The Houston Texans come into this game on a roll as they have won three games in a row but two of the games were against the winless Lions and Bengals.  The Vikings will pose a much tougher threat to the suddenly hot Texans.  The Vikings only allow 70.7 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry so Steve Slaton might not find much running room against them.  But, if Matt Schaub has time to throw the football the Texans should be able to put some points on the board in this game.  Andre Johnson has 593 yards receiving in his last four games and the Vikings allow 219.4 yards passing per game so the Texans will be exploiting this matchup as much as possible.  Kevin Walter and TE Owen Daniels are also good weapons in the mid-range game for the Texans.

The Vikings will come out running the football against the Texans to attempt to control the clock.  Adrian Peterson (684 yards rushing, 5 TDs) should have a big game against a Texans’ Defense that is allowing 119.6 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  The Vikings must protect Gus Frerotte from DE Mario Williams (7 sacks) if he’s going to have time to throw the ball downfield to Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 30, HOUSTON TEXANS 27

This game has all of the makings of being a bloodbath as the Lions are not very good and they are banged up.  Jon Kitna will miss this game because of a bad back and that will really hurt the Lions’ offense in this game.  With Dan Orlovsky likely to start this game the Lions would like to run the ball more than usual with Kevin Smith and Rudi Johnson.  The only problem with that is that the Vikings only are allowing 68.4 yards rushing per game and 2.8 yards per carry.  Top WRs Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams are both banged up right now so Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey could get a lot of action in this game. 

The Vikings should be able to do whatever they want in this football game as the Lions’ defense is pathetic.  The Lions allow 180.0 yards rushing per game (5.0 ypc) and 249.0 yards passing per contest (opposing QB Rating 122.1).  The Vikings would probably prefer to keep the ball on the ground with Adrian Peterson (452 yards rushing).  As soon as the ground game is established look for Gus Frerotte to use play action passes to get the ball deep to Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 31, DETROIT LIONS 0

This should be a interesting game of contrasting styles especially on offense.  The Saints will try to throw the ball to get the lead and then grind it out on the ground.  The Vikings allow 207.5 yards passing per game so Drew Brees should have a decent game.  Brees will throw the short stuff to WR Lance Moore, TE Billy Miller and Reggie Bush out of the backfield.  But, he will take some shots deep to Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem who are both averaging over 35.5 yards per reception.  The Saints will still run the football some to keep the Vikings’ D honest with Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister and Pierre Thomas.  The Vikings only allow 71.8 yards rushing per game and 2.9 ypc.

The Saints have a very soft defense and the Vikings will be attacking it with the running game.  Look for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor to get a lot of work agains a Saints’ D that is allowing 122.8 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  After the run game is established look for Gus Frerotte to take some shots down the field to Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade against a Saints’ D that is allowing 249.3 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  MINNESOTA VIKINGS 31,  NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 27

This should be a great football game with two teams that play exactly the same way.  Both teams are great defensive teams that are going with veteran backup QBs with great running games.  Gus Frerotte was efficient in his first start last week and he will have to throw the ball a lot on first and second down to open up some running lanes for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor against the Titans’ defense which is allowing only 89.0 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  Frerotte will have to be careful when throwing the ball as the Titans already have 11 sacks and 7 interceptions this season.

The Titans will also have to throw the ball to open up holes for the running game as the Vikings only allow 70.3 yards rushing per game and 3.2 yards per carry.  Still, the Titans will want to run the ball with rookie RB Chris Johnson and LenDale White but they will have to fight for every single yard.  The Titans’ offensive line has played great this season as the Titans are averaging 156.0 yards rushing per game this season and Titans’ QBs have only been sacked 2 times this year.  With that in mind look for Collins to attack the safeties of the Vikings with TE Bo Scaife and the corners with WRs Justin Gage and Justin McCareins.

PREDICTION:  TENNESSEE TITANS 17, MINNESOTA VIKINGS 14

These are two football teams going in opposite directions right now as the Panthers are 2-0 while the Vikings are 0-2.  This will be interesting to watch as the Panthers’ running game is working well (128.0 yards rushing per game, 4.3 ypc) but the Vikings have a great run defense (82.0 yards per game, 3.6 ypc).  With that in mind look for the Panthers to throw a lot on first down.  That could be a problem for the Vikings who are allowing 244.5 yards passing per game.  If Jake Delhomme has time to throw the Vikings will be in trouble because Steve Smith is officially back.  Mushin Muhammad, D.J. Hackett and TE Dante Rosario are all other decent weapons in the passing game for the Panthers.  Still, don’t expect an all-out passing attack out of the Panthers as they really like what RBs Jonathan Stewart (130 yards) and DeAngelo Williams (117 yards) are doing on the ground for them this season.

The Vikings finally woke up and benched Tarvaris Jackson who is an awful QB.  Even with an outstanding running game he still couldn’t throw the football.  With Adrian Peterson a little iffy for this game the Vikings might have to lean on Chester Taylor at RB.  He’s more than capable of having a big game if Peterson can’t go.  No matter which RB gets the football the Vikings should have some success on the ground as they are averaging 183.5 yards rushing per game and 5.4 ypc and that was with no threat of a passing game.  As soon as the Vikings establish the running game look for Gus Frerotte to run some play action passes and attempt to get the ball deep to speedster Bernard Berrian.

PREDICTION:  CAROLINA PANTHERS 20, MINNESOTA VIKINGS 17