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The Vikes are like mirror images of the Rams. Both teams have good defenses, good running games and inconsistent QB play. Hopefully the Rams’ more difficult schedule has them more battle-hardened though.
Should be interesting. I see the Vikings have been installed as 2.5 pt favorites. Keep in mind you get 3 pts for HFA so the Rams would actually be favored on a neutral site which of course means NO EXCUSES THE RAMS SHOULD WIN THIS GAME <kidding, kidding ;)>
their defense is ranked ahead of the rams in terms of total yardage, but i find it curious that football outsiders has their defense ranked 24th while the rams is ranked 5th.
i haven’t seen much of the vikings defense, but i’ve seen enough of the rams to believe they are better than the 13 ranked defense according to traditional stats.
but also. the vikings offense could give this defense some problems. the rams strengths on defense are in the secondary and the pass rush. so i could see them struggling against adrian peterson. the niners were absolutely depleted at running back, and that made a huge difference in holding them to 6 points.
We are better than Minn. I am not sure by how much. We need a better passing game anyway. Against Minn would be a good time demonstrate that.
AgamemnonI agree with you that the Rams are probably better but I also think RFL is correct when he says the Vikings can do more things on offense. I don’t think the Rams are going to be able to hold them to just FG’s so more help from the offense would be appreciated this week.
Yeah, Turner is a good OC. It could be who plays better QB, Foles or Bridgewater.
AgamemnonThis game is like two Mike Tyson clones boxing each other.
Rams are 6th in overall defense–Vikes are 7th.
Vikes are 9th against the pass–Rams are 10th.
Rams are 9th against the rush–Vikes are 15th.
Vikes are 29th in total offense—Rams are 30th.
Vikes are 30th passing the ball—Rams are 32nd.
Rams are 3rd in rushing—Vikes are 5th.
Vikes played the Broncos tough–Rams played the Packers tough–both lost.
So….this SHOULD end in a tie.
However, the Vikings always bring a sinking feeling to my gut. The last three contests have been blowouts for the Vikings. Maybe their horns have more power than Rams horns–I don’t know. But I never like playing them–and this goes back to the 70s.
Vikes own a 20-14 all-time series lead with 2 ties.
Flip a coin on this one on a neutral field. Since the Vikes are at home I have to give them the edge.
20-17 Vikes win.
I hope I’m wrong.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
Minnesota has not lost yet at home.
They are
DEFENSE
9th on defense
2nd in points allowed
8th in passing defense
10th in sack percentage
15th in rushing defense
OFFENSE
29th on offense
21st in scoring offense
5th in rushing yards
30th in passing
28th in sack percentage (ie. sacks allowed)
Our stats seem to have some slight disagreements. 9th in total defense? I have 7th for the Vikes.
I got my stats from NFL.Com–the OFFICIAL stat site for the NFL. Where did you get yours from–a box of Cracker Jacks?
I haven’t used that line since I was ten years old. Some things just don’t get old.
Anyway–if you’re going to post all those stats you need to step out with a prediction. Don’t be scared.
I went with the Rams: 20-17.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
Vikings vs Rams
The combined record of the Vikings’ opponents thus far is 18-36.
They have victories over the Lions (twice), Chargers, Chiefs and Bears.
They have losses to the 49’ers and Broncos. Their avg opponents’ offensive ranking is 17th, defensive ranking 23rd.The combined record of the Rams’ opponents thus far is 27-27.
They have victories over the Seahawks, Cardinals, Browns and 49’ers.
They have losses to the R-skins, Steelers and Packers. Their avg oppnents’ offensive ranking is 16.8, defensive ranking 18th.This should be fun. If it’s a blow out I hope it’s our way or i will be disheartened (that’s right, I said dis heart endededed).
Yes, they need to play clean, limit mistakes and drops and penalties.
I think we need to win the turnover battle and have some explosive play(s) on teams or D to win.
I fear our O is going to get crushed and a “valiant” effort by the D ain’t enough – the D is going to have to dominate. And score. Or teams have to score. Or I should drink more Scotch. I dunno. It’s an exciting damn match-up though, blowing out the Vikes would make me think p-p-p-playoffs. and diddly poo
Been thinking about this a bit. I think, first of all, that the game will “tell us” a lot.
First, in terms of the playoff race, the game will matter a great deal in that we are directly competing with the Q’s for the last wildcard spot. As has been pointed out elsewhere, lose this game and we fall behind the Q’s 2 games AND the tie breaker. That’s a pretty big factor right there.
Second, as I said last week, from where we stand, we can’t afford to lose winnable games. Lose this game, and it becomes much harder to see us getting to 10-6. The pressure would be pretty intense to win a number of games against tough teams. Our playoff hopes would likely depend on catching AZ and remaining ahead of SEA.
But now think of the team as a competitive enterprise. I’m largely thinking here of the team’s self-perception and competitive focus. I’ve played on teams in a similar position, especially playing small college ball. The team I played on had been awful and we were gradually building something. Doing this involved not just raising our talent level, but also getting through levels of confidence. A team has to believe on the basis of nothing more than faith, then succeed, then start to believe on the basis of proved achievement. The difference between a team trying to believe it can win and a team that HAS WON is a big difference. It’s a difference that frequently affects performance.
The last few years, we have been growing in skills and talent, and we have shown we could steal a few games against elite teams. Especially elite teams we matched up well against. This is nice, but it is not the same thing as establishing a consistent level of competitiveness. As we’ve discussed ad nauseum. This team was caught in a rut of shoddy performance.
That’s a hard rut to get out of. Damn hard. But, this year we’ve begun to do it. We did not tank to start the season. We’ve beaten a couple of quality teams. AND we’ve shown that we can keep up the competitive level enough to win some routine games. That is a major accomplishment, folks.
Because of that, I think we are currently taking a step forward this season. It may well be no more than one step, and there’s a good chance it will fall short of the playoffs. I mean, we could win 10 but lose to MINNY this week and miss the playoffs.
So, this week, we face a hurdle we have not faced in years. Consider what I was discussing up above. We are facing a chance to grasp control of our own destiny for a playoff berth. How many freaking years has it been since we did that? We’ve had a couple of chances to climb out of an early season hole and get back into the playoff race. But we’ve not had a genuine chance to climb into the playoff picture since the latter days of the GSOT.
But this week, we have that chance. Reverse the speculations above. Suppose we WIN the game on Sunday.
In that event we’d be tied with Minny with an unbeatable tie breaker. That would be a pretty firm grip on the last playoff slot. Win the rest of the games we’d pretty much expect to win and we’d be likely to get in. MINNY would be sweating it out.
So, we have 2 teams with almost eerie similarities facing each other for a likely playoff spot. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to predict that this game could conceivably decide which one of these teams gets to the dance.
I think it’s pretty damn hard to predict how our lads will react to such a test. We haven’t faced such an opportunity since well before anyone on our roster joined the squad. I have no idea how they’ll perform. I don’t think the Rams know, either.
And that’s why I can’t agree with the proposition that we won’t learn anything from the game. I think we’ll learn a lot. I think we’ll learn whether this team is ready to take the step from comfortable non-contention to controlling their competitive destiny.
That’s a big step. A really big step. Either they take it or we’ll know they aren’t ready, most likely for this year. Either way, the season won’t be over, but I think the odds would be pretty heavily influenced.
So, what shall we think? Which of these 2 similar teams is ready to take the step?
I think I’d boil it down to this. I think MN is a year or so ahead of us in building up its competitive capabilities. Last year, they may have been pretty much where we are this year. They may well be a bit more mature in their evolution than we are.
So, I think I’d give them the edge. How big an edge I can’t say. As I said in my first post in the thread, I haven’t seen enough of either team.
Of course, I do know the Rams better than I do the Q’s. And, I think I’d say about what most of you would say.
To win this game, I think the passing game has to take a step or 2 up. They have got to begin the balance the field. They must complete enough downfield passes to relieve some of the pressure on the running game. TG will not get it done on his own. Especially if M Franke is correct in assessing the Q DTs as positively as he does.
If the team steps up to the challenge of fighting for a playoff spot and if Foles can complete, say 7-8 passes to WRs upfield (not by any means necessarily deep balls) then we can win the game. But, I think, the Q’s can probably win by playing their game tough, but without necessarily raising their performance anywhere.
But what do I know? I wouldn’t bet a nickel on the game. I don’t see much either way.
All I know is that we will learn a lot in this game. We’ll learn how the lads fare in a situation we haven’t seen in more than a decade.
By virtue of the absurd ...
this might sound simplistic. i don’t know. but i think gurley gives this team a new found attitude on offense. one they haven’t had since steven jackson. and despite how horrible the passing offense might be, i think the leadership gurley has demonstrated so early can be a difference maker. the only difference being steven jackson was in the twilight of his career under fisher. gurley is just getting started.
on defense, i don’t worry about a letdown so much. they seem much more business like than in year’s past. the problem is is that minnesota’s strength on offense play right into the rams’ weakness on defense. washington gave them a lot of problems in the second week. and i could see minnesota doing the same. not only that but this is at minnesota.
we’ll see. it’ll be tough. i’d feel so much better if foles, britt, and cook haven’t looked so bad.
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