DAILY CLIPS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2018 LOCAL NEWS: Wednesday, December 5, 2018 Star Tribune Bill Belichick's dust-up with Adam Thielen was entertaining but not his most noteworthy By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/bill-belichick-s-dust-up-with-adam-thielen-was-entertaining-but-not-his-most- noteworthy/501940821/ Vikings film review: Missed chances in New England lead to dud from Cousins, WR duo By Andrew Krammer http://www.startribune.com/vikings-film-review-missed-chances-in-new-england-lead-to-dud-from-cousins- wr-duo/501888441/ Vikings working out CFL star Bo Levi Mitchell on Wednesday By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/vikings-working-out-cfl-star-bo-levi-mitchell-on-wednesday/501946011/ Pioneer Press Vikings’ Richardson, Johnson eager to show Seahawks what they’re missing By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/04/vikings-sheldon-richardson-tom-johnson-eager-to-face-former- team-in-seattle/ Mike Zimmer pleased with hurry-up offense. Will Vikings use it more? By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/04/vikings-could-benefit-from-using-hurry-up-offense-mike-zimmer- says/ Vikings.com 10 Vikings-Seahawks Numbers of Note: Vikings Set For 62nd Monday Night Football Appearance By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/10-vikings-seahawks-numbers-of-note-vikings-set-for-62nd-monday-night- football-a NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Still in Playoff Picture Despite Bump By Chris Corso https://www.vikings.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-vikings-still-in-playoff-picture-despite-bump Lunchbreak: Harris Keeping Even Keel Despite Gaining Starting Spot By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-harris-keeping-even-keel-despite-gaining-starting-spot A Look at NFC Playoff Picture Entering Week 14 By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/a-look-at-nfc-playoff-picture-entering-week-14 Vikings to Raise Awareness Through ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ Campaign By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/vikings-to-raise-awareness-through-my-cause-my-cleats-campaign After Further Review: Vikings 3-and-Punt Hurts Between Pats Touchdowns By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/after-further-review-vikings-3-and-punt-hurts-between-pats-touchdowns VIKING Update Vikings ‘not surprised’ by playoff position, not ‘panicking’ By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Vikings-not-surprised-by-playoff-position-not-panicking- 125868153/ 1500 ESPN Should the Vikings go no-huddle? By Matt Coller http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/12/vikings-go-no-huddle/ The Athletic Vikings Film Room: Why it’s too soon to be calling for John DeFilippo’s head By Arif Hasan https://theathletic.com/694613/2018/12/04/minnesota-vikings-film-room-john-defilippo-offensive- coordinator-criticism-mike-zimmer/ PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 12/5/18 Bill Belichick's dust-up with Adam Thielen was entertaining but not his most noteworthy By Mark Craig Mild-mannered Adam Thielen can be quite the ornery cuss between the white lines of an NFL field. But, sorry Adam, if sideline tiffs with Bill Belichick were an Olympic sport, you’d have to settle for bronze. And that’s just among three notable Belichickian Battles witnessed by this observer going back to Week 1 of the 1992 season. In the Vikings’ 24-10 loss to the Patriots on Sunday, Thielen took vehement offense when Patriots safety Patrick Chung suddenly collapsed because of an injury at precisely the moment Belichick needed more time to study the homefield replay board and challenge the spot on a fourth-and-1 play. Not that the Patriots bend the rules or anything (wink, wink), but it did look somewhat suspect. So Thielen exploded with objection about 10 yards from Belichick. Lip readers have said Belichick told Thielen to shut the heck up. Or something to that effect. What happened next wouldn’t have happened in the early ’90s in Cleveland: one of Belichick’s players stepping in to defend him. This kind of player devotion tends to happen more often when you’re not an arrogant, unproven 39-year-old but a 66-year-old living legend with a record five Super Bowls and more wins than anyone not named Shula or Halas. It was Kyle Van Noy who got in Thielen’s face as the latter jabbed an accusatory finger in Belichick’s direction. “I thought that was the coolest thing that KV had Bill’s back right away,” said Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty. “Bill’s fiery. We see it every day, so I think it’s probably a lot cooler for [the media] to see it.” Thielen will be happy to know the silver medalist in sideline Belichickian Battles is Hall of Famer Cris Carter. On Dec. 9, 1995, Belichick’s Browns were at the Metrodome putting together a 27-11 loss five weeks after it was announced they’d be moving to Baltimore the following season. Linebacker Mike Caldwell was flagged for a late hit on Carter near the Browns sideline. Carter objected as passionately as only Carter could. Indications were Belichick questioned Carter’s toughness in unflattering terms. Carter and Belichick got into a heated back and forth. “He used words that I don’t agree with, that I don’t use when I talk to another human being,” Carter said after the game. “I just wanted to let him know that he can’t talk to me that way. That’s probably part of the reason why his team is in the position it’s in. “You have to treat people like people. That’s one of the things that he’s had a hard time doing. He has a lot of talent, but he has no type of personality to deal with individuals.” Belichick later denied he said anything to Carter to start the exchange. And the gold medal in the sideline Belichickian Battles goes to Reggie Langhorne, yet another receiver and the first player Belichick had a run-in with as a 39-year-old rookie head coach in Cleveland in 1991. Langhorne was one of the popular veterans on an aging 3-13 team Belichick inherited. Like many of them, he didn’t like or respect Belichick. As their feud boiled over early that season, Belichick confronted Langhorne and accused him of not hustling in practice. Langhorne countered by refusing to come out of the locker room for the start of practice. Belichick wanted to demote him to the practice squad. Langhorne refused and was fined $15,000 and told he wouldn’t be making that week’s trip to New York to play the Giants. That cost him another $30,000. After the season, Belichick put Langhorne on the team’s Plan B free agency list, calling him the “most selfish player I’ve ever coached.” The Colts signed Langhorne. And guess who the Colts opened with at home on Sept. 6, 1992? Yep, the Browns. The Colts sacked Bernie Kosar 11 times. They were leading 7-3 in the third quarter when Mark Herrmann threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to — you guessed it — Langhorne. Langhorne turned toward the Cleveland sideline, said some choice words and then whipped the ball at Belichick. He wouldn’t elaborate after the Colts’ 14-3 win. He just smiled and said, “If you’d have caught me after the touchdown and heard the things I was saying, you might have gotten a good quote.” PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 12/5/18 Vikings film review: Missed chances in New England lead to dud from Cousins, WR duo By Andrew Krammer Deep inside Gillette Stadium on Sunday night, Stefon Diggs retreated from the crowd. After declining to be interviewed, with a few choice words, emotions finally simmered below the surface. Diggs sat alone on the floor in the entrance of the visitor’s locker room following the Vikings’ 24-10 loss in New England. It was the empty calm following a low the Vikings hadn’t experienced in 27 games. The Patriots defense had just held Diggs and receiver Adam Thielen to the duo’s worst production (a combined 10 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown) in a losing effort since last year’s Week 2 trip to Pittsburgh, where quarterback Case Keenum made a rusty first start for the Vikings. Tempers flared in every direction: at opposing coaches, players, officials and teammates. Diggs, with a brace on his left knee, was shadowed by Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore nearly everywhere he went. Thielen was doubled on key plays by the McCourty twins. That game plan, combined with creative pre-snap disguises and defensive fronts, helped attack the Vikings’ strength that is one of the NFL’s best receiving duos. Quarterback Kirk Cousins had chances, but either he or the receiver (Thielen had two drops) missed them. The offense was unable to effectively adjust. “They were giving us a lot of really unorthodox looks defensively,” head coach Mike Zimmer said Monday. Let’s take a look at why the Vikings’ heavily-used passing game fell flat in New England. 1. Pressure report: The Patriots’ blitzes were the story of the game out of Boston media. But really, Cousins wasn’t awful against extra rushers. Against 10 blitzes, Cousins completed 6 of 9 passes for 62 yards and four first downs. One incompletion was a Thielen drop. He did take one critical sack on this third-and-5 to open the fourth quarter. But the O-line gave him little time on this play below. The Vikings offensive line’s issues against twists (or ‘stunts’) by opposing defensive fronts has been on display throughout this season.