For the record she was 13-1 last week.
Meh...even I was 13-1 last week and I'm just average at making picks. Most everyone I've talked to did well last week.
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Click link below to watch videos.
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http://www.scout.com/nfl/vikings/story/1608219-10-keys-for-vikings-victory
10 keys for Minnesota Vikings victory
JOHN HOLLER
The Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams are among the best in the league in certain categories but rank very low in passing. Here are the 10 keys to victory for the Vikings.
The Vikings have won their last three games and five of their last six and will be facing a Rams team looking to pull even with the Vikings with a win at TCF Bank Stadium.
With a win, the Vikings can close out the first half of their season with a 6-2 record and firmly entrench themselves in both the postseason discussion as well as the potential to control their own divisional destiny against Green Bay.
These are the 10 points of emphasis that will go a long way to determining who will win and who will lose on Sunday.
Home, Sweet Home – The Vikings are looking to win their seventh straight game at TCF Bank Stadium. While only a temporary home, the Vikings have found a definite home-field advantage at The Interim Bank. It has been almost a year since the Vikings lost a home game, falling 24-21 on Nov. 23, 2014. St. Louis is 1-2 on the road, so continuing the streak is clearly within the Vikings’ grasp.
Get the Point? – Scoring is likely to be at a premium Sunday. Denver has allowed the least points in the NFL this season (112), but the Vikings are second (122) and the Rams are third (125) in fewest points allowed. Both defenses have been very stingy, so when scoring opportunities come along, both teams are going to have to take full advantage of those chances because they may not come often.
It Always Comes In Threes – The league average of converting third downs is at 38.4 percent. The hallmark of any good defense is getting off the field on third down and few teams have been better than the Vikings and Rams. Minnesota is fifth in the league, allowing third-down conversions on just 28 of 85 opportunities (32.9 percent).
St. Louis isn’t far behind at 34 percent (34 of 100). With both offenses are well under the league average of third-down conversions – the Vikings are at 36.7 percent and the Rams are a league-worst 25.9 percent, so keeping drives alive will be at a premium Sunday.
Digg It – Vikings wide receiver
Stefon Diggs has come from nowhere to become a sensation over the last month. He set an NFL record last week with his fourth straight game with more than 85 receiving yards. In just four NFL games, he has been targeted 40 times, catching 25 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns.
In a very short period of time, he has already become the team’s leading receiver in terms of yardage – he is 127 yards ahead of Mike Wallace for the team lead and only one reception behind Wallace for the team lead. Teams are going to start putting their best cornerback on Diggs. It will be imperative for him to keep improving his game because his days of flying under the radar are over.
Rolled By a Gurley Man – Just like Diggs has forced the rest of the NFL to pay attention, nobody has garnered more headlines than St. Louis running back
Todd Gurley. In his four full games, he has rushed 88 times for 566 yards and three touchdowns and has never rushed for less than 128 yards in that span. Not since
Adrian Peterson in 2007 has a rookie running back been so dominant. On Nov. 4, 2007, Peterson set an NFL record with 296 rushing yards against San Diego and LaDainian Tomlinson. At that moment, A.P. supplanted L.T. as the dominant back in the NFL and has held that distinction ever since. Eight years and four days later, Gurley could make the same kind of statement.
Better Dead Than Red – Teams don’t score touchdowns from the red zone with any regularity against either Minnesota or St. Louis. The Vikings are fourth in red zone defense, allowing touchdowns on just 9 of 16 opponent opportunities – 45 percent of opportunities. But the Rams are redefining red zone defense. With 22 teams allowing touchdowns on more than half of opponent red zone possessions, the Rams have allowed just five touchdowns on 16 opportunities – an incredible 31.3 percent. How impressive is that number? Cincinnati entered Week 9 at the No. 2 spot, allowing touchdowns at a rate of 43.8 percent – 12.5 percent higher than the Rams.
Keep Austin Stone Cold – When the Rams traded up for
Tavon Austin in 2013, they were expecting the kind of versatility Percy Harvin brought to the Vikings in 2009. It’s taken his third year to finally get there, but through seven games Austin has seven touchdowns. He leads the team in receptions with 24 for 285 yards and four touchdowns. He is second on the team in rushing, averaging 8.3 yards on 17 rushes, reverses and jet sweeps. He is the punt returner for the Rams and has a 71-yard touchdown to his credit. Not only will the Vikings defense have to account for Austin at all times, so will the top-rated special teams punt-coverage unit. Austin has the potential to hurt two of the three phases of the Vikings any time he touches the ball.
Let’s Get the Party Started – One of the struggles of the Vikings is to get a lead on an opponent early. Through seven games, the Vikings have scored just 23 first-quarter points while allowing only 20. The Rams have outscored their opponents for the season, but in the first quarter St. Louis has been outscored 40-19. If you’re going to get on St. Louis, you do it early. In their three losses, they’ve been outscored 27-0 in the first quarter. There may be no bigger motivation for the Vikings not to defer the coin toss if they win than that number.
Sugar Foot – Kickers
Blair Walsh and
Greg Zuerlein were good enough college kickers that both of them were viewed as middle-of-the-final-day draft picks in 2012. Zuerlein was taken in the sixth round with the 171st pick. Four picks later, the Vikings would take Walsh. After finishing last in the league in field goal percentage in 2014, he endured one of the most brutal preseasons in the soccer-style kicking era and had problems early in the season.
Yet, Walsh is nearly 90 percent on field goals (17-of-19) and Zuerlein is last in the league among currently employed kickers at 60 percent (9 of 15). Like Walsh when he struggled, Greg the Leg isn’t likely on the hot seat to lose his job. But in a game that may be decided by field goals, put the checkmark to date in the Vikings column, especially for a struggling kicker who has never dealt with the winds at the Interim Bank.
Passing Fancy – Why are Gurley and Peterson the storyline? Because they’re almost guaranteed to be the focal points. With two of the top defenses in the league matching up, having the 30th ranked pass offense (Minnesota) going up against the 32nd pass offense (St. Louis), whatever can be achieved through the air will be a bonus – and could well decide the winner Sunday.
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In the following article by PFF the Rams O-line is ranked 27th.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/11/04/ranking-all-32-nfl-offensive-lines-entering-week-9/
27. St. Louis Rams (25th)
Pass blocking rank: 25th
Run blocking rank: 28th
Penalties rank: 28th
Stud: First-year player
Rob Havenstein (73.1) doesn’t look like a rookie.
Dud: Sophomore
Greg Robinson (34.4) does look like a rookie.
Summary: There’s some talent on this offense, but this line is making them really max it out with their up and down efforts. We mentioned Robinson as the dud, but it’s a worry that he doesn’t seem to be progressing.
The Vikings are ranked 15th.
14. Minnesota Vikings (15th)
Pass blocking rank: 14th
Run blocking rank: 17th
Penalties rank: T-8th
Stud: Nobody expected Joe Berger (
83.1) to fill in for John Sullivan so well, but he has.
Dud: A disappointing year for Brandon Fusco (
44.5) who has given up way too much pressure by his own high standards.
Summary: There’s been an improvement in Matt Kalil (
54.8), which has been good to see, but no real standout performances. That said, they’ve done a lot better than expected, given how they’ve coped without two lynchpins on the line.
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PFF's offensive line rankings entering Week 9
PFF's offensive line rankings entering Week 9: 1.
@ dallascowboys 2.
@ Browns 3.
@ AtlantaFalcons4-32.
https://goo.gl/iPXmoQ
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Man, that run-blocking rank seems high considering all of the time AP is hit before the LOS. However, it is pretty well established that o-lines around the league stink right now, so it could be. I just hope they don't completely crumble against STL. The DTs there terrify me going up against the middle of our line.
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Here's some important Viking stats
Scoring: 22nd
Yards: 29th
Passing: 30th
Whether or not other teams Oline's suck shouldn't be a factor in the Vikings future plans. We must overhaul our Oline and bring in a true #1 WR if we want the Vikings to become one of the elite teams in the NFL.
When the playoffs start we'll be facing good teams and they will find ways to exploit our weaknesses. Right now that's our Oline and passing game. Usually the team with the QB that's playing the best and has the fewest weaknesses wins.
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Vikings offense is the product of what they put into it in the off season. They put nothing into so that's why it ranks near the bottom. When we decide to go get some real OL talent and starting caliber WR,maybe another Diggs if he can keep it up, then we can move up the ranking in offense.
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That seems a touch high for me. Teddy is running for his life 1/2 the time. Pass pro should be near the bottom.
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O line issues.
New players
Young players
What can really be expected.
Some of the posters thought AP would come in and "be angry" or "make them pay" and magically through shear awesomeness run for 3000 yards.
It's really humorous the disconnect from reality.
This is a team game and teammates need time together.
We don't need a major overhaul or some magical #1 WR that FRIGHTENS guys like Harrison Smith or Ray Lewis (do you really think that Diggs "frightens" any defensive player) and our QB is going to be just fine.
We simply need to get Sully back or his replacement, TJ needs some time, Fusco back on the right and a real left guard.
Beyond that its just game reps.
BTW I still believe the guards are the most important line position and tackles the hardest position.
Crappy guards and you get zero up the gut running game and DT's in the face of the QB.
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Well this certainly doesn't fit the narrative that the Vikings field the worst offensive line in NFL history. Granted, I'm sure PFF isn't infallible, but still. Frankly, to the degree these rankings are accurate, it's downright impressive considering their two most experienced veterans aren't playing.
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We are 5th in yards per game rushing and 9th with a 4.5 yard average. Not bad considering teams overplay the run against us. 9 teams have given up as many or more sacks than us. 12 of our 20 sacks came in our 2 losses. We don't have a lot of yards passing, but that's hard to entirely blame the OL for. As far as overall efficiency, we are around middle of the pack as far as completion percentage (15th), QB rating (19th), yards per attempt (17th).
If you have good to very good rushing offense and a meh passing offense, you get 14th in the league OL or visa versa actually. I end up watching so many not Vikings games, I see a lot of bad football and lots of bad OL play.
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At the end of last season Teddy did well because he could step up in the pocket and deliver. This year he sees more pressure up the middle, and has to bail out of the back of the pocket too often. Unfortunately, much of this problem has been due to Fusco's play at left guard. I agree with moving Fusco back to the right and getting real left guard.
That won't happen this year, so we can only hope this line continues to improve and Norv can game plan to compensate. Teddy can also help by making quicker decisions and getting the ball out quicker.
When the center of the line becomes a strength of this team, Teddy will likely do much better.
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And, as we say every time you post that, drafting lineman in the first three rounds the past few seasons would've cost the Vikings a good chuck of their key contributors. They also took a tackle in the first round just three drafts ago.
I entirely agree with using some early round picks on lineman going forward. There aren't many holes left on this team thanks to the past few drafts. The worry I have is that most lineman coming out currently aren't ready to be immediate impact contributors.
I haven't watched most of the rookie lineman play, so I'm using other sources here. Looking at PFF, only four rookie lineman have a significant positive grade (over +0.5) so far in 2015:
1. La'el Collins, G, DAL (+3.5 in 234 snaps) - undrafted
2. Mitch Morse, C, KC (+2.9 in 535 snaps) - drafted #49
3. Rob Havenstein, T, STL (+1.4 in 408 snaps) - drafted #57
4. Andrus Peat, T, NO (+1.3 in 105 snaps) - drafted #13
Collins pulled out a 3.1 rating against Seattle, so his score is predominately driven by just that one game give his lack of snaps overall. Up until this point, it's been a terrible rookie class.
