Thursday in Houston concludes the preseason. It will then be what will be the highly anticipated season opener. The Vikings host Jacksonville Jaguars on September 9th at noon at Mall of America Field.
In doing some research on Thursday’s game I came upon something interesting. Houston has a roof report. I clicked on the link and it gave me info saying the retractable roof will be closed. It was reported on Monday so things could change. The weather forecast for Houston is 92 degrees and rain on Thursday.
One benefit of going to training camp every day is I get to see all 90 players practice. The 4th game is the hardest to watch due to the fact that very few if any starters on both team s will not play. I will be able to enjoy the Vikings both sides of the ball knowing I have seen these guys in practice. I will see how a Reggie Jones, Pat Brown, Nick Reed amongst many how they perform.
This will be the 3rd out of 4 games the Vikings will face a 3-4 defense. It seems to be getting more popular in the league.
Houston will be starting John Beck,who is in his 6th year in the league. He has 7 starts under his belt in the first 5 years in the league. I like this for the young Vikings defense to go up against a veteran and see how they do. Beck will play the first half while the 2nd half will go to Case Keenum, who is a rookie out of the University of Houston. If you want to see some amazing stats in his college career check them out. I would say he like to pass which again the young Vikings secondary will get a challenge.
Case Keenum College Career at the University of Houston
Finished his college career as the NCAA all-time leader in total passing yards (19,217) and passing touchdowns (155)
Completed 1,546 passes in 2,229 attempts (69.4 percent) in five seasons as the Cougars’ starting quarterback
Was a two-time recipient of the Sammy Baugh Trophy (2009 and 2011), awarded annually to the nation’s top college passer
Is one of only two players in NCAA history to record multiple 5,000-yard passing seasons
Set the all-time career passing touchdowns record by throwing for 9 touchdowns against Rice during his final season
Received a medical redshirt from the NCAA after tearing his ACL in the third game of the 2010 season
Led the Cougars to the top national ranking in total offense, scoring offense and passing yards per game
Threw for a career-high 559 yards vs. Southern Miss in 2009
The defensive line will get a good workout to see how they can contain Beck, NFL vet and Keenum, passing machine.
The running attack by Houston features usually Arian Foster except not on Thursday to give other players a chance to show their talents. I found a guy by name of Jonathon Grimes a rookie out of William &Mary. In the case of Keenum at quarterback this Grimes kid has some impressive stats to look at.
Jonathon Grimes College Career
William & Mary’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,541), all-purpose yards (7,955), kickoff return yards (2,289) and rushing attempts (936)
Most decorated player in Colonial Athletic Association history with 11 all-conference honors
Led nation in all-purpose yards per game as a senior with 228.2 yards per game
First-team All-America selection by the Associated Press and the Collegiate Sporting News his senior season after ranking sixth in the nation with 130.1 rushing yards per game.
Rushed for more than 130 yards in six of eight conference games, highlighted by three consecutive 200+ yard games to close out the season.
The other running back is 6 year vet Justin Forsett. He has 7 td in his career. Both Forsett and Grimes will lead the attack
The Vikings run defense after the first game in San Francisco is looking better each week so if this week 4 can be strong it will be a nice way to go into the opener.
The wide receiver in looking at their roster I came up with a name may be familiar to Vikings fans. His name is Juaquin Iglesias. He tried out for the Vikings in 2011.
I looked up the Houston Texans depth chart for the defense. I added up the average NFL experience in their backups which equaled out to about 2 years.
The game should be exciting to see whose youth is better. The Vikings backups average about 2 years as well. The score to the team does not matter it is about at least Thursday developing a roster and be comfortable with the decisions.
As a fan sometimes the wins and losses we get caught up in even in preseason. It is hard not to but we have to realize we are not seeing the total offense or defense. The announcers have been calling it vanilla. The teams do not want to show their true hand until it counts.
The bottom line is see who makes the squad and also very important to avoid injury. There can only be 22 starters but these young men need to be ready to step in just in case. It is called a team sport. It is not the Jared Allen or Adrian Peterson Vikings it is the Minnesota Vikings all 53 players plus coaches, staff and owners.
Next up: Reaction after the Houston game
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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