The San Diego Chargers come to Mall of America Field on Friday Aug 24th. This will be the 3rd preseason game, but more importantly it is a chance for the each of the players on the 90 man roster to show the team why they deserve to belong and make it tough on the coaches to decide when cuts must be made. Tuesday August 28th is the first cut when teams go from 90 to 80 players.
San Diego is a great test for the Vikings especially on the defensive side if the ball. Phillip Rivers is an extremely good quarterback and has excellent targets to throw to.
Tight End, Antonio Gates will give the Vikings linebackers all they want in trying to shut this big, athletic man down. Chad Greenway, 2011 Pro Bowl is a tackling machine. Erin Henderson in just his 2nd season as a starter seems to weekly get better. The question is still in middle linebacker, Jasper Brinkley how is he going to materialize as the man in the middle. This will be his biggest test in the game Friday. There is a fight for the backup linebacker position so another chance to audition for the 53 man roster.
The Chargers suffered a lost when running back Ryan Mathews got hurt and will be out for a while. Ronnie Brown is the backup and has 8 years of NFL experience. Brown has been a very god back and was vital in the Miami Dolphins offense as he ran the wildcat offense.
The Chargers receivers are strong with Robert Meachem who came by way of free agency from the New Orleans Saints. I thought this was a great signing by the Chargers as he came from a high powered passing attack in New Orleans. The other receiver is Malcolm Floyd. He is 6’5” and weighs 225 pounds. He caught 43 passes for 856 yards and 5 touchdowns. The receivers will give the young Vikings secondary plenty to deal with.
The Vikings defense was very good against the run last Friday against Buffalo. This week I will be looking to see how the pass rush can do. The Vikes played the Chargers in the 2011 week 1 and lost 24-17. Rivers passed for 335 yards and was sacked only two times. I know it is preseason but Rivers has shown what he is capable. This is another chance for the D-Line to show improvement.
The Vikings offensive line will get a test as they will face a Chargers 3-4 defense. The Vikings offensive line is in rebuilding mode after the 2011 season. I for one really am high on what the team has shown thus far.
The Vikings offense will also face a veteran linebacker corps with 3 of the 4 having at least 9 years’ experience. Shaun Phillips is in his 9th year, Takeo Spikes in his 15th, and Jarrett Johnson in his 10th. This young Vikings offense will get a good test both running and passing.
I have seen a little improvement overall in the game against the 49ers. The Buffalo game showed signs of life with hard work what they can accomplish. The San Diego game needs to show again. The positive signs need to keep coming.
I like the preseason schedule with San Francisco being a physical defensive team and the other three being extremely efficient passing teams last season.
It is a home game and with the State Fair going on I will interested to see what the attendance will be like. I had a friend tell me he called up the ticket office the day of the game and was able to get 4 lower level tickets for less than 50.00.
The team has had 2 down seasons, but my gut tells me Minnesota is in for a special season.
On a side note I did a video for the St. Paul Pioneer Press at Training Camp in Mankato. You can find it in YouTube if you go to Brewproduce and click on that and you will see my 4 minute 30 second video.
Next up this week will be 5 guys to watch for on Friday.
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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