DAILY CLIPS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2018 LOCAL NEWS: Sunday, November 18, 2018
Star Tribune
Vikings kicker Dan Bailey puts his best foot forward By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/vikings-kicker-dan-bailey-puts-his-best-foot-forward/500765321/
Bears' Soldier Field usually one of the worst in the NFL — Vikings play there Sunday By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/bears-soldier-field-usually-one-of-the-worst-in-the-nfl-vikings-play-there-sunday/500762261/
Vikings vs. Bears has all kinds of flex appeal By Chip Scoggins http://www.startribune.com/vikings-vs-bears-has-all-kinds-of-flex-appeal/500763271/
Vikings-Bears preview: Chicago boasts a new swagger By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/vikings-bears-preview-chicago-boasts-a-new-swagger/500757771/
Most accurate field goal kickers in NFL history By Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/most-accurate-field-goal-kickers-in-nfl-history/500765291/
Mike Zimmer's Vikings vs. Bears rests on turnovers By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/mike-zimmer-s-vikings-vs-bears-rests-on-turnovers/500762172/
Is quarterback Mitchell Trubisky the real deal for the Chicago Bears? By Michael Rand and Andrew Krammer http://www.startribune.com/is-quarterback-mitchell-trubisky-the-real-deal-for-the-chicago-bears/500757791/
Pioneer Press
Charley Walters: Vikings need back-to-back North conquests By Charley Walters https://www.twincities.com/2018/11/17/charley-walters-vikings-need-back-to-back-north-conquests/
Vikings.com
3 (Non-Vikings) Games to Watch in Week 11 By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/3-non-vikings-games-to-watch-in-week-11
VIKING Update
Preview: Better stats, better players, better Bears overall By John Holler https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Preview-Better-stats-better-players-better-Bears-overall-124810744/
1500 ESPN
Sheldon Richardson loves a good football story By Matthew Coller http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/11/sheldon-richardson-loves-good-football-story/
The Athletic
Vikings Week 11 preview: Who wins in the battle for the NFC North lead? By The Athletic Staff https://theathletic.com/659835/2018/11/17/vikings-week-11-preview-chicago-bears-who-wins-battle-for-nfc-north-lead/
NATIONAL NEWS: Sunday, November 18, 2018
NFL.com
NFL Week 11 game picks: Rams edge Chiefs; Cowboys stay hot By Elliot Harrison http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000988382/article/nfl-week-11-game-picks-rams-edge-chiefs-cowboys-stay-hot
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 11/18/18
Vikings kicker Dan Bailey puts his best foot forward
By Mark Craig
On Oct. 22, 2017, Dan Bailey’s career as the most accurate placekicker in NFL history began shifting from what he called “the perfect storm” of rare job security with one team to opening the 2018 season as a free agent shagging his own footballs at a high school just outside of Dallas.
“We were playing the 49ers in San Francisco,” the former Cowboy and current Viking said this week during a break in preparing to face the Bears at Soldier Field in a Sunday night battle for first place in the NFC North.
“I started the game, hit two PATs, a couple of kickoffs. Felt fine. We were driving toward the end of the first half, so I was just hitting a couple kicks into the net on the sideline. I kind of felt something and was like, ‘OK, that’s weird.’ ”
A groin injury.
The first injury of a kicking career that began in middle school in Mustang, Okla., when coach Bobby Burke talked the young soccer player into being his kickoff specialist and, later, a three-way player for Southwest Covenant High School’s eight-man football team.
The injury would lead to his demise in Dallas. Bring a mulligan in Minnesota. And spawn Purple fantasies of finally stabilizing a kicking situation that has been tenuous at best since Blair Walsh’s infamous 27-yard duck hook ended a 10-9 wild-card playoff loss to Seattle in January 2016.
Most accurate field goal kickers in NFL history Dan Bailey is fourth on the all-time list. But, at the time, Bailey thought he’d just kick one more into the net and all would be fine.
“I hit one more and knew,” he said. “I went to our trainer and said, ‘Hey, something’s not right.’ ”
The Cowboys shut him down. Safety Jeff Heath finished up the kicking duties, going 2-for-3 on PATs in a 40-10 win.
Bailey was sidelined for four weeks. At the time, he had made 178 of 198 field goal attempts, best in league history at 89.9 percent. On the season, he was 7-for-7 on field goals and 14-for-14 on PATs.
Life of an NFL kicker
Healthy but out of sync from four weeks off, Bailey made only eight of 13 field goals and 10 of 12 PATs in his final six games in Dallas. He fell to No. 2 in career accuracy. Nine months later, on Sept. 1, the Cowboys cut the most accurate and productive kicker in franchise history — at age 30 — in favor of CFL journeyman Brett Maher, who had never kicked in an NFL regular-season game.
Welcome to the life of an NFL kicker.
“We had practice that morning,” Bailey said. “Cuts were that afternoon. I had no reason to believe it was even a possibility.”
Up to that point, the “perfect storm” of job security included winning a four-man competition as an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State in 2011; making six of six field goals in his third NFL game to score every point in an 18-16 win over Washington on “Monday Night Football”; and having the same snapper, L.P. Ladouceur, and holder, Chris Jones, for almost every game for all seven seasons in Dallas.
“It was cool getting to No. 1 in field goal accuracy,” Bailey said. “But working with the same two guys pretty much the whole time in Dallas had as much to do with that as anything I was doing.”
Today, Bailey’s career field goal percentage (. 871) ranks fourth. In seven games as a Viking, he’s made only 80 percent of his field goals (12 of 15) but 94.1 percent of his PATs (16 of 17).
His field goal percentage is lower than the .887 (45 of 53) that his predecessor, Kai Forbath, posted in 23 regular- season games as a Viking. But Forbath’s downfall and ultimate defeat at the feet of rookie Daniel Carlson was his .849 percentage on PATs (45 of 53).
Pressure-filled job
“I’ve never been a kicker at any level,” said All-Pro safety Harrison Smith, “but it seems really hard. If I mess up a play or two it’s not normally a big deal. Miss two kicks and it’s a big deal.”
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer calls Bailey “such a veteran” and “a pro” while explaining why he’s not concerned about four misses in seven games, three of which Priefer says Bailey struck well and none of which were all Bailey’s fault. Priefer also believes Bailey will get better the more he works with long snapper Kevin McDermott and Matt Wile, who’s a first-year holder.
Then there’s coach Mike Zimmer, a man who admits to being snakebit by kickers. On Thursday, Zimmer was asked if Bailey has missed just enough kicks to keep him nervous.
Bailey had just made 16 of 16 field goals in Thursday’s practice. A day earlier, he made 15 of 16 with the wind pushing one ball into the left upright.
“I really don’t worry about him,” Zimmer said. “Guys are going to miss some. He’s been kicking the ball really good. I feel good about him.”
Ironically, Zimmer’s two wins in Chicago were three-point victories delivered by Walsh and Forbath in the closing seconds. Walsh kicked a 36-yard game-winner as time expired in 2015. Last year, Forbath won it with a 26-yarder with 12 seconds left.
Bears have own issues
Soldier Field isn’t the easiest place to kick. The Bears were reminded of that last Sunday when Cody Parkey bounced two field goals and two PATs off the uprights in a win over the Lions.
“What are the odds of that?” asked Bailey, who has played twice at Soldier Field and made both field goal attempts and all nine PATs.
“I couldn’t do it again if I tried,” Parkey told reporters in Chicago.
After the fourth miss, rookie coach Matt Nagy went for a two-point conversion and admitted that the misses affected his play-calling.
Then the young coach backed the young journeyman kicker by resisting the urge to try out kickers this week.
“I’m a guy, a person who just believes in, I guess you could say, second chances,” Nagy said.
Nagy then did something the Bears, oddly enough, haven’t done in years: send their kicker to Soldier Field to practice during the week. When the media found out that Parkey would be there Wednesday night, TV stations sent their helicopters to film the workout while hovering over Soldier Field.
Just another sign that Sunday’s game is a big deal for a team that hasn’t had a playoff game since Jan. 23, 2011.
Have footballs, will travel
Bailey was out of work from Sept. 1-17. Sixteen days and two games were all it took for multiple teams to call, for the Jets to work him out and for the Vikings to abandon Carlson after three ugly misses in a 29-29 tie at Green Bay.
“I’m pretty laid-back, so I wasn’t too upset,” Bailey said. “I’m not like antisocial or anything. But I do like to lay pretty low. I think you have to as a kicker because you can’t get on that roller coaster or it’s bad news.”
Three times during the week, Bailey would sling a bag of eight to 10 footballs over his shoulder, head for the nearest high school and kick 30 to 40 balls. Then, on the first two Sundays of the season, he went back and tried to simulate a game.
Out on the field. All alone.
At the time, he was the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history. Looking for a job while drawing strange looks.
“A couple guys in their mid-40s would be out there kicking the soccer ball around with their kids,” Bailey said. “They’d look over and you could tell they recognized me.”
And now, the former Cowboy via Mustang, Okla., just spent a wintry mid-November week in Eagan, Minn.
“If I’m being completely honest, no, I never would have thought that there’d even be a possibility that I’d be here,” Bailey said. “But I understand now that it’s very rare that anybody goes out on their own terms.
“Even Peyton Manning got cut in Indy. So you can’t sit there and feel sorry for yourself. You just move on and keep kicking.”
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 11/18/18
Bears' Soldier Field usually one of the worst in the NFL — Vikings play there Sunday
By Mark Craig
There was a time, believe it or not, when most NFL playing surfaces didn’t serve as three-hour infomercials for lawn care or low-maintenance FieldTurf. When gridirons crisscrossed baseball diamonds. When the only “heating systems” came not from miles of underground pipe but that big orange ball in the sky.
When Bud Grant and his four Grey Cup trophies came south from Winnipeg to coach the Vikings in 1967, they brought with them a pre-global warming savviness that often helped the Vikings cope with elements that were out of the NFL’s control at the time.
“We used to carry broomball shoes,” said longtime Vikings equipment manager Dennis Ryan. “That was Bud’s deal in Canada. If the field iced over, guys would put broomball shoes on. We didn’t wear them often, but we did in Boston when they were the Boston Patriots and games were at Harvard Stadium.”
Fields have evolved immensely, but even in mid-November 2018, NFL playing surfaces were a topic of discussion this week.
Nationally and internationally, the league’s eye was blackened when it was forced to move — on six days’ notice — the season’s marquee prime time game from Mexico City because of horrendous field conditions at Azteca Stadium. Diverting the 9-1 Chiefs and the 9-1 Rams to Los Angeles is a blow to a league itching for global domination.
Locally and regionally, the Vikings head to Soldier Field, a proverbial 100-yard box of chocolates made even more unpredictable by a 7:20 p.m. kickoff.
“I don’t like to be critical of surfaces, but it’s normally not one of the best,” Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. “It’s been pretty consistent that way.”
The Chicago Park District oversees Soldier Field. The Bears are but one attraction that uses the facility, so the sod can get pretty sad as the season ages.
Sometimes, that field is re-sodded two or three times a season. Many times, it’s a patch job between the hash marks. This year, Bears General Manager Ryan Pace urged a total re-sod, which was done about two weeks ago.
There were no issues or complaints after last week’s game against the Lions. A rarity for mid- to late-season games on a field that players routinely rate among the five worst in the league.
The Vikings expect good conditions but are prepared for the worst. Each player will have at least three pairs of cleats on hand. One will be the molded bottoms, which players wear indoors and most prefer. The other two pairs will be seven-stud shoes, one with five-eighths-inch studs and one with half-inch studs.
The team also carries three-quarter-inch studs that can be put on quickly with a drill. But that length hasn’t been used in years because rarely does a field in today’s NFL get that sloppy.
“You decide in pregame how it feels,” Smith said. “I’ve worn both the moldeds and the [five-eighth-inch studs] in Chicago. What I don’t get is why they don’t make studded shoes with more than seven studs. The moldeds are shorter, but there’s [16] of them and they’re all over.”
Footwear has been a valuable piece of equipment since the league’s early days. In fact, the 1934 NFL Championship game is known as the “Sneakers Game.”
The Bears and Giants were playing on a frozen field at the Polo Grounds in New York. Legend has it that Ray Flaherty, Giants captain and assistant coach, mentioned to head coach Steve Owen that he once played in sneakers to get better traction on a frozen field.
Owen had a friend named Abe Cohen, who worked the sidelines during Giants games. Cohen went way back with Chick Meehan, the coach at Manhattan College.
Cohen had the keys to the Manhattan gym. He hopped a cab, fetched about a dozen pairs of sneakers and got back to the Polo Grounds in the second half.
The Bears led 13-3 entering the fourth quarter. The Giants put the sneakers on, scored 27 fourth-quarter points and won 30-13.
Eighty-four years later, Vikings receiver Adam Thielen was asked about the challenges that receivers and defensive backs face when it comes to keeping their feet under them at Soldier Field.
“It’s equally hard on both of us,” he said. “It’s just who’s not going to slip on that play. Because if you slip and he doesn’t, it’s going to be a bad play.” PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 11/18/18
Vikings vs. Bears has all kinds of flex appeal
By Chip Scoggins
The magnitude of Vikings vs. Bears on Sunday night can be explained by the division standings, the respective records and the game being flexed to a prime-time slot.
Or this …
Two Chicago TV stations sent helicopters racing to Soldier Field this week to film beleaguered kicker Cody Parkey practicing field goals after he clanked the uprights four times against the Detroit Lions last week.
Breaking news, Parkey makes a 40-yarder without hitting the upright in an empty Soldier Field. Full details at 10.
If the Bears were in the midst of another crummy season, Parkey could have kicked in solitude. Nobody would have noticed or cared.
The city of Chicago cares now because the Bears, at 6-3, find themselves leading the NFC North this late in the season for the first time since 2012. The Vikings are nipping at their heels at 5-3-1.
Division games always carry extra significance. Division games in mid-November with first place at stake get prime- time treatment.
“Playing in prime-time games is something that we’ve been doing a lot around here lately,” Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “Which is a good thing, because that means you’re a good football team.”
How good? That will be determined for both teams.
The Vikings found their stride, particularly on defense, in winning four of their past five games before the bye. Mike Zimmer’s defense finally looked like its old self in recent weeks.
The Bears rank in the top five in scoring offense and scoring defense, which is textbook formula for success.
But neither the Vikings nor the Bears have defeated a team with a winning record. So it’s fair to wonder where each stands in the NFC pecking order in overall strength. The winner will gain sole possession of first place in the North and remove its haven’t-beat-a-winner asterisk.
“This is what it’s about,” running back Latavius Murray said. “Anyone who loves this game and loves playing the game, what better stage than the two statistically best teams in the division right now competing to win the division.”
The division won’t be won Sunday, but the outcome could shape how the race unfolds in December. Nobody seems primed to run away with the division so head-to-head matchups become critical. Kirk Cousins hears the “big game” chatter a lot. He takes issue with that premise.
“If it takes an extra sense of urgency for a big game, I would say, ‘What were we doing the other nine games so far?’ ” he asked rhetorically. “Hopefully we’re bringing it every week regardless of the situation.”
Players are conditioned to focus on the present, but Rudolph took notice of the time slots for the Vikings’ first four games out of the bye and what that signifies.
In order, they play Sunday night in Chicago, Sunday night against Green Bay, 3:30 p.m. at New England and Monday night at Seattle.
“So obviously we’re playing in some big games if we’re playing in all these prime-time games,” Rudolph said.
Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson shrugged over the significance of having Sunday’s game flexed to night.
“Don’t matter,” he said. “We could play in a parking lot.”
Well, Chicago is a tough-guy town, as Mike Tice once informed everyone.
The Vikings haven’t won back-to-back games in Soldier Field since 1999-2000. They have faced less talented Bears teams than this one.
The Bears finished 5-11 last season so they already have surpassed their win total. Some might label that a surprise, but no such thing exists in the modern NFL.
In every season since the league expanded to a 12-team playoff format in 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs after missing the postseason the previous year.
Pop-up seasons remain the rule, not the exception. The Bears are trying to provide more evidence of that truism. The Vikings want to re-establish their foothold as king of the division.
“I’m hyped, man,” running back Dalvin Cook said. “I’m hyped, I’m hyped, I’m hyped.”
Can’t blame him. Every game counts the same. They don’t all feel the same in importance. PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 11/18/18
Vikings-Bears preview: Chicago boasts a new swagger
By Ben Goessling
Things won’t come easy for the Vikings at Soldier Field against a high-flying Bears offense and a defense that leads the league in takeaways. The Vikings defense, which should be well-rested after a bye week, will do enough to make life difficult for Mitchell Trubisky and scratch out a victory.
THREE BIG STORY LINES
Cousins faces his childhood team
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, who grew up a Bears fan while living in the Chicago suburbs, won his first two starts at Soldier Field with the Redskins. He’ll try to become the first Vikings QB to win his first start in Chicago since Tarvaris Jackson in 2007.
Vikings prepare for Bears’ ‘800 plays’
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, somewhat facetiously this week, that the Bears have about “800 plays” in their playbook. In reality, the Bears have enough diverse concepts and week-to-week changes in their scheme that the Vikings are likely to face some things they haven’t seen before.
Mack trucking through the NFC North
The Bears traded a pair of first-round picks for Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack, who got a six- year, $141 million deal from the team. Mack has seven sacks and four forced fumbles in the seven games he’s played, for a defense that’s ranked fourth in the league.
TWO KEY MATCHUPS
Vikings RT Brian O’Neill vs. Bears LB Khalil Mack
The Bears used Mack primarily on the right side of their defense last week, but he’s played the majority of his snaps this season on the left side. And while he’ll move around for Chicago on Sunday night, he’ll likely spend plenty of time trying to get past O’Neill, the second-round pick who’s stood tall against formidable pass rushers so far.
Vikings defense vs.
Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky
Trubisky’s mobility will cause problems for the Vikings if they’re not able to rush him without giving him room to escape. But teams have been able to lure the second-year quarterback into some mistakes with confusing pressure packages, and the Vikings could use some of their overload blitzes to test Trubisky’s processing ability.
ONE STAT THAT MATTERS
89 The number of points the Bears have scored off turnovers this season; Chicago, which leads the league with 24 takeaways, also has the most points off turnovers in the NFL this season.
THE VIKINGS WILL WIN IF …
Cousins can play his third turnover-free game of the season while dealing with the Bears’ pressure, while the Vikings defense can pressure Trubisky from some unpredictable angles, keep him from escaping the pocket and force him into throwing an interception or two.
THE BEARS WILL WIN IF …
Mack leads a consistent effort to pressure Cousins, forcing a turnover or two that leads to points for the Bears and prevents the Vikings from leaning on their run game, while Trubisky can make the most of the Bears’ voluminous offense and get the ball to his playmakers.
Prediction Vikings, 20-17
Win Probability 55 percent
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 11/18/18
Most accurate field goal kickers in NFL history
By Star Tribune
Count on them
Most accurate field goal kickers in NFL history:
1. Justin Tucker, Baltimore .901
2. Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh .877
3. Steven Hauschka, Buffalo .877
4. Dan Bailey, Vikings .876
5. Stephen Gostkowski, N.E. .876
6. Robbie Gould, S.F. .874
7. Mike Vanderjagt, retired .865
8. Nate Kaeding, retired .862
9. Matt Bryant, Atlanta .861
10. Kai Forbath, free agent .859
(with current teams) PUBLICATION: STAR TRIBUNE DATE: 11/18/18
Mike Zimmer's Vikings vs. Bears rests on turnovers
By Mark Craig
ZIMMER, TURNOVERS TURNING tide vs. CHICAGO
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer takes a 2-2 record at Soldier Field into Sunday’s game against the Bears. The Vikings had lost six straight and 12 of 13 games in Chicago before Zimmer arrived. Much like giveaways have contributed to Zimmer’s 4-5 record against Detroit, takeaways have helped his 6-2 overall mark against the Bears.
Zimmer’s record vs. Bears 6-2
At Soldier Field 2-2
When winning the turnover battle 3-1
When even in the turnover battle 1-1
When losing the turnover battle 2-0
Giveaways vs. Bears 4
Takeaways vs. Bears 11
Turnover ratio vs. Bears plus-7 PUBLICATION: STAR TRIBUNE DATE: 11/18/18
Is quarterback Mitchell Trubisky the real deal for the Chicago Bears?
By Michael Rand and Andrew Krammer
The Bears have been one of the NFL’s biggest surprises, and their 6-3 start has been fueled by one of the league’s biggest individual surprises: the play of second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
So within the context of asking whether the Bears — who host the Vikings in a critical NFC North showdown on Sunday night — are for real, we might first ask: Is Trubisky the real deal?
First take: Michael Rand
Sorry, I’ll start typing now that I’ve stopped rubbing my eyes to make sure they’re working correctly. See, I just checked ESPN’s Total QBR rankings and found Trubisky is fourth — FOURTH! — in the entire NFL. He’s ahead of a lot of very good quarterbacks (including the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, who is No. 12).
That stat isn’t perfect, but it’s a place to start. Trubisky also has 19 touchdown passes, just seven interceptions and a 101.6 passer rating while being on pace to throw for more than 4,000 yards. Case closed?
Vikings writer Andrew Krammer: Fit him for a Hall of Fame jacket.
Jokes aside, Trubisky is an excellent example of how quarterbacks can very much be a product of the coaching and talent around them. The offseason addition the Vikings likely hated the most was Matt Nagy being hired as Bears head coach.
He’ll ensure Trubisky and the Bears offense are a headache to go against for seasons to come. Trubisky is now in a better system with better talent around him, much like L.A.’s Jared Goff.
Rand: You might be onto something with the system thing. Pro Football Focus’ QB rankings indicate Trubisky is benefiting a lot from safe throws and isn’t doing much on his own. He’s PFF’s No. 27-ranked passer in the league this year (minimum 200 dropbacks), while Cousins comes in at No. 10. Trubisky also hasn’t been a very accurate deep passer.
Give Trubisky credit so far for fitting well into Nagy’s system, and give the Bears credit for playing to Trubisky’s strengths. At the end of the day, though, he’s probably pretty average — an upgrade over what he was last year but not the biggest of the Vikings’ concerns on Sunday.
Krammer: The thing about the Bears offense is its distribution. Mike Zimmer joked Nagy installs something like “800” plays for a given game. Trubisky’s top five weapons each have between 41 and 52 targets this season. While a healthy Allen Robinson might be the go-to guy, they make it difficult to game-plan for shutting down just one option.
However, regarding Trubisky, we have seen a middling athletic quarterback beat the Vikings (Josh Allen). Only Cam Newton has more rushing yards by a quarterback than Trubisky this season, and the Vikings can ill afford to underprepare for his athleticism the way Zimmer did for Allen’s.
Rand: Just when I was starting to feel good about the Vikings’ season, you had to remind everyone about the Buffalo game.
Final word: Krammer
Ha! I think every team is capable of a dud, but man, that was a historically awful loss. I’ll say the Vikings are fortunate the NFC North no longer seems to have a class system. From the Bears to the Lions (a team that beat New England), all four teams seem capable of beating anybody and losing to anybody. So, a path to a division title is clear starting Sunday night against Trubisky in Chicago.
If the Vikings can secure a home playoff game through this stretch, who knows what could happen? PUBLICATION: PIONEER PRESS DATE: 11/18/18
Charley Walters: Vikings need back-to-back North conquests
By Charley Walters
A loss in Chicago on Sunday night would leave the Minnesota Vikings 1½ games behind the Bears in the NFC North. If the Vikings intend to win the division, they’ll probably need to defeat Chicago, then the Packers in another prime-time game next Sunday night in Minneapolis.
ADVERTISING
Minnesota’s schedule gets even tougher after the Green Bay game, with the Vikings facing the Patriots at New England the following week, then playing
the Seahawks in Seattle in another prime-time game on Monday night.
That’s a brutal four-game stretch for the Vikings.
“What makes (Sunday night) a big deal is that it’s a division game,” cornerback Xavier Rhodes said. “Our first goal is to win our division.”
ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads The Vikings’ undistinguished offensive line will be especially challenged against the Bears’ pass rush, trying to stop relentless outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who has seven sacks in seven games. The Vikings will try to counter the rush with quick passes from QB Kirk Cousins while hoping to run the ball.
Chicago’s fate — good or bad — will rest on the arm of QB Mitch Trubisky.
Alex Smith, who replaced Cousins in Washington, has played well, but not as well as Cousins in Minnesota.
Smith has led the Redskins to a 6-3-0 record, completing 193 of 301 passes, including 10 TDs with three interceptions for a QB rating of 90.7.
Cousins has led the Vikings to a 5-3-1 record, completing 259 of 363 passes, including 17 TDs with five interceptions, and has a 102.2 rating.
Smith’s rating ranks 21st in the NFL, Cousins’ ninth. The Saints’ Drew Brees is No. 1 at 123.8. The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers is 14th at 100.0.
Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who is tied for the NFL lead in receptions, asked how he gets open all the time: “I’m not sure. Sometimes it’s not even getting open — it’s just having a perfectly thrown ball and using your body and things like that.”
The Vikings-Bears game could attract some 20 million viewers to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” which the network reports is averaging 19.7 million this season. Last Sunday night’s Packers-Patriots game — QBs Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady — averaged 24.1 viewers.
Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya will call Sunday night’s game.
Vikings wide receiver Chad Beebe’s father, ex-NFL wideout Don, last week was named head football coach at Division III Aurora (Ill.) University.
Tom Wistrcill, the former Gophers associate athletics director, will soon become commissioner of the Big Sky Conference.
Small world: Brothers Jeff and Dave Meslow from Mahtomedi, respectively Big Ten and NFL officials, this weekend stayed at the same hotel in Detroit, Jeff working the Michigan-Indiana game on Saturday and Dave the Lions-Carolina game on Sunday.
Joe Mauer’s father Jake, who helped develop the retired Twin’s impeccable batting swing, on Charles Joseph Mauer, born last week to Joe and Maddie.
“He already bats left and throws right,” Jake said of the 7-day-old baby.
Added Joe’s mother Teresa, the former St. Paul Central girls basketball standout, on Charles, “At nine pounds, two ounces, he’s probably going to walk out of the hospital.”
Mauer’s retirement leaves the Twins without a $23 million salary commitment for next season. But that doesn’t necessarily mean an extra $23 million for free agency, club owner Jim Pohlad said.
“It’s not like ‘OK, we’ve got this money now, and we didn’t have it before, so we can do so much more,’ ” Pohlad said. “I don’t feel that way.”
The Twins last winter spent $53 million on free agents Logan Morrison, Lance Lynn, Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed, Michael Pineda, Zach Duke and Matt Magill.
“It didn’t turn out that well,” Pohlad said.
John Anderson, the hall of fame Gophers baseball coach, remembers recruiting Mauer out of Cretin-Derham Hall 17 years ago.
“Joe did take an official visit at Minnesota, but what I remember is that he said he probably was going to go to Florida State because they had a better football program, and that would mean better leverage with his major league baseball contract negotiations,” Anderson said last week.
“Joe said, ‘If I was just playing baseball, I would come to Minnesota,’ and actually I saw him this summer and he said, ‘As I reflect back, I should have committed to the University of Minnesota. I wish I could have played in your program.’ That was a nice thing for him to say. So we had our shot.”
When Mauer and his parents made their official Gophers recruiting visit, Anderson said he told them they were going to need an agent. He recommended Ron Shapiro, who had represented former Gophers catcher Dan Wilson, the 14-year major leaguer, as well as Twins hall of famer Kirby Puckett.
“Ron was very selective who (his firm) represented,” Anderson said. “I told him ‘I’ve got the next Dan Wilson here at Minnesota in Joe Mauer, and I think you should get on him.’ ”
After researching Shapiro, Mauer’s family chose the Baltimore-based agent.
Pro football hall of famer Tony Dungy was to be keynote speaker on Saturday at the Gophers wrestling gala at Golden Valley Country Club to raise money ($500,000 is needed) to build a locker room.
The Gophers have 32-to-1 odds to win the Big Ten men’s basketball championship, according to SportsBettingDime.com. Barring further injuries, Minnesota should be a top-five conference team.
The Gophers football team is still projected to play in something called the Redbox Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Santa Clara, Calif., against California, according to athlonsports.com.
Northwestern, which visited the Gophers on Saturday, is providing students with free tickets and bus transportation, as well as free meals on the bus, from Evanston, Ill., to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 1.
Scouting the Gophers-Northwestern game Saturday for the Vikings was Scott Studwell.
Local author Todd Smith has signed a deal to work on a book with Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist Jessie Diggins from Afton.
Four Notre Dame football tickets plus lodging, donated in part by ex-Irish lineman Ryan Harris, brought in $3,000 at Cretin-Derham Hall’s live auction gala last week.
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf gave $2,700 to Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar in June, Sports Illustrated points out in a survey of political contributions by NFL owners.
One Gophers men’s basketball supporter paid $5,700 at a cancer fundraiser at Interlachen Country Club the other day to accompany the team on a road trip this season.
Tre Holloman, 14, the Cretin-Derham Hall basketball freshman, is regarded among the country’s top point guards for the 2022 class. Officials at USA Basketball are big on Holloman’s future.
Daniel Oturu, who starred for the Raiders’ large-school state championship team last season, is averaging 13.5 points for the Gophers. Also from that title team, Sy Chatman is averaging 6.7 points as a freshman at Massachusetts. And Ryan Larson is averaging 3.7 points at Wofford.
Sam Hentges, the 6-6, 245-pound left-handed Mounds View grad with a 96-mph fastball and intimidating slider, is expected to be placed on the Cleveland Indians’ 40-player major league roster.
Hentges, 22, who received an $800,000 signing bonus from the Indians as their fourth-round draft pick in 2014, has recovered well from elbow ligament surgery. He’s the Indians’ sixth-best prospect according to Baseball America.
Brent Haskins, son of former Gophers basketball coach Clem Haskins, is advance scout for the Detroit Pistons, coached by ex-Wolves coach Dwane Casey.
First-year Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko was a hit speaking at the Capital Club at Town and Country last Tuesday.
Longtime Centennial girls hockey coach Kristi King is the new women’s hockey assistant at the University of St. Thomas, which has won 19 straight games. King joins head coach Tom Palkowski, the Columbia Heights hall of famer, and assistant Marty Sertich, the 2005 Hobey Baker Award winner.
Finally, local restaurateur Wayne Kostroski, who founded the Taste of the NFL that has raised more than $25 million for hunger relief causes, on Monday will be inducted into the Minnesota Hospitality Hall of Fame at Bunker Hills.
The Hockey Old Timers annual luncheon, with WCHA Commissioner Billy Robertson as speaker, is Tuesday at Mancini’s Char House.
DON’T PRINT THAT
Most former Twins stars wait years before their numbers are retired. Don’t be surprised if the Twins retire Joe Mauer’s No. 7 as early as next summer.
This week’s Sports Illustrated, on the admirable makeup of Mauer while with the Twins: “He was T-bills and Volvos and your mother’s arms. He never got within a ringing double of a scandal. He married a high school classmate; they had twins. He did local TV ads for milk, for cryin’ out loud.”
Since last week’s trade of Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia, odds of the Timberwolves winning the NBA championship moved from 80-to-1 to 150-to-1, according to Bovada-Las Vegas. The 76ers’ odds improved from 20-to-1 to 14-to-1.
The Timberwolves play the 76ers on Jan. 15 in Philadelphia, but not in Minneapolis until March 30.
The Wolves rank last among the NBA’s 30 teams in attendance with an average of 13,794 per game. The 76ers are No. 1 with 20,290.
It’s clear that it was owner Glen Taylor who expedited the Butler trade to Philly. And don’t think Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg wasn’t thrilled to dump Butler.
Wishing the best for popular former Gophers men’s basketball coach Jimmy Williams, who has worrisome health issues.
Ex-Gophers QB Mark Trestman, 62, who coached Montreal to two Grey Cup championships in Canada, was fired the other day as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts.
There is little doubt that whichever college choice Rochester John Marshall’s 6-9 Matthew Hurt makes (Memphis is considered the front-runner), it’ll be just for one year before heading for the NBA.
Deephaven’s Tim Herron, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, has played golf with and against Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for years. Herron thinks Woods will prevail in the $9 million, TV pay-per-view match-play event on Friday at the Shadow Creek course in Las Vegas.
“Tiger is playing good; I think it’ll be entertaining,” Herron said. “Everyone’s always tried to make Phil and Tiger in a dual, and it never really happened. I think it will be interesting.
“It’s not boxing, it’s still golf. (The pay-per-view, $19.99) isn’t as expensive as boxing. I’m not going to pay — I’ve seen them in person, I don’t need to see them on TV.”
Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck will receive a $75,000 contract bonus for his players having surpassed the 85 percent Graduation Success Rate, USA Today points out. Minnesota has an 89 percent GSR.
Turnstile count for the Gophers-Purdue football game at chilly TCF Bank Stadium last Saturday was 14,950. Capacity is 50,805.
That was Georgetown men’s basketball coach Patrick Ewing visiting East Ridge High School on an evaluation trip this fall.
The Wisconsin football team that hosts the Gophers next Saturday for Paul Bunyan’s Axe has Michael Deiter and Jonathan Taylor, who are semifinalists for the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and Walter Camp Player of the Year award, respectively. Taylor is a running back who, with 1,548 yards entering Saturday’s game against Purdue, had outgained the Purdue, Iowa, Rutgers, Michigan State and Northwestern teams on his own.
Brendan McFadden, the superb St. Thomas Academy running back who also is an elite hockey player, has a preferred walk-on offer from Rice University, alma mater of ex-Vikings QB Tommy Kramer. Division III St. John’s and St. Thomas are also vying for McFadden, who is also receiving Ivy League and Division II interest.
There are no plans, despite Phil Esten’s hiring last week as athletics director by the University of St. Thomas, for the Tommies to transition to Division I. The school thoroughly enjoys being in the MIAC and Division III.
The top three nationally-ranked college men’s hockey teams are from the state of Minnesota: Minnesota-Duluth No. 1, St. Cloud State No.2 and Minnesota State Mankato No. 3. Gophers are No. 19.
“Wrestlemania 34” is reported to have brought $175 million in economic impact to New Orleans last April while the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis this April is estimated to be worth $142 million to the local economy.
Despite losing 41-10 to the Gophers, there’s talk that Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm could be headed to alma mater Louisville.
OVERHEARD
Malcontent ex-Timberwolf Jimmy Butler, quoted by the 76ers’ marketing department upon his arrival in Philadelphia: “I’m up early before a lot of people, in the gym, and I’m there later than a lot of people in the gym, just because I want to do whatever it is my team asks me to do to help us win as many games as possible.”
PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 11/18/18
3 (Non-Vikings) Games to Watch in Week 11
By Craig Peters
The Vikings are back from their bye and back in prime time.
Minnesota (5-3-1) better be ready because three of its next four games are scheduled to be night games, beginning with Sunday at Chicago (6-3) for a contest that was flexed to NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
According to 506sports.com, at noon (CT) most of Minnesota is scheduled to see the Pittsburgh- at-Jacksonville game on CBS and the Carolina-at-Detroit game on FOX.
The Steelers (6-2-1) and Jaguars (3-6) were initially scheduled for SNF, but the matchup between 2017 AFC Playoff teams lost a little luster with the Jaguars faltering.
The Panthers (6-3) would be the No. 5 seed in the NFC if the playoffs started this weekend. The Lions have fallen to 3-6 thanks to a three-game losing streak.
Suggestion: keep an eye on the Cowboys (4-5) at Falcons (4-5) and Texans (6-3) at Redskins (6- 3) games at noon (CT).
Philadelphia (4-5) and New Orleans (8-1) will be seen at 3:25 p.m. (CT) throughout the United States, except for most of Arizona.
The NFL’s only 9-1 teams, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Rams, will play on Monday Night Football.
Here are notes on the Panthers-Lions, Eagles-Saints and Chiefs-Rams games.
what-to-watch-panthers-lions-111718 Panthers (6-3) at Lions (3-6)
Kickoff: Noon (CT) Sunday
Watch/Listen
TV: FOX
Sirius: 125 (CAR), 119 (DET) | XM: 388 (CAR), 229 (DET)
Overview
The Panthers are 6-2 all-time against the Lions and have claimed two in a row, including a 27-24 win last season in Detroit.
Panthers Notes
Cam Newton and Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky are the only two NFL quarterbacks this season with a passer rating higher than 100, at least 300 rushing yards and three or more rushing touchdowns.
Christian McCaffrey had 138 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns last week against Pittsburgh and has scored seven touchdowns since Week 8. McCaffrey is one of three running backs with more than 50 receptions and 1,000-plus scrimmage yards this season, along with Saquon Barkley and Alvin Kamara.
Mario Addison has totaled 3.5 sacks and forced a fumble in his past two games against Detroit.
Lions Notes
Matthew Stafford has averaged 285 passing yards and thrown eight touchdowns against three interceptions for a passer rating of 98.5 in three career games against Carolina.
Kerryon Johnson ranks second among NFL rookies with 757 scrimmage yards and fourth with 554 rushing yards. He’s averaged 95.3 scrimmage yards in his past three home games.
Damon Harrison has recorded 20 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack in three games with Detroit. what-to-watch-eagles-saints-111718 Eagles (4-5) at Saints (8-1)
Kickoff: 3:25 p.m. (CT) Sunday
Watch/Listen
TV: FOX
Sirius: 113 (PHI), 83 (NO) | XM: 384 (PHI), 225 (NO)
Overview
This matchup features the defending NFC East and NFC South champions and will be the first meeting since 2015.
Since Week 5, Carson Wentz and Drew Brees are the only two QBs with a completion percentage above 70 and a passer rating greater than 115.
The Saints have scored 40 or more points in five games this season and became the third team in NFL history to post 40-plus points in five of the first nine games of a season, joining the 2013 Broncos and 2000 Rams.
Eagles Notes
Wentz has thrown for two touchdowns and posted a passer rating of at least 100 in five consecutive games.
Zach Ertz led the Eagles with 14 receptions, 145 yards and two touchdowns against Dallas last week. He leads NFL tight ends with 75 receptions and 789 yards.
Fletcher Cox recorded career bests of 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles when the teams met in 2015.
Saints Notes
Brees completed 22 of 25 passes for 265 yards with three touchdowns for a passer rating of 150.4 last week and overtook Brett Favre (508 career touchdown passes) for the second-most in NFL history.
Michael Thomas is tied with Adam Thielen for the NFL lead with 78 receptions. He ranks second in the league with 950 yards.
Cameron Jordan had seven tackles, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble when the teams last met in New Orleans (2012). what-to-watch-chiefs-rams-111718 Chiefs (9-1) at Rams (9-1)
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. (CT)
Watch/Listen
TV: ESPN
Sirius: 81 (KC), 83 (LAR) | XM: 226 (KC), 225 (LAR)
Overview
This will be just the fifth meeting since 1970 between two teams with one or fewer losses in Week 11 or later. The 2013 Chiefs (9-0) and Broncos (8-1) were the most-recent matchup.
Since 2017, Kareem Hunt and Todd Gurley are the only two players with more than 2,000 rushing yards.
Chiefs Notes
Patrick Mahomes leads the NFL with 31 touchdown passes and has already topped Len Dawson’s Chiefs franchise record of 30 in the 1964 season. Mahomes has passed for at least 300 yards in his past four road games.
Hunt has posted more than 140 scrimmage yards and scored in each of Kansas City’s past three road games.
Dee Ford has 5.0 sacks and three forced fumbles in his past four games.
Rams Notes
Jared Goff ranks second in the NFL with 3,134 passing yards and third with 22 touchdown passes this season.
Gurley became the fourth player in NFL history to score at least one touchdown in each of a team’s first 10 games of a season, joining O.J. Simpson, Lenny Moore and Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch.
Aaron Donald leads the NFL with 12.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. He had 2.5 sacks, three tackles and five quarterback hits last week against Seattle.
Full Week 11 Schedule
Thursday’s Result
Seahawks 27, Packers 24
Seattle improved to 5-5; Green Bay fell to 4-5-1
Noon (CT) Sunday Games
Bengals (5-4) at Ravens (4-5)
Steelers (6-2-1) at Jaguars (3-6)
Panthers (6-3) at Lions (3-6)
Titans (5-4) at Colts (4-5)
Cowboys (4-5) at Falcons (4-5)
Buccaneers (3-6) at Giants (2-7)
Texans (6-3) at Redskins (6-3)
3:05 p.m. (CT) Sunday Games
Broncos (3-6) at Chargers (7-2)
Raiders (1-8) at Cardinals (2-7)
3:25 p.m. (CT) Sunday Game
Eagles (4-5) at Saints (8-1)
7:20 p.m. (CT) Sunday Night Football
Vikings (5-3-1) at Bears (6-3)
7:15 p.m. (CT) Monday Night Football
Chiefs (9-1) at Rams (9-1)
Week 11 Byes
Bills (3-7)
Browns (3-6-1)
Dolphins (5-5)
Patriots (7-3)
Jets (3-7)
49ers (2-8) PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 11/18/18
Preview: Better stats, better players, better Bears overall
By John Holler
For the better part of the last decade, the Chicago Bears have been largely irrelevant in the NFC North. The team last made the playoffs in 2010. In the seven full seasons since, they have finished above .500 just once and that was in 2012.
Over the last four seasons, Chicago posted a record of just 19-45, losing 10 or more games in each of those seasons. However, as the Bears prepare to face the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night at Soldier Field, they do so as the division leaders with a 6-3 record and a chance to put a lot of distance between themselves and the other three division opponents.
The Bears had a strong defense under former coach John Fox. Despite winning just five games in 2017, the Bears had the 10th-ranked defense and were ranked ninth in points allowed. The problem was that the team had an offense that simply couldn’t produce, ranking 30th in total offense and 29th in points scored.
That has changed in a significant way with the arrival of head coach Matt Nagy, who came from the Andy Reid coaching tree in Kansas City, where they have produced once of the most innovative and most copied offenses in the NFL, as other teams have seen what has worked for the Chiefs and incorporated it into their own offenses.
Nagy comes from that system and knows the ins and outs of it and has transformed the offense almost as quickly as any head coach has found immediate success from a team that had finished last in its division for four straight seasons.
The Bears already had some key offensive component pieces in place. In 2017, Chicago’s front office made a point to assure that it would land Mitch Trubisky, trading up from the No. 3 spot in the draft to No. 2 to draft the rookie from North Carolina.
Trubisky made his NFL debut in Chicago’s fifth game of the 2017 season, ironically in prime time against the Vikings, a game that started the Vikings on a season-changing transformation that took them from 2-2 to 13-3. As with most rookie NFL quarterbacks, in the 12 games he started, Trubisky threw for just 2,193 yards with seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 77.5. He never had a game with more than one touchdown and had just three games with more than 200 yards passing.
In his first nine games of 2018, Trubisky has thrown for 2,304 yards with 19 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 101.6. He has had six games with two or more TD passes, seven games with 200 or more yards passing and four games with more than 315 passing yards. He has thrived under the Nagy offense and is on pace to set the franchise record for passing yards and touchdown passes – which is saying something considering that the Bears are one of oldest and most storied franchises in the history of the game.
One big positive that Nagy inherited was a duo of running backs that bring different but equally impressive resumes to the table. Jordan Howard is the power back, a classic Bears-type runner. He established himself last season by rushing for 1,122 yards and nine touchdowns with 10 games of 15 or more carries – the new definition of a bell cow running back. But, another member of the Bears 2017 draft class has provided the lighting to Howard’s thunder.
Tarik Cohen was brought in to be a receiving back and speed threat in Chicago’s backfield and has blossomed into a star capable of breaking plays open. He has averaged 4.4 yards a carry as the complement to Howard, but his most dangerous contribution is in the passing game, where he is tied for the team lead with 37 receptions and leads the team with 435 receiving yards.
While the quarterbacks, running backs and offensive line were inherited by Nagy, he knew to be successful in his offense, changes needed to come and the Bears made wholesale changes to the receiving corps. The team was aggressive in free agency, signing wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton to give an immediate talent infusion to the passing game for Trubisky. The Bears also used a second-round draft pick on Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller and the results have been obvious.
There is no legitimate go-to No. 1 receiver in Chicago. Cohen and Gabriel lead the team with 37 receptions, but Burton has 33 catches, Robinson has 31 and Miller has 24. The same applies to receiving yards. Cohen leads the team with 435 yards, followed closely by Gabriel (426), Robinson (418), Burton (411) and Miller (332). The Bears have found a way not only to achieve balance between the run and pass, they have found a way to spread the ball around so equally that, if a team decides to pay extra attention to one of the receivers, there are too many other options that Trubisky feels comfortable throwing to, which makes defending the Bears offense more difficult than most.
While the offense has enjoyed newfound success, the Bears defense was one of the best-kept secrets in the NFL last season that is no longer a secret. Chicago has the top-rated defense in the NFC and fourth overall (second against the run, 13th against the pass), but their improvement goes farther than yardage or points allowed.
The Bears are in the top 10 in almost every defensive category – the top five in eight of the 10 purely defensive categories that don’t involve special teams. But nowhere is their impressive stat numbers more critical that the most important of defensive statistics – takeaways. Chicago is second in the league with 24 takeaways – a league-best 16 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries. When combined with just 11 giveaways, Chicago has the best giveaway/takeaway ratio in the league at plus-13 and it extends to all three levels of the defense.
The Bears have a strong front three unit of Akiem Hicks and Jonathan Bullard and nose tackle Eddie Goldman. They are young and still in the prime and set the line to allow Chicago’s linebackers to run wild.
The case can be made that Chicago has the best linebacker corps in the league. Khalil Mack is a Defensive MVP frontunner, veteran Danny Trevathan is a playmaker when healthy, Leonard Floyd is a dominant player in just his third season and rookie Roquan Smith is going to be an impact player on the inside for years to come. The group has combined for 14 sacks and three interceptions and have helped make the Bears a swarming defense that at times is almost impossible to stop.
The biggest improvement of the in-house Bears defense this season has been in the secondary. Kyle Fuller is among the best shutdown corners in the league, Prince Amukamara is a veteran presence that rarely gets caught out of position, Bryce Callahan is an emerging nickel corner and young safeties Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos are both big hitters with cover skills that could be cornerstones of the secondary for years to come.
Fuller has been one of the biggest playmakers in the league with four interceptions and Amukamara, Callahan and Jackson have added two each. When it comes to testing Chicago’s secondary, teams have learned to do so at their own peril since 2018 opponents have a combined passer rating of 79.8 against them.
For years, Chicago has found itself at the bottom of the NFC North, finishing last each of the last four seasons. As important as Sunday night’s game will be for the Vikings, it may have just as much, if not more, importance for Chicago, which can put a stranglehold on the NFC North title with a win that would have everyone else looking up at them with a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time.
PUBLICATION : 1500 ESPN 11/18/18
Sheldon Richardson loves a good football story
By Matthew Collaer
EAGAN, Minn. — Players on the Minnesota Vikings know they have it pretty good when there’s a casual lounge area connected to their spacious locker room. If you forgot from early media coverage of TCO Performance Center, has two fireplaces, multiple televisions and large pleather couches in the middle.
Inside the lounge within a lounge — which is right around the corner from the smoothie bar — is two more big TVs, more couches, some with extended cushions to allow for full relaxation. Sheldon Richardson makes himself at home on one of those, strokes his beard and starts talkin’ football.
Midway through his first sentence, wide receiver Adam Thielen walks by and shouts, “are you telling him about your days as a tight end?”
Richardson has apparently told this one before.
So indeed the Vikings’ defensive tackle explains that he played everywhere in high school and loved it.
“The only thing I didn’t play in high school was probably corner,” he says proudly. “I played safety a few plays. If they had a big guy who wasn’t fast, they’d say ‘if he comes across the middle you got him.’ Anything to do to win, I was all for it. It was fun.”
Rivals rated him as the No. 1 defensive tackle prospect and the fourth best recruit in the country. Unfortunately his days as an Alge Crumpler wannabe came to an end when he registered 19 sacks and scored six defensive touchdowns and it was clear he’d be on the defensive side of the ball for the rest of his playing career. After all, those are some Deacon Jones numbers.
We know Richardson now as a guy on a one-year deal with the Vikings fighting to prove he deserves to be named along with some of the best defensive tackles in the game a la Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Akiem Hicks — and in turn pushing to prove he deserves a long-term contract.
We know him as the player who dominated early in his career and then wore out his welcome with the New York Jets after a handful of off-field issues in a short period of time. And as the player who didn’t quite put up the same numbers you’d expect with Seattle — though the team and stat analysts will argue he was better than his sack stats suggested.
But during his days in Missouri at Gateway Institute of Technology, where he was an All-American high school football player, Richardson was an unexpected star from a magnet school of 1,200 that has rarely produced professional sports stars. At that time he was a kid who loved learning about the history of football from his dad and taking in everything he could about the superstars of the NFL on Sundays.
Kids of the 1970s might have emulated Roberto Clemente or Mickey Mantle’s battling stances. For Richardson, on any given play he would attempt to mimic a Richard Seymour pass rush move or try to read the play like Ray Lewis, stuff a run like Tony Siragusa or play with the intensity of Brian Dawkins. When he got the ball he wanted to run like Jerome Bettis. And Crumpler was his favorite tight end.
“I love the way he’d take a hit,” Richardson said. “Across the middle, safety blowing his chest up and he still holding the ball, throwing it at ‘em like ‘I’ll sign it for you next,’ stuff like that. It was just fun.”
No matter the question, Richardson has an answer that is layered with NFL player references from both back in day and when he was a teenager. The Deacon Jones shoutout came from his dad, who was a high school and a semi-pro football player.
“I never really had a favorite team, I always liked players,” he says. “You come across cats that you’ve heard about. Deacon Jones had 40 sacks in one season. They blocked different with their elbows back in the day, but still you have to go back there and get it. Dominance like that. Javon Kearse, ‘The Freak,’ Leonard Little, all those guys, I’ve been a history buff for awhile now.”
Coincidentally Richardson now plays with Kearse’s nephew, Jayron.
There’s no hesitation in the defensive lineman’s voice when he’s name dropping. He doesn’t have to look anything up on his phone or struggle to recall names, positions or backgrounds. You might bet Richardson knows more Pro Bowlers from ’02 than ’17. It’s like Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity, except for a distinct period of NFL history.
“There’s all types of cats, it might be just one play and then I would research them,” Richardson said. “Just look where they came from, what schools they went to, what types of D-line coaches that coached them up and how they play the way they play.”
If you know something about a star player from the early 2000s, the soon-to-be 28-year-old wants to hear it. When he played for the Jets, the former 13th overall pick watched the moving NFL Films “A Football Life” documentary on Curtis Martin. He respected the way Laveranues Coles went over the middle. The best part was coming across factoids about how the player rose to the top of the game and some of the lore surrounding the greats.
“Ray Lewis…I heard someone say he could tell by the sound of the shoulder pads that it’s a play-action pass because he’d hear hands instead of helmets colliding with his linemen,” Richardson says. “There’s a whole bunch of stuff you’d come across.”
It was pretty wild for the Vikings’ starting three-technique when Hall of Famer Warren Sapp bristled at comparisons between the two in 2014.
“As soon as that kid gets off the ‘I think I was better and should have been drafted in a different position,’ maybe he’ll see his future,” Sapp told the Daily News. “Let’s not anoint this kid the next best thing since sliced bread yet.”
That’s like writing a hit song and then having Paul McCartney say, “what have you done?”
“Can’t take away from him though I might not like the guy he is, he had some negative things to say about me and my grind, but even still, his work shows,” said Richardson, who had tried to copy Sapp’s swim move as a teenager.
Sheldon has takes, too.
Joe Montana is the GOAT to him because back then quarterbacks had to be tough. Montana had to get up from being a crumpled ball underneath Lawrence Taylor — though he offers no disrespect to Tom Brady and his rings.
Getting fined $20,000 earlier this year for a hit on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t seem to annoy him as much as mediocre QBs putting up Montana numbers.
“[Toughness] was a big deal because you got hit!” he said. “You can be average Joe Schmo and be soft, mentally, physically and they will still try to hype you up as a dominant QB.”
There’s a joy in Richardson’s voice when he shares back-in-the-day stories that you rarely hear in an interview with an NFL player. About 15 minutes into the chat, he was supposed to wrap things up for another interview, but instead he opted to keep the conversation going.
“It’s all good, we’re done when we’re done,” he says.
It’s hard to explain the rarity of this event.
The conversation reaches a different type of place with him than questions about, say, matching up with James Daniels and Cody Whitehair of the Bears — though he might just drop Olin Kreutz’s name on you in that case. Regardless, he says his passion for the game goes back to his earliest memories.
“I first got my love for the game is when I was five,” Richardson says. “It was when I hit my first dummy bag and I was the youngest cat on the team because I started playing football even before I went to school. My birthday is in November and if your birthday isn’t before the school year starts, you have to wait until you are six. I was literally like punishing kids, like they were crying and stuff and I was like, yeah, this is something I need, this is fun.”
“It wasn’t too long after that I started being a student of the game.”
It’s a feeling still exists within Richardson, but in different ways. He doesn’t watch his peers on YouTube because those are folks he’s competing with every Sunday. That passion gets redirected into his profession.
“I’ve been really impressed with Sheldon,” head coach Mike Zimmer said in mid-October. “And not just his play, but the way he’s come in here and tried to learn the techniques we’re trying to teach him, his professionalism, (and) how he handles himself in the meetings.”
But Richardson thinks about the old days a lot. The excitement of being a highly-recruited player and young football fan. He seems to feel about football how you might feel about your first crush. He says he wants to help more kids from his area experience that type of relationship with the game as a coach or mentor when he’s done playing.
“It was a great feeling, I want other kids to experience that feeling,” he says. “Some kids don’t ever leave the city that they are in and they just see it on TV and think that’s a pipe dream. I tell them, anything in life, you can achieve it, it’s just going to be hard…. People think football players are crazy…or that they do it for money, but there’s more to it than that because there’s nothing in life that’s given. Pretty sure where you are at right now, it was hard as hell…you take that work and you appreciate it, you hold value. “
Because he’s having a great season, it might be easy to say Minnesota has helped him recapture some of his football glee. Richardson picked a heckuva good situation to help re-shape his image and enjoy his time in the North — and not just because of the smoothie bar and lounges. Not only do the Vikings have Pro Bowlers across the D-line, they have a strong organizational infrastructure with a long-time GM, five- year head coach and one of the most highly respected D-line coaches in the game in Andre Patterson.
“He’s been really good with everything,” Zimmer added. “There’s been some plays that a lot of people don’t recognize that I see on tape and I’m like, ‘that’s a heck of a play.’ Everybody sees the sacks and the hits on the quarterback. But they don’t see sometimes when you split the double team and you make a tackle or you run 20 yards down the field and make a tackle. Those things are impressive to me.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Richardson ranks ninth in the NFL among interior defensive linemen in QB pressures with 32 and third in QB hits.
“Sheldon has been an ultimate pro since he’s been here, with his work habits and the things that he brings to the table with his skill set,” defensive coordinator George Edwards said. “He’s bought in to what we’re trying to get accomplished defensively, and he really has helped us a lot inside. Against the run game, he’s very stout against the run, you’re not going to move him off the ball. In the passing game he’s getting push in the pocket. I know his sack numbers aren’t as high as he’d like them to be right now, but I can tell you that he’s right there and the quarterback feels his push inside.”
There isn’t much debate about how good Richardson can be. The elephant in the room is whether he will continue to play at an elite level inside over the course of a long-term contract and whether he can avoid any suspension-worthy incidents like the ones that caused the Jets to move along.
Richardson, as one would, says he’s grown up and is playing for his daughter these days — and the sample size of him fulfilling potential is growing.
“I want to be great,” he says. “I want to win a ring. I want to win a ring. That’s something I really want to do. Yeah, I want to get paid but I really, really want to win a ring more. I really want to win a ring.”
So maybe now with a lot of noise removed, his focus is closer than it’s been in a long time to youthful appreciation for the game. And if he does get that ring, he might very well be one of the players whose story football-crazy kids are telling years later. PUBLICATION : THE ATHLETIC 11/18/18
Vikings Week 11 preview: Who wins in the battle for the NFC North lead?
By The Athletic Staff
The Vikings’ five wins this season have come against teams that are a combined 14-33. You take a win anywhere you can get it, but Minnesota is going to have to get it done against tougher competition if they want any shot at going back to the playoffs.
Of their final seven games, only the 4-5-1 Packers and 3-6 Lions currently have losing records. The stretch also features back-to-back tough road tests against 7-3 New England and a 5-5 Seattle team fighting in the wild-card hunt. And of course, there are two games against the 6-3, NFC North-leading Bears, the first of which comes Sunday night in Chicago.
It’s the biggest game of the season yet, with the winner vaulting into the driver seat in the division. Can the purple get it done? Our Vikings crew of Chad Graff, Arif Hasan, and Jon Krawczynski previews Week 11.
What I’m watching Graff: The Vikings’ offensive line against Khalil Mack and a talented Chicago Bears pass rush. The Bears rank fifth in sacks and Mack has been a difference-maker on an already-good defense. He’s destroyed offensive lines this season, forcing four fumbles, notching one interception, and notching seven sacks in seven games. Now in the Bears’ biggest game of the season, he faces a just-OK Vikings offensive line, which sets that unit’s biggest test yet. Kirk Cousins has proven capable of throwing under pressure. But Mack is one of few game-changing pass-rushers, and his ability to knock the ball loose could make a difference against Cousins, who has the second-most fumbles in the league (eight through nine games).
Hasan: Brian O’Neill versus Mack might be the defining duel of the game, and that battle could be a microcosm of the matchup. The newly minted starting right tackle will have his hands full with a defensive player of the year candidate. That said, the Bears’ secondary might be the best-performing secondary in the league — while the Vikings’ duo of receivers has established itself as an elite pair. On the other side of the ball, Mitchell Trubisky remains an enigma; his high ranking in box-score statistics contrasts with his low Pro Football Focus score and could be an indication that his level of play is not sustainable.
Krawczynski: Soldier Field. Even in bad times for the Bears, this place has been a house of horrors for the Vikings. For whatever reason, be it swirling winds, the deep-dish pizza sitting in their stomachs like a brick or Mike Ditka’s majestic mustache, the Vikings always have their hands full in Chicago. And this time around, the Bears look like they’re pretty good. It’s a Sunday night game, so you know the crowd will be charged up. The Vikings need to find their footing on that historically shaky Soldier Field turf early to try and take some of the wind out of the Bears’ sails. Chicago just looks like that team that comes from out of nowhere to contend.
The Vikings win if … Graff: Cousins and the offense can protect the football. As good as the Bears’ defense is, it is possible to move the ball on them through the air. Chicago ranks 12th in pass defense, allowing 236 yards per game. But they’ve been one of the NFL’s top defenses because of their ability to force turnovers. Their 16 interceptions are the most in the league and their 24 total takeaways are the second-most in the NFL. With Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs at his disposal, Cousins should be able to gain yards through the air. But he and the offense can’t turn it over if they expect to leave Chicago with a win.
Hasan: If they mitigate pressure from Mack, they’ll open up holes offensively. Defensively, the Vikings will have opportunities for turnovers, but they have to make good on them and hold on to the ball once they get their hands on it.
Krawczynski: They can contain Mack. After a couple of quiet games, Mack came out of the bye last week with two sacks against the Lions. Kirk Cousins has been under pressure for much of the season, and the Vikings’ ability to contain Mack figures to go a long way in their efforts to pick up a win at Soldier Field. The Vikings’ bye week came at a great time, giving them extra days to look at ways to counter Mack’s ferocity and also give a banged-up offensive line some time to mend. If Cousins can get enough time to throw, the Vikings should be in good shape.
Super Bowl meter Graff: Tempered but rising after four wins in five games and with a bye week utilized to get healthy. A win on national TV would put them in the driver’s seat to winning the division and raise already high expectations.
Hasan: Warming up. The Vikings have looked good against top-tier teams, but they haven’t beaten them yet. Until then, they don’t get to say they’re Super Bowl or playoff favorites. They have that opportunity this week, however.
Krawczynski: Trending in the right direction. They picked up a win, got a bye week and now embark on what will be a grueling second half of the season. A win in Chicago would get this meter surging, which could be needed in what is shaping up to be a long, cold winter.
Game predictions Graff: Vikings 24, Bears 23. The Bears are a good team with a great defense. But the Vikings are finally getting healthy and are rolling on defense after some mid-season tweaks. Trubisky looks light years ahead of where he was last season, but I still think Mike Zimmer’s unit does enough to earn a win at Soldier Field.
Hasan: Vikings 17, Bears 13. The two defenses entering the game are playing at an elite level and could muck up scoring opportunities for otherwise high-flying offenses. In particular, Zimmer should be able to slow down a young quarterback with confusing blitzes and coverages.
Krawczynski: Vikings 27, Bears 23. If the Vikings are truly Super Bowl contenders like we thought they were at the beginning of the season, they go into Soldier Field on Sunday night, harass Trubisky, make some big plays on offense and walk out of there winners.
Week-by-week picks OK, there you have it. Unanimous confidence in the Vikings reigns for an eighth time in 10 games, with Chad and Jon still a nose in front of Arif thanks to doubting them one extra time. Who do you think wins? Take your boundless fan optimism and head over to our Twitter poll to vote now.
Fantasy spin The Minnesota Vikings have struggled against tight ends this season, at least against tight ends for teams that actually emphasize the tight end in the passing game. Already we’ve seen Zach Ertz, Jimmy Graham and George Kittle post 90-plus yards against the Vikings, and in recent weeks we’ve seen usual TE afterthoughts Ricky Seals-Jones (69 yards) and Chris Herndon (42 yards, TD) post starter-worthy fantasy numbers against Minnesota. This is all to say that this game sets up well for Chicago tight end Trey Burton, whose seven targets inside the 10-yard line is topped by only Jared Cook among tight ends.
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook is a full-go this week as he’s finally over the hamstring injury that has dogged him for much of the season. Facing a nasty Chicago defense with Thielen at less than 100 percent (calf, back), look for the Vikings to take advantage of Cook’s talents in the passing game. The Bears have been one of the stingiest in fantasy to opposing running backs, but have shown some vulnerability to RBs in the passing game in recent weeks (see James White, Kerryon Johnson and Theo Riddick). Owners of Cook that are worried about his rushing prospects should be heartened by his receiving upside enough to start him with confidence this week. — Brandon Funston PUBLICATION : NFL.COM 11/18/18
NFL Week 11 game picks: Rams edge Chiefs; Cowboys stay hot
By The Athletic Staff
Chicago Bears 24, Minnesota Vikings 20
8:20 p.m. ET (NBC) | Soldier Field (Chicago)
Dove into this game on the set of "The Power Rankings Show" (shameless plug: Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET on NFL Network), with my colleague James Jones explaining why we haven't seen more from Jordan Howard in the Bears' offense. Jones feels that Matt Nagy's primary focus is to show the defense something different every play, starting with formations, which can negate consistently running the ball downhill. Save for some truly special running backs, most ball carriers need the consistency of touches to get into a rhythm. Which brings us to the other side of this equation: How much balance can Dalvin Cook provide the Vikings' offense? Khalil Mack got after Matthew Stafford last week. He looks fully healthy after missing a couple games. If there is a weak link to this Minnesota team, the offensive line is it. Kirk Cousins has been sacked 24 times this season (ninth-most in the league). By the way, the Vikes have secured 31 sacks of their own (tied for the league lead), so Mitch Trubisky's mobility will be paramount in this game.