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Will "The Burchie Kid" Burchfield joins Scott "Gator" Anderson and the Karsch & Anderson crew to break down a pivotal NFC North showdown between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings!
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00:00Welcome back to the Carson Anderson program here on 97.1.
00:05This time is a special time.
00:08It's Friday before a game day for the Lions, which will be on Sunday.
00:13But it's also special because we get to talk to the Birchie kid.
00:16Will Birchfield joins us as he always does on Fridays.
00:19Birchie, how are you?
00:21I'm doing great, Gator.
00:22It's a special time for me, too, getting 10 minutes of one-on-one conversation
00:27with you, none other than Scott, the Gator, Anderson.
00:30This is huge.
00:31Yeah, it is pretty special.
00:33It's special for all of us, and King's involved as well.
00:35I want to get this out of the way.
00:37Hey, Will, what up, man?
00:41I want to get this out of the way quickly because it's kind of taking over
00:44the Twitter feed right now, and that is that Kirby Joseph was not at practice today.
00:48What can you tell us about this situation?
00:50Is it a freakout?
00:52Is this, oh, I knew it?
00:53Or is this just like, yeah, dude, he's probably not going to practice every day
00:58while he tries to come back?
01:00No, I don't think it's a freakout.
01:02I do think there are two ways to view this.
01:04The pessimist might say, okay, he was at practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday
01:09for the first time this season.
01:11On Thursday, he was out there again, but in a compression sleeve,
01:15which he wasn't wearing on Wednesday, on his leg, covering his knee.
01:19And then today, we don't see him at all.
01:22Now, that was just for the 10 minutes that the media was allowed to watch practice.
01:27And the optimist would say, well, look, he practiced on Wednesday
01:30for the first time this season, and he has progressed enough to the point
01:35that they are ready, at least as of two hours ago when Dan Campbell spoke to us,
01:39to advance him to team drills next week with the idea of having him participate
01:44fully in a practice for the first time this season.
01:47And the former perspective doesn't look great.
01:50The latter one feels more promising.
01:53The truth here that everyone needs to remember is what Dan Campbell has gone out of his way
01:58this week to remind everyone.
02:00And as he said today, we're in the infancy stages of this.
02:03Whether you have an optimistic view or a pessimistic view, Kirby Joseph still has a long way to go
02:09to get back on the field on Sundays and then to contribute to this defense in a meaningful way.
02:14I was just having a conversation with our buddy Dave, forget about this, and I was like,
02:18you know, I think most realistically, a return date, if all goes well between now and then,
02:23would be maybe that Bucs game on November 22nd.
02:27I don't see them playing him in Germany, sandwiched between two transatlantic flights.
02:33But then you mentioned the Bucs game.
02:35Then he'd have to play again four days later against the Bears on Thanksgiving.
02:38Maybe it's the Bears game that's the most realistic, long way of saying a lot of work
02:43yet to do for Kirby Joseph.
02:44Yeah, it's like, I think, obviously, he's a tremendous player when he's healthy.
02:48But I'm in a place where it's kind of like, I'll believe it when I see it.
02:52I really want it to happen.
02:54I'm not, I don't have high expectations that he's going to be able to come back to this team
02:57and have the impact.
02:59I don't know if his career is done.
03:00I really hope it's not because he's a fantastic player, seemingly a great teammate too.
03:06And having him, Brian Branch, back there together would be awesome.
03:10I'm just not expecting it.
03:12Yeah, and look, we're expecting to hear from Kirby Joseph today in the locker room.
03:17And that was the plan for the Lions on Wednesday was to have him speak to the media today.
03:21So we'll see if we get some answers from him.
03:24But we should reiterate that Dan felt pretty good about Kirby when, again, before practice
03:29two hours ago.
03:30And the plan was for him to do more individual work today.
03:34The fact that we didn't see him for 10 minutes doesn't mean that he's not going to get that
03:38work in.
03:38So maybe Kirby will tell us more.
03:40If not, we'll wait until next week and see the latest update.
03:43All right, now let's focus on the Vikings because it's the big matchup.
03:46Vikings obviously undefeated.
03:47Their defense has been spectacular this year.
03:49They only give up like 12 points a game.
03:51Does this week have a big game feel to it right now in Allen Park or is it just business
03:56as usual?
03:57I mean, Jared Goff has always tried to downplay this stuff and say every game means something.
04:01You know, maybe it's a division game means a little bit more, but it feels like this is
04:05a big test for him.
04:07Yeah, I would say this is the second week in a row where it's got a big game feel in
04:10Allen
04:11Park.
04:11You know, I think a number of guys last week, I know Jack Campbell and Ali McNeil both said
04:16going into that Packers game, it feels like the season is really starting now.
04:20And you know, this is just like almost game two in the beginning of the NFC North season.
04:25They got the first one last week, a huge win against Green Bay.
04:28And they've got a chance now to close the gap on the Vikings to one game.
04:32And if they don't, it'll balloon to three with what, nine, 10 games to go.
04:36That would be a pretty difficult gap to cover over the final two months of the season.
04:41So I do think the players are keenly aware of the stakes of this game and they're feeling
04:44pretty good coming off a big division win last week.
04:47Yeah, it definitely is a big game.
04:49You hear all the national pundits talking about it, Will.
04:50And I think the marquee matchup is the Lions offense versus the Vikings defense.
04:56Like that's the headliner.
04:57So how does the Lions offense take care of this, you know, incredible defense the Vikings
05:02have?
05:02And is it more important for Gibbs to be able to run the ball or pick up the blitz package?
05:07Yeah, all good questions.
05:09Start with the latter.
05:10I think it's going to be more important for Jameer Gibbs to run the ball.
05:13If this Vikings defense gets you in second and third and long, that's when you're toast.
05:18That's when they can show you all those exotic looks and those different blitzes and ruin
05:23your day.
05:23So they really have to stay ahead of the stakes.
05:26And frankly, they had a pretty hard time doing that last week.
05:28I think Gibbs took 29 carries and almost half of them, 14, went for two yards or fewer.
05:34Eight went for no yards and four of those went for losses.
05:38So that was mostly due to pre-snap identifications.
05:42And this defense makes it even more challenging to make those right checks before the
05:48snaps.
05:48So the offensive line, Cade Mays in particular, Jared Goff, Drew Pettine in Goff's headset,
05:54have to be on point on Sunday to help Jameer Gibbs run the ball well.
05:58And then when it comes to pass pro game, you know, they forced Jameer Gibbs to take 15
06:03pass blocking reps in the first game last year.
06:06And when I asked him about it yesterday, he was like, dude, that bleep was crazy.
06:11And he even went so far as to say, like, I don't really even remember much about it because
06:15my head was ringing the whole time.
06:17So I think with the emergence of Cione Vocky as a pass blocking running back, you can take
06:23some of those reps off of Jameer's shoulders on Sunday.
06:26That would be huge.
06:27And look, it was a rocky debut in pass pro for Vocky back in week one.
06:31But in 21 pass blocking reps since, he's allowed just one pressure.
06:35So if I'm the Lions, I'm putting most of those blitz pickups on Vocky's plate.
06:40And when he's out there, I'm lining up Jameer Gibbs either in the slot or out wide where we've
06:45seen him more and more this season.
06:47You know, it's really underrated.
06:48I never really thought about that, about how much of a toll pass blocking can take on the
06:54running back in a game like last year in the first game where Gibbs has only carried
06:57it nine times for 25 yards, and you mentioned he's in pass pro for 15 plays on that.
07:03He's getting blasted on 15 other plays that you don't even account for.
07:07Yeah, I know.
07:09He kind of laughed it off yesterday, but you could tell it's not a fond memory for him.
07:14And he still had to pick up 12 blitzes the next time they played in Minnesota, and that
07:18game went even worse for the offense than the first one did.
07:21So there needs to be a better plan when it comes to taking some of that heat off Gibbs' shoulders.
07:27And then the other key matchup to me, guys, for all of the talk about the complexities
07:32of this Vikings defense and the blitz pickups, it's going to be one-on-ones on the outside
07:38between either Blake Miller and Panay Sewell and Dallas Turner.
07:42And one of the reasons to me that this Vikings defense has taken it up yet another notch this
07:47year is that Dallas Turner is really entering the conversation of elite edge rushers in the NFL.
07:52He's a third-year, former first-round pick, three sacks in year one, eight sacks last year
07:58in year two.
07:59He's got six in six games this year.
08:01He's got 36 pressures already after having 42 in all of last year.
08:05He really is nipping on the heels of Aiden Hutchinson in some ways as one of the other
08:11dominant edge rushers in the NFC North.
08:14And those will be one-on-one matchups on the outside because against this defense, it requires
08:19so much extra attention from running backs and tight ends with slides and chips because
08:23of all those blitzers.
08:25You don't get help as an offensive tackle.
08:27You got to win one-on-one.
08:28So Panay Sewell and Blake Miller both have to step up against Dallas Turner, who does rush
08:34from either edge of the defensive line.
08:35A lot is made out of last year's games against the Vikings.
08:38Lions went 0 for 2.
08:39The Christmas Day Massacre was awful.
08:43Should we be paying attention to that?
08:45Or is this something just yuck through in the garbage?
08:47I mean, the offensive line the Lions were working with last year is not the offensive line they
08:51have going this year.
08:52And it's, you know, maybe we should pay more attention to the previous four games where
08:56they own the Vikings.
08:59I kind of feel like we should pay attention to none of them.
09:02And I don't think we should pay attention to last year's Christmas Day game because you
09:05referenced the offensive line.
09:07Kingsley Aguakin was the starting center that day.
09:09Glasgow didn't play.
09:10Who wasn't playing well anyways?
09:12Dan Skipper, I'll do respect that Skip, was starting at tackle because Taylor Decker,
09:17who also wasn't playing all that well, didn't play that day.
09:19And then at left guard was a still not quite healthy and not quite right Christian Mahogany.
09:25So you basically had two competent offensive linemen that day in Panay Sewell and Tate Rattledge.
09:31And the Vikings just feasted all game long.
09:33And then I wouldn't pay much attention to the prior four games when they had success against
09:38the Flores defense because that had as much to do with Ben Johnson and even more so to
09:45me, Frank Radnau as anyone.
09:47And both those guys obviously aren't in the equation tomorrow or on Sunday.
09:50I do think the combination of Cade Mays and Drew Petzin is more equipped to handle what
09:55the Flores and the Vikings will show them on Sunday than John Morton and Graham Glasgow
09:59slash Kingsley Aguakin were last year.
10:01So that does feel like one area where this offense should perform better.
10:05All right.
10:05Well, stop leg humping the Vikings defense.
10:07Let's talk about the Lions defense real quick here.
10:10So obviously the Vikings offense isn't as prolific as their defense, but they do provide
10:15a mobile quarterback, which the Lions, I know they've gotten better the last couple
10:19of weeks as defense overall, but past history has shown they have trouble sometimes when
10:23a quarterback can extend the play or even run the ball.
10:26What concern are you having with Kyler Murray and that offense?
10:29I know they haven't gotten off yet, but they still have weapons in Justin Jefferson, Addison
10:32Hawkinson and Kyler Murray, like I said, is mobile.
10:36Yeah, you know, there's some concern there just with the fact that Justin Jefferson is
10:39liable to pop off for a huge game.
10:41It feels like, especially at Ford Field, he's had some monster performances in the past.
10:45You do feel a little bit better with the way these corners have been kicking up their
10:48performances over the past couple of weeks, but Jefferson's a huge threat and you never
10:54feel good about that matchup entering a game.
10:57With Kyler Murray, this defensive line has applied so much pressure rushing for this
11:03year and with quicker, twitchier defensive linemen like Skyler Gil Howard, for example,
11:09and a healthy Aleem McNeil that I feel better about their ability to corral him and hopefully
11:14ideally prevent him from escaping the pocket.
11:17But to me, it's like, can you keep a lid on Justin Jefferson?
11:21And if you can do that, I just don't see many other ways this offense can really hurt you.
11:26But, Bert, you give me 20 seconds on how this game goes.
11:30I think this is a, you know, a 20 to 17 type game.
11:34I think turnovers are huge.
11:36I think the team that wins the takeaway battle wins on Sunday.
11:39I'll take the Lions to win that battle.
11:40I'll take them to win this game and I'll take Blake Miller and Panay Sewell to both have
11:45scout performances and pass pro against Dallas Turner.
11:48Nice.
11:49Where can we see you on Sunday?
11:50And will you be joining the boys on the pregame show here as well?
11:54Oh, yeah.
11:55Yeah.
11:55You'll see me on Fox 2 at 930.
11:57Extra long show this Sunday, 930 to 11.
12:00You'll hear me, I believe, on the pregame show.
12:02Whenever Costa chooses to text me, Costa, hit me up, bro.
12:06And you'll see me on TV after, too.
12:08Sounds great.
12:09Thanks, Bert.
12:09Appreciate it.
12:10And I'll see you Sunday.
12:10All right.
12:11You guys got it.
12:11See you.
12:12You got it.
12:12Will Birchfield, our beat reporter covering the Lions, covering the Tigers, covering everything
12:18we got here at 97.1.
12:19We appreciate it.
12:21We will have games.
12:23Maybe we bet.
12:23Maybe we don't bet.
12:24We'll talk about that coming up next year, 97.1.