Vikings 30, Seahawks 17
A: Great to get a win at home. Great to see our crowd again for the first time in a long time. Tremendous energy.
I was sitting on the bench with Justin Jefferson during the first drive, and I forgot he had never been in our stadium for a regular season game with a full crowd like that, and he was saying, boy, it's loud in here, and I kind of looked at him thinking, yeah, I guess this is your first time. He was really impressed, and I was very impressed.
It was great to start fast offensively. A lot of players stepped up today and made plays: Alex Mattison, Tyler Conklin, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn. The offensive line did a phenomenal job. Ameer Abdullah did a great job.
I thought that Klint Kubiak just really had good plan. I think anytime the first drive is a fast start, it says a lot about our coaches and they way they prepare and plan and script things early. They did a great job.
Proud of the effort, and obviously week 3 there's a lot of football up ahead, and you say it when things are going poorly, that hey, we've got a lot of football left as an encouragement, but I would also say that you say the same thing when you win; hey, we've got to stack them up. One win doesn't do it; we've got to keep going.
That's where we're at, but I'll take some questions.
Q. How do you feel about the way Mattison comes in for Dalvin Cook today?
A: I was really impressed with what Alex did, not only running the football but in the pass game. Alex impressed me two years ago as a rookie when he came in how well he caught the ball, mentally how well he handled all the protections and running the routes. I was impressed today with the way he runs after contact. He really brings his pads and runs with a lot of forward body lean. It makes him tough to bring down, and he becomes a violent ball carrier, which I love to see. He was really good on screens today and really proud of the way he played.
Then my shoe had just fell off, and I look at the ref and I said, do I get an equipment time out here for the play clock where I can put it back on, and he said, no, and I said, okay, so I stuck my foot in it, called the play, got to the line of scrimmage and realized I'm better off with just going without the cleat, so I threw it off. Pass got batted, unfortunately, but yeah, one of those deals.
Q. When Zim says that this is the best offensive performance he's seen from the Vikings in eight years being here, and you guys do that on a day when you don't have Dalvin, what does that tell you that you do have with everybody else?
A: I think it says a lot about our coaches. I think it says a lot about balance as an offense. We're going to throw to the tight ends, we're going to throw to the running backs, we're going to throw to the receivers, we're going to throw to several different receivers. So I think being a multiple offense, I think, really helps.
I do think today just the time of possession, I think, anytime we can stay on the field it becomes a great defense for us when their offense isn't on the field. So I think time was possession was big, which goes back to converting 3rd downs, running the football well.
But if you have to nit-pick, I do think that we can be better in the red zone. We I think kicked three field goals down there, and that will come back to bite you. I was frustrated on the sideline a couple of those drives stalled in the low red. We've got to find a way to get touchdowns.
Q. What allowed for the tight end usage to increase today? It seemed like you guys were using more 13, especially in that first and second quarter.
A: Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Probably a better question for the coaches as to the angles they wanted to go at. It's great to get those guys involved. I think in the history of our offense, when the tight ends are catching the ball, usually things are going pretty well. It's good to target them and get them involved.
Q. On that front with the tight ends, the play where Conklin catches the 16-yarder there, how big of a key to that is Adam Thielen, kind of setting up to give Tyler a quick release there? .
A: Which play was that?
Q. It was like a 16-yarder in the high red zone.
A: Oh, was it the bootleg early in the game? The first drive?
Q. I think you hit it over the middle. Adam had kind of a mad --
A: I really don't know. I'm not sure. I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer. Conk did a great job. Yeah, certainly Adam and Justin, teams are going to focus on them I would think, but when you have great athletes like K.J. and Alex and Tyler, it really helps.
Q. Zimmer has mentioned a few times he's appreciated your leadership, stepping up a little bit in that area this year. What does that look like to you?
A: I try to be the same guy, just be consistent. Make sure I'm always building relationships and staying connected with teammates and asserting myself when it makes sense to do that.
Q. The 3rd down throw to Osborn, does that speak to the confidence you're playing with right now to make that throw and be able to connect?
A: Yeah, and you could say it goes both ways there. If you're really trying to protect the football, maybe there's a time to eat that and not put it out there, but I felt 11 Dog, I felt pressure, I felt K.J. is going to be one-on-one in a shallow cross, I have a lot of trust in K.J.'s ability to separate versus man coverage and go get the football, and I felt like if I put it out there, there would be green grass and at worst it's incomplete. K.J. made me right.
Q. Could you see him on the throw or did you just trust that he would be there?
A: You see a flash of purple. You have a ballpark idea. But I think when I talk about getting reps, reps give you the ability to play on instinct, so when you get a lot of reps on a play, you can see flashes of purple and just feel where you need to throw the ball.
Q. When it was 17-7 in the second quarter, looks like you get sacked, they get called for defensive holding, are you amazed that the game just seems to completely change after that?
A: Yeah, it's a great point because it is like that. It's a razor's edge. I remember after we scored on that drive walking off the field thinking that without that penalty we're punting, and field position is not in our favor and everything else. It's a razor's edge.
We were 0-2 going into the game on a razor's edge, too, so you live it both ways. You've just got to prepare and play your highest level of football so that those moments when they happen, they're going to happen, but more often than not they're falling your way.
Q. You always talk about reps and confidence, but some of these crucial 3rd downs you were still spreading the wealth to guys. What does it say about the depth of the guys that --
A: Yeah, it just says a lot, not only about the player that we can rely on to give the ball to but our coaches, their ability to bring variety and have our offense be multiple and allow a lot of people to get involved. Don't get me wrong; there will be games where I think one guy may be the focus, but when you spread it around, I think it's really good for our offense.
Q. How has the offensive line bounced back after that first game?
A: Yeah, they've done a great job. It's a good group. It's a young group. They're well-coached. Phil has done a phenomenal job with them. They love Phil. Proud of the way they're playing, running the football, protecting, and they're fun to go to work with every day.
Q. Statistically I think it's your best three-game start to a season. Is there anything kind of different that you think might be leading to that?
A: I think I play with really good football players. I think that helps. I also think that Klint Kubiak is doing a phenomenal job. I think Andrew Janocko is doing a phenomenal job, and I can't say enough about the working team around me, getting me ready for Sunday. Kellen and Sean are there with me on a Wednesday and a Thursday well after 7:00 at night helping me, talking through plays in walk-through and watching tape. I can't say enough about kind of the working team that helps get me ready for Sunday that starts with Klint and Andrew but Sean and Kellen, too, and the help they've been. I think all that has made a big difference.
Q. Alexander Mattison said you're playing with more swag. Is that a good word to use?
A: I don't know. Irv said that a couple months ago, too. I don't know. I think if you win, it helps.
Q. What does swag mean to you?
A: I don't know, Kyle Shanahan used to say that my swag was having no swag. (Laughter.) He told me as a rookie to never change. He said when I came out for my first preseason game, he said my jersey looked so big it looked like I was wearing a Halloween costume. Someone said something about you should get a different facemask, a better jersey, this or that, wear your socks different, and Kyle cut them off and said, no, his swag is having no swag, and I like it that way.
I kind of laughed, but there's a hint of truth in the joke, and so yeah, it is what it is.
Q. Alex said with your locker being next to Jet's maybe it was rubbing off on you a little bit?
A: Yeah, we need to get Jet to clear out -- you guys don't get to see it like you used to, but he's got some boxes stacked up in his locker. We need to get him to clean those out. Yeah, he's been great. Having Irv near me, having some of the defensive guys, Kendricks and Barr and Harry, I love having my locker by them. It's been great to get to know all those guys better.
Q. What can you say about the defense's play today? I know maybe they had a little slower start, but just their tenacity and getting back in the game and making some big plays to create that momentum?
A: Yeah, I just think the bottom line holding an offense and a great quarterback like that to 17 points, making important 3rd down stops, 4th down stops, getting us the ball back, they did a great job. It really takes all three phases to win in this league, and it did today.
Q. The jump start that maybe you guys gave the defense there in the second half when that first drive was eight minutes, how important is that when the defense is trying to find its footing after an up-and-down first half to be able to eat up that much clock?
A: Absolutely. Finishing the first half with a drive and a score was a big part of the makeup of the game, and then we always talk when we score coming into the half, knowing we'd get the ball coming out, the importance of double dipping and scoring again. I think we only got a field goal, but to get 10 points in those two possessions is a big deal by the next time Seattle gets the ball. And like you said, churning clock, too. It's great to keep their offense off the field.
Q. Another game with a pretty low play action rate. Do you think there's a reason for that? I saw you got nailed on a bootleg early in the game.
A: No, I don't think so. It's a good question. I think it's something we'll talk about. I would agree with you. It's something I think we can do more of. I guess it's hard to argue with production, but I do think that there's a place to play action for sure.
Q. Do you feel pretty good for Greg Joseph, six for six, and Myers missed a key field goal, too, for that one?
A: Yeah, Greg is doing a great job for us, did a great job today, and there's going to be a lot of big kicks up ahead. It's a huge part of the game.
Q. When you prepare for an opponent that you think their screen game is going to be on the menu, does that come to fruition each game that you think that's going to be there? What did that do for the offense today?
A: I thought it was a big part of us getting started on that first drive, the second play of the game hitting a screen. I think we hit a couple others that were big. One of them we couldn't get up on the Mike and he made a great tackle and stopped us, but when you have a strong pass rush that's rushing hard up field, it's great to have that complement to be able to sprinkle that in. Sometimes screens don't hit, but when they do, it's a great thing.
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