The Vikings
win over the Bears last Sunday is still one my mind with all the drama in the
overtime. Yes, the last year of Mall of America Field with the Bears game going
down in my mind as one you just can’t forget. The game also marked the first
time since 1995 that the Vikings have had back to back overtime games.
I must move
on I know so here it goes. The Vikings (3-8-1) travel to Baltimore to take on
the Ravens (6-6). This game will once again be a chance to hurt another team’s
playoff hopes.
Game time: Noon
on Fox
Broadcast
team: Chris Myers and Tim Ryan with Jennifer Hale on the sidelines
Las Vegas
Odds: Baltimore by 7- Minnesota has the 3rd largest point spread
against them in Week 14 this weekend. Denver is favored by 12 over Tennessee
and New England is 11.5 point favorite over Cleveland.
Vikings have history in Baltimore
Minnesota’s
1st playoff game ever was in Baltimore at Memorial Stadium. The year
was 1968 in the Western Conference Championship vs the Colts on 12/22/68. It
was Bud Grant’s 2nd year as the Vikings coach. Minnesota lost 24-14.
RAVENS-VIKINGS ALL TIME SERIES
This will be
the 5th meeting between these 2 teams in their history. Baltimore is
the 2nd least amount of games the Vikings have played against.
Houston is 1st with the Vikings only facing the Texans 4 times.
Minnesota is
1-0 at home and 1-2in Baltimore
1998 in
Baltimore Vikes win 38-23/ 2001 in Baltimore Vikes lose 19-3/ 2005 in
Baltimore Vikes lose 30-23 and last
meeting in 2009 in Minnesota the Vikes won 33-31
A win over
Baltimore on Sunday would give the Vikings a 6 game winning streak in the month
of December.
VIKINGS-RAVENS COMPARISONS
Minnesota is
scoring 24.1 per game while Baltimore is 20.8 per game.
Minnesota’s
defense is giving up 30.5 while Baltimore is giving up 19.6.
VIKINGS
NOTES
It’s been
indeed a tough year but yet there are good things coming out of the season. The
wins are down but yet some of the stats are going in the positive direction.
Here is a
crazy stat: The Vikings are ranked 1st in the NFL over the last 3
weeks in 3rd down holding opponents to a 23.7 percent success rate.
Teams have only converted 9of 38 tries.
1st-Minnesota
23.7 (9/38)
2nd-Cleveland
27.3 (12/44)
3rd-Carolina
27.8 (10/36)
VIKINGS RECEVING
The last
time a Minnesota receiver had over 200 yards receiving was Sidney Rice back on
10/18/09. He had 201 yards against the Baltimore Ravens. Is it possible again to
see maybe Patterson go for the 200?
CORDARRELLE PATTERSON INFO
Patterson
became the only Viking rookie player in history to score 3 different ways in one
season. The game last week he had a rushing touchdown. This gets added to a
receiving touchdown and kickoff return from earlier in the season. If this guy doesn’t
get votes for rookie of the year something is wrong with the system.
Patterson
also now has 1088 yards in kickoff returns which are the most in the NFL. This
number now ranks him 3rd all-time amongst Vikings rookies. He needs
258 yards to break the record of 1345 which is held by Buster Rhymes (1985).
ADRIAN PETERSON INFO
The performance
AP put in last Sunday now has him at 1208 yards for the year. This is number
one in the NFL and it is more rushing yards than 10 NFL teams have total.
Adrian
rushed the ball 35 times in the game vs the Bears last Sunday is the most
Peterson has ever carried in his career and is also a team record.
The 211
yards also gives Peterson 5 games this season over 100 yards and it his 5th
200 game of his career. Here is something scary to think about. Peterson now is
tied with Tiki Barber (Giants) with the 5- 200 yards games in their career.
O.J. Simpson is 1st in the NFL records with 6 games of 200 yards. I
guess my logic would tell me that Adrian will smash this record by the time he
is done playing,
Congrats
also to Adrian for going over the 10,000 yards in his rushing career.
XAVIER RHODES INFO
Rhodes the
last few weeks has really showed fans why the Vikes thought so highly of him
and made him a 1st round pick.
Xavier now
has 16 pass defensed for the season which ranks him 2nd amongst
Vikings rookies all time. Orlando Thomas holds the record of 19 in 1995. I will
look for Rhodes to break this record soon.
SUMMARY
The season
was slanting towards the Vikings with a top 3 pick in the 2014 draft now has
changed course. The Vikings will pick 6th if the season ended today.
The team in my mind is playing a lot better with a win over Washington then
tying the Packers and now beating the Bears. I am seeing players that do not
want to tank the season. As a fan I appreciate the effort and not quitting. I
would assume it may be easy to do. I know there are 18 free agents looking for
money next season. Matt Cassel has been named the starter Sunday and I support
that. It does seem like Greg Jennings becomes more of a factor. Adrian the last
2 weeks is running beast like. I look for a Vikings win Sunday. The defense is
playing a little better and yes I know there is a lot of improvement needed but
I am seeing glimpses of hope.
Thanks for
reading
Purplestick
No comments:
Post a Comment