The Vikings faked a FG late in the game against the Panthers and got a TD on it.  Kicker Ryan Longwell threw a 16 yard TD pass to back-up tight-end Richard Owens.  Brad Johnson managed the game well, completing 19 of 31 passes (61.3%) for 243 yards and a pick-off.  RB Chester Taylor had a huge game, rushing the ball 24 times for 113 yards (4.7 ypc) and caught 3 passes for 15 yards.  Second-year WR Troy Williamson caught 6 passes for 102 yards (17.0 avg) and Travis Taylor caught 3 passes for 65 yards (21.7 avg).

The Vikings defense had another strong effort on Sunday.  The Vikings allowed 107 yards rushing to the Panthers on 4.0 yards per carry.  The Panthers only completed 51.5% of their passes for 164 net yards passing.

The Vikings are looking good this season.

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With Steve Smith still hurting it will be important to run the ball well against the Vikings.  The Vikings defense played very well against the run and pass against the Redskins on Monday night.  Jake Delhomme will need to be smart with the football and not force it into tight areas, because the Vikings have a very good secondary.  The Panthers will need to dig down deep with all of the injuries they’ve endured so far, or they’ll be in trouble again this week.

The Vikings have a new identity under coach Brad Childress.  The Vikings feature the run and a short passing attack.  The Panthers should be able to handle the passing game of Minnesota, because they lack a big-time receiver.  Chester Taylor will have a heavy load against the suddenly soft run defense of the Panthers.

Unless the Vikings have a Monday Night Football hangover, they look to have the edge at home in this game.

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Coach Childress suspended starting safety Dwight Smith before the game last night.  Childress is the new sheriff in town and he’s going to run a tight ship.  Rookie 5th round pick Greg Blue started in Smith’s place last night.  I’m sure this move got the players’ attention.

This was a hard hitting defensive game, but the Vikings mustered just enough offense to get coach Brad Childress a win in his NFL debut as a head coach.  Brad Johnson completed 16 of 30 passes (53.3%) for 223 yards and a TD.  RB Chester Taylor was a workhorse, carrying the ball 31 times for 88 yards (2.8 ypc) and a TD, he also caught 3 passes for 43 yards.  WR Troy Williamson had a couple of drops, but still caught 4 passes for 77 yards (19.3 avg).  TE Jermaine Wiggins caught 5 passes for 29 yards.  WR Marcus Robinson caught 1 pass, but it was a 20 yard TD.

The Vikings defense played a great game.   The Redskins ran for 103 yards on 25 carries (4.1 ypc).  The Vikings allowed the Redskins to complete 60.7% of their passes, but only for 163 net yards thru the air.

It speaks volumes about Todd Pinkston that his former offensive co-ordinator Brad Childress cut him loose after signing him earlier in the week.  The Vikings needed receiver help, yet, Coach Childress cut him anyways.  This could be the beginning of the end of Pinkston’s career.

Click here to see if the Vikings are favored

This game is a battle of old QB’s and good defenses.  When the Vikings have the ball, they are gonna try to feed it to RB Chester Taylor.  Taylor could have problems running the ball against the vastly under-rated linebacking corps of the Washington Redskins.  One area that the Vikings are sure to try to exploit is the weakness the Skins have at the CB position.  Starter Shawn Springs is out for the Skins and his replacement is Kenny Wright who’s old and slow.  The other corner is young Carlos Rogers. 

When the Redskins have the ball, they will probably also try to establish the run.  The Skins will have success running the ball outside of the tackles, but inside running will be tough against the Williams boys (Kevin and Pat) at tackle.  The Skins will then run play action and try to get the ball deep to Santana Moss, Randle El and Brandon Lloyd.  TE Chris Cooley is another nice weapon in the Skins arsenal.

Look for the Skins to win a low scoring football game.

Brad Childress is a drill sergeant type tough guy that was offensive co-ordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2002-2005.  Childress will be bringing his version of the West Coast offense to Minneapolis.  We’ll see how it all works out soon enough.  This is Childress’ first NFL head-caoching job.

The Vikings traded OT Adam Goldberg to the Rams for an undisclosed draft pick.