A blessing in disguise for Minnesota Vikings?

Mackey and Judd deliver their Hottest Vikings Takes and Pie Chart of Blame after a brutal loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. The hot takes revolve around how bad the Vikings have been at home this season, the direction of the franchise moving forward, and their current draft position!

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In the no non-stop Vikings talk it’s purple daily on scor North and scor north.com Football all right how we feeling happy New Year how what time did you get out of that Stadium last night J I think I was D I think I got in my car at 11:57 oh that’s not too bad no no no no so I I actually rang in the New Year downtown

In your car I think I was going through a stop light yeah yeah yeah and and the only thing I saw Bobby and Steves is that where you that was no I was going down Seventh Street and the only thing I saw that was a problem was um I had a

Green light and there was an ambulance that came screaming through and so I had to jam on the brakes but besides that there were no there were no uh New Year’s Eve driving problems which I’m thankful for so you almost you almost spent the New Year’s uh at HCMC it

Sounds like if I slammed on the brakes I it was coming through it it you know no I was fine but I did slam on the brakes to where the car like stopped weird because I slammed him on so so hard but but you know what that’s because I

Wasn’t drinking I was right I was on top of my driving game oh I was uh texting with a friend who said uh they were they were so they were in town for the game it’s a mutual friend of ours is should go sh go nameless and said said so where

Did you ring in the New Year and he said I was actually at uh a comedy club last night ringing in the new year I said oh did they just rerun the first half of the Vikings offense in that game the jiren hall stand up it that was awesome

Hey everybody uh here’s me rolling out on a third and one not sure why we’re throwing throwing the ball on Third and one here but uh there’s Johnny M Tipp tipping the pass hey Johnny don’t tip that pass oh my God so so yeah this is

Uh this is day one of the 2024 purple daily season here and uh we’ll start you off with our hottest Vikings takes and then we’ll hit you with a pie chart of blame but a shout out to our friends at Quick Trip before we get into these hot

Takes Jud I had a great time throughout the holiday week there bouncing around we were road tripping we were we went skiing at one point I’ve never skied before I didn’t die very happy no never in my life I’ve skied I think uh in eth grade okay I think we cross country

Skied in junior high one time oh yeah no I did some downhill very I I was not good and I I quickly Abandoned Ship but uh I’m surprised you’ve never strapped on the skis like as a kid a supreme athlete like me found a new sport but uh

We hit like three maybe four different quick trips on our Ventures to uh load up on snacks and fuel it was phenomenal yeah exactly so we’re talking we’re talking gasoline we’re talking as you just said there uh snacks a ton of stuff but what if I was to tell you that

There’s also a hidden treasure at the Quick Trip Phil Macky and that is the full offering of chicken options now I don’t have time to go through them all because there are so many because quick trip also is your head Head Quarters for a breakfast lunch or dinner convenient

As can be chicken tenders I’m going to I’m going to talk about chicken tenders hand breaded huge in jumbo three or eight piece uh perfect for a quick easy lunch or dinner prepared fresh daily also chicken sandwiches and how about this near and dear to your heart boneless wings so don’t forget quick

Trip is your One-Stop shopping for anything that you might need including breakfast lunch or dinner thank you quick trip for supporting purple daily would would you like to lead off with your hottest Vikings take since I have the pie chart later on sure sure I will

Sure I will um all right big picture but off of the entire season which which at least the home schedule is now complete this is the Vikings most disappointing home record since they moved indoors into the Metrodome 41 years ago 19882 this is the most disappointing and let

Me back that up with some facts as the kids like to say okay okay was this their worst record well I’ll get to that this team first of all first of all this team was coming off at8 and one year 81 at US Bank Stadium Kevin oconnell first year

Okay they are going to or they finished it now two and six they won two home games two home games um the only season since they moved indoors so this is not a US Bank Stadium this is an indoors thing the only season worse than this was a 1 in

Seven finish at home in the debacle of 2011 which was a three- win Team all right uh besides that 2020 uh three and five 2006 three and five 84 another three- win team debacle 2- six and 83 second year in the Metrodome three and five but the point

Is that this team won two games at home and like that’s a non-starter that’s not you know you can’t be this bad at home especially with with a team that traditionally has felt it has a strong home field advantage so I think it’s safe to say given the expectations all

Right like 2011 was coming off 2010 which was just a disaster but even that 2010 Vikings in the metrome went four and four um this is for expectations the most disappointing season in 41 years of Home football for a team that like I just started to look at this two weeks ago or

So the home stuff the home stuff it’s awful it’s awful weird awful it makes me uh so the pie chart is done it’s cooked and we have all the slices it kind of makes me want to throw the fans in there because I don’t know if you see you you

Didn’t hear the the broadcast last night and I hate I generally hate uh you know brow beating on fans because the te it’s up to the team to perform and then the fans can create the atmosphere off the team’s perform it’s not up to the the

Fans to necessarily carry a team but uh we have seen that before but uh Chris Collinsworth made a couple comments when the Packers jumped out 10 nothing he he commented on how quiet it was he’s like boy these fans are these fans are doing a good job of they I guess they they

Understand how to keep it quiet when the Vikings are on offense but he was kind of being sarcastic and they were showing shots at the crowd and we all know what this is like not only Vikings fans but all other Minnesota sports teams they is that feeling because we’ve been

Tormented for 30 years we haven’t won a major men’s championship since 1991 so we we can all kind of sense when some when when a season or a game is going sideways you come in hopeful but then the other team punches you in the face and you’re down 10- nothing and we

Aren’t always the greatest at just cheering through the early deficit when the Packers are up 10- nothing well we tend to just kind of sit in our seats and just kind of Stew right and that’s what happened last night and and the Packers fans and you know breaking news

Packers fans got into our Stadium yeah uh but but Packers fans because of how the game was flowing too you know had the Go Pack Go chant going strong I just I felt like there was it’s funny I felt the team in the fan base last night

Reflected each other with just with this sort of recognition of this isn’t work it’s done yeah it just felt like it felt like there was lethargic nature about the team and the fan base and and you know once we got past God bless him kir o chains right

Takes the shirt off Place goes nuts that was really cool Galah horn gets blown you know after that it’s like the game started the Packers uh the Packers go three and out but if you recall that Jordan love missed a pass badly he had a

Guy wide open for what could have been a touchdown it was probably a 40 yard game and so the Packers punt the Vikings get the ball same exact thing and from there on Phil it just felt like there was this oh this isn’t this isn’t going to work again yeah

And but still you’re playing the Packers at home it’s I mean two and six at home yeah I and I and you guys did the pck episode and I sort of radioed in my pick and I said Packers I feel like the Packers are going to win this game and

But then when kco came out and you could and you were in the building I was watching on TV I was I I took in some of the pre game stuff but like the electricity in the building it felt like I I was I was almost going to text you

In De and be like can I change my pick this feels like boy the Packers are missing some weapons and but I don’t know the the in addition to just like the home debacle that you outline here it feels like there’s never been a bigger gap between where the Packers lions and

Bears are going and the question hovering over the Vikings like those you could now we can poke holes and say the Bears are going to Justin Fields isn’t the guy maybe they switch franchise quarterbacks but the Bears have RedHot momentum they’ve won like five out of

Six or four out of five the Packers are getting better and have found a franchise quarterback the lions are the clear-cut best team in this Division and the Vikings are sitting here and they’ve had injuries and obviously kurk cousins going down is a huge reason but like

He’s a free agent denil Hunter’s a free agent it just kind of feel like I don’t I don’t blame and I don’t know that this is what fans were thinking about but I don’t blame fans for watching that game last night and thinking existentially what is our place in this

Division right now boy Jordan love just had the best game of his career inside US Bank Stadium the uh the Bears are chanting Justin Field’s name at Soldier Field as they put a 20o whooping on somebody like it is like as you’re sitting there watching the Packers rack up 10-point

Lead 17-point lead three touchdown lead you’re thinking what is our place in this Division and that’s going to be a discussion for us for the next nine months obviously yeah and last night is hard to swallow too because one it’s the Packers so like it it’s one thing it

Sucks if the Chiefs come in and kick your ass which by the way they didn’t do but if they do it’s like okay that sucks it’s embarrassing but this is the Packers so like and and by the way the Packers also had injuries as well so it

Wasn’t like it was a 100% healthy Packer team against a Vikings team that was depleted um but yeah I think it’s just I think you’re watching last night but though here here so yes Kirk is out there are plenty of excuses that I’m sure will be made elsewhere about this

But you know what’s like disturbing to watch last night and it’s sad and it’s not his fault he’s just old but Harrison Smith who aside from that that game against uh in Carolina when he was unbelievable you know that was a turn back the clock game for Harrison Smith

But other than that he’s had a pretty rough year and last night you know he’s throwing his helmet against the bench I think it’s partially because he’s mad at himself because he can’t make plays that he once did and that that to your point is the problem of when you see that you

Are thinking are we going to try to run this back again like are we going to bring all these guys back are we going to lose guys and then keep old you know so I do I think you bring up a very valid point of it goes well beyond

Injuries there are just question marks and this is the price you pay for being competitive all the time you never get the chance to take a breath and retool that’s sort of the Vikings in a nutshell and there are there’s a lot of even if and again it’s like there’s a game left

And they still have a mathematical chance to get to the playoffs I guess and we can go over those scenarios this week but it it did feel like the shutting of the door on the season in a big way I don’t know how it couldn’t last night and it does open up questions

About Harrison Smith is the next Cornerstone veteran in line for that uncomfortable conversation that Eric Kendricks was in Adam thielen was in right all these guys um and you watch that game and like Harrison Smith can still play a little bit but he’s he’s literally taking up I think the fifth

Highest capit on the team I want to say or maybe even higher than that and then next year it jumps up again like it’s another contractual uncomfortable conversation yes at some point yeah at some point like you have to move on from him too just like you did the others and

You’re going to look back at this last three or four years and you’re probably going to wonder was it all worth going the extra year or two with these Legacy Viking players to keep clawing and scratching or would you have been better off getting ahead of the age curve and

Getting a third round pick for a guy three years ago right like do you are you cool with just like being competitive in December sometimes January or would you rather make some uncomfortable decisions and like some by the way the uncomfortable decisions they might have to talk about and this is

Going to there’s going to be some Vikings fans that hear what I’m about to say and probably never listen to this podcast again but the real uncomfortable conversations are okay if we aren’t close to winning a Super Bowl right now can we get out in front of this get

Draft Capital get our cap in order by trading guys like Justin Jefferson or you brought up Christian derasa for instance right which again I’m not like advocating for those things but right a lot of things should be on the table as you look at your your place in this

Division the next three to five years and last point off this but I think with the wils and I blame and look it’s not blame because they want to be competitive it’s hard to be be like well you’re a you you want your team to win but where I think the wlvs don’t

Necessarily understand what they want and I do think it’s them like I think they’re the common denominator from Spielman to quazy I think if quazy given his background I gotta think that if you just G gave him a blank piece of paper and said you know your choice he would

Make moves uh but I also think when your bosses are like no we you know we we love Harry keep har Smith um but the other thing that we don’t really think about and I think the the wills don’t think about Phil is this one too when

You do what the Vikings are doing like as far as trying to run things back and keep guys you remove any margin for error and by that for instance last night so Harrison Smith is probably winding down a potential Hall of Fame career okay so like this should not be

An embarrassment of well now you’re washed up and you suck like you’re right it’s a delicate conversation but this now means that the failure if you wanted a safety in the Kyle Hamilton year and didn’t take him that failure is colossal now like because he would step

In I mean he is a game-changing player right now so so like that’s the thing too is if you don’t acrew a ton of picks so like you got to get picks right that’s the issue that draft now absolutely kills you cuz you didn’t and

And Phil look at look at last night the lack of depth I mean Andrew boo Jr who was what a second round pick comes in late tries to start a fight in the post game yeah um all of that stuff but because you don’t have a ton of picks you can’t that Miss

Kills you well and it it would be nice if after almost two full seasons if Louis scen could I mean there was at one point louen was like walking off the field after one of the kickoffs or I think it was uh pretty sure it was a maybe it was

Punt coverage but he was like like the the the the rest of like the the defense came onto the field and he’s just like moping off the field it’s like that that’s him right now that is your first round pick successor to Harrison Smith he can only get on the field on special

Teams and he’s just kind of got weird body language and like there’s reasons why they’re not putting him in the game as an actual defensive player but all right let’s let’s get back into the uh hottest takes track here because I want to give you my hottest Vikings take which

Is jiren Hall should be celebrated for one of the most most impactful quarterback performances in recent Vikings History so hear me out on this this was another great loss for the long-term future and success of the Vikings and jiren Hall by being completely unprepared and ready and I’m

Not you know some of it was probably coaching and whatnot but sure jiren Hall was the heartbeat of that performance last night that that atrocious offensive embarrassing performance he was so bad they wouldn’t even let him start the Third quar and Kevin oconnell has given dobs leeway and Mullins leeway okay go

Back out there but uh be careful with those interceptions like he didn’t even want to see jiren hall for a third quarter this team has been going nowhere since the pastor knuts rocket ship landed like a month ago right and I know there there was actually it’s funny

Because there was some hope Kirk goes down oh my God season’s over dobs comes in after jiren Hall’s concussion they score 31 points they put up 27 against the Saints and there was like a glimmer of hope there after that Saints game that oh man okay he’s kind of Reckless

But this is interesting they’re scoring points they’ve they’re averaging almost 30 points with backup quarterback but then once they started losing games dobs gets benched Mullins comes in like any sane fan I think saw this there’s no way like even if they get to the playoffs they’re going to get

Smoked in the first or second round so three straight losses now they go from 22nd to 12th in draft order thanks in large part two jar Hall last night if they lose to the Lions next week they’re going to draft almost certainly 9th 10th

Or 11th so a loss to the Lions makes it likely more likely than not that they have a top 10 draft good loss y so they will have they will have lost the last month’s worth of games going from 22nd potentially to 9th or 10th in draft

Order and it’s a team that desperately needs an answer at quarterback long-term and Edge rusher long-term and short-term because denil Hunter is your only viable Edge rusher some people might say DJ want him that’s fine but dude he wrecked himself for that injury and he’s a free

Agent yeah and I would argue he’s not necessarily a high-end Edge rusher he was a good player but agreed who knows what’s going to happen now going forward right yep so knowing all that right where the Vikings have gone the last month 22nd in draft order to probably

9th or 10th if they lose to the Lions and knowing what they need which is a solution at quarterback and an edge Rush of some kind and there’s other positions too you could say like a big physical cornerback according to tanon right now they’re big board the top 15 college players uh

According to Ton’s aggregate those top 15 include three franchise quarterbacks three high-end Edge rushers and two shutdown cornerbacks so you’ve got your pick you might not get the best quarterback off the board but you’ve got your pick of like the positions you need to change your franchise going forward

If you stay at 9th or 10th you can even trade up if you want to you’ll have access to those things thanks in large part to jiren Hall being terrible in the first half last night and this opens up a such an interesting conversation too because now

The question is as I told you on vent line last night I think with the way this team tracks I think they’re going to resign Kirk and draft a defensive player because that’s a plug and play and then you are immediately you know in at least in your mind you spike back up

Right but and I mean this is an entire episode but there’s a very good case to be made that you let Kirk go you draft a quarterback right like let’s say at eight let’s say you move up who knows eight or nine um You probably take a

Step back but if you like the quarterback you’ve got him and and you’ve got him on a rookie contract like this is where it’s so intriguing and this is where I think that there is so Phil there’s such an interesting Crossroads here right for for quazy for oconnell and probably most importantly

For for the wils the crossroads is this do you take a player on defense who’s going to help you immediately and bring back a guy who’s coming off and a kill and still I mean I think he’s fine but he’s going to be 36 in August or or if

You take a quarterback you’re probably allowing Kirk Kirk to walk away because I don’t know that you would bring back Kirk except the fact that you’re not improving your team and then sit the rookie quarterback well yeah and the timing of this too it’s like if you have to make

The decision on Kirk in March but how many other teams are going to be willing to give him like 30 or $40 million several months before he’s ready to actually step on a football field so the the timing of this is all going to be super interesting y but I just

Think and they and they of course in classic Vikings fashion it couldn’t just be that oh Kirk goes down and they lose a bunch of games they have to like Rise Up from the dead and win a couple in retrospect some of the wins they racked up were just pointless they they could

They could literally have like the fifth overall pick with a chance to trade up to three or something if they wanted to but but I will say having the ninth or 10th pick is so much more of a franchise changer potentially than the 22nd pick not that you can’t find good players in

The 20s I mean hell the Vikings found Christian darasa and Justin Jefferson like they have found Cornerstone players there too but there’s a reason why I just think like too on on the trade front too if you want to move up to get let’s say A

Jaden Daniels moving from 22nd to 4th or 22nd to 5th is almost impossible you’d have to give up probably three future two future first maybe more moving up from 9th or 10th to fourth or fifth if one of those guys drops might be one future first and something and now

You’re giving up less Capital um one last thing on this and we can get to a pie chart but because I hear the push back from people well wait a second drafting higher doesn’t guarantee anything well of course not just like sneaking into the playoffs with your your fourth quarterback doesn’t get I

Mean it guarantees a beat down in San Francisco at some point but we’re not like we’re not talking about guarantees we’re talking about probabilities here and drafting higher gives you access to better players especially when you’re talking about Edge and quarterback and yes the Vikings found denil Hunter they

Found Everson Griffin in later rounds but you’re bet you have a better chance of finding your stud Edge rusher top 10 top 12 pick than taking a flyer in the third round and don’t give me denal Hunter because that is an anomaly just like Brock perie is an anomaly Tom Brady

Is an anomaly but I went back and found the top 12 picks like uh where the Vikings have drafted in the top 12 which is where they are right now the last 25 years it’s a great list of names people love to point out Christian Ponder being

A dud and a bust and we have Christian Ponder post-traumatic stress syndrome around here but here are the players the nine players the Vikings have drafted with a top 12 draft pick in the last 25 years Dante c pepper one of the best quarterbacks in franchise history until

The knee blew out he was electric he was the second best quarterback in the league at one point behind pton Manning in 2004 Bryant McKenna was one of the best left tackles for a long stretch in the NFL Kevin Williams Ring of Honor Troy Williamson dud that was part of the

Randy Moss tra Adrien Peterson one of the greatest running backs of all time Christian Ponder dud but it didn’t the franchise they actually won the division with Christian Ponder just he was in the passenger seat for that division title in 2012 they had a couple

Weird years after that when they had to kind of move off Ponder but like two weird so division title with Ponder despite Ponder two kind of weird Seasons not train wrecky but transition from Frasier to Zimmer boom right back to 11 wins 13 wins best defense in the league

Right Matt khil people say Bust before the knee injury Matt KH was actually on a pretty nice track and then the knee hit and he was never the same player Anthony Bar was a top 12 pick four-time pro bowler key part of the best defense in the NFL in 2017 and Trey

Wayn was a top 12 pick Trey Waynes was a good solid NFL starting quarterback so by my math out of the nine picks they’ve had in the top 12 the last 25 years two of them are busts Christian Ponder and Troy Williamson you’re going to get some

Bust in there seven of the nine are guys that were either Ring of Honor players Hall of Famers perennial pro bowlers or very very good high-end starting players so what’s interesting about that too is that the Williamson pick which as you said came in the Moss trade was also the

The danger of forcing a pick because they’re they’re like who’s the best wide receiver who can replace Moss hey this guy’s really fast uh there wasn’t a lot of really I think deep thought given to that pick the Ponder pick was the what 2011 2012 draft around there and that

Was the musical chairs quarterbacks picks uh you know Jake Locker was in that draft and you look at that I think Gabbert was in that draft and so so the most important thing is not to force a pick but to what you said in if you have

A top 10 pick you’re going to a you’re going to a a a uh a four or five star restaurant like there’s going like the menu is pretty damn good so odds are that you should be in much more of a position I mean I if you get outside the

Top 10 that changes but if you’re in that top 10 like let’s say they draft ninth you’re in a pretty Prime position to dine very well um and and again I will continue to say this part of the reason why you hired oconnell was to find a quarterback so so like if you’re

Like well it’s GNA be Ponder they’re going to screw this up well then you shouldn’t have hired him which I’m not which I’m not anywhere near saying yet so and I I I know that there are people who are down on him some of his stubbornness in the play calling and the

Fundamental game planning did bug me but that does not mean I want him fired but I also want to give him a chance to identify and find his quarterback who by the way is not a backup but is a guy who is you know perhaps a top 10 draft pick

Who he can develop like that’s what we have to see before we get scared of anything we have to trust this guy can follow through on being sort of a quarterback Whisperer and identify that guy and if he has a pick of let’s say three of them the odds shoot up that he

Can get the right one for him but here’s the other thing too let’s say you decide let’s say the first three picks are quarterbacks and you think there’s a line and now it’s like ah man we feel like we’re reaching for the fourth guy with our ninth overall pick or our 10th

Overall pick okay keep building your car go take the best Edge rusher go take the Alabama kid go take the florid that Jared verse the Florida state kid go take one of the two best Edge rushers with the 10th overall pick or trade back a couple spots get an extra third round

Pick take the take a cornerback that CH it just it allows you so much leeway and maneuverability and then you get another top 10 pick in the second round and so maybe that’s where you maybe Michael pennick falls into the second round just like Jaylen Herz fell into the second

Round right and now you’ve taken the best Edge rush you take the Alabama kid or the Florida state kid to solidify your your Edge rushing situation and in the second round you snag a quarterback that you could sit behind Kurt Cousins for a years I mean just as opposed to

Picking 22nd where now you’re like oh man if we want access to a quarterback or an or a top Edge rusher not that you can’t find a starter late in the first round I’m not saying that it just it unlocks so many possibilities for you especially with this team clearly going

Nowhere since the the Kirk Cousins injury so I do have a pie chart of blame for you after we shout out our friends it is January 1st today which means a lot of people are going to be looking to lose weight and uh clean it up and get

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Chains that’s right whoa what shirtless KIRO chains gets 5% Pyar to blame here okay he comes in he’s going to blow the horn he’s got his chains he’s flexing the ABS he’s got his kit out there and the Vikings come out and lay an absolute

Egg in that first half so this INSP and the fans were inspired clearly his teammates were not inspired he’s not the leader I mean you said I you’re saying he’s not the leader of the team is ready to go that far yet they saw no shirt and

They’re like we’re out of here I don’t know some something something wasn’t jiving there okay Kirk comes out I don’t know if the players didn’t see it they’re getting ready for the kickoff but Kirko clearly didn’t Inspire his teammates the way that maybe we thought when we were watching him come out there

The surprise uh blowing of the and Justin Jefferson saying one thing and thinking another is that what you’re telling me like he’s saying all the right things but he’s like what’s that dude doing with no shirt on I’m I I don’t about this I don’t know go back to

Cole’s Kirk he’s not a leader so I’m just saying see come out and you know you you give the inspiring uh you know the flexing the chains everything and your team lays the stadium erupted so it certainly wasn’t a fan thing uh 5% to denal Hunter he I don’t think he’s made

Any or many of our pie charts this season but none of mine just kind of a kind of a ghost for three hours last night he’s been largely great this season I’m still very interested in bringing him back on a two or threeyear contract we’ll see where that

Negotiation lands but man when you needed a guy to kind of get after Jordan love in your home building against an inexperienced still quarterback it’s still his first four year as a starter and he only had three tackles um I don’t have the pressure numbers yet but he

Just I didn’t didn’t see him flash a whole lot last night okay that’s an interesting point I think we should delve into that a little bit because I don’t disagree with you but also that’s very rare like the fact that he’s on this is I think it’s the first time that

He’s been on a pie chart of blame maybe in forever yeah I I don’t know that he’s ever been included before so we we got into a debate last night about the word I used of quit because I thought the defense quit the the offense I thought

Was incompetent um but I wonder if what you’re alluding to with Hunter as well as this okay the defense can say all they want but they’re watching jiren hall right and they’re watching what oconnell wants jiren Hall to do and if Jud zad knows it’s damn near impossible then guys that

Play football know a lot more than that I wonder if last night became all about business decisions if you’re a hunter you’re a pending free agent if you go balls to the wall last night okay you’re you’re taking some risks there’s no question about it you know every time

You play as hard as you possibly can and I’m not saying I’m not saying he doesn’t take a risk by suiting up he does but for him to be included you know I wonder if he watched the first part of that game and he’s

Like oh my God we’re not no I mean we can’t do anything here scoring point because the whole defense if you think about it Phil just sort of peeled off eventually and I was thinking about why did I think they quit and then the more

I thought about it I want you know I got the impression that as that game progressed and they watched that that game that they’re like we unless unless we score like 21 points as a defense which you’re not going to do we’re screwed but I think it’s interesting

That you included him because I don’t disagree but I also don’t think that he all of a sudden just suddenly didn’t care like I think something was working yeah spicy Jud in the New Year calling this defense out for quitting and making business decisions I think the I I would

Say business is if you put business decisions under the quitting umbrella which you could make a strong case for there were some there were some business decisions I feel like there was a couple like runs after the catch that didn’t make a lot of sense by the Packers so I

I could maybe get like you’re calling out a really good player who almost always you’d never feel like he’s not giving his all yeah and I’d have to go back and uh I’d have to go back and watch with that eye to say what you’re saying which is that he made business

Decisions I’m giving him 5% for just not doing anything meaningful in the game there’s two games left you’re watching that game and you’re watching jiren Hall and by the way you’ve now watched weeks of Dos who started to be absolutely ineffective into uh Mullins who handled

The football like it was a grenade into jiren Hall who was overwhelmed you know if you’re about to become a free agent and you’ve had injury problems and you’re not a young man might you say you know I could go really hard here but if I tear up my

Knee what’s the point I get it I do get that I’m just throwing it out there it’s a brutal sport so I’m not blaming people well it all starts with sort of a hopeless there there is and again Alex Boon is I mean we obviously we never

Played NFL football and Alex Boon has said numerous times that they’re you can only sort of like rally around a quarterback so much until you all look around the room and you’re like we’re screwed right and when an actual guy comes in Sam Bradford was sort of that

Feeling for one of the Alex Vikings teams where not that Bradford was the best quarterback in the league but this dude comes in he’s 6’4 he’s the former number one overall pick he spins the ball in his hand like a franchise quarterback hey guys chewing gum you know like there’s

That feeling that you get this team probably doesn’t get that feeling when Josh dobs shows up wideeye oh God I’m on my 14th team in three years whatever like you know jiren Hall I’m sure I’m not saying his teammates don’t like him but there’s a little bit of a deer in

The head Factor this is this dude really does he really feel like he’s going to command this ship right and if you’re a teammate you probably sense that and one thing leads to another and you with him like like you you know way more you know

Ju the team getting off to a slow start or B or bad start is disheartening but you’ve also watched practice all week you’ve been there all week right so I I’m just saying I I was giving more thought to what I saw or didn’t see and I do think that there’s probably

Something to be said for a resignation of I don’t want to get hurt either uh 10% so now the the third slice here of six 10% goes to Brian Flores and I I feel like he’s a he’s like a victim of his own success and that this defense

Was never supposed to Chart top five in scoring and yardage which it did like two weeks ago so he builds this thing up bigger than it was supposed to be and it looked rickety late in games the last month and then it looked rickety for three hours

Last night so he does get 10% for just getting smoked like his his scheme got worked last night by Matt lefur and the Green Bay Packers uh but he only gets 10% because again like he’s taken a an in he’s literally taking pieces that like Josh matelis was a special teams

Player without really he’s kind of a safety kind of not boom you’re the queen on the chessboard now one true Edge rusher and den Neil Hunter really like Harrison Phillips and a bunch of random dudes up front and he took all of that Ivan Pace undrafted free agent rookie

With the Green Dot as your starting linebacker in the absence of Jordan Hicks like he took all of that made it a top five defense and now it’s funny cuz now people go so far the other way look this defense look oh you know it’s like well we’re comparing it to the

Ridiculously impossibly high bar that he set that nobody ever thought he could so I’m I’m dinging him but I’m also still big picture praising him for the work that he’s largely done this season yeah well I I think it’s a testament to two things I think one it’s a testament to

The fact that that this is a group of players who if they’re not on their game are going to get burned like it’s not because this goes back to the Personnel is not great um you do not have you know you don’t have that big uh nose tackle defensive tackle so

Like an a guy like Aaron Jones is at times guys like that are going to have really good games rushing um I think what I think if there’s an interesting conversation actually off of your point though when it comes to one guy in particular Byron Murphy Jr definitely

Not a PFF darling got dinged for things MH but we’ve seen the last two games how thin this team is a corner without him yeah like like I think Way Beyond grades if you just go back and watch games Murphy might you know certainly not perfect

Certainly not not a guy who’s going to make a ton but I think we also saw case in point now these last last two games if you take a guy that played the outside corner and then the slot corner on a starting basis out the corners on

That this team and again this comes back to a guy like Booth who need who needs to be you know Andrew Booth needs to be good he can’t even play for the most part um that’s the other thing is we’ve seen how Flores sort of seamlessly used

Parts and got the most uh from them and they might not have graded out great from PFF but it turns out that they were pretty damn key parts of though yeah the whole sometimes it’s funny because there’s been some Vikings defenses under Zimmer at the end and even last year

Under donel were like the grades are really good on the individual players but the sum of the defense is bad and so maybe it’s sort of the inverse with this but I’m going to give 20% to the entire Vikings secondary for what happened last night broken coverages everywhere the

Entire game even like some of the big plays had broken coverages then there was like two big plays that should have been touchdowns that nobody was within 10 yards and they’re just lucky that might have been statistically the best game of Jordan Love’s career he’s had a

Couple other sort of 200 40 253 touchdowns he had a couple early in the year but um in terms of like 73% completions or 75% completions 250 three touchdowns barely scratched in terms of pressure so your secondary just allows free running wideopen receivers all over

The place uh a backup tight end to be running free for the better part of three hours and they didn’t even have some of their top weapons I mean their top receiver was out last night so secondary not good uh 25% so two slices left 25% to Kevin oconnell and I’m going

To I’m going to zero in on something specific here it’s 25% and I’m going to say all of it specifically for the lack of a running game this season that was a game last night and I get it game Flow we talked about this on vent line you

Fall down early you’re down 10 nothing you’re down three scores you’re going to get into pass mode but they called three times as many passes as runs in that game with a fifth round rookie quarterback and a reckless diet Brett farv in the second half Nick Mullins so

Now he might come back and say what are we supposed to do we’re down 24 to three or whatever it was and I get that but if you want to zoom out Beyond last night’s game for a second the Vikings are now 27th in rush yards per game and 25th in

Yards per attempt both of those marks are worse than last year’s rushing offense they signed Josh Oliver the best run blocking tight end in the NFL and he’s been good at that job yeah and they decided especially early in the season we’re going to run more heavy Personnel

They came out of the gate against Tampa extra fullback extra tight end yep we’re going to be we’re going to Smashmouth pound it and they are worse as a running offense in Russ yards per game and yards per attempt than they were in 2022 so like that was a classic game

Last night where it’s a home game you’re playing the Packers it’s it’s probably going to be closely contested you’re starting again a fifth round rookie out of BYU that’s probably not fully ready for this pound the ball down their throats and they they don’t have that gear

Apparently the two things that I would mandate from KOC in the coming months for 2024 are this you got to have a run game like you can’t you can’t not you can’t just punt On The Run game and you have to have a screen game and it’s

Weird because I’m sure he is uh you know he he is a Shanahan disciple so it’s not like he doesn’t know these things yeah and and and again yes as I said on ven line you don’t have Debo okay I get that Debo’s extremely extremely talented

Player but in in a game like last night how is there nothing short to Addison or Jefferson like you’re running those guys on deep routes and I’m I’m all for that occasionally but you know no offense is going to hit guys deep consistently no one expects that where is uh you know I

Think it was third and 15 Addison was probably 20 yards downfield and Jared Hall stepped up in the pocket and air mailed the ball because he’s not that good yet but that was one of the worst throws I’ve ever and that’s a great play call for Kurt Cousins but okay it’s

Third and 15 third and 16 what’s wrong with an eight- yard pass like like the checkdowns that go to Mont right the checkdowns that go to tight end I’d far prefer that ghost that ball is in Jefferson’s hands because at least I give him a fighting chance to get the

Yardage like this is this is where I’m very confused by a philosophy it’s almost like oconnell was told or heard what we talked about for years with Zimmer which was dude you can’t be in third nine consistently and so he’s decided okay I won’t be I’m just going

To forget about the Run game it’s like we never asked for that yeah it’s it’s funny yeah under yeah under Mike Zimmer it was like it was very much and we looked up some of the data on this it was a runrun pass very predictable sequenced offense and they would go when

They got any lead they would lean even further into running the ball and and so we were asking let’s open this thing up a little bit they’ve gone too far it’s like not to like bring the twins into this because I know there’s a lot of

Vikings fans that don’t give a rip about baseball but for years we complained you know with the Terry Ryan front offices boy the twins are like like way behind in the analytics race they don’t pay attention they don’t have an analytics Department really the twins need to just

Get into modern baseball and lean more into analytics so they hire a front office that only looks at analytics for a stretch of time where they’re pulling pitchers who are lights out after 82 pitches in five innings like okay is there a middle ground here somewhere and

It’s funny because there are some teams in the league that are bad at running the ball and still find ways to win a bunch of games I mean the Jaguars the Jaguars lost like a month’s worth of games with hobbled Trevor Lawrence but the Jaguars are one of the worst teams

At running the ball the Buccaneers might win their division they are the worst team at running the ball uh the Raiders and Saints have hung around the Bengals in the playoff race so the the Texans although they’re still kind of in rebuild transition mode they’re like a

Year early because of CJ Stout it’s not that you can’t sneak wins without running the ball but if you look at the best teams in the NFL or let me phrase it this way the best running teams in the NFL in terms of yards per attempt Baltimore Miami Miami San Francisco

Detroit and then Arizona’s also in here uh and Chicago because Justin Fields just like Lamar Jackson helps boost those numbers I don’t think you can be competing for a Super Bowl if you’re running the ball for three and a half yards a carry and you’re bottom five

Bottom six and in those key categories and again the other problem is you’re going to lose your defense because you know what that Detroit game you ran and and that was a close game so because I I’m with last night it got out out out of control so you’re going to say well

We have to pass Phil because we have to try to come back but the Detroit game where you ran 11 times you are continually putting your defense back on the field and and if you’re Flores in his defense you know you’re duct taping that thing together right like you’re

Trying your best the goal should have never and I don’t think it was hey let’s become a defensive first team your defense overachieved but if you’re but if you’re putting Harris and Smith back on the field continually at his age Harrison Phillips who was hurt but could barely walk against Detroit and it’s

Like okay you know we tried to pass again we didn’t stop the clock now you guys are back out there you’re up these people are humans at some point in time I think you do get them to to say this is unworkable like you need to it’s complimentary football if you don’t play

Complimentary football you know what’s going to happen gonna bite you in the ass see my button bar wasn’t working earlier but you did say football complimentary football complimentary football I need it and then the final slice of pie here on this pie chart The Rock knows how you feel about Pi it’s

35% to the Vikings tattered quarterback situation I’m just going to put all of I think that is the biggest reason why this season has gone off the rails so jiren Hall although I am glad that they played him he did his duty which is make sure the Vikings get back into the top

10 uh draft pick mix so jiren Hall nice job last night but clearly not ready to lead an NFL team that aspires to to be a playoff team uh Nick Mullen is just like generic label Brett Favre and Josh dobs has played for two-thirds of the teams

In the the big ketchup that just says ketchup yes ketchup it’s like when you go I take allergy meds like algra and so you can either buy algro or you can buy like the other purple top bottle at the pharmacy that’s Nick Mullins that’s pretty much Nick Mullins so I don’t know

Like we we sit here and we and yes there are things to nitpick and and you have shined a light on some of this stuff with Kevin oconnell I don’t know how many coaches are going to take that collection of quarterbacks and score more than like 20 points a game which in

The post Kirk Cousins ERA this season the Vikings were averaging they were at 20 and a half points a game going into last night they’re so after last night they only scored 10 so they’re down to a 19 points per game in the post Kirk era mhm they were 21 and a

Half with Kirk those first few games so it’s not that it’s it’s 19 including last last night versus 21 A2 now it would have been more like 25 or 26 points a game if not for the like four or five turnovers on the goal line so um

So I think you have to consider that but I just don’t I don’t know how many and you might point to Kevin stefansky who’s been on four quarterbacks in in Cleveland but Joe flacko that’s to me that’s that’s rippable that the Vikings decided you know Joe Flaco he’s been

Collecting dust there on his couch and he hasn’t been good for a long time so like I get what they were seeing but the end of the day it is your job as a front office and scouting staff to find the best option off a couch somewhere and

They chose Josh dobs over Joe Flaco so you we can praise Kevin Stans he he brought a team with four quarterbacks to the playoffs well yeah he also has like a former wasn’t Joe Flaco a Super Bowl MVP Joe flacko when given infrastructure like he’s a professional quarterback

Yeah so but he had been bad for a couple you know he hadn’t played had been bad and they they probably thought heck Do’s is playing he’s starting at least flack’s you know on his couch so I I think the most important thing for oconnell at the end of the day in this

Entire thing is and yes uh some of this is driven by quarterback play that was bad but OK likes to say that every turnover has its own story so so like you can’t just group them together and say ah that well the Vikings have 32 this season turnover exactly and if each one

Has its own story I think you need to sit down and figure out what the common denominators were and and the one thing where I will say there’s fault here especially when it comes to that stat is with Kirk Cousins with Justin Jefferson this team started one and

Four so like you were behind the eightball from opening day on so it’s not like like it would have been different if Kirk had this team I don’t know take take your pick but he gets hurt they’re in great shape and then it falls apart okay it falls apart that

Sucks but you lost Kirk Cousins but that wasn’t the story story like there’s a lot to be learned as much as we as much as the pundit said last year was a fluke 13 wins but you shouldn’t have won 13 games um and you breed the S of relief

Got to the playoffs and got bounced I think this time around there’s a lot to be learned I think there’s a lot of stories to be learned gleaned from and that starts with oconnell and and that starts with what can he learn as a play caller and as a coach because I think

He’s got a lot of things right yeah I like how he run his team I like how he runs his program in football speak wow but all of that being said I also think that there’s a lot to be gleaned whether Kirk is back at quarterback or not uh

Interesting thing on the turnover stat so the Vikings you said have 32 turnovers the only team in the NFL with more turnovers is the aforementioned Cleveland Browns so you got both these teams and of course you’re going to if you’re going to start a combined what eight quarterbacks between the two

You’re probably going to have more interceptions strip sacks just miscommunication you’re I get it I get why those team the Jets have 32 turnovers the commanders when you have quarterback instability and or young guys in experienced guys you’re going to turn the ball over more but you know

What the Browns also have on the flip side 43 more rushing first downs than the Vikings do this year yeah yeah and they have in terms of rushing touchdown so think Red Zone Vikings have struggled in the red zone right yep the Browns this season have 15 rushing touchdowns

The Vikings have seven so 43 extra rushing first downs and eight extra rushing touchdowns compared to the Vikings do you think the story is different because I I do think that there’s a conversation to be had about a player Cleveland signed that the Vikings did not but I don’t think it’s flacko

And and this zarius no not sadarius Kareem hunt who yes has who has a checkered past and and I I know that the Vikings were concerned about that but if you recall they brought Kareem hunt here during training camp and they could have signed him now I don’t know wonnell

Dedicates himself to the Run game like stefansky did so perhaps it’s a non-starter but all I’m asking is if they have Kareem hunt if they have a a more established Run game from day one that oconnell feels like he can trust is the story different at all do you think I

Mean Kareem Hunt is averaging three yards per carry this year yeah uh you know and so it’s basically like Nick chub right when did he go down like September early super early Jerome Jerome Ford has actually been the guy more than Kareem hunt that stepped up

He’s been he’s caught 42 passes for them uh he’s averaging a full yard per attempt more than Kareem Hunt is and the Browns found him in the fifth round of the 2022 draft so the vik the Vikings found was it Ty Chandler was 2022 and then Dwayne McBride 2023 yes but part

Like part of part of this is too the Vikings Tai Chandler’s been I think he has shown that if you were to have given him the bulk of the carries there would have been a there there yep but you know they just decided to keep leaning on Alexander Madison so but there are

Definitely lessons the Browns are not the most electric running team they’re certainly not they’re like at 3.9 yards a carry so they’re not like explosive running team necessarily but they commit to it cuz they know there’s value in it and they know that if they keep pounding

At that rock in the Red Zone on short yardage situations they’re going to move the chains they’re going to get first downs they’re going to score more in the red zone and they’re going to set up some big plays down the field it’s like the Vikings you know the Vikings just

Abandon the running game faster than any team in these gam oh we’re down by a touchdown let’s not run the ball the rest of the afternoon it’s just it’s like oconnell and and he’s not alone because LEF Flur did the same thing at times last night and has a tendency to

Um it’s like they want to show you how smart they are and like and and it’s like they want style points yeah and I don’t think stefansky cares about that I think stefansky is like how can we win the football game it might be ugly as

Hell but I want to win the football game and I think guys like oconnell and that class which is not in the stefansky like like they’re they’re not in the same peer group because I I think the oconnell peer group is what lefur McVey Shanahan um and Kyle’s not guilty of

This but I feel like Kevin can be is we don’t need to see that you can design these intricate plays we need to see you to what you just said get a first down on Third and two yeah I’ll give you one more one more here and then we’ll wrap

This New Year’s episode we appreciate you guys carving out some hangover time with us on this New Year’s Day on the running front all right the Vikings have played 14 one score games this year right tied for most in NFL history so they’re in close games all the time

Literally every week they’re just in a close game close game here close game there like last year yeah yep yet they rank 28th in rushing attempts now the there’s a couple teams that are right there with them just below them on this list like the commanders and the Jets are here well

Yeah those teams are getting their asses kicked every week like what when have you watched the commanders and they weren’t down like 31 to 10 the Jets yeah and got to throw passes and the Jets you know I but it’s funny cuz the Jets should be running the ball more with the

Quarterbacks that they’ve been running out there which is an indictment on Nathaniel hackit and Robert Salah but you’re the Vikings again you are playing in more close games than any team in the history of the National Football League and you’re playing most of those close games with backup journeyman or rookie

Quarterbacks and you are 28th in the NFL and rushing attempts that right there and and and maybe they would say well if if if we ran the ball eight more times per game you would see that all of those are two yard gains and so that’s

Why we pass which I would say okay but like you planned in the offseason to improve your running game right that’s on you this is the most I think that’s the most damning criticizable thing under the Kevin oconnell sort of coaching and scheme umbrella right there

And then to to pile on you don’t have a screen game like that’s the most incredible thing to me it’s like oh you know if they said you know what Phil we don’t run great but look at our screen game right like our screen game gets

Chunks and of the Run game the Seahawks I think have kind of been that right I don’t have the stats in front the Seahawks don’t they’re like 29th in rushing attempts but it does feel like they have they’ve got a couple guys that can get out there and catch passes and

What have you I guess my question is how are you going to move the ball from a from a short yardage type of situation like what are you going to do how can you move the ball and right now the Vikings are like well we really don’t so

Yep so so all right well we didn’t solve all of the Vikings problems here we just highlighted a bunch of them but um we’ll keep you posted on playoff odd stuff this week but I think most of our conversations are as you can tell turning toward how do you get this thing

Back to where it needs to be is that possible in one off season where are they going to draft all this stuff so thank you guys for hanging out with us here this is purple daily daily Vikings entertainment we just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die see

You happy New Year