PFF grades from the Vikings’ win to the Commanders: J.J. McCarthy has a breakthrough

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What did Pro Football Focus think of how the Vikings performed on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium? Here’s a look at the player grades from the Vikings’ 31-0 win over the Washington Commanders:

Top 3 on offense (minimum 20 snaps)

Josh Oliver … 92.8

Brian O’Neill … 92.3

Ryan Kelly … 78.7

Analysis: It’s not surprising that Oliver topped the list after hauling in a pair of touchdown receptions while also serving as a people mover for the rushing attack. It was an impressive effort from the offensive line highlighted by O’Neill and Kelly. It’s also worth mention J.J. McCarthy (78.4), even if he narrowly missed out on the Top 3. It was far and away the highest graded game of his career to this point.

Bottom 3 on offense (minimum 20 snaps)

C.J. Ham … 53.6

Donovan Jackson … 56.0

Christian Darrisaw … 61.6

Analysis: The only reason Ham, Jackson, and Darrisaw show up is simply because somebody had to end up at the bottom of the list. This was hands down the most effective performance the offense has put up this season. There isn’t much room for criticism across the board.

Top 3 on defense (minimum 20 snaps)

Javon Hargrave … 93.0

Harrison Smith … 90.1

Andrew Van Ginkel … 81.0

Analysis: It makes sense that the trio of defensive players that forced turnovers ended up at the top of the list. The performances from Hargrave, Smith, and Van Ginkel played a big role in the defense posting a shutout.

Bottom 3 on defense (minimum 20 snaps)

Fabian Moreau … 45.6

Josh Metellus … 53.4

Byron Murphy Jr. … 61.1

Analysis: It’s hard to find many issues with the defense as a whole considering the impact that it made throughout the shutout. The coverage from Moreau, Metellus, and Murphy would be the only part worth nitpicking as they each gave up completions.

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Wall Street hangs near its records as the battle to buy Warner Bros. heats up

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By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging at the edge of their record heights on Monday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve later this week on what it will do with interest rates.

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The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading and was sitting just 0.3% below its all-time high, which was set in October. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.3%, as of 9:38 a.m. Eastern time.

Most stocks were falling, but Warner Bros. Discovery rallied 7.8% after Paramount took its offer to buy the entertainment giant directly to shareholders. Paramount said it’s offering $30 in cash for each Warner Bros. Discovery share, as well as a quicker and easier way for investors to get their payout.

Paramount wants investors to take its all-cash bid instead of Netflix’s offer of cash and stock, which Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to last week.

The Netflix deal is already facing a potentially tough time getting through federal regulators because of worries about too much industry power sitting at one company. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a Netflix-Warner Bros. deal “could be a problem.”

Paramount Skydance’s stock rose 2.7%, while Netflix slipped 2.4%.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Confluent soared 28.7% to help lead the market after IBM said it would buy the company, which helps customers connect and process data. IBM said the $11 billion deal will help customers deploy artificial-intelligence tools better and faster, and its shares added 1.8%.

Carvana jumped 6.9% in its first trading after learning it will join the S&P 500 index on Dec. 22. Many professional investors directly mimic the index or at least measure their performance against it, which will push many to buy any stocks within it.

CRH, a provider of building materials, rose 5.3%, and Comfort Systems USA, a provider of mechanical and electrical contracting services, added 0.8% after likewise learning they’ll join the S&P 500 in a couple weeks.

They will replace LKQ, Solstice Advanced Materials and Mohawk Industries, which have all shrunk enough in size that they’ll drop down to the S&P SmallCap 600 index of smaller stocks.

Trading outside of those few movers, though, was relatively calm.

The highlight of the week will come Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on interest rates.

Stocks have already run to the edge of their records on widespread expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate for the third time this year. Lower interest rates can give the economy and prices for investments a boost, though their downside is that they can worsen inflation.

The big question is what kind of hints the Fed will offer about where interest rates will go after that. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk aimed at tamping down expectations for more cuts in 2026.

Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target, and Fed officials are notably split in their opinions bout whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.14%, where it was late Friday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slid 1.2% in Hong Kong but jumped 1.3% in South Korea for two of the world’s bigger gains.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Magnitude 7.2 quake strikes off Japan’s northern coast and triggers a tsunami alert

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TOKYO (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan on Monday, triggering a tsunami alert, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

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The agency said the magnitude 7.2 quake struck off the coast of Hokkaido, near the coastal city of Aomori with an epicenter about 30 miles below the sea surface.

It issued an alert in the region for a tsunami of up to 10 feet.

Nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Trump is proposing a $12B farm aid package to soften blow of his tariffs, White House official says

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By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is planning a $12 billion farm aid package, according to a White House official — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war.

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According to the official, who was granted anonymity to speak ahead of a planned announcement, Trump will unveil the plan Monday afternoon at the White House.

Farmers have backed Trump politically but his aggressive trade policies and frequently changing tariff rates have come under increasing scrutiny because of the impact on the agricultural sector and because of broader consumer worries.

The aid is the administration’s latest effort to defend Trump’s economic stewardship and answer voter angst about rising costs — even as the president has dismissed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax.”