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Can the Vikings Offense Match Their Dominant Defense Against the Colts? · Scene Projects Sports Network

• 0:57
  Welcome into the scene, Project Sports Network.
• 1:00
  I am your host, Bubba Starts.
• 1:01
  You are here now for our tailgate preview show.
• 1:05
  We are diving deep into the Vikings versus the Indianapolis Colts.
• 1:09
  I'm joined today by my cohost Selly Anahoro.
• 1:13
  Selly, what's good, buddy?
• 1:15
  I'm good, Bubba.
• 1:16
  Just enjoying life.
• 1:18
  Yeah.
• 1:18
  Well, the Minnesota Vikings are looking to go six and o playing against the Indianapolis
• 1:24
  Colts.
• 1:25
  They had a historic game against this team the last time they met at US Bank Stadium.
• 1:29
  I was there.
• 1:30
  The infamous 33 comeback game in the second half.
• 1:35
  We're hoping that the Vikings don't put us all through that this week.
• 1:39
  You're here to kinda represent the Colts, and I had you dive deep on there.
• 1:43
  But you have a vested interest in the Colts losing this game as well.
• 1:47
  I do.
• 1:48
  The jets own their first round draft pick, thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade.
• 1:53
  So I have been rooting for the colts to lose for basically two years now.
• 1:59
  Just awesome.
• 2:01
  Well, you seem like the perfect fit for today's show and diving into this.
• 2:06
  I think it all starts with the initial injury report this week.
• 2:12
  The Vikings coming off their bye.
• 2:13
  Obviously, no action last week.
• 2:15
  They had a multitude of injuries across their lineup, mostly on the offensive side of the
• 2:21
  ball.
• 2:21
  Although the couple of, you know, their their younger defensive players have struggled with
• 2:26
  injuries mightily.
• 2:27
  Initial look at the injury report and the, the signs are good.
• 2:34
  Christian Darisaw was a full participant today.
• 2:37
  Jordan Addison, a full participant after missing the game in New Orleans a few weeks ago
• 2:43
  with a hamstring issue.
• 2:44
  TJ Hockinson was in the concussion protocol, was a full participant today.
• 2:49
  And Jordan Mason, who's been on the IR, was also a full participant today.
• 2:54
  Now a few notables that showed up limited in practice, Justin Jefferson, Brian O'Neil, and
• 3:00
  James Pierre.
• 3:02
  Justin Jefferson maybe still dealing with a little bit of the ankle issue, and maybe that's
• 3:06
  more precautionary than anything.
• 3:08
  Brian O'Neil, probably the same thing.
• 3:10
  He's been nursing a a knee injury that that hasn't stopped him from playing, but you can
• 3:16
  tell has slowed him down a little bit.
• 3:18
  The James Pier foot thing, I I don't remember this coming up.
• 3:21
  So I don't know if that was something that maybe happened in the game against New Orleans,
• 3:25
  and now he's just looking at...
• 3:26
  But they did participate, although on a limited basis.
• 3:30
  Yeah.
• 3:31
  I mean,
• 3:32
  all good signs, most of those are probably all your good play...
• 3:36
  All your great players are looking, like, trending towards they're gonna play this week.
• 3:40
  So that's always a good sign.
• 3:43
  The Colts, obviously, Alec Pierce, they're big money wide receiver.
• 3:47
  They paid all this money too in the off season.
• 3:49
  He's on injured reserve.
• 3:50
  He's not gonna play this week, which is huge because that's a huge...
• 3:55
  It's a huge receiver for Daniel Jones to throw to.
• 3:57
  And, obviously, him not being out there, he stretches the field, probably runs like a four
• 4:02
  three.
• 4:04
  So him not being there is pretty big, I would say at least on the cold front.
• 4:11
  Yeah.
• 4:11
  Not not great for them coming off a game where they lost to the Tennessee titans.
• 4:19
  Not a very great showing.
• 4:20
  The colts are two and four, but sit at second place in the AFC South.
• 4:26
  Yeah.
• 4:26
  AFC South, not great not a great division right now.
• 4:30
  The The Jaguars are the clear cut favorite right now.
• 4:34
  However, I do think the Texans will turn it around.
• 4:38
  Two wins in a row now.
• 4:40
  They're playing the Giants this week when I think they'll beat the Giants.
• 4:43
  I know Dameko Ryan took over play calling, though I I do think they'll turn it around.
• 4:48
  I have too much faith in Dameko Ryan's and the Texans.
• 4:52
  However, we're talking Colts, though, like you said.
• 4:54
  And I think right now, they're, right now, it's a really big part of their season, this game.
• 5:01
  They just fired their GM this week, and they just came off, probably their most embarrassing
• 5:06
  loss in the stretch of losing games in the last two years.
• 5:10
  Losing to a team, I don't even know if they're actually trying to win, if we're being honest.
• 5:14
  No disrespect to the titans.
• 5:18
  I actually read a comment somewhere.
• 5:20
  Some...
• 5:20
  A fan saying it was the loudest he'd heard the fans boo in the stadium, and he's been going to
• 5:25
  games forever there.
• 5:28
  I think it's just like an...
• 5:30
  A pride thing, and it's gonna show a lot whether or not the Colts, like, lay down this
• 5:35
  week or not.
• 5:36
  Like, are they gonna fight and continue?
• 5:39
  Because they're not out of it.
• 5:40
  They're only two and four.
• 5:41
  And like you said, second place in the division.
• 5:44
  Like, if they can...
• 5:46
  If they they play hard, they can maybe pull up an upset if the if the Vikings are not careful.
• 5:56
  Yeah.
• 5:57
  Well...
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  And having been at that, historic 33 comeback, that Colts team was coming off, not a similar
• 6:05
  situation.
• 6:06
  Jeff Saturday was named their interim coach.
• 6:08
  Shortly before that.
• 6:09
  You were facing a Colts team who almost nobody gave a chance to in that game, and I don't know
• 6:14
  if the Vikings at that point had kinda slept on them a little bit and it overlooked them.
• 6:19
  They're not in a position this year to do any such thing.
• 6:22
  You're five and o.
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  You are first in your division.
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  A lot of people around the league are calling you a fraud because of the offensive struggles
• 6:30
  that they have had.
• 6:32
  But with everyone getting healthy on the offensive side, you should have a huge desire
• 6:38
  to go out and show what you're capable of.
• 6:41
  The defense is playing at a historic level.
• 6:44
  You expect them to do more of the game.
• 6:45
  Daniel Jones turns the ball over a lot, and the Colts don't take it away.
• 6:50
  So you stand to put yourself in a position winning the turnover battle, causing a lot of
• 6:57
  chaos against this Colts offense.
• 6:59
  Can you establish something early on?
• 7:03
  Go put a couple of touchdowns on the board early and be able to let this defense pin its
• 7:08
  ears back for the rest of the game.
• 7:12
  Yeah.
• 7:12
  I mean, Daniel Jones, I have his numbers here.
• 7:16
  60% completion.
• 7:18
  Basically, we'll round up 1,300 passing yards, four touchdowns.
• 7:24
  Not great.
• 7:25
  I mean, I have to remind myself he is coming off an Achilles...
• 7:29
  A torn Achilles last year, and he came back pretty fast.
• 7:32
  So he's probably still recovering from it.
• 7:35
  I do wonder, though.
• 7:37
  I don't know if you've thought about this or Vikings nation has thought about this.
• 7:41
  I don't know.
• 7:42
  This is how my brain works.
• 7:44
  Because he was in with the team for a little bit two years ago, and he was probably the
• 7:50
  practice squad QB, is there any chance you you think he has familiarity with Flores' defense
• 8:00
  practicing against it for, like
• 8:02
  Well...
• 8:03
  And and funny enough, Brian Flores was asked about that at his press conference this week,
• 8:08
  and he kind of alluded to the fact that, yes, he's seen some things that other guys haven't,
• 8:14
  but you can make adjustments.
• 8:15
  Maybe there's a couple of calls that change.
• 8:18
  Maybe there's some slight adjustments that you're making and and knowing that he's seen
• 8:22
  something.
• 8:23
  Maybe it's an opportunity to play it against him, to show him something that you know he saw
• 8:29
  several times in practice and then to do something completely different.
• 8:34
  So I I think that's a little bit of a two way street.
• 8:37
  It can give you just as much of an opportunity to be fooled thinking that you know what you're
• 8:42
  seeing as much as it is.
• 8:44
  And and with a maniac like Brian Flores is and knowing that when he was asked the question,
• 8:50
  there was no hesitation from him in the answer.
• 8:53
  He didn't try to dance around it.
• 8:55
  He's like, look.
• 8:55
  We got we got some wrinkles for old Danny boy.
• 8:58
  We're gonna be we're gonna be okay.
• 9:01
  Yeah.
• 9:02
  I'm sure they do.
• 9:03
  I mean, like you said, this defense is historic.
• 9:05
  It's averaging.
• 9:06
  It's giving up 12.8 points a game.
• 9:09
  Number one in third down defense, number one in red zone defense, and number one in opponent
• 9:15
  completion percentage.
• 9:17
  So, like, they're playing unbelievable.
• 9:19
  Dallas Turner is playing unbelievable.
• 9:23
  It's gonna be tough.
• 9:25
  No Alec Pierce.
• 9:27
  Still have still have great players on this team.
• 9:30
  Such a weird team because there is talent on there.
• 9:34
  Like, a lot of it.
• 9:35
  Like, I just was going through the roster again, and it's like Quentin Nelson, Tyler
• 9:40
  Warren, the Forrest Buckner.
• 9:42
  Vikings fans would know, obviously, Cam Bynum, Sauce Gardner, a bunch...
• 9:47
  Just a bunch of good players.
• 9:49
  Jonathan Taylor.
• 9:50
  They got some ballers over there, but they are struggling to put it all together, which is
• 9:56
  exactly why, you know, a a a firing of your GM happens.
• 10:02
  I I feel like that's always kind of one of the the first heads to get cut if it's not the head
• 10:08
  coach, and they just made a head coaching change, I'm pretty sure, not that long ago as
• 10:13
  well.
• 10:13
  So maybe not as hot as it was for Chris Ballard who's been with the Colts organization for a
• 10:19
  long time now.
• 10:21
  It it it was probably time to make a change.
• 10:24
  And the question is now, is this team able to rebound?
• 10:29
  Does that light some kind of a fire after a a pretty a pretty bad loss, I would say, against
• 10:36
  the Titans where the team did not look very good?
• 10:41
  Can they rebound and play up to a level that can get them a win in a very tough environment
• 10:46
  to play in US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday?
• 10:50
  Yeah.
• 10:50
  I mean, I think they'll play better.
• 10:52
  Because typically in the NFL, if you follow the NFL like I do or just a bunch...
• 10:57
  Like a bunch of...
• 10:58
  Like a like a lot of people do, typically, teams might be bad, but you're not gonna get,
• 11:03
  like, multiple stinkers in a row, at least not not yet because, again, I still say teams don't
• 11:09
  know they're bad yet, kinda.
• 11:11
  I mean, they might have an idea, but they still don't really know.
• 11:14
  And, like, after getting embarrassed like they did last week, they're probably gonna come out
• 11:18
  with a with a bunch of urgency and a lot of effort, pride because after...
• 11:25
  If you're being honest, after watching your GM get fired, people don't know, like, who's next.
• 11:31
  Like, is the coach gonna be next?
• 11:32
  Are they gonna be traded?
• 11:34
  So, like, you kinda just have to, as they say, as players say, put good film on tape out
• 11:40
  there.
• 11:41
  And I I do think they'll play better.
• 11:42
  Now I don't think they'll win, but I I I still think they're gonna play a lot better, put a
• 11:47
  put a more competitive product out there.
• 11:50
  I mean, it's not like they got blown out by the titans.
• 11:53
  They they were winning most of the game.
• 11:56
  They just let one slip away.
• 11:58
  However, they have a tough matchup against the Vikings this week, obviously.
• 12:04
  Yeah.
• 12:05
  They're in for a a world of pain, I think, is what they're gonna get in US Bank Stadium.
• 12:11
  This Vikings defense is well rested.
• 12:14
  They spent a lot of time on the sideline in their last game and then having a full week off
• 12:20
  with the bye week that they are ready to go and and and really ready to make some noise in
• 12:26
  their home stadium.
• 12:27
  It feels like they've been gone forever.
• 12:30
  I know it was just not long ago that, you know, we were up there for the Miami game, But this
• 12:35
  offense, looked a lot different down in New Orleans, and you started to see some of those
• 12:41
  things happening at the end of the Dolphins game.
• 12:44
  And I think that this fan base is ready to see a complete game from the offense start to
• 12:52
  finish, because the defense has been putting it on every single team that they've played so
• 12:57
  far.
• 12:57
  We wanna be excited about the offensive side of the ball and to put a lot of this kind of
• 13:01
  pretender talk to rest.
• 13:03
  Let's go prove it and and and be able to be...
• 13:07
  To feel good about our team moving forward.
• 13:11
  Right.
• 13:12
  I don't believe in the pretender talk.
• 13:13
  I think the Vikings are legit.
• 13:15
  However, to be fair, I think you do wanna see an offensive explosion at least one time.
• 13:22
  Kyler is starting to play a little bit better.
• 13:24
  229 yards last week, passing yards.
• 13:27
  80% completion, one touchdown.
• 13:31
  Passer rating was one zero nine.
• 13:32
  Ran the ball pretty well.
• 13:34
  Ten ten carries for 51 yards.
• 13:38
  Saw maybe starting to trust JJ a little bit more.
• 13:43
  I mean, the touchdown he had, one of my favorite new new sayings is he threw the ball
• 13:48
  into a team meeting to the to the JJ touchdown.
• 13:52
  It's just JJ just came out of it with with the ball.
• 13:55
  Typically, those kind of passes are intercepted, he threw it to one of the best
• 13:59
  receivers in the league, and he came down with it.
• 14:03
  So maybe he's starting to trust.
• 14:05
  They're starting...
• 14:06
  They're building trust out there.
• 14:08
  And you just have to believe that eventually, this offensive explosion's gonna come.
• 14:13
  Maybe they figured out some stuff during the bye week.
• 14:18
  I mean, the defense is giving the off...
• 14:20
  It's buying the offense a lot of time.
• 14:22
  So, hopefully, who knows?
• 14:24
  Maybe this week will be the week they they finally get, like, 30 points.
• 14:30
  Yeah.
• 14:30
  And I don't know that it makes a huge difference in the the noise outside of the team
• 14:37
  and and around, you know, the sports world if you go out and beat the colts and you do...
• 14:42
  Even if you...
• 14:43
  The offense hangs 40.
• 14:44
  Right?
• 14:45
  I I don't think that it changes a lot of people's minds until you start to look ahead,
• 14:50
  you play strong against the lions, and not that the lions defense is anything, to really, you
• 14:57
  know, get it...
• 14:57
  Or for that matter, honestly, Buffalo's defense isn't anything crazy out there either.
• 15:02
  But if you're going up and putting up 30 plus and your defense is holding people to two
• 15:08
  touchdowns or less, you're gonna look like you're dominating during the course of that
• 15:15
  game and not need to go down and to score 35 points a game to win a football football game.
• 15:22
  So really interested to see how the offense comes out.
• 15:25
  I hope they...
• 15:26
  If they win the toss, that they take the ball, they go out there and just drive it.
• 15:30
  Let's get Jordan Mason going early.
• 15:32
  A lot of talk about, you know, should the should the Vikings go out and get a running
• 15:37
  back in the trade market before the deadline?
• 15:40
  In my eyes, you kind of are.
• 15:42
  Right?
• 15:42
  Jordan Mason has been missing the entire first half of the year.
• 15:46
  You've been leaning on 31 year old Aaron Jones who's been carrying the ball, not necessarily
• 15:51
  averaging a 100 plus yards a game because that, you know, that that Chicago game is going to
• 15:56
  skew a lot of that because of the mess that it was.
• 16:00
  But he's given you a 100, I think, the last three weeks in a row, at 31 years old, taking
• 16:05
  over 20 carries in each game.
• 16:07
  Now having him to take a few less, you get Jordan Mason going.
• 16:11
  I don't think either one of these guys, you know, gets close to 20 carries a piece, but
• 16:16
  there may be 15 a piece, and you're gonna have Kyler out there running.
• 16:20
  If you get all three of these running backs, you know, averaging four to five yards a clip,
• 16:25
  that's a lot of first downs when you add it all up.
• 16:28
  Yeah.
• 16:29
  Start distributing the ball out to all your playmakers.
• 16:32
  You have plenty of them out there.
• 16:34
  Just figure it out.
• 16:36
  Like you said, if you wanna take the ball, just go out there and get an an opening touchdown on
• 16:42
  the first possession of the...
• 16:43
  Of your...
• 16:44
  On your first drive of the game just to make your fans feel good, make the team feel good.
• 16:50
  Because like you said, I I do think eventually this offense is gonna is gonna It's just taking
• 16:56
  its time.
• 16:56
  It's just starting out a little slow.
• 16:59
  But there's too much talent on this offense.
• 17:01
  And even though I know Kyler is in decline a little bit, he's not the player he once was.
• 17:07
  I still think he's a really good player.
• 17:09
  And I just think they're just too good to just be this, I guess, average, if you wanna put
• 17:15
  them nicely.
• 17:17
  I wasn't on the Kyler train early.
• 17:20
  I didn't watch a lot of his ball, even just reviewing some of the stats.
• 17:24
  And I don't get too high on the highlights, especially with a guy who's been in the league
• 17:30
  as long as he has now and has suffered, the amount of injuries that he has as well.
• 17:37
  But what I saw in the last five quarters of football from him, the high completion
• 17:42
  percentage, which he's always had, the coach starting to call plays that meshed well with
• 17:49
  what the players on the field do well, was a eye opening to me to say, hey.
• 17:55
  Maybe we have turned a corner in the KOC play calling saga, and he is going to put his
• 18:02
  players in the best position to succeed.
• 18:04
  Make that passing game almost like a West...
• 18:07
  Old old school West Coast game, right, where the short passing game is an extension of the
• 18:12
  running game and running the game effectively.
• 18:15
  Now we had Jared Goering on yesterday, and we're chatting with him about the the
• 18:21
  possibility of this rushing attack really getting going.
• 18:26
  I know, you know, with his system, they haven't been the most efficient team, so far this
• 18:31
  season in the running game, but you're running it a lot.
• 18:34
  And I think what you can gain from that is time of possession.
• 18:39
  My problem with a lot of the losses that we had last year was that you would go pass, pass,
• 18:44
  pass three and out, and you took twelve seconds off the clock.
• 18:49
  That's leaving way too much time spent on the clock and letting teams kind of dictate how
• 18:56
  they're going to attack you then.
• 18:58
  Where now even if you are, you know, turning or punting the ball back, you're at least flipping
• 19:05
  the field, and you are taking, you know, three, four minutes off the clock with every
• 19:10
  possession.
• 19:10
  So it's interesting to me to see how things have played out so far.
• 19:14
  I think that the buy came at a great time.
• 19:16
  I know a lot of teams don't appreciate the early buy, but this team needed it.
• 19:21
  They needed to get healthy.
• 19:22
  They needed a chance to self reflect, to look at the offense, to really start to dig into
• 19:28
  what they have done well, what they haven't done well, do less of those things, do more of
• 19:33
  the things that you're good at, and to keep on pushing from this point on.
• 19:38
  And I think like you that, it's only a matter of time before this offense is humming.
• 19:43
  And if they can hit their stride in the middle part of this season where some other teams that
• 19:49
  haven't had their buy yet are dealing with injuries and will continue to do so, do you
• 19:53
  catch a few of these teams, the Buffaloes, the, you know, Detroit who just coming off of their
• 19:59
  buy, but in the middle of a a tough stretch themselves, and and the San Francisco 49ers?
• 20:05
  Do you catch some of these teams at a little more vulnerable time for them and get to go
• 20:10
  kind of lay it on them, and change the narrative around this Vikings team?
• 20:16
  Yeah.
• 20:16
  I just think...
• 20:18
  Like, we talked about it with, with the with the guys yesterday, b, with coach.
• 20:23
  You have a couple stand alone games coming up, and I do think the narrative can change.
• 20:28
  This pretender's narrative can really change.
• 20:30
  We have, like, one big big win on Sunday night football, Monday night football against some
• 20:35
  great teams.
• 20:37
  But I think to start, just get it out of the way.
• 20:41
  Do it with the Colts.
• 20:42
  I know we were saying at the time we wanted it with the with the Dolphins.
• 20:46
  But, hey.
• 20:47
  It's better late than ever.
• 20:49
  Just, like you said, distribute the ball to the playmakers out there, JJ, Hockenson, run the
• 20:56
  ball.
• 20:57
  You have great running backs.
• 20:59
  Even get get Kyler using his legs.
• 21:01
  I know he's not the same runner he used to be, but get get him going with his legs.
• 21:05
  I mean, people...
• 21:06
  We have to remember sometimes, like, football is different.
• 21:09
  Like, you can't just, like, sometimes just drop somebody in a new system and it works out.
• 21:14
  Now it may not still work out, but you still...
• 21:17
  Like, Kyler never played under center his whole life, I don't think.
• 21:20
  Like, I think in Texas, he played out of the shotgun.
• 21:25
  I think Oklahoma, obviously, with Lincoln Riley shotgun the whole time, and then Arizona
• 21:31
  shotgun.
• 21:32
  So, like, I think he's learning a new system.
• 21:34
  KOC's learning him.
• 21:36
  He's learning KOC.
• 21:37
  And they're gonna take some time to get comfortable what plays Kyler likes, what what
• 21:41
  plays he doesn't like, and just trying to figure it out just before you play all these
• 21:49
  division opponents again.
• 21:52
  I'm excited about this game.
• 21:54
  We're gonna be up there doing our live pregame show from the VWO Army tailgate lot right
• 22:00
  outside of Fathead Bills.
• 22:02
  That's at 903 Washington Avenue South.
• 22:05
  So if you are in Minneapolis for the game or if you just wanna come tailgate with us, it's free
• 22:10
  to come in, hang out with us.
• 22:12
  There's a great crew over there that have been very accepting of us and our show and doing our
• 22:18
  thing on their spot.
• 22:20
  So really appreciative to everyone in the VWO army division for accepting us.
• 22:26
  They don't have to do that, but we sure appreciate that they did.
• 22:30
  Selly, you got a score prediction for the game?
• 22:35
  I do.
• 22:35
  I think the Vikings are gonna win, and I think it's gonna be...
• 22:41
  I'll say Vikings 24, Colts 20.
• 22:48
  I'm gonna give the, I'm gonna give the opportunity to this Vikings team to really,
• 22:55
  blow me away this week.
• 22:56
  I I still think you're gonna have, to to take a couple of field goals out there.
• 23:02
  I think that this team scores three touchdowns, though, and you get three field goals from the
• 23:08
  leg of your, probably the best player on the team minus a Jetta's, and Will Reichard.
• 23:14
  And, he puts up nine himself to keep his point streak and field goal streaks going.
• 23:20
  I think this team scores 30 points, and the defense continues their domination.
• 23:26
  And held...
• 23:27
  Holds these Colts team right where they have everyone else.
• 23:31
  I'm gonna say 30 to 13 Vikings.
• 23:34
  They silence a lot of the haters.
• 23:36
  This week, they get that offense going, and they show the NFL that they are for real and
• 23:43
  have not just playoff aspirations, but Super Bowl contention on their mind.
• 23:50
  Selly, appreciate you jumping in with me today.
• 23:53
  Can't wait to do more of these with you as the season goes on and to bring you back in.
• 23:59
  My name is Bubba Starts.
• 24:00
  That's my cohost, Selly and O'Horo.
• 24:03
  This has been your tailgate preview show.
• 24:06
  We are talking Vikings and Colts.
• 24:08
  We will see you at the pregame on Sunday.
• 24:11
  Our show starts at 10:30, noon kickoff in Minneapolis at US Bank Stadium.
• 24:17
  We will see you all there.
• 24:19
  Catch you guys later.