Lynx begin playoff run, Vikings surprise with 3-0 start to season

CATHY WURZER: You were lucky if you saw it this weekend. The Lynx made a really strong start to the playoffs. The team had a huge 23 point first half lead, but their opponents, the Phoenix Mercury, came roaring back. They were down with just two minutes left in the game. Here's what Napheesa Collier said she was thinking about during that moment.

NAPHEESA COLLIER: We've talked a lot about how this is not going to be easy. We're in the playoffs. Everyone is fighting for their lives, and we're playing against really good teams. And so when we get in those situations, I think just staying calm and executing what we have to do on the other end and getting stops when we come back on defense. So really, just keeping our head in those situations.

CATHY WURZER: Collier got 38 points in the game, the second most in Lynx playoff history. Here to talk about that amazing moment, plus the overall winning weekend for Minnesota sports teams, are Wally Longfellow and Eric Nelson. Wally and Eric are sports guys. Welcome back, you two. How are you?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Good, Cathy. How are you?

ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Good I'm doing well. Thank you for asking. Let's start with the Lynx, because that was quite a comeback there. Eric, what do you think?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, it was for Phoenix. I mean, Minnesota once led by 26 points in that game one of their playoff series, but it melted away. The Lynx are able to win down the stretch 102 to 95. The game was played at Target Center in Minneapolis. They had 8,524 the house, so a pretty good crowd.

And you brought up Napheesa Collier, and wow, what a player she is. 38 points, six rebounds, four assists. She also was 11 of 19 from the floor. She had three three balls, 13 of 14 from the free throw line. So Napheesa Collier put the Lynx on her back, and they were able to survive and get the game one win.

Now, game two is Wednesday night in Minneapolis. That'll be an 8:30 PM tip off, so a little bit later, and let's not forget the Twins play that night, so Target Town will be busy. And one other Lynx note.

The Associated Press has named Cheryl Reeve the Coach of the Year, and Napheesa Collier is the defensive player of the year. A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas, the MVP. But the Lynx continue to garner a lot of praise and awards, and that is what happens when you keep winning like they do.

CATHY WURZER: Right, exactly. Say, Wally, let's talk about the Vikings. They were pretty good. Unexpectedly, possibly good.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, very good, actually.

CATHY WURZER: You know me. I always think something's going to happen.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, very Minnesota of you to say that, actually yes. It usually is, well, wait till next year. But I don't know. Maybe next year has finally arrived. The Vikings win in dominant fashion over Houston yesterday at US Bank Stadium. They win 34 to 7. Houston was favored coming in, much like San Francisco was favored coming in here last week.

I think the Vikings are making believers out of people. Once again, Sam Darnold at quarterback, very good. But I think that that Viking defense is something that has really people surprised, because they had a lot of moving parts, a lot of guys they brought in here over the last seven or eight months.

And somehow, Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator, has got these guys. His schemes are good. They believe in him. They held Houston to just one touchdown. Vikings now three and zero headed to Green Bay next Sunday for a huge match-up, a divisional match-up against their rivals from the east. Houston ran for only 38 yards yesterday, rushing the football, four for 14 on third down.

The Texans committed 11 penalties, eight of them on the offensive line. I'll credit the crowd for a lot of that because they kept jumping off side. They were lining up in the neutral zone, illegal formation, all kinds of things going wrong for Houston because the fans were so loud at the place we like to call the House of Noise. It is very noisy inside US Bank Stadium.

But Vikings win. Give them credit. They're three and zero in first place. They're one of only a handful of unbeaten teams in the NFL. And I can only say, who'd have thunk? But I can tell you right now, after being in that locker room after the game, those 45 guys in that locker room thunk. I can tell you that right now. They really believe it.

CATHY WURZER: I was a little worried, Eric, when I saw Sam Darnold gimping around a little bit because he was a little dinged there. Is he OK?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. What happened is it was a late hit on Danielle Hunter, the former Minnesota Viking who's now with Houston. So Darnold was on the ground for a while, then he sat up. He had some assistance as he got up from the medical staff, but walked off under his own power. But per NFL protocol, he had to go into the blue medical tent to make sure everything was OK.

And you have to sit out at least one play if you exit the game, so Nick Mullins came in. And of course, Cathy, as you know, all these Viking fans have an Eeyore complex, and they think the worst. Here we go. We just lost our meal ticket. But Darnold came right back in, loud ovation from the crowd.

And let me tell you, he's an early candidate, I would say, along with Justin Fields in Pittsburgh for the NFL's comeback player of the year. I mean, he's a feel good reclamation project. He threw a career high four touchdown passes yesterday, and he spread the wealth. Four different guys caught the TDs. Aaron Jones, Jalen Nailor, Justin Jefferson, and Johnny Mundt.

And it's the first time since 2021 that Darnold has led a team to three straight wins. And Wally talked about the defense, and it's real. And you can gauge it in that locker room. These guys love Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator. But I'm going to give credit to the general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and the head coach, Kevin O'Connell.

Adding key pieces to the team in the off season, such as Darnold, and then on the defensive side, Stephon Gilmore. Jonathan Greenard, who was with the Texans. He had three sacks yesterday. Blake Cashman, former Eden Prairie Eagle, Minnesota Gopher, and now with the Vikings, he was with the Texans.

And Andrew Van Ginkel. And when these moves were made, I don't think it moved the needle a lot, Cathy. I think we just thought, OK. They're filling out the roster. But these have been outstanding decisions by Kwesi and KOC, so you got to give them props, too.

CATHY WURZER: So the decisions made by the Twins--

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh boy.

CATHY WURZER: Switching gears here. Not great. Not great. I mean, do you think that one of the major stories of this year is the implosion of the Twins, Wally Langfellow?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: They lost twice in a doubleheader, and they lost badly. What the heck?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. Pablo Lopez did not have it in game one yesterday. The Twins won on Friday night. You thought, OK. There were back in as the leader in the wild card chase. They had the one game lead. And then rained out Saturday, so they had to play a doubleheader yesterday, which did not turn out very well. As I said, Pablo Lopez was not good in game one. He got rocked. They lose the game eight to one.

And then in game two, Zeb Matthews was actually pitching fairly well. And Rocco, as Rocco does, didn't want him to go through the lineup the third time, and so he brings in this Cole Irvin, this guy they got off the scrap heap about a week or so ago. And Cole Irvin comes in and just gets bombed.

He gives up a three run homer, and it was downhill from there. That made it three, two, because the Twins were up two, nothing, at that point. I don't know. It goes from the top. They didn't make any moves to supplement the bullpen at the deadline, during the season, at any time before the season. They really didn't do anything for that.

And it's showing right now. The bullpen comes in, and it's lights out. And on top of that, in all honesty, they're not hitting now either, Cathy. I mean, they had a bunch of singles. I think I read they had 24 singles this weekend. No home runs. It's just crazy. I mean, they're not hitting the baseball, and the pitching isn't very good.

CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the Gophers.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: We'll see.

CATHY WURZER: We'll see what happens with the Twins, but I don't hold out a whole lot of hope, I guess. Gophers. Eric Nelson, I watched that first part of the game, and I thought, OK. Hey, we're going to retain the pig. And then what the heck? Something happened in the second half there. What happened?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. Yeah, I was at the game. It's clear the Gophers melted under the prime time spotlight of NBC. It was a national game, and they did not do their recruiting efforts in any good with that loss. Yeah. 31, 14. Iowa wins it. And the Hawkeyes pigged out, if you will, in the second half, outscoring the Gophers 24 to nothing to win back the Floyd of Rosedale trophy.

And Iowa would just gashed Minnesota on the ground. The Hawkeyes ran for 272 yards. And their junior running back, Caleb Johnson, was outstanding. He gained a career high 206 yards, scored three touchdowns. I talked to a Chicago Bears scout who was in the press box, and he says, yeah. That guy's NFL bound. And he sure looked like it against the Gophers.

On the flip side, Minnesota's ground game was anemic. The Gophers gained just 79 yards in the game. So bad optics, just not a good loss. Your rival's in town, and you're not even competitive? And next up is Michigan, a ranked team, on Saturday at the Big House in Ann Arbor. Now, they will play for the Little Brown Jug.

But in Minneapolis, the Little Brown Jug is a rumor. The Wolverines have dominated this series, Cathy. They've won 77, only lost 25. There's been three ties. They won 52 to 10 last season in Minneapolis.

And since 1977, Michigan is 28 and 3 against Minnesota. So it's possible you can go to undergrad, grad, and maybe even medical school at the U of M and never see the Little Brown Jug in Dinkytown. It's just pure domination.

CATHY WURZER: Eric, I wish I had more time because I want to know what Wally thinks about what P.J. Fleck said after the game. I mean, he just--

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Ugh.

CATHY WURZER: I know.

[LAUGHTER]

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Do you have another hour for the show? You don't.

CATHY WURZER: Probably no. I'm sorry. I don't. But you guys, it's always fun talking to you every Monday. I hope you guys have a good week. Thanks so much.

ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Cathy.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and the co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of the 10,000 Takes sports talk show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS's Eye on Football and Sirius XM. Always great talking to them on a Monday. Hope you have a good rest of your Monday. Thanks for listening.