Can we beat the Rams on the road?
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=63&f=1554&t=13103982
I think we definitely can. We are catching a huge break with Hill having to fill-in...
If we can turn up the heat on him (Griff-earn that big deal- Barr-earn that #1 pick)
he will screw up...and we actually have DBs now who can intercept a pass.
We protect the ball, we win IMHO.
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I am trying to remember who is left on our defense when Shaun Hill was a backup QB for us. Probably no one since that was quite a while ago. More importantly, who is still around when Hill played against us as a backup for the Lions. Just because he's a backup you don't want to take his failure as a given and should draw on knowledge of his strengths and tendencies. Therefore people like Chad Greenway & Brian Robison will provide that valuable insight as we game plan for Sunday.
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Offense-advantage Vikings
Defense-advantage Rams
STs-advantage Vikings
But its on the road.
I think it'll be close and it will come down to our OL play vs a very very good DL of the Rams. Even with our D being a little suspect, the Rams offense just isnt all that good IMO. Its if we can get our offense going vs the Rams defense, it wont be easy to do I dont think. Can we win, absolutley. Will we win, no idea at all but Ill guess Rams win a very close game, mostly cuz its on the road and their D is impressive.
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I think Cassel will do well in this game since he has improved his play and looks comfortable in Norv's system and is in synch with Jennnigs/Patterson/Wright/Rudolph. I expect the Vikings to pound the ball on the ground with Peterson/Asiata/McKinnon and then hit the Rams down the field with play action. The Rams will be keying on Peterson and Cassel will make them pay on the play action down the field. Their d-line and secondary are a bit banged up right now so I expect the Vikings WR's will be able to get open with relative ease. This is a Rams team we beat 2 yrs ago in their place with Bradford leading them.
Shaun Hill will face a formidable D-line rotation with the Vikings so we should be able to get pressure against their suspect pass blocking. The key will be stopping the run and putting Hill in a lot of 3rd and longs, perhaps forcing a turnover or 2 in the form of a fumble or an interception. With Linval Joseph in the lineup I think there is a good chance we limit their running game and force them to pass.
Our special teams unit is 2nd to none so I expect we will win the field position game. I'd say were going to have a couple of nice returns and Walsh will bang it out of the end zone every time making the Rams have to go a long way each time.
As long as we don't beat ourselves with penalties and win the turnover battle we should beat the Rams and get off to a 1-0 start.
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Gregg Williams is their Defensive Coordinator so I'm confident he will try to knock Cassel out of the game early. I hope Bridgewater is ready.
Outside of this, I think the Vikings players will approach this game as one they believe they can win and want to win for this coaching staff.
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This will be a test of our run defense. We will have to make Hill pass the ball.
As for our offense.... Look for blitzes over Rudolph all day to keep him in. Their D line will really test our new scheme.
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There is no reason the Vikings can't win this game. And if they can't, they can pretty much forget about doing anything significant in 2014.
With how difficult the schedule looks the first few weeks of the season (at least on paper), this is a game the Vikings need to win.
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Yes, we will beat them.
Norv will be playing some unexpected tricks in the first game of the season.
I think some will include Wright and Patterson, and possibly McKinnon.
Cassell should connect with Rudolph, Patterson, and Jennings on some big plays.
It will be interesting to see AP as a receiver.
My guess is we score 24 or more points.
Our defense should be effective enough to hold the Rams to 17 points.
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The Vikings can not only win this game, they will dominate it. (As long as Casell doesn't go all Ponder and start throwing picks.)
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2 words: Shaun Hill. Vikes better win.
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The Vikes are a better team overall even with a 100% healthy Bradford, so I say without a doubt. In fact, in most games we play this season we will be just as good a team as our opponents as long as we don't beat ourselves like most of our losses last year.
I've been of the opinion that we can and should win our division outright ever since we jettisoned our horrible coaching staff that was responsible for those losses.If we play to our ability,and don't hand deliver wins or ties to our opposition we will be very much in every game this year.If this team starts out 3-1 or 4-0, I will be zero surprised to say the least, they are that good and their opposition is not any better overall.