Who are these Minnesota Vikings?
Coached by Mike Zimmer, this is a 6-8 blue collar, lunchpail toting, rookie quarterback throwing team.
Minus the running game featuring Adrian Peterson, the Vikings will attempt to out rush the Miami Dolphins with a little known stable of backs in Matt Asiata and well-known, but at bust status Ben Tate. Tate was dumped by the Texans recently and picked up by the Vikings to shore up the position.
Remarkably, Asiata has been more of a red zone, goal line back, with seven touchdowns, but has come up big in games versus Atlanta (20 rushes, 70 yards, 3 TDs) and Washington (10 rushes, 26 yards, 3 TDs). Asiata’s longest run has been 12 yards versus Atlanta. What’s most interesting about Asiata? He has zero touchdowns on the road nor in stadiums with grass fields.
Since the Vikings play in TCF Bank Stadium, a turf field, their home field has been good to them with 4 wins at home. Those 4 wins have resulted in victories versus the Falcons, Redskins, Panthers, and Jets. The Jets win was a win in OT on a short pass to receiver Jarius Wright.
On defense the Vikings are a 4-3 defense that runs a similar scheme to Miami. Sharrif Floyd, at defensive tackle has 4.5 sacks and 36 combined tackles. Everson Griffen at defensive end leads the team with 12.0 sacks. Even Brian Robison has 4.5 sacks on the opposite side of the line.
At linebacker, veteran Chad Greenway (former Iowa Hawkeye) has 91 combined tackles, while rookie Anthony Barr has two forced fumbles and 70 combined tackles, including one scoop and score in overtime at Tampa for the game winning touchdown.
At corner and safety, Dolphins fans should be aware of the peeking eyes of Captain Munnerlyn and closing speed of one time FSU corner Xavier Rhodes.
This Vikings team is good considering they have their biggest offensive loss in Adrian Peterson. At quarterback, the Vikings will start rookie Teddy Bridgewater (Miami Northwestern) who has thrown for 2,451 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. His numbers are somewhat reminiscent of current Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill who finished the 2012 season with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The difficulty in stopping Bridgewater is his ability to keep his eyes downfield while on the run. He can run or pass giving defense such as Miami one more thing they have to game plan for.
Bridgewater essentially comes into his home stadium where he’s won in college and played as a prep star at Miami Northwestern, a high school powerhouse in South Florida.
After 11 games, it is clear that Teddy Bridgewater has much potential to take over the Vikings starting job for year’s to come as a result of his leadership, will to win, and ability as a quarterback to make good decisions.
In the end, the Dolphins will find a way to win this game with a strong running game to neutralize the pass rush, quick and short passes by Tannehill with the occasional deep pass with single coverage, and a strong pass rush defensively led by Pro Bowler Cameron Wake and often overlooked Olivier Vernon.
On the other side of Coach Mike Zimmer of the Vikings is Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle. Coyle served as an assitant on Zimmer’s defense in Cincinatti and both coaches are close in philosophy and friendship. It will be interesting to see the chess match that will occur between Coyle and Zimmer.
This game could be close, but the Vikings don’t have enough in the tank late in the season versus a talented Miami team coming off of two losses with much to prove to their home fans.
Dolphins playing for pride: Final score Dolphins 30 Vikings 20
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