Who will be the starting quarterback for the Vikings, Wentz or McCarthy?

NINA MOINI: The Vikings had a bye this weekend. They didn't play. Next, they play the Birds. The Philadelphia Eagles, defending Super Bowl champions, will be at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday.

As the Vikings gear up for that game, sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson are here with updates on football from around the Midwest, really, and some other sports news. Thanks for being here, guys.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy Monday, Nina.

ERIC NELSON: Hey, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Happy Monday. Wally, so the Vikings have really split their season so far between these two starting quarterbacks, JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz. How's that going? Are they frenemies? Or do we know who's going to play Sunday?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, no, we don't know quite yet. Carson Wentz has started the last three games. The Vikings went 2 and 1 over that period, losing to Pittsburgh in Dublin as you recall. But he's played well. He was brought in late in training camp right before the season started to be the backup quarterback.

Then JJ McCarthy gets hurt after his second game. And so he's still trying to recover from that high ankle sprain. Not known whether he's 100% yet. And Kevin O'Connell has not yet announced who will start on Sunday. I guess we'll find that out here in the next day or two.

But if you go by the formula, they'll probably start JJ McCarthy, despite the fact that Wentz has played well. And it's basically about a development plan. I think they believe in him. They think that he's the one that's going to bring 'em to the Super Bowl someday. And that may not be this year. And it may not be what the fans want to hear.

Now, you can make an argument that Carson Wentz-- keep going until things fall apart. But there will be some pressure-- there's no question-- on both Kevin O'Connell and on JJ McCarthy if he comes back and does not lead them to victory and/or play well.

And I think you're going to hear that throughout the season because the Vikings are built to win for the most part right now. I mean, they have a few young guys here and there. But they've got one of the best receivers, if not the best receiver in football in Justin Jefferson. And Aaron Jones is getting up there in years, but he is a solid contributor when healthy.

Jordan Mason has been solid as a running back as well. I mean, they've got some pieces to win, but is a rookie quarterback-- and really, that's what JJ McCarthy is. Is he equipped to bring 'em to the promised land? And that remains to be seen. But I think they're going to stick with him when he is ready and healthy and ready to go.

NINA MOINI: OK. Yeah. And let's hope he stays healthy. He's had some injury problems. So what's going on with the other teams in the Vikings' conference then, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Nina. There were two NFC North teams in action Sunday, and another one plays tonight. Some of the listeners may have been watching last night on NBC Sunday Night Football. Kansas City did the Minnesota Vikings a favor with a 30-to-17 win at Arrowhead Stadium down in Missouri.

Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes threw for 257 yards and three touchdown passes. That's the same Mahomes who, of course, is the son of ex-Twins pitcher Pat Mahomes. Meanwhile, the Lions' four-game winning streak was snapped. Detroit now drops to 4 and 2 and is in second place behind Green Bay in the NFC North.

But the real fireworks came after the game. There was a postgame dustup. The teams were supposed to be exchanging hugs and handshakes. They go into that group prayer after most games. But this one quickly turned into a scrum.

Mahomes tried to high five Detroit safety Brian Branch, but Branch just walked past Mahomes. He ignored him. And Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster wasn't happy that Branch snubbed his quarterback, had some words with him.

Branch then smacked Schuster on the side of the helmet with an open hand. And look for Branch to be fined. And he may get a suspension from the NFL for this one. Very bad optics.

NINA MOINI: Oh, wow.

ERIC NELSON: Meanwhile, Green Bay wins over Cincinnati 27 to 18 at Lambeau. The outstanding running back for the Packers, Josh Jacobs, had 293 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Lambeau. I should check that-- 193.

Meanwhile, Green Bay is 3-1 and 1 and on top of the division. And tonight, Chicago, 2 and 2, at Washington, 3 and 2. That's Monday Night Football, ABC, 7:15 PM kickoff.

You may remember last season, these teams played in the exact same spot in Landover, Maryland. The Commanders got a walk-off 18-to-15 win when quarterback Jayden Daniels heaved up a Hail Mary throw that was tipped off the hands of Zach Ertz and caught on the rebound by Washington's Noah Brown for a 52-yard score.

It was a dagger defeat for the Bears, who never recovered. And their season spiraled out of control.

NINA MOINI: Wow. Yeah, I'm still on that "don't leave a high-five hanging." I guess--

ERIC NELSON: Not good etiquette.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So let's move on here to the Gophers. So University of Minnesota came back on Saturday to beat Purdue. It was homecoming weekend. Tell me a little more about that game, Wally, and then what's next for the Gophers.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I think the operative word that you use there is that they "came back." It was a comeback win. They scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. They were trailing going into the fourth quarter 20 to 13.

Purdue made some huge mistakes down the stretch. The Gophers got an interception for a touchdown by Koi Perich, otherwise known as a pick six. And that turned out to be the game-winning play, and all in the fourth quarter. The Gophers, with the win, moved to 4 and 2 on the season, 2 and 1 in the Big Ten.

So you look at-- you say 2 and 1, first place, Ohio State and Indiana are both 3 and 0. So oh, great. We're only one game behind. Well, the Gophers are one of eight teams that are 2 and 1 in the Big Ten right now. So yeah, it's still a big hill to climb for Minnesota.

And they're going to be on a short week this week. Minnesota will play host to 25th-ranked Nebraska. And that's going to be on Friday night. And ordinarily, I would complain a lot about a college football game on a Friday night. But I'm going to hold off because it is MEA week. So all the high school football this week is on Wednesday.

NINA MOINI: Oh, sure.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: So that opens up Friday. I really think the Big Ten makes a mistake when they put college football games on a Friday night in competition with all the high schools.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Yeah.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Typically, Friday night is high school football, right?

NINA MOINI: Totally.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: It should be. And they've started to impede on that, the Big Ten has. But in this case, since it's here, and since it's MEA week, we'll give them a pass this week.

NINA MOINI: That was a sneak peek of the complaint.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Exactly. I'm just giving you a little bit of inside thought process, here.

NINA MOINI: No, definitely. Yeah.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: But one thing you should expect on Friday night, a lot of red invading Huntington Bank Stadium because Nebraska travels well.

NINA MOINI: Oh, sure. I bet. Yeah. Not too bad of a drive, even, from there--

WALLY LANGFELLOW: No.

NINA MOINI: --from Lincoln. So, Eric, hockey season, too, has begun for the Wild. How did their home opener go this weekend?

ERIC NELSON: Not so good, Nina. And they were celebrating. Remember, this is year number 25 in the history of the Minnesota Wild. So they had a reunion with some of the original guys from their first team back in Y2K.

The general manager, Doug Risebrough, was in St. Paul, along with the team's original coaching staff, assistants Mario Tremblay and Bob Mason, and the head coach, Jacques Lemaire, the legendary Hall of Famer.

So they dropped the ceremonial first puck before the game. And that may have been the highlight of the night for the Wild because they got battered by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who, oh, by the way, came in with the Wild back in the year 2000. They are expansion cousins.

So the Blue Jackets win it 7 to 4. Now, one bright spot-- Kirill Kaprizov, who recently won that NHL lottery by signing a league record eight-year, $128 million contract, slightly less than your MPR gig, there, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Just a little. Yeah.

ERIC NELSON: He had two goals in the loss to the Blue Jackets. He's got four assists this season as well, a total of 6 points. The Wild are 1 and 1. They did beat St. Louis in their opener. They host the Los Angeles Kings tonight at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Both teams have one win on the year.

And if you're going out to the game, pay attention to Anze Kopitar for Los Angeles. This is his 20th season with LA. He's going to retire at the end of the year. He's got 440 goals, 841 assists in his career. He's someday going to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And by the way, it'll be your last chance to see the Wild for a while. They pack their bags and go on a five-game road trip-- Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, New York, and New Jersey. So it'd be incumbent for Minnesota to get a win before they hit the road, Jack.

NINA MOINI: All right. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. We'll see you next Monday.

ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10k Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for Audacy's Gridiron Gameday and Sirius XM. Our thanks, as always, to them.