The Vikings currently have a game against the Los Angeles Rams next week. The Rams are the only team other than Detroit to win this season. Chanhassen’s Alex Haig says this is a tough way to start the playoffs.
Alex Haig: I’m a little nervous. This team was the only team I thought about all season and didn’t want to be in the playoffs. Because they look strong now that their receivers are back and healthy.
Nina Moini: We spoke to sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson last week about betting on this game. They are back in the line of fire with us. Sorry guys, that’s what we all feared.
Wally Langfellow: Yeah, that’s for sure. And that’s the worst possible scenario. The only thing that didn’t happen, and I don’t think we know this for sure yet, is that there were no significant injuries to the Vikings. This will help you stay healthy next week.
Nina Moini: Well, we never had a touchdown. Nine points came from Wally’s field goals. What happened there, and where was their star Sam Darnold?
Wally Langfellow: Oh, well. Yes, Sam had an unforgettable night. And two, I thought their offensive line was having a hard time shutting down the Lions. The Lions continued to attack throughout the game. According to one statistic I read, Darnold threw down receivers 12 times. It was just a bad night, the most he’s ever had in his career.
Now, I think our defense played pretty well. The score was 17-9 going into the fourth quarter. The score was 10-6 in the first half. So the defense did a pretty good job of keeping the very potent Lions offense out of the end zone. But they can only last so long. Jared Goff quarterbacked the Lions on a very good night, as did Jamar Gibbs, obviously scoring four touchdowns.
But for the Vikings, Darnold completed 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards. They had a chance to score a touchdown. They ended up kicking a field goal. They took the lead and scored several times, but were unable to get into the end zone.
They forced two turnovers, but were unable to capitalize on the touchdown. Yes, it was a field goal night, and that was all they could get. And they missed one of them too. It was a night to remember for the Vikings. They have to regroup and play next Monday night against the Rams, the team they lost to earlier this year, the only team to beat them this year, as you just heard.
Nina Moini: Wow, so Eric, what do you think it will take to beat the Rams?
Eric Nelson: Well, it’s definitely going to take a much better effort than the Vikings had last night. I mean, they got into that red zone seven times, and it was a dead zone. The red zone is within the opponent’s 20-yard line. And if you can’t score touchdowns when you’re deep in the opponent’s territory, you’re not going to win many games.
As Wally mentioned, these teams faced off on October 24th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Rams won 30-20. Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes. And ironically, the loss in Minnesota came just four days after the Vikings lost a home game to Detroit. So the Vikings will have to hope they don’t lose two more games against the same two teams or their season will come to an abrupt end.
Well, Los Angeles lost to Seattle 30-25 yesterday, but it was a meaningless game for the Rams. They rested most of their starters since they already had the NFC West locked up. Los Angeles was No. 10 and No. 7, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was Los Angeles’ offensive coordinator when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2022. And he took the Minnesota job just days after the Rams won the title against Cincinnati.
The Purple team will have to find a way to stop the Rams’ offense, which is centered around Stafford wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, but they also have a great running back in Kyren Williams. So he’s Detroit’s version of Jahmil Gibbs.
The Rams’ defense is pretty solid. They have a rookie linebacker named Jared Verse and another young linebacker named Byron Young. So they’ll come flying out. My guess is that the Rams are going to take a look at what Detroit did defensively in last night’s game, pressuring Darnold with a lot of blitzes, and that will likely be the blueprint Los Angeles uses. .
By the way, Nina the Vikings and the Rams have extensive playoff history. The two have met seven times in the postseason. Minnesota has a 5-2 record in those games, but their last postseason matchup dates back to January 2000, when the Rams played in St. Louis. The Rams won the game and took home the Super Bowl title.
Nina Moini: Okay, so let’s talk about the history of Kevin O’Connell. I think it was a great weekend for Detroit. The Pistons also defeated the Timberwolves on Saturday. Wally, do the Wolves have time to turn their season around?
Wally Ranferro: Well, we have time, but the clock is certainly ticking. I don’t think there is any question about that. The Wolves now have a record of 17 wins and 17 losses on the season. That means there are only seven games left until the middle of the regular season.
So I don’t think it’s too early to say. I think you’ll start to see patterns and problems. And now they are exactly what they are on record. They are an average team with 17 wins and 17 losses. Despite Anthony Edwards scoring 53 points, they lost 119-105 to the sub-.500 Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
And I think the most worrying thing at the moment is that we’re starting to hear from players in their post-match comments what the problems are with the club. And Anthony Edwards, I heard this from him the other day. He said it wasn’t fun.
Well, this is not good, because he is the most smiling and happiest person on the basketball court. And if he’s not having fun, that’s not good for the Minnesota Timberwolves. We also heard from veteran point guard leader Michael Conley and last night from Rudy Gobert about getting on the same page.
And I think there are some issues within that. I hope they don’t pull the trigger and make another trade that puts the cart before the horse. Because they need to use everything they have on the court to turn this situation around. But obviously it’s not fixed at the moment so it will take a little longer.
Nina Moini: Well, it sounds like they need a retreat or something to ground themselves. However, the Minnesota Gophers had a better weekend. They won the Mayo Bowl. What happened in that match, Eric?
Eric Nelson: Yeah. Hey Nina, could you pass me the mayonnaise?
Nina Moini: That’s terrible.
Eric Nelson: Yeah, Friday night was a fun outing in Charlotte for the Gophers. The Dukes defeated Virginia Tech 24-10 in the Mayo Bowl. Quarterback Max Brosmer threw for 211 yards and one touchdown. Darius Taylor ran for 113 yards and 1 TD. He also pitched for points.
So how about this? Minnesota has now won eight consecutive bowl games. P.J. Fleck went a perfect 6-0 in bowl games, and the Gophers finished the season with an 8-5 record. And when they win the Mayo Bowl, the winning team’s coach is doused in a big bucket of mayonnaise.
And PJ Fleck, he tackled it head on. That’s the kind of coach he is. There’s a lot of energy. There’s a lot of mayonnaise on hot dogs.
Nina Moini: Yeah, he took it well. Yeah, he took it like a champ.
Eric Nelson: It certainly was. It’s a bowl game, even if it’s not a major bowl game. But they threw mayonnaise on the head coach, the winning coach, so it spread quickly. That’s why PJ Fleck and the gophers are getting special attention.
And I think the key is for them to finish eighth and fifth. They have momentum heading into next season, spring football, which is just a few months away. And can they take advantage of this? Could this be a springboard to maybe win nine or 10 games next season and actually join some of the better teams in college football?
Nina Moini: Yeah, there was a lot going on with mayonnaise at the Mayo Bowl. I don’t think you should be surprised. But at least it was a good time for the team. Thank you both for checking in.
Both: Thank you, Nina.
Nina Moini: Okay. That’s Wally Langfellow, founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the sports talk show “10,000 Takes.” And Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and the Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS’s Eye on Football and SiriusXM. I want to thank them and, as always, thank you all for listening.
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