#477: Minnesota Vikings BIGGEST PROBLEM in loss vs. Los Angeles Rams

Speaker 1 (00:07):
There was no doubt that this was an important game
for the Minnesota Vikings following their loss against the Detroit
Lions and two weeks ago. Less than two weeks ago,
five days ago, the Minnesota Vikings were in sole first
place in the stacked NSC North with a record of

(00:31):
five and zero. And now the Detroit Lions are five
and one, the Minnesota Vikings are five and two, the
Green Bay Packers are five and two, and the Chicago
Bears are one win away this weekend from being five
and two. And that is how you go from first

(00:54):
to worst overnight, and the Minnesota Vikings man in to
somehow pull it off in classic Minnesota sports fashion.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
All right, let's react to this game.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
The Minnesota Vikings get off to an amazing start fourteen
zero Sam Donald touchdown pass to Josh Oliver, Sam Donald
touchdown pass to Trent Sherfield Junior eight for eight ninety
seventy yards, two touchdowns, first two drives for the Vikings.

(01:29):
Unfortunately for the Vikings, Matthew Stafford also was sensational their
first two drives, So after each team's first two drives,
both teams put up fourteen points, so.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
The offensive.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Lead. The offensive start didn't really mean much because the
Minnesota Vikings defense surrendered all of those points immediately and
that was problem throughout the course of this game. The
Minnesota Vikings offense after the first few drives only manages
to put up six points the rest of the way,

(02:13):
and that was not enough to defeat the Rams. Coming
into this game, the Vikings were favored by two and
a half points. Coming into this game, Pooka Nicole was
not expected to.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Play because of his injury, but.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Some wow, some way out of nowhere, the best kept
secret in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
The Rams were cautiously optimistic.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
The morning of game day that Puka and Nicula could play,
and he does. He puts up a stat line of
seven catches one hundred and six yards and Cooper Cup
puts up five catches for fifty one yards. Do you
think they mattered to Matthew stafford stat line this year?
He had three touchdowns entering this game, and Matthews effort

(03:00):
leaves this game with four touchdown passes. Sam Darnold eighteen
for twenty five two hundred and forty yards, two touchdown,
zero picks. You know, the first few drives, everything was
just rolling, justin Jefferson was getting the ball, Aaron Jones
was finding holes in hitting him hard, and Justin Jefferson

(03:21):
eight catches, one hundred and fifteen yards. Aaron Jones nineteen
carries fifty eight yards to go with two catches for
thirty seven yards.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
But where were the others? Jj had eight catches. The
next leading wide receiver on the Minnesota Vikings had two catches,
Aaron Jones two catches, Josh Oliver two catches, Jordan Addison
two catches, Jalen Naylor.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
The Minnesota Vikings did not show up offensively, and they
didn't show up defensively either. You cannot score six points
total after putting up fourteen points at first few drives.
This looked like the Minnesota Vikings plant is short week.

(04:11):
Penalties everywhere, not crisp ugly football. Three straight third down
plays I believe it was, or three straight possessions. The
Los Angeles Rams had a third down and the Minnesota
Vikings defenses automatically gave them a first down because of

(04:34):
a past interference or of defensive holding. The defensive holding
on Viron Murphy Junior was a garbage call, but the
past interferences were past interferences. The past interference I believe
is on Stefan Gidmore. That was a past interference. The
past interference on was it Viyron Murphy Junior? No, no, no,
it was a hands to the face by number fifty two.

(04:57):
I believe his name is Ward Long down Vikings stop
them hands in the face automatic first down. Those plays
killed the Minnesota Vikings in this game, and that is
why they lost this game.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
The Minnesota Vikings shot themselves in the foot on a
short week and did not look ready to play. That
is what you get.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
From playing two football games five games apart.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's just what you get.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
You get football that is ugly, ugl y, and the
Minnesota Vikings lost this game because of their own mistakes. Defensively,
Matthew Stafford was untouched practically all game. And during my
preview podcast this week, I talked about the Los Angeles

(05:56):
Rams being without their three opfensive lineman, three starting linemen.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
We're out in this game.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
And do you know how many sacks the Minnesota Vikings
had in this game? A big old fat goose egg zero.
And I got that that stat from Vikings dot com.
I got that information from Vikings dot com. That's where
I got that information from. It's not like I've made
it up myself. I did some research. I found it out.

(06:27):
I think the Vikings are gonna win this game because
the Rams don't have any offensive lineman left. So Matthew
Stafford getting sacked zero times while Sam Darnold gets sacked
three times or twenty eight yards. So let's talk about
the offense play a little bit. Christian Dearrisaw gets hurt

(06:49):
at the end of the first half. Looks like a
knee injury. Guy rolled up on the back of his knee,
walks off the field with help of medical staff. And
the instant reaction to many Vikings fans was why is

(07:11):
Kevin O'Connell running a play there? Well, One, the Vikings
are at their own three yard line. There's not much
room to kneel the ball. Two, Kevin O'Connell and the
Minnesota Vikings had three timeouts. You run a simple run
play up the middle. Maybe Aaron Jones bust that for
fifteen yards. Well, you got three timeouts left. Run a

(07:33):
couple pass plays in Aaron field goal range. Well Rchrick
can make sixty yard field goals for crying out loud.
If the Minnesota Vikings kneeled it. Do you know what
everybody would be saying, Oh, you got three timeouts, thirty
five seconds, there's plenty of time.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Just do a simple run play. Maybe air Jones bust
it out.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's the most classic Monday morning quarterbacking there is. Sometimes
that happens. It's football. It's one of the most physical
sports there is. Darrisad got rolled up on. It happens.
It's not like Kevin o'conn could predict that. He's trying
to be aggressive, trying to get points on the board,
trying to get a lead before halftime, especially because the

(08:12):
Los Angeles Rams get the ball coming out of halftime
and their offense had looked spectacular so far. So if
you can get an extra three points before halftime, that's
what I would do too. So Kevin O'Connell, in my opinion,
did the right thing by trying to score, and he
didn't do it in.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
An over aggressive way.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
It sal like he came out and started gunsling the
ball Sam Darnald in his own end zone. No, he
did a simple run play to Aaron Jones. He carried
the ball nineteen times. Eighteen of those nineteen times, not
a single Minnesota Bikings player had an injury. The one
time right before halftime, Christian Darrisaw goes down, it happens uncontrollable, uncontrollable.

(08:57):
So Christian darrisad goes down and brings in question by
which is obviously a big downgrade. And Sam Darnold and
the Minnesota Vikings offense could not get going in the second,
third or fourth quarters. And that's a problem, sacks, penalties.
It was ugly, and the Minnesota Vikings are starting to unravel.

(09:21):
And I said this a few weeks ago. I said,
warning to Minnesota Vikings fans, go check out the YouTube.
Warning to Minnesota Vikings fans, be careful because there's going
to come a day when they don't look too crisp,
when things are looking good, when things are starting to
fall apart after the hit adversity and we're starting to

(09:42):
see it. It was too perfect the first five weeks
of the season. Everything that you could have asked for
went right. Even when the Vikings made mistakes, they made
the perfect play following the mistake, thinking ty Chandler fumble
against the Jets, well, I guess Van Gegle just picks
it some. Aaron Rodgers and running in the end zone.

(10:03):
That's how the first five weeks of the season win.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Viking's mistake unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
Vikings play to overcome that mistake. That's what they did
against the Texans forty nine ers. The giant happened all
the time and it was too perfect. Things are going
too perfectly for the Vikings, and that's what I was saying.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Everything is going right offense.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Oh, Sam Darnold, so we signed to a contract extension. Now,
is JJ and McCarthy gonna even play next year?

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (10:37):
These nicknames for the Minnesota Vikings defense, this will looking
like the Purple People leaders, CJ's shroud brock perty. These
guys have never faced a defense like this before. Well,
Jared Goff tears up the Vikings last week. Matthew Stafford
tears up the Minnesota Vikings defense again. I guess Blake
Cashman might be the team's MVP because ever since he

(10:58):
went down, the Vikings defense looks awful. So I'm not
surprised by any of this because this is what I
predicted what happened. And just for a quick side note,
I predicted the Bikes to go five and twelve before
the season began over under was six and a half and.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
It's still in play. Five and twelve still possible.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Obviously it's not gonna happen, but hey, statistically, five and
twelve is still possible.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
After they beat the Jets.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
I came on the podcast that Jake and have said,
you know what, five and twelve is still possible. We'll
lose to the Lions, lose to the Rams short week
in a big game to remain at least atop the
NSC North alongside the Detroit Lions. Now they're five and two.

(11:55):
Now they have the Colts who have a winning record
right now Anthony richards Since, but they have a winning record.
It's not just Anthony Richardson. They got other players and
he can bust a movie. He's got some athleticism that
can carry them to a win on Sunday Night football.
So now we're starting to see things unravel. How are
the Vikings going to respond the defense that was getting

(12:18):
all these nicknames doing the parent trap dance in the
end zone. They're getting humbled really really, really fast. I
never bought into the Vikings as Super Bowl contenders, and hey,
they still might be. They're still five and two, but
they still have four divisional games left. There's still a
lot of season to play. So I got the Packers

(12:39):
and the Lions and the Bears twice and the best
division in football. It's not getting those games are easy.
Those are all tough matchups. But let's touch on display too.
The Matthew Stafford touchdown the second to last possession, I
believe it was for the Rams. The Minnesota Vikings defense

(13:02):
was on the field after the offense kicked a field
goal twenty one to twenty.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Jalen Naylor dropped it. Sam Donald could have ran it,
Naylor dropped it.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Mistake by Naylor, and this was the possession of the
Vikings needed to get off the field, and it just
felt like the Vikings were not going to win this game.
I don't know if you guys were feeling that, but
I certainly was. Because of all the self inflicted wounds,
that's why.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
And the Rams offense goes out onto the field.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Matthew Stafford finds a wide open Robinson in the end
zone to go up twenty eight zero, And that's asking
a lot from the Vikings. Go score a touchdown, get
the two point conversion, forced overtime, and then win in overtime. Statistically,
the odds of them winning after that happened went down
extremely could happen, but it went down a lot.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
And then the play happens. At the end of the game.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
The Vikings get off the field, things to Cooper Cup
stepping out of bounds.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
They punt the ball.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
Sam Donald dropped backs to pass and mistake number one.
Sam Donald is standing in his own end zone and
he holds onto the ball forever. That's mistake number one.
You cannot hold on to the ball and a one
score game for that long in the end zone. That

(14:25):
cannot happen. That's a cardinal sin in football. And Sam
Donald committed it. But then the mistake by the officiating crew.
Sam Donald's neck gets wrapped around sideways. Two officials are
looking at the play and nothing gets called. The defensive

(14:49):
player didn't even celebrate the sack because he knew what
he did and grabbing Sam Donald's face mask, and Sam
Donald is pleading with the officials. He grabbed my face,
he turned by nick silence.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Nothing.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
And here's why the calls of the problem, right, the
non calls of the problem. But here's why I have
an even bigger problem with the non call. You can't
even touch quarterbacks. You go too high, you go too low,
you put your entire weight on the guy by accident.
It's a penalty fifteen yards. Automatically, the NFL protects the

(15:25):
quarterback more than any other position in any other sport.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
You can't do.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
Anything to those guys. Sam Darnald gets his head wrapped
around sideways and they don't call it in front of
two officials. Man, I thought the play earlier this year
was one of the worst calls I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
It was an interception by Sam Darnold.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
I can't even remember who was against, but the guy
who was bobbling the ball out of bounds and he
got control of it and his feet were in the air.
He landed out of bounce, and the officials called it
after review and interception.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
What are you kidding me?

Speaker 1 (16:10):
This stumps that call as the worst non call or
worst officiating mistake of this season against the Minnesota Vikings
because two officials are standing right there and you can't
touch the.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Quarterback and they didn't call anything.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Plus they were throwing flags all night all night long,
flag gear flight, their legal motion fall start, which I mean,
it's not an officials problem that it's a legal motion
or fall start or whatever legal formation.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
But they were called.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Holding in pi flags that they had no problem throwing
their flags out all game and then when there really
is a flag, they keep it in their pockets when
both officials were staring right at the play. Huh, that's
why I have an even bigger problem with it. Mistake

(17:09):
number one, Sam Dardald holding out of the ball too long.
Mistake number two, officials are looking around the play.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (17:19):
You're calling flags all game and now you hold on
to it when his head gets wrapped around sideways and
face masks are one of the easiest calls to make
because of how quickly the head turns. It's not a
natural move by anybody on the face of this earth
to quickly jerk their head to.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
The left or to the right. That's not gonna.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Happen naturally, So of course it's a face mask. Officials
will stand they were looking like idiots, and the Vikings
got screwed by Sam Darnald and the officials. Is a
double whammy. Ah wow. Anyways, are five and two. They
played the Colts next, and they let a massive opportunity

(18:06):
go by. Could be in last place in the NFC
North this weekend. If the Bears win, they are unraveling.
And you heard it here first a few weeks ago
that this would happen, So am I surprised, absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
Skull Vikings