GREEN BAY, Wis. — Everything was going right for the Vikings.

After proving themselves against the San Francisco 49ers in primetime, the Vikings were well on their way to earning a very impressive win over the rival Green Bay Packers.

It all came crashing down the moment star quarterback Kirk Cousins left the game with what appeared to be a significant injury. He pulled up lame on a drop back late the game and went down for a sack. He couldn’t put any weight on his right foot as he hopped off the field, and ultimately, he had to be carted to the locker room.

Needless to say, the Vikings weren’t feeling too good after earning a 24-10 win over the Packers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.

Though the Vikings are now 4-4 — and right back in the NFC North race — it seems as if they could be without Cousins for the foreseeable future. The next man up if that’s indeed the case is rookie quarterback Jaren Hall. He made his NFL debut in relief and finished the game under center.

That put a damper on an otherwise very good game for the Vikings. They came out firing with Cousins leading the charge. He led a methodical drive down the field early on with running back Cam Akers powering his way into the end zone to make it 7-0 in favor of the Vikings.

On the following drive, Cousins continued his to cook, stringing together a few explosive plays before the Vikings had to settle for a 25-yard field goal from kicker Greg Joseph to stretch the lead to 10-0.

Shockingly, the Packers did not pick up a first down until quarterback Jordan Love found receiver Christian Watson near the sideline shortly before halftime. That incited a very loud Bronx cheer from the home crowd. The possession ended with kicker Anders Carlson nailing a 30-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 10-3 at halftime.

With a chance to take control out of halftime, the Vikings went on a 13-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Cousins finding tight end T.J. Hockenson in the back of the end zone to stretch the lead to 17-3. The lead might as well have been infinity at that point.

It got even better for the Vikings from there as safety Josh Metellus intercepted Love on a deep pass down the middle of the field. He ripped the ball away from receiver Jayden Reed, then turned up field and returned the interception for a big gain up the sidelines. On the very next play, Cousins dropped a dime to rookie receiver Jordan Addison for a touchdown to make it 24-3.

After the Packers finally showed some life, with Love finding receiver Romeo Doubs in the end zone to cut the deficit to 24-10, the Vikings got dealt a haymaker as Cousins left the game. He finished the day 23 of 31 for 274 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

More details will come out regarding Cousins in the coming days. Nothing else matters for the Vikings until then.

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MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis offered state resources to local police officers following a shooting in Tampa Saturday night that left two dead and almost 20 people wounded.

The Tampa shooting, which sparked criticism from state Democrats over Florida’s less-restrictive gun laws, comes just days after a 40-year-old gunman killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, in the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in 2023.

Authorities said a feud between two groups escalated Saturday night into a shooting in the Ybor City area of Tampa, which is a hub for Halloween festivities. The assailants opened fire right as crowds of people had poured into the streets from bars and clubs that had just closed for the night, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said during a Sunday morning press conference. Two died and 18 were injured, though some of the injuries may have been caused by stampeding when people fled, Bercaw said. A local news station reported that a 14-year-old boy was among those killed.

In the aftermath of the Maine shooting, DeSantis, who is running for president, said more people with serious mental health issues should be institutionalized against their will as a way to prevent mass shootings. Police discovered the gunman dead on Saturday, and numerous news reports say that he had been hearing voices and was institutionalized this summer.

“I do think that we tend to pass the buck with some of these people and just kind of hope that they don’t do anything wrong when there’s a lot of signs,” DeSantis said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I would be more aggressive on some of those fringe people who clearly are demonstrating signs that they’re a major danger to society.”

As governor, DeSantis has generally opposed proposals seeking to restrict access to guns. Last year, he signed into law legislation allowing people in Florida to carry guns without a permit.

Top Democrats in the state blamed too-permissive firearms laws in Florida for Saturday’s shooting. “Bad decisions made in a split second and the proliferation of readily available guns are responsible for these almost daily incidents,” Tampa’s Democratic Mayor, Jane Castor, said on X. “We can affect one half of this equation.”

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called on Congress to pass “responsible gun laws” and Florida Rep. Lindsay Cross (D-St. Petersburg) said, “We need to stop tolerating violence like this.”

Florida has experienced some of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings, including the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead and another 53 wounded, and the 2018 Parkland high school shooting that killed 17 people, including many high school students. And in August, a 21-year-old man killed three people in a racially-motivated shooting in Jacksonville, Fla.

P.J. Fleck answered the question before it could be asked on Saturday night.

On his own accord, the Gophers head coach explained why he let more than 30 seconds run off the clock just before halftime of the U’s 27-12 win over Michigan State.

Trailing 6-3, Minnesota had the ball and two timeouts at the Spartans’ 20-yard line with one minute, 12 seconds remaining in the first half. After Jordan Nubin’s run for 3 yards, the play was whistled over with 54 seconds left, but Fleck didn’t call timeout until only 35 seconds remained.

Some fans at Huntington Bank Stadium booed.

“The crowd wants some urgency” in the Gophers’ offense, Big Ten Network commentator Jake Butt said.

BTN play-by-play man Cory Provus was more direct: “Too much time came off the clock.”

After the stoppage, Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis was sacked on second down before he found receiver Daniel Jackson for a 22-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left. After that, Michigan State ran the ball for 10 yards on its only play before the half.

“Just before you ask me, I’m doing everything I can to see both sides of everything,” Fleck said. “I’d love to educate everybody who buys a ticket. I appreciate everybody buying a ticket.

“I can’t give them the ball back with time (on the clock).”

Fleck did a similar thing just before halftime in the loss to Michigan three weeks ago, and he gave a similar answer afterward. But the second-ranked Wolverines are not the same thing as the struggling Spartans.

“We still had a timeout,” Fleck said Saturday. “I want to bring it down under 30 seconds. That is plenty of time in football with a timeout. That’s like 20 minutes. You could go get a soda and come back and we are probably still there.”

A counter argument is the Gophers offense had struggled for much of the first half against the Spartans. Their first five drives ended this way: fumble, fumble, punt, punt and blocked field goal. The U might have needed every single second to score before halftime.

“As good as your defense has been, you’ve got to tell your team we could score a touchdown,” Butt said. “Got to be thinking touchdown.”

Like the Michigan game, the Gophers were thinking touchdown — and were successful in both instances.

That’s part of the reason this wasn’t a bigger issue Saturday. The Gophers scored a touchdown not only before the half but were in control for most of the second half to secure their second straight Big Ten victory.

With the win, the Gophers (5-3 3-2 Big Ten) moved into a four-way first-place tie in the Big Ten West division with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. With wins against them earlier in the season, Minnesota holds tiebreakers over the Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers, while the U plays Wisconsin in the regular-season finale two days after Thanksgiving.

The Badgers lost their one-game division lead Saturday with a 24-10 loss to No. 3 Ohio State in Madison, Wis.

With the victory over the Spartans, the U also moved to within one victory for bowl eligibility with four games remaining.

Illinois (3-5, 1-4) is up next in Minneapolis next Saturday. While there might be a difference of opinion with some of the fanbase, Fleck wanted to thank them for coming out to games.

“I just appreciate everybody being here and cheering as loud as they did,” Fleck added. “Our home crowd really means a lot to us. It was a good team win, a good family win. It was an excited locker room in there.”

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LEWISTON, Maine — Church bells rang Sunday as Maine residents gathered at somber and sometimes joyful services to pray and support one another following a traumatic week in which a fellow Mainer gunned down 18 people in the worst mass killing in state history.

The Rev. Daniel Greenleaf began services at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston with a moment of silence. Then, he told the congregation that it was good to be able to finally pray together after days of lockdown imposed while police searched for the 40-year-old gunman Robert Card.

The body of Card was found Friday in a trailer at a recycling center in Lisbon Falls. Card died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it was unclear when, authorities said. Card is suspected of also injuring 13 people during the shooting rampage on Wednesday night in Lewiston.

Several women wore black veils in the cavernous sanctuary, where a church official said they are raising funds to help shooting victims and others hurt by “the horrible events in our small town.”

“We can see the rays of light in darkness,“ Greenleaf said during his sermon. He told the worshippers that it is times like this that they have “practiced” their faith for.

“We cannot fix this, but then again human beings are not machines to be fixed,” Greenleaf said.

At Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, the mood was upbeat as church members arrived and greeted each other. But the atmosphere became somber when the Rev. Brian Ganong referenced the tragedy. He prayed for the victims fighting for their lives, those who lost family and friends, first responders and medical workers, and others — including the Card family, who he said had ties to some members of the church.

“It did happen. We may never know the reason why,” he said, encouraging the congregation to seek solace through a higher being.

After the service, Ganong said it “took one person” to shatter the community’s “sense of peace and security.”

“They feel violated, right? They feel intruded upon. This has infringed upon their safety,” he said. ”But I understand that we live in a world that is evil. And it was probably a matter of time before it infringed upon us.”

Standing outside the basilica after attending early Mass, Marcel Roy said the last few days have been painful but that he’s hopeful the community can being the long process of healing.

“This feels good,” Roy said as the church bells rang.

The 70-year-old Lewiston resident said that he knew four of the shooting victims and is praying for them as well as the shooter.

“I can’t hate the guy,” he said of the gunman. “He wasn’t brought up as a killer.”

Authorities recovered a multitude of weapons during their search for Card and believe he had legally purchased his guns, including those recovered in his car and near his body, said Jim Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He declined to provide specific details about the guns, including their make and model, and wouldn’t say exactly how many were found.

Investigators are still searching for a motive for the massacre, but have increasingly been focused on Card’s mental health history. State Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said Card had been hearing voices and had paranoia.

Card believed “people were talking about him and there may even have been some voices at play,” Sauschuck said.

Family members of Card told federal investigators that he had recently discussed hearing voices and became more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the investigation.

On Saturday, street life began returning to Lewiston in the city of 37,000. Police missed two clear opportunities to end the lockdown sooner, after failing to find Card’s body in searches of the recycling center Thursday night and early Friday.

For many residents it was a day to reflect, mourn and, for some, take the first tentative steps toward normalcy. Some went hunting on the opening day of firearm season for deer, and one family handed out buckets of flowers in downtown. Others gathered at a makeshift memorial to the victims down the street from the bar targeted by Card.

William Brackett, whose namesake son was among those killed, visited the memorial Saturday and said he could feel pent up tension leave his body when he learned Card was dead.

“I’m telling you, if I had a bottle of champagne, I would’ve popped it and celebrated,” he said.

Billy Brackett was shot multiple times and died on the way to the hospital, his father said. He said his son didn’t let his deafness stop him from doing anything in life, including playing multiple sports.

“He was just a gentle person. He was big and rugged, and I guess maybe that’s why all the little kids loved him. They swarmed to a bigger person,” Brackett said. “Maybe they thought, ‘He’ll be our protector.’”

The deadliest shootings in Maine history stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and had only 29 killings in all of 2022.

Three patients remained in critical condition at Central Maine Medical Center, and a fourth was stable, hospital officials said. Another patient was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, and the rest were discharged.

A stay-at-home order in place during the massive search was lifted Friday afternoon, hours before authorities announced they had found Card’s body at the Maine Recycling Corp.

The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.