Tag: Stefon Diggs

Ranking the Eagles potential playoff opponents for Wild Card weekend

Ranking the Eagles potential playoff opponents for Wild Card weekend

The NFC playoff picture is starting to clear up, as the 49ers, Saints and Green Bay Packers are all working to secure the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage.

The Baltimore Ravens control the AFC, but in the NFC, there are a handful of scenarios still at play in the NFC East and NFC West.

Here is a look at the standings ahead of Monday’s matchup between the Packers and Minnesota Vikings:

NFC

Division Leaders

1. San Francisco (12-3, clinched playoff berth)

2. New Orleans (12-3, clinched NFC South)

3. Green Bay (11-3, clinched playoff berth)

4. Philadelphia (8-7)

Wild Card

5. Seattle (11-4, clinched playoff berth)

6. Minnesota (10-4, clinched playoff berth)

In the Hunt

7. Dallas (7-8)

The Cardinals victory over the Seahawks in Seattle presents three opportunities for Green Bay to secure the No. 1 seed:

1. Packers beat Vikings On Monday Night Football
2. Packers beat Lions on Sunday
3. Seahawks beat 49ers on Sunday night

Regardless of Monday night, if San Francisco can beat Seattle next Sunday night on NBC, they’ll be the top seed in the NFC.

If the Seahawks beat the 49ers on Sunday night, Green Bay will be the top seed, and the Vikings could find themselves heading to Philadelphia.

We ranked the Birds potential opening-round opponents with the top team as the easiest Wild Card opponent and the third team presenting the most difficult challenge.

***

1. San Francisco 49ers

The NFC’s top team all season, we’re banking on an experienced team folding under the pressure and the weather that Lincoln Financial Field can offer. Jimmy Garoppolo has never started a playoff game and first-year playoff starters have about a 30% chance of being successful.

The 49ers defense is heralded, but they play into the Eagles strength on the offensive line and San Franciso has given up almost 40 points a game over the last three outings.

Both Seattle and San Francisco would also be traveling across country on a short week, and possibly have to play on Saturday night.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Vikings duo does something that hasn’t happened in 10 years

The last time this happened was 2009.

Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs hit the 1,000-yard mark after a 19-yard catch against the Chargers on Sunday.

Vikings running back Dalvin Cook hit the 1,000-yard mark on the ground earlier in the season.

In doing so, the Vikings now have a receiver and running back with 1,000 or more yards. Per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, it’s the first time that has happened since the 2009 season when Sidney Rice and Adrian Peterson did so.

5 Vikings players the Chargers must game-plan for in Week 15

Chargers Wire’s lays out five Vikings players the Chargers must game-plan for.

The Los Angeles Chargers face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15 of the 2019 regular season.

The Vikings, who are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, have five specific players that the Bolts must really hone in on in order to pull off the upset on Sunday.

With that, here are the group of Vikings players the Chargers must game-plan for:

QB Kirk Cousins

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

The Vikings may have found their long term at quarterback as Cousins is playing at an elite level this season. Cousins has completed 70% of his passes for 3,274 yards and 24 touchdowns. His passer rating of 112.0 ranks second in the NFL.

Cousins hasn’t been susceptible to making mistakes as he’s only thrown four interceptions. This means that the Chargers will have to force him into mistakes by putting him under duress with defensive end Joey Bosa, who’s coming off a two-sack performance, Melvin Ingram and safety Derwin James off the edge.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

4 key things to know about Chargers’ Week 15 opponent

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez lays out four things to know about the Los Angeles Chargers opponent.

The Los Angeles Chargers (5-8) are set to take on the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday, Dec. 15 at 1:05 p.m. PT.

Here are four key things to know about the Week 15 matchup:

Kirk Cousins has been red hot

Since Week 5, Cousins has totaled an NFL-best passer rating of 120.0. He leads the league with 21 touchdown passes and ranks third with 2,539 passing yards and a completion percentage of 72%. Cousins also isn’t known for turning the ball over as much as he has only thrown four interceptions this season.

Adding to the arsenal

Cousins has managed to post the majority those numbers without one of the team’s best wideouts, Adam Thielen. Thielen has been hampered by a hamstring injury since Week 7, which has forced him to watch the majority of the action from the sidelines.

Now, likely to play this weekend, Thielen provides Cousins with an extra big play threat and a reliable option on third downs opposite of Stefon Diggs, who ranks No. 10 in the league with 997 receiving yards.

Can beat you on the ground

Not only can the Vikings beat you through the air, but they’re a proven team out of the backfield. Running back Dalvin Cook’s ranks No. 4 in the NFL with 1,108 rushing yards and is tied for first with 13 touchdowns on the ground.

Hunter is going to be ready to hunt

The Vikings’ defense isn’t anything to boast about, ranking in the middle of the pack in each category. But defensive end Danielle Hunter’s contributions have benefited immensely. Coming off a three-sack performance against the Lions last weekend, Hunter is now up to 12.5 sacks on the season. He became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks.

[lawrence-related id=31644,31642,31637,31628]

Vikings WR Stefon Diggs just 3 yards away from 1,000 on season

Remember when Stefon Diggs was unhappy with his role with the Vikings offense?

Remember when Stefon Diggs was unhappy with his role with the Vikings offense?

How times have changed.

After catching six passes for 92 yards on Sunday against the Lions, the receiver is just three yards away from his second-straight 1,000-yard season.

On the season, Diggs has 56 catches for 997 yards and five touchdowns. With Adam Thielen’s hamstring injury keeping him out for a huge chunk of the season, Diggs has been relied upon a lot from this Vikings offense. And even when he’s not targeted, he’s a huge threat for this team which makes the job of Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook easier.

Diggs has been great down the field, averaging a career-high 12.2 yards per target. That’s nearly double his mark of 6.9 last season.

After finishing with 1,021 yards last season, it’s almost a certainty that Diggs will set a new career-high for yards with three games remaining.

Diggs will likely hit the 1,000-yard mark next week against the Chargers in Los Angeles, a team Diggs has never faced off against before.

Going into Week 14, Diggs ranked 13th in the league in receiving yards.

Vikings defense continues to struggle in loss to Seahawks

The Vikings defense allowed 444 total yards, and 218 of those yards came from the Seahawks run game. 

The Minnesota Vikings lost their fourth game of the season after nearly completing a comeback against the Seattle Seahawks. In one of the hardest atmospheres to play in in the entire NFL, the Vikings ended up losing 37-30. 

Going into halftime, the Vikings had all of the momentum. After a rough third quarter, the Vikings tried to claw back into the fight but ended up falling short. A valid effort led by Kirk Cousins and Kevin Stefanski fell short due to mistakes and poor play of Mike Zimmer’s defense. 

The tables have officially turned after the Monday Night Football loss, and the defense is no longer the strong suit for the Vikings. The Vikings defense allowed 444 total yards, and 218 of those yards came from the Seahawks run game. 

Not only did the Vikings front seven get gashed by Seattle’s rushing attack, but a few key mistakes in the secondary combined for the perfect storm. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes allowed a game-changing touchdown reception to David Moore thinking he had coverage over the top. It wasn’t a good night for the Vikings highest paid corner. 

Not only has Rhodes regressed in coverage, but he also leads the Vikings in penalties with eight total accepted penalties in 2019. The 2017 version of the Vikings cornerback is nowhere to be found, and he also had a crucial unnecessary roughness penalty in the back half of the game on Monday night. 

The secondary issues have been a problem all season for the Vikings, but even more so in the last three games. Over the last three games, the Vikings are allowing teams on average to throw for just under 300 yards.

The scary part about that stat is the fact that the Vikings just allowed more than 200 yards on the ground against Seattle. The Seahawks run game is one of the best in the NFL, but the Vikings are known for being great run stoppers nonetheless. If teams are able to continue to expose the Vikings defense both through the air and on the ground, it could be an ugly finish to the Vikings season. 

The national media is already putting up story lines of Kirk Cousins being 0-8 on Monday Night Football, and he did have one turnover. However, that turnover bounced off the hands of Stefon Diggs, similar to his last interception that happened nearly two months ago. 

This loss should not be put on Cousins. Instead, he is the reason the Vikings were able to get back into the game. He is playing MVP worthy football, and is a huge reason the Vikings are still four games above .500. 

Even with the one turnover and multiple penalties, this loss falls on the hands of Zimmer’s defense. The offense has shown how much fight it has in the last two weeks, it just wasn’t enough to pull of a win in Seattle. 

It will be critical down the stretch for the Vikings to find some sort of balance between their offense and defense in the final quarter of the season and potentially into the playoffs. With how well the offense has performed since the loss in Chicago, the Vikings could make a run in the playoffs if the defense can get back on track. 

Vikings WR Adam Thielen ruled out against Seahawks on Monday

The Minnesota Vikings will face the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football without star receiver Adam Thielen, who has been ruled out.

The Seattle Seahawks secondary caught a break on Sunday, with the news that Minnesota Vikings star receiver Adam Thielen (hamstring) will not play on Monday night.

Thielen has not played since Week 9 against the Chiefs, a game he left after just seven snaps.

Still, the speedy receiver has hauled in 27 receptions for 391 yards and six touchdowns in what has only really amounted to six games.

Most expected he’d return in time to face Seattle on Monday night, including Seahawks coach Pete Carroll – who said, “I’ll be really surprised if he doesn’t make it back for Monday night.”

“He’s a great player,” Carroll continued. “Makes the plays. Hard to cover. Can beat you on the one on ones. More than that, he makes big plays – really timely, clutch. He just comes through. If he’s on my team, I say you can’t replace that guy. He is what he is. They have Stefon Diggs. He’s a terrific football player and he’s really picked up the slack and all that, but it’s hard to replace those guys.”

The Vikings will rely heavily on Diggs as well as running back Dalvin Cook and a pair of strong tight ends in veteran Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith, Jr.

However, not getting Thielen back will only make things tougher for Kirk Cousins and the rest of the Minnesota offense, who is meeting a Seattle defense that has been red-hot these past few weeks.

[lawrence-related id=51965]

Seahawks Week 13 preview and prediction: Minnesota at Seattle

Who will come out on top Monday night of Week 13 as the Seattle Seahawks host the Minnesota Vikings in primetime? Our preview and prediction.

Only eight days removed from grinding out a defensive win over the Eagles in Philadelphia, the Seahawks won’t get much of a reprieve in Week 13. The late-season gauntlet for Seattle continues with a home duel against the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota will enter Seattle with a nearly identical situation as the Seahawks. The Vikings are 8-3 and sitting in a wild card spot barely behind their division rivals in the Packers while the Seahawks are 9-2 and just behind their primary rivals, the 49ers.

A win on Monday night is crucial for both teams for two different reasons. First and foremost, it is critical in the wild card standings. The Vikings have a chance to leapfrog the Seahawks to the No. 5 seed with a win, while Seattle can tighten up its grip on the No. 5 seed by taking care of business at home.

The second reason has to do with divisional standings. Division titles are still very much within grasp of both teams, with the NFC North title actually being a little closer for the Vikings. Green Bay and Minnesota share identical 8-3 records, with the Packers only holding on with a head-to-head tiebreaker. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are desperate to keep pace with a Niners team hellbent on running away with it.

The Vikings boast one of the most talented rosters in all of football and the Seahawks are one of the hottest teams in the league. It certainly looks like Monday night is shaping into must-watch television this week.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Stefon Diggs is investigating Lizzo’s mysterious Vikings reference on ‘Truth Hurts’

Who is the “new man on the Minnesota Vikings”?

It’s a question that’s on everyone’s minds after listening to Lizzo’s hit, Truth Hurts.

Who IS the “new man on the Minnesota Vikings”?

That’s also something Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs is wondering. And he says he’s not the anonymous player mentioned by the singer.

On Thursday, Diggs was asked by Sports Illustrated if he knows who the player is and he responded, “Nobody has come forth and said anything. … I’ve asked my teammates, nobody has said anything. But we’re going to get to the bottom of it, I promise.”

Stefon Diggs is on the case!! But maybe we’ve already found out some info about the player?

First, here’s the moment with SI Now:

As BET.com pointed out, Lizzo has confirmed a Viking was in her DMs and she went out a date with him (it’s also worth noting the song was released in 2017, so it could be a Viking who’s no longer with the team). And in May, the singer performed in her native Detroit and, per the Free Press, this happened:

With her 2017 single “Truth Hurts” now bounding onto the charts thanks to the Netflix movie “Someone Great,” the singer offered up a tidbit about the “boy problems” referenced on the track.

“Y’all want to know a secret?” she told the Saint Andrew’s crowd. “The person I wrote that song about is from Detroit.”

Now, that could mean the Viking is a Detroit native … but what if the song is about two men, one of whom is the new one who played for the Vikings? And maybe the Detroit guy isn’t him?

The mystery continues … but maybe Diggs will figure it out.

[jwplayer FWUuPAAw-q2aasYxh]

Vikings WR Stefon Diggs is on pace for a career-high in yards

There was a time when Vikings wide Stefon Diggs was an unhappy guy with Minnesota’s offense. 

There was a time when Vikings wide Stefon Diggs was an unhappy guy with Minnesota’s offense.

That mood has shifted with Diggs’ performances lately and with the team winning six of its last seven games.

On the season, Diggs has 46 catches for 880 yards and five touchdowns. That puts him on pace for 66 catches for a career-high 1,280 yards and seven touchdowns.

After finishing with five catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s comeback win over the Broncos, Diggs already has five 100-yard games this season with five games remaining.

Diggs has been a boom or bust player for the Vikings this season. If he hasn’t had 100 or more yards, he hasn’t eclipsed the 50-yard mark once. But just having Diggs as a threat, especially with Adam Thielen hurt, is big for this Vikings team.

Per Pro Football Focus, Diggs has a 78.7 player grade, a mark that rnaks 17th in the league.