game chatter podcast

Hi, this is Cole Stokes, and today we will be talking on game chatter. I have a guest here today with me, Charles Stewart, and today we're going to be talking about sports around the world. Go ahead, Charles, you can go. So getting started, so what have you thought about this past week's sports and what's gone on as a whole? Yeah, I think the major headline so far has been the Minnesota Timberwolves, and additionally the Minnesota Vikings. It's rare that we see a Minnesota team, or at least teams, that are making news and making headlines because they're such a small market, but of course we've seen, let's start off with Josh Dobbs. Yeah, yeah, I saw that guy. He played a phenomenal game this past weekend for the Timberwolves, so tell me a little bit more about that. Yeah, so he came in two weeks ago, and Josh Dobbs absolutely took over this team. He has thrown the ball incredibly well, and everyone around the NFL is surprised because when Kirk Cousins went down with the injury, Josh Dobbs stepped in because he was traded for and stepped in five days later to quarterback a team that was down to their fourth string, which is what he would be, their fourth string quarterback. I think he overcame tremendous adversity, not even knowing his teammates or the playbook, which I think is incredible. The second headline being the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that has historically been the worst team ever in NBA history. Their statistically, their loss percentage is the highest among all teams, I think, in any pro sports, but yet they sit seven and two. And, you know, I've seen that, and, you know, so I have a question. So, from Fox Sports, you know, they've been saying that he's really turned situations meant for failure into success. And, you know, I think he's had a great game, and I think, you know, he's going to lead the Vikings, you know, towards a great direction, but I wanted to hear your opinion a little bit on what makes this situation kind of turning from a failure, I mean, making him into a successful player, you know, statistically speaking, and what's going to be the best for the Vikings' future with him? Yeah, and I think that's a great question because, honestly, the fans are shocked that he's doing so well. The league is shocked they're doing so well. I mean, for example, the Twitter page for the NFL changed their kind of profile photo from Taylor Swift to Josh Dobbs, which shows kind of a changing in the guard. Yeah, and I saw that as well, so. Yeah, which is crazy, but to directly answer your question, our head coach, Kevin O'Connell, had been dealing with Kirk Cousins and a quarterback who is really good in the pocket but can't move at all because he's just not a mobile quarterback. But instead, now you pretty much, on the other side of the pendulum, you have Josh Dobbs, a quarterback who can scramble out of the pocket, run with his legs to make plays, and he extends time and not just falls over and gets sacked. So I think that contributes mainly to the success because Kevin O'Connell is a young quarterback, or a young coach, who likes quarterbacks who can run. Yep, absolutely, yeah, I agree. But we've based our playbook off of him. Yeah, I mean, yeah, the way they played this past weekend, I mean, you know, they beat the 49ers, you know, they've been playing well. I think Kevin O'Connell is really leading his team in a good direction, you know, from a Minnesota team aspect, you know, they didn't start off the season so great, and now they're kind of coming out of nowhere, and he's really turning things around. And I couldn't agree more, I think he's going to do a good job with Dobbs leading that team. I think Dobbs is a pretty good team leader in there, so, yeah. Yeah, and like you said, I mean, the Vikings started out 4-0, I believe, and we've gone 6-3, which is incredible. Yeah, it's quite the turnaround. I mean, you know, you see teams, you know, start off the season strong and, you know, not finish as strong, and, you know, it's very rare for, you know, a head coach like this to, you know, start off so bad and then come out and win, you know, 6-3 games. I mean, it's kind of something that you don't see every day. Yeah, they say the worst start in football is 3-0. I think the percentages of NFL teams that have started 3-0 and made it to the playoffs is under 5%, yet here we have the Vikings who started off 3-0 or 4-0, and right now they're in a playoff picture, which is crazy to think about, which I think is a big thanks to Kwesi Adofu-Mensah, the GM of the Vikings, for getting Josh Dobbs, but also the team itself for playing together and rallying around him, and Kevin O'Connell for making these play goals. Yeah, and, you know, like I said, I mean, I can't really agree more with, you know, how the team's been playing. I mean, let's look at this past weekend. I mean, Kirk Cousins, you know, 2,331 yards. It's pretty good for the season. You know, I think they played pretty good, and, you know, the crazy part to me is, you know, I think Dobbs is going to turn around this team so well, and I think that the Vikings are heading for a bright future with him, and I really think that, especially, you know, they're already starting to turn around this season, but I can't wait to see what the future holds for them in the next season. Yeah, and I think that's the big question point for a lot of Minnesota Vikings fans is, we don't know, I say we, like I'm on the team, but the Vikings don't know what they're going to do with their quarterback position, because Kirk Cousins went down with his, I believe it is Torn, someone is like, it was ACL, or not ACL, Achilles, kind of like Aaron Hodgerson. They're like, uh-oh, okay, Kirk Cousins is down, he's our franchise quarterback, and yet he's on an expiring contract this year. His contract's up after this year, so do we resign him, or do we? Yeah, absolutely. And I also want to know, you know, I want to know your opinion, you know, they've got some good teams coming up, you know, next game they've got the Broncos, the following game they've got the Bears, which is, you know, and then the Raiders, so I just want to know, what do you think, how do you think they're going to do against these teams, and how do you think they're going to hold up? Yeah, if you would have asked me a few weeks ago, I would think those are three wins for the Vikings, but the Broncos the last three games, or the last two games, excuse me, they beat the Chiefs, and they beat a tough Bills team, two teams that are thought to make deep playoff runs, so if this Broncos team can play like they have the past two weeks, it might be a tough challenge for the Vikings. I think the Vikings, again, can win three games in a row, because the Bears are struggling, and I don't think the Raiders are good at all. But I think the toughest battle will be Russell Wilson and the Broncos, but I think the Vikings play their cards right, and they continue to ride this Josh Jobs train, this Josh Jobs high, I think they won't have any issue becoming, what, I think 9-4 or something like that on the season. And, you know, I'm looking at Care11, you know, a well-known sports website. Yeah, Minnesota, yeah. Yep, and they were saying that the Vikings, you know, they're trying to bring back a former guy, Anthony Barr, and I just wanted to, you know, I want to know your thoughts on him and what you think he is as a player, and if he's going to contribute and bring anything to this team the way it's moving forward so far. Yeah, so a lot of Minnesota fans know Anthony Barr, he played for us for a tremendous amount of years, and then we, of course, didn't re-sign him because we had to pay expensive players like Daniel Hunter, so then he went to the Cowboys, a team you're familiar with, Anthony Barr was on the Cowboys, played one or two seasons for them, but then the Cowboys didn't re-sign him because of the age, but because, I believe it was Ivan Pace Jr. got hurt for the... Yeah, he did, I saw that, yep. Yeah, for the Vikings, they are now going to be leaning on veteran and long-time Viking Anthony Barr to come in, hopefully know this defense. Yeah, because as we know, the Vikings have had, you know, several injuries this year, and it's, I mean, it's been tough, I mean, Alexander Madison, you got Jordan Hicks, I mean, you got multiple players that have been out, and the way this team is performing, I mean, it's quite astonishing, and I just want to hear your thoughts on, you know, if you think these players are, you know, making the difference not being there, or how good the Vikings, you know, truly could be if they were in the game. Yeah, I kind of spoke on Kirk Cousins, and the whole quarterback position itself is a mess, and it takes someone above my pay grade of zero dollars to figure out, but, I mean, we're down our top running back, well, we lost Dalvin Cook, of course, because we didn't want to pay him, and so then we were down to Madison, and Madison was struggling, so we got Cam Akers, Cam Akers is towards ACL, he's out for the rest of the year, so we're down to Madison and Ty Chandler, Ty Chandler, of course, he's coming back from a concussion loss next week, so we're really struggling in the running back position, wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who's arguably the best player in the league, got hurt week three, I believe, and so he's been out for us, so luckily we get him back either this week or the next week. Yep, so I want to say, you know, to kind of, you know, put this, you know, looking to the end of this podcast, and, you know, kind of looking for the bright future for these Minnesota Vikings, because that's kind of been the topic of our weekly discussion, you know, with Jordan Hicks being out, you know, against Denver this Sunday, I mean, how do we feel? What's your, you know, one through ten, what's your kind of, you know, your confidence rating? I mean, I would probably give it a nine this week, with, you know, the way things are turning in Dobbs, and, you know, the way the coaching staff and the GM are turning this thing around, so just wanted to, you know, get your opinion on how you think they're going to do against Denver, and, you know, how they're going to perform. Yeah, like I said, I overall think we're going to beat Denver. I'll be interested to see what they get set the line at, the spread. I think the Vikings will be favored, especially if we get Justin Jefferson back, but momentum is a real thing in the NFL. If a team just starts winning, and they start getting used to winning, I mean, it's hard to stop them. And I guess the Vikings are running into a team like that with the Broncos, who have won two really tough match-ups the last two weeks, coming off three straight wins, but the Broncos, they've had a lot of weaknesses in their defense and offense. Sometimes they're just non-existent, so as much as I want to say it's going to be an easy win for the Vikings, it's not going to be, but I do think the Vikings win. Yeah, I agree totally, and, you know, I think the Vikings have a good team this year, and I think they have the ability, the coaching staff, the players, and, you know, I think the culture's there. I think they're going to pull through this weekend and, you know, play a good game. So, yeah, and that's kind of wrapping up our podcast here. I appreciate you joining me, Charles, on this podcast, and I hope the Vikings pull it off this weekend, and I hope you're the best, man. Yeah, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.