Friday, January 15, 2010

My take on Dallas match up...

Well, here are my keys to the game. Some are obvious, some not so much. We are both top ten teams in offense and defense... we both have great QBs, DEs and TEs and more then serviceable WRs. They have Austin who is a bigger threat then Berrian. But we trump them at RB easily. I think we have more "Explosive Play" capability but it's gonna come down to execution, not of the offenses, but of the defenses. Limiting those opportunities for the other team.

Scheming and Tackling!

People usually don't mention kickers but I will. We have a great one, theirs is real spotty. I know some of us are still traumatized by Gary Anderson's miss against the Dirty Birdies but I'm hoping those chokes are long gone. Let's not forget Romo blew it for the boys with his botched hold a few seasons ago!

Vikings nation is worried about "which VIKING team will show up" on Sunday. Common sense says they'll bring their A game. They all know what is at stake. In the back of their minds they're not looking forward to a bye week or an "easy game" with the Giants or Carolina. I think the sense of urgency will be there from the start and, even if we have a few hiccups holding off their defense at first, we will find a rhythm of sorts.

Now for some history... most of us have heard of the infamous Drew Pearson push off. Here is a great piece on it, which also bring ups some good points... the little things we forget.
the "push off"
game over


When we think of the '98 team, we all think of the aforementioned missed FG. We rarely mention how on the Falcons last drive to tie the game we dropped 2 easy interceptions that could have easily ended the game... this is the sort of thing that will make the biggest difference on Sunday. Not to be lazy and cliche, but it's gonna come down to "making plays." Unfortunately I was eerily accurate in my
keys to the Philly playoff game last year. Hopefully in this equally fair match up, I won't be so accurate. OR at least, our negative worries won't come to fruition. ( we play like we did in Arizona, AP fumbles, Favre gets hurt etc)

Here they are, my keys. We need more YES answers then NO. I wrote it all from our perspective, keeping in mind our tendencies and what I've gathered about or club this season.

  • Will the Vikes come out with an aggressive and quick passing attack?
  • Will the Vikes play up to the standard they've set on special teams- coverage / returns?
  • Will AP not fumble?
  • Will Berrian have a break out game, and contribute?
  • Will our O LINE provide protection?
  • Will we intercept those balls we keep dropping? Knock downs aren't good enough!
  • Will AP take it all the way instead of get tackled by their "last defender" in the red zone thus it's a FG instead of 7?
  • Will we force ROMO into quick throws? sacks don't matter as much as disruption! Can we jam their WRs and get to him?
  • Will we slow down or eliminate WITTEN as a primary target?
  • Will we manage to keep Austin from torching us?
  • Will we throw some curves or gadgets? we've been sitting on them all year. We've had so many "no gain" runs.. we're do for a flea flicker!
  • Will their kicker choke on an XP or FG?
  • Will Shiancoe, Rice, Harvin and company simply "do their jobs?
  • Will we not get behind forcing Favre into his "I gotta force a play " mode?
  • Will Winfield not get burnt?
Well... that's my take. I am gonna be a nervous wreck the first quarter. I hope we have scored at least 10 by half if not 17 but that's asking a lot against their defense which is a leader in Pts allowed. I just don't want us to have any bad turnovers or give up any big plays ( see New England vs Ravens) but that's football and that's why we play these games, to win. "Hello?!" =D



Skol Vikes.

1 comment:

Blizzatch said...
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