Andre Johnson

They say defense wins ballgames. If so, this Sunday’s matchup between the Texans and Vikings may be the exception rather than the rule. While the Texans have yet to struggle moving the ball offensively, the Purple find that among their greatest problems week in and week out.

So how will Minnesota find a way to advance the ball against Houston? Simple: a weak defense.

Houston gives up an average of 119.6 rushing yards/game, which ranks them 21^st in the league. The Vikings, as all should know, have anything but an average running game. With super-human Adrian Peterson pounding and stretching out yardage, the prospect of a 200-yard game can’t be ignored.

The Houston defensive line has really struggled this year. They have Anthony Weaver and Travis Johnson on that line, who really are nothing more than back-ups. The only real threat of this defense is Mario Williams. He is perfectly capable of sacking the not-so-nimble Gus Frerotte at least thrice in this matchup.

As a result, both Peterson and Taylor should have decent to spectacular games. They will have the option of pounding the ball up the middle or stretching runs outside. It really won’t make any difference because they should have success either way.

The Vikings passing offense should also thrive. The Texan cornerbacks make Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffith look like superstars, while their linebackers are half-decent. The Minnesota quarterback/receiver tandem is also mediocre in most respects, however, so Berrian shouldn’t catch more than five balls for 100 yards. He won’t have a career day against this hapless Texan defense because, frankly, he and his quarterback aren’t that good.

The Texan offense, however, should have no shortage of yards or points. They will almost be able to move the ball up the field as they want because of Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels. The Vikings lack more than one elite cornerback, and with the shortage of physical, skilled linebackers, Texan tight end Daniels should have a field day.

Steve Slaton

Houston rookie running back Steve Slaton is also performing very well. He is in the running for rookie-of-the-year, and would be my choice were Chris Johnson not running so well in Tennessee. Anyway, there is no doubt that Slaton has been one of the closest followers of the Williams’ waterpill fiasco because he would do anything other than to run into both Pat and Kevin Williams. From the looks of things, both will play on Sunday which would greatly hamper the Houston running game. This game will be a huge reminder of how reliant this team is on both of those body masses at the center of the defensive line.

What is the result of an all-out offensive battle? Well, a close game with basketball scores. The Vikings should have success in both offensive aspects, while the Texans will have huge yardage coming only off passing.

I think the result of this is a game where the Vikings pull ahead with little time remaining. If you own Matt Schuab, Andre Johnson, or Owen Daniels in a fantasy league, however, be sure to start them against the Vikings on Sunday.

Final score: Vikings 35, Texans 28

While this is by no means official, I think it’s a good idea to see where our opponent sits injury-wise before this next Sunday. Of course, we still have no idea what will become of the Water-Pill Fiasco.

Houston Texans

 

 

Barber will likely be ready for action, but isn’t anything more than a reserve player. Davis is out, while good ‘ol Mario will be playing and reaking havoc on this vulnerable offensive line.

Minnesota Vikings

 

While the sheer number of injuries Minnesota had to deal with last week should cause you pain, most should be available for the Houston game. Williams may make his regular season debut with the Vikings on Sunday, while Rice may play his first game of the 2008 season. Berrian will play but with more nicks and nocks on his body than a snowman.

Aren’t bye weeks painful? To help ease the pain of discovering that Pat and Kevin Williams were doping, here are three humorous stories from long ago…

Otto Graham and Paul Brown

In the world today, most things are predictable. We know when it is going to snow, when it is going to rain, and when our favorite television show comes on. When something unexpected or bizarre happens, oftentimes we don’t know how to react.

Here are three bizarre, weird, and downright hard-to-believe stories from the NFL.

 

Sleeping Scouts?

The 1946 Washington Redskins finished with a 5-5-1 record to earn them the bottom spot in the Eastern Division. Like today, when a team isn’t doing the greatest, most of the attention is diverted to next year. What changed needed to be made, and who should they draft?

The Washington scouts had their eyes on a running back from the UCLA Bruins by the name of Cal Rossi. He had put up good numbers while in college, and the Redskins ultimately decided to use their ninth overall pick in the 1947 draft on this kid. 

Problem was, Rossi was only a junior. Back in ‘47, a player had to graduate college in order to be eligible for the draft. Either the Washington scouting department didn’t get that memo, or there was a huge misunderstanding or overlook.

Either way, Washington was forced to forfeit that first-round pick. Sound embarrassing? It gets better.

The next year, when Rossi was a senior, the Redskins had an opportunity to draft him again. They didn’t refuse. The only thing keeping this potential star running back from playing with Washington was that he had said earlier in the year that he had no intention of playing professional football.

The Redskins had forfeited their first-round selection for the second year in a row.

When your favorite team makes an idiotic move on draft day, try and remember this epic blunder. You may feel better.

 

The Heidi Game

There was no Tivo back in 1968. When an important, must-see football game was scheduled to broadcast, everyone watched. That was the case on Nov. 17, 1968. In one of the most crucial games of the season for the AFL, the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders were set to collide on national television starting at 4 PM ET. 

The game was scheduled to be followed by the premiere of the movie, Heidi, which interested some viewers more than any football game. There were numerous announcements throughout the game for the Heidi movie, which was scheduled to begin at 7 PM ET.

There were two huge television events, both of which would draw huge ratings. The problem was that the football game could possibly be longer than the three-hour time slot it was given. In the end, NBC decided that they would broadcast the football in it’s entirety before starting Heidi.

A network executive called up the producer for the game and told him to continue broadcasting as scheduled, with Heidi airing at 7 PM, unless phoned up and told otherwise later.

The football game proved to be an exciting, high-scoring affair, but as the clock itched to the 7 PM mark, it turned out that many people were curious as to what NBC would do. Football fans and Heidi fans alike bombarded the network with phone calls, asking what the broadcast plan was. So many calls, in fact, that the NBC switchboard blew a fuse. 

The game wasn’t over at 6:55 PM, but the NBC network executive couldn’t reach the game producer and tell him to push back Heidi. The producer was frantic. He couldn’t believe that NBC was going to Heidi instead of watching the finish of this thrilling game, so he too rained phone calls to NBC.

All he got was a constant busy signal.

So, as soon as Raider kick returner Charlie Smith caught a kickoff with a minute remaining, Heidi went onto screens across the nation (except the West Coast, which was on a three-hour delay).

Stunned, most football fans wouldn’t know the result until the next morning. They wouldn’t hear of the last-second, game-winning drive by the Oakland Raiders. This game has now earned the moniker “The Heidi Game.”

While it is considered hilarious today, it is still one of the biggest blunders in television history. 

It would take the average Vikings fan less than two minutes to become convinced that the team they love causes agony faster than ten minutes of Martha Stewart.

The Minnesota Vikings are not a fun team to watch. After successfully surviving a game, I find myself with canker sores, a dead throat, and another television with a $25 universal remote sticking out. The puzzling aspect of this already bizarre situation is that I still find myself going out of my way to learn anything that pertains to the team I continue to love.

It takes special people to be Vikings fans.

If anybody doesn’t deserve my love, it’s the Minnesota Vikings. And they know it. I could have asked for a divorce years ago and this team wouldn’t dare go to court. There’s no point; they’d lose. I could have asked for my fanhood back and the rights to remarry another team. The Vikings wouldn’t have been able to do a thing.

And yet here I sit. 

Puzzling, is it not? Any sane person who saw what I did during a Vikings game would have no idea why I still watched their games. If I hurt so much, why continue to watch this team?

The truth is, I’d rather poke sharp things in my eyes than watch another team.

The Vikings are turning their fans into some of the most ornery, unpleasant, and loud fans in the entire league. One of the most commonly-used words in the state of Minnesota is “uffdah!”, meaning exactly what it sounds like in Norweigian.

At some point in this latest trip down the road of Minnesota Viking despair, fans got used to it. They have been exposed to such horrible decisions and downright nasty play that they have developed an immunity to the agony caused by this purple team.

Don’t get me wrong, at one point we Vikings fans were so used to yelling at the latest mistake on or off the field we would imitate the dog who barks at the most mundane and boring things. Like a squirrel fart.

Things have changed.

One could relate it to our immune system. After we get infected our body develops an immunity to that particular bacteria. There have been so many mistakes made by the Vikings, most fans take them extraordinarily well. Sometimes we don’t even holler. Most of the time, a shake of the head and a remissive sigh is the extent of my pain in reaction to a purple-and-gold blunder.

In spite of the carnage to my mind, body, and television screen, I can still say I enjoy sitting down and watching the Vikings screw up another must-win. Is there something wrong with me, or has agony become enjoyable?

Has it become fun to find ways to poke fun at this team that I can’t stop following? 

I’ll ask you that question as I close. Can you honestly say that you enjoy watching the Vikings? If recommending this team to a non-football friend, do you feel the need to mention the possible probable side-effects? What brings you back day after day to the purple-and-gold? Why do you love this team so much that you ignore the blatant pain it causes?

Be sure to answer. I’m still searching for an explanation.

Once again here is Ryan Tennant from MVN’s From the Midway. He offers his prediction for the big game on Sunday.

 On paper, this game looks like a pretty good matchup, with two teams with middling offenses and solid defenses squaring off. The odds makers have the Bears a three point favorite, which is usually bestowed upon the home team if the the opponents seem to be evenly matched.

 Unfortunately for the Bears, the games are not played on paper, they’re played on the field, where the team has been schizophrenic in its performance.

 Coming to town on Sunday are the Minnesota Vikings, lead by all-world running back Adrian Peterson, ex-Bear Bernard Berrian and a vicious defense intent on making life difficult for Kyle Orton and the Bear offense on Sunday. The Bears will send out an inconsistant offense and a banged-up defense to try and hold on to first place in the NFC North in a game the Bears almost have to win.

 A quick look at the injury report should be enough to make even the most optimistic Bears fan wince, with three of the Bears’ top four cornerbacks appearing on it in Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher andTrumaine McBride. The Bears elevated Zachary Bowman to the active roster from the practice squad, a sign they believe they will need healthy bodies this week. Thats a bad omen for a defense that has already been soft against the pass, and the Bears are faced with the proposition of relying heavily on inexperienced players to cover Minnesota’s receivers. If the three injured corners are unavailable the Bears will likely have to play a lot of traditional Cover-2 with safety help over the top to try and contain the Vikings’ passing attack.

 Unfortunately that means taking a safety out of the box and leaving the front seven to deal with Adrian Peterson, a daunting proposition at best. Defensive coordinator Bob Babich is going to have to call a great game, something he has struggled to do in his tenure with the Bears, as the front seven have struggled to consistantly create pressure on the quarterback this year. Babich is caught in the proverbial rock and a hard place – if he’s forced to blitz too much, he risks exposing his young corners, but if he doesn’t blitz enough and the front seven fails to pressure Gus Frerotte, he risks getting the defense picked apart.

 The Bears are going to need a big effort out of Kyle Orton on Sunday if they’re going to win, and he’s going to have to find a way to consistantly move the offense and protect the battered defense by keeping it on the sidelines. This will be no easy task as Minnesota has a top-ten defense that is going to look to shut down Matt Forte and force Orton to beat them through the air. Chicago’s offense cannot afford to become one-dimensional.

 The Bears will need to take advantage of Forte’s full complement of skills, using him as a receiver out of the backfield and setting up draws and traps to give him space to run. His role in the offense will be vital with Brandon Lloyd questionable for Sunday’s game yet again and Marty Booker, Rashied Davis andDevin Hester all appearing on this week’s injury report, casting some doubt of their health for Sunday’s game.

 I don’t like this matchup for the Bears at all. If the defense is on the field for too long then one has to believe Minnesota’s rushing attack will eventually wear them down, and Minnesota’s defense is going to force Orton to beat them through the air, something he hasn’t shown he can do to good teams yet. I see the Vikings prevailing 27-16 in this one and claiming first place in the NFC North.