NFL
By Steve Rogers
The Minnesota Vikings have become one of the most intriguing stories of the year. Coming into the year there was storylines about whether or not the Vikings would or could compete to repeat as NFC North champs. Or were they going into a full rebuild? They started by losing their first three games and were on the verge of being written off. The Vikings dug deep and started to put things back together. It also helps playing the Carolina Panthers. Then the personal adversity began when the Vikings lost all-world star wide receiver Justin Jefferson aka JJettas to a hamstring injury.
That’s when the Vikings really took off. The Vikings won three straight games. However, during that third game in Green Bay tragedy struck yet again as Kirk Cousins, the captain and quarterback of the squad went down with the season-ending Achilles tear. The Vikings, needing depth instability at the quarterback positions, traded for Arizona Cardinals, Josh Dobbs on the trade deadline. The Minnesota Vikings have since rattled off two more wins with Dobbs. Under the helm as the quarterback Dobbs has taken both Minnesota and the NFL world by storm now the Vikings and Dobbs are both skyrocketing with the play of the “Passtronaut” leading the way.
Can the Vikings Win a third game in a row with Dobbs and six in a row overall? Definitely! The Vikings offensively rank near the top ten in both yards and points per game. The Vikings have the third-highest passing yards per game even with having to replace Cousins. In fact, if Dobbs can throw for 340 yards on Sunday night against the Broncos he will pass Cousins for yards passing on the year!
There are several reasons to be optimistic about that being a real possibility. The first is the return of wide receiver K.J. Osborn from concussion protocol. Osborn was close to playing last week against the Saints but the Vikings chose to be cautious and wait one more week. The other is that Cousins will be with the team and on the sidelines helping Dobbs and cheering on his teammates. Vikings running back Alexander Mattison is in a similar situation this week trying to clear concussion protocol and even if he does the Vikings might give him a week off to get all the way healthy. Look for the Vikings to start Ty Chandler at running back who looked good against the Saints.
The way this Vikings locker room is locked in, in playing with each other and for each other is something special to see and hear them talk about. Every guy who gets interviewed and is asked about a teammate or the coaches and they get emotional about how much they love and care about each other. All these guys are on the same ship willing and wanting to win for each other and with each other.
This goes back to the new-age coaching culture that head coach Kevin O’Connell has brought to this organization. The amount of work he has done and the success he has had on the fly while doing so is exactly why O’Connell deserves to be Coach Of the Year. The Vikings are in not just good hands but the right hands.
The Denver Broncos had their storylines coming into the year. Having brought in future Hall of Fame head coach Sean Payton to right the ship after firing Nathaniel Hackett. With future Hall of Fame quarterback Russell Wilson needing to get back to his former self as well after a forgettable first year in Denver. Like the Vikings, the Broncos came out flat and went 0-3.
The Broncos have started to find their footing and won three straight including wins over the K.C. Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. However, it has not been the offense so much as it has been the defense that has led the way for the Broncos. They have yet to score more than 24 in these wins.
During their five-game winning streak, the Vikings are averaging 24.6 points per game. Advantage Vikings. The Viking’s defense has been averaging giving up 17.4 points per game during the winning streak. Impressively the Broncos are averaging less than 16 over their last five games. This will be a good primetime Sunday night game. I think the Vikings have too much talent on offense for the Broncos offense to keep up with. The Viking’s defense will cause problems with an offense that’s still spinning its wheels. The Vikings will pick up another upset win and beat the spread. The final score will be 34-20 Vikings. Skol!
