As Vikings get ready for Green Bay, high school football championship takes over U.S. Bank Stadium
Minnesota Vikings center Ryan Kelly (78) blocks against the Chicago Bears during the first half of an NFL football game, Sept. 8 in Chicago.
Kamil Krzaczynski | AP file
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: For a few seconds, it looked like the Minnesota Vikings had made a comeback to beat the Chicago Bears yesterday. But right after their last minute touchdown, the Bears scored a field goal. Chicago won the game 19 to 17. Sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson are here to talk about this and all things Minnesota sports. Hey, guys happy Monday.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy Monday.
ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Happy Monday. Wally, so I really gave away the highlights there of the game, but tell us what else happened? How'd they end up in that situation?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Where shall I start? Well, I'll start with this, in all the talk, of course, over the last 20 hours has been the play of quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and he did not play very well yesterday. I don't think there's any question about that, he said so in his postgame press conference.
As a matter of fact, he got booed. And for a young player for the first time, yeah, the fans were not happy with his play and he was erratic. I mean, that's probably the nicest thing I could say about his play through most of the game, although give him credit, final drive of the game he came through and drove them down the field and put them in the lead that you just spoke about.
They were up 17 to 16 with about 50 seconds to go, but the Bears got a kickoff return that brought them into Vikings territory at the 40 yard line a couple plays later. They kicked the game winning field goal. So there were a lot of things that went wrong. McCarthy, he threw two interceptions. He only threw for 150 yards total.
They had some dropped passes. Jordan Addison dropped two passes. He did catch their only touchdown pass Addison did, but he had two drops. , Justin Jefferson had a drop Adam Thielen had him drop. So it's not all on J.J. McCarthy, but some of those balls that he throws, he throws it awfully hard and his accuracy is definitely something that has to get better for them.
But talking about Justin Jefferson, you can see that this guy who is one of the top receivers in the National Football League is starting to get frustrated. As a matter of fact, he only has two touchdowns in 10 games. I didn't realize that stat until about halfway through the game yesterday. I started looking at the statistics.
Wow, Justin Jefferson, one of the top players in the game only has two touchdowns all season. That's not good. He was averaging about one every two games, and that's not happening at all this year.
So the bad news for the Vikings it doesn't get any easier, they go to Green Bay next week. The other bad news is the quarterbacks that they had last year Sam Darnold in Seattle and Daniel Jones in Indianapolis are having MVP type seasons. So yeah, it was not good.
They're now in last place, well, they were in last place last week, but they're 4 and 6 on the year. And the Bears move to 7 and 3. So they're in some deep trouble now unless they start winning some football games.
NINA MOINI: So what do you think they're going to be working on? Where do they go from here Eric before their next big game?
ERIC NELSON: Specifically they go East to Green Bay to face their arch rivals in a border battle, and the Packers have won 6, lost 3, and tied 1. And they got a victory yesterday in the New Jersey Meadowlands against the New York Giants, 27 to 20, snapping a two game losing streak.
Jordan Love threw a couple of touchdown passes for the Packers, both to Christian Watson, who played at North Dakota State in his collegiate career. And one thing the Vikings know, it's never easy to win at Lambeau Field, but the Packers are just 3 and 2 this year at home, and they have two straight losses on the not so frozen tundra. They got beat by Philadelphia and Carolina, so Minnesota's going to try to make it the trifecta.
And if the Vikings are going to get back into the NFC North race, they almost have to win this game. I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet. Hard to say, must win. But really they need this one.
They are in last place, and if they don't start winning games soon, this season's going to go down the drain. The good news for Minnesota because they are a dome team and they don't like inclement weather, as odd as that sounds playing here in the land of ice and snow, the Green Bay weather is supposed to be in the mid 40s on Sunday. So that should not be a factor unless some sideways rain comes in off Lake Michigan.
The other NFC North team playing this week was Detroit, and the Lions lost at Philadelphia last night, Sunday Night Football 16 to 9. And Detroit's potent offense was limited to just one touchdown in the game by the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles defense. So what we have in the NFC North, Chicago is on top at 7 and 3, but it's still pretty bunched up. A Minnesota win in Green Bay, and they can get back into the conversation, but it won't be easy.
NINA MOINI: So really a big moment. Wally, let's talk about the Timberwolves. The Wolves have a game tonight. What are you expecting there? How are they doing?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, it's been an up and down season. They've been playing better overall lately. They're 8 and 5 on the year. They did lose on Saturday night when they played against the Denver Nuggets.
And I don't know if you saw highlights of the game or photos or anything, but they were wearing their Prince themed uniforms, which I liked. I liked the purple colors, I liked the lettering, the way it is, and then the floor had a Prince theme to it as well. So as they gave a nod to Minnesota's own.
But they did lose the game on Saturday night 123 to 112. Tonight that you spoke of, they have Dallas in town and top draft pick Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks. Be fun to watch him.
Came out of Duke class this past offseason drafted by the Mavs. Of course, the Mavs traded away Luka Doncic in last year. They traded him to the Lakers.
So this is a new look Mavericks team. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out. But Wolves I would say, again, 8 and 5, they're in sixth place in the NBA's Western Conference. But the problem is that Western Conference is so difficult and the defending champions from Oklahoma City are in first. They've only lost one game all season.
NINA MOINI: Eric, how about the Wild? I feel like that's kind of a bright spot, they had a game yesterday.
ERIC NELSON: Yes, they won an overtime Nina over Vegas at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, 3 to 2. The game winning goal was scored by Kirill Kaprizov. And he's the highest paid player in the National Hockey League and I think so far he's doing what they want him to do, which is playing like a superstar. He's got a team high 11 goals and 23 points this season.
And the Wild were really, they crawled out of the gate in October. It was a slow sputtering start, but November has been better. Minnesota Now has 22 points in the NHL Central Division, that's good for middle of the pack, but the Wild have won four of their last five games and six of their last eight. And they've got another game Wednesday.
Carolina plays Minnesota in St. Paul. That's the final game of a five game homestand before the Wild embark on a road trip that will take them to Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, and Chicago. So I think the Wild are trending up. But the NHL is hyper competitive and they need to keep getting points, and they did that last night against a very good Vegas team.
NINA MOINI: Nice. So I'm actually excited for this Wally, Friday and Saturday, the State High School Football Championship, but what are you going to be watching there?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Prep Bowl this Friday and Saturday, it's the culmination of the season for all teams in the state of Minnesota. There's seven different championship games, including class 6A, that's the big schools. Friday night, 7 o'clock Edina against Moorhead.
Moorhead beat Lakeville South this past Friday to get in. Edina beat Minnetonka, their border rival, so to speak, in an unbelievable 42 to 41 game where Minnetonka went for two points and the win late in the game after a scored a touchdown, they tried to get a 2 point conversion instead of trying to tie it.
Another interesting thing to keep an eye on Edina quarterback Mason West, who has been absolutely terrific this year. He led them to the state championship game two years ago as a sophomore. He's a senior now. He's going to go play hockey at Michigan State. He's not going to play football after this year, and he has been, if not the best, one of the top quarterbacks in all of Minnesota.
He had a huge game against Minnetonka, threw four touchdowns, ran for another one. So keep your eye on Mason West.
NINA MOINI: Multi-talented
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, he is. And it's too bad for football across America that he's such a good hockey player. [LAUGHTER] Best way to put it. But yeah, some great games coming up this weekend, including Jackson County Central playing Goodhue. That's right before the Edina game that's Friday afternoon.
NINA MOINI: Thank you both so much. Have a great week.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks a lot.
NINA MOINI: Bye. That's sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson for us.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy Monday.
ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Happy Monday. Wally, so I really gave away the highlights there of the game, but tell us what else happened? How'd they end up in that situation?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy. Where shall I start? Well, I'll start with this, in all the talk, of course, over the last 20 hours has been the play of quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and he did not play very well yesterday. I don't think there's any question about that, he said so in his postgame press conference.
As a matter of fact, he got booed. And for a young player for the first time, yeah, the fans were not happy with his play and he was erratic. I mean, that's probably the nicest thing I could say about his play through most of the game, although give him credit, final drive of the game he came through and drove them down the field and put them in the lead that you just spoke about.
They were up 17 to 16 with about 50 seconds to go, but the Bears got a kickoff return that brought them into Vikings territory at the 40 yard line a couple plays later. They kicked the game winning field goal. So there were a lot of things that went wrong. McCarthy, he threw two interceptions. He only threw for 150 yards total.
They had some dropped passes. Jordan Addison dropped two passes. He did catch their only touchdown pass Addison did, but he had two drops. , Justin Jefferson had a drop Adam Thielen had him drop. So it's not all on J.J. McCarthy, but some of those balls that he throws, he throws it awfully hard and his accuracy is definitely something that has to get better for them.
But talking about Justin Jefferson, you can see that this guy who is one of the top receivers in the National Football League is starting to get frustrated. As a matter of fact, he only has two touchdowns in 10 games. I didn't realize that stat until about halfway through the game yesterday. I started looking at the statistics.
Wow, Justin Jefferson, one of the top players in the game only has two touchdowns all season. That's not good. He was averaging about one every two games, and that's not happening at all this year.
So the bad news for the Vikings it doesn't get any easier, they go to Green Bay next week. The other bad news is the quarterbacks that they had last year Sam Darnold in Seattle and Daniel Jones in Indianapolis are having MVP type seasons. So yeah, it was not good.
They're now in last place, well, they were in last place last week, but they're 4 and 6 on the year. And the Bears move to 7 and 3. So they're in some deep trouble now unless they start winning some football games.
NINA MOINI: So what do you think they're going to be working on? Where do they go from here Eric before their next big game?
ERIC NELSON: Specifically they go East to Green Bay to face their arch rivals in a border battle, and the Packers have won 6, lost 3, and tied 1. And they got a victory yesterday in the New Jersey Meadowlands against the New York Giants, 27 to 20, snapping a two game losing streak.
Jordan Love threw a couple of touchdown passes for the Packers, both to Christian Watson, who played at North Dakota State in his collegiate career. And one thing the Vikings know, it's never easy to win at Lambeau Field, but the Packers are just 3 and 2 this year at home, and they have two straight losses on the not so frozen tundra. They got beat by Philadelphia and Carolina, so Minnesota's going to try to make it the trifecta.
And if the Vikings are going to get back into the NFC North race, they almost have to win this game. I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet. Hard to say, must win. But really they need this one.
They are in last place, and if they don't start winning games soon, this season's going to go down the drain. The good news for Minnesota because they are a dome team and they don't like inclement weather, as odd as that sounds playing here in the land of ice and snow, the Green Bay weather is supposed to be in the mid 40s on Sunday. So that should not be a factor unless some sideways rain comes in off Lake Michigan.
The other NFC North team playing this week was Detroit, and the Lions lost at Philadelphia last night, Sunday Night Football 16 to 9. And Detroit's potent offense was limited to just one touchdown in the game by the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles defense. So what we have in the NFC North, Chicago is on top at 7 and 3, but it's still pretty bunched up. A Minnesota win in Green Bay, and they can get back into the conversation, but it won't be easy.
NINA MOINI: So really a big moment. Wally, let's talk about the Timberwolves. The Wolves have a game tonight. What are you expecting there? How are they doing?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, it's been an up and down season. They've been playing better overall lately. They're 8 and 5 on the year. They did lose on Saturday night when they played against the Denver Nuggets.
And I don't know if you saw highlights of the game or photos or anything, but they were wearing their Prince themed uniforms, which I liked. I liked the purple colors, I liked the lettering, the way it is, and then the floor had a Prince theme to it as well. So as they gave a nod to Minnesota's own.
But they did lose the game on Saturday night 123 to 112. Tonight that you spoke of, they have Dallas in town and top draft pick Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks. Be fun to watch him.
Came out of Duke class this past offseason drafted by the Mavs. Of course, the Mavs traded away Luka Doncic in last year. They traded him to the Lakers.
So this is a new look Mavericks team. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out. But Wolves I would say, again, 8 and 5, they're in sixth place in the NBA's Western Conference. But the problem is that Western Conference is so difficult and the defending champions from Oklahoma City are in first. They've only lost one game all season.
NINA MOINI: Eric, how about the Wild? I feel like that's kind of a bright spot, they had a game yesterday.
ERIC NELSON: Yes, they won an overtime Nina over Vegas at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, 3 to 2. The game winning goal was scored by Kirill Kaprizov. And he's the highest paid player in the National Hockey League and I think so far he's doing what they want him to do, which is playing like a superstar. He's got a team high 11 goals and 23 points this season.
And the Wild were really, they crawled out of the gate in October. It was a slow sputtering start, but November has been better. Minnesota Now has 22 points in the NHL Central Division, that's good for middle of the pack, but the Wild have won four of their last five games and six of their last eight. And they've got another game Wednesday.
Carolina plays Minnesota in St. Paul. That's the final game of a five game homestand before the Wild embark on a road trip that will take them to Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, and Chicago. So I think the Wild are trending up. But the NHL is hyper competitive and they need to keep getting points, and they did that last night against a very good Vegas team.
NINA MOINI: Nice. So I'm actually excited for this Wally, Friday and Saturday, the State High School Football Championship, but what are you going to be watching there?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Prep Bowl this Friday and Saturday, it's the culmination of the season for all teams in the state of Minnesota. There's seven different championship games, including class 6A, that's the big schools. Friday night, 7 o'clock Edina against Moorhead.
Moorhead beat Lakeville South this past Friday to get in. Edina beat Minnetonka, their border rival, so to speak, in an unbelievable 42 to 41 game where Minnetonka went for two points and the win late in the game after a scored a touchdown, they tried to get a 2 point conversion instead of trying to tie it.
Another interesting thing to keep an eye on Edina quarterback Mason West, who has been absolutely terrific this year. He led them to the state championship game two years ago as a sophomore. He's a senior now. He's going to go play hockey at Michigan State. He's not going to play football after this year, and he has been, if not the best, one of the top quarterbacks in all of Minnesota.
He had a huge game against Minnetonka, threw four touchdowns, ran for another one. So keep your eye on Mason West.
NINA MOINI: Multi-talented
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, he is. And it's too bad for football across America that he's such a good hockey player. [LAUGHTER] Best way to put it. But yeah, some great games coming up this weekend, including Jackson County Central playing Goodhue. That's right before the Edina game that's Friday afternoon.
NINA MOINI: Thank you both so much. Have a great week.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks a lot.
NINA MOINI: Bye. That's sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson for us.
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