
The Vikings and their in-gear offense will be a tough team to outscore moving forward EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Sam Darnold pinballed around his collapsed pocket to dodge a sack on third-and-8, before slicing through a skinny opening to sprint right in search of more space as Justin Jefferson's hand shot up downfield. Dave Campbell, The Associated Press Dec 9, 2024 2:22 PM Dec 9, 2024 2:35 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) celebrates with teammate wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) after a 49-yard touchdown reception during the first half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Sam Darnold pinballed around his collapsed pocket to dodge a sack on third-and-8, before slicing through a skinny opening to sprint right in search of more space as Justin Jefferson's hand shot up downfield. Darnold let rip an on-the-run throw that sailed 45 yards in the air and straight into Jefferson's arms, where he was stunningly wide open inside the 10. He danced his way into the end zone to give the Minnesota Vikings a 21-13 lead, the harbinger of a fourth-quarter surge past the Atlanta Falcons . “I’m not going to tell you what I told him in regards to my opinion on how many guys make that throw,” coach Kevin O'Connell said with a smile. The 42-21 decision on Sunday not only gave the Vikings (11-2) their sixth consecutive victory but further validated their decision to let Kirk Cousins leave in free agency for a cheaper replacement. With O'Connell directing the quarterback development program and calling the plays and Jefferson leading a dangerous and diverse group of pass-catchers, Darnold has finally found a place he can thrive in after such an environment had long eluded the third overall pick in the 2018 draft — even in this roundabout way after the season-ending injury to rookie J.J. McCarthy. Factor in a defense that's allowing only 18.5 points per game, sixth best in the NFL , and leads the league in interceptions (20), and these Vikings are going to be a tough team to outscore in the playoffs. Darnold became the ninth quarterback in NFL history and the first since Aaron Rodgers in 2019 to hit these benchmarks in a game: at least 325 passing yards, five touchdown passes, a 75% completion rate, no interceptions and a 155-plus passer rating. Jefferson and Jordan Addison combined for 15 catches, 265 yards and five scores. “This is definitely the ball that we want to play every single game,” Jefferson said. “Just the energy, the tempo that we had, just going out there and executing the plays.” None more spectacular than that on-the-run 52-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Jefferson, who started the play in motion from left to right into a three-man bunch with Addison and Jalen Nailor to set up a favorable matchup with nickel cornerback Dee Alford. Addison ran a clear-out route toward the opposite corner, initially drawing the attention of three defenders. Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates, who was in a single-high alignment while the other Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons blitzed, diverted from Addison toward an uncovered Nailor on the other side while ignoring Jefferson streaking behind him. Cornerback Clark Phillips left Nailor to try to catch Jefferson, who'd blown by Alford. “He absolutely cooked the dude on the route,” Darnold said. The Falcons couldn't have played their coverage worse, leaving three receivers open, but that's the type of stress the Vikings can put on a defense with the way Darnold is throwing the ball. “We already knew what he was about once we got him on our team, that he could throw any pass,” Addison said. “He’s just put it on display for everybody else.” What's working Though Darnold has been sacked 40 times this season, he has the athleticism and instinct to extend plays and find one of his tough-to-cover receivers on longer-developing routes even if pressure comes. What needs help The Vikings have allowed their two highest rushing yardage totals of the season in the last two weeks for an average of 4.95 yards per attempt, a trend worth watching for a defense that still ranks second in the NFL against the run. Their final two games against division rivals Green Bay and Detroit will pit them against two of the top five rushing teams in the league. Stock up Rookie Jalen Redmond made his first career start and played 39 of 74 snaps, the most among the interior defensive linemen, and had two tackles for loss and two deflected passes at the line. One came on a third-and-goal throw by Cousins that forced Atlanta to settle for a short kick right before halftime. Redmond went undrafted last year out of Oklahoma, was released by Carolina during the preseason and played this spring in the United Football League. Stock down Will Reichard made all six extra point attempts in his return from a four-game absence to let a quadriceps strain heal, but his only field goal try from 47 yards in the third quarter clanked off the left upright. Injury report CB Stephon Gilmore (hamstring) and backup OLB Patrick Jones (knee) were held out on Sunday. LB Ivan Pace (hamstring) must miss at least two more games. Key number .660 — O'Connell's winning percentage at 31-16 during the regular season is the highest in Vikings history, ahead of Bud Grant (.621). He's fourth among active NFL coaches, trailing Nick Sirianni (.703), Jim Harbaugh (.682) and Matt LaFleur (.677). Up next The Vikings finish their three-game homestand next Monday night against Chicago (4-9), three weeks after beating the Bears 30-27 on the road in overtime. The Vikings have a two-game edge on the Packers for the first NFC wild card, the No. 5 seed, and will clinch a spot in the playoffs with one more win or one more loss by the Los Angeles Rams, who were the last team to beat them on Oct. 24. The tiebreaker outlook in the NFC North, however, will likely require an additional loss by the Lions (12-1) in the next three games, even if the Vikings were to win their next three, to set up a division title game on the final weekend at Detroit. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Dave Campbell, The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Football (NFL) Cowboys set to host Bengals under open roof after falling debris thwarted that plan against Texans Dec 9, 2024 2:57 PM Cardinals' sudden 3-game tailspin has turned their once solid playoff hopes into a long shot Dec 9, 2024 2:52 PM The 49ers' playoff hopes are still teetering even after get-right game against the Bears Dec 9, 2024 2:49 PMJimmy Carter, the earnest Georgia peanut farmer who as US president struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis but brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, the Carter Center said. He was 100. “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” A Democrat, he served as president from January 1977 to January 1981 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 US election. Carter was swept from office four years later in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor. Carter lived longer after his term in office than any other US president. Along the way, he earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president - a status he readily acknowledged. His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East. But it was dogged by an economy in recession, persistent unpopularity and the embarrassment of the Iran hostage crisis that consumed his final 444 days in office. In recent years, Carter had experienced several health issues including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain. Carter decided to receive hospice care in February 2023 instead of undergoing additional medical intervention. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96. He looked frail when he attended her memorial service and funeral in a wheelchair. Carter left office profoundly unpopular but worked energetically for decades on humanitarian causes. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter had been a centrist as governor of Georgia with populist tendencies when he moved into the White House as the 39th US president. He was a Washington outsider at a time when America was still reeling from the Watergate scandal that led Republican Richard Nixon to resign as president in 1974 and elevated Ford from vice president. "I'm Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president. I will never lie to you," Carter promised with an ear-to-ear smile. Asked to assess his presidency, Carter said in a 1991 documentary: "The biggest failure we had was a political failure. I never was able to convince the American people that I was a forceful and strong leader." Despite his difficulties in office, Carter had few rivals for accomplishments as a former president. He gained global acclaim as a tireless human rights advocate, a voice for the disenfranchised and a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty, winning the respect that eluded him in the White House. Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote human rights and resolve conflicts around the world, from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Bosnia and Haiti. His Carter Center in Atlanta sent international election-monitoring delegations to polls around the world. A Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher since his teens, Carter brought a strong sense of morality to the presidency, speaking openly about his religious faith. He also sought to take some pomp out of an increasingly imperial presidency - walking, rather than riding in a limousine, in his 1977 inauguration parade. The Middle East was the focus of Carter's foreign policy. The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, based on the 1978 Camp David accords, ended a state of war between the two neighbours. Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for talks. Later, as the accords seemed to be unravelling, Carter saved the day by flying to Cairo and Jerusalem for personal shuttle diplomacy. The treaty provided for Israeli withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and establishment of diplomatic relations. Begin and Sadat each won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. By the 1980 election, the overriding issues were double-digit inflation, interest rates that exceeded 20% and soaring gas prices, as well as the Iran hostage crisis that brought humiliation to America. These issues marred Carter's presidency and undermined his chances of winning a second term. On November 4, 1979, revolutionaries devoted to Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, seized the Americans present and demanded the return of the ousted shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was backed by the United States and was being treated in a US hospital. The American public initially rallied behind Carter. But his support faded in April 1980 when a commando raid failed to rescue the hostages, with eight US soldiers killed in an aircraft accident in the Iranian desert. Carter's final ignominy was that Iran held the 52 hostages until minutes after Reagan took his oath of office on January 20, 1981, to replace Carter, then released the planes carrying them to freedom. In another crisis, Carter protested the former Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He also asked the US Senate to defer consideration of a major nuclear arms accord with Moscow. Unswayed, the Soviets remained in Afghanistan for a decade. Carter won narrow Senate approval in 1978 of a treaty to transfer the Panama Canal to the control of Panama despite critics who argued the waterway was vital to American security. He also completed negotiations on full US ties with China. Carter created two new US Cabinet departments - education and energy. Amid high gas prices, he said America's "energy crisis" was "the moral equivalent of war" and urged the country to embrace conservation. "Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth," he told Americans in 1977. In 1979, Carter delivered what became known as his "malaise" speech to the nation, although he never used that word. "After listening to the American people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America," he said in his televised address. "The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America." As president, the strait-laced Carter was embarrassed by the behaviour of his hard-drinking younger brother, Billy Carter, who had boasted: "I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer." Jimmy Carter withstood a challenge from Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination but was politically diminished heading into his general election battle against a vigorous Republican adversary. Reagan, the conservative who projected an image of strength, kept Carter off balance during their debates before the November 1980 election. Reagan dismissively told Carter, "There you go again," when the Republican challenger felt the president had misrepresented Reagan's views during one debate. Carter lost the 1980 election to Reagan, who won 44 of the 50 states and amassed an Electoral College landslide. James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, one of four children of a farmer and shopkeeper. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1946, served in the nuclear submarine program and left to manage the family peanut farming business. He married his wife, Rosalynn, in 1946, a union he called "the most important thing in my life." They had three sons and a daughter. Carter became a millionaire, a Georgia state legislator and Georgia's governor from 1971 to 1975. He mounted an underdog bid for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, and out-hustled his rivals for the right to face Ford in the general election. With Walter Mondale as his vice presidential running mate, Carter was given a boost by a major Ford gaffe during one of their debates. Ford said that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration," despite decades of just such domination. Carter edged Ford in the election, even though Ford actually won more states - 27 to Carter's 23. Not all of Carter's post-presidential work was appreciated. Former President George W. Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, both Republicans, were said to have been displeased by Carter's freelance diplomacy in Iraq and elsewhere. In 2004, Carter called the Iraq war launched in 2003 by the younger Bush one of the most "gross and damaging mistakes our nation ever made." He called George W. Bush's administration "the worst in history" and said Vice President Dick Cheney was "a disaster for our country." In 2019, Carter questioned Republican Donald Trump's legitimacy as president, saying "he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." Trump responded by calling Carter "a terrible president." Carter also made trips to communist North Korea. A 1994 visit defused a nuclear crisis, as President Kim Il Sung agreed to freeze his nuclear program in exchange for resumed dialogue with the United States. That led to a deal in which North Korea, in return for aid, promised not to restart its nuclear reactor or reprocess the plant's spent fuel. But Carter irked Democratic President Bill Clinton's administration by announcing the deal with North Korea's leader without first checking with Washington. In 2010, Carter won the release of an American sentenced to eight years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Carter wrote more than two dozen books, ranging from a presidential memoir to a children's book and poetry, as well as works about religious faith and diplomacy. His book "Faith: A Journey for All," was published in 2018. (Reuters)
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WINDSOR, Conn. , Dec. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSNC) today announced an initial agreement with Insignia Financial (Insignia) to deliver superannuation member administration services. Insignia Financial supports around 1.1 million superannuation fund members through its wealth management offerings. Upon signing a final binding agreement, more than 1,000 team members in seven offices across Australia will transfer from Insignia to SS&C. The team will then leverage SS&C's in-house technology to automate processes and streamline operations while providing top-notch service delivery to Insignia's customers alongside SS&C's experts. "As a leading global provider of retirement solutions, SS&C is a trusted partner with extensive expertise in fund administration. We anticipate the collaboration with SS&C will provide our more than 1.1 million members with an improved experience delivered by contemporary technology, our people with the opportunity to be part of a large global enterprise, and greater cost efficiencies," said Insignia Financial's CEO Scott Hartley . "We look forward to welcoming Insignia Financial staff to the team and working closely with our new colleagues," said Bill Stone , Chairman and CEO. "Insignia Financial is one of the largest wealth management businesses in Australia and will be our largest client in Australia . This collaboration will put SS&C one step closer to becoming the leading superannuation administration provider in the region. As more funds look to partner with trusted external providers, we look forward to delivering the best technology and service to optimize superannuation administration for Australia's investors." About Insignia Financial Ltd. With origins dating back to 1846, today the Insignia Financial is a leading Australian wealth manager. Insignia Financial provides financial advice, superannuation, wrap platforms and asset management services to members, financial advisers and corporate employers. Further information about Insignia Financial can be found at www.insigniafinancial.com.au About SS&C SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut , and has offices around the world. Some 20,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology. Additional information about SS&C (Nasdaq: SSNC) is available at www.ssctech.com . Follow SS&C on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ssc-signs-agreement-with-insignia-financial-302326720.html SOURCE SS&C