The Minnesota Vikings (10-1) were never really challenged in their win over the Chicago Bears (4-7) Sunday and cruised to an easy win.  Brett Favre had a great game, throwing for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns on 32/48 attempts.  Adrian Peterson had a sub-par game by his standards, rushing for only 85 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries (3.4 avg).  Percy Harvin was one of Favre’s favorite targets in this one, catching 6 passes for 101 yards and a score.  He also had 2 carries for 45 yards, as he is now a threat for the Vikings on end-arounds.

The Vikings defense did a great job keeping the Bears out of this game.  Jared Allen had another great game for the Vikings defense, getting 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 1 pass defensed.  He helped the Vikings force Jay Cutler into another bad game, getting him to throw 2 interceptions and finishing the game with only 1 touchdown and 147 yards on 18/23 passes.  They shut down the running game as well, holding them to 43 yards as a team. It was a very convincing win for the Vikings and they are playing very well as the season is coming close to the final month.

The Minnesota Vikings (9-1) are hosting the Chicago Bears (4-6) in this week’s matchup.  The Bears have been playing awful as of late, and the Vikings defense are going to look to knock the Bears out of the game early.  Jared Allen and the front line should attack Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler, who has been an interception machine this season.  If the Vikings can rattle Cutler early, he will most likely get emotionally rattled and probably start throwing the ball all over the place.  This has been the story of Jay Cutler this season, someone Bears’ fan were labeling their savior coming into this season.  The Bears have virtually no running game, so if the Vikings can get Cutler to play even half as bad as he has been lately they should have no problem beating them.

The Bears’ defense has been solid this year, trying their best to keep the Bears in games.  The Bears’ offense turns the ball over too much though and it has been wearing their defense down.  They give up 122 rushing yards per contest, so Adrian Peterson should have a big day.  The Bears’ defense is better against the pass, but Brett Favre has been great this year and I expect similar play out of him.  Favre has been a rival of the Bears for nearly 20 years now though, so you never know how much the extra motivation will help the Bears defense.  Still, this Bears team is falling apart and I think the Vikings should not have a problem in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 31, Chicago Bears 17

Brett Favre continues to play like a man nearly half his age, as he led the Minnesota Vikings (9-1) to a blowout win over the Seattle Seahawks (3-7) on Sunday.  Favre almost completed every pass he attempted, going 22/25 for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns.  They scored 21 points in the second quarter and were up as much as 28-0 in the third quarter.  Favre got some help from Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor as well.  Peterson rushed for 82 yards on 24 carries and Taylor went for 73 yards on 11 carries.  The Vikings proved they were the much better team.

The Vikings defense played a very strong game as well, and they didn’t give up any points until a field goal at the end of the third quarter.  Asher Allen intercepted quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and they held running back Justin Forsett to only 9 yards on 9 carries.  They also sacked Hasselbeck twice and it was a solid team effort on defense with no one player getting more than 6 tackles.  The Vikings are starting to prove they belong on top of the standings.

26-year old Tarvaris Jackson doesn’t like backing up Brett Favre and he will likely pitch a fit if he’s backing him up again next year.  With that in mind the Vikings will likely attempt to trade him if Favre comes back for the 2010 season.  Jackson has played in 4 games this season for the Vikings and he has completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) for 82 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (98.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 7 times for -7 yards (-1.0 ypc) but most of them were kneel downs in victory formation.  Jackson has now played in 29 games in his four years with the Vikings and he has completed 310 of 531 passes (58.4%) for 3,524 yards with 20 TD passes and 18 INTs (76.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 102 times for 475 yards (4.7 ypc) with 4 TD runs in his career so far.  The Vikings probably wouldn’t be able to get better than a 4th round pick for him but it might be worth it if he continues to show his unhappiness with the team.

The Minnesota Vikings (8-1) were not very sharp last week and played down to their weak opponent, the Detroit Lions.  They had a season high 13 penalties and only won by 17 against a team they could beat by 40.  I expect them to come out with a lot more energy this week against the Seattle Seahawks(3-6).  Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson should have no problem against a Hawk’s defense that gives up 338 yards per game.  The Vikings should easily eclipse that number and could blow the Seahawks out.  It would be nice if they could build a big lead and let their 40-year-old quarterback rest his aching thigh and hip injuries.

The Vikings defense should not have a problem against Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks passing game.  Hasselbeck will not get enough time to go downfield, as Jared Allen and the Vikings’ front line will be able to get a lot of pressure on Hasselbeck.  Hasselbeck has been trying to force some things lately as well, throwing 3 interceptions in his past two games, so the Vikings should look to get some turnovers.  Julius Jones is out for the Seahawks, and Justin Forsett will be starting his second week in a row.  Forsett had a very strong game last week, rushing for 123 and a touchdown on 17 carries, so the Vikings need to be prepared for him getting a lot of carries.  This shouldn’t be a close game though, and the Vikings should crush them.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 38, Seattle Seahawks 17

Vikings’ CB Antoine Winfield has a 85% chance of returning to the Vikings this weekend against the Seahawks.  He has played in 6 games this season for the Vikings and he has 30 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Winfield is strong in run support and the Vikings need him back big time.  Benny Sapp has done a decent job replacing Winfield as he has 12 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes in his 3 starts this year.  With Sapp playing decent the Vikings could decide to error on the side of caution with Winfield as they need him healthy to help the D down the stretch.

The Vikings dominated the Lions again earlier today in the MetroDome.  Brett Favre was outstanding again for the Vikings today as he completed 20 of 29 passes for 344 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Tarvaris Jackson finished up the game at QB by throwing 2 incomplete passes.  Adrian Peterson carried the ball 18 times for 133 yards (7.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 2 passes for 10 yards today.  He did lose two fumbles costing the Vikings 1 TD but it didn’t matter in the end.  Sidney Rice had another monster game for the Vikings with 7 catches for 201 yards (28.7 avg).  Percy Harvin pitched in with 3 catches for 53 yards (17.7 avg) and TE Jeff Dugan only caught 1 pass for 8 yards but it went for a TD.  The Vikings finished up with 492 total yards on offense in this game (152 rushing, 340 passing).

CB Cedric Griffin led a solid effort by the Vikings’ D with 9 tackles today.  DE Ray Edwards was the main man on the D for the Vikings in this game though as he finished up with 5 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, a fumble recovery and he hit the QB 4 times.  The Lions finished up with 297 total yards on offense (93 rushing, 204 passing).  The Vikings are now 8-1 on the year as they sit atop the NFC North.

The Detroit Lions lost 27-13 early this season against the Vikings at home and it will be even tougher to compete with them in the MetroDome on Sunday.  Matt Stafford needs to get on the same page as Calvin Johnson or the Lions are going to have a hard time moving the ball against the Vikings.  Brandon Pettitgrew could have a big game for the Lions on Sunday and so could Calvin Johnson but it will have to be on the short stuff as DE Jared Allen (10.5 sacks) will likely also be in the Lions’ backfield often.  Lions’ QBs have been sacked 26 times already this season and the Vikings have 31 sacks so pass blocking could be a huge issue for the Lions.  Still, the Vikings can be passed on as opponents average 237.9 yards per game through the air against them.  It will be up to Matt Stafford to protect the football which he has had problems with so far this season.  It would really help the Lions’ cause if Kevin Smith and Maurice Morris can get a running game going this week against a Vikings’ D that is allowing 94.8 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry so far this year. 

The Vikings will likely be able to do whatever they want on offense in this game as the Lions allow 109.9 yards rushing per game (4.7 ypc) and they also are giving up 263.1 yards passing per game as opposing QBs have a rating of 107.3 against them!  With that in mind Adrian Peterson will likely have a great game on Sunday.  But don’t think for a minute that Brett Favre won’t be flinging the ball around often.  Look for him to have time to survey the field picking the Lions’ D apart with passes to Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 45, LIONS 10

Jared Allen is just dominating offensive lines this season and the whole defense is benefitting from it.  Allen has made 34 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, forced 3 fumbles and he has defensed 2 passes this season.  But, where Allen has really stood out for the Vikings is rushing the passer as he has 10.5 sacks already this season.  Allen has forced teams to attempt to double team him which has opened up opportunities  for teammates as the Vikings now have 31 sacks as a team this season.  It would not be a surprise if Allen wins the Defensive Player of the Year Award in the NFL this season if he plays well in the 2nd half of the year and there is absolutely no reason to think he won’t.

Adrian Peterson has been outstanding as usual for the Vikings this season.  He has carried the ball 163 times for 784 yards (4.8 ypc) with 9 TD runs so far this season.  He has also caught 19 passes for 189 yards (9.9 avg) this year.  With the Vikings now with a good passing attack opposing defenses can’t gang up on Peterson or Brett Favre will make them pay the price.  That will help keep Adrian Peterson healthy and effective all season long and the Vikings will benefit big time from that.