It was a strange feeling inside the visitors’ locker room Sunday at Lambeau Field. As excited as the Vikings were to be celebrating a 31-29 win over the Green Bay Packers, there was an underlying tone of frustration that the score was even that close.

No player embodied it more than cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. He wasn’t all that interested in talking about his interception or his forced fumble that earned him a game ball from head coach Kevin O’Connell. He was hung up on the feelings shared by pretty much everybody on the defense.

“That wasn’t the standard,” Murphy said. “We all know that.”

After the Vikings managed to rattle quarterback Jordan Love and the Packers throughout the game, a disastrous final 15 minutes spoiled what would have, could have, should have been the latest coronation for defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his players.

“We found out that it’s hard to win in this league,” Flores said. “Everything can change on a dime. That happened. There was a lot to learn from that standpoint.”

Maybe it was for the best considering the way the Vikings had dominated the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans in their first three games.

Eventually, the Vikings were going to have to prove they can win a close game, and while it looked like they were well on their way to blowing out their biggest rivals, the Packers provided a teachable moment by scoring 22 points in the final period.

“It’s human nature to kind of take that foot off the gas a little bit,” Flores said. “We can’t do that against an opponent like that.”

A seemingly insurmountable lead for the Vikings had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The comeback for the Packers started when receiver Dontayvion Wicks caught a touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 28-14. After a turnover by the Vikings on the next possession, the Packers immediately made them pay with tight end Tucker Kraft catching a touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 28-22.

Though the Vikings increased the lead to 31-22 after veteran quarterback Sam Darnold led a drive that ended in a field goal, the Packers made it 31-29 in the final minute when Love hooked up with Wicks for another touchdown pass.

“We got tested there late in the game,” edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel said. “We’ve got to come together and figure out how to not let it snowball.”

Truthfully, the Vikings might have been lamenting a loss if Murphy hadn’t intercepted a pass in the end zone, then forced a fumble with a perfectly placed punch along the sideline. Those turnovers helped the Vikings stop the bleeding when the Packers were making their push.

“Thankfully we were able to come out of there with a win,” Flores said. “We talked about the ebbs and flows in the game and the momentum shifts. The power of that momentum almost got us. We were able to take it back with some big plays.”

As he reflected on the struggles for the defense, Flores briefly got into the psychology of playing from ahead. He has been around long enough to understand how hard it can be to stay aggressive when the game starts to get out of hand.

“It’s good to be able to talk about it, because it’s not really something we talk about that often,” Flores said. “It’s good to go through it and know that we have the strength to push through it. I think our guys felt that. They did a good job from that standpoint.”

To his credit, Flores also took accountability for the role he played in the Vikings letting their guard down.

“I’ve looked at myself and said, ‘Hey I could’ve done a better job putting them in better positions,’ ” Flores said. “Nobody is harder on themselves than I am. I’ve got to do a better job from that standpoint. I think I could’ve called it a little bit better and put them in some better positions.”

Meanwhile, his players were equally as hard on themselves, vowing to be better for Flores moving forward.

“The standard is the standard,” safety Cam Bynum said. “We have to come back next week and be ready to play.”

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores watches his players prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Minneapolis. Flores has exceeded even head coach Kevin O’Connell’s expectations for what he could accomplish in his first season as defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn, File)

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The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 4: Last-minute moves

By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran launched almost 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening, causing scattered damage and fires from falling shrapnel, but Israeli authorities said there were no injuries. An Israeli security official said most of the missiles were intercepted, though some managed to land.

Israeli officials said Iran would pay a price for the strike.

The missile attack came after Israel said ground troops crossed into Lebanon overnight, launching what the military described as a limited operation to root out Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it saw no sign of Israeli forces and that its troops were ready to confront them.

Israel said the incursion would be focused on the narrow strip of land just across the border. But it also issued evacuation warnings covering a wider swath of Lebanon, raising fears that a large-scale ground invasion was soon to come.

In recent days, a wave of Israeli airstrikes has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders, while driving hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes. Israel says a ground operation is now necessary to return tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north, pummeled by continuous rocket fire from Hezbollah since Oct. 8.

Here’s what we know:

Why did Iran launch missiles toward Israel?

Israel’s military said it identified 180 missiles launched from Iran shortly after 7:30 p.m. Sirens blared across the country, and Israelis were ordered to stay in protected areas. An Israeli security official said that in cooperation with the United States, the Israeli Air Force intercepted many of the missiles, though there some direct hits damaging buildings and igniting some fires.

Iran said the missiles were in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader in Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July. It warned this attack represented only a “first wave,” without elaborating. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

In April, Iran launched more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel. Most were intercepted outside of Israel. One girl was injured from falling shrapnel.

Israel vowed to respond, pushing the two archenemies closer toward direct confrontation and the region closer toward a broader war.

Did Israeli troops enter Lebanon?

The military says that Israeli troops entered Lebanon late Monday, though it was not clear whether they remained inside or were moving in and out of the country.

In a surprise announcement, Israel said Tuesday that its ground forces have been operating covertly in Lebanon for the last year, carrying out dozens of small ground operations. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army’s spokesman, said the current raid is an expansion of these activities.

The Lebanese army and UNIFIL, a U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in southern Lebanon, have not confirmed that Israeli troops crossed the border, although UNIFIL said it was notified that they were going to.

How far into Lebanon are Israeli ground troops?

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under briefing guidelines, said Israeli ground troops were “within walking distance” of the border, targeting the small Lebanese villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israeli territory.

The military says Hezbollah militants remain in the area, despite heavy Israeli bombardment over the past few weeks. It says they are using the areas to launch attacks on Israel and to store weapons.

Have there been clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops?

There were no signs of ground combat in southern Lebanon, and the Israeli official said there had been no clashes with Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, cross-border fire continued. Hezbollah said it had targeted groups of soldiers in several Israeli border areas with artillery shelling and rockets. Israel said no soldiers were injured. At the same time, Israeli artillery units pummeled targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut.

Hezbollah fired a rare volley of rockets toward central Israel on Tuesday, injuring one man, Israeli paramedics said.

How extensive is the planned operation?

Israel has not given a timetable for how long the incursion will last and has declined to specify how far troops will go.

The military official said that marching to Beirut, as Israel did in its 1982 invasion of Lebanon, is “not on the table.” At the time, the Israeli invasion was also pitched as a limited incursion to push the Palestine Liberation Organization back.

He added that the operation in its current stages does not mirror Israel’s ground incursions in Gaza, where the military entered cities with heavy manpower, artillery and tanks.

That could change, depending on whether Israel’s government decides to launch a more extensive ground operation. Large numbers of forces, including scores of tanks, have massed along the border in recent days.

Troops that entered Lebanon are from the 98th division, the military said. The division is responsible for some of the heaviest fighting inside Gaza and includes elite units specializing in attacks behind enemy lines.

Meanwhile, Israel is expanding its evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon, sending hundreds of thousands of Lebanese fleeing from the south.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson asked residents living in villages north of a U.N.-declared buffer zone to flee. Under a U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war, the zone was supposed to be controlled by a U.N. peacekeeping force and the Lebanese military.

AP writer Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem.

As their disappointing 2024 season came to a close, Twins leadership expressed its intentions to keep president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli in their current roles.

But the expectation was that there was going to be some kind of shakeup within the coaching ranks after the Twins collapsed in the final six weeks of the season and missed the playoffs.

That first move has reportedly happened with hitting coach David Popkins being informed that the Twins will not renew his contract, per a report from The Athletic. The Twins have not said publicly yet whether they intend to keep assistant hitting coaches Derek Shomon and Rudy Hernandez on board.

The decision to part ways with Popkins, who was the Twins’ hitting coach for the past three seasons, came after a dramatic drop-off in offensive production late in the season. In the final month, the Twins hit .218 with a .285 on-base percentage and .338 team slugging percentage, averaging just 3.48 runs per game.

“Unfortunately it was our offensive production in aggregate and our overall defensive play that I think held us back more than the pitching,” Falvey said Sunday. “I think our offensive contributions are where we came up shorter than I would have been able to predict over the last six weeks.”

Players whom the Twins were relying on to be key contributors, Royce Lewis among them, dramatically tailed off as the Twins slumped to a 9-18 September record.

Despite the gut-wrenching finish, shortstop Carlos Correa, who has consistently sung Popkins’ praises, did so again on Sunday, unprompted.

“(Popkins) helped me understand myself a little better,” Correa said. “A .900 OPS for some people comes with homers and walks. For me, it comes with being a little more creative and he helped me understand that I don’t have to hit a home run e very at-bat. Pop has been a huge help for me and I’m grateful that I came to this organization and he was my hitting coach.”

An Eagan woman has pleaded guilty for her involvement in an alleged $250 million fraud scheme that diverted federal aid money intended for children’s meal programs in Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kawsar Jama, 42, submitted at least $4.5 million in bogus claims in connection with one of the single largest instances of pandemic aid fraud in the country, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger announced on Tuesday.

Jama pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. She remains out of custody on supervised release ahead of sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.

It’s the latest guilty plea tied to massive alleged fraud at the nonprofit Feeding Our Future between 2020 and 2022. A total of 70 individuals have been charged in connection to the case so far.

According to the indictment, Jama, who operated Gedo Community Services and Ahlan Childcare Center, obtained the funds in reimbursements for food sites she claimed to operate in Pelican Rapids, Burnsville and Minneapolis. She bought luxury vehicles and a home in Eagan.

One of the main food vendors for Jama’s sites was Haji Osman Salad, through his business, Haji’s Kitchen. Salad provided Jama with false food invoices, which she used as part of her fraudulent claims for reimbursement from the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

Jama’s site in Pelican Rapids, a small town in west-central Minnesota with a population of around 2,600 people, fraudulently claimed to have served more than 233,000 meals from September 2021 to December 2021, with Haji’s Kitchen as her supposed food supplier.

In total, Salad defrauded the government of nearly $11.5 million intended for the federal nutrition program, prosecutors said. Salad, 34, was one of three defendants who pleaded guilty to wire fraud last week.

The Feeding Our Future office was in this building at 3055 Old Highway 8 in St. Anthony, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

The nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which was based in St. Anthony, received federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture via the state education department. The money was intended to reimburse nonprofits for meals served at locations like day care centers, after-school programs and summer camps.

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