Hey, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions twenty twenty four and very very exciting, spine tingling and enterprising fashion with analyst Pete Ursache. I'm Paul Allen. We call games on kfa N and the Vikings radio network, and that was a fun one to call, not only because the Vikings won, but because of how they won it. And to copyright Kirk Cousins, you like that, you like that, well, we liked it a lot. When kJ Osborne caught the
game winning touchdown. Yeah, how about I mean, how about that? And that's something that with this offense you could tell the efficiency is just not there yet, right, I mean, just just the completion percentages, the adjustment, the blitz is there's a lot going on that they're still trying to learn. But the ability to go to kJ Osborne and to know that we're getting double teams on Jefferson Feelings getting mugged and oh, by the way, they're not even calling
you know, the past interference penalties. Most of the time you get a bit of an answer, You get a really good answer as to what they did to JJ. What the defense is trying to do, but they can't do it. To everybody. That's why it's so important to have a number three like kJ Osborne. And you know we knew kJ last year had a sneaky good year almost seven hundred yards of receiving and how many of those Paul were big plays on third down all throughout
the season. So for kJ to come back, hang in there and make the big I mean, the catch could be the catch of the season. This game is a game that in the last couple of seasons we would have lost right in the changes that it makes a divisional game two and one, two and one in the division right now. It is a huge, huge, I mean for a Week three type victory. This was huge and now you know, now we just got to keep building on it. Go to London, beat up on a Saints
team that really isn't that healthy. A lot of things now are kind of turning our way. We know what we got to figure out. But my goodness, these guys hung in there. And that's a tip of the captain Kevin O'Connell keeping these guys going. Yeah, the Vikings' next play in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against a Saints
team that indeed lost to the Carolina Panthers today. But back to the lesson at hand, we have not only Between the Lines, but Kevin O'Connell's press conference coming up, Kirk Cousins press conference, and Ron Johnson's new bit called
three Takes, which debuted last game. Kirk finishes twenty four or forty one, two sixty, a couple of touchdowns, no picks, and for a second consecutive game, Justin Jefferson held in check six targets, only three catches fourteen yards, but kJ Osborne eight targets, five catches seventy three yards, including the game winning touchdown Adam thieland eight targets, six reception sixty
one yards. His touchdown was the fiftieth receiving touchdown of his career and the Vikings beat the Lions twenty eight twenty four. Gabe Henderson and Ben Lieber with Between the Lines Boys take it away. Welcome to a winning edition of Between the Lines, fueled by Gatorade. My name is Gabe Henderson. I'm alongside Ben Lieber and Ben you just wrapped up. You're a one on one with head coach Kevin O'Connell following today's twenty eight to twenty four win
over the Detroit Lions. What were your thoughts on your conversation with him regarding this win today. Well, obviously he was really excited. I mean I walk into the front part of the locker room and you know, although I can't see anybody in the players, but I heard a lot of hooting and hollerand a lot of celebration, you know, a lot of high fives all that stuff. And you know, I go in with coach O'Connell and you know, he's still his kind of reserve self, but big smile on
his face. I think, a big sense of relief. You know, he knew it was going to be a grind against this team. He knew that. He's like, this is a tough football team, like they play a great brand of football. We knew it was gonna be hard. We just had to stay resilient. He just kept saying, we got to
be resilient. He talked about it last week, how he's we got a battle adversity, not only diversity in the game that they're play on playing on Monday night, but all through the week and then today they did just that. The word resiliency. The Vikings were down early fourteen zero climbed back into the game down seventeen and fourteen out a half. Then going into the fourth quarter they were
down ten points again two straight touchdowns. What did you see from first half to second half that kind of helped this Vikings team be resilient and get on the winning side. Well, it's interesting, like I think when they when they knew that we had to throw the ball and pass the ball, that's when they became more vulnerable. They had a lot of defensive penalties, a lot of holding on Adam feeling they're doing a great job of being physical with Justin Jefferson the line of scrimmage, so
they kind of erased him off the board. But then I opened up everything everything else for Justin Jefferson as we saw later in the game with with kJ Osborne. So I think when we when we knew that we had to throw the ball and they and they knew that we had become one dimensional, it actually exposed them a little bit with I think some of the weaknesses
that they have in the secondary. We saw that. You know, Coach O'Connell even just told me in the interview that he was kind of designing some plays as the game was going on based off of the things that they were taking away. So went off, stripped off the playbook a little bit, had to improvise and it worked out. How do you feel like that helps this team going forward?
Because every team is going to put their number one cornerback when Justine Jefferson, he only had three receptions fourteen yards today, But how does that help to help the team? Understanding that Adam Thaling who had sixty one receiving yards today and kJ Osborne who had a game winning touchdown can contribute to this offense. Well, I think it builds trust first and foremost because just like I was saying, you can come in with a game plan and they're
gonna take some of those things away. So what can you do on the fly to make adjustments? We talk about sideline adjustments all the time, We talk about halftime adjustments all the time. West Phillips offensive up in the booth communicating things that he's seen down in the field to coach O'Connell. And like you said, I think when you can come up with a game plan on the fly, you're gonna build up a lot of trust with the offensive players that hey, this guy knows what he's Doyeah.
All right, so let's let's not freak out, let's not get over our skis a little bit. We know that we got a smart staff that's gonna find some ways to get our guys open. Man, getting our guys open as a number one key to this offense in ordering to scoring touchdowns and winning football games. But moving to the defensive side of the ball, we held those guys to four yards per carry. We didn't get many pressures, though. How do you think that balanced out this game ultimately
given us a win today? Well, I do think that we got a little bit lucky with DeAndre Swift's ankle injury. I mean it was it was an issue going into the game. We didn't know how well he was going to perform. He came out and performed very well in the first quarter, but then you could see him a couple of times get dinged up, limp off to the sidelines. And now, look, Jamal Williams is a great runner as well,
not quite the same dynamic ability as DeAndre Swift. So I think we dodged a bullet a little bit when it comes to their rushing attack. They were not at full strength. Now we do have some things to clean up when it comes to coverage. Okay, so many times that we have on third down, especially, they would run away from leverage from the out side. They'd run across the field. Our second level defense, our linebackers, and our safeties nowhere to be found. So we got to figure
out what is going on there. Because that's two weeks in the row. Now, we've had a big time middle of the field vulnerabilities in the past game. I feel like the pass rush kind of goes hand in hand with that, right, not many hurries today, zero sacks. How does that complement what we want to continue to do on defense and getting pressures and hopefully interceptions. Well that that definitely has to be cleaned up as well. You know, we brought a lot more pressure early in this game.
We did not pressure very much against the Eagles. We sat back and sort of watched everything in front of us. Ed Dontell did doubt some more pressures in the first quarter and as the game gone along, So there wasn't a lot of pressures because of that, which is unfortunate. I see us on the outside, we're rushing too much right in the middle of the players. Okay, you know, we're not picking an edge. Okay, we're not working our
technique on the edge of our defenders. Danielle had a couple nice rushes on the inside spin, the ball just came out too quick. So I think they had a good plan for us when it comes to getting the ball out quick. But we got to fix those issues because you can't go through the rest of the season not affect the quarterback very much. And going into this upcoming Sunday matchups game in London against the New Orleans Saints, Jamis Winston another game two interceptions, they lost it to
the Carolina Panthers. I know we haven't watched much film on those guys, but just understanding the history between the Saints and the Vikings, I feel like it always comes down to a big play. So whether the Vikings need to fix going into that game, well, just like I said, I think they have to. They have to affect Jamie's because he is banged up, right. I think we all
understand that he's got some some vertebrate issues. You know, even when he's healthy, he's gonna throw the ball into coverage at times, so we have to make him uncomfortable. We got to get him to run around. He's not a mobile quarterback. We need to affect the middle of the rush lanes to get him outside the pocket, force him outside the pocket, which is different than you would
say like a Kyler Murray or something like that. But he is a he is a status quarterback that I think he's gonna make a lot of poor decisions when he's on the run. So see if we can get some pressure in the A and B gaps. Vikings went twenty eight to twenty four. Another short week. According to travel Wise, we get out there a few days early, so the Vikings have to hurry up, recover, rest and get ready to beat through New Orleans, Saintans and London.
So Vikings fans, looking forward to seeing you out there. If not looking forward to watch seeing you, watch it on Sunday for Ben Leeber. My name is Gabe Henderson. This is between the Lines fueled by Gatorade. Thanks Gabe. Kevin O'Connell is undefeated at home, beating Green Bay and Detroit.
The Vikings are two in one. Here's Koc's postgame press conference. Obviously, I know people are still filing in, so proud of our team, so proud of you know, there was a lot a long list of of you know, adversity throughout that football game dating back to last week. All our guys do is continue to believe, believe in each other and we're going to continue to improve as a football team. But for us to be at our best when it was required and play complimentary football all the way we
did to finish it. Um, it's good to have that feeling, you know, both times we've been at us Bank Stadium against the divisional opponent. Now we've we've come back into the locker room to to some some feelings of really understanding that we believe in each other, we believe in our team, but that we can continue to improve and be at our best moving forward. But I'm so proud of our guys. Unbelievable to have our legends in town
this weekend, be around on our team. And as I told those guys last night, UM, never underestimate their power and their influence to you know, be what our guys may need to see and see their camaraderie, how how together they are still years and years and years later, Um, the great history of our team. We got a lot to play for, including those guys. We got a lot to be proud of UM. But first and foremost today
was about those players in there. A great day for our uh you know a lot of guys on our team who needed to step up and like I said, a lot of things will do better and need to work on, and we got a tough task ahead with a good football team obviously in London. Well'll come back when like that hamp with this and carry over effect for this game, Yeah, I think so. I think there's it's one thing to rep a lot of those situations
in practice. It's one thing, you know, to do it in competitive ways when you can, but to do it at home with our great fans just being that extra edge that we needed there late. But you know, give them a lot of credit. They did some things defensively that you know, caused us to kind of have to alter, you know, our plan that we came in with, especially in the passing game. UM I thought late Kirk was
you know, fantastic on that final drive. Able to execute some things that quite honestly we didn't necessarily have up on the call sheet, but we found a way to you know, go out there all eleven and execute and thought the old line had a huge final sequence there given Kirk time um to attack their kJ obviously showing up huge Kirk users long receivers that he did again the day, you guy says, and I see open players, not numbers. Yeah, is that what we saw to day? Yeah.
I think it was a combination of a couple of things. They Kirk did a great job, you know, keeping his eyes up reading coverage. They were doing some things schematically obviously to take away justin and we'll continue to have tools at our Disposal'll try to counter out counteract that obviously,
But they did a good job defensively. I thought there was a few competitive plays that they could have gone either way as far as possibly h you know, a grab or tug the way technique wise they were playing. But ultimately, when our guys needed to they overcame that. They overcame, you know, at times us not having the cleanest execution, but situationally when it mattered for Kirk to do what he did and lead that group. I think
that says a lot about our football team. And then love the way we closed it out with Mattelis making that pick. Yeah, what were your thoughts on the defense? You know, they gave up a decent amount of yards, but they kind of stepped up at the end when
they had to do they really did. You know, you'd like to think over the course of that kind of fourth quarter and and and when we were able to get the drive to make it twenty four twenty one, you'd like to think we wouldn't need another one or another defensive stand without having the lead, and they were obviously able to We went forward on that fourth down. You know, obviously liked the look there, but you know, didn't get it done offensive, but understanding the defense is
going to pick you up. We might not have any timeouts, we might have to cover a lot of ground in short amount of time, but we've got just the guys to do it, and our quarterback did a great job taking us down the field. Kevin, did it looked like at some point you had a conversation with Justin on
the sideline. Was he frustrated? Well, it's just it's just one of those things with great, great players, you know, uh, you know, in this league and the coaching that goes on, they do things to try to take away what you do best. And you know, I think the way we're able to run the football the way we're able to get you know, Adam and kJ and some of these other guys opts in the passing game is because of Justin Jefferson dictating a lot of coverage, dictating how runs
are fit, dictating how they play on the edges. So Justin had a huge impact on this game. It just didn't show up in the stat sheet. But that's not good enough. That's not good enough. I've got to do a better job given Justin you know, different you know, aspects of lining up in different spots, different personnel groupings, whatever I need to do to help him, because he's an ultra competitor and we'll get him going. But you know, the first guy celebrating with kJ Osborne when he scores
that touchdown is Justin Jefferson. And he's a great teammate. Although he doesn't have a sea on his chest, you know, I know our guys view him as one of our leaders, and we relied on him today to maintain and just keep on pushing. And you know, I have a lot of respect for how Justin handled today, but put it on me to you know, obviously do a better job getting him open. You mentioned how you had a lot of things late in the game that weren't necessarily on
the call sheet. What got you to the point where you had to kind of reaching your back pockets up set. Yeah, I think it's that combination that a week ago, I didn't do a good enough job staying true to who we want to be from an offensive philosophy standpoint, and then I thought the way our defense was playing, and especially in the second half, you know that we could stay in our normal offensive rhythm while still trying to get some chunks, and then kind of late there we
didn't have any timeouts left. I knew that I didn't want to be in a situation where we kind of dinked and dunked and hey, get up on the ball, go fast, and all of a sudden, we're playing to try to you know, I wanted to score. I wanted to score touchdown. I wanted to win this football game in front of our fans in regulation. Put maximum pressure on those guys the way, Quite honestly, they did a lot of the day with just how gritty and tough
of a football team that is. But that's when you just have to continue work and put your head down. Adversity is only going to be you know, one snap away in this league for you individually collectively, per side of the ball, and you just got to meet the moment and rely on your leadership and trust the guys around you in those huddles to get it done. And
that's that's what I think you saw today. But well, there'll be some moments that we'll be able to go back and look on and think that we could have you know, had some earlier success in some critical moments as well, So we got to get better from it. Was that even a thought process you have before that final drive play for field goals, try to score a touchdown? Are you just like that isn't even? And it obviously is.
And and knowing I got all the confidence in Greg in the world, um, you know, knowing that we put them out there for two fifty four plus yarders, I think, um, and he'll continue to knock those, knock those in. Um, My confidence will not waiver in Greg, and everybody in
that locker room feels the same way. But I did know, you know, if we could, if we could manipulate some things and kind of get kjor potentially Adam running, I knew we could protect with the way our guys were protecting up front Um that we could possibly get some explosives explosives and at least put that pressure on them m to kind of not be dictating to us, and we got them kind of on their heels a little on that drive and defense was able to come out
and get a stop with that remaining time. If you've already answered this, but Cookum, do you know what his situation? Yeah, no, you I have not answered that. And Dalvin just had you know, a little a little bit of a shoulder deal that kind of came up on that fumble. Unfortunate with him being three yards away from you know, his first hundred yard day Um and thought he played phenomenal. I thought alex Um was really really solid those kind of one two punch that we have. But he'll be
day to day. We'll run some tests, we should have some time, uh to hopefully get him turned over. And he's already told me after we after we scored, you know, I asked him how he was doing. He said, I'll
be out there next week. Now. We'll do what's best for obviously Dalvin and make sure that Tyler and urayah uh and our doctors make those decisions, but what a competitor and and really proud of the work he put in today and knowing that we would come back to him after not getting him the rock enough last Monday after a tell Us interception that looked like you and and kind of yeah, so what was behind that? Well, you know he was. He was pretty fired up, and
I was too. I just wanted to tell him how proud I was of him and and his guys, and I know they wanted to get that ball back to in the game. Um, so he was. It was fun to see him like that. There U still pretty soil old man, still got a little strength to them. So but now you could just feel the emotion of the whole stadium understanding how important it was for us to persevere and rally and like I said, unbelievable effort by our fans today when we had to have it in
those critical moments. You know you've felt them, you know right where they need to be, and we're going to need that. You know, as many times as we get to play at this at this stadium this year, what did you think of how many times the Lions went forward unfortune? But then were you surprised that they tried to fifty four year field goal d end when they've been going forth so much in fourth down. No, I think I think that a lot goes into those decisions.
M you know, we went for it a couple of times today as well, and um, I think you're just constantly managing, you know, what's more important getting those points right there, possibly giving us a short field where field goal could be you know, within reach, and then maybe we could be more aggressive or try to go for it and end the football game, you know, on the grass.
And um, I think it probably tempted him a lot to try to go for it in that momentum, but just a huge credit to our defense getting that stop and then feeling like we, uh, you know, we had a chance to go win that football game regardless. Yeah, I mean it's either they either get that stop or there's no use in momentum anymore because the game is
probably gonna be over. But I think you felt it, and you felt those defensive guys coming off, you know there they feel they're they're letting our offensive guys going on the field. Hey, now's the time. And I think when you can respond in those moments, when you look at you know at one another, and you know, this is it. This is when you either go win the
football game or you don't. U when you come back in with the victory and know that we earned every bit of it, every bit of it against a good football team, I think there can be some real growth moving forward and belief. You know, if and when that inevitable adversity hits again. What's like to see Josh get his hands on the ball right before the interception too, and just the way that he's kind of worked its
way up especial teams, it's ready for them all. Yeah, for sure, I thought he k was gonna get that one there as well. But you know, I got a lot of confidence in our defense in those moments. You know, we situationally prepared this football team, UM in a way that I think we feel very comfortable in those two minute moments, those end of game situations on both sides. UM. And you know, when Josh made that interception to end that thing, got a little pressure there to move him
off the spot. But Jared Goff, you know, I thought he played really well and and and kind of was a real challenge and they've got great skill and able to run the ball. So, um, that's a tough that's a tough outfit that we're gonna have to see again obviously in Detroit. But you know, got a lot of respect for that team over there, and one of the reasons why I'm so dang proud of our guys for beating a good football team, you know, when we had
to come from behind. Speaking of situation. Speaking of situationally, did you at the end of the first half, did you want to delay the game there ball? Yeah? I mean I think we all saw you know that, uh, you know, not to to ref rents that Cowboy forty nine er game from last year's playoffs, but uh, you know, there was there was a feeling with this crew, um of that being some relevance to them in this game. Um, and uh, I think they were worried about the functioning
of you know, which they did. They did a great job. We're gonna get that ball set. But I did see, um, something pretty blatant on that one that makes it a little hard within the rules to get that ball clocked. But that would have been another opportunity for Greg to possibly knock in a field goal and get three right there. Uh So, UM, I thought, I like the way we
were aggressive there. You know, we get the screen early on, then then Kirk hits a couple of things there and we kind of got the ball across the fifty and you know, one second too much with how that play played out. But we'll we'll have to improve and really coach our guys off of that that that's a real possibility that the other team can knock the ball out of your hands and and somehow it won't be a penalty.
Oh yeah, Oh no, I was gonna I mean, I know, Greg and missed a couple long ones, um, you know, or at least one at that point. Um, he's I'm going to continue to give him long opportunities, especially in those moments where I do think that's a little bit more of a high percentage play to let him turn one loose, um than a hail Mary at that point. Yeah, what did you see from Kurt? And player right is the first time you've seen him come back and help
what I can. But yeah, just resilient. I mean, I think there were some plays um in there where he showed an incredible grit and toughness and made some real plays we didn't always you know, convert. We didn't always make the play. You know, there was a couple I think back on we had kJ one time down the sideline, you know, a couple shots there to add him where
it's just competitive, good football. And then obviously there was one I believe to IRV as well off of a play pass kind of on a first and ten when we were moving it pretty good. Um. Where we'll continue to our execution level um when we're when we're locked in, dialed in at all eleven um. You know, we'll know it when we start those ops start being you know,
positive plays for us each and every time. But as far as Kirk Cousins goes today, the toughness, the mental toughness to us keep playing, just keep leading, relying on the other ten guys in the huddle, but leading that group out in front ready to go win it. In the end, I think there's a lot to come, a lot to be taken out of this game positive for for Kirk and our offense. You know, in addition to a lot, you know a lot of things we can
do better. Darius, I mean after going down there and stays in the game, and yeah, he's a you know, he knows those are his moments, you know, when we get the lead, chance to go finish it in that two minute, He's gonna give it everything he's got. Luckily he was you know, down there for a play and then able to come back in there and be a part of you know, getting the rush on Jared, you know,
on that last play. So we got tough guys. We got guys that love playing for one another, playing for each other days like this or where you can really feel, you know, the special part about what we're building and then also understand that, you know, there's a lot we can do better, uh, to not make it so hard on ourselves sometimes. But once again, give credit to the Lions. I was a heck of a football game. Just glad we came out on top. Head coach of the minute
the Vikings, Kevin O'Connell. There there was a I would
say controversial moment late in the game. I think it was controversial because the kicker for the Detroit Lions, Austin Cybert, he is nineteen of thirty five lifetime from forty yards and beyond, not fifty forty yards and beyond, and instead of punting with the lead, the Dan Campbell coach of the Lions, opted to try a fifty four yard field goal with Cybert, who by the way, beat Greg Joseph out of a job with the Cleveland Browns in twenty nineteen.
But nineteen of thirty five, how do you let that guy kick and not punt? And that's that's an amazing question, and that if this game has changed so much over the decades, Paul, and the rule changes everything else. But that's also another way with which this game has changed. And you know, for them, to God, they've been pushing it all night. I mean they went four for six on fourth down sixty seven percent. That's I mean six
fourth down attempts. It resembled a ninety eight game down to Tampa Bay when Tony Dungee went four on fourth down every single series because he knew that's what he had to do in order to win. So for Dan Campbell, there's gonna be some questions there and he's gonna have to, you know, answer him, and he's gonna have to double either double down on his mentality of we are attack all the time, or he's gonna have to step back
and play the odds a little bit more. And so I'm still in the in the how our offense had been had been humming along. We got two touchdowns at the end of the half, come out we had like go three and out. We don't have a lot of momentum. We get down by ten points. The offense hangs in there, and you would think that make At that point Campbell would say, all right, I trust my defense. Let's make
him go to the long field. Let's let's let's make it as difficult for him as possible, and not in like you keep pointing out, that was a huge risk to let them take and you get the ball from where the ball is put down, it's not from the line of scrimmage anymore. So beautiful fuel position for the Vikings with fifty seconds to go, no time outs. I mean that it was set up by him for us so very well, and we made him pay for it.
Old schoolers. The Vikings beat a team from Detroit, Michigan, which means that's the home of Mochown and the Detroit Lions. So in Mochown like fashion, the twenty twenty four victory has us on cloud nine, and indeed Vikings fans are dancing in the streets. Were undefeated at home. So ain't no mountain high enough and Kirk Cousins, we like that, we like that, here's this pressor just great to win, great to win at home against the divisional opponent, great
to finish the way we did. Was not a clean game by us by any stretch. We need to play a lot better up ahead. But these are the kind of games where you have to find the inches and we were able to find him today. And we'll have a lot to talk about and coach and take coaching tomorrow. Um. But it's a lot more enjoyable to do that after a win. And sou it was just so fun to hear how loud the stadium was the end of the game there and and to live that and um and
be a part of it. So um, um take any questions yet, think based on the play design, did he think Osborne would be open there? No? No, Um expected him to be covered and was thinking maybe Adam would rip out open and then um, you know you kind of go from there, but he popped. Was it hard to time some passes? They seemed to be getting pretty physical out Yeah, especially like feeling and yeah, yeah it was it was they were doing a good job of of in coverage and uh um timing was a little off.
Kevin said at the end of the game that he had to go to some things that were probably right at the top of the call sheet there. I guess what changed the approach from your perspective or made it more aggressive at the end of the game. A good question. Um you know, I think they were. They were doubling justin a fair amount in double the ball game, but a fair amount, and so there were times where, um, you know, you had to be aware of that, and then I think that's what allowed Adam and kJ to
get a few more opportunities. Also, a running game, I was I was just pleased with he ran the football. I felt like it's one thing to have a twenty yard run and then a bunch of no yard runs and then then the statue it shows you ran for twenty yards, which you want to see all the churn runs, and I felt like we were doing that. So much of the game was getting positive run after positive run, and that was that was really encouraging to see. So,
um you know that also helped. And uh um not being good enough on third down I think it was a problem today. Um you know, we got to be able to convert a few more third downs, but then being three for three in the red zone makes a big difference. How do you think Jefferson handles a game like this where other guys maybe got open because of him, but his stats and dividually weren't as good. Yeah, no's
he's great. He just stayed the course. And you know, this league, because you got you can't really size it up until the dust settles and we're in February. I mean that's really when you then look back and say, okay, what what all transpired? You know a week to week if you try to get you know, and create a narrative around week to week, he can be all over the map. So you just stay the course, keep playing, and you know he's got a lot of great, great
games up ahead. Kirk, fourth quarter, you guys were bashing against the wall, but you came up clutch. You know, do you guys learn anything about yourself as a group or a team with that comeback one? Well, I think it's just encouraging to you know, find those inches at the end and find a way. Um. So you know, you want to be a team that's been there before and done that and has done it consistently and so
today is a step in that direction for sure. Do you like the aggressiveness at the end of half, So that's good at deal first half instead of you guys first of all, yeah, yeah, Kevin stayed aggressive at the end of the half against Green Bay and also today, Um, you know, and had a good plan of how to get us down the field. Um, so I think it's good. The key for me, you know, whenever we do it is, you know, protect the football, avoid anything that could give
them a chance to get points. And so you you got to be aggressive. You also got to avoid the critic layer, and so you're you're aware of that as you as you are aggressive when you inherit the ball at around the forty and that last possession off the misfield goal, because that sort of enhance your ability to think touchdown there instead of just settling for the field goal. Um, I'm just thinking about the next play. I think where you're get in trouble is when you think touchdown and
you're on the minus forty. Um, I'm just thinking about the next play and executing it and then being aware we have no timeouts, and so talking to the guys about Hey, we gotta get a bounce if we can. We got to be ready to clock it if we need to. We've got to, you know, be aware of where field goal range is as we move forward. You know, I'm thinking when we got down there because of Kj's first catch, you know, I can't take a sack because the sack would take us out of field goal range.
So you're aware of all these scenarios as you as you go through it. When you were talking about kJ, I think you said that he started showing up to you in the two minute drills last year. Yeah, is there something he does in those situations that is really good or is it just that that's where his opportunities came So much of a game plan. You devise to try to get certain people opportunities, so you move people
around to create that. In the two minute you sort of have guys in their spots and you don't really move people around, so it ends up being a more organic way of getting people to football, if that makes sense. It just kind of happens whoever's open, And that's what happened last year with kJ Lott in two minute was he was now in primary spots where during the normal game,
he was in secondary tertiary spots, if you will. So the plays he was making in two minute last year, I realized, there's a lot more to this guy than maybe we're giving him the ops to do. And then when you have Adam, Justin Dalve and Alex Madison urf Smith, you know you don't feel the pressing need maybe to give him those. But then in two minute again today he he takes advantage of him and shows up. But certainly the first catch he had I believe Justin was doubled.
So you also realized that, hey, Justin, Justin here is allowing what's happening to happen. On the touchdown, you said you didn't expect it be open. Now what are you thinking when you see him flash that open and me let it go? Um? Yeah, you just I mean, you just you feel a rush, so you know you gotta get released it quick. I don't know, there's a lot
of thoughts going through my head. You're just kind of um, you know, seeing grass and putting the ball out there and then just making sure I threw it far enough. You know, It's funny when I overthrew him on the third down earlier in the game. I thought I underthrew it as I got hit and I was releasing the ball and fell down. I'm like, please be far enough, and then it landed past him, and I'm I gotta watch the film because I'm like, how in the world
is that not far? Was that too far? And the same one on that one, I put it on him and I'm like, please be far enough. I don't know that I got enough on that and then it was it was there, So I go back and figure out my distances a little bit. But uh yeah, So anyways, I don't know if you've been asked, but I mean, has it felt like this offense has become I guess more comfortable as the weeks of past or Yeah, we're
still getting there. We're still getting there, and um, I think you can see today it's not it's not where I want it to be, you know. And that's not I mean, it's a good plan. It's just you know, time on task. Every game we're learning something, getting better, but we just don't have time. We've got to We've got to get it locked in. I was waiting for you to show up here you are, I was I was thinking I was gonna walk right out of here and not even get to talk to you miss anything good? Nah,
what do we want? So it's what did you see when looking back in like the touchdown runs by Dalton by Alex? Yeah, on the past of dealing too. Yeah, Alex's run for a touchdown was as a big as a man's run. I mean, eventually there's an unblocked player and he makes that guy miss, runs through an arm tackle and it's just a big time run. And it's so important there that you know you're on the four or five yard line when you call that run, you're expecting to be third and goal from the two, and
it just touchdown. I mean that just takes so much pressure off of our third down offense, our red zone offense off of us. So big time run by him and Dalvin just all game long, you know, just extending runs, making plays, making people miss, running hard. It's it's great to have both of them because when when Dalvin goes down, to have a guy who can do what Alex does is a is just a huge benefit to our offense. Did you it sounds like maybe you guys knew from
film that these guys were a grabby secondary. I just have a lot of respect for Aaron Glenn, for Aubrey Pleasant, their dB coach, and for those dbs. I think that going back last year, I thought they had a good plan, did a good job executing their plan. I think they're well coached, and I think they're smart and and so you know, I think that shows in the way they they cover and play. It's a business trip to go
to London, obviously, but what are your thoughts fun? Just the whole environment getting ready for that kind of game and kind of turning your head into a time difference, all that kind of stuff and been playing in that environment. Yeah, it's it's a unique opportunity. Wednesday is pretty similar. I think Thursday. It's just when you would normally be heading home.
You're heading to the airport, you know, Thursday night and Friday you wake, you get up off the plane Friday morning in the UK and you're a zombie and you go to your Friday practice and you fight through that.
You know, it takes maturity, It takes toughness to just be able to say, I don't care how I feel, I'll block that out and I got to dial in on this red Zone plan and dial in on this game plan and get something out of this practice, and then you go back to the hotel and you kind of go from there, and by Saturday you feel like you're starting to get settled and and you go play, and then you come back and you do that all over again, feeling like a zombie on Monday and without
a buy after the game, you know, you've got short time to adjust, so we get ahead of ourselves. But yeah, we just gotta have a great meeting tomorrow and really clean up what happened today because there's so much that wasn't good enough, and then go from there. How do you feel about your last game? Man? I think you threw for like four hundred fifty yards or something. Yeah, we played at Wembley, which we're playing a different stated
in this time. You know, it's just a unique opportunity to go over there and play, and you just like any other NFL game, you just want to go out there and execute and play at a high level and and you know, find a way to get to win and enjoy that. Playing right home, Kirk, is not every day that you get to throw a game. Are a touchdown pass lay in the fourth quarter to get you, guys to leave just for you as a competitor a player. How good did that feel? Yeah, it's awesome to be
able to to make those plays down the stretch. And it's just fun to see someone like kJ make that play too. It's fun to see the lineman, you know, the way they're grinding, and then to see them celebrate and know that you know, we got the job done there. It's just a joy. And Kevin said it in the locker room. You know that feelings addictive when you win like that, I mean, you want to chase it. And
and so we're gonna keep doing that. Ron Johnson, former game changing receiver for the undefeated Golden Gophers football team. He offers up his three takes and here they are. Thanks Pa, This is Ron Johnson Company from the k Fans Studios, and here are my three takeaways from today's Vikings Verse Lions game. Well, let's just get it out there right away. The Vikings found away, they never gave up.
That's my takeaway. One. The Lions will always lyon. I said that in the Vikings pregame show that the Lions will find a way to lyon fourth and four. Dan Campbell found a way to lose the game. That's the only answer. But the Vikings never gave up. They still had to come down. Kirk Cousins still had to find a way to score. He had a nice completion to get him down to the twenty eight and then it was just a great play drawn up to get kJ
Alisburne wide opened. Former Viking Mike Hughes unfortunately was the victim in that he made the wrong decision left kJ Alsburne wide opened. Kevin O'Connell kind of played his cards. Think you know what they're gonna think about Justin Jefferson. They're gonna think about Adam Feeling. They're gonna forget about kJ Osborne, And they forgot about kJ Osborne. kJ Osborne, just like last year with the big play to win the game, he did it again this year. kJ Osborne
the unsung hero. They never gave up. They found a way to win. And that's it. You I don't care how the game went. You can say whatever you want. You can say the Vikings shouldn't have won the game. Maybe they shouldn't have. But at the end of the day, it only matters one thing. Did they win or they lost? They won and they found a way. My second takeaway third down. So third down on the offensive side of the ball for the Vikings has to improve. Two for nine on third down that is not going to win
you games against good teams. The Lions are a decent team. I thought they were good before this, but they just showed you their true colors of still making rookie mistakes. But Dan Campbell will learn from this. But third down on the defensive side, they did well. They held the Lions to three for sixteen. Did give up a couple of fourth downs, but three for sixteen on third down to hold their offense was a great job by the
Vikings defense. So the Vikings defense just needs to continue on what they're doing, and if the Vikings offense can find a way to convert some of those third downs, this offense goes to another level. It's already a good offense, but it can get a lot better if they find a way to convert some of these third downs. But here's a weird stat getting first downs. They had thirty first downs converted. That was twenty eight first downs on first or second down. That is crazy. Twenty eight on
first or second down. They did have a couple of fourth downs as well, but it came down to it where they got put in the fourth down way too often. Should not have happened the way it happened. But again going back to point number one, they found a way to win and you can't deny that. But here's some things to think about third down. Maybe this Vikings offense is going to try to be one of the best first and second down offenses in the NFL, and I
think that's the key. But third down, again, if you're facing third down, you have to find a better way. You have to come up with some better play calling. Kevin O'Connell, though this is his his first year, he's a rookie head coach, he's a rookie play caller because we know Sean McVay call the plays with the Rams, so he's gonna learn from this as well. But the Vikings offense has to improve on third down. Two for nine and again, like I said, against like the Dolphins the Bills,
that's not gonna get it done. And then my last take away from this game is feeling and Osbourne stepped up justin. Jefferson had a very quiet day. The Lions flat out said, you know what, We're not gonna let Justin Jefferson beat us. You saw the Eagles say the same thing, the Packers didn't do it, and what happened. Adam Feeling gets a touchdown, kJ Osborne gets a huge
touchdown and they both step up with eight targets. Eight targets went to other guys, then other guys in Justin Jefferson when he comes to the receiving room and those eight a piece where kJ Osborne and Adam Feeling. You saw Adam Feeling early with a great play design and then again kJ Osborne with a great play design to end the game. So Kevin O'Connell is gonna have to
do that a little bit more. Kirk Cousins is gonna have to stop thinking he has to go to Justin Jefferson every time, because I think more than not, what's gonna started to happen. If the season goes on, if he spreads the ball around like this, then Justin Jefferson's gonna go back to getting single covered like he did last year, where teams you cannot just sit on Jefferson double him. Brackett feeling well, if kJ Osbour is gonna get one on one against a guy like Mike Hughes,
he's gonna win nine times out of ten. So that's my third takeaway feeling and Osborne found a way to step up and that to do it. For my three takeaways from today's game of the Vikings and a Lions. Back to you at the stadium, Pa, Thank you, Ron four Pete versus. I'm Paul Allen. That is the postgame report podcast. Thank you very much for listening. The Vikings beat the Detroit Lions twenty twenty four and improve to
two and one and an undefeated two and oh at home. Hey, fellas, when we talked on Tuesday of this last week, we knew, we knew that we didn't play our best ball last week. But not only did we have to persevere a week of preparation where you guys prepared, but I saw the look in your eye all week long that no matter what the captained out there today, we were gonna come in here for the second time with this feeling right here. All right, it's addicting, man to come in here with
you guys and see these looks on your faces. Know when you just earned that against a good football team. We're gonna play again, all right, There are all kinds of things we could do better across the board. But what I love the most. As adversity hit, we could have been checked out. We could have looked across and said, no, you know what, we're doing our thing today, but they ain't doing their job, not one come. So yeah, yeah, we're two and oh with the vision and we're two
and oh at home. But we just learned a whole lot more about our team and our heart than that right there. So lock this away. We got a hell of a week ahead of us. We're traveling to a different continent to take this slay. Disbelief is understanding of who we are as a football team. You go on the road with this thing, you guys, what mean you guys gonna be Kike. That's gonna get a break down. You