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Behind Enemy Lines: Insider Analysis on the Minnesota Vikings

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Behind Enemy Lines: Insider Analysis on the Minnesota Vikings


If the Week 16 sport between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings was the appetizer, this weekend’s Wild Card assembly is the primary course.

The sixth-seeded Giants look to up-end the third-seeded Vikings on their house turf in what might be one other shut sport. If that is the case, that is not excellent news for the Giants, because the Vikings are 11-0 in one-score video games.

However there may be excellent news. The Giants ought to have all fingers on deck–outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (who injured his ankle within the first assembly), security Xavier McKinney, and (hopefully) cornerback Adoree’ Jackson–to deal with a Vikings offense that has proven it may be explosive.

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Can the Giants, who nobody thought would make it this far, shock the Vikings? We’ll proceed to discover that query this week, however for now, let’s test in with Contained in the Vikings writer Will Ragatz for the most recent on the state of the Vikings.


How a lot is there concern in regards to the offensive line and the accidents it’s coping with?

There is definitely some concern. Kirk Cousins received sacked 4 instances within the final assembly between these groups, and that was with star proper sort out Brian O’Neill and backup heart Austin Schlottmann within the lineup.

Each gamers suffered season-ending leg accidents the next Sunday in Inexperienced Bay. Dropping O’Neill hurts, as he is been one of many Vikings’ finest, most constant gamers for a number of years. It will both be Oli Udoh or Blake Brandel at proper sort out, which suggests Kayvon Thibodeaux may be extra of a menace this time round.

At heart, it regarded like third-stringer Chris Reed must play, however starter Garrett Bradbury was a full participant in Thursday’s follow. Bradbury, a former first-round decide having a profession season in a contract yr, missed the final 5 video games with a again damage. If he can go, that can present an enormous enhance in opposition to Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams.

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How a lot do you anticipate the Vikings altering their sport plan on either side of the ball for this weekend?

I think about each groups will swap issues up a bit within the rematch, which makes this sport such an interesting chess match on either side of the ball. When the Vikings are on offense, I anticipate a renewed concentrate on the operating sport, contemplating how a lot the Giants have struggled to cease the run this season.

Minnesota largely received away from that within the first assembly, which has been the case for a lot of the season. However with the Giants presumably racking their brains to determine methods to decelerate Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson, this might be an important sport to get Dalvin Cook dinner occurring the bottom.

I am fairly curious to see what the plan is in opposition to Jefferson. Getting Xavier McKinney and presumably Adoree Jackson again will assist, however will there be much more defensive consideration on the Vikings’ celebrity? In that case, that might open issues up for different pass-catchers. I am additionally excited to see what Kevin O’Connell has in retailer for Wink Martindale’s blitz packages and vice versa.

When the Giants have the ball, I would guess the Vikings will attempt to strain Daniel Jones extra and differ up their coverages after he threw for 334 yards in opposition to them final time. Stopping Saquon Barkley will likely be a degree of emphasis, as properly.

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Give me one X-factor that you just assume will sway the sport within the Vikings’ favor and one that can sway the sport within the Giants’ favor.

I believe the Vikings’ two star cross rushers are key right here. Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith are amongst simply eight gamers to complete with at the very least 70 pressures this season, they usually mixed for 15 within the final assembly.

Hunter dominated Evan Neal to 9 pressures and two sacks in that sport, together with a pressured fumble that the Giants fell on. Smith additionally says he is again to being one hundred pc after being restricted by a knee contusion within the second half of the season. It is sensible to line him up over the inside on passing downs to get him away from Andrew Thomas. If these two wreak havoc, the Vikings will likely be in fine condition.

The Giants must benefit from the Vikings being at lower than full energy on the offensive line, so Lawrence, Thibodeaux, and the remainder of the defensive entrance are x-factors.

Getting McKinney and Jackson again can be huge for his or her secondary. And I am going to say Graham Gano is a bonus for the Giants after he drilled three area targets from 40-plus final time.

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The Vikings are 11-0 in one-score video games. Is there concern that, finally, their luck will run out, particularly in opposition to a Giants staff that has largely made a dwelling this yr in one-score video games?

All yr, I used to be satisfied the Vikings had been lastly going to lose a one-score sport sooner or later. They usually simply by no means did. They don’t seem to be going to proceed successful these video games ceaselessly, however it could be fairly brutal for his or her first one-score lack of the season to come back at house within the first spherical of the playoffs.

It is fully potential, although. The Vikings really feel snug and assured in late-and-close conditions, given their intensive expertise, however the Giants aren’t strangers to these moments both. Minnesota will likely be hoping it would not even have to come back all the way down to that (it can).


What did the Vikings be taught in regards to the Giants within the first assembly?

I believe they discovered that this offense cannot be underestimated. Jones moved the ball successfully regardless of having largely unimpressive weapons — Isaiah Hodgins is surprisingly good! — and Barkley was a menace on the bottom, as common.

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The Vikings’ protection salvaged its day with two takeaways and a powerful efficiency on third downs, which has been their M.O. all yr. However this needs to be one other even sport. The Vikings received some breaks in that first sport that they can not essentially depend on replicating.

They’re going to want to point out up able to play, feed off the power of what needs to be an absurdly loud crowd, and begin quick on either side of the ball. I can not wait to see what occurs.


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Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary opens near Red Wing

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Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary opens near Red Wing


Cannabis dispensary opens an hour outside the Twin Cities

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Cannabis dispensary opens an hour outside the Twin Cities

01:43

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PRAIRIE ISLAND INDIAN COMMUNITY, Minn. — Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary is now open just about an hour from the Twin Cities.

Island Pezi, which means “grass” in the Dakota language, is on Prairie Island Indian Community land in Welch, owned and operated by the tribal nation.

“Being able to diversify our economy and bring in other revenue sources for our community that relies on these type of businesses to have our government function is very important,” said Blake Johnson, the president of Prairie Island CBH Inc.

Johnson says the money made from the dispensary will go toward healthcare and education for the tribe.

The shop employs about three dozen people.

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“We have a couple [tribe] members that have never had a job before,” Johnson said. “This opportunity gives them that, and they’re excited to be employed.”

The business has a quirk, though. The Prairie Island people don’t yet grow or cultivate marijuana on their own.

They’ve entered a unique business arrangement to stock their shelves. They buy flower from the White Earth Nation.

“Long time ago, tribes used to have intertribal agreements to trade goods,” Johnson said. “It helps support each other and be able to move in a way that is good for everybody.”

Minnesota’s Native American tribes have been first into this budding industry, and until the floodgates of competition eventually open, Johnson says they’re excited about being able to immediately supply Minnesotans.

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Island Pezi will have a grand opening celebration on Saturday.



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After months stuck in Brazil, Minnesota family arrives home with newborn

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After months stuck in Brazil, Minnesota family arrives home with newborn


Lori Tocholke waited nervously near baggage claim carousel 11 Tuesday afternoon at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, her heart “beating a thousand miles per hour.”

On March 12, Tocholke’s newest grandchild, Greyson Leo Phillips, was born, 2 pounds 2.6 ounces and 12 weeks ahead of schedule.

The premature birth was traumatic enough for Tocholke’s daughter, Cheri Phillips. Worse was the fact that Greyson was born while Phillips and her husband, Chris, were vacationing in Brazil.

Because of a technicality, Brazilian authorities refused to issue his birth certificate. Without a birth certificate, Greyson couldn’t get a U.S. passport. And without a U.S. passport, Greyson couldn’t go home to Minnesota.

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The family’s travails caused a storm in Brazilian media, held up as an example of how the country’s bureaucracy can tie up daily life for no good reason.

At the airport Tuesday, a half-dozen news cameras encircled the entry to baggage claim.

All Tocholke wanted?

To hold her newest grandchild for the first time, 105 heart-wrenching days after he was born. Tocholke told the other waiting family members she had first dibs.

The plane landed at 1:48 p.m., seven minutes early. Tocholke bided her time as Chris, Cheri and Greyson gathered their things from the plane and made their way from gate G19 to baggage claim.

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Suddenly, a stroller burst through the doors, then Cheri, then Chris: a happy, exhausted family, finally home. Applause erupted. Tocholke hugged her daughter, then she got down to the business at hand: That sweet baby boy.

Greyson’s silver-blue eyes peered up at his grandma as she scooped him out of the stroller and cooed. He cried a few times. “Oh, I know!” his grandma soothed. She snuggled him and jiggled him, and he quieted. She held him like a football, then passed him to another family member, who passed him to another, then another.

“Everybody’s here, everybody’s safe, my heart is full,” Tocholke said.

A few feet away, tears and sweat streamed down Chris Phillips’ face and chest, exhausted after three days of travel and months of uncertainty. The family had gone to Brazil to visit Chris’ 8-year-old daughter, who lives with her mom in the Brazilian coastal city of Florianópolis.

“It was an ordeal, and not something we ever expected,” he said. “We went down for 17 days, just to visit my daughter on her birthday. Along this entire process, it seems like every time we made one step forward, it was three steps back.”

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During their sojourn in Brazil, the family did interviews with a slew of Brazilian media outlets, focusing on the gaps in Brazilian bureaucracy. Their story resonated. Three days after Minnesota media first published the family’s story, two representatives from the Brazilian cartorio, like a public notary, came to their AirBnb with Greyson’s birth certificate.

“We love Brazil; this wasn’t us hating Brazil,” Chris said. “I go there three times a year. My daughter is half Brazilian. Now my son’s been born in Brazil. I feel part Brazilian. It’s a wonderful place. But what do I hope changes? I hope Brazilian bureaucracy is behind us, but for hundreds of millions of Brazilians, it’s not.”

Before they left the airport for the hour drive to Cambridge — to the new home they closed on remotely from Brazil — Cheri pulled out a bottle and fed Greyson.

“He’s been alive for three and a half months and never been home,” Cheri said.

“We’re home, bud,” Chris said, patting his head. “We’re home.”

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Minnesota companies fund election deniers despite vowing not to • Minnesota Reformer

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Minnesota companies fund election deniers despite vowing not to • Minnesota Reformer


In the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, many leading Minnesota businesses announced they were pausing their political donations to review their giving strategy.

Some went further, vowing not to bankroll political candidates who supported Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

But today, three and a half years later, nearly all of them have resumed giving money to politicians engaging in election denial, according to an analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that investigates government corruption.

Among them were some of Minnesota’s blue-chip mega corporations: UnitedHealth, Target, Best, Buy, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise and Ecolab, which all promised not to donate to members of what CREW calls the “sedition caucus.” 

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But as of today, they’ve given hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians who voted against certifying the 2020 election, opposed the establishment of the Jan. 6 committee, or otherwise supported Trump’s attempt to undo the 2020 results.

A number of other Minnesota companies, including CHS, C.H. Robinson, Thrivent and Polaris, never promised to suspend donations and have continued giving money to candidates who sought to undermine the rightful, peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. 

One of those companies, Moorhead-based American Crystal Sugar, has for years been one of the biggest financial supporters of the sedition caucus. According to CREW’s analysis, they’ve given over $1 million since 2021, the third highest amount in the nation. Among other things, they’re focused on maintaining the federal program that keeps sugar prices high and undergirds their profitability.

Only one current Minnesota lawmaker voted against certifying the 2020 election results: Rep. Michelle Fischbach of the 7th District, who falsely told Fox News shortly after the 2020 election that vote tabulators were “finding votes” when in fact they were counting them. 

In a sign of the state Republican Party’s post-Jan. 6 radicalization, she was unable to obtain the party’s endorsement this year and is now facing a primary challenge from a Christian nationalist who says his goal is to “harness God’s power to lead ordinary Americans and their legislators in Washington back towards the Lord.”

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CREW said the companies should mind the value of a stable democracy. 

“Corporations depend on the stability and laws of a strong democracy in order to do business,” CREW writes. “Taking a stand against lawlessness aligns with the long-term interests of companies benefiting from government protection of intellectual property, contract enforcement and support for American business interests at home and abroad.”

According to their analysis, just one Minnesota company has so far upheld a promise to not give money to election deniers: Golden Valley-based Cheerio maker, General Mills.



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