Minnesota Vikings EXCITEMENTS and CONCERNS against New Orleans Saints

0:00the minnesota bike he's a long time NFL draft expert who's been sweating Vikings football since the rante maasera. Welcome to Ford Talks purple. A minnesota Vikings podcast. And welcome in. It's a Friday. So AJ and I have latent James with us as always for Friday episode to talk about three things we're excited about and three things that we are concerned about in the Vikings match-up and the New Orleans Saints. We also are going to do our weekly player prop snake draft with me and latent at the end. But before we get into all that, I wanted to shout out my friends at North American Banking Company, which was founded right here in the great state of Minnesota. And ABC offers everything that the big banks do, but with the local personalized touch that makes all the difference. They pride themselves on the human element and being available to help. They talk person to person to learn about your business, your situation, and your goals before recommending your business to people

1:00to their employees and their partners. And with the local business, you can find out what's the best way to find solutions and loan decisions are made here locally by real people. If you need help with your business banking, you need check them out at nabanko.com. That's nabanko.com. North American Banking Company, members of FDIC, equal housing lender. Alright boys, let's get right into this Saints Vikings game here this weekend. Saints right now are 40s, 42 and a half, I believe. We'll start off with the things that we are excited about for the Vikings in this matchup and late and we'll kick it off with you. Yeah, I'm excited to see this devastating defense for the Minnesota Vikings against Tyler Shuck. The Vikings have blitzed on 70 and a half percent of dropbacks this season. Tyler Shuck is not faced a blitz rate above 38 and a half percent in his entire career. So it's safe to say he is in for a defense that quite frankly he's never seen in his entire NFL playing career possibly. I mean probably even going back to high school college. He's never seen anything like this from the likes of Brian Flores. But the one thing that I'm intrigued about

2:04is the Saints are second in the league in place per game and I'm curious to see if the Vikings defense is conditioned enough to pay at because they've been just doing such a good job of forcing three and outs to where they honestly haven't been able to they haven't had to be on the field that much to where you know if the game script kind of flips in the Saints favor can the Vikings defense consistently bring that heat and capitalize off it if the Saints are getting a lot of play. So I think Tyler Shuck versus the blitz is my one one for things I'm excited about this weekend. Yeah, that's that's pretty fascinating that say that he's going to face double the blitz rate here. Then then he ever has in another NFL game. That's pretty interesting. I'm also kind of interested about the Saints the break neck tempo that they run on offense. Getting back to the ball. I mentioned this on I think the the Thursday episode this morning. But I remember the last team that tried to run extreme tempo against Flores. You know when you try to cut down the defensive communication stuff like that. It was Cliff Kingsbury with the commanders and Brian Flores had a

3:07little trick for him too because when the offense substitutes even when they're trying to run high tempo you have to give the adequate amount of time for the defense end of sub and as well. Flores was bringing backup defenders out to the sideline with him and then they were really drawing out the sending back the replacement guy when you know when they were doing that whatever and it totally threw off the tempo Washington's break neck tempo thing. Curious to see what Flores has in store here for the New Orleans Saints. AJ first thing that you're excited about in this matchup. Maybe a little bit of an optimistic view at the game. But I'm looking forward and excited to see this offense hopefully pick up where they left off with their fourth quarter last week against Miami. The final two drives for the Vikings in that fourth quarter 16 plays for 60 yards results in a what leave it or not a Will record field goal and then 16 plays for 80 84 yards down the one yard line. They pretty much just need out the clock and in the game. We saw them turn a page and I granted it's Miami Dolphins. It's not a great team. But it's better than what we saw

4:07the first three quarters there and I think now that they have found something despite having some question marks on offense health wise heading into the week. They at least have found their footing that are like okay we know what we know what our bread and butter is we can at least rely on that and I'm looking forward and excited to see hopefully that they can grab a foot a foothold and expand on that into the week five matchup against the Saints. That that brings me right into mind AJ which is an offense that needs to find success facing off against a defense here that can stop anybody. Yeah. It even worse than the Dolphins. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Somehow some way. You you wise that game on Monday night with the Saints and the Falcons and I could not believe how bad that Saints defense wise. It's crazy. It was wild. I mean the Falcons just choosing the yardage they wanted on run concepts and then the Saints eventually had to start cheating up and then Penex you know on his limited throws he was highly efficient in them you know because of that but the Saints defense is so so bad and the Vikings offense so desperately needs success and like AJ

5:11you were mentioning yet similar scenario last week obviously that game was at home but you finally did find that success now granted it's a bad defense fourth quarter is just the last two possessions but you did kind of find a formula there and and you have a matchup here where you could potentially carry that thing over. Let's try to build some momentum now against another crappy defense here late and you're the next thing you're excited about. Yeah I'm excited to just keep watching the Dallas Turner show specifically against these pretty crummy tackles that in New Orleans Saints are trotting out there on Sunday. I believe Kelvin Banks is not going to be playing right. Correct. Yep. So he's not going to be playing so the Saints have allowed a total of tackle there. Yeah left tackle and he's a stud too. I mean they got a they got a home run pick in him. The Saints have allowed a 13% pressure rate which is second highest in the NFL and then we all know Turner he's leading the NFL in pressures with 29 quick pressures with 13 and this dude is just such a fun watch and I'm so excited that he plays for the Vikings because he is just a game record and the way he just fits

6:12perfectly he might not be this one-on-one Miles Garrett type of guy who's going to beat the offensive tackle you know play in and play out but he's just a guy that fits so well with what the Vikings are trying to do and Brian Flores knows exactly how to scheme him up and honestly he's second in the NFL and Sacks right now I just want to keep rooting for Thor's 100 to 1 bet here of Dallas Turner to lead the league in Sacks. So let's just see let's just see another Dallas Turner show once again this Sunday. If nothing else that has become a very fun weekly sweat the Dallas Turner to lead the lead the NFL in Sacks there you mentioned he's only a half behind the lead right now. Yep. Mike about a Sunday well we'll see I mean this a it's if they drop back every time because they cannot run so I mean the Vikings know what they're going to do and they're going to send all kinds of heat at them. Dallas Turner we we expect him to add to his ledger on Sunday so I I love that one AJ the next thing you're excited about. That segway is perfectly in my next one which is excited to see the defense take on a Saints offense that is about as one dimensional as it comes. Alvin

7:15old and banged up he's questionable for the weekend. Kendra Miller I don't have any faith in him. They're going to have to throw the ball. So perfect for Thor's 100 to 1 bet but also just for the sake of Brian Flores if you can't run the ball he's going to each alive he knows exactly what you're going to do and that is that's like a sleep paralysis demon in the corner for Tyler Shock all Saturday night and a Sunday morning just Brian Flores blitzing blitzing blitzing it's going to be a bad day for Shock. Well especially when you can't even just get like four yards on first down and make a second and six or a third and five it's like these guys are constantly going to be stuck in third and 10 and that's just when all hell breaks loose. 100% yeah I mean that's that's kind of what it is and and if you don't have the recourse to run it on it's just a waste of down I mean just pragmatically you have to lean as aggressively into the past that they have and they're also missing Jordan Tyson in addition and of course Travis Aachen you know is injured as well and that's what gets us to come the banged up Kumar and the banged up Kendri Miller and bad running backroom

8:18if you know it's like the Green Bay Packers the Saints you know we got a couple teams like that where it's real bad in the backfield my next one I'm excited about speaking of backfields and rushing offenses is the Vikings run offense that really could use a get right really could use a big time game against this depleted Saints front seven where Devon Gacho was the most recent guy that got injured but even before that me uh Kaden Ellis and we hate Kaden Ellis because he was the one that hip drop tackled nine last last fall but he is now matriculated from the felkins of the Saints he might miss this game in addition to that Carl Gr Anderson injured and for e-genics injured Brian Brissay injured and they don't they just don't have a lot up front the Saints don't and that's why you can just gouge them on the ground as much as you want Atlanta in the game on Monday night they average seven and a half yards per play they ran for over 200 yards tough times for them and the Vikings it's a nice matchup with your offensive line sort of

9:20influxier a little bit Joe Huber going to be stepping in for Donovan Jackson at left guard at least for this game coming up here what is the status of Christian Barrisaw but if you have offensive line you have a couple injuries you want to be looking across at a front seven that is this feeble and banged up and decimated as the Saints is and I think the Vikings running attack could have their best day of the fall here so far. Thank you. Well okay yeah no I was just going to say and watching that game on Monday night Troy Ackman had mentioned that they talked to Brandon Staley the the Saints defensive coordinator about kind of facing B. John Robinson and all these weapons and Troy had been literally said when we were talking to him it didn't seem like he had any of the answers for how this defense was going to like it's going to stop the Falcons offense and it proved true he was like Brandon Staley was basically saying oh we don't got the guys to go out there and stop them and you know people will look at that rushing success that the Falcons had and be like oh it was B. John Robinson like no it Brian Robinson is going out there and yeah great point new one it wasn't

10:23just B. John doing B. John stuff it was Brian Robinson like again not to bash on Brian Robinson but he's not the cream of the crop when it comes to running back so I mean for sure I agree I had demon clayborn game question mark on my thing because it's like if these holes are going to be huge to where if you really want to take the load off of Aaron Jones maybe put demon clayborn in a little bit my next one is Justin Jefferson and as we sit here on recording a little early hoping 90 plays but Justin Jefferson versus Kool-Aid McKinsey and for yes all the Vikings fans out there that may not be familiar with Kool-Aid Kool-Aid is his actual name. He Drake London was picking on him on Monday night he may not have had all the receptions but the Saints he was just Drake London was a polarizing figure for that Saints defense like everyone was just getting drawn to Drake London to where it opened things up a lot for other guys on the Falcons offense to where I think Justin Jefferson's going to play a very similar role and the success that Drake London had against this

11:26team I don't see why Justin Jefferson can't do the exact same thing against a pretty favorable matchup and we've been I've been waiting for these wide receivers to start creating this separation because we've talked a lot about these Vikings wide receivers and how talented they are I really want to see this separation created this weekend against the secondary yeah and we hope that Justin Jefferson is able to give it a go and play in his home state of Louisiana which he's talked about this week badly wants to play in this game we'll see if if the lower half ends up being up to that task AJ lasting your excited about Mike Seidman to see the future Hall of Famer Harris Smith potentially notch his 40th career in reception I'm a Tyler Schuck I'm expecting a lot of passing attempts for Schuck he had two interceptions in week week one against the the lines he had one against the Raiders in week three he's susceptible to getting picked off and I think the fact that they're so one dimensional it's going to be a great game for this Brian Flores defense maybe set up something where Harrison Smith gets that I mean when when we have the season end last year

12:31I was like you know what I get it if he calls it quits 39 is still incredibly impressive nobody's going to take the way from he's still a first outhaul famer but the now he has a full season just get 40 other ways so I can stop worrying about it get to 40 Harry get it you know I think this weekend is a great chance for him to I love it yeah definitely a matchup where he could get the magical number 40 there my last one here is TJ Hawkinson who went off last week 13 catches in the fourth quarter it was TJ Hawkins and TJ Hawkins and TJ Hawkinson last time I'm excited about I think TJ Hawkinson is going to go ballistic again on Sunday I think we're going to get the second straight kind of legacy TJ Hawkinson game Brandon Staley you brought him up before the man who has no answers apparently his his defense is historically they force you to dink and dunk they play the safety's back and they will allow you to hit short and intermediate then you have some yak opportunities as well this is the perfect past defense to fit for a TJ Hawkinson game so I

13:32think we're going to see kind of the this the same thing Staley he wants to take away the vertical explosives but again he leaves a lot of space underneath and that's that's where TJ Hawkinson prowls so I think we're going to get another strong game from from TJ Hawkinson here boys let's move to the cold water portion of our show and three things that we're concerned about against the saying starting with Layton yeah I don't know if this is much of a concern but I'm just not looking forward to Drew Breeze announcing this game seems a little by it's a little much I mean one Drew Breeze used to do any Vikings game could get Vikings fans upset but for them to be in New Orleans and doing a game in the Superdome it seems like it just could go you know exactly just favored one way just a little bit because it's like obviously the history of of 2009 but then the Vikings have also had some success in that building as well talking about you know 2020 their last playoff went in the Kyle Rudolph walkoff winner there but I mean again it's just like he's also kind of

14:34been a dud in the booth so it's not like we're getting some Tom Brady level-esque announcing to where it's like oh you know what it's Drew Breeze so it's serviceable but it's like no he's a dud and most Vikings fans kind of despise him because of the history there to where it's like just keep Drew Breeze off of St. Swikings games from here on out I think locally you know during when they do the halftime in their honor and Drew Breeze or whatever cut away from that let's do something else let's do let's give 20 minutes deep dive into our bounty game yes why not well my other thing was is like he was at the the the the dome coming is what they called it on on Monday of the anniversary for Katrina or whatever and like he was there on the field talking with the owner in the press box it's like this dude is literally a part I mean he earned it and he's a part of the Saints franchise but the fact that he's like going out there announcing games it's like I don't know it just kind of seems backwards here in the honor arguably the Saints didn't earn the the one Super Bowl that he got during his career that's a story for another day didn't

15:39earn the Super Bowl but the statistics are up there for and and the 20-minute docked we play locally instead of showing Drew Breeze getting honored at halftime AJ next next thing you might be concerned about can you smell that fall and football are in the air what's up score and authors Ross Brendel here for my bookie the place to go to enhance your football viewing experience all fall long that's exactly what I do my bookie is super fun and super easy plus it keeps me engaged in games I may otherwise not be how many of you took advantage of the my bookie lock of the season in week one if you didn't what were you thinking no worries though there's more coming all season long on my bookie just another way to get paid to say yes right now I'm going to keep writing our Minnesota Vikings unlike their odds what else can I say plenty of great matchups this weekend for you to have fun with sign up right now at my bookie with the promo code bet score that's one word BET SKOR thanks to my bookie your favorite team might not win but you can bet on anything

16:46anytime anywhere my bookie Judd here and I want to talk to you about my friends at Victor Tire and Otto where they believe in relationships and their goals to serve customers for the long term with personalized trustworthy and consistent service a family owned business established right here in Minnesota in 1997 victory has an industry leading five year 50,000 mile warranty on all new parts in labor schedule an appointment at any of their 20 plus Twin Cities area locations just go to victory Tire and Otto dot com you also will get complimentary multi point safety inspection with every service appointment you will have direct text communication with your service advisors about your vehicle as well you can request appointments and ask questions I've used victory before and I'm going to tell you right now great customer service great waiting room area really really comfortable all of your questions answered and fast efficient work as well 22 locations again in Minnesota as well so clear Wisconsin and even when it's St Petersburg Florida quality work genuine care for all of life's miles at victory Tire and Otto uh crystal lava uh he has in a game with less than 80 yards

17:51and 10 targets this season so you know they're going to hit him uh that being said that's good for Brian floors with the same time I think crystal lot is a good enough guy where he's going to find some open space and we saw that this defense with the Chris Bell uh called back touchdown from this past weekend they're susceptible to a couple times like they're not perfect they're they're the best defense and football but they're not perfect um all he needs is one or two things and for some reason the offense does sputter out like we saw for most the the season so far frankly that one or two blemish uh with crystal lava peaking out could be kind of the game changer so crystal lava is something on my radar that I'm concerned about yeah for the saints to win this game I I think he's going to have to go nuts right you're you're gonna have to see him in the open field a couple times with the act opportunities converting into explosive plays they they need him to have an enormous game and obviously with Tyson not there a devin valet is the guy I'm not afraid of devin valet I mean he might get to 50 yards because he they they they're gonna throw a 50 times so some of the targets go towards him but like the the big place got to be through a lava that efficiency with

18:51their passing game they they like to go to juan jennings is or juan jennings juan jennings juan jennings they're tied up I mean do that all week don't worry about it yeah is uh they'll go to him as well but yeah olaves the the real one I think the Vikings uh to be concerned about there so definitely agree with that my my first concern in this game is the Vikings offensive line which the first three games the project is starting five they played every snap together last game we we the other shoe dropped I guess uh donovan jackson suffered this season ending injury and christian derisab because of his concussion was was in and out of the game last week and is questionable for this weekend and all of this led to some struggles especially early in that game but some protection breakdowns four sacks allowed to the mimey defense that had zero in the three years before that and this is the team is I mean we're talking about past protection with that but then also the Vikings keep the ball on the ground as much as any team in the NFL and now the left side of your offensive line if derisab misses this game uh you know you what we'll see how the run blocking goes as well but that

19:55that has to be a concern for an offense that is merely just trying to grind out efficiency and hold on to the ball and kill the clock and let the defense and special teams uh do the other stuff the the offense the offense last week five pre snap penalties and then hube and vandemark who came in as the injury replacements both allowed multiple pressures uh there were some flags there as well so so that's the thing in like the saints the saints run defense is horrid it it will make your eyes bleed but the saints pass rush they can actually generate some they they still have too good healthy ed rushers chase young is still doing his thing for folks that forgot about chase young he's on the saints he's still pretty solid and uh the saints will also send some some uh the the pressure as well so the Vikings offensive line is going to have to hold up here and that's a slight concern heading in yeah I I 100% agree and that was my that was going to be my next thing was backup left tackle against chase young yeah because chase young whatever idea you had of chase young of what he's been the last two to three years like that's not what chase young is anymore

20:57because like he was kind of washed in San Francisco really wasn't making that big of an impact once he got to New Orleans it's like he he almost got a second win he kind of tapped back into you know why he was drafted so high in in the NFL draft you know a handful of years back um and we saw just how much of an impact Christian Derrissa has on this offense especially last year when he wasn't playing I mean it was really bad and I feel like the Vikings have improved their depth behind him to not make it as catastrophic for when he does go out but still we're talking about Christian Derrissa you know a bonafide left tackle stud and when he's not playing this offense just kind of struggles to do everything just a little bit better and chase young he's got three and a half sacks and and nine pressures on the season already so I mean you know the Vikings have been doing a really good job not turning the ball over but with him coming off the edge you know it's he's going to be causing some havoc back there for sure yeah and and last week van remark now he's he's coming in cold

21:58up the bench and he didn't play any snaps in the first three games and you know grand a granite but there was some struggles with him he gave up multiple pressures and like you start getting the flashbacks to last season with Justin school with the blindside and when the the quick pressure started to pile up there and the way that it could devolve the offense and we like van remark is a player better than school of course but if Derrissa is oh it's and chase young has been playing really well that that is one thing where they could potentially throw a grenade into the Vikings offensive plans with quick pressure from chase young and what it makes you wonder last year the Vikings were kind of out of answers for this and so they kind of threw up their hands and they're like well what if we just have Hawkins in delay for a couple of seconds getting into his route to help chip mm but they want to throw a metric ton of targets at tjh that's it at this game probably because that that is one way that yeah 100 that's how you can exploit the sains past the offense so sort of curious how they they do with that maybe Brett would get bretis in out there and and he can take his

23:00crack said I chase you off the out I mean the psychological aspect yeah the psychological aspect of of Kyler too he's so like you know he's got happy feet in the pocket sometimes and those are going to slow down when you know you got a revolving door at left tackle if you know if Anda Mark isn't doing his thing out there so it's like that's again it's all just one that one thing can can make it all all way more difficult for the offense and your next concern lighten oh that that was that was mine oh that that was back up left tackle versus chase you know back up left right AJ your next one mine was going to be something about the offensive line but all all sorts of spin it just so we don't harp on it too much but it comes to the run game I think this is a game that we saw on Monday night the Falcons Grand they have Bijon Robinson but like Latins point it wasn't just him it was Brian Robinson as well if they don't have a good game here I'm really concerned how that is going to change maybe the game plan for chemical common in the offense he's leaned on the run game more than enough until Jordan Mason's back off I are I'm

24:02concerned about the depth still or until they add somebody there I'm concerned about the depth limited practice so far this week for Aaron Jones granted not injury related just rest but that just I think to me re reminds me he's old he's gonna get banged up like yeah we're one bad tackle on him away from a DJ Dallas Lashdum on Clayborne led bad backfield yes and I can't have that so it's a concern I give Aaron Jones a lot of credit because he is out there gutting through it yes but oh my god every time he catches the ball I'm like your leg is about to fall off and then he gets up so slow too and you're like and you can see it in his face he's like you can like hear his bones kind of creaking there has been several times over the past three weeks or I'm like oh that's probably yet for Aaron and then he just he you know gets a back it's like a soldier kind of dragging himself back to the huddle and then they you know give him a run concept the next one like you hope one of the the line items on mine I'm not going to say it now but one of my concerns is Aaron Jones it both the sends Aaron Jones going to break question mark how many times can you give

25:07him over 20 straight over 20 touches before he suffers an injury like but you look at the step out of balance too that yeah anything to minimize hits and maybe in this game now it's tough because this means the run defense is so bad but I would love if the Vikings have an opportunity to try to give some touches to clay barn or to Dallas or whoever right like to try to save Aaron Jones a little bit we do not need him injured and injury brings me into my next one I'll go to the receiver room if Justin Jefferson doesn't play with his ankle and if Jordan Addison doesn't play that's the new one that we're kind of monitoring there you're de facto I receiver one would be the guy that runs in the mid four sevens that you know that your quarterback for some reason doesn't want to throw to it you had jettings type fountain that would you have to activate O del back on we're going to get a no del back I'm signing like if the top two receivers here being compromised as much as I'm excited and salivating about attacking the saints run defense those both

26:11the top two receivers are out that you could be in a tough situation there now we hope both of them can go and we hope that at least one of them could go if nothing else but if both of them are not playing here that could really handicap your offense and then if like if it's like that and then the saints are like why don't we just throw multiple guys at TJ Hawkins and when he's out there on the routes that's where it could get a little bit sticky with the past game I think yeah 100% they you just turn into so one dimensional and the saints are just going to dare you to throw the ball without Justin Jefferson Jordan Addison oh you you've already struggled throwing the ball with these guys in the lineup oh we're going to take them out now I dare you to throw the ball on us to again to tie felton and to guys who've just been who have not been doing a good job at creating separation and honestly I would if that is the case of Jefferson and Addison is out I would bring up O del just because he has that veteran experience and I would trust him more to get open in a phone booth than I probably would with some of these other white receivers yeah and at that point you're

27:13going to be I mean it's it's going to be the run even maybe at a higher preponderance then then in the these past couple games why not just have O del Beckham out there you're in the state of Louisiana and it's like look at it's all back them exactly give some over the top help give us some more you know I you'll still take a slam you'll still take a five yard slant 80 yards of the crib what are you talking about it's having a connoble doesn't know what the word slant means no he doesn't yeah I owe double teach him real quick though hey man this is my bread and butter right here yeah Kevin I'm just gonna run around you might not know what it's called but I've just got a he goes back that's that's that's a slant yeah that's uh you know uh late in your last concern of uh Sunday yeah I kind of mentioned at the top I'm just concerned about the the pace of the Saints offense and what Tyler's shutt is kind of able to throw at them because we all know if there is one way to beat this Vikings defense and the blitz that they sends it's with the quick short passing game and Tyler Schuck has I believe it's I think it's second or third lowest in the NFL

28:16for time to throw so I mean he does a very good job at getting the ball out quick to where that can torch the Vikings especially if they're not tackling in the secondary to where Chris Olave is a guy who can make some plays John Johnson is a pretty good guy after the catch as well with just his big body and his long strides um to where that's where I kind of think the Vikings defense could get themselves in a trouble especially if they're not able to get off the field right away and Saints are able to get some first downs then again with the struggling offense if they go three and out and the Saints just had a long drive how is the stamina kick into this to where we haven't really seen this outside of the first three quarters of the Packers game we haven't really seen this Vikings defense out on the field for extended periods of time uh besides that first game in the first three quarters so you know where I'm not so concerned about the conditioning of the defense but more of just the pace that the Saints play with I mean it creates some havoc for sure the the matchup of the Saints passing offense against the Vikings past defense it's it's kind of

29:18like a a Rorschach test where I don't know the way to view it because one way of viewing it it's like oh the Saints could actually exploit like the Vikings defense and if they just continually did that that's their path to the upset and then on the the other hand it's like they can only do one thing and and I think they're going to see the what the Vikings are good at just depends on the way that you look at it but like you're bringing up uh latent shock has been good against the blitz number one he has the second lowest time to throw in the pocket in the NFL on average he's faced the second lowest pressure rate in part because of the last thing he gets rid of the ball quickly when the blitz is coming they they have hot reads for him and and then you have crystal lava the Ken run after the catch crystal lava has seven catches of 20 plus yards to this point in the season and they also have the multiple tight ends uh the the Ken succeed on on the quick concepts and have and and Joanne Johnson being a good example of this but then you go the other way if you look at Tyler Shucks's break chart he doesn't throw over the middle it's it's all towards the sidelines and that's that's where the Vikings have their coverage resources that isn't deep the quick throwing

30:24is great but if you're throwing it to where the the Vikings have their coverage resources now can Tyler Shucks throw it quick but over the middle that's where that's where I I would start to get really concerned um you know whether that's just getting a lava over the middle as fast you can or Joanne Johnson more probably but they just haven't done that yet they they have all these out breaking routes in there off I mean Joanne Johnson you you watch him it's always towards the sidelines and it's like he's a big body have you tried over the middle one time yeah can structures not is it like a horse blinders but it's not in the middle it's to the sides you know kind of I'm not sure but Tyler Shucks is not throw over the middle a bunch and that's that's how you exploit the Vikings past events so it's kind of interesting late and depending on which angle you look at it right for for who has the advantage right with with that specific thing for sure oh and we and we talk about how much it's almost like a guessing game of who's coming and who's not to where if you guess right most of the time then you you're probably going to find some success but if you guess wrong Andrew van Ginkgo is waiting there to either bat that ball down or take it back to the

31:25to the crib for six so I mean again yeah it's you can go either way on it to where I would be if I was a Saints fan and actually if I'm like any fan and you're not trying to hit the quick passes over the middle against the Vikings it's like you probably haven't watched film on this defense in the last two to three years of any team having success because when they do have success that's exactly what it is almost every single time when I was a kid playing baseball this bad habit of where I take a step back before I swung and and I became bad at hitting and there was a hitting coach that then he he put a baseball bat behind my cleats when I was sitting while I was suddenly I couldn't have the the foot back I started hitting maybe we need to go to desperate measures with Tyler's Chuck as well where the coaches tell him in practice bro the the hashes are the the you know the yard marks or whatever that's the sidelines that's out about anything outside of the yard that's out of bounds we only want you know I mean focus on the middle of the field here so but you

32:27know I I don't know if he is up for that so so we'll find out with that what where we is a AJ your next step yeah I'm also just chuckling my I'm picturing like sea biscuit running down the Kentucky Derby with only peripheral vision just like swarming all over the track anyways my final one probably just the inevitable bounce back by the saints you know you kind of you got 45 points dropped on your head and you're what was coined the the dome coming it was the Katrina anniversary game I I'm giving Sunday exactly like same me and frankly we saw that it it was close it was competitive with the dolphins like they can absolutely just bounce on back and it's sort of that hey we're not going to drop another stinker here two weeks in our own front of our hometown fans we got to really bring it plus the history with the Vikings saints it it feels like a perfect one for them to kind of turn around turn it back on and uh it's just concerning it's always that thing the back my head is like well they should be fine but and that's where I'm concerned about it well 100% and and and if let's say that the saints did have a

33:27bounce back and all of a sudden the saints are the team that that kind of has a lead you know whatever and the game script kind of goes away that we really haven't seen it so far as Viking fans with the exception of the first uh you know uh two quarters and two two point seven five quarters against the packers right I mean that was the one time where the game script was the other the Vikings admirably refused to pull out of their game script and they roared back real quick but like what if what if it goes that way and I mean because we think of like the ideal way this game goes and you're just gouging that crappy saints run defense over and over and over again you're always going towards the chains where we're coming out with three points if if not a couple sevens this time and the saints are the ones that have to play behind and now we got Tyler Schuck back there and and he's in a cage right that that's the way we wanted to go but if it goes the other way and all of a sudden now you you let's say the Vikings are down by seven or ten in the second half and instead of being able to just tee off on that bad uh run defense of saints have now Kyler

34:28Marie's back there in the pocket and if you're left side of your offensive line is depreciated and your wider cedar room is depreciated and now you have to throw now you gotta have it that the game scripts have been with you to this point but now it's not anymore and that the circumstances isn't the best Kyler Marie struggles under pressure and the saints are able to generate it's the only thing with their defense really that concerns we whatsoever famous last word sure but in a in a game script you get into the second half where you would have to throw their ability to generate pressure on Kyler and we've seen Kyler that the play go down when he is under pressure his recourse is to break containment we've seen that just a couple times he doesn't like to run as much as he used to though he doesn't and he's not great once he gets pushed off his spot as a thrower I'm I'm sorry he's just not that the arm strength is an issue there he doesn't see as well down the field I mean like it's fun he's out on the high wire whatever but he doesn't even leave the pocket as much as he used to it's a different kind of a quarterback and again the way to get to truly devolve it is to get that heat in his face with the first pass he had as a as a Viking

35:33he threw that yellow ball up wide because will fries blew a frickin block and there was someone in Kyler's face he was ah what do I do with it and he just chucks up a yellow ball into double coverage it gets picked up when you inoculate Kyler from the pressure that's when we can get into our our our timing stuff right in the rhythm stuff and we're going to hitch on the hands we're just going to slowly matriculate the ball up the field but my so I guess my last concern is is is what if the game script is not what we wanted to be in the second half and it forces Kyler back there into the pocket and then their pressure is the thing that takes over the game so that that would be my my last concern there we're going to get in in close this episode with our weekly player prop draft I'm excited to see where we go we don't have the most options this week late in the the books because of some engines we'll talk about in a second they haven't dropped sort of the full cornucopia of the player props but we do have some and we do have some we like but before we get into that got a shout out my friends and why not a casino heading into the player props we love treasure island resorting casino your home turf for Minnesota football this fall grab a seat in

36:35parlay in front of the big screens and you can enter the prize giveaways and take advantage of free food and drink specials and on Mondays all season long hit the gaming floor with your island passport club for a shot a free slot play and fan gear they've also got a great entertainment lineup coming in Ron whites coming on the 17th next week so your browns coming on November 7th and if you make a night of it you can book a stay in treasure islands brand new Buffalo tower it's just steps from the gaming floor fully remodel with upgraded room amenities all built around your comfort and come hungry because the trade wings buffet is calling classic comfort food great sides kid friendly options and indulgent desserts all of your favorites every Wednesday through Sunday make your reservations at ti casino dot com today treasure island resort and good i that jingles been suckin my head for 20 years we we love treasure island latin let's let's get into who gets the first pick in that in the player prop draft today i believe i believe it's me because i think odd numbers are me dang it because i i think you're going to steal the one that i

37:36want my my do you think i do think i don't i don't know i'm not gonna go all right i'm gonna go Tyler shook over 36 and a half past attempts okay good it's it was close but not not exactly so thank you i know exactly where you're going yeah you do um i just don't see new islands being able to run the ball whatsoever and in losses this year shook as thrown the ball 56 times 42 times and 48 times to wear i mean again this is the recipe for beating the Vikings like i don't think you're going to be able to run the ball and if you want any chance at wedding you're going to have to do it through the air so shook getting the 37 pass attempts seems i'm not gonna say free because there's never anything free when you're when you're sports betting but i mean it seems pretty favorable to to get to that mark you know they use to have the shows on tv like a fear factor or uh most dangerous jobs or dirty jobs is kind of the the the challenge i wanted those shows should be 50 drop acts against a brine floor as defense when they know you're gonna pass right right the contestant

38:40would be like not actually i'm good i you know i'll you know i'll lay in the bed with the tarantulas that all you know do all of all of all of you know skydiver whatever i'm definitely not gonna do that latent then i'll i'll take i'll take the layup the layup prop bet of this game Tyler shook over half of an interception is somehow only minus 130 if Tyler shook does not throw an interception on sunday knock me over with the feather take my money take it it's yours i i must bet that and with only negative 130 juice i my eyes kind of bugged out i was like only 130 okay well the guy's gonna be throwing 50 times against the defense that brings the most heat and Tyler shook turn the ball over six times the first three games what are we doing here i guess he got out of the last game without a turnover they got their you know what's kicked but what are what are we doing here Tyler shook turns the ball over and the Vikings defense is built to turn up the heat making it quit the shazards and then we're gonna flip the field on you so

39:41to to me that that that was my layup one now latent i mentioned heading into this segment about how you know right now i i was you know some of these prop betfinders they they they look at the different books and then they give you the options that are out there the Viking game by almost half as we said you're recording right now by almost half has the least props offered in the NFL right now because you have the injury status of Jefferson and Addison that affects all the passing stuff it affects all the other pass catchers and then on the same side their running back room is just not existent non-existent like the guys that they have left to aren't good they're banged up too so it's like what mediocre running are we gonna get the old guy with the fork sticking out of his back at less than a hundred percent we're gonna get Elbusto Kendra Miller are you gonna come in here and try to do something or who are who are we gonna see on on Sunday so so we're working with less i i latent you tell me if if this is shooting i would like to do a pre over on

40:42TJ Hawkinson receptions before it even drops and i will take whatever number the book drops for the number to start take it i like it you can't set that thing high enough to keep me away and if the receivers are out for the Hawkinson reception prop almost even better but even if if if Jefferson and Addison both play the way to attack dad saints defense it's sort of like we're proposing the saints attack the Viking's defense it's a quick throws the big guys over the middle let them run that's that's sort of what it is we we we we we sent Kyla Murray developed the chemistry with Hawkinson last week this is what Kyla's always done he loves tight ends he loved training bride and even before that max Williams and other tight ends that Arizona had he has always thrown to tight ends that this is not a surprise at all uh that the books have t they have not dropped the reception one yet as we await the status of the two wider receivers but again you can't set that thing high enough to keep me away four and a half five and a half i don't care i will go over on whatever the the number drops for TJ Hawkinson receptions yeah i like it my guess would be five and a

41:46half i think that but that would be the biggest number dropped on him in oh it'll it'll it'll I mean because what do what did he have last week 12 13 13 wow geez and he had 13 targets I think I think yeah 13 for 13 targets that that remind you you're you're a college football guy all right latent so you'll you'll remember this one Dalton King Cating in USC his last year in Utah where I was like 17 for 17 or something like that just decimator about himself people were talking about Dalton King Cade crazy conversations after that game too i mean because they were i mean they were they were they were throwing some names out there that were that were crazy uh comparisons the USC defense has made players millions and millions of dollars in the NFL over the years and none of those guys were wearing USC uniform you just got to face the USC defense and all of a sudden you're be able to move the bond and Cade did his thing all right so i'm through i'm through two let's get your last two of this next job latent i'm gonna go with one that we've almost been kind

42:49of fading this year a little bit i'm gonna go Aaron Jones over 16 and a half rush times i mean he's hit this in every game this year and i honestly just if you weren't going to do it in the first four games i don't know why you would do it now they just don't trust anybody else to run the ball i mean there's been perfect perfect opportunities to get DJ Dallas or demon clay borne in and maybe that you know they get one or two carries here and there but there's been opportunities when Aaron Jones takes a tough hit and i mean he takes a lot of them to get the guy to get the other guys in the game but it's just seems like they just keep spamming the Aaron Jones button to wear 16 and a half rush attempts they don't trust anybody else you're going to be running the ball because the same defense can't stop it and he's hit this number in every single game to where i think this is kind of his most favorable matchup to where maybe i should take the yards instead of the attempts um actually that's a good question i wonder what the yards are at i think it's like 72 maybe or something like that which yeah so and by the way come up that thing opened like

43:50mid-sixties kind of a thing because i think the books they were used to some folks like meet your end of fade john's last couple weeks because we kept expecting them to break and then that the market's like yeah no they only give the ball to him and so the books had to had to jack that thing up right it's 72 and a half rushing yards right now but it's up like i said almost 10 from the open yeah i think i would i think i'd honestly be more comfortable maybe with the yards than the attempts just maybe if things get out of hand or if the Vikings like really can just dominate the run game no matter who's back there then they will put some other guys DJ Dallas back there but anything Aaron Jones and anything with the Vikings run game i would be pretty confident in and then my last one i'm just going to go back to the well here kyle mary over one and a half rush yards in the first quarter it's yeah every single game they they dropped out line again one and a half yep wow it was i think it was two and a half last week i think he did it on i think i think it was the first was the second drive of the game maybe i oh i was gonna say like third play oh yeah i thought it was pretty quick yeah that was pretty quick i know i was off last Friday but i

44:53tuned in i was like okay he did it again and i'm sitting there i'm like oh there it is there's like there's two that's the best thing too because it just like gives you a leg right there you're like yep there it is i mean obviously you could cook the bet in the first quarter but again i think kyle mary early in these games is just like goes back to default mode and he's like oh yeah i can use my legs to get this third and fourth quick and he just does he does just that every single game he started in this year it's hit so i'm gonna go with him to get one two yard rush in the first quarter it's all we need the other thing about that is you know you get into the second half you get into the fourth quarter and you're up by five or you're up by seven or you're up being whatever kyle mary the coaches are do not leave the pocket man we can't get you hurt again right like but the initial stands of the game you need a first down and it's a tie game yeah he's gonna if he sees it he's gonna go and get the first down you know i mean that's that's you know if he has the opening to do it so i i love that one if he's gonna run it typically for the scramble is gonna be first quarter by second quarter by early yeah i think he had two rush attempts against the

45:57buccaneers and they were both in the first quarter of the game like he openly chooses to run the first quarter and then after that it's kind of a coin flip but he really hasn't been running the ball that much in the second half and and one and a half just seems so like again he literally just needs to take off i don't see kyle mary getting tracked down behind the line of scrimmage by some detackle that's chasing them out there feels like you can get at least two yards um you know on at least one of his scramble in the first quarter 100 percent my my my last prop bet here uh i'm i'm gonna fade kyle mary and something and before people get upset with me remember who gave a game ball to kyle mary the last game this guy right here i got some criticism for that too but i'm gonna go kyle mary under a touchdown and a half passes here i think this line is a bit aggressive in lieu of the factors that we've seen here so far this season kyle mary is at one touchdown pass to this point in this season and we do expect the offense uh eventually here to

46:58have some more success and and i do think they have avenues to success on sunday but the prerogative of the offense is to continue to kill the clock the other thing getting to the byweek here with the roster that has now become pretty banged up and has the recurring depth issues in addition to it you know i i thought it was interesting uh o'Connell you know the the the post game comments and i loved it harkinson uh gave himself up at the end of that game because it guaranteed the win the second he had to turn the game was right like the people that were like why didn't you walk in i know like did you see the browns jets game a couple years ago yes that was the exact example i was thinking of when when people were saying that i mean sure you know and people would be like oh well that would you know what are the odds of that well it may be a half of a percentage point but that's above zero but it's like you know um but but yeah like that you know he was uh o'Connell i i love the point he made you know an addition to that which was he said something like um our defense had played uh forget the number but it was way less than the Vikings offense with but i'll just say 40 he

48:02was like our defense gave us essentially a 40 close to perfect snaps and i figured that was good enough for that for the day right and like literally i i think a thought of it in addition you know obviously you want to juice your odds your your win percentage odds with whatever you do but in addition to that this coaching staff knows that they got depth issues they also know they potentially got their hands on a contender here right so anything you can do to also minimize uh injury risk etc they're gonna keep the ball on the ground here they're gonna be conservative i think it's gonna be the short passing game but once you get around the goal line uh in this game why would you not just tee off more on that bad saints defensive front we're not gonna we're not going to the three ring circus and a wringling brothers and when we're down by the goal line to try you know what i mean in this matchup you just need to get your points the Vikings just need to come out of this week with their win and go along with their business this line where it requires him to double his season uh passing touchdown out for in one game to get there i think it would you know i mean like to this

49:05point boys with the offense when they they they have rarely been in the red zone but but like the the passing to addison downfield right like that's you know whatever i i'm gonna bet against him hitting two of those and i don't think they're gonna have him throwing a lot inside the opponents ten yard line could be wrong about that but i think they're just gonna keep the ball on the ground keep the ball on the ground keep the ball on the ground i agree i mean we watch Brian Robinson do it three times within like the ten yard line so it's like why would you not just copy and paste that exact formula to be like yeah these guys just simply can't stop us coming off the ball so it's like don't put the ball in harm's way and yet the tj hawkins thing people saying they should have scored that touchdown for the vise it's like dude do you do you not think kneeling out the game and securing a win is the best vibes you could possibly know guaranteed like what what are we even talking about here i mean it's such an easy decision and like if if you hadn't seen it before maybe then you could you know i'm sorry the loser but like we've seen it in the recent past in the nfl

50:08like stop your job and like a 70 yard touchdown and he literally just took a hard left right at the one yard line he's like game over like that i'm done i mean like yeah yeah yeah we're not comparing this to Trevor Lawrence going down with like eight minutes left in the game and then this is going to be the next play this is inside of two minutes very possible that you score and then just everything hits the fan like it's it's not a zero percent chance that they you know they hold on three knees game over that that's it it's it's the decision it's a hundred percent win expects and see what 99.5 what that is something i'd rather just win the game right there but then also will conno's point of you do that now the offense they're opposing offense you got to kick it back to them now they're going balls to the wall to try to score the touchdown whatever and you could get an injury as well right so anyway we inoculate ourselves from that and we just take the win and the things over a nice situational play by tj hawkinson and and the coaching staff there as well just getting the win let's get out of there i i think the same thing this weekend and hopefully

51:11next time we talk it is with a five and all uh Minnesota Viking team heading into the byweek we'll see here fascinating match up but we got as deep into the weeds as we possibly could with it but that's all the time that we have for today and this week on Thor talks purple so for aj for latent i'm door we'll see you next week