Episode Description
Minnesota Tim discusses the recent struggles of the Minnesota Vikings defense, particularly following the absence of key player Blake Cashman. He highlights the team's inability to pressure opposing quarterbacks and the impact of turnovers on their performance. The discussion also touches on the need for adjustments to regain their earlier form and the challenges they face moving forward.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
What has happened to the Minnesota Vikings defense. They're doing
a Houdini act, mister disappearance out there. First five weeks
of the season, lights out, shut down the Giants, shut down,
the forty nine Ers, shut down. The Texans played super
(00:29):
well against the Packers. They made a second half run,
but they played well for the most part. The offense
and special teams unit was more to blame in that game.
And then they also shut down the New York Jets
out of nowhere after the bye week. Nonetheless, the Vikings
are without Blake Cashman and turf Toe, and I guess
(00:53):
he was the anchor, the everything to this defense because
since he's been out either teams have just torched the
Minnesota Vikings. Jared Goff goes off on the Minnesota Vikings
last week, four touchdown drives, all of them over sixty
nine yards. This week, Matthew Stafford enters the game with
(01:15):
three total touchdowns without Puka Nukua, without Cooper Cup for
most of the season. Gotta have that caveat in there too,
and into this game he goes twenty five for thirty
four two hundred and seventy nine yards, four touchdowns, one pick,
And here's the problem with those stats. The Minnesota Vikings
defense did not make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable. You know, he
(01:40):
had one play where he avoided a sack from Jonathan
Greenard and Harrison Phillips and threw a touchdown to is
it Cooper Cup So tremendous play by Matthew Stafford. Minnesota
Vikings defense missed out on a play. But what made
this game so frustrating from the defensive standpoint is that
(02:02):
Matthew Stafford had all day to throw this Minnesota Vikings
defensive philosophy of oh, you don't know who's coming. Is
it possible to know? This defense? It's so's it's so amazing.
Nobody knows how to solve it. It's a mystery that
nobody can solve. Well. Ben Johnson solved it last week.
(02:25):
Sean McVay solved it this week. They are two of
the brightest minds in the NFL. But that's back to
back weeks where the Minnesota Vikings defense has looked pathetic.
And here's the statistic that tells the story. So, going
into this game, the Los Angeles Rams had three opfensive
(02:46):
linemen not playing. And that's why I thought the Vikings
would win, and I also thought Pooka Nakua was also
not going to play, but then he came out of
nowhere in the rounds were like, oh, well, cautiously optimistic,
they play and they torched the Vikings as well. But
this statistic tells the story. The Minnesota Vikings pressured Matthew Stafford.
(03:10):
Pressured Matthew Stafford on only three of his thirty four dropbacks.
That nine percent pressure rate was their lowest in a
game since twenty twenty, per ESPN research. This tweet was
sent out by Kevin Seafford. What happened to the vaunted
(03:33):
intimidating nobody can score on us Minnesota Vikings defense. I
guess they need Blake Cashman back, and they need him
back in a hurry because this thing has flipped upside
down so quickly. And here's the big issue that I've
noticed earlier on in the season, and they showed it
(03:55):
last night. The Vikings had one pick of Matthew Stafford,
and I think they lead the NFL in interceptions with
like twelve. But earlier on in the season, what was
happening was that the Minnesota Vikings defense was getting quote
unquote I'll call it the perfect turnover. The other team
would have the ball on their own twenty thirty yard line,
(04:19):
forty yard line even, and the Minnesota Vikings would force
a turnover. They did it to Stroud, they did it
to Purty, they picked sick Aaron Rodgers. They did it
against the Lions to get the lead late in the game.
And that set up the Minnesota Vikings offense for so
much success because they're already in scoring range. And how
(04:42):
many times have we seen it this season? There's been
multiple where the Vikings defense forced a turnover in the
opponent's territory and then one or two plays later, the
Minnesota Vikings scored a touchdown. It's happened a lot, and
now we're seeing the of Okay, the Minnesota Vikings defense
(05:04):
is not forcing a turnover and the opponent's own territory,
and the Minnesota Vikings offense is not as smooth as
it was the first five weeks of the season. That's
what's happening here. That's the common thread. The Vikings scred
twenty nine points against the Lions. How many of those
(05:24):
points were because of the Lions' mistakes, and the Vikings
defense made a play, well, fourteen of them. They had
the fake punt, Aaron Jones ran it into the end
zone a few plays later from like thirty yards out.
Then Ivan Pace Junior picks up the fumble force by
(05:45):
Josh Man tell us his peanut punch runs it into
the end zone. So fourteen of the points against the
Detroit Lions weren't even really manufactured by the Vikings offense.
It was a gift from the Vikings defense. And that's
what we've really seen for most of the season. You
know this game where Matthew Stafford had won turnover and
I wouldn't even consider it a bad turnover. You know,
(06:07):
there's good turnovers and bad turnovers. The Rams weren't in
the red zone about to score. They weren't in their
own territory, which allowed the Minnesota Vikings to score right away.
They were at like the fifty yard line and Matthew
Stafford threw a pass, viron Murphy picked it off, terrible
throw picked it off. Minnesota Vikings had to actually put
(06:27):
a drive together to score, and I think they scored
a field goal on that play or something like that.
But you know what I mean, there's a difference between turnovers.
If you're on your own territory, that's a bad turnover.
If you're in the red zone about the score, that's
a bad turnover. But if you have the fifty and
you have a twenty yard pass and it gets picked
off on third down or something like that, it's just
(06:49):
the punt. It's not a big deal. It's the same
as a punt. Not all turnovers are the same, and
that's what we're seeing. We're seeing the Minnesota Vikings defense
get it exposed by two bright offensive minds, Sean McVay
and Ben Johnson. And Sean McVay was without three offensive
linemen in this game. So the fact that the Vikings
(07:12):
only got three pressures on Matthew Stafford and thirty four
attempts is ridiculous. The Minnesota Vikings need this break, my goodness.
They need to get Blake Cashman back. Do anything you
can to get this guy back on the field, because
since he's been out, the Vikings defense has looked atrocious.
(07:36):
Giving up thirty points to the Rams and thirty one
points to the Lions. It's not looking good. And it's
not just thirty points to the Rams and thirty one
points to the Lions. It's the way that they've done it.
Meaning when the Vikings needed to get a stop against
the Lions late in the game, Lions marched right down
(07:59):
the field, had no problem getting a field goal. When
the Los Angeles Rams had the ball offensively and the
Minnesota Vikings were down by a one twenty one to twenty,
get a stop, get the ball back, kick a field goal,
win the game. Couldn't get a stopped, couldn't stop them.
When the Vikings defense needed to get a stop these
(08:19):
past two weeks, they didn't do it. They couldn't do it,
and we are seeing the Minnesota Vikings find the median
the middle. Everything was going way too perfectly for the
Vikings this season. And that's what I've been saying for weeks.
Oh you're a negative Minnesota sports fan. Just enjoy it.
(08:43):
I'm just telling you what's about to happen. I'm enjoying it.
I'm enjoining a lot five and oh is awesome. I
like to watch the Vikings, but there was something that
wasn't right, meaning things are going too right, things are
just clicking. Everything was too easy, and now we're seeing
them fall back to earth. They're finding the average, and
(09:04):
that's what we're seeing, so I'm not surprised by this
one bit. In fact, I told you it was going
to happen. Thank you for watching, and thank you for
making this podcast part every day