The Minnesota Vikings have now won two in a row for the first time this season, and look to make it three straight wins, as they play the Detroit Lions at the Metrodome. The Vikings currently hold a 58-23-1 series lead over the Lions and must win today to keep their regained playoff hopes alive. Just a couple weeks ago everyone wrote off the Minnesota Vikings for the season, as they watched Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers crush our Vikings 34-0. Since that time, the Vikings have won two straight and are 3-2 in their last five games, while the Lions have gone (2-3) the Redskins (1-4), the Eagles (3-2), the Giants (3-2), the Cardinals (2-3), and the the Saints (2-3) in their last five games. All or most of these teams had a one to two game lead over our Vikings, and are all now fighting for their play off lives. With Minnesota still to play Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and Denver, it is very likely they could win out and go 10-6. I believe the Vikings need to win out to make the playoffs, while others feel an 8-8 team will be in the Wild Card game from the NFC. For the Vikings, their true chance to make the playoff come in winning all five games, because so many teams are still ahead of them in tiebreakers.
The Minnesota Vikings have been led by the youngster Tarvaris Jackson the past two weeks. In the first 10 weeks of the season, Jackson had a pass completion of 45.74 and a passer rating of 57.2. In the last two weeks, Jackson has boosted his pass completion ratio to 77.3 and 83.3 respectively. He has also raised his passer rating to 79.9 and 139.2. Jackson's recent success has obviously been in the offensive line's blocking and his ability to get the ball to the receivers on time. I have said all season long that Jackson has been put in the unfortunate situation of being so raw and unprepared, that he will need three years of playing time to actually be ready to compete in the NFL. I have also stated that Minnesota needs to pick up a quality veteran quarterback in the likes of Donovan McNabb to teach the young Jackson and better prepare him for life in the NFL. I still believe that this is the key for success for Jackson in this league, and McNabb has stated he would like to come to Minnesota and teach the young Jackson. Jackson also has 5.8 yard rushing this season.
Minnesota receivers' have also picked up their game as well. Bobby Wade who still does not have a touchdown this season, has caught seven passes for 59 yards, for an average of 84 yards per catch, while Sydney Rice has become the play maker in catching five passes for 100 yards for an average of 20 yards per catch. Rice is also 2 for 2 on pass completions and has thrown for 94 yards. Rice's longest pass completion was two weeks ago against Oakland, when he hit Visanthe Shiancoe for 79 yards on the first play of the game. Last week Rice was on the receiving end of a 60 yard pass from Tarvaris Jackson for a touchdown. Rice has found himself in two very big plays for the Vikings in two weeks.
As for Minnesota's backfield in their two wins, they were absent one Adrian Peterson. Peterson was put out of the game early in the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers with a torn LCL in his knee. Since that time, the load of the caries has been put on the shoulders of Chester Taylor. Taylor has handled this role very well. In the past two weeks Chester has had 53 carries for 241 yards, for an average of 4.5 yards per carry. On the season Taylor has 114 carries for 545 yards, and averages 4.8 yards per carry. Taylor is probabley the best second running back in the league.
Offensively for the Vikings, they have the number one rushing offense in the NFL. With the one-two punch of Peterson and Taylor, Minnesota's backfield has racked up 173.3 yards per game. The Vikings will have Adrian Peterson in the backfield this week, and hopefully, Brad Childress will use him to his full potential. The Peterson-Taylor combination is the deadliest combination in the league, and behind the new Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota looks to be one of the front runners for a Wild Card spot. Minnesota's offensive has put up more points in the past two weeks, than they have the rest of the season. The Vikings offense has scored 49 of their 70 points. The Vikings offense is now ranked 16th in the league with points per game.
Defensively Minnesota has been very successful. With their number one ranked rushing defense in the league, Minnesota has been a force to be reckoned with. They only allow 74.8 yards per game, and have been very dominant the last two weeks. In the Oakland game they only allowed 65 yards rushing off 22 carries for an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Last week in New York, they only allowed 75 yards on 19 carries for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. However, it has been our Viking pass defense that has been weak. They are ranked 31st in the league in passing defense and allow 158.8 yards per game. Even in the last two weeks they have allowed 308.5 yards per game, but have only given up three touchdowns. It has been that figure that has given the Vikings the edge recently. Last week alone the Vikings defense put up 21 points off of four interceptions, and in the past two weeks, the Vikings have forced four fumbles and five interceptions for a total of nine turnovers. Hopefully our Viking defense can keep playing at that level.
The past two weeks have been great for our Vikings. They have won two games in a row for the first time all season. The Viking offense has also put up 49 points, while their defense has added another 21 points. Jackson has more than doubled his pass completion ratio, and even had a passer rating of 139.2 last week. The Viking defense has forced nine turnovers and only allowed three touchdowns. With their recent playing potential, they have now climbed back into the playoff race, and are looking for some retribution and respect. Minnesota suffered an early season loss to these Lions, and need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. A win today will help boost our Vikings that much further up the list for the Wild Card spot and give them even a little more confidence. Hopefully our Vikings can play the same this week as they have the past two weeks and come away with a very important win.
SKOL VIKINGS!!!!
