The Minnesota Vikings head into the 2022 NFL season with one of the most explosive offenses in the league. They feature one of the most productive quarterback-wide receiver duos from last year in Kirk Cousins and Justin “Mr. Griddy” Jefferson, plus a second Pro Bowl WR, Adam Thielen. Minnesota finally caught up with the times and brought in an offensive-minded head coach in Kevin O’Connell. If the Vikings plan on winning the NFC North during the Cousins era, now is the time. This Vikings offense is loaded with weapons, and we haven’t even mentioned Dalvin Cook. And their schedule to open the year is relatively favorable. The Vikings play six games before their bye in Week 7, and only two of those are against playoff teams from last year. They open with Green Bay at home, then travel to Philadelphia for a Week 2 Monday Night showdown. Minnesota is catching Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at the perfect time, Week 1. Rodgers is trying to build chemistry with his receiving group after Davante Adams’ departure. They’ve got a busted offensive line with tackle David Bakhtiari still working his way back from an ACL injury. Green Bay started last season by losing to New Orleans, 38-3. They bounced back, winning the next seven games. So, Week 1 could be the best time to get one up on the Packers. Cousins has fared well against Green Bay, posting a 3-3-1 record since joining Minnesota in 2018. His overall record is 4-3-1 against the Packers, with the first win over them coming with Washington during the ‘16 campaign. Those head-to-head wins are nice, but now it’s time to take advantage and win this division. This franchise hasn’t won the NFC North since 2017. That’s the year before Cousins arrived and the last time Minnesota advanced to the NFC championship game. The Vikings could be poised to make another deep run in the NFC with a hot start. After those first two games, the schedule becomes more manageable over the next four weeks. Minnesota gets Detroit, New Orleans, and Chicago at home before traveling to Miami in Week 6 before the bye. This Vikings squad could be 5-1 at the break. They shouldn’t be any worse than 4-2 at that point. Playing for a coach who thinks offense first should be a significant advantage for this team. Coach O’Connell was the Rams’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons. Having learned under Sean McVay is seen as another considerable advantage. Cousins and Jefferson broke records last year, so seeing how much more O’Connell will open up that playbook will be fun. It’s incredible how overlooked Cousins is on the field, yet one of his receivers finished second in yards last year and set new rookie records. Jefferson wasn’t throwing the ball to himself. If Thielen can stay on the field, this WR tandem will be hell for secondaries to cover. Stafford leaving the Lions made Cousins the second-best QB in the division. The Vikings have a good chance at knocking the Packers from their throne, and they need to take advantage early in the season. Once Rodgers and that offense get settled in, they’ll be a tough matchup for anyone. But if you’re lucky enough to catch ‘em early like the Vikings, you need to put them in a hole not even Rodgers can dig his way out of. The Lions and Bears are also division rivals, but if the Vikings can’t sweep them, they aren’t real contenders.
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AS are claiming that the Hammers are willing to meet the 22-year-old s buy-out clause once the January window opens. Reportedly, the clause stands at 30 million euros. This move could make sense from a couple of angles. First of all, Manuel Pellegrini is known for having done great work in Spain, mostly when he was Malaga head coach and he knows the market, which we have seen with his signature of Pablo Fornals from Villarreal last summer.
Nunez has only featured in six La Liga matches for Bilbao in the first half …
Barcelona have confirmed that defender Thomas Vermaelen has been given permission to travel to Italy and undergo a medical with Roma.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti on Friday stated that the Serie A club are in advanced talks to sign the 30-year-old Belgium international.
And Barca on Sunday posted a tweet announcing the former Arsenal player was set for a physical examination in the Italian capital.
With the Club s permission, Thomas Vermaelen has travelled to Rome to undergo a medical with AS Roma
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Vermaelen has struggled for playing time at Camp Nou since leaving the Gunners for a reported €20million fee in 2014.
A thigh injury meant he was unable to make his Barca debut until the final match of the 201…
AC Milan wrapped up a Europa League group stage place as Gennaro Gattuso s first season in charge ended with 5-1 thumping of Fiorentina at San Siro.
Already sure of a qualifying spot, the Rossoneri needed to at least match Atalanta s result against Cagliari in order to finish sixth in Serie A and go directly through to the main draw of Europe s second-tier continental competition.
And Milan made sure in style thanks in large part to Hakan Calhanoglu, who equalised three minutes after Giovanni Simeone s opener and then delivered the cross for Patrick Cutrone to head the hosts into the lead at the end of an eventful first half.
Nikola Kalinic added a third against his former side soon after the restart before Cutrone and Giacomo Bonaventura combined to cap off a …
Wigan Athletic have completed the permanent signing of Antonee Robinson from Everton after the left-back spent the 2018/19 season on loan with the Latics, and they chose to echo the famous Star Wars intro to announce the deal.
https://www.facebook.com/wiganathletic/videos/2432903923456648/
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Somehow, Peter Kenyon has become synonymous with everything that is wrong in the game. He has been associated with the high wages, ridiculous transfer fees, the Ashley Cole ‘tapping up’ affair and of course, the recent transfer embargo after Chelsea were found guilty of enticing a youngster to break their contract elsewhere by FIFA.
Leaving
The former Manchester United Chief Executive has held that role at Chelsea for some five and a half years but has now announced that he will be leaving at the end of October. He will continue at Chelsea as a non-executive director but his hands on role will come to an end.
The fifty-five year old Kenyon made the following statement on the official Chelsea website,
I am certain I have at…
Holders Manchester United and fellow 2008 finalists Chelsea will have to battle their way to potential Champions League glory after being paired with Inter Milan and Juventus respectively on Friday.
But in a draw for the first knockout round that produced some mouth-watering fixtures between European football s big guns United and Premier League rivals Chelsea were not alone in facing tough opposition.
Liverpool, winners in 2005, are also assured a tough passage to the quarter-finals of the competition after being drawn with nine-times champions Real Madrid.
Arsenal will look favourably on the task that awaits them after being drawn with Roma, whose Olympic stadium will host the final in May 2009.
However seven-times French champions Lyon face a toug…
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Casillas swapped Real Madrid for Porto in the close-season and watched on untroubled for much of Saturday s match at the Estadio Do Dragao.
Vincent Aboubakar opened the scoring after just eight minutes, and it looked like the visitors were in for a long night as Cristian Tello went close to a second midway through the first half.
Lopetegui had to wait until the hour mark for a two-goal cushion, though, as Aboubakar netted again shortly after Casillas made a good save.
Silvestre Varela then added a third late on for Porto as their bid for a first Primeira Liga title since…
West Brom head coach Tony Pulis has named long-time associate David Kemp and former Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell as his assistants.
Pulis was confirmed as Alan Irvine s successor at The Hawthorns on New Year s Day and removed Rob Kelly, Keith Downing and Dean Kiely from the club s backroom staff on Monday.
Kemp arrives having worked with Pulis at Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle, Stoke City and Crystal Palace, while Jewell has not occupied a managerial post since leaving Ipswich Town in 2012.
I don t know what I ve done to suffer Kempy again but I suppose I will have to put up with him, joked Pulis. But the truth is that we have a working relationship which I value very highly – he knows what I want without even having to ask these days.
Jewelly�…
Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz insists that his uncertain club future will not prove a distraction during the World Cup.
The 32-year-old s contract at Sporting CP expired at the end of the 2017-18 season after a three-year spell with the Portuguese side.
Ruiz featured in Costa Rica s World Cup defeat to Serbia on Sunday and is adamant that his focus is solely on leading his country at Russia 2018.
The Sporting situation isn t in my mind, he said.
I am out of contract so I have no problems with any of that. I will take my decision on the next club after this World Cup and that s the only thing.
I prepared myself as best as I could. I felt good going into this tournament.
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Malaga have turned to a familiar face as they aim to secure an immediate return to LaLiga, appointing Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz as head coach for the third time.
Muniz was the last Malaga coach to secure promotion from the Segunda Division, doing so in the 2007-08 campaign during his first stint in charge of the club.
After a season with Racing Santander, he duly returned to Malaga and kept them in the top flight courtesy of a final-day draw with Real Madrid.
Muniz then spent a lengthy period at Dnipro as the assistant to Juande Ramos, the man he had first worked under at Malaga in 2003.
His most reaching coaching role came at Levante, whom he guided to promotion in 2017 before being sacked this March prior to the club retaining their top-tier status.
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