Repeat of Last Year?

Late in the 2008 NFL season, the Vikings ventured to Arizona to put a 35-14 beatdown on the Cardinals. Tarvaris Jackson showed up finally, and put up an impressive 4 TD performance. Adrian Peterson and Chester Tayor combined for 231 yards on the ground on 38 carries. They both were leading their respective divisions last year when they played and once again they both lead their divisions. But, this year is different. This year, the Vikings have Brett “The Silver Fox” Favre.

Both of these teams have impressive passing attacks led by aging veteran QBs. The Cards are ranked 5th and the Vikings 7th in passing offense. That’s where it ends, however. The Vikings have Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor going against a mediocre Cardinals rush defense. The Cards have allowed an opposing RB to top 116 yards in 4 of their last 5 games. I expect Adrian Peterson, with his recent “need for speed”, to have a game that will make people forget all of the fumble and benching talk. It’s geting old anyways, and I’m starting to feel like people just need to be negative on something so they pick on Peterson’s fumbling.

If you want to be negative about something, get negative about all of the penalties Minnesota has committed recently. In the 3 games since the bye week, the Purple have committed a total of 28 penalties for 192 yards. That is what everyone should be negative about. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes against a good team like the Cardinals. They can score quickly with a slew of talented receivers, including one of the best in the game Larry Fitzgerald Jr.

Enough ranting, so what can you expect out of this game? You can expect the Cards to run the ball about as much as they did last year, which totaled 7 attempts. No, I’m sure they’ll try a few more times than that but not much. The Vikings have the 2nd best rush defense in the league and the Cards have the 6th worst rush offense. I’m pretty sure that means Kurt Warner, if he plays, will be throwing the ball an awful lot.

The one thing I have to say the Cards have done really well this season is protect their QB. Arizona QBs have only been sacked 18 times this season, which is good enough to be 5th least in the league. They’ve given Warner, and now Leinart, time to find the open receiver and they have a bunch to choose from. From Fitzgerald and Boldin to even Steve Breaston, the Cards have plenty of options in the passing game. Word is that Antoine Winfield will be back this week and it is imperative he is back to full form. Fitzgerald and Boldin have the potential to light up the secondary the Vikings have right now. Winfield needs to be on the field this week, or the Vikings risk giving up quick scores to the speedy Cardinals receivers.

Even though the Cards have protected the QB, they haven’t seen such a stacked defensive line as the Vikings’. In addition, one of Arizona’s starting offensive tackles, Mike Gandy, is listed as doubtful on the injury report. Jared Allen and Ray Edwards should have a field day with whoever they put in to replace Gandy. Not only that, but this should limit the number of receiver options as the Cards will have to often use a RB to chip whichever side the replacement is on, eliminating the check-downs and screens. If they don’t, it will force Leinart or Warner to make quick passes which hopefully means bad decisions and interceptions for the Vikings.

Overall, I expect a close game that could go either way if Warner plays. If Leinart plays, I could see some early disasters for the Cards and a nice win for the Vikings. Hopefully, Peterson will have one of those games where everyone is reassured that he’s one of the best RBs in the league. Enjoy the game folks!

Tags: Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, cardinals, Jared Allen, kurt warner, larry fitzgerald, NFL, ray edwards, Vikings