🏈 Vikings Conquer the Bears & Falcons Flutter Past Raiders, NFL Rankings, NHL, NBA + More!

Good Morning Blitzers,

Did you know that December 17th is primarily known as "Wright Brothers’ Day" because on this date in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first successful sustained flight in a heavier-than-air, powered airplane? So, today, think big. The sky is the limit —or better yet, think beyond it. As a great philosopher once said, “You can't say the sky's the limit when people have been to the moon.” - Jameis Winston

WTF Stat: Justin Jefferson has had a relatively quiet season this year. By quiet I mean, he’s only managed 75 receptions, 1,170 yards (second in NFL), and 7 TDs so far. 7,000+ yards in five season… not too bad.

🏈 The Vikings defeated the Bears 30-12 on Monday night, securing their seventh straight win and moving into a tie for first place in the NFC North. Aaron Jones and Cam Akers each had touchdown runs in the second half, while the Vikings’ defense dominated, limiting the Bears to just 1-for-12 on third downs and 1-for-3 on fourth downs.

A really cool gesture before the game for Randy Moss, who is battling cancer:

🏈The Falcons defeated the Raiders 15-9 on Monday night, snapping a four-game losing streak and keeping pace with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. Kirk Cousins threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to WR Drake London, marking his first touchdown in five weeks. After that it was a bit of a snooze fest. The game included 10 punts, and four turnovers.

🏈 NFL injury updates:

QB Patrick Mahomes has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, but the team does not believe the injury is severe. The Chiefs will continue to evaluate Mahomes throughout the week to determine his availability for their upcoming game against the Houston Texans on Saturday. This is part of a stretch of three games in 11 days, with the team facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.

Lions RB David Montgomery will miss the rest of the season due to a sprained MCL that requires surgery. This injury occurred during the Lions' 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Additionally, starting defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a torn ACL, ending his season.

Tuesday’s NFL Power Rankings

This Week’s Theme: Best Ever Christmas/Holiday Gifts

Tier 1 - N64

The greatest gift of all time. The video game system that brought us Golden Eye, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Zelda, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and so many other classics. Just an amazing thing to open up on Christmas morning and play with your siblings. Sadly, my parents didn’t believe in video games. They wanted me to focus on school work. Probably the right decision, I can barely read and write as it is, can you imagine if I had easy access to video games? As a Patriots fan, watching these Tier 1 teams play this season has been like watching my friends get N64 for Christmas. I’ll just keep telling myself next year is the year, and pretend I’m not extremely jealous.

1. Buffalo Bills (11-3)

2. Detroit Lions (12-2)

3. Kansas City Chiefs (13-1)

4. Philadelphia Eagles (12-2)

5. Minnesota Vikings (12-2)

6. Green Bay Packers (10-4)

7. Baltimore Ravens (9-5)

Tier 2 - Easy-Bake Oven

Looking back at it, was the Easy-Bake Oven just a micro wave for kids? I guess it was. But as a kid, having the ability to make ready-to-order treats was mind-blowing. The Easy-Bake Oven was a lot like the teams in Tier 2. Top of the list for sure. They look great on paper, only problem is if you’re not careful you’ll get burned (249 reported incidents included 77 burns, 16 of which were second- or third-degree in nature).

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4)

9. Denver Broncos (9-5)

10. Houston Texans (9-5)

11. Washington Commanders (9-5)

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6)

13. Los Angeles Rams (8-6)

14. Los Angeles Chargers (8-6)

15. Seattle Seahawks (8-6)

Tier 3 - Harry Potter Books

Once reading became required in school it wasn’t as cool to receive books for Christmas. That was until Harry Potter changed the whole game. I got my first Harry Potter book for Christmas and no gift has ever been more impactful. It doesn’t matter if you’re 6 or 106 these books hit every time. I can’t say that these Tier 3 teams are as good as Harry Potter, but these teams are overlooked. Tier 3 make up some of my favorite teams to watch (outside of the Falcons, last night was gross). Like Harry in the Goblet of Fire, these teams have a big uphill battle if they want win the Triwazarding Cup/get into the playoffs.

16. Arizona Cardinals (7-7)

17. Cincinnati Bengals (6-8)

18. Atlanta Falcons (7-7)

19. Dallas Cowboys (6-8) I

20. Indianapolis Colts (6-8)

21. Miami Dolphins (6-8)

22. San Francisco 49ers (6-8)

Tier 4 - Devil Sticks

Not sure how these really caught on. I feel like in the 90s there were just a bunch of toys to keep kids with low attention spans busy for a long time. Yo-yos, Skip It, Bop It, Slinkys, etc. Devil Sticks were the ultimate gift at one point, which is pretty funny because they were literally three sticks. That’s it. Didn’t take much to entertain us back in the day I guess? These teams are like Devil Sticks. Popular, lot of hype, then you look at them and there really isn’t much there.

23. New Orleans Saints (5-9)

24. Chicago Bears (4-10)

25. New York Jets (4-10)

26. Carolina Panthers (3-11)

Tier 5 - Tamagotchi

Who ever invented the Tamagotchi had a real morbid sense of humor. It was ‘A handheld digital pet that needed cleaning, feeding, and playing with, however, if they were neglected they would die’. Pretty sick to give an 8-year old a electronic device and tell them to constantly check it, and if they don’t, their pet would die. No wonder we’re all addicted to our phones. Anyway, these Tier 5 teams are like getting the Tamagotchi now. Pretty one dimensional, and after some initial hope, they got dull and saw their playoff chances die.

27. Cleveland Browns (3-11)

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-11)

29. Tennessee Titans (3-11)

30. New England Patriots (3-11)

31. Las Vegas Raiders (2-12)

32. New York Giants (2-12)

Top NBA Games

Nuggets 130, Kings 129: The game was tightly contested, with the lead changing seven times in the final 75 seconds. Nikola Jokic recorded his 10th triple-double of the season, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, while Jamal Murray hit a game-winning 16-foot jumper with 8.6 seconds left. Murray scored 28 points, and Russell Westbrook contributed 18 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists.

Pistons 125, Heat 124: Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Pistons to a 125-124 overtime victory hitting three crucial 3-pointers in overtime, including one to put Detroit ahead with 19 seconds left. Cade Cunningham had a standout performance with 20 points, 18 assists, and 11 rebounds, marking his sixth triple-double of the season. Malik Beasley also contributed 28 points, making 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.

Bulls 122, Raptors 121: Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points to lead the Bulls to a 122-121 victory, securing their fourth win in the last six games. Coby White added 19 points, and seven Bulls players reached double figures. Despite a tough start, Lonzo Ball hit a crucial 3-pointer late in the game. Josh Giddey, who contributed 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, was injured in the third quarter with a right ankle sprain and did not return.

See full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Games

Panthers 6, Oilers 5: Carter Verhaeghe scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period as the Panthers defeated the Oilers 6-5 in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final. Despite missing star Aleksander Barkov due to illness, the Panthers received contributions from Niko Mikkola, Sam Reinhart, Jesper Boqvist, Matthew Tkachuk, and Gustav Forsling.

Stars 3, Capitals 1: Roope Hintz scored twice, and Jake Oettinger made 25 saves to lead Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory. Hintz tied the game with a power-play goal in the second period and sealed the win with another goal in the third. Rookie defenseman Lian Bichsel also scored for Dallas. The Capitals' Ryan Strome had the only goal for Washington, which saw its franchise-record 10-game road win streak snapped.

Canucks 3, Avalanche 1: Kiefer Sherwood scored in each period completing the hat-trick for Vancouver. The big turning point was the short-handed breakaway goal in the second period which really solidified the lead. Thatcher Demko had 30 saves in the win.

See full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 2022, Minnesota Vikings comeback down 33-0 down at halftime to beat Indianapolis Colts, 39-36 in overtime. The biggest comeback in NFL history.

Watch the highlights of the crazy comeback here.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Anthony Edwards leads the NBA in 3-point shots made this season, who is second?

D) Payton Pritchard - Pritchard has 101, 3-point field goals this season (second only to Anthony Edwards 108). Pretty impressive since Pritchard has come off the bench and has played 153 minutes less than Edwards.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!