like never gets noticed for anything that that the and and look you’re gonna have to play in some playoff games and everything else to get the national attention but he’s just he’s not like a guy who really self- promotes he doesn’t

Have a podcast he just he’s just he’s just Vibes and yet goes out there and dominates people Addison is sort of the same way where it’s like all right once he did that San Francisco thing we’re like all right he’s good who sucks who can we talk about you know but the way

You have that offense Now set up with the way Addison has come along it’s in really good shape and I’ll tell you who it’s in really good shape for so I saw this statistic uh from Eric eager our friend uh everybody follows him suers Sports on Twitter comes on the show all

The time uh but um he was talking about pressure to sack rate in college so how often does a quarterback get pressured and how often are they able to get rid of the football anyway and not take a sack sacks are very bad now of course someone like Jaden Daniels does end up

With a lot of sacks Lamar Jackson did too lots of running quarterbacks like who have that as a big part of their game do take a lot of sacks as well as they try to like make too much out of it but Michael penck Jr only turned those into sacks

7% of the time pressures into sacks so when he got pressured he got rid of the football and didn’t turn it into massive negative plays you add that with his arm strength and his accuracy his anticipation his ability to push the ball down the field and I was looking at

The open receivers the other day going if Michael pennx is the quarterback of this team he’s just gunning it to everybody all over the field who’s wide open right Addison Jefferson he’s given dudes jump balls to make plays like I think that that stat and his skill set and watching KOC operate

Better with Nick Mullins has brought me into the Michael penck Camp how do you feel about that I mean besides the fact that he’s a couple years away from his AARP card sure you know I mean he is he’s old he’s 26 right so you would expect he’s not

26 I think he’s 26 he might be 26 years old he might be 25 at least 25 he’s not even that I promise you he’s at least 25 years old he’s not 25 years old I’m G look this up okay you look up he’s 23 no he’s not

He’s he’s definitely older than that he’s 23 he’s played seven years of college football seven six I guess six but I so he will he will turn 24 after the draft so he would start his rookie season at 24 you’re giving him like five more years you’re like yeah yeah he he’s he’s

Older than Sea Hill was when he was a viking I don’t know dude I just feel like he’s old I feel like I’ve watched him forever because he was at Indiana forever and then he was at Washington I’m like this dude’s like he’s like the guy that was in Minnesota Tanner

Whatever his name was uh Tanner Morgan yeah Tanner Morgan he felt like I mean I feel like I played against him when he was in Minnesota but anyways Michael pennx for me he’s an interesting Prospect because when you look at him on paper you think he’s more of like a dual

Threat guy that’s going to run around but when you really stare and watch him and break down the tape his accuracy is maybe the best out of all these quarterbacks like the the balls that he puts and I get he’s throwing to a first round receiver that’s great and he has

Two tackles that are going to get drafted on day two probably with Roger rosengart and Troy Fatu like those two are great and so you start trying to put him in the camp of is this like an Alabama quarterback where he was really talented and just threw to really

Talented people or can you really break it down and look at him and go no the tools are all there and I’m still on the fence a little bit about that because I think some of his leadership stuff is interesting you know as far as like

There’s times where they won a big game and he’s like got his head in the equipment box and you’re like you okay over there like but then you see his teammates rally around him so I like penx I don’t know if I like him in the

First round type of guy for pennx but I agree with you the accuracy and the ball distribution is very good good by him I’m excited to see what he can do in the college football playoff because I think that’ll be also very revealing on a big stage but I agree with you there’s

Receivers running open Nick Mullen has the operable brain to get it there but he lacks some of the arm strength and the the nuts to say I’m just gonna throw this up there right which is to be expected of a backup quarterback versus I think if you can get a guy like pennx

Or even a rookie quarterback in there that’s serviceable B Knicks that’s like hey I’m going to give these dudes a shot right I don’t know any better I’m just a 20 eight-year-old young guy running around in here sorry had to I’m just a young buck in here just chucking it

Around I think you’re right this is an offense that’s set up to be a run and Gun really fun offense and that’s something I think KOC is going to definitely be looking for in the draft the mobility is is lacking for sure and they they will run occasionally with him

And you’re like come on buddy you can do it you can get there drop the trailer right yeah he is a get what they get the piano off your back was what people used to say to me because I’m I was slow even when I was much faster than I am now but

Uh you know i i i g a long way from all that there’s more still another game to be played and I thought where we really learned about CJ strad last year was the bowl game against Georgia so we’re going to see him in a different environment

But man the guy went like up to Coralis in a rainstorm and fought through like a tough start and it’s been a very emotional year for them they they’re overachieving what they’ve ever done before and I think the best possible version of him is like a left-handed

Philip Rivers who just kind of sits back there plays point guard great leadership gutsy dude who just has great accuracy in throwing the football and I think that we all we also have to consider who’s the fit for KOC like that’s my that’s my thing like I want Jaden

Daniels there running around making crazy plays is that going to be actually the best fit when you want timing accuracy like Nick Mullen survived in this game that I was thinking this with Nick Mull I don’t know if he could throw the ball 35 yards down the field like with his

Arm strength the ball just goes and like just kind of dies out after about 12 and I’m thinking like Michael penx does the same thing only with a real arm like what are we talking about here so this is this actually leads into an another subject I want to

Get to before we go love to see it hate to see it which is just is there anything left to find out here I mean when we watch Tai Chandler and he actually gets a chance to be the the RB one we’re like okay that’s all

Right here we go I don’t know that there’s anything left I think that it’s make the playoffs don’t make the playoffs is our entire discussion the rest of the way I don’t know that there’s any other players to learn about I don’t know I think we’ve learned everything about koc’s strengths

Weaknesses ability to handle adversity we know everything about Floris the defense where it’s still got to go what it’s capable of is there anything else like what a what are we finding out here in the last three games I I think this team’s reached its ceiling it’s like I

Said the ceiling is they scratch their way into the playoffs and that is you squeezed everything you had out of this team and there’s nothing wrong with that that’s part of rebuilding of of a team is you you found a way like hey that’s good coaching man if I squeezed every

Last drop that I had out of these players with that I have and this was our ceiling then great let’s see what I can do when I get everything else involved and some new pieces added and and new juice to squeeze right but I’m with you this this is kind

Of it this is what we’ve learned we’ve had new players emerge we’ve had some players fall out we’ve got rid of some players we traded some players right like everyone has had a chance to Showcase especially on defense everyone’s played like everyone that can dress in purple I feel like has been on

The field at one point in time for the vinota Vikings defense this year and this team is who it is and that’s okay they are who they are there’s no magic wand that’s going to wave and Bing now that’s not saying that this team isn’t good enough to go win games still

Because they’ve proven time and time again that they are but there’s no big surprise at the end of the rainbow here for us there’s no big behind door number three we found this undrafted free agent now that’s all of a sudden like yeah Ivan Pace has been fantastic to watch

Like there’s been guys that have emerged but the season is everyone right now is who they are right and you’re starting to see guys start to emerge all over the league but this team is who it is they’re an 8 n Win team just like we predicted back down in September um and

There’s nothing wrong with that as long as they continue to play at a high level they keep trying to get everything they can out of all the guys around them coaches coach hard it’s okay it is what it is just understand that it’s not going to be some special big magical run

Just because I don’t see the pieces put there that can make that happen do you think they make it I think if they split with Detroit they can make it in the playoffs I think I think you gonna get a good shot against Green Bay that’s more

Of a coin flip game for me just watching how kind of Green Bay has been up and down and not real consistent uh I think Detroit’s gotten themselves back on track a little bit last week you know they were kind of figuring their lives out are they contenders are they a joke

And everything in between they figur their lives out I think if we can split with Detroit I think we can beat Green Bay and then give ourselves a chance with maybe some of the other stuff that I needs to happen but I really do think

If we can find a way to go one-onone with the Lions we get a chance to get in and I would say if they are able to go one andone against the Lions that the door is much more open than against anybody else to go to Detroit and win a playoff game

Yes and if they win a playoff game that will be about as much as you could ever dream of getting out of this situation uh all right love to see it hate to see it I will start I can’t believe Aaron roders isn’t gonna be able to come back

I just hate to see that I just can’t believe it this whole time I was on the edge of my seat going is he gonna do it is he gonna come back from an injury that literally no one has ever come back from within the season oh yeah probably

Because he’s got got the modern science answers that’s the guy I would really turn to for all the knowledge about science and by biology and everything else that is my dude and then what a disappointment to find out that he won’t be able to return from an ail’s tear in

The season too bad what a shame ah we were just it was Prime the Netflix documentary was already written Matt it was it was already ready you know Rogers returns and leads the Jets to Super Bowl right it was already written Netflix had bought the but yeah that was never going

To happen and anyone who ever thought that was going to happen just go buy a lotto ticket like you might be real lucky it just it’s not it wasn’t real it never was real and hats off to him for building a huge audience and probably capitalizing a lot of off the field

Opportunities because he stayed relevant he stayed in the news he stayed very like hey business businessman Aaron Rogers nice job but anyone who’s ever had a surgery on any type of tendon that has been repaired knows that you can’t go play in the NFL at a high level

Unless you are a 1 billion per healed from that thing and it’s just human nature you’re not healed it just doesn’t work like that yeah I would say narcissist Aaron Rodgers that feeds off only attention uh had a great year and you know he didn’t play and was never

Gonna play but he had another really good year for him just going on Pat McAfee and getting all the tweets from the insiders and the retweets and everything else the clips that came out of that show so well done from that perspective but hate to see won’t be

Returning what do you got I love to see it is Buffalo Bills man like that team last week we were like okay Dallas is back they got the signature win they beat the they beat the Eagles they’re rivals in the division they’re looking like they’re going to contend with San

Fran is maybe the second best team in all of the NFL and here are the Buffalo Bills just sitting there going man just get me into January just get me into January and let’s see what we can do you know you put them on you compare and

Contrast them to the Vikings of like they’re kind of similar situations of like we just need to squeeze our way into the playoff the difference being the Bills roster you look at from top to bottom it’s a Super Bowl contending roster and if they can play like they

Get against Dallas the other night running the football with James Cook Josh Allen making good good decisions and guess what Stefon Diggs hasn’t even really been involved in the game plan in the last like three weeks so you start figuring that thing out the bills are legitimate shot in the AFC to go

Challenge the Ravens and look out like look out for that team I love watching Josh Allen play I love watching the his mock see how that all things goes but I just love to see that the bills might be getting themselves on track to go play

Upset as they sneak their way in the back door into the playoffs similarly to the Minnesota Vikings when the Bills win a Super Bowl it will have to be in the strangest most unpredictable bizarre fashion including having the turning point of the Season being that it came

Out their head coach said you can Google it but that that’s a chapter in the book whoever’s writing that one uh if it turns out no I actually agree with you that this Bills team has sort of been a sleeping giant but they couldn’t get out

Of their own way and I’m not gonna say that what that story said that McDermot said galvanized them in some way but I think they were that team before and they just weren’t having it work out in some of those end of game situations once they figure that out uh they’re a

Much better team I would be very scared if I’m another team and I’m facing them 72 matchup or something I’m like oh you got to be kidding me because you’re really facing like a one seed caliber football team uh my love to see it is Drew lock Jake

Browning we’ll throw Josh dobs in here we’ll th like every backup who has had their moment who knows they’re capable who has had opportunities in the league that haven’t worked out and they get on a national stage and they throw a game-winning touchdown and they give an emotional interview after and all that

Look Drew Lock’s probably never going to be a starting quarterback ever again in the NFL right like he’s just too flawed to be that but you go through a lot as these backups I mean you wait and you wait and you wait hey how about our guy

Case Keenum right like like I mean that guy you know he he didn’t live up to that contract in Denver lost a starting job in Washington he’s bounced around since then and oh man now you’re called into action and was it pretty absolutely not finds a way to win a game Joe flacko

Comes off the couch after being completely written off finds a way to win a game despite three interceptions it it’s not sustainable but who cares it’s been really really fun to see so many guys who are capable of coming off the bench and playing have these amazing

Moments yeah it’s it goes to speak of you just got to be ready because all those guys you just mentioned extended their careers by years years because the backup quarterback is the most thankless job but it’s also the most important because when you’re a team like Houston and you’re fighting for your playoff

Life in December and you have to go win a football game without your guy you have to have a guy you be like you can do this right like you used to be able to do this can you still do this and if you have a guy that’s like yeah I’ve

Done it before you’ll make a team forever Matt Barkley is still in the NFL right like because he’s a guy that’s won football games you just have to prove that you can win football games as a backup quarterback it doesn’t have to be pretty you just found a way to win and

You’ll extend your career by multiple years in this league so excited for all those guys case in particular I love that guy he has been relevant since 2017 and here he is again on man on the Manning cast just checking in doing his thing so um love that my hate to see it

Is twofold I hate to see some of the injuries going around late in December now the Mitchell injury was awful to see for the Ravens Pitman being hurt but my other hate to see it is I don’t love the league coming out and being like you’re

Suspended the rest of the year for a hit that yes it was vicious and yes it was to the head neck area but it’s really hard for me be like man that’s a tough play for a guy trying to dislodge a football and you could tell immediately

He got up like I wasn’t trying to hurt that guy right like I feel like some of these these big time hits and like obviously Kem Jackson set this whole stage for all these safeties of multiple offenders and like we have to throw the hammer and come down on these guys but

You’re putting the DBS in my opinion in a really really predicament of like do I selfishly not try and hit this guy so that I can stay in the stay in the game and not get fined or am I trying to dislodge this ball so my team can win

The football game and you’re putting some of these guys in in really really risky situations for football-wise that I don’t love the leagues being like you’re supine of the rest of the year and in the playoffs we’re just not even dealing with it anymore it’s not a one

Game A two game like you’re just done I don’t love that that for the league I don’t love that for football I think it’s something that’s going to be have to addressed heavily in this off season and know I think there is something to be said about intent like intent of a

Tackle versus like just trying to make a play it’s a bang bang things happen guys are moving different elevations constantly you’re running forward you’re running forward so I just don’t love to see that in the league and it goes toofold with some of the injuries that have happened the last couple weeks I

Think hockey fans understand this one really well hockey and dirty hits are always really really tough because are you making a physical physical play to try to like you said dislodge the puck or are you trying to take someone’s head off and sometimes that line is very

Close and by the way the guys on hockey skates or on cleats are moving insanely fast and we’re asking them to basically play slow motion which is what we could slow it down and look at and I think it goes under that know it when you see it

Type of thing like I know it when I see it when a dude just clearly lowered his head and said I am going after this guy and I didn’t feel like it was that um to the extent that someone should be suspended for the rest of the season

That to me is reactionary because it got shared around because everybody lost their minds over it because the guy got hurt uh at the same time my hate to see it was going to be concussion spotters what is it that you do here exactly I

Mean do they get paid I hope not because I there have been numerous times during Vikings games this year where I’m like I’ve watched enough football to know exactly what just happened right there to that guy and oh somebody picked him up and he’s back he doesn’t know where

He’s lined up but he’s out there uh and then Trevor Lawrence my guy got hit right in the brain on a and then his next throw went to Nowhere like okay you can you don’t have to do it right when he gets hit you can also watch the next

Play and be like okay something’s up up with that guy you could look at the replay what what is the spotter just there for show yes he is uh because I’ve seen so many instances including Brock pie against the Vikings where a guy had a concussion went back out there you

Could spot it if you actually saw the play and saw him get hit helmet to helmet and then he ends up playing and I thought the goal was to be able to see these things in real time get the guy checked out get him out of the game if

He’s actually got a concussion and instead I don’t know I may have seen it one time all year if someone actually being pulled off the field I’m not exactly sure what it’s for but that Trevor Lawrence incident was really bad for the NFL and I think that the the

Total game was so much focused on well what a game for Lamar what a game for the Ravens that that storyline just didn’t really get picked up on very much but this thing has been totally useless and they need to do a better job with completely agree and you know I think a

Lot of it comes back to some of these quarterbacks making sure that you’re not over embellishing some of these like slide hits right like I think of like Tommy DeVito last week right like he slides and they kind of and he’s just like and like freezes and so they’re

Like is he dead does he and then he pops up and he’s like and so it’s like I feel like sometimes it’s like okay well are you embellishing are you real but I agree with you if you’re going to be a spotter have the balls to be like get

Them out for at least a couple plays like if we really are going to hang our hat on player safety making sure guys right like have the balls to page the ref get down there and be like 16 out of the game until he can get cleared what’s

The worst that can happen like I get it from A team’s perspective like that’s my starting quarterback I can’t just have him Miss third and eight but if we’re truly going to say player safety we have to all be okay with it and I think that

Everyone needs to jump on board and be like we need to be more aggressive with the spotters in in the player safety realm all right love to see it second straight year for the Vikings under Kevin oconnell have a really good chance to make the playoffs going down the

Stretch and we will be covering it of course and uh next time we talk I’ll be back in the home studio as opposed to on the road here although I seem to have fixed the lighting and I I think I look okay at this moment so uh Jeremiah I’m

Looking forward to cover these next few games with where we will dive deep and uh learn more about this team so thanks for your time and uh thanks everybody for watching later