Also busy, so this final WMNSS of 2015 will also be short ...
Positive Numbers: Vikings (Last Week: -1). OK, the New York Giants had nothing to play for after Washington sewed up the NFC East title the night before by beating Philadelphia. But I didn't think they would completely fall apart because of that, and because Odell Beckham, Jr. was suspended for one game for losing his head against the Carolina Panthers (a suspension, by the way, I was surprised the NFL handed down and affirmed. This was the Sunday Night game, and you want the stars to shine for it, so kudos to The Shield for putting the rule of law above the notion that you need the league's best players playing in prime time for ratings).
It was a thorough domination of a downtrodden team, so in what may be the very last game this franchise plays in the temporary home of TCF Bank Stadium, the Vikings are going to the playoffs for the first time in three years. What sticks out for me from this game is that Teddy Bridgewater was a lot more accurate in his throws. I don't remember seeing one that sailed over and past Stefon Diggs or Kyle Rudolph. Nearly every one was on target. Meanwhile, on defense, having the best lineman (Linval Joseph), Linebacker (Anthony Barr) and secondary player (Harrison Smith) back turned them back into a rapidly fearsome unit. Now, again, this may have been clouded by the lack of effort by the opposition, but shoot, this is a good defense.
So now the Vikes play prime time back-to-back; the regular season finale at Green Bay is Game 256, the match that closes out the 2015 regular season. Both teams are in the playoffs, but the winner of this game gets the NFC North and a home game the following weekend. I actually think that it's better for them to lose the game and go on the road against Washington rather than win and, probably, host Seattle in the Wild Card round. By the way, a lot of people suffer from recency bias. But the rematch with the Packers overemphasizes their bad loss to Arizona last week as well as Minnesota's ass-kicking last week. You have to remember that the Pack routed Minnesota at Das Bank, and that they play better at Lambeau. By the way, FiveThirtyEight says that Green Bay has a better-than-2-to-1 shot at winning Sunday night's game.
#0: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2). Finished their non-con by crushing the New Jersey Institute of Technology at Williams, 83-50 Monday. That usually isn't enough to rise a team above negative numbers, but the Vikings are raising all boats. They start B1G play with a special New Year's Eve tilt at Rutgers this (Thursday) afternoon at 12 Central Time. They then host Penn St. Sunday, also in the afternoon.
#-1: Wild (Last Week: -4). Still don't get this team. In the two games their screening week, both at home, they lost to Pittsburgh but beat Detroit, both by 3-1 decisions. If the playoffs were to start today, they would be Western Conference Wild Card 1 -- the same place they were for last year's playoffs.
Busy week for the Mild, even busier because they'll be on the road. They are the guests for St. Louis' game tonight/Thursday night/New Year's Eve night, play the Florida teams on back-to-back nights this weekend, then visit Columbus Tuesday.
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Got throttled by 14 at home vs. Indiana, then hung in at San Antonio before losing by half a dozen, then routed Utah last (Wednesday) night by 14 at Target Center. Continue to see speculation about how good Andrew Wiggins can be. Saw a sabermatrician tweet that the next best thing he can do to improve on his superstar plateau is to improve his handling of the ball. OK.
Busy week for the Woofs, too, even busier because they'll be ping-ponging. They entertain Detroit tonight/Thursday night/New Year's Eve, host Milwaukee Saturday, visit Philadelphia Monday, then play Denver at home Wednesday. That's a game every other day, and that's a good schedule for a professional basketball team.
#-3: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5). Woof. I know that this was on the road, but a 78-63 loss last (Wednesday) night affirmed the worst possible fears of the writers who follow this team. They swear, swear, that next year will be a lot better. But they also thought that this year would be bad, and losing by 15 to a Buckeyes team that isn't seen as an NCAA title contender starts the conference schedule on a humbling, humiliating note. They host Michigan St., then visit Penn St.
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