The Pressure is On

By beating the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, the Chicago Bears put the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the Minnesota Vikings to win today. The Vikes travel to the Valley of the Sun to face the NFC West Champion Cardinals. Excitement and nervousness best describe my emotions heading into this game. I'm excited because if we win, we will be able to clinch the division next week at home (and I will be there). I am nervous because this will be a very tough game and if we lose, it's a whole new ballgame.

Offensively, the key for the Vikings is ball control. We have to pound Adrian and Chester at them and have lengthy drives in order to keep the ball out of the hands of their high powered offense. Their rush D is ranked in the upper half of the NFL, but that may be because teams just try to throw on them. Their D line is solid, but small, so we should have success running the ball. Our wide receiver blocking will be big too, because I hear their linebackers, corners, and safeties are excellent in run support. Tarvaris needs to play like he did in the second half against Detroit. He can't turn the ball over, and he must be confident and composed. He must show the Cardinals that he can take advantage of the single coverage he is sure to see. I am very excited for T-Jack today. For whatever reason, I feel that this time around he will have success and be able to lead us to a huge win. He's had his time to learn from his initial mistakes; now he just needs to go out there and execute.

On defense, the key will be getting pressure on old man Kurt Warner. He has had an MVP-caliber season thus far and he has a multitude of weapons to work with, including Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breasten. Both Fitz and Boldin are big, strong, physical receivers, so it will be very interesting to watch them tangle with our two physical corners in Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin. Jared Allen must have another solid game for us to win. Arizona won't even try to run on us because they can't run on anyone. Some say the match up against our D sets up perfectly for Arizona. However, since we know the pass is coming, we will be able to sit on it and put a lot of pressure on Warner. It's never good to be one dimensional. The Cardinals will get their points because they are very good, but if the Purple can force Warner to make a few mistakes, the Vikes will be in good shape. The turnover battle may decide this game.

The big match up today is the Vikings running game vs. the Cardinals passing game. Both are very explosive and whichever is more successful today will be a good indication of who wins. The Vikings need this game much more and the Cardinals might suffer a little hangover after clinching the NFC West title last week. The Cards are 5-1 at home, so it won't be easy. However, combining all of the various factors and the fact that the Vikings really need this game makes me believe they will pull it off. I feel big days for Adrian and Shiancoe. This game will be close and exciting the entire time. My prediction: Vikings 31, Cardinals 27. SKOL.