Looking to go 4-0 at home

The Minnesota Vikings fans once again get a chance to help their favorite team and make some noise in hopes of pushing the team to 5-2.

When entering the game the Vikings are asking fans if they would be so kind to bring food items and donate them to help their food drive for Second Harvest Heartland.

Each week I look at the referee of the game and look at his background. Sunday’s game gives us Terry McAulay, who started in the NFL as a side judge in 1998. He was promoted in 2001 to his current job of referee in 2001. He worked Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. He has also worked two conference championship games along with one divisional game and one wildcard.

The game itself has Las Vegas favoring the Vikings by 5.5 points. When I saw the schedule come out and I saw Arizona at home again I thought should be a W. I did a lot of reading on the Cardinals and after that I believe the game will cover the point spread but not much over.

The starter for Arizona was Kevin Kolb until he was injured last week and in came John Skelton. The story to start the 2012 season was Skelton was named the starter and then injured so now has come full circle. The Cardinals offensive line through six games has allowed 28 sacks which I hope keep Jared Allen and company up all night in excitement to pad their stats. I plan on seeing some calf roping action a few times out of Jared.

The running back situation for the Cardinals is interesting since Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams are out for the season. This leaves undrafted, William Powell as the man. A line that can’t protect and is having trouble opening holes should make for a good day for the Vikings front seven.

The concern I have is if Skelton has any time a couple of wide receivers named Larry Fitzgerald Jr and Michael Floyd will want to come back to their home state of Minnesota and play big.

I do feel comfortable about the Vikings defense but can still be a little concerned about these former Minnesota high school athletes.

The Arizona defense is something to read about. I went to the Cardinals web site and did some reading about the defensive coordinator. His name is Ray Horton and seven of his years in coaching was on the Pittsburgh Steelers staff. This explains some of this to me. I believe the Steelers year in and year out are a top defense so what a team to learn from. He even helped tutor Troy Polamalu.

He has the Cardinals playing hard and they are now 5th in the NFL allowing 15.8 points per game. They are 10th in allowing 329.3 yards per game and only allowing 216 through the air.

They have gone 14 straight games without allowing a 100 yard rusher. The backs they have faced this year is Lynch (Seahawks), McCoy (Eagles), Jackson (Rams), and combo Fred Jackson and Spiller (Bills), This is an impressive list thus far.
I believe the Vikings offensive line will be good enough to get the job done although may not be easy. The determination of Adrian Peterson hard running will be a plus as well. The man who gets hit after two yards and carries a handful of would be tacklers a few more yards will be fun to watch. I do feel he is so close each week to breaking one.

The front seven of Arizona is tough and one of the guys who the Vikings guards and center will need to keep at bay will be Darnell Dockett, This guy is 6’8” and weighs in at 300. I believe controlling him will go a long ways to be successful Sunday.

The Cardinals return game with Patrick Peterson will be fun to watch how the Vikings plan on controlling him. He was the 5th overall pick in the NFL draft in 2011 had an NFL record tying 4 returns last season. The production also put him in the Pro Bowl game as the return man. He is a starting defensive back also. He had 2 interceptions last season and in 2012 has 3 already.

The Cardinals defense is strong, the offense not sure of their identity yet. The Cardinals had their heart broke last week in an overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The Cardinals come in with a wounded wing let’s hope the Vikings leave the birds flightless and dragging their wings back to Arizona.

I believe a big win will be seen by the 63,000 plus fans in a low scoring with the Vikings winning 20-10.

Thanks for reading
Go Vikes!!!!