The Vikings' playoff hopes are still alive, plus the NHL hits pause on its season

USATSI

Good morning sports fans, it's Wajih AlBaroudi here with everything you need to know on this marvelous Tuesday morning. We had two NFL games last night and have another pair to watch tonight. But it's not all NFL today. We'll also go over what the NHL is doing about its COVID-19 crisis and much more.

Without further ado, let's roll.

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

MIKE ZIMMER AND THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS

It's been a stressful season for the Minnesota Vikings and coach Mike Zimmer, but Monday's game was anything but. The Vikings dominated the Bears 17-9 in a game that felt much more lopsided, and Minnesota did so with a play style a defensive guru like Zimmer surely appreciated.

A final-second, garbage-time passing touchdown from Bears quarterback Justin Fields to tight end Jesper Horsted kept the Vikings from their best single-game defensive performance (three points), but the Vikings still:

Posted a 33-24 pass-run rate
Forced three fumbles
Blocked a field goal

Here's our NFL scribe Tyler Sullivan with more on how great Minnesota's defense played:

Sullivan: "The Vikings defense held the Bears to one touchdown in five total red-zone trips, while also creating multiple turnovers in that key area of the field... For the large majority of the game, they were extremely stout once the Bears were threatening to score. They were also strong on third down, stopping Chicago on 10 of their 12 opportunities."

With so many Vikings games having come down to the wire this season, Zimmer finally enjoyed a game incapable of raising his blood pressure. Defensive end D.J. Wonnum was the star of Minnesota's defensive outing, posting eight tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hits. Safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Cameron Dantzler added seven and six tackles, respectively.

The Vikings (7-7) will play the Los Angeles Rams at home next and then the Green Bay Packers on the road before closing their season against the Bears in Minnesota. Zimmer will surely be happy to see the offensively-inept Bears again.

Honorable mention:

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) earned Max Preps' National Champion honors, a distinction given to the top high-school football team, for the second time in five seasons.

And not such a good morning for...

THE CLEVELAND BROWNS

The Browns came into this season with sky-high expectations after winning a playoff game in coach Kevin Stefanski's first year at the helm. This season, however, has borne a closer resemblance to the downtrodden Browns teams of old, including Monday's 16-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Cleveland.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr picked the Browns apart on the final drive to set up a 48-yard game-winning field goal for Daniel Carlson (more on that later), dropping Cleveland to 7-7 and last in the AFC North. The game was postponed from Saturday to Monday due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Bears.

The loss was crushing for Cleveland, which desperately needed a win to keep its playoff hopes alive. The team did, however, play without Stefanski - who tested positive for COVID a second-consecutive season - and 18 regular contributors, including:

QB Baker Mayfield
QB Case Keenum
RB Kareem Hunt
WR Jarvis Landry
TE Austin Hooper
OT Jedrick Wills
DE Jadeveon Clowney
DT Malik McDowell
LB Mack Wilson
CB Troy Hill
S Ronnie Harrison
S Grant Delpit
P Jamie Gillan

Cleveland has a tough remaining schedule: at the Green Bay Packers, at the Pittsburgh Steelers and home to the Cincinnati Bengals. With five AFC teams locked at 7-7, the Browns' chances of making the playoffs for a second time since 2002 are now murkier.

NHL pausing season through Christmas over COVID-19 concerns 🏒

After a rash of COVID-19 outbreaks hit the NHL, the league announced late last night that they've decided to pause the season through Christmas Day to prevent any further spread. As of Monday night, 11 teams had individually paused their seasons and over 15% player of the league's players remained in virus protocols.

Only three games remain until the NHL's pause on Wednesday night. Here's a timeline for what's ahead:

Dec. 22: All team facilities close
Dec. 26: Players return, get COVID tests
Dec. 27: Games resume

The NHL is hoping its decision to pause the season now will end - or at least slow - the rapid spread of COVID within the league. All players -- except the Detroit Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi -- have received the vaccine, but over 40 games have been postponed while over a third of the league had to individually pause their seasons.

Earlier this week, the NHL suspended all games involving Canada-U.S. travel to combat the spread of COVID and instituted new rules in its virus protocols. But it may have been too late, considering the position the league is in now.

The other wrinkle here is that there's a strong chance the NHL's season pause eliminates the possibility of its players competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. There is a planned three-week break for the Olympics -- which now will probably be better used to have teams play games that have been postponed this month.

The complicated Hall of Fame case for Alex Rodriguez ⚾

Alex Rodriguez is one of the most polarizing figures in baseball history, and the debate surrounding the three-time MVP should only increase as he's eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time in 2022. Let's dig into the pros and cons of his candidacy with the help of our MLB scribe Matt Snyder.

On paper, Rodriguez's Hall of Fame case is unassailable. He's a 14-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time Gold Glove winner who led the New York Yankees to a World Series title in 2009.

The 46-year-old is also:

One of three players with 2,000 career runs and RBI, joining Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth
Fourth on the all-time home run list with 696
Seventh on the all-time extra-base hit list with 1,275
12th in career WAR among position players at 117.5

While those numbers are impressive, it's, uh, pretty well known that MLB suspended Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season, citing his use and possession of PEDs "over the course of multiple years" and his attempt to obstruct the league's investigation into steroid usage.

So, the case for Rodriguez is complicated -- to say the least:

Snyder: "I am, however, sure that A-Rod is going to get somewhere between five and 75 percent of the vote this winter, which means we'll be discussing him again next year. And then likely the year after that. And then the next year..."

And the Rodriguez debate rages on.

Why watching Tiger Woods and his son golf together is special ⛳

Just 10 months after Tiger Woods suffered potential career-ending lower-body injuries in a car crash, the 82-time PGA Tour winner made his return to competitive golf at Sunday's PNC Championship in Orlando. He competed with his son, Charlie, to produce one of the sport's most wholesome viewing experiences of the year.

Tiger and Charlie Woods finished two strokes behind John Daly and his son, John Daly II, to place a solo second in the PNC Championship with a 59. While Tiger and Charlie Woods' performance was impressive, their presence meant the most to golf fans.

And if his return wasn't joyous enough, Charlie's near-perfect mimicry of his father finished the job. The two moved almost identically on the course, from sharing a swing to doing the same:

Post-swing club twirl
Fist pump
Hat raise
Hand-on-hip stance
Nose rub

The juxtaposition between Tiger and Charlie Woods was moving, as our golf scribe Kyle Porter wrote:

Porter: "The performance they put on at the PNC Championship is a million things. It's jubilation over life regained, dedication to craft remade and continuation of Tiger's evolution as a dad. But most of all, it is the revelation that our kids are always watching."

A remarkable comeback and family story combined into one.