X's and O's with Mike Zimmer | Week 4

important to us when we play games at home. It gives us a great home field advantage and the energy level helps with our team and the opportunity to help is right in front of you. This weekend, Sunday at noon, Cleveland is in town. Very good Cleveland Browns team. They're two and one from the AFC North and they like to run. Number one in the NFL in rushing attempts, number one in rushing touchdowns. You see it that way, I mean statistically that's correct, But is that what they

want to do? First with offense? Run? Yeah, first, first and foremost, they want to run. They've got two great backs. You know, both these two guys run extremely hard. Their offensive line is very good. They've got a good scheme um and then you know, the play actions come off of that when when you see their offense head coach Kevin Stefanski, a lot of Vikings feel with the Cleveland Browns, a lot of former coaches here or there. When you see their offense, do you see yours? Do you see

San Francisco's? Is it kind of all the same? There's some of that. Bill call is their offensive line coach, and he's done a great job for a number of years. Uh, you know, they've got they've got the zone scheme and they've got the gap schemes. So they'll they'll run counters and stutters and then they'll run to the normal press plays like wide zone like we do with the With the two running backs they use most specifically Nick Chubb.

What what does Nick Chubb do? Well? Well, they are both extremely hard runners, but he's got great vision, sees the sees the holes. Um, you know, I think, uh, you know, he's he's able to cut back, but he's able to get the perimeter as well. And with Kareem Hunt, I'm more defined for his catching in Kansas City than his running. Is it still like that? Yeah, they use him in third down. He's the third down back, but they'll use him in there, and really run the same

exact runs with him. They have this number twenty five, this rookie, Demetric Demetric Felton, the UCLA rookie. And they don't use him a ton. But in that Houston game, a couple of catches fifty one yards. He dropped a pass last game that probably would have been a touchdown or something like that. What are they doing with him? Well, one was a screen and they're using him as a rocket, you know, as a guy that used the jet sweeps

and things like that. So let's start using him in motion to line him up as a wide receiver, could be in a running back. Sometimes they'll scat him out of the the backfield in past protection. And you mentioned their their offensive line, Bill Callahan, as Mike said, super well respected. He's their offensive line coach, their reich guard Wyatt Teller. Is he one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Not a lot of people know who he is, but all I hear is that he's fantastic. Yeah, he's a

very good player. But you know, the whole offensive line is very good. They're all big guys. They do a great job. Um, they're all on the same page. Uh. JC Trotter gets them in the right in the right plays and then the guards they do a good job and the tackles do a good job to a lot of different schemes. Well, their offensive line, like Seattle's offensive line, they rotated the right tackles with shell down. But with the lines you've seen so far Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, then

this one with Pierce, Tomlinson, Kendricks, Harrison Smith. What you bring a teams like, how how does it match up compared to what you've seen. Well, they do a lot of things out of like a three tight end, one back, one wide receiver formation, and they'll give you a lot of different looks. They'll open up to open up the formations, and then they'll give you a lot of two tight ends, two wides like like we like to do. Um. So they give a lot of different things. We're gonna have.

We're gonna have to make sure we're very solid on tackling. They're gonna try to make our corners tackle, get bounced the ball to the perimeter, make our corners tackles. We've got to do a great job there. So so now that your former offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski has been there a couple of years and a couple of off seasons.

Can you see a feel for what he's building with this offense, with the running game, the offensive line, sneaky little felt in stuff like that, because I remember in twenty eighteen when he became your interim offensive coordinator, first game against Miami, you ran for like two sixty and and you know, and that's what's important to you to compliment your defense. Are you seeing that there? Well, I think that's that's a lot of his EMO. Now. You know,

they're run running the football lot he'll run. You know, in certain situations, they run a reverse pass, they run a fleet flicker, they've got some some of the trick plays that they'll throw in there in double pass one time. So you know we're gonna have to be on our p's and q's in that area too. So it all comes off the running game, though. Big game for the players, big game for the coaches, just like every single one is.

But seriously big game for the fans too, coming to hup a win because if they want to run first, if they get any second and third longs, and you get a chance to make them left handed as a pass first team, and that's like big right, Yeah, that's huge. Um, you know, they don't want to be in third and long situations if they can help it. But uh, you know they they're gonna use there, They're gonna spread spread out in uh no backs at times, and so they

can get some quick throws in there. So we got to do a great job in uh really first and second down. Mike zimmer x'es and O's Vikings and Brown's noon KFA in Vikings Radio Network Sunday, Baker Mayfield their quarterback. What do you see in him? You know, he's he's playing really well. Uh. He will scramble when there's times ago, but he's thrown he's throwing the ball well. I've seen him make a lot of strides over the years, and uh,

I think he's doing a great job. You know, they've got the two first picks in the draft, you know, with with him and Garrett so um, they've they've got a lot of number ones in their in their system. And uh and with the Vikings offensive line, their first round pick Christian Dara saw yet to play. But nevertheless, you know, all those penalties in the Cincinnati game eight yards alone on the offensive line last two games looking at it calling the game from afar, seems like it's

been fantastic with your offensive line. Yeah, it's been good. We're not shooting ourselves in the foot. We're not taking a lot of negative plays. Uh, you know, we're advancing the football, which is always important. Um Cousins has been playing outstanding. Um. You know, we've got a great effort this week from from um Um Madison. Madison got it. Yeah,

got a great effort from Madison this week. And uh, you know on the offensive line did a great job, tight ends and and the backs, all of receivers all did a great job with with Cousins and Um and just what he's doing through three games, no interceptions so far, a bunch of touchdowns. Um. The you've you've mentioned twice now after after games, his leadership and you know, without expounding too much, I would imagine when when you look for leadership from Kirk that maybe you haven't seen the

first three years, Like what are you looking for? Well, I think it's just partly the control of the offense and then and then the other the other part is you know, uh, there's some been some off schedule plays that he's made this year that maybe he hasn't made before, but we've We've had a lot of good conversations Kirk and I and uh, you know, I understand where he's

coming from a lot of ways. And that's why I talk about the leadership, and he's talked about wanting to be a better leader, and I think that's come to fruition. So when like in the Arizona game, when you see kJ Osborne get fed early on the busted coverage, but then late on a huge play, Kirk's thinking about him, then Conklin scores in the next game. Is that I mean, is that just the play or somebody willingly thinking about players other than Justin and Adam? Yeah, I don't think.

I don't think Kirk is really willingly thinking about certain plays. I think what he's what he's doing is all right, here's my read. This is the matchup I have, And let's go to here first and then go to the second one. You know, not always were those guys that caught balls that you're talking about being might not have been the first read. You see Conklin every day in practice. Is obviously seen him all of his career. Have you

ever seen him run as fast as he did? In that last game on that play the win straight down the field whole week. Hal is he fast? Yeah, he's fasts. He's been fast his whole time. Uh, you know that's why we drafted him. We like him. Yeah, for sure, Tyler with a nice touchdown against Seattle UM. And lastly on Kirk, is it fair to look at it, Mike that with what you're getting from him and the sliding and the ducking and the twenty nine yard run through

all of that, you're loving it. His yards per attempt at seven point seven, so that can even be better, right, So maybe there's better on the horizon. Yeah, and a lot of it. Again, it's it depends on what the defense has given you. You know, they're they're taking away some of our deep shots. Uh and so. But but advancing the football. Getting a five eight eight yard game is big. His announced third in two or whatever it is,

and we have opportunities to to do. You know, we did much better this last week on third downs and that was one of our goals this past week. Brown's head coach Kevin Stefanski came here with Brad Childress and and you know, through from Childress through Leslie Frasier, uh, into into Mike Zimmer. I mean, how rare is it to last that long through three regimes? What are some qualities that lead to that with him? Yeah, well you have to be uh, he's very diligent about his work.

He's he's he's a thinker, he wants to analyze things, he wants to be very organized. Um, you know, and then then he's got a calm, calming personality that I think allows the players to play well. Uh. The Brown special teams coordinator, Mike Preefer was also with Mike Zimmer and Prefers protege Ryan Ficken is the special teams coordinator. Now, so we talk about Kevin wants to run, you love

to stop the run. Um, and Kevin used to work here with you and then Prefer and Thick in one and one A for so many years that I mean, what I don't think I've ever asked you this. What do you think of that special team's coaches matchup? Yeah? Well, you know, it's at the end of the day, we're similar in a lot of ways, similar to their special teams. And what we got to do is have our players play really good and and uh, hopefully we break some things.

You know, I think I think we've improved on special teams this year. I think we've been more fundamentally sound. I feel like, you know, we've had some returns. We had a penalty last week, but we had a twelve yard return. Um. You know, we've had had some good coverage. I think, you know, some of our punts have been better than what we've had in the pass. So I think all those things are kind of a combination of really being diligent and about fundamentals and technique. Now we're

into three. So Patrick Peterson, I mean, sometimes just gets no action for long patches of time overall, outside of the sideline play at Cincinnati where maybe he got a little lost. What have you been seeing from him from Patrick? Yeah, you know, I think he's done a good job. I think for the most part. Uh, you know, he's he's done a really good job. He's trying to do different things. Uh you know, he's trying to understand the coverages that we're trying to work. And I think he's been uh,

you know, he takes challenges every single week. You know, he's he was lining up on metcalf some last week, he was he was on sixteen some last week, you know, so, uh, you know, he takes those challenges personally, do you overall lastly sent your team preshen doing a little not to the top, But hey, Cincinnati we had this, then Arizona we had this, then we want and had this? I mean, is it is it building the way you wanted to at this stage? Well, I think the big thing, Paul,

is that we're starting to have some confidence. You know, we believe that we have a chance to have a good football team. But when you go out and you go out and prove it, and you see the things like offensively the last two ball games, what we what we've done offensively, and then defensively, when we're good, we're really good, you know. And unfortunately when we were bad

a couple of times, we're pretty bad. But you know, if we continue to take those little steps and keep working on fundamentals and technique and everybody being on the same page, I think we have a chance to be a good team. And I think they're starting to believe that.