Written by Chris Schad
The Minnesota Vikings are riding high. Sure, four meaningless games doesn’t do much for the confidence of the fan base, but head coach Mike Zimmer needed to wipe the bad taste from 2013 out of everybody’s mouth prior to the season opener against the St. Louis Rams on September 7.
​With four “wins” under their belt, the Vikings can at least feel like they’re moving forward instead of wondering how long this season is going to be. However, if they go into St. Louis thinking that this will be a cakewalk, they’ll wind up where they started in 2013.
The Rams are a team on the ropes. They lost Sam Bradford after re-tearing his ACL, they have a bunch of no names along the rest of their offense and their defense is on the mend with starting cornerback Trumaine Johnson expected to miss the first quarter of the season with a knee injury.
But there are things the Vikings should be aware of including the Rams’ defensive line. The Vikings had issues stopping opposing pass rushers from a season ago and they’ll get their first test trying to stop Pro Football Focus’ top 4-3 pass rusher in Robert Quinn. The rest of the defensive line isn’t a breather as Jake Long and first-round pick Aaron Donald figure to be aiming to put Matt Cassel on his back early and often while shutting down Adrian Peterson.
While the defense is something that the Vikings are probably already concerned with, the offense is something that could give Zimmer and company the urge to drink entire bottles of Pepto Bismol by halftime.
Zac Stacy isn’t electrifying by any means, but he’s effective enough to get the job done. Now the presumed centerpiece of the offense with Bradford gone, he’s going to get the ball and hope to do damage against a team that had issues with the run a season ago.
Even the emergence of Benny Cunningham should factor in as a back that can speed through the first line of defense and bring the pain in the passing game as well.
Speaking of which, Shaun Hill isn’t anything to laugh at either. He’s an adequate backup that can win games if a team forgets about him. He hasn’t seen meaningful action since 2010, but that season he threw for 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with the Detroit Lions.
Franchise quarterback? Nope. Adequate “Plan B?” Yup.
With this being played on the road, it has all the makings for a game that the Vikings could let slip away in the early going and wonder how it happened around 3:30 on Sunday afternoon.
If Minnesota wants to be recognized in a force to the rest of the NFC North, they’re going to need to stay on the gas like they have all preseason and make an example out of the Rams in Week 1.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |