OLB Chad Greenway is having another solid year for the Vikings so far in 2009.  He has played in 7 games this season and he has 40 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he has forced 1 fumble, has defensed 3 passes and he has 2 interceptions.  Greenway is a good all-around football player who is just as effective defending both the run and the pass.  The Vikings seem to be waiting for the right game to send Greenway blitzing a lot and it could be tomorrow in Green Bay.

The Minnesota Vikings (6-1) are on the road Sunday against Brett Favre’s former team the Green Bay Packers (4-2).  This game has a lot of hype going into it and Lambeau Field will be electric due to Favre’s return.  Favre loves the big stage and will have a lot of emotions flowing through him, but he seems to thrive in those situations.  I think Favre and Adrian Peterson will be able to do what they did last time against the Packers, where they put up 30 points.

The Packers have a very good quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but they simply cannot protect him to save their lives.  Rodgers still puts up very good numbers, despite getting sacked nearly five times a game.  Jared Allen had 4.5 sacks last game against Rodgers and the Packers, so he will probably get a lot of double teams in this rematch.  That will open things up for other guys like Kevin Williams, Ray Edwards, and Pat Williams to attack Rodgers.  If the Vikings can shut down running back Ryan Gran, then they can really key in on Rodgers and the Packers will be in big trouble.  This game should be exciting and it will be interesting to see how the Green Bay crowd reacts to Favre, and vice-versa.  I think the Vikings will come out with another win in this one, as the Packers just can’t seem to protect Rodgers enough.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 34, Green Bay Packers 31

The Minnesota Vikings will be without Antoine Winfield for the next 4-6 weeks due to a fracture in his right foot.  Winfield has played in 6 games this season for the Vikings and he has made 30 tackles, defensed 4 passes and picked off 1.  28-year old Benny Sapp will replace Winfield in the starting lineup and that is a huge downgrade.  Sapp has played in 7 games for the Vikings this season and he has 16 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes.  This injury will definately hurt the Vikings as Winfield is a force defending the run or the pass.

Two turnovers killed the Vikings in this game yesterday.  The first one was when Brett Favre lost a fumble in the 4th quarter that was returned 77 yards for a TD by OLB LaMarr Woodley of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  But the other turnover was the final nail in the coffin for the Vikings as Steelers’ LB Keyaron Fox returned a interception that bounced off a Vikings’ player 82 yards for a TD with only 1 minute remaining in the game.  If the Vikings didn’t turn the ball over at the end of the game they would have either forced overtime or they would have beaten the Steelers.  Brett Favre completed 34 of 51 passes for the Vikings yesterday for 334 yards with 1 interception.  The Steelers did a good job of defending the run as Adrian Peterson finished up this game with 69 yards rushing on 18 carries (3.8 ypc) with a TD.  Peterson also caught 4 passes for 60 yards (15.0 avg) in this game.  Sidney Rice had another monster game for the Vikings with 11 catches for 136 yards (12.4 avg).  Percy Harvin also had a solid game as he caught 3 passes for 42 yards (14.0 avg) and he also returned 5 kickoffs for 167 yards (33.4 avg) with a 88-yard TD.  The Vikings finished up with 386 total yards of offense in this game (89 rushing, 297 passing) as they held onto the ball for 36:58.

Linebacker E.J. Henderson and CB Cedric Griffin led the way for the Vikings’ on D with 7 tackles apiece.  The Vikings played pretty well on defense only allowing 13 points against a offense that is pretty high powered.  The Steelers finished up with 259 total yards on offense (106 rushing, 153 passing) in this game.  The Vikings are now 6-1 on the season.

The Minnesota Vikings (6-0) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) will get together at Heinz Field and it should be a great game to watch.  The Vikings will likely still come out running the ball against the Steelers with Adrian Peterson who shredded the Ravens’ D for 143 yards rushing last week.  That should worry the Steelers a little bit as the Ravens had a better run defense coming into last week than they did.  The Steelers are only allowing 74.5 yards rushing per game this season but that is mostly because teams are having success throwing against them this year (200.7 yards per game).  Brett Favre has been outstanding this season (109.5 QB Rating) and he will likely have success against the Steelers’ D as long as the Vikings O-Line gives him time to throw the football.  WRs Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin will likely keep the Steelers’ CBs busy deep.  On the short stuff Favre prefers to use TE Visanthe Shiancoe and Chester Taylor. 

The Vikings are allowing 248.5 yards passing per game and star CB Antoine Winfield will likely be out for this game.  Those two factors will lead the Steelers to throw the ball early and often in this game.  WRs Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace and TE Heath Miller will cause matchup problems for the Vikings’ D in this game.  But, the Vikings bring the heat in the passing game as they already have 21 sacks this season.  Ben Roethlisberger has been great this season but he sometimes gets careless with the football when he gets popped a couple of times in the game.  DE Jared Allen (7 1/2 sacks) is the master of the big play for the Vikings’ D so the Steelers’ #1 priority has to be to keep him away from Big Ben.  The Vikings have a big defensive line so they should be able to handle Rashard Mendenhall in the running game.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, STEELERS 24

Brett Favre always had a fondness for throwing to the TE when his team got close to the endzone and that has not changed this season.  Now his main man near the goal line is Visanthe Shiancoe who has caught 17 passes for 164 yards (9.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He always seems to find a way to get open when the Vikings really need him to and Favre will keep throwing to him as long as he does.  Shiancoe is in line to have the best year of his NFL career in 2009.

The Minnesota Vikings (6-0) barely escaped defeat after blowing a 17-point 4th quarter lead against the Baltimore Ravens (3-3).  Ravens’ kicker Steven Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left to give the Vikings the victory.  The offense played very well in this one for the Vikings, with Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson leading the way.  Favre threw three touchdowns and 278 yards on 21/29 (72%) attempts.  Peterson rushed for 143 yards on 22 carries (6.5 avg), his first 100-yard rushing game since week one.  It was also the second straight 100-yard rusher the Ravens have given up after going 39-straight games without giving one up.

The Vikings defense played pretty well most of the game containing Flacco, but did a terrible job in the fourth quarter.  Flacco threw for 196 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter alone.  The Vikings defense also did a terrible job of containing Ray Rice, who ran for two touchdowns 77 yards on 10 carries (7.7 avg) and caught ten passes for 117 yards.  After a one-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Visanthe Shiancoe, the Vikings took a 27-10 lead with 10:08 to play.  The Ravens went on to score three touchdowns in the quarter and Ray Rice gave the Ravens a 31-30 lead after a 33-yard touchdown run with 3:37 to play.  Favre came right back though, and showed off his 40-year-old cannon with a 58-yard strike to Sidney Rice to set Ryan Longwell up for an easy field goal.  Longwell converted on the 31-yard attempt and the Vikings took a 33-31 lead with 1:49 to play.  That gave Joe Flacco enough time to get his team in position to take down the Vikings, but Ravens’ kicker Hauschka pulled the kick left and the Vikings escaped with the win to keep their undefeated season alive.

Rookie Percy Harvin and 23-year old Sidney Rice have both really stepped up this season for the Vikings.  Harvin has caught 18 passes for 233 yards (12.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 5 times for 28 yards (5.6 ypc) this season.  He has also returned 14 kickoffs for 437 yards (31.2 avg) with a 101-yard TD return.  Harvin is awesome in the open field and he has the speed to score any time he touches the football.  Sidney Rice was considered a first round bust until this season as he is stepping up his game.  Rice has played in all 5 games this season and he has caught 17 passes for 233 yards (13.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  In his first two years with the Vikings, Rice played in 26 games with the Vikings and he caught 46 passes for 537 yards (11.7 avg) with 8 TD grabs.

The Minnesota Vikings (5-0) are taking on a frustrated and angry Baltimore Ravens (3-2) team at home on Sunday.  The Ravens are coming off two tough losses in a row now, and Ray Lewis and the Ravens are going to be determined to end the Vikings undefeated season.  The Vikings offense has been great this year, with Adrian Peterson and the 40-year-old Brett Favre leading the way.  The Ravens defense gave up their first 100-yard rusher in 40 games last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, so Adrian Peterson is going to try and do more of the same.  He has been outstanding this year, rushing for 481 yards on 99 carries (4.9 avg) and seven touchdowns.  The Ravens are going to focus on shutting him down though, so Brett Favre will have to a good game.  Favre has been very good lately, and has thrown nine touchdowns and only two interceptions while racking up 1069 passing yards.

The Vikings defense has done a great job getting to quarterbacks, but their run-defense has room for improvement.  They are giving up 96 rushing yards per game and the Ravens have a great combination of running backs in Willis McGahee and Ray Rice.  Rice and McGahee have combined for 563 yards on 101 carries (5.6 avg) and six touchdowns.  They are both threats in the passing game as well.  Jared Allen and that front line need to attack quarterback Joe Flacco and force him into some mistakes, since Flacco has thrown five picks this year.  He has proven he is a good quarterback in this league though, and has thrown for 1289 yards and nine touchdowns with a 64% completion rate.  This is going to be a fun game to watch, as the Vikings have one of the best offenses in the game and the Ravens have one of the best defenses.  I like a good defense over a good offense though, so I think the Ravens will pull out a close victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 24, Baltimore Ravens 27

The Vikings have released 24-year old QB John David Booty from the practice squad.  Booty wasn’t going to get the chance to play for the Vikings this season as he was behind Brett Favre, Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.  The Vikings really did him a favor by letting him go as he can sign with any team and he should be able to find a better situation for himself.

UPDATE:  The Vikings have re-signed Booty to the practice squad.