MVP: BYE WEEK AWARDS & CY AMUNDSON

We've still got another episode of MVP coming your way, and it's a special one, not just because the Vikings are now three and three following a walk off victory against the Panthers, but also because we have a special guest alongside us today. You know him, you love him. It's Siamonson. Si, how are you doing? You were here alongside Gabe Henderson, J Nelson and myself. Hello, it's wonderful to be here. A bye week. I think that's the right week to have me in because my emotions towards

the team are at their mellowiest. I don't have any angst going forward. I can take a breath about what's behind us. I think you have me on a good week, a week where I won't derail and ruin your show. Well, you know that's we have a little careful hand in planning those kinds of things. I know. Having some extra time to recover from this one was a lot. But Gabe, you just came back from the game. You were there, you got to witness it all a person, and I know it was your home state, your dad was on

the sidelines. How was the game for you? It was fun. We left with the win. My cardiologists would tell me not to attend any more Vikings games this year, but we but we want, we want, and just to be able to have my family on the sideline, that was cool to have. That was cool to see. They had never been to a been on an NFL foll let me put it that way. So be able. So to be able to do that in our home state and gain a couple of pounds the process, Um, it was.

It was pretty fun. I enjoyed it. You got a Panthers fan, so, um, we did not grow up Panthers fans. To answer your question, Um, we didn't grow Bikings fans either. We'll just leave it at that. But he just wanted a good game. He just wanted a good game. My dad were read to the game. Yes, is so weak, I'll rid him out. He's a case. He grew up with Cowboys thing. He's Americus team. You're gonna You're gonna be that guys. He's he's growing. Now. Here's the thing.

Gabe and I talk all the time, so I know he is monumentally and wholeheartedly invested in this, in this football team and in this state. But I do know in our next game, we are playing the team that he grew up rooting for. Running around in his tiny little Emmett Smith so sweet. Yeah. I used to throw up the X when I was in middle school too. So Dez Bryant, go back to Michael Irvan, to your Troy Aikmans, Tony Romo has we might need to unpack that next week's episode. That Yeah, So my dad has

already asked me. He was like, so, who are you cheering for next week? I was like, Dad, my job goes a lot better when the Vikings waiting. But yeah, the game, Jay, I wanted to call on you for a second because I know you just like Size, a lifelong Vikings fan and grew up here all that kind of jazz. So I mean, five out of six games, I've I can't take it anymore. I'm I'm losing years off my life. Welcome to the Vikings Bandwig, Welcome to the fan group. This is what it's like, This is

what you're in for. This is not only the Vikings, but you know, we've had this discussion a little bit all of the sports teams potentially. This is kind of the way that it goes. This is what keeps you interested. But the one thing that that does do for you as well as you find out really quickly how invested

you are in this team. Yeah. Yeah, because either you get to the point where you're like, mentally, I can't handle this and I have to really wall myself off, or you're wholly invested in every single week as a roller coaster. So welcome to the roller coaster. I'll give it to you this way. Like being in media, sometimes you become numb to the fact of your fandom, Like you have to play this certain non bias for a lack of a better word, where you're kind of like

neutral in a lot of settings. And so for the past ten years, like I kind of haven't had those feelings really. I mean, you know, obviously when I watch LSU a little bit more. But when I covered LSU, it kind of became this like, Oh, I'm shooting AJ McCarron throwing an overtime touchdown in my face because I have a camera on my shoulder, and I'm like, I can't. You're already job mad about it. I have to make sure I get this game winning shot. And it's like, oh,

you're like deflated. But now, I mean even less I had the wild game, I'm jazzed. I like have like I scream at the television now like I screamed at the game, Like it's kind of cool to have it back despite it being like agony, when I am the opposite,

I'm professional and I respect you for that. When I was at ESPN after the Minnesota Miracle, I made my own custom Minnesota Miracle T shirt, wore it on Sports Center on Snap and did a whole segment where I trash talked Sean Payton to the point where one of them, like one of my boss is like, hey, we get it. This is like a fun version of Sports Center, but we need you to dial it down just a little bit because that was like, that was a titch too much.

So I I'm impressed that you could pull that off, because I am humanly not cake I think. I think to Tatum's point, I feel like I asked Pa or liber after every game, like should I be this emotionally invested with this team? And every week they tell me no? But for some reason, rights, how can you not like the Vikings if you're not a Packers or Bears or Lions fan. They're starting to the organization is starting and I don't I don't love this. I don't think it's

a great thing. I'm just commenting on the reality of the situation they are starting to take on, are starting to take on, you know, to a certain degree. I mean, I know the Cubs and the Red Sox had a far longer history with it. You know, there are a lot of losing organization in sports. You know, the Lions have lost a lot, the Jaguars have lost a lot, you know, the Timberwolves have lost a lot. There are so many teams and so many sports have lost a lot.

But there are a few teams who they're they're losing has a charm to it, And you know, the Cleveland Browns with the paperback, like there's a charm there. With the Red Sox with the curse and the Cubs with the curse, there was a charm there. And I think,

and I don't. I'm not excited about this, but just with the way the last few years have gone, with all the kickers and now having what has to be the most absurd six games start in the history of any sport ever played on this earth in terms of just game play and the way things have finished and should have finished. You now see like Peter Shagger talking

about it, Mill Simmons talking about it. So now the Vikings are, you know, kind of one of those teams that they are frustrations and they're to certain degree failures or misses or losses have this charm and rootability to it. So I think that Gabe might be you know, that draws you in because you want to see that entire fan base and people like my dad and you know, all these people have lived with this their whole life to just get that ultimate release when they've lost so

many times in such a difficult way. But I like, whatever the hell this six weeks have been, I that's that's something new. This is not this is not missing the kick in the playoffs. These six weeks have been We could very legitimately be one in five with a loss against the worst team in the NFL, like a horrible loss. We could just as easily be five and one with a win against the like a good win. Yeah, you put in the prep doc, like, what's you what

is your temperature on the season? Where are you at to this point? Um, I don't move. That's where I'm at. I'm gonna move way and not why I'm so tired. I'm so tired yet enthused and confused. It's just these

six games have been bizarre. Man. If any of you at this point are starting to realize why when it comes the offseason and we talked about getting excited for everything, and I try to be as even keel as possible, this is why it is trying to essentially wall yourself off from the emotion of oh no, what just happened

or oh my god, that was amazing. It's it's trying to have some sort of self preservation given that this can be a week to week thing where it is the highest of the highest, the lowest of the lows, and as we were just talking about, you know, how how have people who've been lifers forever who followed this team,

how can they do it? This is why you have a new found respect for guys like Dennis Ryan or Fred Zamberletti, who was literally there before from the very first game his entire life and has gone through the

range of emotions with this team. For me, having been on the inside here now for as long as I have and seeing people who've been here for longer, there's a little bit of a remember this and remember that, and trying to pick through that to try and find a way to explain away your emotions, because there are those moments where you just you're so invested and it's either you're either so excited or it's just so soul crushing that eventually, I think you find a way to

kind of harden yourself in order to prevent yourself from being either hurt or too high on something. And it's it's just part of being a Vikings and a Minnesota sports fan. So does this make me a Vikings fan? Now? I find myself venting a lot about the Vikings to people within the company and people that are just fans. Dude, you if you saw my text threat that I am on, my human text threat that I am on with Jay and Chris Corso you would be like, you guys should

throw your phones in the river on Sunday. Why do you let him keep texting you? Jay's better at this than me. I'm I'm the guy who rides a crazy roller coaster that almost threw me off, and I'm like, oh yeah, I'll get on again, fully knowing that they didn't do any of the fixes, like you know, like it could very well happen again. I just climb on, get in the car. A glutton for punishment. Yeah, yeah,

it's absolutely I'm real dumb that way. Well, I mean, and then as bad as as bad as we sound, maybe as like we're like, oh, it's just so deflated. There have been some very very great moments and a lot of a lot of just of promise and potential. I know that's a dangerous word when you're six weeks into the season, that word potential, but it's there and this week is a good week to reset. So uh si, after the after the wins that we have this season,

we do this like minute of power, power, minute of positivity. Um, I can I can let you go first if you feel it or do you need us to kind of pump you up, and then we'll get to you at the end. I'll let I'll let other. I'm a gentleman, so I'll let another can go first, all right, jastright, just put you on the spot. J all right, you ready, yes, ma'am? Okay? Three two one. After watching this game in Carolina, I found myself literally standing in front of my television going

come on, Greg, come on Greg. At the end of regulation and when it didn't go in, there was this moment of all right, what do we got? In years past, I think there'd be the feeling of saying, oh, no, I don't know if we're gonna be able to do this, but watching what this offense has been doing that only in this game, but in multiple games so far this season. There was a sense of confidence. When we won the coin toss, I'm like, we're going to drive down the

field and score and end this thing. I think for me that is a welcomed change this year is just knowing that when you get into a situation where there's a tight score at the end of a game, you feel like, if that ball is in our hands, we have a chance and we are going to win. So that's been a fun thing for me to be able to watch this year. On top of that, doing it in Carolina, where I was last time we were facing

a Cam Newton. Seeing us be able to get a win down in Carolina with or without a Christian McCaffrey was a solid win in my opinion, and I really enjoyed watching that game. If you have all of these large wins, I guess you don't know how your team responds in those moments. Unfortunately, we have the other side of the coin where they're always in those moments and so you don't know how they'll respond. And you're right.

There was a lot of confidence that Kirk Cousins will put together another late in game drive because obviously a lot of his late in game drives that he's been able to do almost every single week of the season haven't always ended in our favor. But really not to Kirk's fault. It was another game where we were down to this. I think everyone in general has had this feeling of I need to find a time to meet with my cardiologist just to make sure that we're gonna

be okay. You never said the word cardiologist more in my life. But for me, the fact that we have had multiple games come down to you gotta have it, and our offense has at least put us within striking distance to have a chance to win, versus having to punt the ball away and cross your fingers that the defense is going to be able to, you know, flip

the field again. For me, the fact that your offense at this point is battle tested multiple times with the murderers row of teams that are going to be coming up here. Yet in the last eleven games, I think if you are in a close game there there is going to be a sense of confidence that hey, we can still get this done and pull off a victory. It's just how many years is going to take off of our lives watching these games. I don't have the answer to that, Gabe, you got an answer to that.

I don't know. I told Rick Spilman earlier this week that I'm twenty nine going on seventy eight. He probably thought that was funny. He said, it's very exciting. Right, So yeah, I don't know if iving answered to Jay's question other than just live through it all right, you got a minute, I got a minute, all right, three two one. My power of postivity has to be the fact that we put together a complete game on offense

and defense sands the last drive of the game. We've been looking for this defense to step up and only given up two hundred in I think fourteen yards two hundred and ten yards throughout the first three and three quarters of the game. I think that says a lot about how special this defense can be if we continue on that track. On the offensive side of the ball, the fact that we have five hundred and seventy one yards the total offense, zero sacks allowed, Dalvin Cook had

a quiet one hundred and forty rushing yards. I think that is a recipe for success for this offense going forward. I was thoroughly impressed with this entire team as a whole and the fact that we put it together from the first play, not up until the last. But the fact that we were able to show some flashes of who we can be as an offense and as a defense.

I was excited with that. Granted, you want to put your foot on these guys throat, like Mike Zimmer said, but I'll take whatever I can get it very nice, right on time. That's something that we haven't really seen is you know, plays twenty plus yards and we know Kirk has the arm, can he can do it. We've got the receivers, we've got the speed. So I'm just

ready to see that happen. So, you know, it didn't one hundred percent work in that game, but I can take that away as something that we could potentially see down the line. Those shots that they took. We can take it with a grain of salt that we didn't complete it. But the fact that Clint Kubiak is wanting to take some shots out of sudden change, that says a lot about our offense. That was one of my keys to the game this past week is when we

have those sudden changed moments, take some shots. The first sudden changed moment was to pick on the first play we ran the ball. The second play only result in the three points. The second time, when we got the fumble play action passed on the first play thirty five yards we ended up scoring. So getting aggressive in those moments that was shades of Denny green Man. You're a lifelong fan of his team. You remember nineteen ninety eight when at the time the Vikings had the highest scoring

offense in the history in the NFL. When we would get a turnover, do you could be on your two yard line, You're like, well, he's gonna go to eat, He's gonna take a shot. And I think there's just something just mentally crushing for the opposing to not only be deflated by a turnover, but then to be gouged immediately where you don't even have a chance to catch your breath and react to the turnover, you're already on your heels. I think that can spiral momentum your direction

so quickly. So I think that shot right off the turnover was to feel and wasn't it. Yeah? Yeah, it was a thirty five yard plaques and pass. Well, that's the thing I mean, I mean, you hit it right on the head, like there's the ability is there? You just have to do it. I mean, that's the thing. I feel like that's been half the battle for me. I think this first half of the season, or at least this first third of the season, has been so much of trying to figure out who are we like,

what do we have as weapons, what's our identity? We were playing the run game as much as we were Delvin got hurt, Alexander Madison stepped in and was able

to do some really good things. They're on offense, but we're now at the point where I think we understand what kind of weapons we really have, what is possible, and being able to get to this bye week now being three and three, knowing what we're facing coming forward, the self scouting that the defense and the offense are going to do for this team, hopefully then can find other places where we can start to exploit teams given a bunch of the weapons that have really stepped up

and become key contributors here on this offense. And I think the fact, and maybe I'm maybe in a minority on this, but I think the fact that we are six games in three and three and we still don't have a true identity, I think that is a good thing because we a team can't say this is what they want to do. We have so many weapons, like Jay said, we can do so many different things that there's so much room for growth at three and three.

Being in all these games, the fact that we can still say, okay, well we can start run the ball effectively if we want to. We haven't really established who our old line is. But at the same time, once you stopped their run, we still got some deep threats on the offensive side of the ball. And now we're starting to stop the run on defense. Now we can figure out how to be smart on the back game with our secondary. There's a lot of room for growth

for this entire team. One thing that's positive off of that is the fact that if you get any game or they start to shut you down in the running game, you know you can open up passing wise and vice versa. If all of a sudden they're shutting down and bracket coveraging Jefferson and those guys. We saw how big of a struggle at least it was in that Cleveland game. Now that you've been through that, hopefully on the offensive side, they're game planning for a way to remedy that again.

And we're going to find out, because there's some really good defenses coming here in the next couple of weeks, what potentially that's going to look like. So as long as you're finding ways to not become one dimensional, I think it's going to be a huge benefit for you for the back half of the season. All right, So I'm about to put you on the spot three two one. Well, my positivity is going to come from a place of reality. That's going to sound like a negative, So stick with me.

He only have fifty seconds. That game had the glimpses, you know, the deep shot to feeling that they've mentioned, you know, the drive and overtime. We've shown time and time again that this team can really move the ball

up the field when it wants to. And you put five hundred and seventy one yards on the board and you get three turnovers, you don't expect to be playing in overtime, you know, But the glimpses are there that if this team gets a little more aggressive, which I think everybody wants to in the right moments and in

the right places. I think that game against the Panthers, even though I don't think the Panthers are a great team, showed that this team can compete on both sides of the ball against really good teams, which is what's about to happen. Very nice. Yeah, it's about to be clearly clearly, it's the internal clock. You've got the Cowboys, you're on the road at the Ravens, at the Charger, You've got

the Packers coming up. It's not going to be easy, So you can't make those kinds of mistakes, and you have to capitalize on the ones that like the three tournovers as you you have to capitalize, and those you can't settle for field goals. You saw a lot of both this past weekend, like people who were really like, hey, a win's a win's a win, and you saw a lot of fans who are like furious that it was

that close again. And I think the truth lies somewhere in between those two, you know, gigantic emotions and to be able to play the way we played and be just a few moments away from executing a full floor to ceiling football game that very easily could have been a thirty one, you know, seventeen win a thirty like

you held them. When you look at a block punt, which is a major, major mistake, When you look at the fourth and four from your own the fourth down on your own four yard line another major mistake, and you look at the first two like Gabe mentioned turnovers, when you probably could have been a little more aggressive going for the end zone. There. Those are all situations and that if one or two of those go the other direction, because you're never going to execute everything perfectly.

You can't expect to have three turnovers each game. You can't expect Robbie Anderson to drop I don't know, thirty eight balls in a singular game, even though he's on somebody's fantasy team on this program. Well, you saw glimpses of what you saw in the Cardinals game, right, and that is the team that I want to see all season long, Like, yes, you're not gonna not make mistakes, you're not gonna blow, You're not going to be perfect,

you'll blow an occasional coverage. Well, this team, with its talent and what you saw against the Panthers again, you should be able to compete against really good teams and put yourself in a position where if those crucial moments bounce more your way than the other team's way, if you execute a little bit more than the other team, you should be able to win those games. And that So that was a long way to get to a

really weird positive. But the Panthers game to me was like a it's just a less fortunate, maybe crucially less executed version of what we were able to do in the Cardinals game. So if you can clean up those mistakes, knowing who we were in the Cardinals game. That gives me the confidence that we are going to compete against this crazy schedule we have coming up here. Yeah, you gotta think one thing you didn't mention was JJ's fumble too. Right,

This Carolina Panthers team have fourteen drives on Sunday. Three of their scoring drive well three of their drives only went past thirty eight yards, and one of those drives was the last drive of the game. So that says a lot right there as far as we should have

taken care of business. I mean, it looked like we should have just easily steamrolled the same But you got those key plays, with those key moments where you got to execute and not let the other team get momentum, and that block punt and that fumble and some other things happened in the game gave them some of that momentum. So that's a bad time to talk about how that should have been the Lions game as well. I mean, it's just kind of like the I mean it should A cold of wood is kind of a theme at

this point in time. This is an amazing moment for the bye. You know, I would prefer a buye a little later in the season, you know, just generally. But I think given what we've gone through and what's in front of us, you couldn't have asked for a better week for the bye because we all know this is a crucial season for a lot of important people. You know, this is a big season for Mike Zimmer, It's a big season for Rick Spielman, it's a big season for

Kirk Cousins. You know, we've all heard that narrative over and over and over and over again. And I think what is Mike Zimmer best at, you know, having honest conversations. He doesn't both you're at this moment here where you know you're close as a team, and I think when all those coaches are able to spend this extra time together and really push on one another and be honest and self scout like I think I even heard Zimmer talk about Coach Zimmer talk about that in one of

his pressors, you know, for the bye week. And so when that happens, my hope is that some of the inconsistencyams were like, we should have squashed this Lion's team out, We should have squashed this Panther's team out. We should have been in a better position in the Browns game, we should have executed better in the Bengals game. But

I think you're just in this perfect position. Like perfect position is not the right word, because you know you'd love to be five in one or six and oh but if if you're a competitor and you know how important to season is for you, like what more could you ask for? As Kirk or as Mike Zimmer, as Rick Spielman, Like you want to you want to be one of the best teams in the NFC. You want

to prove who you are. You've got this perfect moment, this perfect bye week, after all this weirdness, to really focus up and walk forward and prove who you are and prove what you do. So I'm gonna until proven otherwise, I'm gonna look at the bye week and where we're at right now as a possibly a really big positive

and a chance to get right. You have to think that the same things that we see while we're watching the game, well we go back and watch the tape or anything like that, they're seeing that stuff too, and they're trying to figure out a way around it. So as much as we sit here and like we think we figured out all the problems, like they're doing that too,

and that's what this week is for. To your points, I I think it was week one of the season that coach Zimmer came out of the locker room or was going into the locker room at half and basically was like, Kirt needs to get the ball out quicker. Yeah, that was that was and every fan at home was like, we agree. And then the team adjusted and they got

the ball out so quick against the Cardinals. They got the ball out so quick against the Seahawks, and so you know, and there was a different game with the Browns. They bring a different sort of pressure. Stefanski knows what we like to do on offense, He knows Kirk really well. None, no one on Twitter or on a podcast is going to have the football understanding of what's going on from

an intricate xs and you know standpoint. But we all know where this team's at, and the coaches, you know, Coach Zimmer has always been pretty forthright about where the team's at and where he thinks the team's at. And so that's the sort of that mentality is what gives me a hope like end of October, November, December, that's when you really want to be jelling. So if we were going to go through all these up and downs,

let's take them in the first six games. Even though there were a couple of easier teams in that stretch. We were six games in, we've gotten to see some big moments, some really good plays, things of that nature. So we're going to do some in season superlatives and we'll just kind of rapid fire quick answers go around the table here and kick things off. So six games in,

what has been your favorite moment? I think Week one just having fans back at US Bank Stadium is by far the most memorable thing for me thus far this year, and not having fans last year, and then experiencing that, experiencing that Dustin Lynch concert Week one, right before the game, having all the purple out there in the plaza and

then they made their way over to the stadium. So having fans back for the first time and having our twelfth man affect Rossell Wilson, who had his first game at US Bank Stadium in his career, made that game just a memorable to me. So it's going to be hard. Honestly, we can get to week seventeen and I can probably still still have the same answer, right, It's going to

be hard to top what Week one did to me. Ye, I'm gonna actually piggyback a little bit off of what Gabe says there, and it's an actually a specific moment for me. The fifteen minutes beforehand we call it kickoff for those who have been at the game. We revamped everything this year, and Monday ran the first three and a half minutes and then there's kind of a lull that right before it kicks into the second part of showtime. The fans actually got up on their feet and started cheering.

Just one being back, but two being able to see what we put together and just having that roar of emotion from the fans and seeing them stand up and cheer loudly. Legitimately, sitting in the control room got choked up watching this, saying, I can't believe how much I missed this. It was so great to have everyone back

in the building. Like you said, that Seattle game in general was electric, but for me, that specific moment of having him back, having them excited, and having him appreciate what was about to happen, and what was happening was something that really got to me. So kudos to the fans for making me the emotional guy that I tried not to be on game day. I love it, sigh, was your favorite moment so far this season? Stick with me here. I think the Kirk Cousins, Mike Zimmer shove

celebration love it. I like that. It was so. I'm a comedian, so just from a peer comedy standpoint, watching a quarterback shout his catchphrase while shoving a sixty year old coach who then shoves him harder back, it was like, that was the funniest thing I've ever And I'm not one of those people who think it was some like, oh there's something brewing under I thought it was so

funny and so great. And I have eight siblings and there are a lot of different personalities in there, and we all love each other and we all get along and sometimes we want to shove each other and shout you like that. So I think just the dynamic of their evolving relationship this year and now they're watching films, it's kind of cute. Well when you hear PA talking about how they're trying to understand each other. It's just

a very funny situation that I love. And if this team goes on a run, Like, if this team goes on a run and really does something special this year, how can you not hang a photo of them, like just like they look. Remember that old Gabe, you're an NBA guy, That old picture of Doctor Jay and Larry Bird just a hand around each other's throat. That's so fame now they were fighting. But like, if if this team that, if you, yeah, I think that's more of

a Larry Bird shout. If this team really does something, frame that picture and hang it up right there, because I thought that was just such a weird, raw, funny, fantastic moment. Did you see that one that he tweeted out from this past week? Yeah in the tunnel? Yeah, yeah, he like with his catchphrase on it, you know, having fun with it. I appreciate the humor. Kirk is such a tightly wound guy. You know, that's not a secret. And I'm not even that's not even a criticism. We

all know that. You listen to the way he runs his schedule, you listen to the way he runs his life, you know. And and Zimmer is such an intense guy. You know, that dynamic of those two getting more comfortable with one another and loosening up, and you know, even just flowing within one another and within the team. I think that's a super powerful thing. Any anybody who's ever been in a locker room knows that when leaders, when our walls breakdown a little bit, that leads to nothing

but goodness moving forward. And so I yeah, it was weird, it was funny. I think it was a good thing, and I think if we go on a run, that is going to be an iconic Viking moment, despite how much people theorized, criticized, and laughed about it. My favorite moment is also from the first game of the season, just the dominant performance over Russell Wilson, someone who has really had the Vikings number over the last few years.

First loss to the Vikings and seven tries, and before that, the Seattle had beat the Vikings by an average margin of fourteen points, so it just was kind of like he kind of owned them at that point. So now you know, the first one of the season, first win back home, first win in front of the crowd. My first win is a Vikings fan. I mean, it was

just crazy. That's probably the best thing you can ask for your home opener with fans playing against a team that you never beat and then winning in that type of fashion. Ask for anything better than that? Yeah, I mean every time you game playing for the Seahawks, it's contained Russell Wilson. That's exactly what happened. So all right, moving on, let's talk about our votes for the best play of the season. I'm gonna go with the last thing.

What if you've done for me lately, and that's kJ Osbourne. He has scored a touchdown for us lately and that is by far my best play so far in the first six weeks of the season. The twenty seven yard touchdown, the walk off, the hellmin throw like Stefan Dix did during the Minneapolis miracle, and the way that he's been clutch all season. I think he is deserving of whatever opportunities or whatever prosperities that's coming his way, whether that's

this season or next season. Having seventy eight receiving yards in that game and then having fifty six of those receiving yards on the last two drives of that game, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. About kJ. He's clutch. He knows how to make big plays, and he makes him when we need him the most,

especially against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. I'm a big fan of alliteration, so I'm out spelling clutch with a K clutch kJ, I'm finally say, you want to go, best play in the In the Seattle game, he had pressure. I think it was coming up the middle right at

him on his back foot with someone like. He didn't turn away, he didn't roll, he didn't avoid, He just stepped, faded away, delivered a ball across the middle that was caught for a first down well being hit, I honestly think outside of a throw he made his first season against the Packers, it was the best throw of his entire Viking career. Was that the first down completion to kJ? Yeah? Yeah, that was an insane pilling Yeah, that's that's who Kirk

is capable of being. And so I think when you when you hear people get frustrated, or you hear people like and when the old line is struggling and they're frustrated, he doesn't have time, you know that that was a superhuman throw. That was one of those throws that when people are like, hey, are you are you a top whatever? Guy? Are you this per And like, every once in a while, in an important moment, you got to lean back when the pocket is messy and you have to make something

happen despite your surroundings. And I think that's what a lot of people have been begging Kirk to do. And to see him do that in a game that then, oh, by the way, turned into a steam rolling I just I thought it was fantastic. So for me, that's that's my play of the year. That's right. I mean even to that point, he had a similar play against the Lions, blitzed up the middle third down, he just lobbed it up,

takes to hit. Granted it got called back so it didn't count, but as the play to JJ that got called back on third down. But it's like, man, like, we've never seen Kirk make plays like this, so the fact that he's doing it now, it's like, okay, like maybe this is the Kirk Cousins that we thought we were getting four years ago, and he's now finally coming starting to come to fruition because he's more comfortable. When I promise you, when you see you know, Cowboys, Packers,

you know Ravens. When you get that run, you're gonna need one or two of those plays. One one of those plays, two of those plays in a game could break you the right direction when you're playing a really, really good team. So it's it's nice to have seen him done it, done it. Which nice to have seen him sounds like my people, All right, Jay, your best play of the season so far. I think my oh while moment was the Eric Kendricks one handed I and

T versus Detroit. I think in that moment, again a game that was way closer than most people thought it should have been, but having him stick out the big paw and you know, snagging that out in mid air and having a decent return with that, I think the juice that happened from that play was big, not only for the defense, but to get that ball back into the offensive hands. I think it was a critical moment in that game that helped us get to the point

where we could finally finish that thing. But for me, that Kendricks I and T was just super athletic and super impressive. My best play also comes from the Lions game with all of the tall tales of Vikings kickers. I know it hasn't been the perfect season for Greg Joseph, but in a moment where you cannot lose the Lions, you cannot drop to one in three, you cannot snap a seven game win streak, he nails a fifty four

yard field goal. This is after he misses the one in Arizona, and he was four or five for the day with a career long of fifty five, so he had already missed one the day. And so to know that he was able to block out all of the doubt, the haters, the history, any of the tales you hear about the Vikings kicking situations, and for him to get that, I know the win versus Allions and it should have been more, but for me especially, I guess after Mike Zimmers, I'd give him a break. We gave him a break

and he came through in the clutch. So all right, moving on, let's go to the next one. The next superlative is the biggest surprise so far this season. You know, I'm gonna go again. I'm gonna go with Kirk coming into this season with all the one year contracts and all the changes and everything being rebuilt and all the new players and everything. You know, I thought we'd take a while to gel and last year he had a really rough for six games with a whole bunch of turnovers,

and I didn't expect him to be that guy. But you know, I thought it would take this team a little bit offensively, and it would take him a little bit to get rolling offensively. And I have been pleasantly surprised at the consistent, for the most part, high level of play that has come from him, you know, and that's you expect a certain but it's what we were just talking about. You expect a certain level from Kirk. I've been pleasantly surprised by the things that have gone

above my expectations. That's a very very good point, Gabe. Your biggest surprise so far, bigger surprise thus far has to be McKenzie Alexander bringing in a guy that has already spent four years here, got a contract elsewhere, and then you bring him back. Mentally, you think, Okay, this guy, he's just back to get another big contract, but you don't know how he's going to buy into it, especially

with Zemmer saying, you know, McKenzie Alexander. He's a guy that was hardheaded at the beginning, but he kind of figured it out the way that McKenzie has been playing right now. Outside of that one play against the Cincinnati Bengals where he dropped the interception and Tee Higgins caught it ended up scoring a touchdown, McKenzie Alexander has been phenomenal this year. Like the question is now and do you move him outside that P two is hurt or

do you keep him inside? I think you keep him inside because he's been playing like the best nickel cornerback in the league right now. Like if you go back and just watch the film the way McKenzie was able to slide in and elevate the play of their the dB room, kudos to that guy. I'm going to kind of expand on that real fast. My biggest surprise has been but Shod Brelan. Now go with me on this one, because weeks one through three we were a little word

read it one like the best of play. But Bashad Brelan, despite you know, leaving in the fourth in week four, weeks five and six have been complete turnarounds, And for me, the amount of difference in play is my biggest surprise this season. So this is a PFF stat because I am a big numbers person myself. I like to see it in action. So he allowed eighteen catches two hundred and fifty seven yards and four touchdowns on twenty one targets.

So that's not great. It's not great. Good Now, so weeks of four through six he was fifty targeted fifteen times. He allowed five catches for forty three yards and no touchdowns. He missed eight tackles in the first three weeks, missed one in the next three. Now, if he can continue to play like this, that's great because we need it after Patrick Peterson is now on the ir and so for me, I know it's kind of a weird surprise, but honestly, when I saw those numbers, I was very

surprised to see the difference the way he's played. I mean the Carolina Panthers game in particular, how well he played that game. That does show that we are getting the Bishop brilliant that we thought we were getting earlier this season. Early in the season is the time you two want to make those mistakes. So the fact that he's turned it around these past three games has been

very well, surprising in case anybody wanted to know. I know a lot of it has been made about him being ranked one sixteenth out of one hundred and sixteen cornerbacks in the league that played in the first three weeks. He was fourth in the last three weeks out of one hundred and nineteen. So just I mean, honestly, what a glow up? Jay? It is now your turn? What

is your biggest surprise of the season. My honorable mentions have been Nick Vigil and Tyler Conklin given the elevation of play that they've had this season, but given the way things were being discussed in the offseason of if kJ Osborne was even going to make the roster this year, the fact that he is now captain clutch and is, without a doubt the number three receiving option on this

team has been awesome to see. You know, he talked about on the audible how how much he worked this offseason to make sure that he could contribute, and if you all remember, the discussion at the beginning of the season was essentially how Irv Smith Junior was going to be our number three target as a tight end. It doesn't matter about the wide receiver we'll figure it out, but IRV is going to be the guy to carry

the load. When IRV left due to injury, Tyler Conklin and kJ Osborne everyone kind of looked at them like, are you guys even gonna be able to fill anything remotely close to the shoes that we thought we were going to get the fact that kJ has done what he's done week after week and has now established himself not only as the third option but as a third serious threat on this offense in the wide receiver room

has been great. So for me, it's kJ Osborne. The last time the Vikings had three wide receivers on their roster who accumulated five hundred yards was two thousand and nine with Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian Brett Farve's big year. This this city has gone through a wide receiver three drought that is so laughable that we're ready to put a gold jacket on Jerry's right for his performances. So to finally, and to Jay's point, also,

I think about what this means. You know, I know, I know the type of sets we normally run, I know the I know the focus of this offense, and I know, we're focused on this season right now, but when IRV comes back and you have kJ, I mean, did you got kJ and Jigit in the same draft?

That is bonkers. You know, we've always had good offensive talent, but you're not talking about three very legitimate go to wide receivers if kJ continues to progress, a tight end that has the ability to climb into the upper echelon of tight ends, possibly the best running back in the NFL,

and a young offensive line. That's why when I was talking about the Panthers game earlier and it was like, well we scored all these yards, we were so close to that being the sort of win it should be a big margin win where you really are explosive on offense. I think this team is going to be able to find a balance between being appropriately conservative and appropriately explosive at the same time, and I think kJ Osborne is a huge part of that, not only for this year

but going forward. It's so interesting to see even the league in general, that wide receiver class from last year. That's just crazy to cause it the best wide receiver draft class of all time. I mean, he's not wrong, not wrong at all. This is debatable, but they're really big. Everything is debatable game. That's why we have a podcasts. All right, more debate up next on the best offseason acquisition, Jay,

I will let you go first this time. The giant question mark when Everson Griffin was resigned was what does he have left in the tank and what can he actually do for this team? Everyone assumed he would be a backup. Everyone assumed he would be a contributor that way. He is now currently second on the team in sex with four behind Neil Hunter was six. For me, what Everson has been able to do, not only in spot duty but now in essentially starting duty has been awesome.

And so I think haven't Everson back in not only for the production, but for just the juice he provides in that locker room. I think it's raised the levels of everybody on that defensive line room. So for me,

it's been Everson coming back this year. So the answer to your question is what does he have left in the tank is full and that's the thing until we get to and that was one of the things breaks Yeah, and I'd say it's jet fuel because he's just been shot out of a cannon for me, and the thing about it is listening to Andrea Patterson talk in different areas.

They said, you know, they're concerned that Everson would be basically burned out by the end of the Sea season, so they want to find ways to kind of spell him and to get him to that back into the season. But I mean, the production that you've gotten so far this season from him, how do you try and pull that back? You can, especially when you have some high flying offenses coming in, So hopefully Everson can continue on this run the way that he has been. But it's

been fun to watch the season. SI your best offseason acquisition, mine's going to be predictive. It's not something that's already happened. It's something that's just started happening. I think it's Christian dea saw, you know. I Rashad Hill is fantastic at what he's expected to do, you know, and he's a great filling. But even in one game, I think we saw the difference that Christian derra Saw is capable of

bringing to the football field. And I think if his focus out there is making sure he finishes every single play and is engaged start to finish on every single play. By the end of this season, I think you're gonna have people buying Christian derra saw jerseys. That's not something that I thought I was going to be thinking normally with offensive lineman. If you're a Minnesota Viking fan, you

put in your brain like, okay, we drafted him. Now begins the three year process of whether or not I'm willing to consider that this guy should keep being on our offensive line. I thought he looked fantastic on Sunday against a very good defensive line, and he's gonna have some real tests and I my prediction is he's going to make a lot of people look very smart by the end of the season. I like it. I like

it game. I'm gonna go Dalvin Thomlinson. I know our run defense doesn't show the amount of effort that he's put into driving centers and guards back, but when Michael Pierce went out and other teams started running away from Dalvin Thomlinson, it showed how dominant he's been. Like the past two games, teams haven't been running for yardage the way the Browns did or how the Cincinnati being was. Did the Cincinnati Beings game like, I've kind of like

thrown that game out of the window. This by Sunday, Dalvin Thominson a second and a half, a forced fumble, two QB hurries, and not to mention what he did in the run game by just pushing Matt Parrotti's back, Like what he's done versus what we had the past, the previous years. I think Dalvin Thomason is going to be a detackle here to stay here in Minnesota. And

I love that that selection. Even when we selected him this offseason, I just remember looking at his tape and I was like, like, teams aren't going to be able to run the ball up the middle, and now teams are starting to try to figure out, Okay, how do we run away from this guy? How can we neutralize this guy from getting pressures? Granted this team, we have the most pressures out of any defense in the NFL, and I know people are saying, well, that's Everson Griffin

and that's Daniel Hunter. Well, when you usually have two good defensive ends, that allows quarterbacks to step up in the pocket. When quarterbacks can't step up in the pocket, that's usually due to your defensive tackle getting pressure on the offensive line, the interior offensive line. So kudos to that guy. He's playing amazing. Um. I think that has to do a lot with our plus minus rate. Last year we finished the season at minus one and turnover ratio.

This year we at plus two at three and three. So a lot of that ghost our interior defensive lineman. And I think a lot a lot of that has to do with Dalvin Tominson. And you gotta think Michael Pierce would also be in that conversation hadn't been playing the last two games. He's supposed to be back on Sunday. Oh really, well, I know the defense was a big spot of concern after last season, and there were a lot of offseason acquisitions made on that side of the ball.

And that's where mine comes in. I and you know, I kind of I chose this before knowing he was going to make it on the IR But but for me, you know, we're doing the first six games. Unlike say, I'm not going to break the rules, So I'm gonna go the first six games my best offseason acquisitions. There you go. Chris Corso's gone. Now that there you go. I've got with Patrick Peterson for this guy to be playing at an elite level that he is as the pro that he is. It's exactly why he was brought in.

He has helped guys come along in the locker room. You know that he's been there for a guy like Kim Danceler who's really starting to come into his own this season. He's going to be relied on a lot more now that Peterson's on IR and it's really it's really gonna you know, he's not It's gonna be hard for him because this is something he's not used to, but hopefully it'll be a quick fix. He'll get back in there. Just the fact they neutralized guys like DeAndre

Hopkins and DK Metcalf was just impressive. Um, I just don't feel like he's really missed a beat. And the veteran leadership was just huge after so many first and second your players were playing corner last year, so um yeah,

that's mine. Yeah. And to your point if Cam Danceler or Chris Boyd and how they played last year, I liked those guys in this situation this year with these increased playing minutes because of P two being out this year more because they got a guy in P two in the room, so they've they've had the opportunity to learn from a veteran, learn from a guy that's that's done it, been there, done that, and even though they weren't playing on the field per se, now they have

that that knowledge ingrained them. Okay, this is how I'm supposed to attack this guy. This is how my technique or how I'm supposed to react to this certain route or this certain concepts. So I know there will be some growing paints with these guys and then in the coming weeks, but I don't think it will be as bad as it was last year when we were trying to figure out. Okay, these guys have never covered an NFL receiver before, Oh, can Dashley has Davante Adams Week

one in the NFL. I'm not saying, I'm I'm going to be a little bit better this time. Like it a lot better this time? All right? Yes, very very good. All right, Well let's get well into there's two more. One is the offensive MVP and the defensive MVP. So we're gonna start on the offensive side of things. Si, who is your offensive MVP so far this season? So you know, I know, I think somebody else is going to have this one as well, but it's Kirk, you know,

you ask a lot of Kirk. A lot has been asked to him in his entire time here, and you know, when he starts really living up to what's asked for him, I think you have to consider him the MVP. I mean, he's been without his superstar running back at times. You know, he's had the aligned struggle at times, he's dealt with the penalty issues, and all he's done is lead what should be four game winning drives. I mean, for a guy who's entire reputation nationally was an inability to come

through when it mattered the most. I mean, he's technically led five possible game winning drives. It's just we've you know six if you count important drives. You have the game tire against the Bengals, he leads that one. You're in the process of leading the game winner and we fumble. You have, you have the game winner against the Lions. You have what should have been the game winner if we can't make a kick against the Panthers, and then the game winner against the Panthers. So I mean, it's

it's a lot of and the Cardinals one. I don't know, I didn't say those in the right order. Point remains Kirk. It's almost every game is what you're saying. And then twice and twice with the Panthers, Yep, good, good model for me. I'm gonna jump on that one in piggyback because that was my guy too. And even just looking at some of the statistical stuff that he's done, he's

third in completions behind Brady and Mahomes. He's seventh in passing yards, ninth in passing touchdowns, and only has two I and T s for the entire first six weeks. He's been absolutely dealing and on fire, and I just I don't know at this point. Given everyone always was citing that, you know, Delvin's the guy that drives this offense, Kirk's been the guy holding everything together and putting us in position to win week after week. You gotta, for me,

look at Kirk as well. Gabe, I'm gonna go jj. I think what he's done so far this year, coming off a year like last year, when you have fourteen hundred receiving yards, the sophomore slump was the biggest question for everybody, and the fact that he is on pace to have over fourteen hundred yards this year of ten touchdowns, that says a lot about his playlist far, he's only receiver in the NFL with sixty five plus receiving yards

in every single game this season. Since we one, He's had at least eighty in every single game this season. So he's been that lightning boat, especially when Dalvin Cook was out. We needed, like Kirk, Kirk has been on fire, but Kirk needed someone outside of Dalvin to take on some of that extra pressure or that extra juice that would that this offense needed to, you know, make that step in there, in there, I guess, just in the progression of what this team can be. And I think

JJ has been that person. He's been the guy from week one to Week six, and I think that it's only going to continue to get better each week. I think JJ needed it a game like Carolina last week where he had a fumble, he only had eighty yards, which is crazy to say he only had eighty yards, but he only had eighty yards. Because now, coming off the bye week, he has more juice, he has a chip on and shorter. Now he wants to prove people wrong. Okay, yeah you said this about me, but now here I am.

So he's there was a game earlier this year, I felt like he didn't feel like fully himself week one and so after that that's when he kind of came alive too. So maybe it's some of those just kind of moments that bring him back to life the next week, like knowing where he can get better. JJ is a guy that needs adversity for him to like make another step. Think about their first two games last season, like he was pissed. Then he gets his first shot against the

Tennessee Titans and he goes off. Then he continues to go off again, and this year was man like, I don't, I'm not I'm not getting the ball like I want to. Arizona game, he goes off like he goes off. He's a three star recruit. He's been against the odds his whole life, you know. Right for me, I'm just looking forward to the JJ Trayvon Diggs exactly. So that's my point is, yeah, he's going to have that motivation, and everyone knows at this point that you can pick your

poison him or Adam. This past week, they decided to go with Adam and he touched him for one hundred and twenty six in a touch I think coming up here against the Cowboys, I firmly believe Treyvon Diggs will be probably stuck on JJ, and that's gonna be a fun rookie sophomore that matchup you're gonna need to watch in week seven. Well, let me let me tell you

something else. As somebody who has the wall of TVs and is watching all the games and has watched a lot of the Cowboys, Diggs Diggs is And well, you listen to this game, can you tell me if you agree and not Diggs is a beast. But given the fact that this Vikings team has not taken a lot of shots this year, and all the tape is prone to show where they like to put the ball, I can tell you Diggs takes a lot of chances and he makes a lot of breaks when he shouldn't. And

this is no kidding. This is the sort of game where instead of being afraid of Treyvon Diggs, you should go at Treyvon Diggs to the tune of a bunch of double moves all game long. This is a sort

of game. This could be a Randy Moss style performance where all of a sudden, you go, wait, JJ had five catches for three touchdowns and one hundred and ninety yards like JJ, if you really bait Treyvon Diggs like he spends his entire time baiting them posing quarterbacks, you have a chance to roll numbers up on this guy like no one in the league has before. And now he's fantastic, But everything I've seen is double move this guy and take some chances against it. Yeah, he is very,

very aggressive. That's I was literally about to say that. Just the past four weeks, the Cowboys have played Mac Jones. The week before they played Daniel Jones, the week before they played Sam Darnolt, and then the week before that they played Jalen Hurts. They haven't played a quarterback of veteran quarterback since Week one and Tom Brady and they

lost that game. Granted, Week two they beat Justin Herbert and the LA Chargers, but you know there's a trend of they haven't been playing a quarterback that can actually pick a defensive party if you give him time in time outside of Tom Brady. So I know that's a hot take, and I know this Cowboys defense is really stout, but I think they were going to be hot take. After you jump on my take, Well, I'm glad you've made it hot before I did. I'm a little luke warm. Yeah,

yours was a leftovers take. You repeated the leftovers hot pocket. I just have to get my sec jabs in there and say that JJ has had a lot of success against um An Alabama Secondary in twenty nineteen. So Trevon Diggs and JJ know each other. Well, that's all I'm going to say on that matter, because I'm going to tell you my offensive MVP next. So you can't challenge my point. You can't just like your job and then not give us. This is a podcast, not a dictatorship. Oh,

I don't know. I don't know about that one. I might change the rules again. Um No, But my my offensive MVP, I think I'm going to go more towards the offensive line. You know. I like a good turnaround story, if you kind of can tell through some of my picks so far. I like comebacks and people learning from

what went wrong. And I think that's kind of key in this offensive line story because Week one was a disaster and we all know that it just it wasn't the best performance because of a lot of mental miscues and just not enough gelling and I know that you touched on this a second ago side with your Darisa analysis, and I agree. I think him being in there last week was key five hundred and seventy one yards of offense.

Hopefully you can only go up from there. But really, if you think about it, when we're talking about Kirk's success, his confidence in the pocket and how well he performs when he doesn't have the pressure in his face, that just to me goes back to the line. I do think Kirk's making better decisions and maybe faster decisions, but they've only allowed nine sacks in six games so far, and I just really can't I don't think they get enough credit for maybe the job that they're doing right now.

The mistakes that they had early on in the season really colored the image of what the team was able to do so far, and I think a lot of that was warranted. Like you said, especially week one, there were so many mistakes. A lot of people were really raising an eyebrow going what we got again this year. But given the derrisaw take and given some of the other players that have stepped up so far here in

the last five games, it's been encouraging. So hopefully they continue to gel for the rest of the season and really solidify to give Kirk the time to be able to keep doing what he's been doing this front end of the season. All right, well, then let's move on to the final category in these in season superlatives. We've got Defensive MVP. Gabe. I'll let you go first for the last time. Defensive MVP does too, mister Daniel Hunter. Last year we had twenty three and a half SEX

as a team. This year we have twenty one SEX as a team. Going in two week six we leave the NFL insects. Daniel Hunter is six in the NFO SEX with six and I think just his presence alone has made this entire defense better. There have been so many QB hurries, so many throwing away from the quarterback due to the new Hunter just being in its being in their face. And the fact that he didn't get a sack last week but got held on ten plays

that didn't get called. I think that shows how much attention offensive lines and offensive coordinators are paying to him. And the fact that he's just being himself again and he picked up where he left off when he played in twenty nineteen. I think that shows how good this defense can be and will be going forward as we continue to progress. Danielle, he's the best player in our defense and in my opinion thus far throughout the first

six games. Well, since we all can't pick the same person, I'm going to go on the other side and say Everson Griffin kind of piggyback with your point, because I think this defense needed more of an identity and more of a fire, like you mentioned Jay, where they just needed to be like like a nasty defense. They needed an edge. And I feel like all these guys are great and I really like all of their personalities, but Everson kind of adds this edge to things and I

like that in a defense. I think he's a great compliment alongside daniel Obviously the sack member as you mentioned, Gabe is way up from last season, and I just think that, you know, again, I love a comeback story of such a sucker. I just love it. I love when a player can you know, and how honest and real he was when he's like, you know, grass isn't

always greener. I'm back and I'm going to give everything to this team, and I think that's such a great example to set for all of these players in the locker room, as he is kind of like the elder statesman of it all. So that's my defensive MVP. J what's yours. I'm going with Eric Hendricks. We all saw last season how detrimental it was when he went out.

So far this season he's got sixty tackles, two sacks, a pick, two PBUs and a fumble recovery, like he is the glue in the middle of that Vikings defense. And now getting Anthony barrback and having Nick Vigil step up the way he has at the front end of the season as well, I think Eric Hendricks coming into do what he's done so far this season. He has been that rock once again. And so for me, I'm gonna say, Eric Kendricks, all right, SI, out of those

three and I'm just kidding, you got one. Yeah, I was gonna say, you guys, you guys really picked the three front runners here. There's not a lot of other places to go. But you know, instead of piggybacking on one of yours, I'm not gonna say MVP, but I'm gonna do the same thing I did with the Derri Saw thing and say who when the season's over, I

think will be considered the MVP. Yeah, and there are a bunch of Viking fans who are going to turn off their their phones right now because this is a divisive take that we have been arguing about here in Minnesota for what feels like forever. It's it's Anthony Barr. There's this NonStop discussion about what he brings to the team, if he's worth his value, if he because we're so used to the greatest linebackers in the NFL, Are Splashers, Ray Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, guys who gets side line to

sideline and make their presence known constantly. But Mike Zimmer coach is a very specific defense, right And Anthony Barr, regardless of the statistical numbers you see at the end of the day, is the wheel that turns that defense. He's the guy who should be wearing the dot. He's the guy who puts people in the right position. And you want to talk about, Gabe, you played football the most underrated and tell me if this take is dumb, But the most underrated thing in all of football is

proper defensive containment. It never gets talked about on any show. It's not doing more than you should. It's being in the right place at the right time, not to necessarily even make a play, but to make the guy trying to get to that spot go a different direction and let somebody else make a play. Yeah, I'll give you that. And in this defense, Anthony Barr takes what was evolving weeks one through four and he has Now it's like you put the head on Megatron, you know what I'm saying,

Like it's like you've turned on the power switch. And I know fans you have their questions about him, but go ask Harrison Smith about it. Go ask Eric Kendricks. You know, sometimes in the NFL, when you ask a player about their teammate, you'll get the really generic like, yeah, they think this guy is good, but they're giving the answer that they've been coached to give. When you ask some of these guys about Anthony Barr, that's not the answer you get. You get this guy is the wheel

that turns this defense. I think he is so incredibly important. I think if he stays healthy, he helps solidify with all these pieces that you guys are talking about, the correct sort of working defense that's more consistent and more in the right places at the right time that allow you to stop an offense like you're going to see occasionally in Dallas. So to me, I've always been a big Anthony Bar guy. I'm going to continue to be

an Anthony Bar guy. And thought, you know, it's not that he was mistake free in the last two games, but in this double a gap scheme, Gabe, I just think he does all the things that no one notices. And then even Pro Football Focus, you know, doesn't know how to properly quantify. There were four plays in the first quarter of the Carolina Panthers game that Anthony Barr

didn't make or show up in the stat sheet. But he made the play like he turned the ball into his defender, or he either got pressure on a quarterback, or he was in the right right gap assignment like he like Sam Darnold pumped Baked three or four times on that. I think it's a third play of the game, and Anthony Barr was literally guarding two people at the same time. And it's like that won't show up in the stat sheet, but what he's doing right now it's

so helpful for our defense. Then, you know, in like movies, when somebody's going to break into like a junkyard or like private property and then all of a sudden, some gigantic mastiff come out and they're like, you know what, I think we're gonna We're gonna go around the other way, Anthony. That's Anthony Barr. Just when he roams from side to sideline, even in not making plays, his presence and where he appears dictates what the He just his presence causes adjustment

on the other side. And I think for this defense to be as good as they were against the Lions and the Panthers, for them to be you know, a version of that in these next four games, I think you're gonna need Anthony Barr to continue to be Anthony Barr. And to that point about Anthony Barr being Anthony Barr, I think that's tough for the fans sometimes because he

may not be the most vocal in the media. He you know, he does a lot of community work, but he's not going to come and do a million interviews every week. He's not going to be the face of the defense as far as like a spokesperson. So I think that's sometimes hard to like appreciate how much you

may not hear from him. One it's the ten Duncan effect too, where with Tim Duncan, you know, people think, you know, the last four or five years of his career, it was this constant conversation about how he's the greatest of all time at his position and this and that. People forget the first ten years when see Chris Webber was out there and Kevin Garnett was out there, he was always kind of undercut, like, yeah, he's good, but he didn't show emotion. He's not this explosive player, He's

not all these things. And that's you know, Bar just does his job. He doesn't just because he's not dancing in the end zone doesn't mean he's not a great sideline sideline like linebacker. Bar is like a Harrison Smith to me, Like all they both care about is just their teammates, getting respect for their teammates, and then just doing their job. Like if they do that and the

team wins, that's all they really care about. They'll talk to the media if they have to, but they don't really care about that because they understand talking to the media isn't going to help with their on field on field performance, so they understand that they have to do it rightfully so, but still it's just like, these guys in the locker room are what matter most, and to make sure they're good. I want to make sure my guys are getting plays. If a play comes to me, cool,

I'll make it. But it's about the team. So that's why I respect and I'm sure that's why SI loves Anthony bar too, because he's a he's a team first guy, and he's he's so selfless. Yep, and speaking of you, Si, Um, we have one final question before we let you get going and wrap things up here on the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I just wanted to get your outlook on the rest of the season. You know, we should call this. We should call this size sentiment. Size sentiment. You've got that

gauntlet the Cowboys after Ravens. All right, scratch that. Make sure you edit that out. I'm just teasing how I was gonna say. So let's call it size sentiment. Let's see how how we do it here, Si, this is your last thing you get to say as a part of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I think it's good. I think that's a good plan. Use your time wisely. Since

the moment, Kirk Cousins arrived after the Minnesota miracle. Even though we went to the playoffs and beat the Saints and we had a couple it's kind of felt like we've had the same team. We've dealt with the same struggles.

We've lost the same low scoring games to teams like the Bears and this Brown's loss this year, and I'm just I'm just so ready for this next moment, these next four games, and a lot of fans are worried about them, but this is the culmination of all this time where now finally Kirk is playing the way he wants to be playing. It feels like he and Zimmer are jelly. You know, it's just a great opportunity. You know, you built this team, you wanted to compete. It's sitting

right in front of you. You have four really great teams. Go out and go out and try to get three of these wins. Hell, at least try to get two of them. Show that you belong in the conversation. You know, we talked about this earlier in the podcast. This is, you know, a crucial year for a lot of people, you know, coaches, you know, you got a lot of players on one year deals. This is a crucial moment. I just I think it's gonna be fun. I think, you know, if you're a fan, it's a little nerve

wracking because you have no control. But I want to see this team break out of what they've been for four years and go on a run against some good teams. Let's let's go on or you know, back and right right before Kirk got here in the run of the Minnesota Miracle. You know that year played a lot of tight football games. We want a lot of a lot of nice games that year, a lot of good games

against a lot of good teams. Here's your chance to really take this step forward, and it's at the perfect moment. If you get rolling at the end of October and the beginning of November, you're ready. You've set yourself up with a little bit easier last few games of the season, and you can really be off to the races here. So I more than anything, I'm just excited after the last few years that we're kind of in this position where you know, the players and the coaches get to

go out and either prove it or not. It's on them, and that's all that's all you can want as a fan is to have your team and a position to go out and compete like that. So I have no idea what's going to happen, no clue, And I think after these last six games, pretending like I know what's going to happen would be absolutely silly. It's very true we could go oh and four, we could go four and oh, But I think it's a wonderful moment for a lot of people involved in this organization, and it's

a wonderful opportunity against some really good teams. So I'm going to put my worries aside and just enjoy the next few games. That's a great perspective, It honestly is, because this team is battle tested and I have faith in that. Personally, I like teams that show grit in these moments that the Vikings have showed in the last six weeks. I know this might come off a little cheesy or just kind of maybe too poetic, but I mean, they control their own destiny. Now they have they can

make a decision. Are we going to take this fork in the road and be great? Are we going to continue to down the path of you know, mediocrity? And they can they can choose which fork they want to go into. I for one, look forward to size text messages being very balanced and very just cohesive, and I won't have to worry about any more of the worrying or ranting. Everything's gonna be fine. Yeah right, I call BS.

And I also look forward to the fact that my phone will be blowing up between you and Chris Carso talking about how you're about ready to jump out a window because you can't take the amount of tense anxiety that's happening at that moment. So I like the sentiment side, I will hold your feet to the fire. And for the most part, no, that is not what's going to happen. Well, at least this week, he won't be texting you guys too crazy, excuse me, I got nothing going on. I

still will. I know you've been around him, but I don't think you know him very well. If that is what you think is going to happen, trust me. Sunday morning, my phone will be blowing up right before kickoff for all these other teams going Okay, I have so much anxiety for who we're going to play. I have to find a way to pay attention to this. So I love the fact that we have these things, and it's always fun. I don't respond, and there's a reason at times,

but for more than anything, I love the sentiment. I know it's not even that, it's not even about the coward side. It is purely about do I poke the bear? And do we really want to get into this for the next four hours of my life? I love how exactly, but the four hours of intensity going, do I text

it back? Do I text it back? More than anything, I love having this side of being able to go back and forth on those kind of things, and nine times out of ten, I'm trying to figure out how do I craft a response here that's not going to just turn into complete chaos. So I love the sentiment. But at the same point I call bs well. For one, I love proving people wrong, just like Minnesota Vikings. So

why don't you eat it? Jay Fazinga? And on that note, I think we should conclude this episode of the Minnesota Vikings podcast. Thank you so much, sy Amazon for joining us today. Love your insight, love your energy, and you're obviously we'll check in with you throughout the season and maybe even bring you in for some more superlatives or just another temperature check. For how things are going. Sounds great good. Thank you for having me, Thanks sorry, Thanks

for Jane Nelson, Gabe Henderson, I'm Tatum Everett. Thanks for listening.