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Giants (8-4) vs Vikings (5-7)
The Vikings last
week had their highest scoring game of the year when they took down Buffalo 38-14.
They did it with Brett Favre injured on the sidelines for almost all the game
and without their top receiver, Percy Harvin. Their interim head coach has them
on a two game win streak playing competitive football.
The Giants got off to
a fast start and for the first time this season completing their opening drive
with a touchdown. The halftime score was 21-0, Giants over the Redskins, and it
grew to 31-7 with both running backs picking up two touchdowns each. Minnesota
Vikings.
The outlook at the beginning of the season couldn't
have seemed better. Head coach Brad Childress had taken his team from 6-10 in
2006 to two consecutive NFC North division titles and brought his 12-4 team as
far as an overtime loss in the NFC title game with the eventual Super Bowl winner,
New Orleans. Miracle man Brett Favre was back for his 20th season and no fan was
disappointed in his performance for Minnesota last year where he threw 33 touchdown
passes and had a career low 7 interceptions.
As the season unfolded, Randy
Moss came and went after playing only four games, Brad Childress
was asked to leave, and Brett Favre's only miracle is that
he may be still standing intact enough to continue his starting streak. Even if
they sit Favre early in the game, they'll probably give him that, because all
the home fans may have to take away this year is the memory of seeing first hand
Brett Favre playing out his last two seasons in the NFL. Interim replacement Leslie
Frazier has coached a lackluster 3-7 team to two straight wins and that says a
lot either about his abilities or about the way things were run by the former
head coach. Vikings Offense.
Let's face it. You don't have to play much
in a game to get credit for a start. Last week Brett Favre was knocked out in
the opening drive, the third play against the Bills, and of course it counted.
This is the third time this season that Favre has been listed as questionable
and now his starting streak is at 297 regular-season games (321 including playoffs).
It's a pretty safe bet that Favre will be the starting quarterback on Sunday.
If he doesn't last the entire game, which is very likely, Tarvaris
Jackson will take over. He has 19 career starts, and he guided the Vikings
to their win last week with 2 touchdown passes.
Jackson
did throw 3 interceptions but expect him to be better prepared for playing time
this week. The Giants might be better off with a severely limited Favre at quarterback
considering that Jackson has done well against them in the
past, either with good defensive help, or with the Giants sitting starters. In
2007, it was Vikings 41-17, and 2008, Vikings 20-19. Third string quarterback
is Joe Webb who also plays other positions on the team. Last game he returned
the opening kickoff 30 yards and lined up at wide receiver on the second play
from scrimmage, but left with a strained hamstring.
Their Pro Bowl kickoff
returner and top receiver, Percy Harvin, missed the Buffalo game, hasn't practiced
and he is doubtful for this game, suffering migraine problems. Former
Giant Visanthe Shiancoe is second on the team with 35 receptions and two touchdowns.
Sidney Rice is back after missing the first nine games following hip surgery.
He had his strongest game last week and will be an essential target again for
this game. The running side of the offense, ranked eighth in rushing, features
Adrian Peterson, who leads the NFC in yards from scrimmage with 1,455, and he
is fourth in the league with 1,123 rushing yards. No defense can afford to let
him slip by no matter how he ends up with the ball. Vikings
Defense.
They have a tough defense ranked
7th in the league. Ranked 4th against the run they average allowing only 92 yards
per game, and they are 12th against the pass. Jared Allen has 7.5 sacks in his
last five games, and his 81.5 sacks since 2004 are the most in the NFL. Ray Edwards
attacks from the other side and he has 5.5 sacks. Three time Pro Bowl nose tackle
Pat Williams is their big run stopper working along with five time Pro Bowl buddy
Kevin Williams, and middle linebacker E.J. Henderson. In the secondary there's
experienced cornerback Antoine Winfield (Pro Bowl last two years) but cornerback
Chris Cook is still out and safety Tyrell Johnson won't be playing. This defensive
unit has stepped up their overall game since their coordinator was promoted to
head coach status. Giants
Offense.
The Giants won their last two
games without them, but it's not going to hurt to have David Deal back at left
tackle along with the possibility of seeing both Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks
on the field. Both might expect some rough treatment from the Viking defenders,
testing their resolve and durability as they try to push off or secure catches.
The Giants have had two strong running games with back to back wins since Brandon
Jacobs took over as the starter but it might be hard to crack the Viking's tough
run defense.
Last week there were four rushing touchdowns for the first time
since 2004, but that was against the Redskins and this is the Vikings who know
that Manning has completed no more than 15 passes in the last two wins without
his top two targets on the field. He has not been sacked for five straight games
and 165 passes in games that included 3 wins and 2 losses. That's a team record
and David Diehl is sure going to hear about it from his teammates if the string
doesn't continue with him back on the field. Giants
Defense.
They played well last week, recording
four sacks and forced six fumbles, recovering four of them, and they intercepted
McNabb twice while holding the Redskins running game to just 74 yards. Leading
the league in forced fumbles with 29 and fumbles recovered with 17, the Giants
now rank second in total defense and second in pass defense. It's tough for teams
to deal with a run stopping defense that also has a strong pass rush that can
hit them from both sides of the line. Osi Umenyiora (nine sacks, 8 forced fumbles)
comes from the left and Justin Tuck (8 1/2 sacks, 6 forced fumbles) attacks from
the right.
Rookie, Jason Pierre-Paul, is making his presence known coming
off back to back two-sack games. The secondary plays well with cornerback Terrell
Thomas leading in interceptions with 5 and passes defensed. Corey Webster, has
3 interceptions and could have more if quarterbacks dared to throw his way. With
the Vikings quarterback position being a bit shaky, the Giants should expect to
see a lot of running back Adrian Peterson. Cracking the Giants run defense would
be big, and to assist Peterson is rookie Toby Gerhart, and just this week the
Vikings signed Lorenzo Booker. Best
to worst.
The best record in the NFL is
held by the 10-2 Patriots in the AFC and the 10-2 Falcons in the NFC. The Patriots,
coming off a short week because of the Monday night game, travel to Chicago to
take on the Bears (9-3). The 1-11 Carolina Panthers have the worst record in football
and they find themselves up against the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. NFC
East.
At the same time the Giants play in Minnesota at 1pm, the Buccaneers
(7-5) will be taking on the Redskins (5-7) in Washington. The Bucs are favored
to win that game. The Eagles (8-4) travel to play the Cowboys (4-8) later that
night at 8:20pm. The Cowboys have won only one game at home this season and lost
5. The Eagles and Giants are favored to win their games 
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Notes.
Giants Eli Manning will be the 6th quarterback
to start 100 consecutive regular season games.
His 100 consecutive starts streak
is the third-longest among active quarterbacks. Peyton Manning has 205 and Brett
Favre has 297 dating back to 1992. Giants
Eli Manning has not been sacked for five straight games - a Giants franchise record. Giants
Brandon Jacobs is averaging 8.6 yards per carry his past two games. Giants
starters Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, and David Diehl, after missing a combined
10 games in the last month, may all be available for this game. Giants
Tom Coughlin is 2-5 against the Vikings during his career, 1-4 coaching with the
Giants. Giants have lost the last four
games to the Vikings. Giants Eli Manning
is 0-4 vs. the Vikings. Vikings interim
coach Leslie Frazier had previously interviewed for seven NFL head coaching jobs. Vikings
Adrian Peterson is the fourth player in NFL history to rush for more than 1,000
yards and score at least 10 touchdowns in each of his first four seasons. Vikings
Brett Favre is the all-time leader in total jersey sales according to NFLShop.
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