This should be a great football game with two teams that play exactly the same way.  Both teams are great defensive teams that are going with veteran backup QBs with great running games.  Gus Frerotte was efficient in his first start last week and he will have to throw the ball a lot on first and second down to open up some running lanes for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor against the Titans’ defense which is allowing only 89.0 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  Frerotte will have to be careful when throwing the ball as the Titans already have 11 sacks and 7 interceptions this season.

The Titans will also have to throw the ball to open up holes for the running game as the Vikings only allow 70.3 yards rushing per game and 3.2 yards per carry.  Still, the Titans will want to run the ball with rookie RB Chris Johnson and LenDale White but they will have to fight for every single yard.  The Titans’ offensive line has played great this season as the Titans are averaging 156.0 yards rushing per game this season and Titans’ QBs have only been sacked 2 times this year.  With that in mind look for Collins to attack the safeties of the Vikings with TE Bo Scaife and the corners with WRs Justin Gage and Justin McCareins.

PREDICTION:  TENNESSEE TITANS 17, MINNESOTA VIKINGS 14

The switch to Gus Frerotte at QB worked out well last Sunday.  He completed 16 of 28 passes for 204 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Adrian Peterson carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards (4.5 ypc) against the Panthers as the Vikings tried to watch his workload due to injury.  Chester Taylor pitched in with 11 carries for 44 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg).  Bernard Berrian finally has a QB that can get him the football as he caught 3 passes for 79 yards (26.3 avg).  The Vikings finished up with 119 yards on 32 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 28 passes for 186 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Vikings last Sunday.  Linebacker E.J. Henderson led the way for the Vikings with 12 tackles.  Fellow linebacker Chad Greenway also had a solid game finishing with 9 tackles and a sack.  CB Antoine Winfield had 2 tackles and a sack that caused a fumble that he returned 19 yards for a TD.  The Panthers finished up with only 47 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 29 passes for 157 yards.  The Vikings improved to 1-2 on the season with this win.

These are two football teams going in opposite directions right now as the Panthers are 2-0 while the Vikings are 0-2.  This will be interesting to watch as the Panthers’ running game is working well (128.0 yards rushing per game, 4.3 ypc) but the Vikings have a great run defense (82.0 yards per game, 3.6 ypc).  With that in mind look for the Panthers to throw a lot on first down.  That could be a problem for the Vikings who are allowing 244.5 yards passing per game.  If Jake Delhomme has time to throw the Vikings will be in trouble because Steve Smith is officially back.  Mushin Muhammad, D.J. Hackett and TE Dante Rosario are all other decent weapons in the passing game for the Panthers.  Still, don’t expect an all-out passing attack out of the Panthers as they really like what RBs Jonathan Stewart (130 yards) and DeAngelo Williams (117 yards) are doing on the ground for them this season.

The Vikings finally woke up and benched Tarvaris Jackson who is an awful QB.  Even with an outstanding running game he still couldn’t throw the football.  With Adrian Peterson a little iffy for this game the Vikings might have to lean on Chester Taylor at RB.  He’s more than capable of having a big game if Peterson can’t go.  No matter which RB gets the football the Vikings should have some success on the ground as they are averaging 183.5 yards rushing per game and 5.4 ypc and that was with no threat of a passing game.  As soon as the Vikings establish the running game look for Gus Frerotte to run some play action passes and attempt to get the ball deep to speedster Bernard Berrian.

PREDICTION:  CAROLINA PANTHERS 20, MINNESOTA VIKINGS 17

The Vikings have benched QB Tarvaris Jackson and they have replaced him with veteran Gus Frerotte.  This was the right move for the Vikings to make as they couldn’t keep waiting around for Jackson to do something.  Jackson started both games this season for the Vikings and he completed 30 of 59 passes (50.8%) for 308 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception (64.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 10 times for 66 yards (6.6 ypc) and lost a fumble.  The Vikings only averaged 154.0 yards passing per game and 17 points per game in the first two games of the season and that just isn’t good enough.  Frerotte should be able to get the ball to the WRs as most teams cheat against the Vikings with 8 or 9 men in the box.

Hopefully the Vikings learned a tough lesson yesterday…….that you can’t sit on a lead in the NFL, especially when you’re playing against a Hall of Fame QB.  The Vikings were leading this game 15-0 in the third quarter as they kept trying to run the clock out instead of trying to score more points and that strategy was fatal in the end.  Tarvaris Jackson had another bad game completing 14 of 24 passes for 130 yards and he lost a fumble.  Adrian Peterson was awesome as usual as he rushed for 160 yards on 29 carries (5.5 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 20 yards (5.0 avg).  Chester Taylor pitched in with 4 carries for 18 yards (4.5 ypc) yesterday.  The Vikings finished up with 180 yards rushing on 35 carries (5.1 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 24 passes for 119 yards.

The Vikings’ Defense was awesome against the run yesterday and they were good against the pass until the 4th quarter and it helped cost them this game.  Linebackers Chad Greenway (6 tackles) and E.J. Henderson (6 tackles, sack) led the way for the Vikings’ D yesterday.  CB Cedric Griffin also pitched in with 6 tackles against the Colts.  The Colts finished up with only 25 yards rushing on 19 carries (1.3 ypc) but they completed 26 of 42 passes for 296 yards.  The Vikings are now 0-2 despite the fact that they probably have played well enough to be 2-0.

The Indianapolis Colts must jump on the Vikings quick with the passing game game to force the Vikings to play from behind which they are not capable of doing.  Peyton Manning looked a little timid in his first game since last year last week as the Colts’ kept the passing game to the short stuff.  They will likely have to do that again due to offensive line troubles which could really hurt the Colts in this football game.  The Vikings have a great defensive line against the run and they will likely take Joseph Addai out of this game.  If that happens the Colts will be in deep trouble against the Vikings despite the fact that the Packers were effective throwing the ball against them last week.

The Vikings are foaming at the mouth to run the football against a Colts’ Defense which allowed 183 yards rushing (4.7 ypc) last week against the Bears who are not known for their offense.  Look for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor to dominate this game especially on plays up the middle as the Colts are very small at nose guard.  Also, QB Tarvaris Jackson will take off running a few times in this game and he might be the best running QB in the NFL right now as he rushed for 65 yards on 9 carries (7.2 ypc) last week against the Packers.  If the Colts put too many defenders in the box look for the Vikings to throw deep to WR Bernard Berrian off of play action.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 20

The Vikings proved again on Monday Night Football that they are a legit NFL QB away from being a elite team.  Tarvaris Jackson completed 16 of 35 passes for 178 yards with 1 TD pass (23 yarder to Sidney Rice) and 1 interception.  He also rushed for 65 yards on 9 carries (7.2 ypc).  Adrian Peterson was his usual outstanding self against the Packers as he carried the ball 19 times for 103 yards (5.4 ypc) with a TD run.  The Vikings finished up with a impressive 187 yards rushing on 33 carries (5.7 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 35 passes for 168 yards.

CB Antoine Winfield and LB Chad Greenway led the way for the Vikings’ Defense with 8 tackles apiece.  The Packers finished up with 139 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.1 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 22 passes for 178 yards.  The Vikings also screwed up on special teams in this game as CB Will Blackmon of the Packers scored on a 76-yard punt return.  The Vikings better get their act together as an angry Colts team is heading into town this week.

The Minnesota Vikings improved in the off season while the Packers said goodbye to Green Bay legend Brett Favre.  The Vikings will do what they always do by running the football early and often against the Packers.  Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor will be in a battle for yards with linebackers Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk and Barry Poppinga.  The Packers have a really good pass defense so QB Tarvaris Jackson will have to be careful with the football.  The Vikings would love to get the ball deep to new toy Bernard Berrian but they will need to keep DEs Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamilia away from Jackson and that will be easier said than done.

The Packers’ offense will likely still be a potent unit as long as Aaron Rodgers stays healthy.  The Vikings have the best run defense in the NFL with DTs Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and inside linebacker E.J. Henderson.  RBs Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson will likely have a tough time getting yards on Monday Night.  But, if the Packers can keep DE Jared Allen away from Aaron Rodgers he could have a field day.  WR Greg Jennings is the best deep threat on the Packers and he will be dealing with CBs Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin all game long.  Donald Driver and tight end Donald Lee will likely be attacking rookie free safety Tyrell Johnson and that could lead to some bad news for the Vikings on Monday Night.

PREDICTION:  GREEN BAY PACKERS 27, MINNESOTA VIKINGS 17

I think the Vikings have a pretty good football team and I would have no problem suggesting the over if they had a real NFL QB on the roster.  They don’t but I’m still suggesting a small play on the over because of the Vikings’ running game and defense.  I like the Vikings to win 9 or 10 games this season.

The Vikings have released Brooks Bollinger.  Bollinger had a poor preseason for the Vikings and it cost him his job.  Bollinger only completed 14 of 35 passes (40%) in the preseason for 133 yards without a TD pass or a interception (51.3 QB Rating).  Bollinger lost out to rookie QB John David Booty for the #3 job this season.  Bollinger played 2 years for the Vikings covering 7 games (1 start) in which he completed 46 of 68 passes (67.6%) for 537 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  He also carried the football 5 times for 18 yards (3.6 ypc) for the Vikings.  Bollinger might be able to hook on with another team this season.