Vikings favored in Sunday season opener, and other sports news
Tennessee Titans quarterback Malik Willis (7) runs the ball as Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andre Carter II (55) makes the stop in the second half of a preseason NFL football game on Aug. 18.
Charlie Neibergall | AP
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: The bases are loaded seem to be magic words for Twins third baseman Royce Lewis.
COMMENTATOR: A deep drive to left field, high and deep to left. Another Grand Slam for Royce Lewis.
[CHEERING]
CATHY WURZER: Lewis made history Monday when he became the first rookie to hit three, three, Grand Slams in eight days. He's had four over his career. What does his team need to do to be in a good position for the Playoffs? Here to talk about this, the start of the NH-- not the NHL, the NFL season and other sports news, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
Wally is the creator of Minnesota Score Magazine and host of the 10,000 Takes sports talk show. Eric also hosts that show. He is the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL. Hey, guys, how are you?
ERIC NELSON: Hey. Happy Ladies Day, Cathy.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And, by the way, NHL isn't that far behind, so you're not wrong, actually.
[LAUGHTER]
CATHY WURZER: Thank goodness.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, just covering your tracks for you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, you know what? You're a good friend. Thank you for doing that. So, OK, the Vikes are going to open the season Sunday against Tampa Bay here in town, Minneapolis. Refresh our memory here. What did we do last year before we lost in the Playoffs?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, a 13 and 4 regular season last year. Most of those wins came-- they were one-score victories, which was basically a record for-- I don't know if it was an NFL record. It certainly was for the Vikings.
But they bowed out, as you said, right in the first round against the Giants. I think that if you look at the Vikings last year, it came down to defense. They could not stop people when they needed to, particularly against the Giants in that Playoff game. I don't think they stopped them at all until the very end of the game, but the Giants just marched up and down the field.
So we'll get our first look in a regular season game at defensive coordinator Brian Flores' schemes and what he has got in store for the Vikings defense because that's going to have to change. They're going to have to get better on defense this year. And that's, I think, what everybody is waiting around to see because we know Kirk Cousins is back, the 35-year-old.
In the final year of his contract, he didn't play at all in the preseason. So we'll get our first look at him, same with wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who, oh, by the way, is in the midst of a contract negotiation himself, parties on both sides hoping to get a long-term deal before Sunday's kickoff, which will likely make him one of the highest paid players in NFL history and certainly the highest paid wide receiver.
All that coming to a head on Sunday and, oh, by the way, at noon, US Bank Stadium. If you'd like to get a ticket, check out the secondary market. Cheapest tickets right now are at about $70. So we shall see.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. All right. Eric.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. And just so our listeners aren't confused, this would normally be a Fox game. It's going to be on CBS. So make sure you have the right channel on when you tune in Sunday. The Vikings are a 5 and 1/2-point favorite against Tampa Bay.
Now, the Bucs won the woeful NFC South last season. They had a subpar 8-9 record. And that was with Tom Brady, who is now gone. He's ridden off into the sunset. He's counting his millions.
So the guy replacing the GOAT is Baker Mayfield, who was already playing for his fourth team. Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 at Oklahoma, but he's been a flop in the NFL.
I think the highlight of his career was when he appeared in those Progressive Insurance spots a few years ago when he played for Worley's Cleveland Browns. Since then, it's been a downhill slide. Now, the Buccaneers also have Antoine Winfield Jr. He's Tampa's starting free safety. He played at Eden Prairie High School under Mike Grant, the legend, and also at the U of M. And his father is Antoine Sr., who played cornerback for the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings.
A couple of other angles, Wally brought up Brian Flores, the new defensive coordinator for Minnesota. On the Tampa side of things, they have a new offensive coordinator in Dave Canales. So we'll have a couple of newbies in key positions, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, in this game on Sunday.
CATHY WURZER: I know you guys will be focused like lasers on the game. Let's talk about more football, shall we? The Gophers. Gophers are going to play, I believe, Eastern Michigan Saturday?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes, they get one of the directionals this weekend. They get Eastern Michigan. Gophers, oh, by the way, a 20-point favorite. But please, let's not overlook a team from the Mid-American Conference. As Gopher fans well know, a couple of years ago, they lost at home to Bowling Green. And that was a scar on their schedule from two seasons ago.
They did have a dramatic 13-10 comeback win last week over Nebraska, a great game for safety Tyler Nubin, who was named the Jim Thorpe Award National Player of the Week after recording three tackles. And he had two interceptions, including a key one down the stretch in that 13-10 win. By the way, the Jim Thorpe Award given annually to the best defensive back in college football based on performance, athletic ability, and character.
Oh, by the way, kicker Dragan Kesich was also named Big Ten Player of the Week for his game-winning field goal. And, of course, Tyler Nubin was also a Big Ten Player of the Week on the defensive side. So should be interesting, but they better win. They better not lose to Eastern Michigan.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] The game against the Cornhuskers was fun. Say, Eric, let's talk about the Lynx.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. A few weeks ago, we were banging on the Lynx, saying, wow, are they really this bad? They started 0 and 6. But they have bounced back in Minnesota, now just the second team in WNBA history to start 0 and 6 and make the Playoffs. A lot of us were saying, well, they should tank the season, try to get Caitlin Clark, the superstar at Iowa, or Angel Reese down at LSU, or Paige Bueckers, who plays at UConn and is from Hopkins.
But, no, Cheryl Reeve is about winning and competing. I give her a lot of credit. And they had some injuries, Diamond Miller, Napheesa Collier. Miller's been a very good rookie out of Maryland. And Napheesa Collier is the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Week.
So what's ahead for the Lynx is, Cathy, games at Chicago on Friday against the Sky and then at Indiana on Sunday against the Fever that will end the regular season. They will go into the Playoffs. I'm not sure who they're going to play. Could be Dallas, a team they have a lot of acrimony with.
There have been issues when the Dallas Lynx play the Minnesota Lynx. But they're in the Playoffs. And who knows, Cathy? Maybe championship number five could be coming to the Twin Cities, a parade.
CATHY WURZER: That would be nice to have a championship parade somewhere in the state of Minnesota. Before you go, Twins are off today. But they're getting to the end of the season already in the Playoffs.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And they've got the Mets in town for a three-game series. They now have a six-game lead, the Twins do, over Cleveland. You heard the clip with Royce Lewis hitting a Grand Slam earlier in the week, his third Grand Slam of the season. He joined luminaries like Kirby Puckett and others, who have hit three Grand Slams in a season.
But he is something special. If he continues on this track, he is going to be potentially the star among the Twins players and maybe somebody that we can look-- actually have confidence that the Twins are going to make a run at maybe another World Series someday because this guy is fun to watch. He's really good defensively. And obviously, we see he can hit the baseball. So lots of good coming there. Twins should clinch, hopefully, mid-September, I would say.
CATHY WURZER: All right, guys, thank you. Have a good weekend.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ERIC NELSON: All right, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Don't forget Minnesota United at home Saturday too.
CATHY WURZER: That's right. Thank you. Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson, our sports guys, have been with us. Thanks for listening to Minnesota Now here on MPR News.
COMMENTATOR: A deep drive to left field, high and deep to left. Another Grand Slam for Royce Lewis.
[CHEERING]
CATHY WURZER: Lewis made history Monday when he became the first rookie to hit three, three, Grand Slams in eight days. He's had four over his career. What does his team need to do to be in a good position for the Playoffs? Here to talk about this, the start of the NH-- not the NHL, the NFL season and other sports news, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
Wally is the creator of Minnesota Score Magazine and host of the 10,000 Takes sports talk show. Eric also hosts that show. He is the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL. Hey, guys, how are you?
ERIC NELSON: Hey. Happy Ladies Day, Cathy.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And, by the way, NHL isn't that far behind, so you're not wrong, actually.
[LAUGHTER]
CATHY WURZER: Thank goodness.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, just covering your tracks for you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, you know what? You're a good friend. Thank you for doing that. So, OK, the Vikes are going to open the season Sunday against Tampa Bay here in town, Minneapolis. Refresh our memory here. What did we do last year before we lost in the Playoffs?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, a 13 and 4 regular season last year. Most of those wins came-- they were one-score victories, which was basically a record for-- I don't know if it was an NFL record. It certainly was for the Vikings.
But they bowed out, as you said, right in the first round against the Giants. I think that if you look at the Vikings last year, it came down to defense. They could not stop people when they needed to, particularly against the Giants in that Playoff game. I don't think they stopped them at all until the very end of the game, but the Giants just marched up and down the field.
So we'll get our first look in a regular season game at defensive coordinator Brian Flores' schemes and what he has got in store for the Vikings defense because that's going to have to change. They're going to have to get better on defense this year. And that's, I think, what everybody is waiting around to see because we know Kirk Cousins is back, the 35-year-old.
In the final year of his contract, he didn't play at all in the preseason. So we'll get our first look at him, same with wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who, oh, by the way, is in the midst of a contract negotiation himself, parties on both sides hoping to get a long-term deal before Sunday's kickoff, which will likely make him one of the highest paid players in NFL history and certainly the highest paid wide receiver.
All that coming to a head on Sunday and, oh, by the way, at noon, US Bank Stadium. If you'd like to get a ticket, check out the secondary market. Cheapest tickets right now are at about $70. So we shall see.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. All right. Eric.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. And just so our listeners aren't confused, this would normally be a Fox game. It's going to be on CBS. So make sure you have the right channel on when you tune in Sunday. The Vikings are a 5 and 1/2-point favorite against Tampa Bay.
Now, the Bucs won the woeful NFC South last season. They had a subpar 8-9 record. And that was with Tom Brady, who is now gone. He's ridden off into the sunset. He's counting his millions.
So the guy replacing the GOAT is Baker Mayfield, who was already playing for his fourth team. Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 at Oklahoma, but he's been a flop in the NFL.
I think the highlight of his career was when he appeared in those Progressive Insurance spots a few years ago when he played for Worley's Cleveland Browns. Since then, it's been a downhill slide. Now, the Buccaneers also have Antoine Winfield Jr. He's Tampa's starting free safety. He played at Eden Prairie High School under Mike Grant, the legend, and also at the U of M. And his father is Antoine Sr., who played cornerback for the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings.
A couple of other angles, Wally brought up Brian Flores, the new defensive coordinator for Minnesota. On the Tampa side of things, they have a new offensive coordinator in Dave Canales. So we'll have a couple of newbies in key positions, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, in this game on Sunday.
CATHY WURZER: I know you guys will be focused like lasers on the game. Let's talk about more football, shall we? The Gophers. Gophers are going to play, I believe, Eastern Michigan Saturday?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes, they get one of the directionals this weekend. They get Eastern Michigan. Gophers, oh, by the way, a 20-point favorite. But please, let's not overlook a team from the Mid-American Conference. As Gopher fans well know, a couple of years ago, they lost at home to Bowling Green. And that was a scar on their schedule from two seasons ago.
They did have a dramatic 13-10 comeback win last week over Nebraska, a great game for safety Tyler Nubin, who was named the Jim Thorpe Award National Player of the Week after recording three tackles. And he had two interceptions, including a key one down the stretch in that 13-10 win. By the way, the Jim Thorpe Award given annually to the best defensive back in college football based on performance, athletic ability, and character.
Oh, by the way, kicker Dragan Kesich was also named Big Ten Player of the Week for his game-winning field goal. And, of course, Tyler Nubin was also a Big Ten Player of the Week on the defensive side. So should be interesting, but they better win. They better not lose to Eastern Michigan.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] The game against the Cornhuskers was fun. Say, Eric, let's talk about the Lynx.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. A few weeks ago, we were banging on the Lynx, saying, wow, are they really this bad? They started 0 and 6. But they have bounced back in Minnesota, now just the second team in WNBA history to start 0 and 6 and make the Playoffs. A lot of us were saying, well, they should tank the season, try to get Caitlin Clark, the superstar at Iowa, or Angel Reese down at LSU, or Paige Bueckers, who plays at UConn and is from Hopkins.
But, no, Cheryl Reeve is about winning and competing. I give her a lot of credit. And they had some injuries, Diamond Miller, Napheesa Collier. Miller's been a very good rookie out of Maryland. And Napheesa Collier is the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Week.
So what's ahead for the Lynx is, Cathy, games at Chicago on Friday against the Sky and then at Indiana on Sunday against the Fever that will end the regular season. They will go into the Playoffs. I'm not sure who they're going to play. Could be Dallas, a team they have a lot of acrimony with.
There have been issues when the Dallas Lynx play the Minnesota Lynx. But they're in the Playoffs. And who knows, Cathy? Maybe championship number five could be coming to the Twin Cities, a parade.
CATHY WURZER: That would be nice to have a championship parade somewhere in the state of Minnesota. Before you go, Twins are off today. But they're getting to the end of the season already in the Playoffs.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And they've got the Mets in town for a three-game series. They now have a six-game lead, the Twins do, over Cleveland. You heard the clip with Royce Lewis hitting a Grand Slam earlier in the week, his third Grand Slam of the season. He joined luminaries like Kirby Puckett and others, who have hit three Grand Slams in a season.
But he is something special. If he continues on this track, he is going to be potentially the star among the Twins players and maybe somebody that we can look-- actually have confidence that the Twins are going to make a run at maybe another World Series someday because this guy is fun to watch. He's really good defensively. And obviously, we see he can hit the baseball. So lots of good coming there. Twins should clinch, hopefully, mid-September, I would say.
CATHY WURZER: All right, guys, thank you. Have a good weekend.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ERIC NELSON: All right, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Don't forget Minnesota United at home Saturday too.
CATHY WURZER: That's right. Thank you. Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson, our sports guys, have been with us. Thanks for listening to Minnesota Now here on MPR News.
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