As November draws to a close, the Minnesota Vikings desperately need a win Monday night at home against the Chicago Bears to secure a wild-card spot and stay within striking distance of the DetroitLions (8-3) in the NFC North.
Instead, Minnesota fell to 6-6 with a 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Vikings still hold the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC, but are a half-game ahead of the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams, who are each 5-6 on back-to-back wins.
The main culprit for Minnesota’s loss is quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
“Pastronaut” was a welcome addition in 2023, replacing the injured Kirk Cousins (Achilles) who missed this season.
He led the Vikings to wins in each of the first two games after being traded.
From Arizona. But since then, Minnesota has given up back-to-back games, with Dobbs committing six turnovers in that span.
Four of those turnovers came Monday against a suddenly sharp Chicago defense that had seven in its past two games.
Heading into the Week 13 game against Minnesota, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell plans to overhaul his quarterback situation.
“We’re looking at Josh’s playlist and really evaluating him,” he told the media.
O’Connell could turn to a now-healthy Jaren Hall or veteran journeyman Nick Mullens at QB for help.
BYU’s Hall started in Week 9 at Atlanta, but suffered an early concussion. In limited action, he went 5-for-6 for 78 yards.
Dobbs came off the bench and threw two touchdown passes to lead the Vikings to victory.
As for Mullens, the six-year veteran has not pitched this season and is 5-12 in his previous 17 starts with San Francisco and Cleveland.
If Dobbs, Hall and Mullens are the only options at quarterback, the Vikings’ future looks bleak and the playoffs seem like a pipe dream.
Second Cy Young Award. He finished the year with an MLB-best 2.25 ERA over 180 innings.
Snell led the majors with 99 walks but allowed just 5.8 hits per nine innings, the fewest among qualified starting pitchers.
This is due to his excellent strikeout rate of 31.5%. MLBTR projects Snell to make $200 million over seven seasons.
He’s also been linked to the Dodgers, Giants and now the Padres. McAdam suggests Snell, a Seattle native, would prefer to sign with a West Coast team.
If true, it doesn’t bode well for the Red Sox’s chances. The best left-hander on the current market,
Montgomery wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was recently fined for what appeared to be a fairly standard block, and J.J. Watt reacted strongly to the NFL’s decision.
St. Brown was fined $43,709 for blocking a run play during the Chicago Bears’ Week 11 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The NFL has determined that St. Brown was penalized for putting his head down for contact. Watt shared a video of the block on social media Sunday.
The former Defensive Player of the Year called the NFL a “money maker.”
Watt is right that you will need to watch the clip several times to determine where the alleged violation occurred.
Most people would agree that St. Brown’s throwing routine blocks on defense.
The defender seemed to have no problem scoring. Since there were no flags on the line, the NFL seemed to be looking for a reason to fine them.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday that quarterback Hendon Hooker could start practice this week for the first time since tearing his ACL more than a year ago.
The 25-year-old previously played three seasons at Virginia Tech from 2018 to 2020.
He will transfer to the University of Tennessee and complete his collegiate career in 2021-2022.
Hooker had an incredible senior season for the Volunteers last year, playing in more than 10 games before suffering a knee injury in a loss to South Carolina.
Hooker finished the 2022 campaign with an SEC record 69.6 and a conference-best 175.5 passer efficiency rating with 3,135 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
He led the NCAA in passing yards per attempt (9.5) and added 104 carries for 430 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
Hooker finished fifth in Heisman voting and was named the 2022 SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
Despite ongoing injuries, Campbell and company are pleased Hooker was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
With the Lions headed for their first playoff appearance in seven years and 8-3 en route to the second-best record in the NFC, there’s no argument for any quarterback if Hooker is fully healthy.
Starting tight end Jared Goff is coming off another breakout season with 18 tackles, eight interceptions, a 96.9 quarterback rating through 11 games and a career-high 67.9 completion percentage for 3,075 yards through pass.
One of the most important parts of the Houston Astros’ championship run could be on the air this season.
The Astros are open to considering a trade offer for All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman (former GM and MLB insider Jim Duquette), MLB Network Radio first reported Monday. SNY’s Andy Martino confirmed Duquette’s report.
Bregman is entering the final year of his contract.
If the Astros feel like they can’t re-sign him, it’s imperative that they try to trade up to get as much value out of Bregman as possible.
The Astros are in a similar situation with Carlos Correa.
The Astros allowed him to hit free agency, but he asked for too much and they couldn’t re-sign him and lost him for nothing.
For the Astros, the situation is complicated by the fact that Bregman is a client of super agent Scott Boras (Correa is also a client of Boras).
Boras is known for giving his clients the best deals, so Houston is unlikely to bring Bregman back on a team-friendly deal.
Bregman is coming off another outstanding season and will help the Astros to the ALCS.
Bregman appeared in 161 games, hitting .262/.363/.441, hitting 25 home runs and showing above-average defense at third base.
Bregman also has one of the best plate disciplines in the league and has more walks than strikeouts in each of his last four full seasons.
Most importantly, Bregman is a winner. Bregman, who began his college career at LSU, has advanced to the College World Series (ALCS) in nine of the past 11 seasons.
If Bregman ends up being traded, he will have a championship pedigree for whichever team acquires him.
If Bregman is indeed available, there will be no shortage of potential candidates.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays are just a few of the teams looking to upgrade their third baseman
