The epic collapse of the Vikings plus a CGI tennis oddity

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While you were sleeping: Minnesota is wasting a dream

There is a finality to playoff games that is simply captivating. The NFL season started in September, and the Rams and Vikings put together wildly different resumes, but none of that mattered in last night’s game. Because Minnesota, the team with the better job, got rocked.

Two quick takeaways:

• First, kudos to the Rams, a team that started 1-4 and is now a playoff winner after its 27-9 throttling of the 14-win Vikings in a game moved to Arizona. This team also persevered as fires ravaged homes in Los Angeles. None of this was easy, regardless of how it looked on the pitch.
• The bigger sporting story, however, is the downfall of the Vikings. It had been a charming year. Signing journeyman QB Sam Darnold ended up producing the second-best regular season in franchise history. It ended in a wildcard blowout. That is to say crushing.

Minnesota will consider tough questions this week. Why can’t Kevin O’Connell win a playoff game? What will be the market for Darnold? How in the world did the Rams vote nine bags?

Poof. LA travels to Philadelphia this weekend with a chance to continue a surprising run. And shoutout to the Cardinals for host a playoff game with five days’ notice.

Further:

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Action/Intrigue: Deion to the Cowboys?

Welcome back to our now returning segment, Action/Intrigue, which breaks down the NFL coaching carousel. We’ll do it another time because the news demands it. Let’s start with maximum intrigue, then work towards the quieter situations:

Dallas Cowboys

• Action: Letting coach Mike McCarthy’s contract expire today. Barring a complete change of heart, he’s out in Dallas. In five seasons, he averaged nearly 10 wins per year, but went just 1-3 in the playoffs. He should draw interest, especially in Chicago and New Orleans.
• Intrigue: An absolute pinger that is Athletics‘s Jeff Howe reported last night that Jerry Jones has spoken with Colorado coach and Cowboys legend Deion Sanders about the role. Sanders said last week that he won’t take an NFL job unless he can coach both of his sons. Hmm. Remember, NFL coaches chose this as the best job opening.

Pittsburgh Steelers

• Action: Nothing…yet.
• Intrigue: There is plenty of talk about head coach Mike Tomlin, who remains the gold standard for regular season wins. But as Mike Sando pointed out yesterday, the faithful have won zero playoff games over the last eight seasons. His lone Super Bowl victory came 16 years ago. It may be time for a (shocking) change that is difficult to process even as a neutral observer.

Las Vegas Raiders

• Action: Fired coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco last week.
• Intrigue: Ben Johnson, Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Steve Spagnuolo, Todd Monken and Robert Saleh are candidates. According to our reporting, Sanders and Mike Vrabel never were. More on all that, plus Tom Brady’s impact on the search.

Chicago Bears

• Action: Nothing since the midseason firing of coach Matt Eberflus.
• Intrigue: Iowa State’s Matt Campbell interviewed and general manager Ryan Poles has repeatedly teased the final pick, which has surprised us. Adding to Chicago’s long list of names, NFL Network reported interest in Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman.

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Action: Fired coach Doug Pederson on Black Monday.
• Intrigue: Johnson also interviewed here. In a story yesterday, Zack Rosenblatt predicted that Saleh will end up here. Exciting.

New Orleans Saints

• Action: Nothing since the midseason firing of Dennis Allen.
• Intrigue: Glenn expects to be the favorite. McCarthy will also be a candidate.

New York Jets

• Action: Nothing since the firing of Saleh in the middle of the season.
• Intrigue: Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores could be the leading candidate here, and as Michael Silver wrote last week, Flores appears to have learned from his mistakes in Miami. If not Flores, Glenn could be a leader.

New England Patriots

• Action: Our first rental of the bike. Vrabel is a slam-dunk win for the floundering franchise.
• Intrigue: Vrabel seems intent on avoiding any talk of the good old days, as Steve Buckley writes. Good call, to be honest.

Thanks for tuning in to Action/Intrigue. We will be back soon. For now, read these predictions where these teams land.

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News to know

Sasaki narrows down the list
Young Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki is by far the most interesting free agent still available on the MLB market. Yesterday, his representation informed teams that he is down to three possible options: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. Los Angeles appears to be the leader, but the 23-year-old’s camp has been tight-lipped about his looming selection. More details on his decision here. We’ll have more on Sasaki tomorrow.

Porter texts appear
Remember the betting scandal surrounding former Raptors center Jontay Porter that ended with Porter being banned from the NBA? Authorities arrested an alleged accomplice of Porter’s this week, which somehow makes this whole situation seem worse, as text messages surfaced from Porter to employees that make no secret of the former player’s intent in all of this. Here’s my favorite: “Surrender to the big numbers. I told (Co-Conspirator 2) no blocks no steals.” Open and close things. Read the rest of them here.

EPL: Liverpool at Nottingham Forest
3:00 PM ET on USA Network
These are two of the top three teams in the Premier League table, which is no surprise to one of them: Liverpool. For Nottingham Forest – solid in a Champions League place right now – it is a time of reawakeningas Daniel Taylor wrote this week. About dreaming again, really. Forest is a wonderful story, and hopefully it’s as good a match as tales suggest.

NCAAM: Mississippi State no. 15 in Auburn no. 1
7:00 PM ET on the SEC Network
The SEC is an absolute grind this season as the Bulldogs face a second straight top-10 team here. Maybe the conference is too good.

Get tickets to games like these here.

“The Athletic Football Show” on the suddenly dominant Rams and fallen Vikings. Listen along Apple Podcasts and Spotify.