Category: Minnesota Vikings

49ers win over Packers opens door in NFC North

The Packers and Vikings are now both 8-3 with Green Bay having the tiebreaker.

The 49ers absolutely embarrassed the Packers on Sunday Night Football, and that’s great news for the Minnesota Vikings.

The loss drops the Packers to 8-3 on the season, the same record as the Vikings. Of course, Green Bay has the tiebreaker over Minnesota with its Week 2 win at Lambeau field. However, the two teams play again in Week 16 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Vikings have a 91 percent chance to make the playoffs, while the Packers have a 90 percent chance. The Packers, however, have a 53 percent chance to win the division, while the Vikings have a 46 percent chance.

Here’s what the remaining schedule looks like for the two teams:

Vikings Packers
@ Seahawks @ Giants
vs. Lions vs. Redskins
@ Chargers vs. Bears
vs. Packers @ Vikings
vs. Bears @ Lions

The Packers look to have the easier schedule, but hey, crazy things happen in the NFL.

A healthy Adam Thielen would be huge for Vikings offense

Before this season, Thielen had never missed a game in his five-year career. 

Last week, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said in his podcast that he expects Adam Thielen to be healthy for the team’s Week 13 matchup against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Thielen injured his hamstring in Week 7 and has missed three games with the injury. The team had Week 12 off, so that has given Thielen nearly a month off between game action.

The hope is that Thielen will be 100 percent, but Vikings fans know all about hamstring injuries. Running back Dalvin Cook was in and out of the lineup last season after tweaking his hamstring early in the season.

With the Vikings traveling to play the 9-2 Seahawks in Week 13, Minnesota will need all the help it can get.

Thielen has made the Pro Bowl in each of the last two seasons.

In eight games this season, Thielen has 27 catches for 391 yards and six touchdowns.

Before this season, Thielen had never missed a game in his five-year career.

Seahawks riding 4-game winning streak going into Week 13 battle vs. Vikings

With Sunday’s 17-9 win over the Eagles, the Seahawks improved to 9-2 on the season and have now won four-straight games. 

The Vikings will be going up against a red-hot Seahawks team in Week 13 on Monday Night Football.

With Sunday’s 17-9 win over the Eagles, the Seahawks improved to 9-2 on the season and have now won four-straight games.

The 8-3 Vikings have won their last two, and had a Week 12 bye week.

These are two teams fighting for playoff positioning. Both teams have a shot in their own divisions and also a shot at a first-round bye.

If the season ended today (before the Sunday Night Football game against the Packers and 49ers, which obviously has huge implications), the Seahawks would be the fifth seed in the NFC while the Vikings would be the sixth seed.

The Vikings are trying to change the narrative against the Seahawks, but it won’t be easy in Seattle. Minnesota is 5-11 against Seattle over the years, having lost the last four matchups.

The two teams faced off on Dec. 10 last season at U.S. Bank Stadium and the Seahawks won 21-7 despite only 72 passing yards from Russell Wilson.

Bears keep playoff hopes alive with win over Giants

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago still has a one percent chance to make the playoffs.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless.

The Bears beat the Giants 19-14, thanks to 16 third-quarter points, to improve the team to 5-6 on the season.

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago is holding onto playoff hope, with a one-percent chance to make it.

The 8-3 Vikings have a three-game lead on the Bears, but Chicago has the tiebreaker from its Week 4 win over Minnesota. The two will meet up again in Week 17.

The Bears also play the Lions, Cowboys, Packers and Chiefs to close out the season. Not exactly an easy stretch.

With the Bears likely to miss the playoffs, there are a lot of questions to answer this offseason in Chicago.

This is a team that finished 12-4 in 2018, looking like one of the teams of the future in the NFC. Not so fast.

The struggles of Mitch Trubisky have become too much for the Bears to overcome. The 2017 No. 2 pick is averaging just 5.6 yards per attempt this season. He’s had trouble throwing to the left side of the field. When you take away half the field for a defense, things become a bit easier.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Trubisky was replaced this offseason (Ryan Tannehill, anyone?), which would likely extend coach Matt Nagy’s time in Chicago as well.

Lions fall to Redskins, playoff appearance in 2019 nearly impossible

With Detroit’s last-second loss to the Redskins on Sunday, the Lions fall to 3-7-1 on the season.

The Lions fell 19-16 on a last-second field goal to the Redskins on Sunday afternoon.

That knocked Detroit, who was without Matthew Stafford for the second-straight game, to 3-7-1 on the season. The Lions, per FiveThirtyEight, have less than a one-percent chance to make the postseason.

Detroit would need to win out, while also getting literally all the help.

It’s probably safe to say the Lions will not make the playoffs for the second-straight season under coach Matt Patricia and third-straight season overall.

It’s also probably fair to wonder or not whether Patricia, who has failed to bring the Patriot way to Detroit, will be the team’s head coach in 2020.

This has to be incredibly disappointing for Lions fans considering how the season started. The Lions started the season 2-0-1 and lost their next two games to the Chiefs and Packers by a combined five points. It felt like they were legitimately a good team.

But here we are and it looks like another losing season for Detroit.

The Lions close out their season against the Bears, Vikings, Buccaneers, Broncos and Packers.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has been the best play-action passer in NFL

Through 11 games, Cousins has led the Vikings to an 8-3 record while throwing for 2,756 yards, 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions. 

With Gary Kubiak coming in as the team’s offensive advisor this offseason, many predicted more play-action passes for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Cousins has taken advantage of the shift in offensive approach.

Per Pro Football Focus, Cousins has been the best quarterback in the league on play-action passes with a grade of 91.4 to go with 1,052 yards and 12 touchdowns.

PFF also notes that Cousins has been the best on crossing routes, on ‘next read’ throws, the best at targeting wide receivers out wide and the best on designed rollouts.

That’s not too shabby.

Overall, Cousins has a Pro Football Focus grade of 85.3, a mark that ranks fifth in the NFL behind only Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. It’s the best mark of his career and an improvement of 6 points from last season.

Through 11 games, Cousins has led the Vikings to an 8-3 record while throwing for 2,756 yards, 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Who to cheer for in Week 12 if you’re a Vikings fan

Here’s your Week 12 guide on who to cheer for in games that could affect the Vikings’ playoff positioning.

The Vikings are on bye week in Week 12.

This is an opportunity for you to do yard work, do some holiday shopping, or, to the dismay of your family members, stay inside and cheer for teams you have no affiliation with!

Here’s your Week 12 guide on who to cheer for in games that could affect the Vikings’ playoff positioning.

Seahawks (8-2) at Eagles (5-5), Noon CT

There are two ways to think of this. You could think about just getting the Eagles out of the wild card hunt, even though the Eagles are 2.5 games behind the Vikings.

Or, you could think of it as the Vikings being able to leapfrog the Seahawks with a Seattle loss this week and a Vikings win over the Seahawks in Week 13. That could also put the Vikings in first-round bye territory.

Go Eagles, I guess.

Panthers (5-5) at Saints (8-2), Noon CT

Same concept here. The Panthers are barely hanging in the playoff picture. It would be nice to get rid of potential threats. But again, you should probably aim for higher than just making the playoffs if you’re a Vikings fan.  A Saints loss would put the Vikings and Saints both at 8-3 and could be the difference in who hosts a wild card playoff game.

Kyle Allen for life!

Giants (2-8) at Bears (4-6), Noon CT

The Bears have a one percent chance to make the playoffs. They probably have to win out in order to make it. Let’s go, Danny Dimes! Knock Chicago out of the playoff picture!

Cowboys (6-4) at Patriots (9-1), 3:25 CT

If the Eagles were to make a run in the NFC East, the more losses the Cowboys have, the better for the rest of the potential playoff teams.

The Vikings already have the tiebreaker over the Cowboys and the Eagles. If the Cowboys fall to 6-5, they’d be three games back (basically four with the tiebreaker), which would likely put them out of striking distant from the Vikings in any scenario.

Here we go, TB12!

Packers (8-2) at 49ers (9-1), SNF

The Vikings are just a half game back from the Packers in the NFC North battle for first, but Green Bay has the tiebreaker.

A Packers loss would tie things up in the North and could make the Week 16 battle between the two teams one for not only the NFC North, but for a first-round bye.

In George Kittle we trust.

Ravens (8-2) at Rams (6-4), MNF

The Rams have a 25 percent to make the playoffs, but that number falls to 16 percent with a loss to the Ravens. Jared Goff has looked lost as of late, while Lamar Jackson has made opposing defenses looking lost.

Here’s to Lamar keeping up his MVP campaign and separating the Vikings and Rams even more.

Former Vikings great Fred Cox, inventor of Nerf football, dies at 80

Cox played 15 seasons with the Vikings from 1963-1977. He was an All-Pro in 1969 and made the Pro Bowl in 1970. 

We received the unfortunate news on Thursday afternoon that former Vikings kicker Fred Cox passed away.

Cox was 80 years old.

He played 15 seasons with the Vikings from 1963-1977. He was an All-Pro in 1969 and made the Pro Bowl in 1970. He was part of all four of Minnesota’s Super Bowl runs.

Cox was originally drafted as a running back but ultimately switched to kicker after injuring his back.

He ranks first all-time in team scoring with 1,365 total points. Nobody is going to touch that mark anytime soon. The next active player behind Cox is tight end Kyle Rudolph and his 280 points.

Many people also don’t know that Cox was the inventor of the Nerf football.

You’d be hard-pressed to find many people who have impacted the game on and off the field as much as Cox did.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Cox family.

Gary Kubiak doesn’t have ‘the itch’ to return as a head coach

Kubiak served as an NFL coach for 10 seasons, eight with the Houston Texans and two with the Denver Broncos.

Gary Kubiak is with the Vikings this season, serving as an offensive advisor.

It was a major addition for this team over the offseason.

Kubiak served as an NFL coach for 10 seasons, eight with the Houston Texans and two with the Denver Broncos. Kubiak totalled a 82-75 record. His 2015 Denver Broncos team won the Super Bowl.

Kubiak was last head coach in 2016 when his Broncos went 9-7.

So, now that he’s with the Vikings, playing a pretty big role, does he feel the urge to get back into the game as a head coach?

Not so much, per Chad Graff of The Athletic.

Kubiak, 58, has had some health issues that have hindered his ability to coach, so health wise, this is probably the right move.

Earlier this season, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called getting Kubiak on the coaching staff one of the best things that have happened to him since taking over.

Kubiak, along with offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski, has the Vikings rankek eighth in points scored and ninth in total yards.

Kubiak’s son, Klint, is the team’s quarterbacks coach.

Dalvin Cook remains 2nd in NFL.com RB rankings

Cook already has career highs in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards.

Even after being limited to just 26 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards in a Week 11 win over the Broncos, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook still ranks second in NFL.com’s running back rankings.

On the season, Cook has 1,017 yards for a league-leading 11 touchdowns to go with 45 catches for 455 yards.

That puts him on pace for 1,479 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns along with 65 catches for another 661 yards.

Cook will have a chance to add onto his impressive numbers in Week 13 against the Seahawks. The Vikings have a Week 12 bye. Seattle is allowing just 101 rushing yards per game, a mark that ranks 12th in the NFL.

The only running back ahead of Cook on the list is Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey has 1,059 rushing yards and 517 receiving yards.