The Vikings open up at home tomorrow against the 49ers, and this will be their toughest test thus far. It feels good to be at 2-0, but it would have felt better if we would have manhandled the Lions last week. Every Lions game I come in thinking we should kill them, because they haven't won in, like, a million years. But we never do. We beat them twice last year by a combined margin of six points. This time we ended up winning by two touchdowns. We got into a nice rhythm in the second half, but not before meandering our way through a brutal first half to eventually trail 10-7 at halftime.
Here are some thoughts heading into tomorrow's game.
Frank Gore rushed for 207 yards last week and two touchdowns. The Vikings defense gave up 83 yards to Kevin Smith last week, nearly losing their streak of not giving up a 100 yard rusher since 2007. The majority of Smith's yards came in the first half. We cannot afford to have another lackluster first half, and must control Gore throughout the game. Over the past three seasons, the Vikings rush defense has become somewhat of a juggernaut. I don't really know why we're so good at it, I think it might have something to do with Pat Williams and his 500 pounds of pure muscle frame, but I know I love watching it. We just straight up dominate teams that try to run on us, and eventually force them to stop trying. I want to be reminded of that this week against the 49ers and specifically Gore.
Please no brain farts by the coaching staff this week. I don't know what was going on with the play calling in the first half against the Lions. We refused to pass the ball. I was convinced that either:
a. Childress forgot that T-Jack isn't our starting quarterback anymore.
b. Childress had some friends over for a bonfire the night before, and since they didn't have much around to get the fire started, he used part of the Vikings playbook to help with the fire, that part being the one containing passing plays.
Finally, on the last drive of the first half against the Lions, we suddenly remembered there are two ways to gain yards and opened up the passing game. Favre ran the offense fantastically, going 7-7 on that drive, eventually leading to a touchdown pass to Shiancoe.
The increased use of Percy Harvin. I have been nothing but impressed with Harvin so far. Every kickoff return he looks dangerous. It's only a matter of time before he scores on one. He is our leading receiver thus far, scoring a touchdown in each game, and is a running threat out of the wildcat formation. This is what I like about him the most. He looks tough when he plays. Yes, he can be elusive and can make people miss, but when he gets going he is TOUGH to tackle, and for someone with his skill set, that makes him special. One thing I don't like about him though, but I'll forgive him for this; I looked at his team photo, and he looks a little too much like Daunte Culpepper. See for yourself.
While we're making comparisons, Bernard Berrian looks a lot like someone I know.
The Vikings roster lists Berrian as being 6-1, 185 pounds. That might be a tad generous. Sometimes I get nervous for him out there.
Other Important Things
-Jared Allen, and hopefully others, have nicknamed Favre the Silver Fox. In a recent interview Allen stated, “Can you please stop calling him Brett Favre? It's the Silver Fox.” I may or may not be the only one that obliges to this.
-Chris Kluwe is more than just a punter for the Vikings. He also plays bass guitar in his band Tripping Icarus. They are an alternative rock band, and they only have 270 friends on Facebook, so be one of the first to go check them out. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tripping-Icarus/95281731386
Here is Chris as a punter.Here is Chris as a rocker.
With that being said,
THE VIKINGS ARE GOING TO DOMINATE THE 49ERS TOMORROW!!
