Do We Have A Good Chance Against Patriots At Home?

[Pseudo Everything]

I see AP NOT having an especially good day. What do the Pats have to plan against? The numerous films of the Turner-run offense? No such thing. All they have is reams and reams on AP, so that's the only thing they can game plan for. They will try to shut down AP and force their castoff Matt Cassel to beat them. If Cassel can exploit that, then AP might break a few. But it will be because they are forced By Cassel to play honest.

Can't think of an OC that has been around longer than Norv Turner. There's plenty of tape on Norv Turner offenses for Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia to study.

[Funkytown]

Brady becoming human or tough Miami defense?

Holy crap that's bad...

[DK Sweets]

Can you imagine the discussion if that had been Cassel's stat line?

[VikingFan50]

I have a good feeling about this game. The Patriots are reeling from their loss and if we can capitalize on it then we'll have a very good chance of winning this Football game. Not only that I believe that with Mike Zimmer's mind as a Defensive Coach we'll also be able to stop their Offense, because let's be honest they're not as scary as they used to be. Though I will say that Tom Brady is not to be taken lightly, so as long as our Defense remains stout like they did against the Rams then we should be able to pull this out.

[Orion]

I see AP NOT having an especially good day. What do the Pats have to plan against? The numerous films of the Turner-run offense? No such thing. All they have is reams and reams on AP, so that's the only thing they can game plan for. They will try to shut down AP and force their castoff Matt Cassel to beat them. If Cassel can exploit that, then AP might break a few. But it will be because they are forced By Cassel to play honest.

Seriously? AP should tear the New England run defense apart.

[Mridens]

Seriously? AP should tear the New England run defense apart.

I'd love to see it. But I'll have to see it to believe it. What don't you like about my reasoning? I'll add to that my impression that AP does not seem the threat he was just 2 years ago. Which doesn't mean he's washed up by any means, just that he hasn't dominated much over the last 17 games.

[tleiviska]

I'd love to see it. But I'll have to see it to believe it. What don't you like about my reasoning? I'll add to that my impression that AP does not seem the threat he was just 2 years ago. Which doesn't mean he's washed up by any means, just that he hasn't dominated much over the last 17 games.

AP dealt with nagging injuries all last year also

[Mridens]

AP dealt with nagging injuries all last year also

Yep. And we can hope he's healthier but there's no guarantee he will be.

[Mothman]

Yep. And we can hope he's healthier but there's no guarantee he will be.

That's the spirit! Think positive!

Seasons like the one Peterson had in 2012 don't come along often so expecting that level of dominance every year is unrealistic. He retains the ability to be a dominant player. Just 4 regular season games ago, he put up 211 yards rushing against the Bears and that followed a 146 yard performance against Green Bay. He remains a very significant threat and every team that plays the Vikings will view him that way.

By the way, there's plenty of film of Turner's past offenses so while there may not be much film of his Vikings offense yet, there's a lot opponents can study to note his tendencies and prepare for his system, style of playcalling, etc. There's plenty of film of the Vikings players to study too. It's absurd to suggest Peterson is "the only thing" the Patriots can game plan to stop. Yes, they will undoubtedly make an effort to shut him down but every team that's played the Vikings since Peterson was a rookie has had that idea. Somehow, AD has managed to gain over 10,000 yards rushing anyway.

[DK Sweets]

I have a good feeling about this game. The Patriots are reeling from their loss and if we can capitalize on it then we'll have a very good chance of winning this Football game. Not only that I believe that with Mike Zimmer's mind as a Defensive Coach we'll also be able to stop their Offense, because let's be honest they're not as scary as they used to be. Though I will say that Tom Brady is not to be taken lightly, so as long as our Defense remains stout like they did against the Rams then we should be able to pull this out.

Generally I would say that with the Pats reeling and with the Vikings sticking their chest out after thumping a bad team, we would be primed to lose. I just don't feel that way this year. I'm sure to an extent we're in the honeymoon phase with our new coach, but I strongly feel that especially this early into his tenure, our team won't be complacent one bit. I can really see us sending the Patriots into soul-searching mode after a decade of dominance.

[tleiviska]

Generally I would say that with the Pats reeling and with the Vikings sticking their chest out after thumping a bad team, we would be primed to lose. I just don't feel that way this year. I'm sure to an extent we're in the honeymoon phase with our new coach, but I strongly feel that especially this early into his tenure, our team won't be complacent one bit. I can really see us sending the Patriots into soul-searching mode after a decade of dominance.

You're right about not being able to say we'd have our chests out after any win this year...Zim is pretty good about keeping the celebrations of a victory to a minimum. And it seems according to interviews, he's got the right mentality in our players as well where each week is basically a new season. Zim said "its not a 16-game season, its 16 1-game seasons" I like that thought process. New week, new preparation each week. We could go out and stomp Seattle 46-3, and Zimmer would find every flaw in our defense and offense and work just as hard the following week to fix mistakes and prepare for the next opponent. I love the mindset he's brought to this team already. Hard-nosed, no BS coach. hmmmm....haven't had that since Mr. Bud Grant....

[VikingFan50]

We have a chance yes, a good chance no. Gonna be interesting to see who the patriots take away. Either cordarrelle or adrian. They're quite good at taking one thing away and making the other team adjust

I'm thinking that they'll try to take away Adrian, because let's face it. If you let him have a good day, the rest of the Team is going to have a fantastic day. That being said, Peterson didn't have a 'great' day against the Rams either and look how that turned out. In my personal opinion we're no longer a 1-Dimensional Team because of how well our Offense is working together now. We have several targets for Matt Cassel as well, which means that Revis cannot be single-handly the reason for shutting down our passing game. Their entire Defense will have to play solid and personally after watching most of that Dolphins game, I can hardly believe them shutting us down on Offense.

[Brooky]

Hi everyone. First post here. Here's a little tidbit of info that some of you might find interesting. In Brady's last 70 games, only once has he failed to produce a touchdown. That failed td game was orchestrated by Zimmer's defense.

Vikes 27

Pats 17

[Just Me]

I'm sure many Vikings fans here remember Dungy's time in Minnesota, and his departure, well. I know I do.

Dungy was (and is) one of my favorite coaches. I remember when he left (he had propelled us to the #1 Defense in '93) and I followed him when he went to Tampa (and built the team with which Gruden was the beneficiary of a Super Bowl win - I thought Dungy got a raw deal there). I was happy to see him get a SB win in Indy. So, yeah. I remember too. Dungy was here in the 90s, it's not like we're talking '61.'

[tleiviska]

Patriots vs. Vikings: Breaking Down Minnesota's Game Plan





New England Patriots vs. Minnesota Vikings: Breaking Down New England's Gameplan


5 Bold Predictions For New England Patriots vs. Minnesota Vikings Week 2 Game





5 Reasons Why The Minnesota Vikings Will Defeat The New England Patriots

Love all the thought and reasoning that was put into these reasons the Vikings send the Pats home nursing an 0-2 injury. People can come up with all these technical reasons the Vikings win...and what reasons are there that people are saying the Pats will win? "The Pats are 18-1 coming off a loss" "LAST YEAR'S Vikings defense was horrible" "LAST YEAR'S Vikings offense was vanilla".... After Sunday, people are going to stop seeing last year's Vikings and take notice of the New Vikings team on both sides of the ball. If they don't...this difficult schedule becomes fairly easy, in my opinion...