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0:23

Hey, what's going on?

0:24

Everybody?

0:25

Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. We

0:27

have a great show for you guys today.

0:29

Our special guest is Paul Meat Sauce

0:31

Lambert from camafey In. He helps us break

0:34

down Super Bowl fifty eight with the Kansas

0:37

City Chiefs and the San Francisco forty nine ers.

0:39

Also, we talk about the new recent

0:41

hire Marcus Dixon for this Minnesota

0:43

Vikings team and what that means for

0:46

our defense as well as the entire team

0:48

going forward. And we wrap today's show talking

0:50

about something fun and I'm talking

0:52

about the Vikings team name. It was

0:54

voted as the best team name

0:57

in the NFL. Here are thoughts

0:59

on that and today's show coming

1:01

right up.

1:02

Hope you're Joe.

1:03

Today's show, wedawn

1:05

of a new season is upon us as we welcome

1:07

you inside the tc over Radio studio for the

1:10

Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented

1:12

by PEPSI. My name is Gabe Henderson Tatum

1:14

Everett. She's out today. However,

1:16

Jay notes In is here and our producer Eric Davidson

1:18

is here. And I won't say our guest is

1:21

filling Tatum's role. He's just an added

1:23

asset to what we're doing today. And I'm talking about

1:26

our guy, mister Paul. Meet Sauce

1:28

Lambert from Kfan, Meet Sauce.

1:30

I'm gonna just call you Sauce for fans

1:33

who already know who you are, But thank you for joining.

1:35

Us one two.

1:37

I guess similar to last year, I was following

1:40

you closely on Twitter slash x, just

1:43

hearing and trying to see what your Super Bowl

1:46

live time responses were, and as

1:48

always, that did not disappoint.

1:50

What were your thoughts on the Super Bowl?

1:52

I thought it was great, Thanks

1:54

for having me. I thought it was a

1:56

game for the ages, and I'm still

1:59

convinced that half

2:01

of both teams didn't

2:04

know the overtime rule. It's like, if

2:06

you watch that that mcole Hartman

2:08

game winning touchdown, I don't think he knew

2:11

he caught a game winning touchdown

2:13

in the Super Bowl, which is something as every kid

2:16

always thinks about their whole life, and anybody

2:19

who plays sports thinks about catching

2:21

a touchdown or hitting a home run

2:23

or whatever it is. And you're in the last game

2:25

of the season. I mean, we've seen this

2:27

is maybe an old reference, but Joe

2:30

Carter hit that home run in Game seven of

2:32

the World Series, which I think is the only walk

2:34

off game winner in World Series history,

2:37

and he acted like it. Hartman acted

2:39

like it was just a routine second

2:42

week of the season touchdown. But

2:45

it was an awesome game. The super Bowl

2:47

is always the best, but the only

2:49

problem with the Super Bowl is it just means it's

2:52

the end of the season.

2:53

Yeah.

2:53

The one thing I thought about with the Michel Hartman, like in

2:55

the moment when I saw it, the fact that he kind

2:57

of threw the ball away and then went to celebrate.

3:00

Dude, what are you doing? That is

3:02

a momento.

3:03

You have to keep that that think and that's that

3:05

just kind of goes to what you're talking about. I think he really

3:07

did not understand like what happened in that

3:09

moment.

3:10

Yeah, And as Tony Romo, who

3:12

you know, he's very polarizing,

3:15

I thought he picked the wrong time

3:17

to tell everybody like, hey, listen,

3:19

they're not hurrying because if

3:22

the clock ends, it just goes to a

3:24

second quarter or whatever, which I don't

3:26

think a lot of us knew, but they

3:28

kind of botched that whole thing. But

3:31

I think a lot of the players on the forty nine ers

3:33

are like, we had no idea that

3:36

that's how obertime ended up. It's

3:38

weird that a wonderful organization

3:40

that is the NFL. I mean,

3:43

I had no idea until

3:45

they tweet it at the very end of the game how

3:47

overtime in the Super Bowl and the playoffs

3:50

work.

3:50

Yeah.

3:50

I mean it's one of those things where

3:54

for people inside

3:56

the building or people that know the game or

3:58

that I guess our rooms of the game, you would

4:00

say that a coach should know to tell their

4:02

team the rules, like that's what we

4:04

sign up for. You get paid a lot of money to do so.

4:06

But still to to you and Jay's

4:08

point, the Mikole Hartman touchdown

4:11

celebration kind of, in my opinion, was my

4:14

overall theme of the Super Bowl. It just didn't

4:16

feel like a big game, right, Like, you know, there

4:18

was a lot of entertainment around it. There's

4:20

people talking about you know, thanks to

4:22

Usher for allowing two football teams to participate

4:25

in this concert. Yeah, still like

4:27

it just didn't feel like the actual

4:30

Super Bowl, if you know what I'm saying.

4:31

Yeah, one hundred percent. And even in

4:34

the first half. You know, we're

4:36

used to and these offenses did nothing

4:38

all season most of the time, but run

4:40

up and down the field you have. I mean, you

4:42

took that team, the Chiefs

4:44

and the forty nine ers, and you made it into one

4:47

offense. I think they beat any

4:49

defense ever created. That's how

4:52

amazing some of those offensive skilled

4:54

position players are. But the

4:56

first half was kind of a snoozer.

4:58

The commercials were the best part the first

5:00

half.

5:00

The thing for me saw us that I was thinking about in that first half

5:03

too, was the amount of turnovers. You know, like there

5:05

was a bunch of turnovers in this game, and I think

5:07

maybe guys got a little skittish. You know, it's the whole

5:09

thing of squeezing the ball just a little too tight, you

5:11

know, kind of a deal. And to see

5:14

kind of guys who were fairly sure handed

5:16

during the regular season putting the ball on the

5:18

ground over and over again. I kind of attributed

5:20

maybe that was why it was as low

5:22

scoring as it was in the first half, but in

5:25

general to me that it really didn't

5:27

ramp up until you basically got to like the last

5:29

three minutes of the third quarter, and then

5:31

you're like, all right, well, we're gonna see if we get a sprint

5:33

to the finish here. And you know, if

5:36

anything, it was kind of crazy to think about how

5:38

important the kickers were in this game, just

5:41

bombing, you know, fifty plus yard kicks repeatedly.

5:44

You know, do you have any thoughts on Moody

5:47

and Butker at this point and how they

5:49

played in that game?

5:51

Well, I think there's a lot of people who

5:53

think Butcker should have been that the MVP.

5:56

I mean, Moody kicks that Super

5:59

Bowl record field goal and then about eight

6:02

real time minutes later, Bucker

6:04

kicks the other one that makes it the record

6:06

even longer. I think the Kansas

6:09

City Chiefs kickers should have won the MVP.

6:12

I mean, other than the last drive, it

6:14

wasn't a Patrick mahomes as game. And

6:16

as we also saw Chris Jones,

6:18

the defense of the lineman for the Chiefs,

6:21

he was multiple times was in the

6:23

face of that offense that screwed

6:25

up their timing. But both the kickers

6:28

were ice cold in that game in a good

6:30

way.

6:30

Yeah, you look at that and

6:33

you can tell that all three phases of the game

6:35

wins you championships offense, defense,

6:38

special teams. And that's something that the Chiefs

6:40

did. You know, they were very good defensively.

6:42

We saw how young their defense

6:45

was, and then on offense they got Pat Mahomes and then

6:47

we were just talking about Harrison Bucker, their kicker.

6:49

For this Vikings team.

6:50

When you look at the two teams that

6:53

were in the Super Bowl this year, the Chiefs and the forty nine

6:55

Ers, what can the Vikings learn

6:57

from experiencing Super Bowl fifty eight in European.

7:00

That's a great question. I think you

7:02

can learn when you look at both teams. I

7:04

think you can learn a lot about from

7:06

each team. I think the Vikings with the

7:08

forty nine Ers. If you take the forty nine Ers for

7:10

example, the Minnesota Vikings have a

7:13

similar style offense. They any

7:16

justin Jefferson is better than any wide receiver

7:19

the Vikings have, and Kittle and Hopkinson

7:21

are about the same quality. I

7:23

think you could argue from both sides that you

7:25

could take one over the other. They're offensive

7:28

line with that left side of the San Francisco

7:30

forty nine Ers offensive line is really good.

7:33

Christian Darisa is a soon to

7:35

be, if not already a stud left

7:37

tackle. But I think the thing that the Vikings

7:40

need to learn, and this is my opinion, is we

7:43

saw a Kansas City Chiefs

7:45

team years ago in twenty seventeen

7:48

say, you know what, we keep winning nine,

7:50

ten, eleven, twelve games a season with

7:52

Alex Smith, but you know what, that's

7:55

not good enough. We're gonna go up

7:57

and get our guy. And I think

7:59

that's something and the Vikings can learn from it.

8:01

I think as we go forward in the draft

8:03

process, which is seventy three days from

8:05

today if you're listening to this on Wednesday, not

8:08

that I'm keeping track, but let's just

8:10

say, I know what it is is that you can't

8:12

be afraid because of pass misses

8:15

to go get your guy, quarterback

8:17

or not. I think the Vikings need

8:20

to make a couple of big splashes

8:22

in these in the NFL draft where

8:24

you can get players that are on cheaper deals

8:27

and you can maybe find a guy that can lead

8:29

you to the super Bowl. Because Kansas City, it

8:31

wasn't like Kansas City was six and eleven

8:34

with Alex Smith, they were winning games,

8:36

and I think that's something the Vikings can learn.

8:39

And I think another thing the Vikings

8:41

can learn is you need a dominant

8:44

running game. They have it with Christian McCaffrey,

8:46

and I think that's something else the Vikings can

8:48

find.

8:49

Yeah, Alex Smith fifty and twenty six

8:51

in his career with the Kansas City Chiefs,

8:53

that's crazy.

8:55

And they moved on from it.

8:56

True.

8:57

Yeah, yeah, And that's the thing like for them, you know. I

8:59

think one of the aspects of this whole

9:01

thing to me is it been interesting

9:03

to think about how the narrative on Andy

9:05

Reid has changed since he's come to Kansas

9:08

City. I think there were a lot of people that felt like,

9:10

yeah, I just I think there was a lot of people who felt

9:12

like he didn't get to where he needed

9:15

to be or that he wasn't good enough when he was in

9:17

Philly. And then he gets to Kansas City and all

9:19

of a sudden they start putting something together. And then he gets

9:21

paired with a guy like Patrick Mahomes, and

9:23

Mahomes is, you know, otherworldly at this point,

9:26

and just having both of those guys

9:28

together, to me, feels like Andy

9:30

Reid has really solidified what I think

9:32

a lot of the naysayers were saying prior to him

9:34

coming to Kansas City kind of like almost like

9:36

he's a cast off at that point to get to Kansas

9:38

City. What do you think, you know, kind

9:40

of his thoughts are in this point. He's been in the

9:42

league now for nineteen years, five

9:45

Super Bowl appearances, kind of thing like he

9:47

it feels to me like he really has changed

9:50

kind of the narrative on who he is.

9:52

As a coach.

9:53

I think you could argue Andy Reid is the best

9:55

coach to coach football. I think one of the things

9:58

you can also look at what Andy Reid is

10:00

that he has found a way

10:02

to not dictate all

10:05

of it. And we hear a lot about the way the Kansas

10:07

City operates, and some of these guys are

10:09

like, hey, we thought of this well playing

10:12

Madden er, we thought of this over the weekend.

10:14

Can we try this like that corn Dog

10:16

plays call it to win the game. Andy

10:19

Reid is just super relaxed. He trusted

10:21

his players, he trusts his quarterback,

10:24

and I think that's something that a lot of coaches

10:27

and any level can learn from. I

10:29

think you just see how like Andy Reid

10:31

has gotten this team so good where

10:33

I mean, you ask a casual football

10:36

fan, I don't think they could tell you every

10:39

wide receiver on that team, like they

10:41

are just so good with that now. The quarterback

10:43

helps, but I think the relaxing

10:46

and letting the quarterback kind of play

10:48

his game and dictating the

10:50

way he wants to keep it going, I

10:53

think is helped immensely. I think

10:55

that the tyrant is maybe the wrong word,

10:57

but the Bill Belichick, where you're in control of

10:59

everything, I don't think works as well as

11:01

the Andy Reid just kind of like,

11:04

all right, I trust my guys. If it doesn't work,

11:06

you know what we have Patrick Mahomes will

11:08

probably do it again. But trusting in your

11:10

guys is a big thing Andy

11:13

has learned and it's worked in Spade.

11:15

Yeah, that's those are really good points. And just

11:18

looking at he's trusting young

11:20

guys to do their jobs

11:22

also is something that I feel

11:24

like it's kind of underrated because when you look at that defense

11:26

and you look at Steve Spagnolo and

11:28

for Andy Reid to have the in my opinion,

11:30

the humility to have Steve Spagnolo

11:33

to run the defense to say Hey, you got

11:35

that, and I trust that you're going to get those

11:37

guys in the right position to be able

11:39

to play championship ball. I believe that says a

11:41

lot, And in my opinion, I think that's what

11:43

Kevin o'connoe has done with Brian Flores,

11:45

to bring a b flow in a former

11:48

head coach, a guy with the alpha

11:50

alpha mentality, to say, look, I

11:52

know everything that's you know, kind of surrounded

11:54

your name. You've been a head coach in the league. I

11:57

want you to just take control of the defense and I'll

11:59

take control of the offense. Isn't even as

12:01

the head coach. I believe that says

12:03

a lot about this team. But when you look at just the

12:05

offense, defense, and special team side of the ballf

12:07

of this Minnesota Vikings team, with that

12:09

eleventh overall pick, at

12:11

what position do you think they should go younger

12:14

with to start things out in the draft?

12:16

I mean it's quarterback. I just even

12:19

with or without Kirk Cousins. I

12:21

think even if you bring Kirk Cousins

12:23

back, I think we've seen you know, you look

12:25

around the division and you look at a team like the

12:28

Green Bay Packers. They took a quarterback

12:31

when they didn't need one that

12:33

you put if you put together a list in that twenty

12:36

twenty draft, the players the Packers

12:38

needed, I would bet quarterback would be

12:40

next to kicker and punter for first round

12:42

picks, and they took one. I think it's

12:44

quarterback. I think if you bring Cousins back,

12:46

you take one, because Cousins isn't

12:48

going to play six more years.

12:50

If Cousins doesn't come back,

12:53

you're gonna you're really gonna need one.

12:55

But I think you can stay at the eleventh

12:57

pick, and I think maybe you maneuver up

12:59

to maybe the ninth pick to maybe make sure

13:01

a team like Denver doesn't get ahead of you, even

13:03

though you're ahead of them anyway. But I just think you might have

13:05

to maneuver a tad But I think your guy is

13:07

JJ McCarthy. I think you find a way

13:10

to JJ McCarthy, and if he has

13:12

to play now, I think he can win a

13:14

few games. I think CJ. Stroud

13:16

has changed totally what

13:18

teams are going to do with quarterbacks. CJ. Stroud

13:21

is a top twelve quarterback

13:23

already, and there are a lot of teams who thought

13:26

when they traded from twelve to three

13:28

to get Will Anderson junior. Last year, the

13:30

team they traded with was probably like, well, this is going

13:32

to be great. We might get the number one

13:35

overall pick with this trade, and Houston

13:37

won their division and went to the playoffs. So I

13:39

think young quarterbacks can play,

13:41

and I think they can play right away, and I think that's

13:44

your option for the Vikings at pick eleven.

13:46

Saus.

13:46

I know one of the things that you absolutely love is

13:49

draft season and even for agency.

13:51

Like if you had to pick for agency or

13:53

draft, what is your baby? What would you absolutely

13:56

be able to not do without if you had

13:58

to choose between the two.

14:00

Funny you asked me that because today I'm the fan. Is

14:02

the preposterous statement tournament. This is

14:04

not a preposterous statement. I live by

14:06

this. You can ask my wife. I would

14:08

watch the NFL Draft over a

14:11

regular season game

14:13

of any team in Minnesota, including

14:16

the Vikings. If you said you could

14:18

watch the Super Bowl or the NFL

14:20

Draft and the Super Bowl didn't include the Vikings,

14:23

I would pick the NFL Draft. I have loved

14:25

the NFL Draft since nineteen

14:27

ninety eight when the Minnesota Vikings got Randy

14:30

Moss. I remember following it

14:32

kind of on TV. It was before the internet was

14:34

what it is today. It was like a

14:36

two day event. They had a Saturday and Sunday.

14:39

And the only thing I love

14:41

more than the NFL Draft is my wife.

14:44

That's a folly. I love

14:46

the NFL Draft. I wish it was I

14:48

wish it was sooner. I just I think

14:51

it's wonderful. You can watch teams put

14:53

together. I think it's amazing how the

14:56

just the subterfuge of it leading up to it.

14:58

I love the train. It's just

15:00

it's a wonderful event in the NFL and

15:03

mel type where I have made it the best event

15:05

ever and it's a standale. It's

15:07

on prime time TV. That's

15:10

how great of an event that is. If that answers

15:12

your question.

15:12

Oh for sure. And honestly, Saus, you're talking about

15:14

that ninety eight one. I remember where I was

15:17

when that happened, because I was sitting

15:19

with some friends at a

15:21

at a bar, chopping on a burger

15:24

and it was on the TV and trying to explain to

15:26

them like why it mattered, you know,

15:28

why it was something that right? Why I was

15:30

staring at the TV instead of having the conversation

15:32

that we were as you know, picks were coming off

15:34

the board, and then you know, we all know what happened in

15:36

that ninety eight picking Randy Moss,

15:39

and we were just like, oh boy, you know what do

15:41

we got here?

15:41

Kind of a thing.

15:42

But I do just like you said, that one was

15:45

stuck in my mind too, as kind of

15:47

a pivotal moment for this franchise.

15:49

I mean you, I don't mean to keep using

15:51

this point, but like you go back to the

15:53

Houston Texas, like they were

15:55

a team that people thought would be a bottom

15:57

of the barrel team. No is it one? Maybe

16:00

Demico Lyons helps a ton, he's a stut

16:03

of a football coach. But two

16:05

picks, two picks change

16:07

that entire franchise in one season.

16:10

That's the beauty of the NFL draft. You can

16:12

do that in free agency, but you

16:14

get a young guy that clicks right away in can

16:16

be a dominant player. The NFL

16:18

draft can do wonders for a lot of teams.

16:20

It can also sink a team, which

16:23

makes it even more fun.

16:25

That's a hot take and I love it. I just look

16:27

at the date that we're recording this podcast,

16:29

February fourteenth. We are seventy

16:31

days away until the NFL Draft,

16:34

and there has never been a rookie quarterback

16:36

that has led his team to the Super Bowl. Maybe

16:38

that is this year and the

16:40

twenty four NFL Draft, Sauce, I

16:43

will hopefully, just based off of your

16:45

enthusiasm, be watching the draft besides you this year

16:47

because I need to fill the energy that you feel

16:49

because the draft is kind of I got mixed emotions,

16:52

but maybe you can change that. But appreciate you joining

16:54

us today.

16:55

Of course, you guys are the best any time.

16:58

That was Paul Meat Sauce Lamb from Kfan.

17:01

Just a pleasure having him on the show today.

17:03

But Jay, this is a

17:05

podcast where you know, we do get to talk about

17:07

the vikings, but still we didn't get a chance

17:09

to talk about, you know, just our initial thoughts on the

17:11

Super Bowl. And for me, we talked a little off air

17:13

of just I just didn't feel

17:16

like it was a big game. Yeah you got

17:18

you know, the first time a team has won

17:21

back to back Super Bowl champions since

17:23

I guess in over nineteen years, and the

17:25

only I guess the Chiefs are the ninth team ever

17:27

in NFL history.

17:29

To win back to back Super Bowls.

17:30

But still I guess watching that

17:32

game, I was like, oh, oh, like they

17:35

just won the Super Bowl, Like this is this isn't just

17:37

a regular AFC NFC

17:39

matchup Week eight.

17:40

Yeah.

17:41

You know, we talked about it last week on the show

17:43

that the Super Bowl has almost turned into a production

17:46

now where the everything around it

17:48

is bigger than the game. But I mean,

17:50

the super Bowl, the game matters. It is

17:52

the reason we're there, It's the reason why everything else

17:54

is going on is this game. And

17:57

to me watching that game through

17:59

the first three recorders, there

18:01

was a lot of stuff that happened, but there was also

18:03

a lot of mistakes and all of a sudden, it felt like

18:05

once you got to like the last two three minutes

18:08

of the third quarter and then pushed

18:10

into the end of the game, everything

18:12

was on the table. The stakes were raised immensely

18:15

because of how tight things got. I mean,

18:17

you had turnovers in the first half, you

18:19

had the muffed punt that went off the guy's

18:21

heel, and then all of a sudden, that completely flipped

18:24

everything on its head. Because the whole feeling

18:26

with the Niners was they were in control

18:28

of that game. You know, the Kansas City couldn't do anything,

18:31

but the Niners did not put them away, and

18:33

that's.

18:33

We've talked about it repeatedly.

18:35

I was texting with a friend of mine who lives in the Bay

18:37

Area at a Super Bowl party where

18:40

everyone else at the party was a Niners fan and

18:42

he was not. And it got

18:44

to the point where it got, you know, super tight,

18:46

and the Niners ended up taking the lead, and

18:49

he's just like, yeah, everyone here is going nuts. They said,

18:51

have they do they remember Patrick Mahomes

18:54

because we all know what this guy can

18:56

do. I saw a stat yesterday saying in

18:58

the history of like gotta have it

19:01

last drives, he

19:03

is a perfect seven for seven when

19:06

it comes to those kind of moments.

19:08

Wow, he's the only quarterback to be perfect

19:11

in a you need a drive to win

19:13

a game in a playoff type atmosphere,

19:16

and he's a perfect seven for seven. That guy

19:18

is as cold blooded as you can find. And

19:20

so to me, that was when I was watching

19:22

it at the end of the game, what I was intrigued by

19:25

was going like, can he do it again?

19:27

You know, Tom Brady's had mess ups, These other guys

19:29

have had mess up. He's been now perfect

19:32

in his career at the age he's gonna be what twenty

19:34

nine coming up here in twenty eight, twenty nine. This

19:36

guy is he's he really is, he's He's

19:39

on that Tom Brady, if not another level,

19:42

and I'm really curious to.

19:43

See what's going to happen.

19:44

That the Chiefs earned it,

19:47

and that game, to me was it was very

19:49

fun at the end, just to see how everything

19:52

everything ramped up. It can be a boring game for three

19:55

quarters and everything comes down to the fourth

19:57

quarter and then it's just amazing to watch what happened.

20:00

Almost felt scripted right like that

20:02

we go back to it again.

20:03

The NFL script makers were going, hey, we got

20:05

to have the drama.

20:06

At the end of the season, like for Pat

20:08

Mahomes to get the ball in the last drive of

20:10

the game in overtime, to win

20:12

a Super Bowl and to do it with

20:14

the play that Andy Reid hasn't called in over two

20:16

years. To a guy

20:19

and Mikole Hartman who predicted that he'll be playing

20:21

the forty nine ers when he was a Jet before he got

20:23

traded to the Kansas City Chiefs mid year. Like it

20:25

just the scriptwriters were in their bag this

20:28

week and just thinking about Pat

20:30

Mahomes being able to will this team

20:32

to another victory. To everyone's

20:34

point of saying, well, I hate the Chiefs or like

20:37

screw those guys, like you have to respect

20:39

greatness. The fact that he's doing this year in a year

20:41

out and to your point, only twenty eight years

20:43

old, like this is this is

20:46

one of those things that we may not see

20:48

again for another few decades.

20:49

After Pat Mahomes retired.

20:50

Well, we said the same thing about Brady. You know, now

20:52

we got Patrick Mahomes. And I've

20:55

heard some people debate and say, is this something now

20:57

that is going to be more regular than

20:59

we have experience in the past.

21:01

I don't know.

21:02

I think there's so much parody in this league, and there's so

21:04

many good players, But one thing

21:06

that cannot be denied is that those two

21:09

teams have had the AFC on lockdown

21:12

for the last two decades at this point. And

21:15

I don't think barring something major

21:17

happening to either Mahomes

21:19

or even an Andy Reid retiring or something

21:21

like that, that's going to completely derail that. I

21:24

think, you know, kind of what we

21:26

talked about earlier.

21:27

The idea with.

21:27

Andy Reid is that when you

21:29

pair somebody who has the history that he

21:31

does in this league with a

21:33

guy who is at the.

21:34

Talent level that a Mahomes is.

21:36

And then if you really think about it, you know, he talked

21:39

about it too, or meets us talked about

21:41

it too. With the wide receivers, they're

21:43

fairly nondescript. There's names there. There's

21:45

Mikole Hardman's there, there's Veldaz Scantling,

21:47

and then you got a rache Rice there on, you

21:49

know, as the rookie kind of coming in here and he's

21:51

showing some really good flashes. But

21:54

if you really think about it, you have Mahomes at quarterback, you

21:56

have Kelsey at tight end, and you have Pacheck oh slash

21:59

Jack McKinnon in the running back position.

22:01

Those three positions are the

22:04

thing that I really think led this team. And

22:06

then Mahomes just elevating those

22:08

wide receivers, and I kind of feel the same thing happened

22:11

in New England with Tom Brady. Outside

22:14

of your Julian Edelman types, you had your

22:16

gronks and you had soup de

22:18

jure for the running backs there at

22:20

the Patriots at the time, but everyone

22:23

did their job surrounded by an absolute

22:25

ace at quarterback. So to me, I

22:27

don't feel like the Chiefs are going anywhere anytime soon.

22:30

And what I'm really nervous about is the fact that

22:32

if the Chiefs do, either in free agency

22:35

or in the draft, find a true

22:37

number one wide receiver, that

22:39

just unlocks them again like they used to have with

22:41

Tyrek Hill. So I'm

22:44

super interested to see what happens

22:46

this offseason. And it's just hard for me

22:48

to think at this point of anyone else being

22:50

able to chase them down outside

22:52

the Bills making another jump or the Dolphins

22:55

making another jump at this point, and who knows

22:57

what Houston's going to turn into. They have a great

22:59

young cores, but I think the parody

23:01

in the AFC is going to be very

23:04

difficult, and that you have to try to knock

23:06

the king off the hill, and that's going to be the Chiefs

23:08

for the foreseeable future.

23:09

Really good point, I think, just from my

23:12

last take on the Super Bowl is

23:14

a question that I asked aus of what

23:17

should the Vikings learn from Super

23:19

Bowl fifty eight. Well, I think you have to learn that

23:21

if you run the ball effectively, you can win

23:23

big games. This was a San Francisco forty

23:26

nine ers team run offense that was fourth

23:28

best in the NFL coming into this game

23:30

averaging almost one hundred and forty yards per

23:32

carry. When you look at the

23:34

second half alone for this forty nine Ers

23:36

offense, the only had thirty five rush

23:38

yards. They ended the

23:41

game rushing for less than four yards per

23:43

carrie. The Kansas City Chiefs, on the other end,

23:45

they're not even the top fifteen run offense. They

23:47

have more rushing yards than the forty nine

23:50

ers. Is game, they had one hundred and thirty rushing yards

23:52

and they average over four yards per carry. So I

23:55

believe if you really want to put teams away, to

23:57

your point of like, why caun't the forty nine ers put a team away,

24:00

Well, they couldn't run the ball effectively. And when you run the ball

24:02

effectively, one, it makes the defense

24:04

tire too, it keeps the clock going three,

24:06

It forces the other team to be

24:09

a little bit more discombobulated when they get the

24:11

ball back because they understand that they have to score

24:13

the ball immediately in a certain

24:15

timeframe if they want to be successful.

24:17

So that's why I.

24:18

Think running the ball was so much more

24:20

effective and so much in

24:23

my opinion, it was a very underrated stat

24:25

when it came to why the

24:27

Kansas City Chiefs beat.

24:28

The forty nine ers or Super Bowl fifty eight.

24:30

You just literally described the final drive

24:32

of the Super Bowl in overtime. That was what

24:35

got them there. They were doing dink and dunk

24:37

passes and everything. They weren't throwing any bombs, but they

24:39

were just battle of attrition, smash

24:41

you in the mouth every single play, and they're gashing

24:43

them for four or five, six, seven yards of play and

24:46

just kind of marching down the field, and then when they needed

24:48

they ran a couple of basic screens or

24:51

scene passes in order to just move that

24:53

ball within scoring position and ultimately

24:55

that hardman play you know, early in the

24:57

game, I think that was the thing that you saw McCaffrey

24:59

and those guys ripping off bigger chunks

25:02

on the ground, and I think that's why it felt like the

25:04

Chiefs were on their heels, that they just Chris

25:07

Jones and those guys were not getting

25:09

the pass rush that they wanted. But then

25:12

all of a sudden, you saw, like second half Spagnola,

25:14

whatever he saw.

25:15

You saw in.

25:16

Certain plays where whether they wanted to try to run

25:18

screens or just the typical ones where

25:20

they would dump it off to either Debo or McCaffrey

25:23

as a screen and just get him in an open space

25:25

and let him go. All of a sudden, there were four

25:27

people in that space recognizing

25:30

exactly what that play was just from the

25:32

formation. As soon as the ball was snapped, It's like that

25:35

defender standing right in front of where the running back's

25:37

going to be. Those two defenders are standing

25:39

where the blockers are going to be, like they

25:41

understood what was happening. And I think that was the

25:43

deal in the fourth quarter

25:46

and overtime that it felt

25:48

like the Chiefs had finally figured out the puzzle

25:50

and were just kind of marching as they needed to.

25:52

Yeah, they made the game of football look simple, right,

25:54

Just run the ball short, pass the

25:56

ball short, get a couple of yards, and just keep building

25:59

until you get to the end zone. So I guess

26:01

it goes to the fact that you know, football

26:03

is in rocket size. Just get the ball in the hands of your playmakers

26:05

and let them make plays, and ultimately,

26:07

if you have the right coaches, you can win some games

26:10

in this league.

26:10

And I think that's the thing for the public.

26:12

They see it as as simple as it looks,

26:14

you know, play for play, Just

26:16

to think about how many hours

26:19

and years of lives go into

26:21

all the game planning and stuff, and honestly, what

26:23

it turns into is offense versus

26:25

defense. Get the right matchups you want an offense, and

26:27

if you can get into playmaker's hands and let them

26:30

do what they're doing, that is where the specialty

26:32

of each of those superstars comes out.

26:35

And that's what makes it so exciting is to be like,

26:37

you can understand that all twenty two people

26:40

on the field understand what's happening right now, but

26:43

one of those players that has the ball in their hand

26:45

is going to do something spectacular

26:48

that's going to make everyone say wow. And that

26:51

is what I truly feel like when you see like

26:53

the McCaffrey touchdown where he got out in space

26:55

and kind of rip through a couple of

26:57

tackles to get to that touchdown, that's when

27:00

those moments where you go, man, that guy special. And

27:02

I think that's what makes the game of football fun to watch.

27:04

Coaches, players, GM's front

27:06

office, just so many different aspects

27:08

going to a team winning games, and

27:11

it starts from the bottom, right, You have to start

27:13

from the bottom with your players, with your staff,

27:15

and will ultimately get to that ultimate goal, and

27:17

for me, I think that's what the Vikings are doing right now

27:19

with their coaching staff. They just hired Marcus

27:22

Dixon from the Denver Broncos, who was

27:24

a defensive line coach last year for the Denver Broncos

27:26

the last two years in Denver. The Vikings

27:29

just hired him as their defensive line

27:31

coach and also they added outside

27:33

linebacker coaching duties to Mike

27:35

Petin's title. Mike Penton, who's

27:37

already here with the initial Kevin O'Connell's

27:40

scheme, assistant head coach here, just

27:43

a class at guy won, but someone

27:45

that players are familiar with, and I think having that

27:47

continuity and adding

27:50

what he has already done in this league being a former

27:52

defensive coordinator in Green Bay, I think

27:54

that will ultimately help not only this defense,

27:56

but this entire team. So happy to

27:58

have Marcus Dixon in our stable now

28:01

with this Minnesota Vikings team, and then actually

28:03

have Mike Petton have some I guess

28:06

extra added duties onto his plate going

28:08

into the twenty twenty four season.

28:09

Your thoughts shift. Yeah.

28:10

The thing about that's interesting for me on the Pettin

28:12

side is if you've listened to him, sit

28:14

down in his one on one interviews with Paul Allen.

28:17

That guy is so cerebral, like he is constantly

28:19

thinking of trying to find ways

28:21

to put people in the right position and

28:24

to get something extra out of his player, you know, out

28:26

of players in general, especially defensively,

28:28

So to have a guy like Petton get some

28:30

of the extra duties there, it's not surprising

28:32

on my end to think that they would want to lean on a guy

28:34

like that that has so much experience to

28:37

try to see if they can, you know, take this defense to

28:39

another level.

28:40

And bringing in Dixon.

28:41

You know, he has a history with the Rams,

28:43

with Kevin O'Connell, and so to

28:46

think about getting a guy like Dixon

28:48

to come in here, given what kind of

28:50

them has been for the Broncos defense,

28:53

everyone kind of remembers, especially the

28:55

von Miller days, of kind of what their

28:58

identity has been in Denver with that d defensive

29:00

line. So to see him come in here,

29:02

I think it'll be great to you know, again add

29:04

some more talented coaches to come

29:06

in and help scheme and put these guys in the

29:08

best position possible. So to be able

29:11

to sign these guys and bring them in I think it's

29:13

great to get him in now, or at least

29:15

to have Dixon in now, and to have Petting even

29:18

more engaged with what we're doing defensively

29:21

as they go in to try to figure out what's going to happen

29:23

during combine season.

29:24

So you got a couple weeks.

29:26

To the combine, these guys are all going to be,

29:28

you know, putting their heads together and trying

29:30

to figure out exactly what we got and

29:32

what we're looking for. So looking forward to seeing

29:34

these guys get into the stable.

29:35

Yeah, I think just my last thoughts

29:37

on just the Marcus Dixon hires when

29:39

you look at the numbers in his

29:42

second season in Denver last year, Dixon coached

29:44

the defensive line that helped the

29:46

Broncos record a league leading fifteen

29:48

thumber recoveries last year. And we

29:50

know this is a league where if you're

29:52

on offense, take care of the ball. If you're on defense, take

29:54

the ball away. And the fact that he understands

29:57

how to get his defensive line, we're not even talking to our

30:00

sception here, his defensive lineman to

30:02

take the ball away and give it back to our

30:04

offense. I think that's something that in

30:07

my opinion Kevin O'Connor or Brian Flores

30:09

were very high on when it came to all right,

30:11

this is what we want this position the

30:13

identity to look like. And I feel like Marcus

30:15

Dixon the resume he put

30:18

together matched that identity. So I'm looking

30:20

forward to saying what that looks like in twenty twenty

30:22

four.

30:22

And as big as that key metric was last

30:24

year for our team, just the turnover

30:26

battle.

30:27

Anything well, and that's the thing.

30:28

Anything you can do to kind of pull

30:31

that back towards the you know, even

30:33

level, or even get to the plus level when

30:35

it comes to the turnover numbers, you know,

30:37

I think being able to have a guy who helps,

30:40

you know, defensively, the old adage what

30:42

especial when your kids was the idea of the

30:44

balls in the ground, just fall on it and let our offense

30:46

go to work. And the NFL that's not the

30:48

deal anymore. It's the idea of you get

30:50

a chance to make a play, you pick that ball up, and you run

30:52

as fast as you can to get to the end zone. So being

30:55

able to have a guy like him with the mentality

30:58

it feels like to really be you

31:00

know, looking to make a play

31:02

and to be a difference maker there on defense. It'd

31:04

be great to have his attitude there at the defensive

31:07

line.

31:07

Nice.

31:08

Well, I want to end this podcast on a

31:10

lighter note one. Josh Vintellis did

31:12

a phenomenal job co

31:14

hosting Good Morning Football two days

31:16

last week as a guest host, And I've

31:19

retweeted a segment that

31:21

Good Morning Football day with Josh when he was breaking

31:23

down a couple of plays against the Chiefs last

31:25

year and what he saw. And to see him

31:27

break that down in real time, you

31:30

felt that he felt that he was actually

31:32

in that moment again, which ultimately gave

31:35

fans the perspective of being in that moment

31:37

with them. So I really do believe

31:40

whenever he decides to hang up his cleats, whether that's

31:42

five or ten years down the road from now, he's

31:45

going.

31:45

To have a bright future in the media

31:47

realm.

31:47

He's super comfortable and we've

31:49

seen that when we've had him in here doing our show

31:52

and some of the other things that he's participated with

31:54

v end He just feels like a natural

31:56

and so it's great to see him do that. I also know I think

31:59

he had a big week because he did that for Good Morning Football

32:01

and then he went on the power trip to play the Initials game.

32:03

So like that guy was making the media rounds.

32:05

But it's great to.

32:06

Have a guy like him who

32:08

has been matching the play

32:11

on the field with what he's been doing off

32:13

the field here in the offseason. And I think

32:15

that guy especially, he's

32:17

somebody who's earned it, going from practice squad

32:19

to basically a full time starter and in

32:22

multiple positions. So I

32:24

can't be happier for a guy like that who's earned

32:26

it completely. And I hope that he's on this team

32:28

playing football for a very long time.

32:30

Well, I don't know if we've earned this last

32:33

comment that I'm gonna make just now,

32:35

but have you been following the New

32:38

Heights Show fan poll on Twitter

32:40

for best team name?

32:41

I have casually.

32:42

I saw that it turned into a thing, and

32:45

I saw that we were reacting to it.

32:47

But yeah, yeah, So the Vikings were voted

32:49

as the best team name in the NFL.

32:52

According to New Heights Show. We edged

32:54

out the Pittsburgh Steelers in the bracket finals,

32:57

winning sixty to forty. So we had a sixty

32:59

percent and fan vote to forty percent

33:01

fan vote for the Pittsburgh Stillers.

33:03

I think the Stillers are a good name.

33:04

But one thing that stood out to

33:06

me is that for people that are

33:08

listening to this podcast and say, okay, whatever, like

33:10

who cares about best team names? I get

33:12

it, like a best team name is not going to win your

33:14

super Bowl. But forty thousand

33:17

fans voted on this. There were

33:19

over seven hundred thousand views

33:21

on Twitter on this fan poll, so people

33:23

actually care about this. So I don't

33:25

know, take it for what you want, but the Vikings were voted

33:28

the best the best team name in twenty twenty three.

33:30

I for one, am biased and say, yes, it is

33:32

the best team name that is possible.

33:34

So for me, it's fun.

33:36

You know, you can definitely tell it's the silly

33:38

season the offseason when this is the kind

33:40

of stuff that comes out. But I think

33:42

it's you know, honestly, what it really shows though,

33:45

is that people identify this

33:47

team, this name, this brand with

33:50

you know, something that is that is positive

33:52

and I think, you know, as the team

33:54

itself. You're looking at this saying if

33:57

the fans are invested or casual

33:59

fans are invested, there whatever

34:01

we can do to keep them engaged and to keep

34:03

them kind of looking at us as an organization

34:06

as something that they want to follow. You know, we ultimately

34:08

know that if you win a bunch of games, everybody

34:10

loves you, and money you don't. It gets a little more difficult

34:13

at times, but in general, one

34:15

thing that I think this organization takes pride

34:17

on is knowing that as a

34:19

as a brand and as an organization, we

34:21

want to do things the right way and to represent their

34:23

fans the right way. And I feel like there's a lot

34:26

of strides that this organization takes. So

34:28

when people go through and do something like this and

34:30

say that, you know, Vikings is the best

34:32

possible name to have for NFL team,

34:35

I think they will gladly take it and kind of put

34:37

that as a feather in your cap.

34:38

Nice well, as we look for, there's a

34:40

lot to look forward to, and Vakings

34:42

fans make sure you stay tuned for the most up to date

34:44

coverage of the team. But before you look for you will

34:46

actually have an opportunity to look

34:48

back on this recent Minnesota Viking

34:51

season. There is a three part series

34:53

called The Voyage. We all love The Voyage

34:55

and some of the storylines on this year's show

34:58

is justin Jefferson's rise to start them MVP

35:01

first half of the season in the

35:03

explosion on the scene of rookie Jordan

35:05

Addison and Brian Flores

35:08

in their first year of dominance in

35:10

the NFL. So that will

35:12

be posted each week through the NFL

35:15

Combine on Vikings dot com, the Vikings YouTube

35:17

page, and it will also air on Saturday

35:19

nights at ten pm Central

35:21

Time on Fox nine starting this

35:24

week. I'm looking forward to watching that. There's

35:27

multiple places Vikings fans can tune into

35:29

that, and I don't know if it's

35:32

trauma or if it helps people just come

35:34

to terms on what happened this

35:36

past year. But our Vikings Entertainment

35:38

Network team do such a phenomenal job

35:41

a year in and year out making.

35:42

Sure we tell the best stories of the team. Yeah.

35:44

I think the thing about the voyage is they put so

35:46

much time and effort throughout the year to be able to

35:48

tell that story, and the people that

35:50

are working behind the scenes on it, I mean it truly

35:52

is working on an NFL Films level

35:55

style of production, and those

35:57

guys and gals that are working on

35:59

that product is just amazing. And so

36:01

I always look forward to seeing because

36:03

you really do truly get behind the scenes

36:06

access that you would not normally get, So

36:08

make sure to tune in, whether it's YouTube or

36:10

any other place that you can get your Viking's

36:12

Entertainment Network video. The voyage

36:15

is totally worth your time and enjoy it

36:17

as much as possible.

36:18

Well, it's a new season that is correct twenty

36:21

twenty four. Every team is owned well zero

36:23

and zero, O and O however you want to say it, And

36:25

I'm looking forward to saying what this Minnesota Vikings

36:27

team looks like as we move forward. There

36:30

are going to be a lot of Vikings personnel

36:32

on this podcast, so stay tuned. We're going to try

36:34

to keep you guys informed and entertained

36:37

as we move forward, hoping for

36:39

the first ever Super Bowl victory

36:42

for this Minnesota Vikings team at twenty twenty

36:44

five. Like I said, like I ended the show last week,

36:46

let's get.

36:46

Jay Nets in the ring. Let's get them a super Bowl trophy.

36:48

So for j Nottes and Eric

36:51

Davison and Tatum ever who can make it today and

36:53

our special guest Paul meet Sauce Lambert.

36:55

My name is Gaye Penderson.

36:56

Thank you guys again for tuning into another

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