NFL
Written by Steve Rogers
After the most incredible comeback in NFL history, the Minnesota Vikings are back home for the last regular season home game. The Vikings are facing the New York Giants. The Giants are trying to hold onto one of the wild card spots. The Vikings are trying to lock up the second seed. So, this match-up has a significant playoff feel, as both teams need this win for their playoff position. This game is on Saturday, Christmas eve. Fittingly the Vikings have themed this as the “White Out” game.
They have specially painted the end zones and the midfield logo in almost all white with minor purple accents. I’m especially excited to see this game’s unique “All white” uniform. Ironically, the weather outside is giving us several days of white-out conditions here in Minnesota. Luckily the US Bank Stadium is indoors. This is also a game with two of the best new head coaches in the league, Vikings head coach Kevin O Connell and Giants head coach Brian Daboll. With the success each has had with their respective teams, they are both in the conversation for the coach of the year award. So, this game could go a long way in deciding who gets the award this year.
What are The New York Giants Capable Of?
The New York Giants (8-5-1) have really outperformed any expectations for this season already. New first-year head coach Brian Daboll deserves a lot of credit for the quickness of their turnaround. Another reason is the healthy and rejuvenated return of star running back Saquan Barkley. Barkley has been terrific all year. With 269 carries, he has 1170 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Barkley is putting himself in the conversation for comeback player of the year. Probably the biggest reason that Daboll was brought on to be the Giants’ head coach was to be the quarterback guru for Daniel Jones.
Jones has been much improved this year. Jones has thrown for 2694 yards. He’s on pace for over 3200 yards. He has only thrown 12 touchdowns this year, which is still the second-highest mark of his young career. What might be most impressive this year is that he only has four interceptions, tied for the fewest in the league. Jones is doing a lot with his legs as well, rushing for 583 yards and five touchdowns, but more so, he has 47 first downs with his legs!
Rookie linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux is starting to look every bit the part of a foundational pass-rushing cornerstone for this team to build around. He singlehandedly took over last week’s game manhandling the Washington Commanders’ offensive line seemingly whenever he pleased. According to ESPN’s traditional IDP scoring system, Thibodeaux scored 39.75 fantasy points.
That’s the most points by any IDP in a game this year. It’s the most points by any rookie IDP in a game since DeMeco Ryans had 43.25 points in week 13 of the 2006 season. This Giants team is performing well beyond expectations. They’re playing for a wild card spot this year when most weren’t putting them in the playoffs any sooner than next year.
What Are The Minnesota Vikings Capable Of?
The Minnesota Vikings (11-3) are Division Champs! Now, they need to keep the pedal down and lock up the two seed in the NFC. How can they do that? Maybe they should try and play the first three quarters as well as they do the fourth? The Vikings have been almost unstoppable with 15:00 minutes or less. The Vikings are asking attendees to wear white to go with the “White Out” themed game. The Vikings will be wearing white jerseys, pants, and even socks. This will be the first time the Vikings have ever worn all-white in a regular season home game.
Key stats going into this game. Justin Jefferson only needs ten more yards to break Hall of Famer Randy Moss’ single-season team record of 1632 yards set in 2003. Dalvin Cook needs 23 rushing yards to pass Ring of Honor running back Chuck Foreman for third in franchise history. Kirk Cousins comes into this game tied with Boomer Esiason for 25th all-time in career touchdown passes (247). His next touchdown will tie him with Tony Romo. I will go out on a limb here and say Cousins will have at least three touchdowns in each of these last three games. A big part of that is on the shoulders of Jefferson, who is determined to break Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 receiving yards. He’s currently on pace to beat it by seven yards.
I think he wants to do better than that Look for him to find the end zone two times a game for the rest of the year. Is Cousins making a case for being considered the “Best” quarterback in Vikings history? He is already number three in terms of touchdowns (148). He’s also third in yards (20,205). Completions, he’s again right there at number three. The Vikings need to continue to make use of Cook as a dual-threat option. Cook has 1045 rushing yards and 265 receiving yards. He should get to around 1300 and 325, respectively. Having a running back who can give you over 1500 all-purpose yards is a game changer.
On the defensive side, the Vikings need to stop giving up more yards than the offense. Right now there allowing 413.8 yards to opposing offenses. In comparison, the offense is averaging 375.1. If there is any hope for this defense to improve, I think it will have to be on the shoulders of cornerback Duke Shelley and cornerback Chandon Sullivan. Each has had to step up due to injuries and has done a solid job thus far. However, their level of play will have to take another step up down the stretch here for this defense to get better.
My Prediction
These two teams match up much more closely than their records indicate. The Vikings are favored by four points. The Giants’ offense is ranked 22nd overall, while their scoring is 14. For the Vikings on offense overall, they’re ranked 13 and eighth in scoring. The Giants are averaging 20 points a game, while the Vikings are averaging 25. The defenses are the difference, not so much for stopping teams but their lack of. The Giants are giving up, on average, two full points more than their offense is scoring (that isn’t good).
However, the Vikings, nearly as bad, still hold teams to 24.9 points which is two-tenths of a point less than their offense scores. Can this Viking’s defense limit Barkley? Will this Vikings team, who has not been very good in coverage, be their strength since it’s not the Giant’s strong suit? I think this game stays closer than Vikings fans will like, but as usual, they will have another game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Led by Cousins and Jefferson. I think the final score will be the Vikings 30-26.
