Win today and they're 3 games out with 5 games left on the schedule...a legit, deep run into the playoffs team snufs the life out of any hopes the Lions have for a division title...we should be able to drop a deuce in the running game on the Lions with Ngata out...Zim will game plan Stafford into submission...3 straight losses to Detroit for the first time since 90-91 is unacceptable...make it 4 and there will be all sorts of doubts brought up to the forefront...absolutely critical to win today (thanks Captain Obvious) and go into the mini bye and get ready to snuf out two more teams with playoff hopes...


http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...nksgiving/

It's probably nothing ... but the body language of those interacting with Keenum is a little odd after a great victory.  Especially with Ziggy mumbling something at 0:11/12, and Linvel, Shamar Stephen, and Rudolph's reaction towards him.



 

How quickly can things change in the NFL?Just ask Rick Spielman.

A few months ago it was fair to speculate whether the Vikings general manager might be in jeopardy of losing his job if the team had another disappointing season. Today, there’s a case to be made that with the Vikings sitting at 8-2 Spielman is in line for NFL executive of the year honors.
This comes after an offseason in which Spielman retooled an offense that finished 29th in the league in 2016 and was a big reason the Vikings won only three of their final 11 games after starting 5-0.
Mike Zimmer deserves credit for the coaching job he has done, but it’s Spielman who has final say over assembling the Vikings’ 53-man roster and has had that power since being named general manager in 2012. (Spielman was hired as the Vikings vice president of player personnel in 2006 at a time when then-coach Brad Childress had control of the roster.)
That means Spielman gets much of the credit for jettisoning running back Adrian Peterson last offseason and signing free agent offensive tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers as well as running back Latavius Murray. Spielman also drafted running back Dalvin Cook, who led the Vikings with 354 rushing yards when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 4, in the second round and then took starting center Pat Elflein in the third round.
A year after having no real backup plan for if something happened to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and then needing to trade a first-round pick to Philadelphia for Sam Bradford when Bridgewater suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury just before the regular season, Spielman made sure he did not repeat that mistake.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...ed-season/

Check out Linvel at 1:17.

There isn’t a good stat to tell us the impact of a safety on his team’s defense. Harrison Smith has three interceptions, 1.5 sacks and 53 tackles. Here’s the disconnect: That stat line could belong to just about any safety in the league, but a deeper dive reveals that Smith’s belongs in the conversation for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...nsive-mvp/

http://m.startribune.com/it-s-good-day-t...459443073/

Josh Gordon - WR - Browns
Josh Gordon returned to practice on Wednesday.

 Wednesday was Gordon's first practice with the Browns since December 26, 2014. Though it was Gordon's first official practice, it was his second time catching passes from DeShone Kizer, who he also worked with on Monday. Gordon is eligible to return against the Chargers in Week 13. He's back after being suspended most of the last three years for repeated violations of the league's substance abuse policy.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/li...01/http://

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/the-n...wns-level/

Set aside Thielen's story -- the Hollywood journey from Division II Minnesota State University, Mankato, to his hometown Vikings, the move from undrafted practice squad rookie to everyday starter. Besides exploding as a consensus top-10 fantasy wideout, the 27-year-old pass catcher has essentially become Minnesota's offense in the wake of Cook's absence and sporadic showings from speedster Stefon Diggs.

His 916 yards through 10 games are second in the NFL behind only Antonio Brown, the Steelers' perennial 100-ball catcher, and put him on pace for 1,466 yards -- a total that would rank second in Vikings history behind Randy Moss' 1,600-yard 2003 campaign. His 62 receptions are tied for fifth in the NFL, putting him on track for 99 catches, another top-five team record. His 14.8 yards-per-catch average, meanwhile, is the best among the top 20 receivers in terms of total catches made, and he's shown no signs of slowing against well-ranked NFL defenses, going off for 123 yards against the Rams and 166 against the Washington Redskins a week earlier.

OK, sensational subject line, and the idea that Kennedy's back brace made it more difficult for him to bend forward (and avoid the final bullet) is a stretch, but the depiction here of just how bad his back pain was is a revelation to me....I knew he had back pain, but holy sciatica, I never realized it was that bad. I'll never bitch about my aching back again. 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/22/health/jfk...index.html

JFK's assassination aided by his bad back, records showEvery November, America remembers the end of Camelot: a shining time of promise led by John F. Kennedy, our nation's youngest president, brought to an abrupt and bloody end by Lee Harvey Oswald's second shot, a bullet to the brain.
While conspiracy theorists debate who pulled that trigger, there's another culprit that often goes unmentioned: Kennedy's lifelong struggle with back pain.It was his habit of wearing a tightly laced back brace that may have kept him from recoiling to the floor of his car after the assassin's first bullet to the neck, setting him up for the kill shot...