FOUR DOWNS

    Another crazy weekend in sports, time for another “Four Downs.”

FIRST DOWN: I would fall into the majority of Twins fans who were not in favor of trading Luis Arraez for a number three starter for the Miami Marlins. Pablo Lopez is good but not great and while the two prospects Miami sent Minnesota are highly regarded; the question is does this make the ball-club that was in first place in the American League Central better in 2023? The answer is no.

SECOND DOWN: It is obvious we are going to see the same old story with the two winter sports teams in Minnesota. The Minnesota Wild and Timberwolves are going to sneak into the playoffs and get knocked out early.  The Wild are too inconsistent with their goaltending and the Timberwolves are just inconsistent all around to make a lot of noise in the postseason.  At some point I hope this will change so we as fans can see a fun playoff run in the spring some year.

THIRD DOWN: We talk so much about great quarterback play winning championships in the NFL, and more times than not that is the case. With that said, more than making big plays, Dak Prescott showed making poor plays makes a bigger difference on the big stage. It’s why Nick Foles can win a Super Bowl and Brock Purdy can get to the NFC Championship game as a rookie; a good defense and making just enough plays can win games for you whereas turnovers will lose it for you every time.

FOURTH DOWN: After a week of reflection on the Vikings season it pretty much ended as we expected.  In the regular season we had fun with the 11 crazy finishes for victories but knew defense wouldn’t be good enough to make a big run in the postseason.  Kevin O’Connell had a good rookie season as a head coach, hopefully with a more aggressive defensive coordinator than what Ed Donatel brought to the table they can be more successful next year.