It looked as if tight end T.J. Hockenson had made an unbelievable touchdown catch on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium to pull the Vikings even closer as they tried to complete a comeback against the Philadelphia Eagles.

As the celebration spilled over onto the sideline, however, it was announced the play was under review. That ultimately resulted in the call on the field being overturned as it was determined that Hockenson did not complete the process of the catch. The decision was ultimately made by the NFL from its replay center in New York.

Asked about the play after the game, Hockenson was visibly upset, revealing that multiple refs came up to him afterward and told him they had it as a catch.

“I don’t understand how New York can call in and be like, ‘That’s not a catch,’” Hockenson said. “There was no evidence that it wasn’t. I think it’s ridiculous. Especially when every ref came up to me after and said, ‘We had that as a catch.’”

In a pool report, the NFL’s vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said it was determined that Hockenson lost control of the ball, which resulted in the call on the field being overturned.

“The ball hit the ground,” Butterworth said. “Then he regained control of the ball.”

That wasn’t how Hockenson saw it as he watched the replay on the big screen.

“There was nothing to overturn it,” Hockenson said. “I was out there. I felt it. My hands were under the ball.”

As the process was unfolding, head coach Kevin O’Connell said he was not privy to the conversations going on between the NFL from its replay center in New York and referee Bill Vinovich on the field.

“I did not get any clarity,” O’Connell said. “The main update that I got was incomplete pass.”

Meanwhile, veteran quarterback Carson Wentz lauded Hockenson for his effort, noting that he didn’t get a good look at the replay that was being shown on the big screen.

“All I know is I can throw a better ball,” Wentz said. said. “I can make it a little easier on him.”

Though it wasn’t technically the difference for the Vikings in a 28-22 loss to the Eagles, it certainly could’ve made for a different game script in the final minutes.

“It is what it is,” Hockenson said. “We’ve got to move on.”

On further review

Kevin O’Connell said Sunday was waiting to hear an explanation for a holding call on center Blake Brandel that negated a touchdown pass and forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal in their 28-22 loss to the Eagles.

The Vikings were going for it on fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter when Brandel got defensive lineman Moro Ojomo to the ground before Carson Wentz threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor. Brandel was called for holding, making it fourth-and-11 and forcing Minnesota to settle for Will Reichard’s 34-yard field goal to make it 14-6.

Afterward, Brandel’s review of the call could be lip-read on TV, and he didn’t agree with it. After the game, however, he relented.

“I’ve just gotta better,” he said. “Can’t do that. It cost the team.”

It appeared on replay that Brandel had hold of Ojom’s jersey under his right pad, but O’Connell said he wasn’t entirely convinced.

“It’s a normal technique,” the coach said. “It’s called the trap, when you knock a guy’s hands down.”

Brandel acknowledged he didn’t initially think he had held Ojomo, saying, “Maybe not in the moment, but I see what the refs see in that. It is what it is. I see what they saw.”

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With a chance to stick it his former team for giving up on him early in his career, veteran quarterback Carson Wentz instead put forth a performance that justified the defending Super Bowl champions turning the page.

The mistakes from Wentz on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium were too much for the Vikings to overcome in a 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

He missed a surefire touchdown to receiver Jordan Addison early in the game. He threw interception that was returned for a touchdown. He inexplicably dirted a ball in the red zone and got called for intentional grounding.

Though he still managed to show some flashes throughout the game — Wentz completed 26 of 42 passes for 313 yards and a touchdown — he more often showed the inconsistency that has turned him from the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to a journeyman backup seemingly in the twilight of his career.

A comeback attempt from the Vikings late in the game fell short as the Eagles got a long completion from quarterback Jalen Hurts to receiver A.J. Brown to put the game on ice. That forced the Vikings to lament the fact that most of their point came from kicker Will Reichard going 5 of 5 on field goal attempts.

A methodical opening drive from the Eagles forced the Vikings to chase the game from the onset.

After establishing the lime of scrimmage with a healthy dose of running back Saquon Barkley, the Eagles took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish when Hurts found Brown for a 37-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.

The shakiness from Wentz was on display from right away as he missed a wide open Addison on a throw that would have tied the game. A snap from backup center Blake Brandel later sailed over the head of Wentz for a huge loss and Reichard nailed a field goal to cut the deficit it 7-3.

It got worse from there for Wentz as he threw an interception to edge rusher Jalyx Hunt that was returned 42 yards the other way for a touchdown to helped the Eagles stretch their lead to 14-3.

The struggles from Wentz continued when he threw another interception after heaving a ball skyward while under pressure in his own end zone. The arm punt might have made sense had it not come on second down.

It looked like the Vikings had scored a touchdown later in the game when Wentz found receiver Jalen Nailor in the end zone. The points were immediately taken off the board after a holding penalty and Reichard came on to make it 14-6.

There was seemingly a chance for the Vikings to pull even once again after halftime.

A nice drive stalled out when Wentz missed fullback C.J. Ham in the flat, then made it worse by getting whistled for intentional grounding. That was another instance of the Vikings leaving meat on the bone as Reichard trotted on for another field goal to make it 14-9.

The game turned from there as  Hurts uncorked a deep pass to receiver Devonta Smith for a 79-yard touchdown that helped the Eagles make it 21-9.

After the Vikings got a touchdown run by running back Jordan Mason cut the deficit to 21-16, the Eagles missed a field goal on the other end to keep it close. Unfortunately for the Vikings they had to settle for yet another field goal from Reichard to cut the deficit to 21-19.

Another touchdown from Hurts to Brown late in the game made it 28-19 in favor of the Eagles. It was fitting that the Vikings only mustered another field goal on the next drive to finalize the score at 28-22.

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By Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald

Calling Colombian President Gustavo Petro “an illegal drug leader,” President Donald Trump announced Sunday the end of all U.S. aid to the South American country, upending the relationship with one of the region’s closest military allies at a time of a massive U.S. buildup near neighboring Venezuela.

Trump said Petro, who he said has “a fresh mouth toward America,” is “strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields” throughout Colombia, which the president misspelled as Columbia. “Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.”

“AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLUMBIA,” Trump said. “Better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”

In a series of posts on X, Petro responded Sunday that “trying to promote peace in Colombia is not being a drug trafficker” and that “Trump is deceived” by his advisers.

Tensions with the Colombian left-wing leader have escalated recently.

On Friday evening, Petro accused the U.S. of killing a Colombian fisherman in a boat strike last month that he said happened in Colombia’s territorial waters.

“U.S. government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” Petro wrote on X. “Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to drug trafficking and his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was adrift and had a distress signal on.”

The Trump administration is carrying strikes in Caribbean waters near Venezuela in what it says is a counternarcotics operation, but seems also to be a push to oust Venezuela’s strongman Nicolás Maduro. The legality of the strikes has been questioned internationally and at home, and the administration has yet to provide Congress any evidence the people killed were trafficking drugs.

Last month, the U.S. State Department revoked Petro’s visa after he urged the U.S. military to disobey Trump, amid comments about the war in Gaza during a rally in New York.

“Do not point your rifles at humanity,” he said. “Disobey Trump’s order, obey humanity’s order.”

Petro, a former guerrilla member, has called Trump “an accomplice of the genocide” in Gaza.

Colombia is the recipient of the largest amount of U.S. aid to any country in Latin America and is a key military ally in the region. President Joe Biden designated Colombia as a major non-NATO ally in 2022.

Congress appropriated $377.5 million for foreign assistance for Colombia in 2024 and a similar amount for 2025, with certain restrictions out of concerns over Petro’s policies and counternarcotics efforts.

For first time since 1997, Trump administration said last month that Colombia was not compliant with its obligations as a drug-control partner, but issued the country a waiver on national security grounds to maintain cooperation.

Trump and Petro clashed early in January over migrant deportation flights. After both leaders slapped tariffs on each other’s countries following Petro’s initial refusal to allow two U.S. military flights carrying deported Colombian migrants to land in his country, Petro quickly backtracked.

Petro’s popularity has dipped in Colombia, where he faces tensions with the Colombian congress amid allegations of taking money from drug trafficking for his presidential campaign.

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©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

PHILADELPHIA — When he took his first shift on Saturday night versus the Flyers in South Philly, Tyler Pitlick became the 36th Minnesota-born player to wear a Minnesota Wild sweater in a game. He also became the second member of his Twin Cities family to don the green and Iron Range red in a game.

A little more than three years ago, Tyler’s first cousin Rem was acquired by the Wild from Nashville, played 20 games with Minnesota, and was promptly traded to Montreal in the midst of the 2021-22 season.

Tyler needs 20 more games to become the Pitlick family’s iron man in a Wild uniform.

“It was awesome,” Pitlick said after the Wild’s 2-1 overtime loss to Philadelphia. “I was obviously really excited to play for the hometown team, but more importantly just to get back to the NHL after a year-and-a-half hiatus. It was pretty special, and it was great.”

The Wild are Pitlick’s ninth NHL organization after he signed a pro contract with Edmonton back in 2010. He has more than 400 NHL games under his belt but spent all of last season in the AHL, playing in the Boston Bruins’ system.

After a good training camp with the Wild, Pitlick, 33, found himself back in the AHL with Iowa, but getting lots of minutes.

“I thought I had a decent camp. Obviously, it could have been a little bit better,” he said Saturday. “But I think it wasn’t a horrible thing for me to go down and play a lot of minutes, 20 minutes a night, and getting that juice going and take it into here.”

Pitlick and the Iowa Wild were in North Carolina on Friday night, where they fell 6-2 to the Charlotte Checkers. Not long after he changed out of his hockey gear that night, Pitlick got the call to “the show” and was handed a plane ticket for Philadelphia.

“I found out after the game about 11 or 11:30,” recalled Pitlick, who played prep hockey at Centennial and spent a year each at Minnesota State Mankato and with Medicine Hat in the Canadian major junior leagues. “Got my itinerary for the flight in the morning. Then 7:45 car, 9 flight, got here for pregame meal, took a nap and ready to roll.”

Wild coach John Hynes put Pitlick on the fourth line with right wing Danila Yurov at center and Yakov Trenin on the other wing. With all three of them standing 6-foot-1 or better, Hynes is clearly looking for a size line, and Pitlick recorded four hits in the game, skating more than seven minutes.

“I thought Pitlick brought good energy and speed,” Hynes said postgame. “I liked the line with him and Yurov and Trenin. They had some zone time, and I thought he had a good outing.”

While the team’s sole focus with two games remaining on their current road trip is to get back in the win column — they went 0-2-1 in visits to Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia — Pitlick likes being a member of the Wild and playing on a line he feels suits his game.

“Some big bodies,” he said. “We’ve got some speed, we play a north game. I think we’re gonna get all over some defensemen and they’re not gonna like playing against us.”

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