Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 9.15.23.

Sports That Aren't HockeyTwinsVikingsGophersWildLynxTimberwolves

Sep 15

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Vikings Can’t Escape Eagles’ Running Game, Defensive Line

The Vikings lost four fumbles in their first 24 snaps, held the ball for just over 20 minutes, yet still lingered around just long enough to make it a one-score game. But the Eagles had too much - too much ground game, too much defensive line, too much just about everything - en route to a 34-28 win in front of an Amazon Prime crowd that probably started early Christmas shopping throughout much of the game.

The Vikings have turned the ball over seven times in two games and now face a must win game against the Chargers at home a week from Sunday. An 0-3 start would be disastrous.

But 0-2 hasn’t exactly been peachy either, for anyone not named Justin Jefferson.

How dominant were the Eagles? Besides time of possession, the Eagles had 75 plays to the Vikes’ 55, 259 rushing yards to Minnesota’s 28. The Vikings didn’t rush for a first down the entire game.

The Vikings playcalling is unimaginative. The offensive line wasn’t good last year, has injury problems, and they didn’t do a thing to prepare for it. Kirk Cousins is under siege on every play, and their backup tackle left the game with a serious looking knee injury. They can’t run the ball. Cousins has a deep threat in Jefferson, who can’t get more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage before Cousins is on his back. K.J. Osborn scored a touchdown but dropped three balls that you couldn’t imagine unless you saw it.

They’ve become the first team to lose six fumbles in the season’s first two games since the Rams in 2003.

Jefferson made a key turnover late in the first half that turned the game sideways (dumb rule or not). He attempted to reach for the end zone after a catch along the sideline. Originally ruled out at the half yard line, replay overturned the play into a touchback, giving the Eagles the ball. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, the Eagles managed to get into field goal range - well not really even range, but a 61-yard boot at the buzzer gave Philly a 13-7 lead, when it just as easily could have been a 14-10 Vikings lead.

And the offense isn’t the only culprit. The defense bent but didn’t break most of last season, but they’re Swiss cheese this year. The Eagles ran all over the Vikings yards, but Minnesota also couldn’t stop the pass when necessary.

Check out a video here… It’s tragic.

Patrick Peterson wasn’t great last year, but he’d be a better option than anyone in the Vikings secondary this season.

Jefferson (11 catches for 159 yards) is 24 years old and has more receiving yards than any Chicago Bear in the franchise’s 100-plus years. He’s also the first WR with 150 yards in each of the season’s first two games since Steve Smith in 2011. Two thousand yards, here he comes.

Twins Dominate White Sox; Magic Number Down to Eight

The Twins’ magic number is down to eight with 15 games left - so an 8-7 mark would get it done even if Cleveland won out. It’s all just a formality folks especially with the Twins’ offense turning things around the last couple games.

Carlos Correa got the night off, but the Twins got homers from Eddie Joulien, Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer led the Twins to a 10-2 win in Chicago last night. Kenta Maeda had arguably his strongest outing of the season, lasting seven innings and throwing 105 pitches.

The White Sox are dead in the water - flirting with 100 losses - which makes the next three this weekend for the Twins less challenging.

Twins’ playoff strips go on sale Monday…

Gopher FB at No. 20 UNC Saturday

The Gophers don’t play many ranked non conference foes under P.J. Fleck, which makes Saturday’s 2:30 tilt at UNC even more fun. The Gophers have actually only lost one non conference game under Fleck - 19-1 - but the No. 20 Tar Heels are favored here by six points despite eeking out a double OT win over Appalachian State last week.

Amazingly enough, Saturday is the first ever meeting between Minnesota and North Carolina. Minnesota hasn’t lost a non conference road game since 2014.

Both defenses are ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The Gophers aren’t likely to be able to run the ball as effectively as they did against Eastern Michigan, so it’ll be interesting to see how Athan Kaliakmanis does at QB in a road environment.

Lynx Melts Down in Game 1 After Coach’s Meltdow

I’ve been around some coaching tirades in my life, including the infamous Mike Yeo meltdown in 2015. It usually works at least short term, but that wasn’t the case for Cheryl Reeve’s Minnesota Lynx.

A few days after Reeve ripped her team publicly (“We have no clue”) for two losses to end the regular season, the Lynx laid an egg in Game 1 against Connecticut, losing by 30 points.

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