The Minnesota Vikings (3-0) and Brett Favre came from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers (2-1) today at home.  It didn’t look very good for the Vikings late in the game, as 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis to put the 49ers up 24-20 with 8:12 to play.  Then Brett Favre decided to bring the Vikings back, as he lead them down field to the 49ers’ 32-yard line.  It looked like Favre and the Vikings’ comeback might fall short, as they had only 12 seconds left and still had 32 yards to get to the end-zone.  Favre then dropped back, weaved through a few 49ers defenders and fired a bullet to the back of the end-zone to back-up recevier Greg Lewis.  This was Lewis’ first catch and touchdown of the season, and it was also the first action he has seen this season.

The Vikings offense did not look very good through most of the game until that final drive and Favre finished with 301 yards on 24/46 (52%) attempts, with two touchdowns and one interception.  Favre was getting knocked around all game by the pressuring 49ers’ defense. Adrian Peterson was able to get one big play, with a 35-yard run in the first quarter, but only finished with 85 yards and no touchdowns on 19 carries (4.5 avg).  The Vikings defense did a good job stopping the run, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that the 49ers star running back Frank Gore left the game (ankle) after one carry.  The 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill was effective against the Vikings pass defense, as he had two nice touchdown passes, but Vikings’ Cedric Griffin was able to intercept him once.

The Vikings got a huge momentum lift when Percy Harvin returned a kick-off 101-yards for a touchdown.  The play put the Vikings up 20-17 late in the third quarter and without that play the Vikings probably lose this game.  Overall, this wasn’t the Vikings’ best game but with Favre’s late heroics they were able to pull out the win and that is all that matters.

The Minnesota Vikings (2-0) are hosting the San Francisco 49ers (2-0) at the Metrodome this week and both teams are looking to stay undefeated.  The Vikings have not had much of a challenge yet this year, as they have beaten two weak teams in the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions.  They even let both of those teams build a lead on them before coming back and getting the easy victories.

Adrian Peterson has been fantastic so far this year and has a 6.8 yards per carry average.  He is battling a sore back but I don’t think it is going to affect Peterson too much.  I’m sure the 49ers and their head coach Mike Singletary are going to do everything they can to keep Adrian Peterson from getting too much, but Peterson has proved he can run around, over, or through people.  They also have got themselves Brett Favre at quarterback, and even though he has not really done much this year, he is still Brett Favre.  With the 49ers probably over-emphasizing stopping Peterson, Favre may have himself a break out game.

The 49ers have themselves a pretty impressive running game too, but Frank Gore sprained his ankle last week.  Gore, who ran for over 200 yards last week, says his ankle is fine and he is going to play.  An ankle problem for a running back can effect their play, as they are constantly cutting and driving off it.  49ers quarterback Shaun Hill has been in a similar situation as Favre this year, not having to do much besides handing the ball off.  Hill has been solid for the 49ers and doesn’t turn the ball over much, but he is not going to put the team on his back and win the game.

I think Adrian Peterson is the big difference maker in this game.  He may not put up huge numbers with the 49ers doing whatever they can to stop him, but because of that I think it will open up a lot of things for Favre and the passing game. Peterson has also proved he can be very effective even when teams know he is getting the ball.  The 49ers are going to put up a good effort but I think the Vikings are going to pull out the victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  49ers 24, Vikings 30

Adrian Peterson’s back is tired from carrying the entire Minnesota Vikings team so far this season.  He injured his back in the Vikings week two win over the Detroit Lions but it won’t keep him out of the Vikings’ game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.  Peterson says the injury “is not a big deal.”  In two games so far this season Peterson has rushed for 272 yards on 40 carries (6.8 avg) and has four touchdowns.  That 6.8 yards per carry is pretty amazing and Peterson is probably the best player in the NFL right now, if you don’t believe me check out some of his highlights here:

The Minnesota Vikings (2-0) looked like they might be upset by the win-less Detroit Lions (0-2) as they were down 10-0 midway through the 2nd quarter.  That all changed in the second half, as the Vikings put up 20 points after being down 10-7 at the break.  The Vikings had 27 unanswered points until a late field goal by the Lions in the 4th quarter, winning the game 27-13.

Brett Favre made history with his 271st consecutive start, a streak dating back to 1992.  Favre only threw for 155 yards, but he had a solid and extremely efficient game through the air.  He went 23/27 (85%) and had two touchdowns.  The Vikings somehow kept Adrian Peterson under 100 yards on the ground, but that’s only because he carried the ball 15 times.  He still piled up 92 yards (6.1 avg) and had a 27 yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter that put the Vikings up for good.

The Vikings defense looked a little shaky in the first half, as they put themselves into a 10-0 hole against the worst team in the league.  The Lions have now lost 19 in a row and it looks like they may challenge the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 straight losses.  Mathew Stafford threw two interceptions and has now thrown five in his first two NFL games.  The Lions do look like they are improving, but are going to struggle all season.  The Vikings will host the San Francisco 49ers (2-0) next Sunday at home.

FINAL SCORE:   Lions 13, Vikings 27

The Minnesota Vikings are headed to Ford Field Sunday as they take on the Detroit Lions.  The Vikings are looking to build off their 34-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns in week one.  Brett Favre will be making history in this game, as he is going to make his 271st straight start, breaking the former record held by Vikings great Jim Marshall.

This wont be a very challenging game for the Vikings, as the Lions are in a rebuilding year after going 0-16 last year.  They have a rookie in Mathew Stafford starting for them at quarterback, and he is still adjusting to the speed of the NFL.  Stafford threw three interceptions in the Lions loss last week, but he does have a big weapon in wide receiver Calvin Johnson.  The Vikings defense should not have much of a problem with Stafford, Johnson and the rest of the Lions offense however.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings win last week, and look for more of the same from the super talented running back.  The Lions gave up 157 yards on the ground last week against the Saints, so it looks like they have no answer for Peterson and he is going to run all over the Lions defense.  Favre has a career record of 23-9 against the Lions and will most likely be improving that record.  I don’t see this being a very close game with the Vikings winning easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:   Lions 24, Vikings 42

Rookie WR/KR Percy Harvin was just as advertised in his season debut.  He carried the ball 2 times for 22 yards (11.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 36 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD.  Harvin was electric on kickoff returns too as he returned 3 of them for 99 yards (33.0 avg).  Look for more big things out of Harvin this season as they will look to get him more involved in the offense as the year goes on.

The Minnesota Vikings really dominated the second half of this game which is why they won.  Brett Favre played the “game manager” role for the Vikings in this game as he completed 14 of 21 passes for 110 yards with 1 TD pass.  Adrian Peterson started slowly in this game but then he exploded helping the Vikings put the Browns away.  He carried the ball 25 times for 180 yards (7.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 1 pass for 18 yards.  Rookie WR Percy Harvin was also busy in this game with 3 catches for 36 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD grab.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 22 yards (11.0 ypc) in a solid NFL debut.  The Vikings finished up with 310 total yards (225 rushing, 85 passing) in this game.  Look for the Vikings to open up the offense as the need arises.

The defense gave a great team effort as they sacked Brady Quinn 5 times today.  Linebacker E.J. Henderson led the way for the Vikings in this game with 8 tackles and a sack.  CB Cedric Griffin also was a standout with six tackles and a interception.  The Browns only finished up with 268 total yards on offense (89 rushing, 179 passing) in this game and a lot of the yards came in garbage time.  The Vikings’ special teams also had a major blip allowing Joshua Cribbs to return a punt 67 yards for a TD right before halftime.  This was almost a complete effort by the Vikings and it was a very, very solid win.

Don’t believe what you’ve been reading in newspapers about this game being a blowout because it won’t be.  Sure, the Vikings have Adrian Peterson but I fully expect the Browns to bring an extra man into the box and dare 40-year old Brett Favre to beat them throwing the ball.  Of course, Peterson could still beat a 8-man front as he was facing them almost all of last season.  The Browns really need a great effort out of the LBing corps if they are to win this football game.  I still look for Peterson to get 80-100 yards rushing……if he has a bad day.  If he has a great day he might go for the NFL record against a Browns defense that allowed 151.9 yards rushing per game last season.  Favre could be deadly on play action against the young corners of the Browns but he has to be careful because Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright are pickoff artists.

The Cleveland Browns should come out passing the football early to try to get the lead before attempting to run the ball.  WR Braylon Edwards is in his free agent walk year so don’t look for him to be dropping too many passes.  Still, Brady Quinn will have to be careful of knowing wherever CB Antoine Winfield is as he’s a big time corner.   Look for Quinn to set up quick and get rid of the football as the Vikings have a pretty good pass rush.  The Vikings have one of the best run defenses in the NFL so don’t look for Jamal Lewis or rookie James Davis to be rolling up big numbers tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 20, CLEVELAND BROWNS 17

The Vikings had issues in this game last Friday Night as the special teams, offense and defense all having problems.  Tarvaris Jackson was the only QB that didn’t have a big boo-boo for the Vikings in this game as he completed 2 of 4 passes for 42 yards with 1 TD pass.  Sage Rosenfels did not look too good completing 7 of 15 passes for 115 yards with a interception that was returned for a TD.  John David Booty wasn’t much better completing 7 of 13 passes for 85 yards with a interception that was also returned for a TD.  Ian Johnson was busy in this game with 61 yards rushing on 17 carries (3.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 avg) in this game.  WR Darius Reynaud had a big play in this game for the Vikings as he returned a punt 81 yards for a TD.  But, the Vikings also allowed Cowboys’ WR Jesse Holley to return a punt 82 yards for a TD (the game deciding play).  The Vikings finished up with 369 total yards (127 rushing, 242 passing) in this game.

DT Letroy Guion was very busy in this game for the Vikings as he had 2 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and a interception!  The Cowboys finished up with 310 total yards of offense in this game (92 rushing, 218 passing).  The Vikings finished a solid 3-1 this pre-season.

The Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams cannot be suspended this year by the NFL for violating the league’s anti-doping policy…for now.  The two Williams, who are unrelated, both tested positive for a banned substance in the 2008 training camp.  The NFL wants to suspend them both four games.  The two both tested positive for the diuretic bumetanide, which is on the league’s banned substance list.  The bumetanide got into their system through an over-the-counter weight loss supplement called StarCaps.

The problem is that StarCaps did not list the banned substance, bumetanide, in its ingredients and the players say that they did not know the banned substance was in the product.  After the NFL issued their four game suspensions, the Vikings tackles sued the NFL in Minnesota state court.  According to Minnesota state law an employer must give an employee the opportunity to explain their positive drug test, which the NFL did not do.  It went to federal court after that, and for the time being both Williamses will not be suspended.

I think this is a terrible ruling, as every professional athlete should know exactly what they are putting in their body no matter what.  The NFL even issued a warning about products like StarCaps in 2006, telling players that there are many more ingredients in a lot of those over-the-counter supplements then they are required to list.  This is great news for Vikings fans though, as the Williams combo are great run stoppers and will be able to plug up holes all season long.