The Lions proved to be the tonic the Vikings needed to get back on the right track.  Brett Favre still didn’t play well though.  He completed 23 of 34 passes for 201 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs yesterday.  The Vikings rode Adrian Peterson to victory yesterday.  Peterson carried the ball 23 times for 160 yards (7.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 5 passes for 30 yards (6.0 avg) in this game.  Percy Harvin led the way in the passing game for the Vikings yesterday with 6 grabs for 62 yards (10.3 avg) with a TD grab and he also carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc).  The Vikings finished up with 183 yards rushing on 30 carries (6.1 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 34 passes for 185 yards.

The defense was led by linebacker Chad Greenway (9 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 QB hit) and cornerback Antoine Winfield (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception).  The Lions finished up with 63 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 29 of 43 passes for 232 yards.  The Vikings are now 1-2 on the year.

The Vikings swept the Lions last season by a combined score of 54-23 last season.  While the Lions do look improved this year this is the perfect chance to get Brett Favre and the rest of the Vikings on the right track.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the football:  I look for the Vikings to come out running the ball in this game.  The Lions are giving up 131.5 yards rushing per game (4.5 ypc) and Adrian Peterson has played very well against them in the past.  Peterson rushed for 225 yards on 33 carries (6.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his two games against the Lions last year.  Look for him to get at least 100 yards rushing this Sunday.  Opposing QBs have a 108.1 Rating against the Lions this year so this is a good opportunity for Brett Favre to get back on the right track.  Favre completed 43 of 56 passes (76.8%) for 499 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs against the Lions last year.  If he doesn’t have a good game against the Lions this weekend he might not have one this whole year.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Lions offense is built around rookie RB Jahvid Best.  He has 268 total yards rushing and receiving in his first two NFL games of his career.  The Vikings have been very solid against the run allowing 99.5 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry so they will likely be ganging up to stop Best.  But, the outside linebackers and safeties better be ready for him catching passes out of the backfield because he is hard to tackle in open space.  The Lions have also been using the TE a lot in the offense so far this season as Tony Scheffler and Brandon Pettigrew have combined to catch 15 passes for 162 yards so far this year.  And they still have Calvin Johnson who the Vikings should consider double teaming. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, LIONS 17

Last season Brett Favre could do no wrong.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he completed 363 of 531 passes (68.4%) for 4,202 yards with 33 TD passes and 7 INTs (107.2 QB Rating).  Favre also carried the ball 9 times for 7 yards (0.8 ypc) last year.  But, Favre got severely beaten up by the Saints in the NFC Championship last year which required him to have surgery on his ankle in order to play this year.  His last pass of that game was an interception and I know he didn’t want to end his career that way.  Plus, if he came back he could wind up being the first NFL player ever with 70,000+ passing yards and 500+ TD passes.  His teammates kept flying to Mississippi to talk him into playing again and Favre was going back and forth in his mind before agreeing to come back for 2010.  He missed almost all of training camp which didn’t hurt him much last year but it did this year.  His timing has been way off and his receivers aren’t playing well.  Being without his favorite receiver of last season (Sidney Rice) has also not helped things.  But, excuses are for losers.  Favre has completed 37 of 63 passes (58.7%) for 396 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (56.1 QB Rating) so far.  The Vikings don’t need Favre to play like he did last season to be a great team they just need him to be a better than average QB and he has not been that so far this year.

The Vikings have signed 28-year old WR Hank Baskett.  Baskett played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Colts & Eagles last year in which he caught 5 passes for 34 yards (6.8 avg).  He has now played in 59 games (11 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 76 passes for 1,080 yards (14.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  The Vikings are desperate for any receiver that can actually catch a pass and Baskett has the reputation of having a good set of hands.  He also played under Brad Childress went he was the Eagles’ offensive co-ordinator which is also likely a reason he was brought in.  This was a nice low risk gamble for the Vikings.

The Vikings pretty much gave this game away literally and Brett Favre was the main culprit as he turned the ball over four times!  Favre completed 22 of 36 passes for 225 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs.  Favre also lost a fumble that resulted in a Dolphins’ TD.  Adrian Peterson was outstanding though for the Vikings today.  He carried the ball 28 times for 145 yards (5.2 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 5 passes for 41 yards (8.2 avg).  TE Visanthe Shiancoe (6 rec, 86 yards, 14.3 avg) and WR Percy Harvin (5 rec, 32 yards, 6.4 avg) led the way for the Vikings in the passing game today.  The Vikings finished up with 156 yards rushing on 33 carries (4.7 ypc) and they completed 22 of 36 passes for 208 yards as they had possession of the ball for 35:48 in this game.

The defense was outstanding for the Vikings today.  LBs Chad Greenway (8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) and E.J. Henderson (7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) led the charge for the Vikings’ D in this game.  The Dolphins finished up with 120 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.1 ypc) and they completed 9 of 15 passes for 106 yards.  The Vikings are now a surprising 0-2 on the season.

The Vikings will be well rested for this game plus Brett Favre will have gotten more reps with his WRs to try to catch them up to speed.  The Dolphins D played well against the Bills but the Vikings have way more talent than they do offensively.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings will probably be very balanced on Sunday offensively, and why not.  Adrian Peterson had a solid game in the season opener against the Saints but the Vikings tried to pass more in the second half, getting away from the running game.  Brett Favre will need to get the ball to the WRs more in this game, plain and simple.  He can’t rely solely on TE Visanthe Shiancoe as he did in the first game because the Fins will be prepared for him from the get go.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins are going to tighten up the chinstraps and try to run on the Vikings with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.  That will be much easier said than done as Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and E.J. Henderson will make it very hard to get any yards running up the middle.  The Fins will also likely try to keep the passing game short to Brandon Marshall, Devone Bess and Brian Hartline in an attempt to keep Jared Allen and Chad Greenway out of their backfield.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, DOLPHINS 13

Sure, Sidney Rice is going to miss at least half of the season due to hip surgery but that doesn’t mean the passing game should grind to a hault.  Brett Favre looked rusty and his age against the Saints in the season opener but his wide receivers weren’t helping much as they dropped a lot of passes that hit their hands.  Anyone who has ever played football remembers the coach saying that you have to catch any ball that touches any part of your hand.  With that in mind the Vikings need Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin to step up starting this weekend against the Dolphins.  Harvin (1 rec, 12 yards) and Berrian (1 rec, 3 yards) both looked like they weren’t very interested in playing against the Saints in the opener.

The Vikings’ D came to play last night too bad the offense didn’t.  Drew Brees went right down the field quickly on the Saints’ first possession of the night resulting in a TD.  After that though the Vikings’ D tightened up big time.  OLB Chad Greenway was all over the football field as he led the way for the Vikings with 12 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  Inside linebacker E.J. Henderson was a hitting machine last night as he finished up with 9 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  CB Antoine Winfield also finished up with 9 tackles last night.  The Saints only rushed for 79 yards on 25 carries (3.2 ypc) last night.  But, they also completed 27 of 36 passes (75%) for 229 yards as they had possession of the football for 33:43.

The Vikings should have stuck to the running game more last night as Adrian Peterson was looking good.  He carried the ball 19 times for 87 yards (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 14 yards (4.7 avg).  But for some reason the Vikings quit giving him the ball despite only being down 5 points for most of the second half.  Brett Favre really only looked good on one drive last night where he threw a couple of perfect passes to TE Visanthe Shiancoe with one on them resulting in a TD pass.  The Saints then decided to pay a lot more attention to Shiancoe pretty much taking him out of the offense.  None of the other receivers stepped up for the Vikings as Percy Harvin (1 rec, 12 yards) and Bernard Berrian (1 rec, 3 yards) appeared to be missing in action.  Still, Brett Favre looked like an old man that missed training camp last night….which is exactly what he is as he missed a lot of open receivers.  He completed 15 of 27 passes (55.6%) for 171 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  The Vikings finished up with 91 yards rushing on 23 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 27 passes (55.6%) for 162 yards passing.  The Vikings are now 0-1 on the season.

The Vikings have been pointing towards this game all off-season after losing an incredibly hard fought war just months ago in the NFC Championship game won 31-28 by the Saints in overtime.  That game is the reason that Brett Favre came back because he didn’t want his career to end on that note.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Vikings have the football:  I look for the Vikings to come out running the ball on the perimeter of the defense.  Adrian Peterson will be attacking Saints’ OLB JoLonn Dunbar and Scott Shanle which will likely be a great match-up for the Vikings.  I also look for Brett Favre to keep the passing game short early in the game with WR Greg Camarillo and TE Visanthe Shiancoe being targets.  If the Vikings are successful at controlling the ball early I think they will then start throwing the ball down the field to Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian.

When the Saints have the football:  The Vikings are going to try to make the Saints offense one dimensional by taking away their running game.  The Saints will have a hard time moving the ball on the ground, especially inside with DTs Pat & Kevin Williams teaming up with inside linebacker E.J. Henderson.  Marques Colston, because of his size, will be a match-up problem for the Vikings’ defensive backfield.  I also see the Saints trying to use the TE to attack strong safeties Husain Abdullah and Tyrell Johnson. 

PREDICTION:  In the end I see Brett Favre getting his revenge.  VIKINGS 28, SAINTS 27

The wiseguys in Vegas might be short selling the Vikings a bit coming into this season.  After all, the Vikings were 12-4 in 2009 before bowing out in the NFC Championship Game.  I think that if you think Brett Favre is going to stay healthy you have to bet the over in 2010.  If you think he’s going to break down you have to take the under as the Vikings would have a huge dropoff in play under center.  To me, Favre is the ultimate Iron Man and I would bet the over on wins for the Vikings in 2010.  I would also not be too opposed to putting some bucks down on the Vikings to win the Super Bowl at 11-1.