The Vikings got a rousing win last week in Chicago to improve to 2-3 on the season while the Cowboys got beat down by the Patriots last weekend to fall to 5-1.  These two teams have contrasting styles which should make for an interesting football game.

The Vikings will go with what works which is running the football.  Adrian Peterson (607 yards rushing, 175 yards rushing) and Chester Taylor (143 yards rushing) will get the ball against a Cowboys defense that is only allowing 79.7 yards rushing per game and 3.4 yards per carry so far this season.  If the Cowboys stop the Vikings running game this will get ugly quickly.  But the Vikings are averaging 170.2 yards rushing per game and 5.6 yards per carry so far this season.  Plus, the Cowboys haven’t faced a back (Adrian Peterson) or offensive line like the one the Vikings will play.

The Cowboys would like to keep the offense balanced with Marion Barber (381 yards rushing) and Julius Jones (268 yards rushing) pounding the ball on the ground and Tony Romo throwing the ball to his elite corps of receivers.  It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys have much luck running the ball as the Vikings only allow 66.2 yards rushing and 2.7 ypc so far this season.  This could cause the Cowboys to attack the Vikings downfield and that will be a huge problem for the Vikings who are allowing 288.4 yards passing per game.  Look for Tony Romo to have a field day throwing the ball down the field to Terrell Owens (27 rec, 453 yards), Patrick Crayton (24 rec, 381 yards) and Jason Witten (32 rec, 454 yards) who should all have big games Sunday.

PREDICTION:  The Cowboys are averaging 35.7 points per game at home this season and I just don’t see any way that the Vikings will be able to keep up with them.  Cowboys 35, Vikings 14.

The Minnesota Vikings had an excellent gameplan against the Bears today and that was to run the ball all over them…..and that they did.  All Tavaris Jackson had to do was manage the game and he did a decent job completing 9 of 23 passes for 136 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Rookie running back Adrian Peterson was awesome today as he carried the ball 20 times for 224 yards (11.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  Peterson was good on kickoff returns (4 for 128 yards, 32.0 avg) as the Bears defense and special teams units will have nightmares all week about him.  Chester Taylor also got some good work in as he carried the ball 22 times for 83 yards (3.8 ypc).  Troy Williamson was the leading receiver for the Vikings with 2 catches for 69 yards (34.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Vikings finished up this game with 311 yards rushing on 43 carries (7.2 ypc) and they completed 9 of 23 passes for 133 yards.

Linebacker E.J. Henderson led the way on defense for the Vikings with 10 tackles.  Safety Dwight Smith added 5 tackles and an interception and linebacker Ben Leber pitched in with 3 tackles, 1 interception and 1 sack.  The Vikings held the Bears to only 83 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.5 ypc) but they completed 26 of 45 passes for 375 yards.  Devin Hester also scored on a 89-yard punt return for a TD.

Ryan Longwell kicked the game winning field goal as time expired from 55 yards out.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014003

The Vikings are coming off their bye week having lost three straight games while the Bears finally played a complete football game on both sides of the ball in beating the Packers.

The starting QB job is up in the air for this week for the Vikings as Kelly Holcomb and Tavaris Jackson have been splitting the snaps.  No matter who starts at QB the Vikings will likely want to run the ball.  Chester Taylor and rookie Adrian Peterson (383 yards rushing, 5.0 ypc) will likely split the carries against a rugged Bears defense that is allowing 98.8 yards rushing per game and only 3.7 yards per carry.  If the Vikings were smart they would start Holcomb and try to throw a little bit against a Bears defense that is allowing 246.0 yards passing per game.

The Bears might just come of the bus throwing the football on Sunday afternoon.  The Vikings defense only allows 62.0 yards rushing per game and 2.5 yards per carry this season and with Cedric Benson (303 yards rushing, 3.0 ypc) running poorly look for Brian Griese to take to the air.  If Griese gets time to throw the football (Bears QBs have been sacked 17 times this season) then the Bears will have success throwing the ball against a defense that is allowing 266.8 yards passing per game.  Look for the Bears to try to throw to the receivers a little more than they have been as Bernard Berrian (25 rec, 330 yards) and Mushin Muhammad (10 rec, 102 yards) are better players than they have shown so far this season.  But look for the Bears to keep Desmond Clark (19 rec, 231 yards, 2 TDs) and rookie Greg Olsen (6 rec, 85 yards, TD) both involved in short passes over the middle of the field.

PREDICTION:  The Bears are the better football team here.  Look for Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher to shut down the Vikings running game and force the Vikings to pass….which is something they can’t do.  Look for the Bears to win this game by at least 8 points.

The Vkings have placed DT Darrion Scott on Injured Reserve ending his season.  Scott broke his foot in practice on Monday.  He only made 1 tackle this season but he is a decent player and this will hurt the depth of the D-Line with him out.

The Vikings need to get back to running the football more than they pass it.  That helps shorten the game and it gives the defense a break when the offense is moving the chains.  The Vikings have thrown the ball on 53.6% of the offensive plays and that’s too many because they are weak at both QB and WR/TE.  They also need to get the ball in Adrian Peterson’s hands and make Chester Taylor the backup.  Peterson is by far the best player the Vikings have on offense so they are hurting themselves whenever they give the ball to a different running back.  All Peterson has done this season is rush for 383 yards on 76 carries (5.0 ypc) for 1 TD and he also has caught 9 passes for 166 yards (18.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  To take the football out of Peterson’s hands is stupid but no one ever said the Vikings’ had a bunch of bright coaches.