The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
Vikings Beat Reporter Alec Lewis on Texans-Vikings Matchup!
[MUSIC PLAYING] Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible traders, all on America's largest 5G network. [MUSIC PLAYING] Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones would be a 24-monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement to bill credit and send if you pay off devices early, ctmobile.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] You are back with a killer bees on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5, live from the Veritex Community Bank studios. Here's Joel Plank and Jeremy Branden. Joining us now on the HR&P guest line, Alec Lewis, biking speed rider at the athletic-- Texans don't have one of those-- and host of the podcast, the Alec Lewis Show on YouTube. Alec, thanks for taking a few minutes ahead of game day, Sunday, to hang out with a couple of jabronis in Houston. Are the Vikings for real at 2 and 0? Are you surprised by their record at all? Oh, well, first, thank you guys for having me. I wish we had a Texans rider. We used to, a guy named Aaron Reese, who I'm very close with and I wish you'd still do it because he's a better rider than I am. Are the Vikings for real? It's a great question and it's something that-- I don't know, you try to figure it out, you sort through it. But what I'd say is it's not that surprising, I should say. No, I mean, it really isn't. And part of that is defensively from the time that Brian Flores got here, you saw the vision of what they could ultimately become. And then just being here for the two years that Kevin O'Connell's been here two years plus now, it's the way that he thinks about quarterbacks, his ability to empower players offensively and just the growth, even from him, from a play color and intentionality standpoint, you've seen it, you kind of expected it. So is it for real? I kind of think so. Is it that surprising not fully to the people, I think, who have been around every day, like I have for the last two plus years? Well, Alec, then tell me about Sam Darnell because all we heard was J.J. McCarthy, and then J.J. McCarthy was going to be the guy probably from day one, and J.J. McCarthy is the franchise quarterback of the future. And now all of a sudden, Sam Darnell goes from back up to starter and now succeeding and really kind of early on, looking like he could revitalize his career. Can it last the Cinderella slipper get involved in all this? Or has he looked like a different quarterback? Yeah, I mean, first what I'd say is I don't think J.J. McCarthy was going to start from day one. And I never thought that. I think if you'd talk to people internally and just watch the way they went about it, it was all when they drafted J.J. McCarthy. And really, before they drafted J.J. and when they set out to draft a quarterback after Kurt Cousins left, they're one of their priorities, and I'm talking Kevin O'Connell, the GM pointed up from it, the organization as a whole, was to think long-term with that investment, which very few teams do. And obviously, you guys know, being in Houston, like sometimes you don't have to. Sometimes a guy is surrounded by such optimal situation from a coaching staff and skilled player standpoint that he can succeed, but I think that's probably the rarity. And the Vikings wanted to guard against that from the get-go, which is why they ended up signing San Bernal because they felt like whether he was a bridge for five games, whether he was a bridge for eight games, whether he was a bridge for the whole season, that he could be a guy who could perform in this system. And so the Philon, Cinderella, Flipper, kind of analogy, like I get it because obviously given his situations and specifically turnover history in the past, it is concerning, it provided reason for pessimism, pessimism in terms of what could happen, but this is the best skill group he's ever been around. It's the best coaching he's ever been around. It's probably the first time he's ever really felt believed in as a quarterback. If you talk to any of the legends who have rebuilt their careers over time, that is a critical aspect of it. So I expect the success to continue. Now, are there going to be bumps in the road? Probably, any given week in this league, as you guys know and have done it probably longer than I have, like it is very tough, it is very difficult, even since they're going to throw a lot at you. And so I'm sure there's going to be bumps in the road whether it's this weekend or in the weeks that come. - You're giving us too much credit, Alec. We don't really know a whole lot. We just kind of blab on a microphone. Alec Lewis Vikings, beat writer at the Athletic Host to the podcast, the Alex Lewis Show, Alec Lewis Show on YouTube. A lot of players returning to Minnesota here. There's some former Texans, obviously, on the Minnesota Viking side as well, and Cashman, and Grenard, and Griffin, even. What do you think the reaction's going to be for Daniel Hunter and Stefan Diggs on Sunday? - Yeah, you know, Daniel specifically, like I expect people to, I expect to be a rave response. I mean, Daniel, you guys are probably found out, like pretty quiet guy, kind of sticks to himself. He's probably the best sculpted athlete I've ever been around. I would walk around the locker room, talk to him, and be like, this guy's absolutely unbelievable. He's got muscles inside of his muscles, and he chose it on the field with his ability to set an edge and pass for us. I expect Viking fans who are very appreciative of what he accomplished here to give him an ovation. Stefan Diggs, I mean, obviously, it's an interesting situation with the way that he left here, but it's also been a while since then. He accomplished a lot here. Obviously, he's a part of the Minneapolis miracle. So I'd be stunned just knowing kind of the way this market is if they really give him a crazy, it's not like a Philadelphia vibe, but you'll probably get a mixed reaction. And then, you know, I sat down with Johnson Grenard yesterday, and we talked about going against the Texans, and I wrote about that for this morning. And Daniel was like, look, like, I really respect that organization, specifically ownership, and the way that they really helped him get back for when his young daughter was born last year, right after the game against the Jaguars in September. So I think it's a pretty-- like, even Cam Acres, who was in Minnesota last year, like, Kevin O'Connell has a mince respect for that guy going back to their time together with the Rams. So I think it's like somebody in return games, you get these, like, want to stick it to them. And I'm sure there is that with these competitors, but I expect it to be pretty cordial on both sides, and I could be, again, like just more wrong than anything with that, but that's just kind of the vibe I've gotten thus far. What's your vibe on Aaron Jones? Aaron Jones coming over from Green Bay was good at the end of the years, been dinged up the last couple of years. Obviously, he was a staple with the Packers for a long time, but it seems like he's been a good fit. The offense seems to fit him, and he's had some success early on. Yeah, he's been phenomenal. And partly, that is because when you follow a guy, and last year, the running back here, was Alexander Madison, who they had belief in, and he's a phenomenal guy, so it's nothing like that. But just from an ability to create your depth of contact, Aaron Jones is just miles different than what Alexander Madison brought, and it has enhanced their run game, which paired with Justin Jefferson, who takes too high coverage all the time. It has helped them on first down, which has put them in optimal second down situations, which is why, right now, they're averaging more yards on second down, offensively than any other team in the league. So he's, Aaron Jones, it's been a phenomenal fit. I've always thought, just like from a football, fantasy football, fan type vibe, like he's always a guy, that's always really impressive. And when the Packers decided to move forward, and ultimately signed, he got taken through the younger guy, and the Vikings swooped in pretty quickly to staggered Jones. It seemed like a pretty solid fit. He's been great in the locker room. So the one, two punch with he and Ty Chandler, who looked phenomenal last week, and gets the 49ers, and I expect them to get a pretty good amount of run this weekend as well. It has been a boon for an offense that wants to run the ball well to, as we talked about at the top, put Sam Donald in optimal circumstances to kind of to thrive the way he has. - I'm really curious, Alec, how the Texans will defend. Jefferson, you Addison, it looks like he's trending. Might have even been already ruled out. Jefferson's off of the injury report. Naylor's coming on this year, a very fast guy. I'm curious how Dameka will defend Jefferson. Usually doesn't travel his top corner, although he's willing to change it, like he changed it last year with Amari in the postseason. How do you see other teams defend Justin Jefferson when it comes to their top corner? - It's a phenomenal question, and it's funny, because when you talk to the Vikings off of the staff, they will say they're like over the last two years, and this staff has mostly been together, and there hasn't been much departure. Like they go into every game, trying to figure out what the opposing teams Justin Jefferson plan is, and they literally call that like, we're gonna get the Jefferson plan from them. And so a lot of their free, I guess a lot of their during the week study is like so general, and then they enter the game, not really, I mean, in a similar spiral, but we don't know if they double him this way, if they bracket him here, if they travel, they're distinctly what have you, whoever it is, then they will kind of enact their plan from there. So, I mean, you see, like there are very few staff where you see Justin Jefferson singled up, and if the Texans decide to do that this weekend and more power to them, because this guy is unbelievable. Now, you mentioned the secondary passcatchers, and that was a concern I had last weekend in the 49ers games, like could a Jalen Naylor step up? Could a Brandon Powell, Tristan Jackson step up? And they did throughout the game, and they did even after Justin Jefferson got hurt late in the game. So, yeah, it'll be very interesting to see. Again, like it's one of those puzzle pieces that I'm always curious every week, what do these opposing teams do? Some are better than others at it. And like I said, like the Vikings offensive staff is very on top of it in terms of ensuring they have answers regardless of what the test presents to them. - How do you see it playing out then, Alec? Because, look, we know Brian Flores is getting his flowers, and we know that CJ's been very, very positive in the fact that he respects the hell out of what Flores is doing defensively. He's got a lot of weapons on defense. How does this game play out in your mind? - Well, I mean, you nailed it, in my opinion. I mean, it is, can Brian Flores affect CJ Strada, the guy who, I mean, I don't need, I don't need to say anything to anybody listening to these airways. Like they obviously know what this guy's about, but anybody within the Viking facility this week was very effusive in their praise for the arm talent and his ability to create the arm strength, the accuracy, the processing speed, like all of that showed up and came up in conversation. So, can Brian Flores, a guy who is as good at mixing it up and making you think something that is coming, that isn't coming, that might be coming, a guy somewhere and then he's over there and you don't really know why. It is kind of like unbelievable to watch the way he coordinates the defense every single week and there's a lot of on-field decision making and checking from the players. So, yeah, I mean, how does it play out? I just haven't watched this Flores even and maybe being close to it. I think, you know, I would not be shocked if they affect CJ in some regard. The Texans interior offensive line. I'm also a little skeptical of that. I do think Camacres is really good, so not having Joe mix him to me. I don't think that's like some disqualifier, but, and then can the Texans create pressure on San Darnold and speed him up and put him in uncomfortable situations the way he has not been thus far in the first two weeks. And if they, if Straus can handle Flores and they can do that with San Darnold, the Texans try to leave here with a victory, but I can tell you it is going to be a rocket environment in there and that will probably be going in the Viking favor as well. - Should be a lot of fun. The Texans interior offensive line's been terrible at passing off assignments. I'm sure you see Brian Flores do a whole lot of that. Alec, great stuff. Go ahead. - Yeah, yeah, no problem. Yeah, Brian Flores will catch those guys through their bitter end and they will probably have a headache by the end of the game. That's just the way this thing goes. So, it'll be very interesting. I'm glad you could probably tell. I can't wait for the matchup, but appreciate you guys having me. And I mean, I'm looking forward to watching that team because I have a lot of respect for what they've done. So, should be pretty cool. - We appreciate you coming on. It was great insight. Alec Lewis, Viking speed rider at the Athletic Host of the podcast, the Alec Lewis Show on YouTube. A phenomenal guest. Alec Lewis really enjoyed that. - Very informative. 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