The Vikings' epic collapse, plus a CGI tennis oddity

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While You Were Sleeping: Minnesota squanders 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 it mattered in last night’s game. Because Minnesota, the team with the better body of work, got absolutely 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 relocated to Arizona. This team also persevered as fires ravaged homes in Los Angeles. None of this was easy, no matter how it looked on the field.
• The bigger sports story, however, is the Vikings’ downfall. This had been a charmed year. Signing journeyman QB Sam Darnold ended up producing the second-best regular season in franchise history. It ended with a wild-card blowout. That is crushing.

Minnesota will ponder hard questions this week. Why can’t Kevin O’Connell win a playoff game? What’s the market going to be for Darnold? How in the world did the Rams tally nine sacks?

Woof. L.A. travels to Philadelphia this weekend with a chance to continue a surprise run. And shoutout to the Cardinals for hosting a playoff game on five days’ notice. 

Onward:

Action/Intrigue: Deion to the Cowboys?

Welcome back to our now-recurring segment, Action/Intrigue, which breaks down the NFL coaching carousel. We’re doing this a second time because the news demands it. Let’s start with maximum intrigue, then work toward the quieter situations:

Dallas Cowboys 

• Action: Letting coach Mike McCarthy’s contract expire today. Barring a complete change of heart, he is out in Dallas. In five seasons, he averaged nearly 10 wins a year, but went just 1-3 in the playoffs. He should garner interest, particularly in Chicago and New Orleans.
• Intrigue: An absolute zinger, which is The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reporting last night that Jerry Jones has talked to Colorado coach and Cowboys legend Deion Sanders about the role. Sanders said last week he won’t take an NFL job unless he can coach both of his sons. Hm. Remember, NFL coaches picked this as the best job opening.

Pittsburgh Steelers

• Action: Nothing … yet.
• Intrigue: There is plenty of chatter about head coach Mike Tomlin, who remains the gold standard of regular-season winning. However, as Mike Sando pointed out yesterday, the stalwart has won zero playoff games in the last eight seasons. His lone Super Bowl win came 16 years ago. It might be time for a (shocking) change, which is hard to even process 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. Per our reporting, Sanders and Mike Vrabel never were. More on all that, plus Tom Brady’s influence on the search.

Chicago Bears

• Action: Nothing since firing coach Matt Eberflus midseason.
• Intrigue: Iowa State’s Matt Campbell interviewed, and general manager Ryan Poles has repeatedly teased the eventual pick surprising us. Adding to Chicago’s lengthy 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 Saleh ends up here. Intriguing.

New Orleans Saints

• Action: Nothing since firing Dennis Allen midseason.
• Intrigue: Glenn figures to be the favorite. McCarthy will be a candidate, too.

New York Jets

• Action: Nothing since firing Saleh midseason.
• 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 hire of the cycle. Vrabel is a slam-dunk win for the flailing 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’ll return soon. For now, read those predictions on where these teams land.

News to Know

Sasaki narrows 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 he’s 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 discreet about his looming choice. More details on his decision here. We’ll have more on Sasaki tomorrow.

Porter texts emerge
Remember the betting scandal surrounding former Raptors center Jontay Porter, which ended with Porter banned from the NBA? Authorities arrested an alleged accomplice of Porter’s this week, which somehow makes this entire snafu seem worse, as text messages from Porter to associates emerged that do little to hide the former player’s intent in all this. Here’s my favorite: “Hit unders for the big numbers. I told [Co-Conspirator 2] no blocks no steals.” Open-and-shut stuff. Read the rest of them here.

📺 EPL: Liverpool at Nottingham Forest
3 p.m. 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 — solidly in a Champions League spot right now — it is a time of reawakening, as Daniel Taylor wrote this week. Of dreaming again, really. Forest is a wonderful story, and this hopefully is as good of a match as narratives suggest.  

📺 NCAAM: No. 15 Mississippi State at No. 1 Auburn
7 p.m. ET on 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 downfallen Vikings. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.