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By The Jazzy One on September 2nd, 2010
Tonight the Vikings will take the field for their final preseason match-up of the year when they face the Denver Broncos at 7:00 PM at Mall of America Field.
Will We See The Starters?
Usually head coach Brad Childress, like most NFL coaches these days, sits his starters for the fourth preseason game. This year, though, there have been rumblings that the offensive starters might play a few series.
The big reason for this would be because with Brett Favre coming late to the team, and two of the probable receivers that will end up on the final depth chart not showing up until after the 2nd preseason game, our offense hasn’t had a whole lot of time to click. Giving them a few plays when they don’t matter might not be a bad idea.
That being said, I personally doubt that many of the starters will play tonight. I think the new receivers Camarillo and Walker will play, but technically they probably won’t be “starters” anyway (the top two guys should be Berrian and Harvin), but I don’t expect Favre, Peterson, Berrian, or Shiancoe to play. I guess Harvin could be a possibility since he missed so much practice time.
I wouldn’t be completely shocked if I was wrong about any of that, though. So far I haven’t been able to find an official statement from the Vikings.
The Defensive Starters Probably Won’t Play
I think our starting defense is just fine, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing them tonight.
I think that the defense is probably pretty much set. I expect tonight to be a time for the Vikings to showcase some of the talent they may be willing to let go.
What About Quarterbacks?
I don’t know what to expect with the quarterbacks.
I honestly don’t expect Sage Rosenfels to be a Viking after Saturday. If the Vikings could make a deal with someone before then, they could trade him before the final cuts come up, which means they could get some potential value from him.
If they are thinking along those same lines, expect Sage to play a lot… like maybe the second and third quarters. If it’s Jackson they’re shopping (which I REALLY don’t see happening), expect Jackson to play a lot.
I expect Webb to play in the fourth. I think the Vikings have to realize there is NO WAY that Webb would make it through waivers to get onto the practice squad, so if they really want to develop him, they’re going to have to keep him on the 53 man roster.
All of these are just theories though. I don’t know what Minnesota is planning to do with the quarterbacks. If they’re content just cutting one of these guys, then all of my guesses are pretty meaningless.
How’s that for being full of uselessness?!?
My Prediction
This is the hardest game to predict because we have no idea who will be playing.
Being a “homer”, though, I’m going to say Vikings win 24-14.
By The Jazzy One on August 27th, 2010
Saturday at 7:00 PM the Minnesota Vikings will host the Seattle Seahawks in Preseason Game 3 at Mall of America Field.
This Is The Fun One
Week 3 is the best week of the preseason by far. The starters will play the first half… some of them even the third quarter, and it’s easily the most eventful game of the preseason.
Harvin Still Unlikely To Play
After last week’s hospitalization, Percy Harvin has practiced very little through out the week. Although the Vikings as of this time haven’t officially said he’s not going to play this Saturday, I’d be surprised if he did.
Hopefully he’s not too far away from game shape, because he’s not getting much of a preseason workout.
Pat Williams Will Play
Big Pat doesn’t play much in the preseason, but he will play this Saturday against Seattle.
I’m not sure it’s 100% necessary, but it’ll be good to see what are already-good defensive line will look like with even more depth and talent on board.
Javon Walker and Brett Favre Will Play Together Again
The big story for me this Saturday will be watching Walker and Favre. Hopefully they can connect a few times to get some rust out of their QB-WR relationship.
With Sidney Rice out for around half the year, the Vikes are going to need big things from Javon Walker.
My Prediction
The Vikings offense will roll. They’ll score 28 points. Seattle will score some late.
28-17 Final.
By The Jazzy One on August 20th, 2010
This week our Minnesota Vikings will head to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in the second preseason game of the year.
Not Quite At Full Strength… but closer
Last week there was no Favre, no Peterson, no Rice, no Harvin, and no Sullivan with the starting team. It made the “starters” feel much less like starters.
This week will be a little better. I expect Brett Favre to play at least a series or two just to get himself warmed up a bit. I read that Adrian Peterson will get at least a couple carries this week as well.
Percy Harvin is back with the team today after collapsing and being hospitalized yesterday, but from the sounds of it he didn’t actually take part in practice. It’s probably pretty doubtful that he’ll play Sunday night, and it sounds like Sidney Rice and John Sullivan will be out again as well.
But having 2 more starters that last week should feel a little closer to the real thing, at least.
A better look at Tarvaris?
Last week Brad Childress treated Tarvaris Jackson like he was the starting quarterback (technically at that point he was). Jackson got one series with the offense and then sat for the rest of the night. He was 2 for 4 in that series.
In my opinion, only one of the two missed passes was his fault, and for playing in a Vikings offense without 3 of it’s major components, I thought he played decently well.
A lot of people have talked up how much more confident he is in the offense these days, but I don’t think it was possible to see if that’s the case after one series. It should help seeing him a little more on Sunday night, although he will be playing with mostly 2nd stringers at that point.
A better look at Webb?
Joe Webb was fun to watch last week. He really only led one drive, though. I’m hoping to see a little more of him Sunday to see if he can be consistent with the skill set that he showed.
I still only expect him to play a quarter, though… but I haven’t read the Vikings official plans about this game yet.
I’m expecting Favre to start, T Jack will take over in the second series and play until half time, Sage will play the 3rd, and Webb will play the 4th. Again, that’s just a guess, though. I haven’t read anything official.
My Prediction
Predicting preseason games is hard because you don’t really know who will be playing when… but last week I was dead on with my prediction of 28-7. This week I still think the Vikings will score 28 points, but I’m going to say the 9ers will score 17.
By The Jazzy One on August 13th, 2010
The Vikings Head To St. Louis To Take On The Rams
It’s been almost 7 months since I’ve written a game preview. It feels like Christmas! I’m so pumped about this season!
Anyway… back to the matter at hand…
The Vikings will kick off the 2010 NFL Preseason with a road game against the St. Louis Rams. The first preseason game usually doesn’t show us too much. The starters will likely only play a couple of series, and then the game will be a tryout for all of the guys trying to make a spot on the depth chart.
At this point, I don’t care, though… I just want to see the Vikings play!
So what can we expect from the game on Saturday?
Well, for one, don’t expect to see Harvin or Rice play. Our “first string” receivers will probably be made up of Bernard Berrian, Greg Lewis, and a random third guy that might not catch a pass for the rest of the season. (just kidding about that part…. kind of)
For the most part, all of the “important” positions are set for Minnesota. There are a couple things that will be interesting to watch, though.
What will the Cornerback pecking order be?
Antoine Winfield will be #1. That’s a given. When he returns from injury, Cedric Griffin will likely be #2. The big questions are: Who will fill in for Griffen? – and – Who will be the primary Nickel Back.
The main competition will be a three-way race between veteran Lito Sheppard, who the Vikings picked up in free agency, Asher Allen, who was a rookie last year for Minnesota and got to see some playing time when Antoine Winfield was injured, and rookie Chris Cook, who the Vikings drafted in the 3rd 2nd round in April. (NOTE: I had Chris Cook and Toby Gerhart’s draft order mixed up in my head Friday afternoon)
Apparently Asher Allen has had a great camp and impressed a lot of people. Chris Cook, though, has also reportedly done some impressive things in camp.
I’ll be interested in seeing Cook play. At 6′2″, 212 lbs, he’s a pretty big corner. He’s very athletic, and has quite a vertical leap.
What will Toby Gerhart’s role be?
The Vikings used their first pick in the draft (2nd round) to pick up running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart is listed as a running back, but some people speculated early that he would be used as a full back instead.
Personally I hope they use him in a Hybrid role. He’s big and he can block like a fullback, but he’s quick and agile, so he should be a more active part of the offense than a typical FB.
Albert Young is listed right now as the 2nd string RB, which would be the Chester Taylor role. I hope Young gets used a lot in the offense, but I can’t see the Vikings using their first pick on a guy that wasn’t going to contribute. (NOTE: Gerhart was their SECOND pick. Thanks for the reminder in the comments.)
I’m not sure how much of this will unfold Saturday, but we should at least be able to see both of them in action quite a bit.
What about this Joe Webb guy?
The Vikings drafted a quarterback in the 6th round of the draft. He’s an INSANELY amazing athlete, and the Vikings said they were going to convert him back to his high school position of wide receiver.
Then they saw him throw at rookie camp.
Obviously he impressed some people, because the Vikings quickly moved him back to the quarterback position. He has a chance to compete with Sage Rosenfels for the (assumed) 3rd quarterback position.
It’s hard to gauge what a QB can do when he’s playing with a bunch of 3rd and 4th stringers in a preseason game, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Vikings let him showcase his athleticism at all.
My Prediction
Of course winning and losing doesn’t matter much in the preseason, but the Vikes are playing the Rams…. I think our 2nd string could beat them during the regular season in a full game.
I give the game to the Vikings by a score of 28-7
By The Jazzy One on January 22nd, 2010
The Minnesota Vikings will travel to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Saints for the NFC Championship.
Both teams had a great regular season. Both teams had a first round bye. Both teams beat their Divisional Round opponent by 31 points. Now they’ll clash in the Super Dome with a trip to Superbowl 44 on the line.
Who has the advantage?
Both of these teams are great. Both have powerhouse offenses. The Saints are the best team that the Vikings will have played all year. Last week I pointed out that the stats showed that the Vikings were the better team, and as it turned out… they were.
So what do the stats show this week?
The Offenses are very close to even with a slight advantage to the Saints
I’m not sure that I’ve ever compared two top offenses that were so close before. Check this out…
-New Orleans averaged 403.8 yards per game (#1 in the league)
-The Vikings were only 24.2 yards per game behind them at 379.6 (#5 in the league)
-New Orleans scored 31.9 points per game (#1 in the league)
-Minnesota scored 29.4 points per game (#2 in the league)
-New Orleans converted on 45% of their 3rd down attempts this season. (#6 in the league)
-The Vikings also converted on 45% of their 3rd down attempts (#5 in the league, a few conversions ahead)
-New Orleans averaged 272.2 passing yards per game (#4 in the league)
-Minnesota was only 12.4 yards a game behind them at 259.8 (#8 in the league)
-New Orleans scored 34 passing touchdowns this year (all from Drew Brees) (tied for #1 in the league)
-Minnesota also had 34 passing touchdowns this year (33 from Favre, 1 from Jackson) (tied for #1 in the league)
-New Orleans completed 69.5% of their passes as a team (#1 in the league)
-Minnesota completed 68.3% of their passes as a team (#2 in the league)
-New Orleans had 131.6 rushing yards per game (#6 in the league)
-Minnesota was just 11.7 yards per game behind them with 119.9 (#13 in the league)
-New Orleans had 21 rushing TDs this season (tied for #3 in the leauge)
-Minnesota was only 2 behind with 19 (tied for #6 in the league)
I think it’s hard to argue that New Orleans has a more productive offense than the Vikings, but on the flip side I also think it’s hard to argue that offensively Minnesota can hold their own with the Saints. The Saints were better in most of these categories, but none there wasn’t much separation in any of them. That has to be encouraging to Minnesota fans.
How about Big Play Offense?
New Orleans is kind of known around the league as being a big play offense. How do the Vikings stack up to that?
-New Orleans had 14 running plays of 20 yards or more this season (tied for #8 in the league)
-Minnesota had 15 running plays of 20 or more yards (#7 in the league)
-New Orleans had 2 running plays for 40+ yards this year (tied for #14 in the league)
-Minnesota had 3 running plays of 40+ yards this year (tied for #7 in the league)
-New Orleans had 58 passing plays for 20+ yards this year (tied for #8 in the league)
-Minnesota had 55 passing plays for 20+ yards this year (tied for #10)
-New Orleans had 11 passing plays for 40+ yards this year (#10 in the league)
-Minnesota had 13 passing plays for 40+ yards this year (tied for #6 in the league)
-New Orleans had 5 kicks returned for 40+ yards this year (tied for #4 in the league)
-Minnesota also had 5 kicks returned for 40+ yards this year (tied for #4 in the league)
Believe it or not, I’d say that Minnesota holds a slight advantage when it comes to being the “big play offense”. Again, though, it’s a very close race, with Minnesota barely ahead in 3 of the categories, and New Orleans barely ahead in 1 category.
How about the Defense?
If the offenses are pretty equal, and the big play capability of each team is pretty close, it’s very possible that which ever team plays better defense will win the game. Let’s take a look at some of those stats.
-New Orleans ranked #24 in the league with 357.8 yards per game allowed.
-Minnesota ranked #6 in the league with 305.5 yards allowed per game.
-New Orleans ranked #20 in the league giving up 21.3 points per game
-Minnesota ranked #10 in the league giving up 19.5 points per game
-New Orleans’ defense was #14 in the league at stopping third downs, giving up only 38%
-Minnesota was #3 in the league, giving up only 34%
-New Orleans was #26 in the league, giving up 235.6 passing yards per game
-Minnesota was #19 in the league, giving up 218.4 passing yards per game
-New Orleans was #13 in the league with 35 sacks
-Minnesota was #1 in the league with 48 sacks
-New Orleans was tied for #28 in the league giving up 122.2 rushing yards per game
-Minnesota was #2 in the league giving up 87.1 rushing yards per game
-New Orleans was tied for #28 in the league, giving up 19 rushing touchdowns on the season
-Minnesota was tied for #1 in the league, giving up only 5 rushing touchdowns
-New Orleans was #18 in the league giving up 11 rushing plays for 20+ yards
-Minnesota was tied for #2 in the league giving up only 6 rushing plays for 20+ yards
-New Orleans was tied for #17 in the league giving up 3 rushing plays of 40+ yards
-Minnesota was tied for #5 in the league giving up only 1 rushing play of 40+ yards
-New Orleans was tied for #19 in the league giving up 48 passing plays of 20+ yards
-Minnesota was #25 in the league giving up 54 passing plays of 20+ yards
-New Orleans was tied for #24 in the league giving up 11 passing plays of 40+ yards
-Minnesota was tied for #16 in the league giving up 9 passing plays of 40+ yards
Those numbers sway more in the favor of Minnesota, probably stronger than any of the offensive numbers sway toward New Orleans. I’d say Minnesota is the stronger defensive team statistically.
The Key Stat for each team
In my opinion, though, there is one stat for each team that I haven’t mentioned yet that could be a deciding factor in the game if the other team can’t control it.
Minnesota’s kicking game is better
Ryan Longwell is a great guy to have on the team.
-Minnesota makes 93% of their field goals (#2 in the league)
-New Orleans makes 79% of theirs (#24 in the league)
-Minnesota makes 98% of their extra points (#17 in the league… 16 teams were perfect this year)
-New Orleans makes 95% of their extra points (#31 in the league)
95% seems awful good, but there was only 1 team in the league with a worse PAT percentage than New Orleans. If it turns into a tight game, this could potentially help Minnesota edge out a victory
New Orleans has an opportunistic defense
Even though statistically Minnesota has a better defense than New Orleans, the Saints defense seems to be able to make the big plays better.
-Minnesota’s defense scored 1 touchdown for the Vikings this year
-New Orleans defense scored 8 times
-Minnesota had 11 interceptions on the year
-New Orleans had 26 interceptions on the year
Minnesota is going to have to protect the ball. If Favre plays how he has been playing all year, this shouldn’t be an issue. The QB with the fewest interceptions in the league should be able to handle the defense with the second most interceptions. I expect Favre will play just fine. If I’m wrong, though, that could mean trouble for the Vikings
How about the home field advantage
This is where a lot of Vikings fans become nervous. Minnesota so far (including the playoffs) is 8-0 at home, but only 4-4 on the road.
I’ll be honest, that makes me nervous.
But let’s look at some key facts before we write the Vikings off
All four of the Vikings losses came on grass
The Vikings have losses to Pittsburgh, Arizona, Carolina, and Chicago… all have grass fields.
The Vikings are (including the playoffs) 11-0 on turf
They played 8 regular season home games, which are of course on turf, and they also played in Detroit and in St. Louis, both of which have turf fields.
The Vikings play worse in cold weather
3 of the four Vikings losses this year came in temperatures that were colder than the dome in Minnesota. It was 62 degrees in Pittsburgh during the game, 34 degrees in Carolina, and 12 degrees in Chicago. The only loss that was as warm as the dome came in Arizona. It actually was cold there that night, but they closed the roof on the stadium.
The Vikings are dominant on turf
This year the Vikings scored 32.8 points per game when playing on turf and only gave up 13.6 points per game in those games (including the playoffs)
The Saints aren’t perfect on turf
Don’t get me wrong: They’re VERY good on turf, but they average 32.1 points per game on turf (slightly less than the Vikings), they give up 21.1 points per game on turf (significantly more than the Vikings), and they have a record 9-2 on turf this year
What’s my analysis of these stats?
Well, I think it looks good for Minnesota. The Vikings have an offense that can keep pace with the Saints, a defense that is better than the Saints, a kicking game that is better than the Saints, and a quarterback who this year doesn’t throw interceptions, which is going to take away one of the strengths of the Saints.
Protect the Ball
This one is the most important. The Vikings cannot have turnovers, because the Saints will make them pay dearly. No interceptions by Favre, no fumbles by Peterson
Take advantage of New Orleans run defense
New Orleans was below average in stopping the run this year. To me, that means one of two things should happen: Peterson should be able to have his way with them, scoring multiple times, OR they will dedicate an extra person to slowing down Adrian Peterson which means Favre will pick them apart. If the Vikings play well, they should be able to use this to a big advantage.
Pressure Brees
Last week Romo didn’t have any time to get into a rhythm, and the Vikings rolled because of it. This week they’re facing a better quarterback, so they HAVE to do the same thing. They have to push Brees out of the pocket, make him rush some throws, and make sure they’re hitting him a lot. Because he’s Drew Brees and he’s amazing, he’s still going to complete some passes and probably rack up a lot of yards. The Vikings just have to be sure not to let him get in a rhythm at all during the game.
My Prediction
The Vikings win a tough one, 31-28.
By The Jazzy One on January 15th, 2010
The Minnesota Vikings will host this week’s playoff matchup against the Dallas Cowboys
The Vikings will be playing in their first playoff game this year after getting a bye for the first round. They’ll be hosting the Dallas Cowboys, who seemingly every sports analyst in the world seems to think is unstoppable after coming off their first playoff win in 13 years.
Are the Cowboys really that much better than the Vikings?
Wow, it seems like nearly every article I read, every sports talk radio show I listen to, and every segment I want on TV points to the Cowboys being too much to handle for the Vikings. So I started to try to analyze what everyone was saying.
“The Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFC”
That’s one of the things I’ve been hearing a lot lately… the Cowboys are hot, and the Vikings were slumping. The line I’ve been hearing over and over is “The Vikings lost 3 of their last 5 games!”
While that’s very true, the point that they’re leaving out is that the Cowboys lost two of their last five games. They lost in week 13 to the Giants, and in week 14 to the Chargers.
They say the Dallas offense has been playing well in those games, while the Minnesota offense has struggled.
In the final 5 games of the regular season, Dallas scored an average of 21.2 pionts per game. In the final 5 games of the season, the Vikings scored 25.6 points per game.
Minnesota somehow seemed to figure things out at halftime of the Bears game in week 16. In the final 6 quarters of the regular season, the Vikings have scored 74 points. In that same time frame, the Cowboys scored 24 points.
How is Dallas so much “hotter” than the Vikings right now?
The Vikings are losing to “bad” teams
I’ve also heard that Minnesota is at a disadvantage because they lost to weak teams like the Panthers and the Bears.
Okay, let’s look at that for a minute.
Minnesota lost to a weak divisional opponent when they lost to the Chicago Bears in week 16. The Bears weren’t good enough to make the playoffs.
Dallas, though, also lost to a weak divisional opponent when they lost to the New York Giants. The Giants weren’t good enough to make the playoffs. The difference is, the Cowboys lost to them TWICE.
Minnesota lost to a weak team in Carolina in Week 15. Carolina, though, was surging at the end of the year. Since replacing Jake Delhomme with Matt Moore the week before, they played decently against New England in a loss, and after the Minnesota game went on to crush the Giants, and beat the New Orleans Saints. As bad as people say the Panthers are, they finished with a record of 8-8.
The Cowboys played the Washington Redskins in week 11, and had to score a 4th quarter TD with less than 5 minutes to play in order to beat Washington 7-6. Washington went on to lose 5 of their next 6 games and finished with a record of 4-12.
3 of Minnesota’s regular season losses came against teams that didn’t make the playoffs. (Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Chicago). That doesn’t look good on Minnesota’s record.
… But the same thing can be said about Dallas. They also lost 3 games this year against teams that didn’t make the playoffs (2 against the Giants and 1 against Denver).
Only 4 of Minnesota’s wins this year came against Playoff teams (Baltimore, Cincinnati, and 2 against Green Bay)
… But only 3 of Dallas’ regular season wins came against Playoff teams (New Orleans, and 2 against Philly).
Let’s let statistics and facts talk for a few minutes
If you read this blog often, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of stats and figures and history, and all that jazz. So let’s take a look at the 2009 Dallas Cowboys and see how the Vikings compare to them.
-The Dallas Cowboys had a record of 11-5 this season
-The Vikings had a record of 12-4
-Dallas is 2nd in the league in total offense with 399.4 yards per game.
-Minnesota is less than 20 yards behind them at 379.6 yards per game (#5 in the league)
-Dallas is #14 in the league in points scored, averaging 22.6 points per game
-Minnesota is #2 in the league with 29.4 points per game
-Of the 4 teams left in the NFC, Dallas ranks last in points per game
-Minnesota ranks second.
-Of the 8 teams left in the NFL, Dallas ranks 7th in scoring
-Minnesota ranks second.
-Dallas finished 14th in the league at 3rd down conversion percentage with 41% (6th best of the 8 teams left)
-Minnesota finished #5 with 45% (2nd best of the 8 teams left)
-Dallas has a redzone scoring percentage of 51.8%. They finished #15 in the league
-Minnesota finished at #4 with 62.3%
-Both teams gave up 34 sacks this year
-However, 7 of the sacks given up by Minnesota came in the first 2 weeks of the season, when they were learning a new QB’s counts and dealing with 2 first time starters on their o-line. Dallas gave up 1 sack in those 2 games.
-The Cowboys defense was ranked #9 overall in yards per game giving up 315.9
-Minnesota was #6, giving up 305.5
-The Dallas defense only gives up 35% of 3rd down conversions to their opponents (#5 in the league)
-Minnesota gives up 34% (#3 in the league)
-Dallas sacked the opposing QB 42 times this year. That put them #7 in the league
-Minnesota was #1 with 48 sacks
-The Dallas defense was tied for #11 in the NFL in forced fumbles with 17.
-Minnesota was tied for #1, forcing 23 fumbles.
-The Dallas defense was tied for #16 in the league for recovering 10 fumbles by the opponents.
-The Vikings were tied for #5 recovering 13.
-Dallas’s opponents only score 57.6% of the times they get into the redzone.
-Minnesota’s opponents only score 45% of the time
-The Cowboys finished the sason +2 in the turnover ratio.
-Minnesota finished +6
-Tony Romo had a good year, throwing for 26 touchdowns (tied for 10th in the league)
-Brett Favre threw for 33 (2nd in the league, 1 TD behind the leader)
-Tony Romo had an excellent year, throwing only 9 interceptions. (1 in every 61 passes)
-Brett Favre only threw 7 (1 in every 75 passes)
-Tony Romo was #8 in the NFL with a passer rating of 97.6
-Brett Favre was #2 with a rating of 107.2
-Dallas has a feared pass rushing duo of Anthony Spencer and DeMarcus Ware. They have 17 sacks total.
-Jared Allen and Ray Edwards have 23 sacks total.
-Dallas kicker Nick Folk makes 64% of his field goals (18 out of 28)
-Ryan Longwell makes 93% of his (26 out of 28)
*It’s been pointed out to me that Dallas got rid of Nick Folk
Their new kicker Shaun Suisham finished the season at 66.7%
-Dallas gives up 56.2 penalty yards per game
-Minnesota only gives up 47.3
Let’s get even a little more specific
Okay, so those are the general stats between the two teams, but we’re forgetting something pretty huge. In the playoffs, home field advantage can be a huge issue. Let’s take a look at a few of those same stats taking into account that the Vikings will be playing at home and the Cowboys will be playing on the road.
-Minnesota was 8-0 at home this year.
-Dallas was 5-3 on the road.
-Minnesota scores an average of 32.75 points per game in the dome
-Dallas scores an average of 20.25 points on the road
-Minnesota gives up an average of 15.5 points per game at home
-Dallas gives up an average of 25.5 points per game on the road
*EDIT: Dallas gives up an average of 17.4 points per game on the road. I somehow miscalculated this the
first time. I apologize for that.
-Minnesota’s offense scores in 64.5% of their redzone appearances at home.
-Dallas scores in 43.5% of theirs on the road
-Minnesota’s defense gets slightly worse at home, letting their opponents score from the redzone 50% of the time
-Dallas’s defense let’s their opponents score from the redzone 75% of the time (worst in the league)
Again… someone explain to me why everyone is picking Dallas to win this game?!?
-Block DeMarcus Ware
Even though the stats above say that Minnesota should have a clear advantage in this game, they showed in the Carolina game that a pass rusher can disrupt their offensive rhythm. Against Carolina, the Vikings seemed unwilling to adjust to Julius Peppers. Hopefully they won’t make that mistake against DeMarcus Ware.
-Play tough against the run
In each of their big wins against Philly, Dallas had over 170 net yards rushing. Minnesota needs to make sure to take Choice, Jones, and Barber out of the game as much as possible.
-Cover Jason Witten
The Vikings have a tendency to let receiving Tight Ends chew them up, and Witten certainly has that ability. They need to make sure they keep an eye on him and prevent him from making any big plays.
-Let Favre do his thing
I’m not saying go out and throw the ball 55 times, but sometimes Childress gets TOO stuck on the running game. He needs to make sure this is one of those games that Favre has some freedom to mix it up when necessary.
My Prediction
I’ll admit that I think this could potentially be a tough game, but I’m actually a lot less scared now that I’ve looked at these stats than I was when I was listening to ESPN radio earlier in the week. I think the Vikings can win. I’m going to say that they win 31-24.
By The Jazzy One on January 1st, 2010
The 11-4 Vikings return home to finish the season against the New York Giants.
After losing their last 3 road games, it might be a good thing that the Vikings (who are 7-0 at home) finish the season at Mall of America Field.
The Vikings have struggled lately
The Minnesota Vikings, who started off the season hot, have now lost 3 of their last 4 games. While I don’t buy too much into the theory of “momentum” for the playoffs, it is obvious that the Vikings have to fix some glaring problems before they play the games that really count.
In last week’s game against the Bears, they seemed to fix a few of their problems in the second half. The defense became a little more solid, only giving up scores when the Bears had a short field, and their offense completely got back on track, scoring 30 points in the second half alone… but as soon as those problems seemed to get fixed, they developed a new problem on Special Teams, which so far this year had been pretty good. They allowed two great run backs by the Bears, and they allowed an extra point to get blocked.
Those are the problems that the Vikings will be focusing on tightening up in the game against New York. Hopefully a one-game tune up will be all that Minnesota needs.
Minnesota still has something to play for.
The Vikings actually go into this game needing a win. They cannot settle for a loss. If the Vikings lose, they have no shot at getting the first round bye in the playoffs (which might be helpful in letting the guys heal some of the nagging injuries they have).
The Vikings have to come at the Giants full force, beat them, and then sit back and hope for an Eagles loss later that night.
The Giants have nothing to play for.
This could potentially be good for the Vikings. The Giants have no hope of going to the playoffs at this point. A win against the Vikings would only help their rivals the Eagles, and it would give them a later pick in this coming spring’s draft.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that I think the Giants will tank on purpose. I do think, however, that a team that is only 2 years removed from the Super Bowl with nothing to play for this year could likely come in a little less motivated than many teams would.
-Tackle
Poor tackling has hurt them 3 out of the last 4 weeks. It CAN’T happen in the playoffs. The Vikings need to find the problem and fix it immediately.
-Protect Favre
Poor pass blocking killed the Vikings in the Carolina game in Week 15. It was poor at the beginning of the Bears game. Somehow they seemed to tighten up the screws a bit in the second half last week. They need to continue that trend. The Giants might be without Justin Tuck this week, but they have tons of depth on their defensive line, so the Vikings need to make sure they’re blocking well.
-Hold onto the ball
I’m looking at you, Mr. Peterson
My Prediction
I think the Vikings are a better team, and if they play like it, they’ll come out on top. I say 28-17 Vikings with a TD pass from Favre, AND from Jackson.
By The Jazzy One on December 26th, 2009
Another night game for the Vikings as they head to Chicago for Monday Night Football!
Are you ready for some football? Let’s hope the Vikings are. This week they’ll head to Chicago to face the 5-9 Bears.
Can the Vikings right the ship?
Let’s face it. The Minnesota Vikings are better than the Chicago Bears. No question. But, on the other hand, the Minnesota Vikings were better than the Carolina Panthers, and that didn’t seem to help them at all last week.
Minnesota basically needs to clean up the sloppiness. No penalties, no sacks on Favre, make holes for Peterson, and crisp tackling. These are all things that the Vikings are capable of. They just need to execute.
The Vikings are still playing for a bye.
This week is still very important to the Vikings. All it takes is a win by the Vikings OR a loss by the Cardinals to knock Arizona out of the race for the first round bye, but it will take a win by the Vikings AND a loss by the Eagles to give Minnesota a chance to breathe easy in next week’s game against the Giants.
-Protect Favre
Last week I lay the majority of the blame for the Vikings loss to Carolina on the fact that they let Julius Peppers do whatever he wanted. While it’s true that the Bears don’t have a pass rusher on the level of Peppers, you also have to bet it’s true that they watched the tape of that game. Expect the Bears to do whatever it takes to pressure Favre to make sure he can’t get in a rhythm. The Vikings have to expect that and figure out (sometime BEFORE Tuesday) what the best counter is.
-Pressure Cutler
The Vikings have been a sack machine this year, but they’ve been a little slower at pressuring the QB in the past few weeks. If they can step that up against Cutler, not only will it disrupt their offense, but his league-leading 25 interceptions tells me that the Vikings might be able to force him into some bad plays.
-Run more creatively
Adrian Peterson is NOT going to win the rushing title this year…. so let’s not worry about him getting his yards. Instead, the Vikings need to mix things up with him and Taylor… put them both in the game, motion one of them out, motion Harvin back… something to keep the other teams guessing. We’re two weeks away from the start of the playoffs… it’s time for the Vikings to start putting some things on film that will worry another coordinator or two (besides our own)
My Prediction
Well, I was dead wrong last week in my prediction, but the Vikings are too good of a team to be embarrassed twice. However, I think because it’ll be very cold, and because it’s late in the season, I think we’ll see Tarvaris sooner than we normally might. I’m gonna give this one to the Vikings at 24-10 with Tarvaris coming in after a 17-10 lead in the 3rd quarter.
By The Jazzy One on December 18th, 2009
This week the Vikings return to the road as they return to Sunday Night Football.
The Vikings will be traveling to Carolina this week to face the struggling Carolina Panthers.
Can they keep up the momentum?
Two weeks ago the Vikings fell apart against Arizona. They played their worst game of the season as a team. Last week they bounced back and played brilliantly against a very tough Cincinnati Bengals team. Can the Vikings keep up their momentum and roll through Carolina?
On paper this shouldn’t be much of a game. The Vikings are cruising through teams this year while the Panthers have struggled to a 5-8 season. The Panthers have recently benched QB Jake Delhomme in favor of young quarterback Matt Moore, and they have a league high 10 guys on the Injured Reserve list. They will be facing the NFL sack leaders in the Vikings, and they’ll be doing it without a couple of their starting offensive linemen.
Not only that, but the Panthers don’t have a lot to play for. At 5-8 they really don’t have a shot at the playoffs this year. The Vikings, on the other hand, are 1 win away from clinching their second straight NFC North crown, they’re still fighting for a first round bye, and with a little (unlikely) luck and some losses from New Orleans, there’s still an outside shot at home field advantage.
-Contain Julius Peppers
Julius Peppers is a beast. He might be the most dangerous pass rusher that the Vikings have faced so far. Chances are Bryant McKinnie won’t be able to contain Peppers himself, so the Vikings will probably throw a lot of tight ends and running backs at him, too.
If Peppers gets pressure on Favre, it could lead to sacks, or worse… bad throws. Favre is having a great year as far as interceptions goes, but while he still only has 6 on the season, 3 of those have come in the last 2 games. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not worried about Favre’s play, but I think teams have started to realize that they can’t watch for Peterson and only Peterson to beat them, and that they have to go after Favre as well.
-Continue to run the ball
Last week the offense was incredibly balanced… 36 run plays to 30 passing plays. With the way that the Vikings roster is built, that’s really the ticket to a good offense.
Having Percy Harvin back this week should make things a little easier, too. Hopefully the Vikings will get him mixed into the running game a bit, like they have in his last couple of games.
My Prediction
I predict the Vikings will win just about every week, but I expect this game to be along the lines of the Lions game or the Seahawks game. I give the win to Minnesota 35-17. I think Favre will have a good game with 2 TDs and no picks, and Jared Allen will get to the QB a couple of times.
By The Jazzy One on December 11th, 2009
The Minnesota Vikings are back home this week to face the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hopefully the Vikings will be able to right the ship as they go back home Sunday afternoon to face the surprisingly good Cincinnati Bengals.
Injuries, injuries, and more injuries
The Vikings haven’t battled too much with injuries this year so far, but it seems that when it rains, it pours.
-Will Winfield play? Who knows! I’m tired of guessing wrong! 
-EJ Henderson is out for the year
-Cedric Griffin has a sore neck after a hard hit last week
-Tyrell Johnson is likely out of the game with a concussion
-Bryant McKinnie has a sore ankle after hurting it last week
-Steve Hutchinson has been fighting shoulder and back pains all year
-Pat Williams is having issues with his foot
-Bernard Berrian is still having soreness in his hamstring
-Anthony Herrera is coming off a concussion
-Karl Paymah has knee problems
-Phil Loadholt still has a sore shoulder
-Percy Harvin is battling Migraines again
-Adrian Peterson is having some foot and ankle problems
-Brett Favre is now on the injury report listed as a “coach’s decision”
I expect all of them to play except for Tyrell Johnson, EJ Henderson (obviously), and maybe Antoine Winfield, who at this rate I’m barely expecting him to ever play again.
Are the Vikings done after last week’s poor performance?
I certainly am not worried. Teams lose games in the NFL. It’s the way it goes. There have only been two perfect regular seasons in the modern-era NFL for a reason. The fact that we have 2 NFL teams that are unbeaten this late in the year was literally unheard of before now. The Cardinals are a good team, and the Vikings played won of their worst games of the season. The combination of the two would be hard for any team to overcome.
I really expect the Vikings to turn things around this week, especially being at home. They need one win to clinch a playoff spot, and they still haven’t officially clinched the division, so they still have a lot to play for.
Will the Vikings be able to run this week?
This one is the big question mark to me. The Bengals have a good run defense, allowing less than 90 yards per game. The Vikings have great runners, but they’ve been struggling in recent weeks.
However, after last week’s performance, I expect Chilly to drop back to more conservative play calling this week. Expect a lot more pounding by the Vikings. Expect Adrian Peterson to carry more than 13 times.
-Play “un-sloppy” football
The Vikings need to make sure they’re making good decisions, and that everyone on the team is doing what they need to do. They need to make crisp blocks and strong tackles. These were things that were missing in last week’s game against the Cardinals.
-Pressure on Palmer
The Vikings lead the league in sacks, but they didn’t get a single sack on Kurt Warner last week. They need to find a way to be aggressive about getting to Palmer, and make sure he’s throwing under pressure during the game.
-Good play from the rookies
It’s very likely that Jarmarca Sanford will start at safety and that Jasper Brinkley will start at middle linebacker this week. The Vikings don’t need anything spectacular from them, but they do need them to play solid and relatively mistake free.
My Prediction
Even though a lot of radio guys seem to be going against the Vikings this week, I think they’re tough to beat at home.
Overall with Brad Childress as coach, the Vikings are 20-10 at home (and that includes a dismal 6-10 season and a very mediocre 8-8 season).
With Adrian Peterson on the team, the Vikings are 17-5 at home.
With Brett Favre on the team, the Vikings are 6-0 at home.
The Vikings have not scored fewer than 27 points at home this year.
I’m going to give this one to the Vikings, but I think it will be close. Vikings win 27-24.
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