Vikings vie for no. 2 after crushing game against Green Bay, and other sports news
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Duke Shelley (20) breaks up a pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) during the first half of an NFL football game on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.
Morry Gash | AP
It's time for sports! Let's get into it with our sports experts Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score magazine and the cohost of the “10,000 Takes” sports talk show. Eric is the other host of “10,000 Takes” and is also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio’s "Eye on Football."
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: It is time to talk about sports. We've got two guys who are excellent-- Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson, our sports guys. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine and the co-host of Ten-Thousand Takes sports talk show on radio and TV. Eric is the other host of Ten-Thousand Takes. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football. Wally and Eric, how are you?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'm tired from shoveling. How's that?
CATHY WURZER: Yes.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, get over it. Happy 2023, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: And thank you, Eric Nelson. Thank you, and happy new year to you both. It's been a good year for the Vikings so far. Wally Langfellow, Vikes are playing for, what, number two seed? Is that right?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Potentially. They would have to beat the Bears on Sunday, which-- the Bears are terrible. They're 3-13. They've got one of the worst records in the NFL. The Bears actually are playing to get the number one pick in this spring's NFL Draft. So if they lose, that actually works better for the Chicago Bears. So they're playing right into the hands of that. But the Vikings, in order to get the number two seed, would also need San Francisco to lose to Arizona, which seems highly unlikely. I guess it's possible. But those two teams are headed opposite directions.
49ers are one of the hottest teams-- one of the best teams in the NFC. And the Cardinals are headed down the drain once again as well. So it looks like the Vikings will be the three seed, which actually might not be a bad thing because if they are the three, they will play the Giants, a team that they beat just a couple of weeks ago at US Bank Stadium. So it's not all bad if they don't get the two seed. However, that would mean that they would have to go on the road for their second playoff game. But let's get to the first playoff game. And let's get them a win first before we talk about playoff game number two.
CATHY WURZER: That would be true. That would be true. And, hopefully, they would win against the Bears after being crushed, Eric, by Green Bay.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Ugh.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they got battered on the not-so-frozen tundra in Green Bay last Sunday, 41-17. Wally and I were at that game. So we saw the carnage firsthand. And this is such a quirky Minnesota Vikings team, Cathy. I'm not sure, in NFL history, if there's ever been a club that's 12-4. I mean, they have a gaudy record. But they've been outscored on the season. They have 395 total points. They've given up 414. That's a point differential of minus-19. It's just very rare. But it also points out that when the Vikings lose, they get crushed. Dallas, Philadelphia, Green Bay-- even the loss to Detroit was double digits.
So they're a hard team to figure out. As Wally said, Chicago is very bad-- 3-13, second-worst record in the NFL. And Justin Fields, their outstanding young quarterback from Ohio State, won't play. So Minnesota will see Nathan Peterman at quarterback for the Bears. And the last time he started a game at QB was 2018. Now, the game is outside on natural grass. That sometimes is kryptonite for the Vikings, who are an indoor dome team. But the forecast high in the Windy City is 36 degrees. So that's rather mild for January.
But one thing to point out, Cathy-- on the offensive line, which is a key unit on any football team, the Vikings have issues. Right tackle Brian O'Neill has a torn Achilles. He's gonna have surgery. He might be able to return if Minnesota gets to the Super Bowl. Backup center Aaron Schlottmann is out for the season. The good news is starter Garrett Bradberry should be back Sunday against Chicago. So we'll see what happens.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk a little bit about Damar Hamlin. That's, of course, what everyone's talking about here. I just saw a report. Evidently, he has his eyes open. He's squeezing his family's hands. So he's making some progress, which is terrific.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, I mean, it was just horrific to watch that. Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin-- he suffered cardiac arrest during Monday night's game, as we all know, against Cincinnati. He's still in critical condition. But as you said, Cathy, he's showing remarkable improvement according to a statement that was released by the Bills. He is reportedly awake and, as you said, holding hands with his family in the hospital. So that's all good.
With regard to the game, which of course, is secondary-- but I think, as time goes on and as his condition improves, there's going to be more talk about, what do they do with that game? Now, it was postponed, and it will not be resumed this week. And the NFL has not made public the decision as to what they're going to do with that. It's kind of tricky, though, because with the playoffs scheduled to start a week from Saturday, the only option that the NFL has would be to push the entire playoffs back a week and have the Bills and Bengals be the only game, presumably on January 15th, eliminating the week off before the Super Bowl.
The other option would be to cancel that game completely-- the Bengals and the Bills-- and determine playoff seedings on winning percentage. It'll be interesting to see how this thing plays out. If they do have a Bills-Bengals game only a week from Sunday, I'm imagining it would garner huge ratings-- television ratings. And the NFL would probably use it as a propaganda piece. I'm completely against that. I think that they should just cancel it, go on winning percentage, and move forward. I really don't think that they should make a big to-do about this. I really don't.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Cathy. And of course, it really was a catastrophic event Monday night in Cincinnati. And one of the heroes in all of this was Buffalo Bills Assistant Athletic Trainer Denny Kellington. He's the guy who gave Damar Hamlin CPR when he collapsed on the field after the collision with Tee Higgins of Cincinnati. He's being saluted, Cathy, by coaches, players, and fans. The Twitterverse is blowing up with people saying that Denny Kellington is a real, live, American hero. And Buffalo was supposed to play New England Sunday in upstate New York. And as we all know, Buffalo's gone through incredible pain with the blizzards and all the snow they've gotten.
Now they're dealing with Damar Hamlin. But somebody suggested that when the Bills introduce their starting lineup, the first responders should be running onto the field. And they should be introduced, and leading the way should be Denny Kellington. I think it's a great idea. The other thing I want to point out is, football is getting a bad rap in this in my opinion. A lot of people are saying, well, the sport's too dangerous. We should do away with it.
Well, let's not forget. We've seen tragic situations in other sports. Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars in 1968 died on the ice in a game against the Oakland Seals. Hank Gathers, playing college basketball 1994 for Loyola Marymount-- similar situation. Now there have been some other NFL incidents. Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions in 1971-- he passed away on the field at Tiger Stadium.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh.
ERIC NELSON: And as we all know here in Minnesota, Korey Stringer, on a sauna-like day in Mankato back in 2001, suffered heat stroke, collapsed, and eventually, we lost Korey. But this can happen, really, Cathy, in any sport, unfortunately.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, it is such a sad story. All right, I have about a couple of minutes left. I think we should talk about the Timberwolves before we go. Wally, it looks like they knocked off Portland last night.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, they got a win against the Trailblazers last night. Anthony Edwards-- another big game-- 32 points for Anthony Edwards. So that's two straight wins for the Wolves following their six-game losing streak. I was at the game against Detroit on Saturday on New Year's Eve. And it was ugly. And they were getting booed off the floor again.
But these last two wins-- and I think that what we're seeing now is Anthony Edwards stepping forward and becoming the guy. And he has to. Karl-Anthony Towns is still hurt. His return is probably still at least a couple of weeks away. But we're seeing Edwards-- Ant, as he is better known-- mature and become a better player and a bigger piece to this.
CATHY WURZER: Guys, thank you. I appreciate it. I hope you have a good rest of the day.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Cathy. Always good to be on. Don't forget. The Wild won last night, 5-1 over--
CATHY WURZER: That's right.
ERIC NELSON: --Tampa Bay.
CATHY WURZER: That's right. All right, Eric Nelson and Wally Langfellow, thanks for being here. Talk to you later. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine, the co-host of Ten-Thousand Takes sports talk show. Eric's the other host of that show. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'm tired from shoveling. How's that?
CATHY WURZER: Yes.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, get over it. Happy 2023, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: And thank you, Eric Nelson. Thank you, and happy new year to you both. It's been a good year for the Vikings so far. Wally Langfellow, Vikes are playing for, what, number two seed? Is that right?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Potentially. They would have to beat the Bears on Sunday, which-- the Bears are terrible. They're 3-13. They've got one of the worst records in the NFL. The Bears actually are playing to get the number one pick in this spring's NFL Draft. So if they lose, that actually works better for the Chicago Bears. So they're playing right into the hands of that. But the Vikings, in order to get the number two seed, would also need San Francisco to lose to Arizona, which seems highly unlikely. I guess it's possible. But those two teams are headed opposite directions.
49ers are one of the hottest teams-- one of the best teams in the NFC. And the Cardinals are headed down the drain once again as well. So it looks like the Vikings will be the three seed, which actually might not be a bad thing because if they are the three, they will play the Giants, a team that they beat just a couple of weeks ago at US Bank Stadium. So it's not all bad if they don't get the two seed. However, that would mean that they would have to go on the road for their second playoff game. But let's get to the first playoff game. And let's get them a win first before we talk about playoff game number two.
CATHY WURZER: That would be true. That would be true. And, hopefully, they would win against the Bears after being crushed, Eric, by Green Bay.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Ugh.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they got battered on the not-so-frozen tundra in Green Bay last Sunday, 41-17. Wally and I were at that game. So we saw the carnage firsthand. And this is such a quirky Minnesota Vikings team, Cathy. I'm not sure, in NFL history, if there's ever been a club that's 12-4. I mean, they have a gaudy record. But they've been outscored on the season. They have 395 total points. They've given up 414. That's a point differential of minus-19. It's just very rare. But it also points out that when the Vikings lose, they get crushed. Dallas, Philadelphia, Green Bay-- even the loss to Detroit was double digits.
So they're a hard team to figure out. As Wally said, Chicago is very bad-- 3-13, second-worst record in the NFL. And Justin Fields, their outstanding young quarterback from Ohio State, won't play. So Minnesota will see Nathan Peterman at quarterback for the Bears. And the last time he started a game at QB was 2018. Now, the game is outside on natural grass. That sometimes is kryptonite for the Vikings, who are an indoor dome team. But the forecast high in the Windy City is 36 degrees. So that's rather mild for January.
But one thing to point out, Cathy-- on the offensive line, which is a key unit on any football team, the Vikings have issues. Right tackle Brian O'Neill has a torn Achilles. He's gonna have surgery. He might be able to return if Minnesota gets to the Super Bowl. Backup center Aaron Schlottmann is out for the season. The good news is starter Garrett Bradberry should be back Sunday against Chicago. So we'll see what happens.
CATHY WURZER: Let's talk a little bit about Damar Hamlin. That's, of course, what everyone's talking about here. I just saw a report. Evidently, he has his eyes open. He's squeezing his family's hands. So he's making some progress, which is terrific.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, I mean, it was just horrific to watch that. Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin-- he suffered cardiac arrest during Monday night's game, as we all know, against Cincinnati. He's still in critical condition. But as you said, Cathy, he's showing remarkable improvement according to a statement that was released by the Bills. He is reportedly awake and, as you said, holding hands with his family in the hospital. So that's all good.
With regard to the game, which of course, is secondary-- but I think, as time goes on and as his condition improves, there's going to be more talk about, what do they do with that game? Now, it was postponed, and it will not be resumed this week. And the NFL has not made public the decision as to what they're going to do with that. It's kind of tricky, though, because with the playoffs scheduled to start a week from Saturday, the only option that the NFL has would be to push the entire playoffs back a week and have the Bills and Bengals be the only game, presumably on January 15th, eliminating the week off before the Super Bowl.
The other option would be to cancel that game completely-- the Bengals and the Bills-- and determine playoff seedings on winning percentage. It'll be interesting to see how this thing plays out. If they do have a Bills-Bengals game only a week from Sunday, I'm imagining it would garner huge ratings-- television ratings. And the NFL would probably use it as a propaganda piece. I'm completely against that. I think that they should just cancel it, go on winning percentage, and move forward. I really don't think that they should make a big to-do about this. I really don't.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Cathy. And of course, it really was a catastrophic event Monday night in Cincinnati. And one of the heroes in all of this was Buffalo Bills Assistant Athletic Trainer Denny Kellington. He's the guy who gave Damar Hamlin CPR when he collapsed on the field after the collision with Tee Higgins of Cincinnati. He's being saluted, Cathy, by coaches, players, and fans. The Twitterverse is blowing up with people saying that Denny Kellington is a real, live, American hero. And Buffalo was supposed to play New England Sunday in upstate New York. And as we all know, Buffalo's gone through incredible pain with the blizzards and all the snow they've gotten.
Now they're dealing with Damar Hamlin. But somebody suggested that when the Bills introduce their starting lineup, the first responders should be running onto the field. And they should be introduced, and leading the way should be Denny Kellington. I think it's a great idea. The other thing I want to point out is, football is getting a bad rap in this in my opinion. A lot of people are saying, well, the sport's too dangerous. We should do away with it.
Well, let's not forget. We've seen tragic situations in other sports. Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars in 1968 died on the ice in a game against the Oakland Seals. Hank Gathers, playing college basketball 1994 for Loyola Marymount-- similar situation. Now there have been some other NFL incidents. Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions in 1971-- he passed away on the field at Tiger Stadium.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh.
ERIC NELSON: And as we all know here in Minnesota, Korey Stringer, on a sauna-like day in Mankato back in 2001, suffered heat stroke, collapsed, and eventually, we lost Korey. But this can happen, really, Cathy, in any sport, unfortunately.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, it is such a sad story. All right, I have about a couple of minutes left. I think we should talk about the Timberwolves before we go. Wally, it looks like they knocked off Portland last night.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, they got a win against the Trailblazers last night. Anthony Edwards-- another big game-- 32 points for Anthony Edwards. So that's two straight wins for the Wolves following their six-game losing streak. I was at the game against Detroit on Saturday on New Year's Eve. And it was ugly. And they were getting booed off the floor again.
But these last two wins-- and I think that what we're seeing now is Anthony Edwards stepping forward and becoming the guy. And he has to. Karl-Anthony Towns is still hurt. His return is probably still at least a couple of weeks away. But we're seeing Edwards-- Ant, as he is better known-- mature and become a better player and a bigger piece to this.
CATHY WURZER: Guys, thank you. I appreciate it. I hope you have a good rest of the day.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Cathy. Always good to be on. Don't forget. The Wild won last night, 5-1 over--
CATHY WURZER: That's right.
ERIC NELSON: --Tampa Bay.
CATHY WURZER: That's right. All right, Eric Nelson and Wally Langfellow, thanks for being here. Talk to you later. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine, the co-host of Ten-Thousand Takes sports talk show. Eric's the other host of that show. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football.
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