Week 2 Keys to Success vs the Vikes

The good news is, our offense isn't as bad as they looked on Sunday. I'm fairly certain that the lack of aggressiveness was due to the defense playing lights out ball combined with the weather conditions. The one shot we did take down field was a near TD, but we never pushed it down field again, by lack of necessity IMO.

The bad news is, our defense is not as good as they looked on Sunday. Buffalo's offense belongs in the ACC, not the AFC East, and the wind was a factor for them as well. When they did open it up, using their no huddle package and challenging our secondary, they went down the field and scored. This week we'll face a stiffer test on both sides of the ball.

When we have the ball. We need to guard it like an Israeli embassy in Islamabad. Nothing gets an opposing defense and their home crowd fired up like a turnover. Giving the the ball away, or consistently going three and out is a major no-no this week, the Vikes will score if they get enough at bats, and Adrian Peterson is always just one mistake away from a huge gain.

As much as I like Lousaka, he needs to spend most of his time on the bench this week. Davonne Bess should get most of his snaps as a part of our 31 personnel (3WR-1TE) sets. The strength of the Vikes D is their front 7, but their secondary is weak. We should focus on forcing them to go nickel and attacking Lito Sheppard and Asher Allen when they do. Antoine Winfield slides inside in their nickel sets, that should give favorable matchups to Marshall and Hartline outside. Look for Henne to have success throwing outside in this game. If Minny plays their usual shell (Cover 2) coverages, Ronnie Brown should be able to pick up nice chunks underneath the coverage while Fasano looks to attack the seams.

Most importantly, the OL needs to pack their lunch on the trip North. Henne should be able to slice their secondary in pieces, IF he has time to look down field and find the right matchup. That will depend on whether or not we can establish a credible threat on the ground, open up play action opportunities and stay out of obvious passing situations. Long and Carey will have their hands full with Jason Allen and Ray Edwards, but if they can hold up one on one on the outside, Incognito-Berger-Jerry should be able to handle Venus and Serena on the inside.

The Vikes played well defensively in Nawlins, and that was without the benefit of a raucous crowd or an inexperienced QB to attack and/or confuse. But they played an awful lot of snaps, especially in the second half, and they were visibly winded by the latter stages of the game. If we can move the chains, put some drives together, (scoring points would be nice also) and take the crowd out of the game early, the sledding should be much easier down the stretch.

When the Vikes have the ball. Three words: Set the Edges. Adrian Peterson is a classic downhill runner, unfortunately for him, his interior OL is weak and they struggle to generate any push or holes inside. So the Vikes run a zone blocking scheme which AD seeks to exploit by attacking the perimeter of opposing run defenses. If AD can get the edge without breaking stride, he's one on one with the SS, and we're talking a 4-6 yd gain, at least. And that's just the beginning. Those 4-6 yd runs can force the ILBs and DL to over pursue, setting up cutback opportunities on the backside, with the potential of AD finding an empty gap and heading downhill with only a FS in his path. It can get ugly pretty quickly at that point. If the running game is clicking, Favre becomes a much more effective passer, Shiancoe becomes nearly unstoppable, and we're in for a long day defensively. OTOH, if the OLBs set the edges, AD can either bend it WAY outside, allowing Y Bell to close with a good angle, Vontae to get involved, and the backside pursuit to help out with out overrunning their pursuit angles or sacrificing their gap responsibilities. If that happens, AD will struggle to get any more than a couple yards per carry. As we saw last week and last year, the Vikes will abandon the run if its not working early, that should be our primary goal this week.

Assuming we can contain AD, (that means you: Misi/Wake/Moses), stopping the Vikings O becomes pretty simple. Shiancoe is a good TE, but Dansby is an even better coverage LB. Without effective play action to force him out of position, KD should be able to handle him. On the outside, the Vikes WRs will struggle to shake free of our man coverages, especially if our safeties aren't being forced to nose around the LOS trying to help out vs the run.

Without Sidney Rice to draw double teams and dictate coverages, Nolan will be able to call whatever coverages he wants. I'd recommend doubling Shiancoe early and often. If you saw the Saints game, he was Favre's only reliable target. Percy Harvin is a dynamic threat when he's singled up on a nickel corner, but without Rice on the field, he's much more manageable, primarily reduced to running screens, smoke routes, and WC type plays. All of our corners can tackle well, so I don't expect any major trouble on those types of plays. Bernard Berrian is a speedster who wants no parts of going over the middle or aggressive bump and run coverage, he barely made a peep last week. Greg Camarillo is a solid WR, I expect him to convert a few 3rd downs and make some plays, but as we all know, he's much more of an annoyance than a real threat.

Most importantly, Brett Favre must be pressured at all costs. Ideally, Wake, Starks, and Misi will be able to get the job done in 3-4 man rushes. If not, send 5, or 6, or 7, or however many it takes to ensure that the Old Man hits the turf any time he holds the ball for more than 3 seconds. Favre will throw the ball up for grabs if he's under pressure, he did it on at least three occasions last week, and countless times over his career. Hit him in the mouth a few times, and Favre will throw the ball to us. Hopefully our corners will be able to come down with the ball this week, but the pressure is a must. I'd also play a lot of bump and run man or tight quarters coverage (Cover 4), taking away the short throws that Vikes OC Darell Bevel may use to protect his QB. None of the Vikes WR excel at getting open quickly, so if we can force Favre to hold the ball, he'll reward us with some ill advised passes.

I love the Fins in this game, I think we match up with them better than we do with any of the teams on our schedule over the next 6 weeks. That said, its a road game vs a team that's determined to avoid an 0-2 hole, while we have two huge games vs the Jets and Pats on the horizon. I'm picking us outright 24-20, but I won't use the mortgage money on it. OTOH, Miami +5.5. looks like easy money to me. Go Fins.

 

Thanks. AD= All Day, his nickname.

 

I hope you're wrong

 

Thanks, I can't stand Favre either. Hopefully there won't be any last second bombs to Greg Lewis this week .

 

Sorry