Vikings – Page 142 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

How about 10-6 Record for Vikings?

Posted on September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 by David Shama

News about the Vikings, Gophers, Lynx and Twins in today’s notes-focused column.

Vikings rookies Dalvin Cook and center Pat Elflein impressed in Monday night’s opening game win over the Saints. Cook broke Adrian Peterson’s opening game rushing record for a Vikings rookie with his 127 yards and Elflein became the franchise’s first rookie starter at center since Mick Tingelhoff in 1962.

Dalvin Cook (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Cook was the best running back in Monday night’s game that included the return of Peterson in a Saints uniform. The No. 2 draft choice showed speed, power and moves. Former Viking Bob Lurtsema said the elusive Cook can even make a 90 degree change in direction without slowing down.

Elflein, who looks like a draft day steal after being chosen in the third round, kept pass rushers away from quarterback Sam Bradford and showed his mobility on run plays. “He is the real deal,” Lurtsema raved. “He played so well. His awareness and peripheral vision is spectacular.”

Lurtsema is known for his accurate predictions about Vikings regular season records for wins and losses. He is forecasting 10-6 for this year’s team and a spot in the playoffs after the regular season ends on December 31. He believes Minnesota will either win or tie for the NFC North title.

Most everyone sees the Vikings and Packers at the top of the division but Lurtsema labeled the Lions a potential surprise team. “They know they got something cooking there,” he said about the Lions who signed quarterback Matthew Stafford to a contract extension making him the highest paid player in the NFL.

Bradford was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week this morning after his career record 143.0 passer rating performance against the Saints. He completed 27 of 32 passes and threw three touchdown passes.

For those who like to speculate about coaching changes, it seems probable Saints boss Sean Payton has to do better than a fourth consecutive 7-9 record. His team was unimpressive in Monday night’s 29-19 loss, and Peterson had what appeared to be an emotional exchange with the head coach on the sidelines.

Jim Carter sent text messages to a half dozen football Gophers earlier this week about Jerry Kill, their former head coach. Carter, a close friend of Kill and wife Rebecca, wanted to assure the players Kill was okay after minor seizures on Sunday.

Carter, captain of the 1969 Gophers, said the players were grateful for the communication and relieved to receive an update about Kill. “I heard back from everyone,” Carter said.

Kill has been seizure free in recent years but Carter said the now Rutgers offensive coordinator had a “couple of quick seizures” on Sunday and was hospitalized that night. Carter spoke with Rebecca on Monday and learned the coach was back at work.

Kill was coaching on the sidelines when hit by a player last Saturday. The blow may have contributed to the seizures on Sunday. “I and others have urged him to go to the press box because it’s safer,” Carter said.

Kill, though, prefers the sidelines where he can be close to his quarterbacks. He is in his first season at Rutgers and coaching for the first time since resigning as Minnesota coach during the 2015 season because of health issues. He is expected to coach in Rutgers’ home game Saturday against Morgan State. The Scarlet Knights are 0-2 following losses to Washington and Eastern Michigan.

Andrew Harte, the former Gophers kicker under Kill, transferred to Rutgers where he has made two of three field goal attempts this season. Harte, 22, is from Downers Grove, Illinois and joined the Gophers program in 2013.

Jeff Jones, who was on Kill’s staff at Minnesota, is assistant director of player development at Rutgers.

Gopher redshirt senior linebacker Cody Poock, who had 14 career starts under Kill and Tracy Claeys, is now a reserve behind sophomore Thomas Barber.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Gentry, who was a much anticipated recruit from Cincinnati in 2014, left the Gophers program last month after having two career catches for 36 yards.

M Club director George Adzick said more than 40 members of the 1967 Minnesota Big Ten championship team have committed to attending a 50-year celebration in Minneapolis later this month. Players will be honored during the Minnesota-Maryland game at TCF Bank Stadium on September 30.

Credit Lynx owner Glen Taylor with approving the temporary installation of air conditioning for his team’s WNBA playoff games at Williams Arena. “Glen was driven by two distinct motives, and none were financial,” said Lynx president Chris Wright. “No. 1 was the safety of players. No. 2 was the comfort of fans.”

The Lynx won its opening playoff game in nearly 90-year-old Williams Arena last night against the Mystics. Without a temporary air conditioning system that could cost nearly $1 million before the WNBA playoffs end in a few weeks, the temperature in the building would have been about 85 degrees.

But with air conditioning temps will be in the 61 to 71 degree range for all playoff games. The Aggreko company based in Houston has contracted with the Lynx to cool Williams Arena. The company has provided forced air for Olympic and PGA events in the past.

Wright said WNBA bylaws require that playoff games be scheduled in facilities with air conditioning. With Target Center’s renovation not completed, and Xcel Energy Center unavailable, the Lynx considered various options for home playoff games including locations outside Minneapolis-St. Paul. Taylor, though, didn’t want the team playing away from its home market.

The Lynx expect crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 for early playoff games but if the team qualifies for the WNBA Finals capacity crowds of 14,625 at Williams Arena are possible. Single game ticket prices for first round home games start at $6 for a college student.

Starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, 10-10, will be a key to whether the Twins qualify for the playoffs. He has a 4-0 record with a 1.38 ERA in his last five starts. Last night he pitched six innings, giving up four hits and no walks in Minnesota’s 16-0 win over the Padres.

The Twins won’t have to worry about cold weather postponing two of their Target Field games next April. The club will be the host team in two games in Puerto Rico against the Indians on April 17 and 18, with off days before and after the series. The Twins will play 79 home games instead of the usual 81.

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What a Script Vikings May Write

Posted on September 4, 2017September 11, 2017 by David Shama

What a story it will be. A moment in state history that will be remembered by almost every Minnesotan—even a few that don’t even know the abbreviation “NFL.” The Vikings could fulfill a dream that dates back to the 1960s.

Next week the regular season begins in Minneapolis against the Saints. The Vikings need to successfully get through the regular season, win a couple of playoff games and then there it is—the Super Bowl in U.S. Bank Stadium.

The AFC can send its goliath, the Patriots, or an intruder like the Steelers. It won’t matter. The Vikings can come full circle, finishing as Super Bowl winners in front of their fans—in their stadium.

Mark Dayton might watch the postgame celebration from a seat that costs $20,000 in the “people’s stadium.” The Wilf brothers will jump up and down like little boys. Bud Grant may crack a smile. Fran Tarkenton will scramble on the field to congratulate Sam Bradford. Alan Page might philosophize about football’s relationship to the community.

The franchise’s legacy of faltering in the biggest games will be exorcised. The four Super Bowl losses in the 1970s were painful, but many Vikings fans weren’t alive when all that happened. The collective hurt is more palpable for the NFC championship game loss (at home) following a 15-1 regular season in 1998. Another nightmare finish was the playoff loss in 2010 to the Saints who with back alley shenanigans put a stop to the Vikings’ Super Bowl itinerary.

The Purple have been cursed for a long time. Maybe it was all part of a cosmic scheme to bring glory in 2018. Not only could the Vikings win their first Super Bowl next year, but they can become the first team ever to do so in their home stadium.

Perhaps the football gods have been scripting this story for awhile. Multiple elements are so perfect including the career coach Mike Zimmer, the straight talking defensive wizard who never had a head job in the NFL until the Wilfs hired him and hoped he could become Bill Parcells. A season ago Zimmer suffered the pain and anguish of eye issues, and has under gone multiple surgeries, but the 2018 Super Bowl could be his reward.

The biggest of stages can vindicate general manager Rick Spielman who enters this season with more than the usual number of eyeballs scrutinizing his work. A year ago he gave up draft choices to acquire Bradford from the Eagles. Winning the Super Bowl with Bradford and a whole roster Spielman assembled will quiet the critics who make a hobby of analyzing his draft choices over the years for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2010.

There will be those who scoff at this Super Bowl prophecy, but be reminded greater minds share the vision. The Pioneer Press reported last month comic turned senator Al Franken predicts a Purple win over the Patriots next February. And back in 2015 Bob Lurstema, the ever optimistic former Viking, saw his favorite team in the 2017 Super Bowl. So what if he was off by a year?

Lurtsema, by the way, could have many phone calls to return next winter. For years his voicemail greeting has teased he will return calls after “the Vikings win the Super Bowl”—then adds, well, maybe not that long.

But not so fast, my friends. Sports Headliners is now having second thoughts.

Are the Vikings really good enough to make a Super Bowl run? Yeah, Zimmer is going to confuse offenses with gap packages and other goodies in his tool box, and gotta like the defensive personnel, too. The front seven ranks with the better groups in the 32-team NFL and the defensive backs compare with the best, too.

The Vikings top half dozen players might all be defensive guys, starting with the safety most everybody wishes they had, Harrison Smith. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes is coming into his prime years and monster defensive tackle Linval Joseph is generally underrated but not by the Vikings. Linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks impress with athleticism, and defensive ends Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter can be league leaders in sacks.

The offense, though, makes a writer hit the pause button on the Super Bowl script. Yes, if Bradford can play like last year, he won’t be THE problem. He set an NFL record for completion percentage, 71.6 percent. He also showed more than accuracy, displaying Houdini-like timing avoiding hordes of tacklers rushing through the team’s leaky offensive line.

That line is what should keep Vikings fans awake at night. If there was such a thing as an NFL auction for personnel, talent evaluators would label the Vikings’ offensive linemen as either mediocre based on past performance, or unproven. That’s not a formula for Super Bowl optimism.

Bradford’s strong and accurate arm, and his drop back timing, could get the offense out of many jams. Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs will again be productive and favorite receivers. Rookie running back Dalvin Cook has potential to create the long gainers any balanced offense needs.

A subplot to the season could be the impact of Minnesota native Michael Floyd, the first-year Viking suspended for the first four games. How about a story ending in the Super Bowl where the veteran wide receiver catches the winning touchdown pass?

Sorry, don’t think it will happen. The Vikings might go 10-6 and make the playoffs, just like they did two years ago after an 11-5 regular season. But it takes more imagination and preseason optimism than this keyboard has to see a parade down Hennepin Avenue following the Super Bowl.

Let’s plan on a first or second round playoff loss derailing the Super Bowl train. And what team will dash Purple hopes?

The Packers, of course, who will not only cross the border to beat the Vikings in the playoffs, but again when they travel to Minneapolis to play in the 2018 Super Bowl.

Double sorry.

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Smith Era Helped Rebuild Twins

Posted on August 30, 2017August 30, 2017 by David Shama

A Wednesday notes column leading off with the Twins who could qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Bill Smith is often criticized for his tenure as general manager from 2007-2011 but it was during that time the Twins signed right fielder Max Kepler, left fielder Eddie Rosario, shortstop Jorge Polanco and third baseman Miguel Sano. Those four represent half of the usual starting lineup in the field, and along with center fielder Byron Buxton form the nucleus of the franchise’s future among position players.

The Twins acquired Kepler, Polanco and Sano as undrafted amateur free agents in 2009, committing millions to sign them. Rosario was acquired as an amateur in the fourth round of the 2010 First Year Player Draft. That’s impressive results from Smith and his staff to find, evaluate and sign these four players who are all from outside the United States.

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

Kepler, Polanco and Sano are all 24 years old, while Rosario is 25. This season the young group has accounted for 82 percent of the team’s home runs, and 68 percent of the runs batted in.

Smith was fired after the 2011 season when the Twins lost 99 games and won 63. His era, though, had its highlights including a Central Division title in 2010, and key player signings as referenced above.

It will be interesting to see who the Vikings cut from their roster after Thursday night’s final preseason game. A guess is that among the surprise cuts by Saturday’s NFL deadline to downsize the roster to 53 players could be third-year offensive lineman T.J. Clemmings. A starter last season in 14 games at tackle, Clemmings didn’t enter last Sunday’s game with the 49ers until late in the second half. He hasn’t been in the mix this summer among top contenders for playing time in the line.

Another surprise cut might be defensive lineman Datone Jones, who the Vikings signed as a free agent last spring following three seasons with the Packers. He was a No. 1 draft choice by the Packers in 2013 and played mostly as a reserve with Green Bay.

The Vikings could have rookie starters with Dalvin Cook at running back, Pat Elflein at center and Ben Gedeon at linebacker. Cook, Elflein and Gedeon were second, third and fourth round draft choices. Eric Wilson, an undrafted free agent from Cincinnati, has impressed the Vikings in preseason practices and could make the final roster of 53 players.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told NBC TV’s Michele Tafoya during Sunday night’s 49ers exhibition game he has decided who his starting center will be, but didn’t provide a name. Elflein, though, has impressed with his mobility and seems a good fit for the offense’s zone-blocking scheme requiring linemen to move quickly and block linebackers.

Marshall Koehn did the field goal and extra point work in Sunday’s game. He had a 58-yard field goal, was three-for-three on extra points and kicked off. The 25-year-old free agent from Iowa could replace Kai Forbath who joined the Vikings last season after the team cut Blair Walsh. Forbath has been used minimally in preseason and didn’t play against the 49ers.

The Vikings will play their first four regular season games without suspended wide receiver Michael Floyd, the 27-year-old Minnesota native who the team acquired as a free agent during the offseason. Floyd has played in all three preseason games, catching five passes for 46 yards. None of his receptions have been for more than 12 yards.

But later this season Floyd could become the team’s best wide receiver, according to former Viking Ben Leber. He said Floyd could be that good while providing commentary on the Vikings Radio Network during Sunday night’s game. In three of Floyd’s six seasons with the Cardinals he averaged more than 16 yards per reception and might provide the Vikings with the deep threat they need.

The Vikings first team offense has yet to score a touchdown in the preseason—raising concerns about effectiveness this fall—but the defense could repeat its performance of last season when the unit was at times among the best in the NFL. “The defense can be as good as we want to be,” defensive tackle Linval Joseph told Sports Headliners. “We just have to eliminate mistakes, run to the football and make tackles.”

Brian Robison, who is about to start his 11th season with the Vikings, has yet to play in the preseason and it’s looking more like he will give up his starting job to Danielle Hunter. “I think mentally he’s becoming more in tune with the game,” Robison said about Hunter who has only one career regular season start and is beginning his third pro season. “Physically, he’s got all the attributes you would want out of a defensive end. I think sky’s the limit for him. I just think he’s gotta take another step forward and just keep going in the right direction.”

Robison, 34, has been sidelined with a leg injury. Although he has played 10 NFL seasons, Robison told Sports Headliners he sees no decline in his skills.

The regular season starts September 11, with the Vikings playing five of their first seven games in Minneapolis—almost mandating a winning start to the schedule if the team is to qualify for the playoffs. Four of the last seven are on the road.

Matt Birk, the former Vikings center and now an advisor to the NFL, speaks to the CORES lunch group September 15 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

P.J. Fleck coaches his first Gophers game Thursday night against Buffalo at TCF Bank Stadium and it will be interesting to watch his energy on the field. Fleck moves at warp speed in practices. “I mean if he turns it up a little bit more for a game…that’s crazy to even think it could go a little bit higher,” Steven Richardson said.

Richardson, a senior tackle, is among the more proven and talented Gophers going into the season. A surprise contributor on the defensive line, though, might be junior redshirt tack Gary Moore who only played in four games and had two tackles last season.

“I’ve seen him grow so much in this past fall camp,” Richardson said about Moore. “I am excited to see what he is going to do.”

The Big Ten Network celebrates its 10th anniversary today. Revenues from the network given to Big Ten Conference athletic departments have benefitted all but particularly lower tier programs in need of financial assistance.

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