Cowboys Total Defense: 9th ranked
Elaborate bro. Lets hear your thoughts so far. I'm kinda worried. Home field advantage is the biggest factor working in either team'sfavor, which means the Saints obviously. What's making you feel more confident as the days go on? I'm not questioning that, we have reason to feel goodabout the team right now, but damn I need a confidence boost right now for the game on Sunday.
Originally Posted by JPZx
Elaborate bro. Lets hear your thoughts so far. I'm kinda worried. Home field advantage is the biggest factor working in either team's favor, which means the Saints obviously. What's making you feel more confident as the days go on? I'm not questioning that, we have reason to feel good about the team right now, but damn I need a confidence boost right now for the game on Sunday.
Originally Posted by 651akathePaul
Originally Posted by JPZx
Elaborate bro. Lets hear your thoughts so far. I'm kinda worried. Home field advantage is the biggest factor working in either team's favor, which means the Saints obviously. What's making you feel more confident as the days go on? I'm not questioning that, we have reason to feel good about the team right now, but damn I need a confidence boost right now for the game on Sunday.
I'm actually glad you asked. Here's some of what I have so far:
- Visanthe Shiancoe. Everyone now knows to beware of Sidney Rice. CB's man up with Sharper helping over top. However you want to spin the coverage, Sidney should see a hefty amount of double teams. Favre is great at hitting Shiancoe in the middle of the field, and anywhere Shiancoe is quite frankly. He runs a lot of routes like a WR and can run routes from the outside like a WR too. He had a quiet game vs. Dallas, but he'll put up big numbers this weekend when all the focus will be on Rice.
- Saints can't stop the run. Peterson has been lackluster to say the least for a few months now, but this game is exactly why Minnesota drafted him. The air show that this team has been putting on this year is the perfect counter balance that brings an asset like Peterson to the forefront. Call it a hunch if you want, but Peterson will have over 150 total yards in this game, which is surprising that I'm calling for that as a hunch when AP is one of the best. A sidenote is Chester who does everything for this team. Aside from blocking I absolutely love what he brings to the table in the screen game. Minnesota uses him in that aspect to almost perfection and the timing has been very good with it of late and I expect that to continue.
Longwell > Hartley. Dome game. Blah! Cancels out the kicking game right? No way. Hartley has no experience in big games and hardly has any real experience anyway. Longwell is clutch and has been for years. I fully trust him to drill any FG in pressure situations.
Bush is a real threat, but Minnesota tackles a lot better on special teams than they did last year. He won't break many tackles, if any, and Minnesota will do whatever it is to have a swarming attack on special teams to limit Bush.
Points will be scored by Brees and N.O., but New Orleans doesn't have the greatest of O-lines and Minnesota has a very great D-Line. Pressure + hands in Brees' face limit his abilities to make the easy throws. Even if he does get the ball off, Johnson and Griffin are playing great. Shockey is hurt anyway. One less threat.
- Everyone thinks Favre will revert back to his gunslinging ways and ruin the game for Minnesota, but along with the great stats he's putting up, he's playing his smartest football ever. I've heard some analysts say that that play where he took the sack and dropped to the ground before being hit was the best play of the game for Favre. He's retrained his game accentuate the talent around him rather than be the one main focus. He'll have another great game.
Initially I was nervous about this matchup too, but Minnesota is a the team that can give N.O. fits all day given their styles of play. Also, playing as the underdog and not having to worry about a grass field makes me even more confident.
Forgot to add...This three headed running attack talk for N.O. is null and void against this Minnesota D. They're playing great and nothing about those backs standout as an advantageous threat against a very good run D. The Saints are going to be completely one dimensional against Minnesota and everyone knows that. Leslie Frazier is no exception and will game plan accordingly. He's a very great defensive mind and when given the chance to prepare vs. a one dimensional team, he'll succeed everytime.
But I did MUAHAHAHAHAOriginally Posted by JPZx
The nation has spoken
No, I did not account for half of these votes
[h1]Harvin missing from start of practice[/h1]
Posted by Mike Florio on January 21, 2010 3:34 PM ET
And so plenty of them likely aren't surprised by the latest news that, once again, receiver Percy Harvin is nowhere to be seen.
As the Vikings commenced practice on Thursday, Harvin wasn't on the field with his teammates, according to Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Obvious suspicion? Harvin's migraine headaches have returned.
He visited the Mayo Clinic in December after missing extended time earlier that month, and he said that doctors devised a "great plan" for treating the affliction that has bothered him for years.
Harvin was named the AP offensive rookie of the year. He caught only three passes for 23 yards against the Cowboys and he didn't have much of an impact in the return game -- due in large part to the fact that the Cowboys only kicked off twice, and both were touchbacks.
Also absent was defensive end Ray Edwards (knee) and defensive tackle Kevin Williams (knee).
And that could be the bigger problem for the Vikings, given that the defensive line put the clamps on the Cowboys on Sunday.
Harvin, Edwards, and K.Williams all didn't practice.
Most people say Thursday is the biggest tell on whether a player will play or not in the following game. I hope this is just a smokescreen, but I don'tdoubt that Percy's migraines could have sparked up again.
Harvin, Edwards, and K.Williams all didn't practice.Originally Posted by JPZx
[h1]Harvin missing from start of practice[/h1]
Posted by Mike Florio on January 21, 2010 3:34 PM ET
And so plenty of them likely aren't surprised by the latest news that, once again, receiver Percy Harvin is nowhere to be seen.
As the Vikings commenced practice on Thursday, Harvin wasn't on the field with his teammates, according to Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Obvious suspicion? Harvin's migraine headaches have returned.
He visited the Mayo Clinic in December after missing extended time earlier that month, and he said that doctors devised a "great plan" for treating the affliction that has bothered him for years.
Harvin was named the AP offensive rookie of the year. He caught only three passes for 23 yards against the Cowboys and he didn't have much of an impact in the return game -- due in large part to the fact that the Cowboys only kicked off twice, and both were touchbacks.
Also absent was defensive end Ray Edwards (knee) and defensive tackle Kevin Williams (knee).
And that could be the bigger problem for the Vikings, given that the defensive line put the clamps on the Cowboys on Sunday.
[h1]Prince creates a Vikings fight song[/h1]
Posted by Mike Florio on January 21, 2010 9:02 PM ET
Pop star Prince has been spotted at a couple of Vikings games this year, and we can't quite tell whether the look on his face suggests he really doesn't want to be there, or whether he's just had his Botox tank topped off.
Apparently, it's the latter.
Prince, via our pal Brooks, is releasing a Vikings fight song tonight.
Based on the lyrics of some of his classics like "Erotic City" and "Let's Pretend We're Married," we can only wonder what kind of stuff he's going to have Brett Favre and Jared Allen doing.
Insert perfunctory quote from "The Outing."
Dude's a Vikings fan apparently. I know he's from Minnesota but I've never seen him at a game until this season
Lookin mad ayo and looking like he doesn't know why he's anywhere near a football game
*Curious about the song. I'm not a fan of Prince but whatever.
