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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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