The Vikings have lost three big first half leads this year, as new head coach Leslie Frazier seems overmatched as far as halftime adjustments go.  The Chiefs finally showed signs of life last week in a 20-17 loss at San Diego last weekend.  Here’s a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings need to feed the rock to Adrian Peterson for all four quarters if they want to win this football game.  The Chiefs are giving up 123.0 yards rushing per game, so the holes are going to be there for Peterson to exploit.  He is in line to have a HUGE game.  The Vikings are likely going to have to pass the ball some in this game and they should have success as long as the O-Line keeps OLB Tambi Hali out of their backfield.  The Vikings need to get the ball in Percy Harvin’s hands both running and catching passes in this game as the Chiefs will likely have trouble dealing with his speed.  The Chiefs are giving up 260.3 yards passing per game, so Donovan McNabb should have a decent game if he has anything left in the gas tank at all.

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs likely want to get the running game going with Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster.  Good luck with that as the Vikings are only giving up 67.3 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Vikings are giving up 299.3 yards passing per game so far this year, but they also have 9 sacks, so Matt Cassel is not going to likely have much time to throw the ball this Sunday.  The Vikings are likely going to double cover Dwayne Bowe and dare Matt Cassel to throw the ball to someone else.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 23, CHIEFS 17

The Minnesota Vikings need to get 23-year old WR Percy Harvin the ball more, because outside of Adrian Peterson, he is by far the best weapon that they have.  Harvin has played in all 3 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has caught 12 passes for 130 yards (10.8 avg) while also carrying the ball 8 times for 74 yards (9.3 ypc).  Harvin is a good return man too.  He has returned 4 kickoffs for 152 yards (38.0 avg) with 1 TD return already this year.  Harvin has now touched the ball 24 times for 356 yards (14.8 yards per touch) so far this year, so they need to get the ball in his hands more…..plain and simple.

The Minnesota Vikings blew another big lead yesterday as they were up 20-0 at the half, before the roof caved in on them.  Donovan McNabb has so-s0 in this game as he completed 22 of 36 passes for 211 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc) in this game.  Adrian Peterson carried the ball 17 times for 78 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 4 passes for 19 yards (4.8 avg).  Michael Jenkins led the way in the passing game for the Vikings with 9 grabs for 88 yards (9.8 avg) in this game.  Percy Harvin caught 3 passes for 47 yards (15.7 avg) and he also carried the ball 2 times for 41 yards (20.5 ypc) in this game.  TEs Kyle Rudolph (3 rec, 39 yards) and Visanthe Shiancoe (1 rec, 8 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Vikings.  The Vikings rushed for 132 yards on 23 carries (5.7 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 36 passes (61.1%) for 189 yards as they had possession for the ball for 27:50.

The defense was awesome against the run but pretty bad against the passing game yesterday.  LB E.J. Henderson (10 tackles), CB Cedric Griffin (8 tackles) and OLB Chad Greenway (8 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Vikings’ D in this game.  DEs Jared Allen (6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks and 2 QB hits) and Brian Robison (3 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits) really amped up the pressure on QB Matthew Stafford of the Lions.  The Lions finished up with 20 yards rushing on 19 carries (1.1 ypc) and they also completed 32 of 46 passes (69.6%) for 338 yards.  The Vikings are now 0-3 on the year.

The Vikings have jumped out to halftime leads in both of their first two games before fading late.  The Lions are also a fast starting team, so this is going to be a very interesting game right from the start of it.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are going to need to control the clock in this game.  That means that they will be giving the ball a lot to Adrian Peterson, and when he gets tired to Toby Gerhart.  The Lions are giving up 103.5 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry, so the Vikings should be somewhat effective on the ground.  The Vikings really need to get the passing game going or the Lions are going to cheat the safeties up to stop Peterson.  That means that Donovan McNabb is going to have to get rid of the ball quickly while still being careful as the Lions already have 4 interceptions while only giving up 1 TD pass.  The Vikings need to get the ball in Percy Harvin’s hands this weekend because he’s the only real playmaker on offense besides Adrian Peterson.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Lions are a pass first team but they still run the ball, so the Vikings’ D is really going to be tested this weekend.  Matthew Stafford hasn’t been sacked this year and he already has 599 yards passing and 7 TD passes, so the Vikings’ secondary is going to have their hands full.  The Vikings hope that DE Jared Allen can get a good rush on Stafford and force him into making a mistake or two.  That will be easier said than done.  Stafford will be throwing the ball all over the field to WRs Nate Burleson, Calvin Johnson and rookie Titus Young, so the corners are going to be busy for the Vikings this Sunday.  They likely won’t have much help over the top either as the safeties will have to deal with TEs Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler.  The Vikings’ LBs and D-Line are also going to have to contain the speedy RB Jahvid Best who has rushed for 129 yards (3.5 ypc) and he has caught 10 passes for 108 yards (10.8 avg) so far this year.

PREDICTION:  LIONS 27, VIKINGS 17

34-year old cornerback Antoine Winfield has been very solid for the Vikings so far this year.  He has played in both of the Vikings’ games this year and he has 21 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  Winfield is only 5’9″, 180 pounds but he plays much taller and bigger, as he is a very aggressive player who gives his all on every play.  No one brings him up when talking about the great corners in the NFL, but they should.

26-year old RB Adrian Peterson is doing his part for the Vikings’ offense despite having teams keying on him due to a lack of a passing game.  Peterson has played in both of the Vikings’ games so far this year and he has carried the ball 41 times for 218 yards (5.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He has also caught 4 passes for 27 yards (6.8 avg) for the Vikings so far this year.  To me, Adrian Peterson is the best running back in the entire NFL and because of him the Vikings have a chance to win every time they take the field.

The Vikings have released 27-year old DE Adrian Awasom.  Awasom played in 1 game for the Vikings this year and he had 3 tackles.  He has now played in 16 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 17 tackles and 1 sack.  The Vikings shouldn’t miss him too much going forward.

The Minnesota Vikings were up 17-0 at the half before blowing the game late just like they did against the Chargers in week #1.  Donovan McNabb was much better than he was against the Chargers.  He completed 18 of 30 passes for 228 yards without a TD pass or interception.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 12 yards (3.0 ypc) in this game.  Adrian Peterson was rock solid for the Vikings in this game as he carried the ball 25 times for 120 yards (4.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg).  Toby Gerhart made the most of his limited chances with the football in his hands.  He carried the ball 2 times for 36 yards (18.0 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 42 yards.  Percy Harvin was much more involved in the offense yesterday as he caught 7 passes for 76 yards (10.9 avg) and he also carried the ball 2 times for 18 yards (9.0 ypc).  WR Michael Jenkins (3 rec, 29 yards) and TE Visanthe Shiancoe (3 rec, 28 yards) also pitched in for the Vikings in the passing game.  The Vikings finished up with 186 yards rushing on 33 carries (5.6 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 30 passes (60%) for 212 yards as they had the ball for 33:30.

The defense was below par yesterday.  CB Antoine Winfield led the way for the Vikings on D with 11 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  Safety Husain Abdullah (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception that he returned 32 yards) and LB E.J. Henderson (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) also pitched in defensively for the Vikings.  The Buccaneers rushed for 105 yards on 19 carries (5.5 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 31 passes (71%) for 230 yards.  The Vikings are now 0-2 on the season.

The Vikings and Buccaneers will battle in Minnesota this Sunday as they both will be trying to get their first win of 2011.  The Vikings will need to get the offense going this Sunday as they only had 187 total yards (159 yards rushing and 28 yards passing) against the Chargers last Sunday.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are going to come out running with Adrian Peterson in this game.  He should have success against a Bucs’ D that gave up 126 yards rushing last week against the Lions.  The Vikings are going to have to pass a lot more than they did last week though to keep the Bucs’ defense semi-honest.  CBs Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber are the strength of the Bucs’ D and they will likely be checking Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian.  That might get Donovan McNabb to look more at throwing underneath to Michael Jenkins and TEs Visanthe Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph.

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  The Vikings are going to look to take Bucs’ RB LeGarrette Blount out of the game to make Josh Freeman throw the ball around.  Blount is a bruiser but the Vikings only gave up 77 yards on 27 carries (2.9 ypc) to the Chargers’ backs last weekend.  CB Antoine Winfield will likely be covering Mike Williams this Sunday in an effort to slow him down.  Safeties Husain Abdullah and Jamarca Sanford will have to stop Kellen Winslow this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  BUCCANEERS 23, VIKINGS 20

34-year  old QB Donovan McNabb looked really awful in his debut as the Vikings’ starting QB last Sunday in San Diego.  He completed only 7 of 15 passes (46.7%) for 39 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (47.9 QB Rating).  McNabb did run the ball well though, as he carried the ball 3 times for 32 yards (10.7 ypc) last week.  McNabb had better get his act together this weekend against the Buccaneers or he isn’t going to start very long at QB for the Vikings.  Youngsters Joe Webb and Chrisian Ponder are eager to bump McNabb out of his starting gig at QB.