Date: 12/27/2015
Kickoff Time: 7:30 PM CST
TV Channel: NBC (KARE 11 in the Twin Cities)
Radio: KFAN-FM 100.3/KTCN-AM 1130
The Minnesota Vikings (9-5) will be hosting the New York Giants (6-8) in their final home game of the regular season. The Vikings have secured a winning season for the first time since 2012 when they defeated the Chicago Bears 38-17.
One of the biggest stories for the Vikings is their potential trip to the Playoffs. If Seattle wins or Atlanta loses they will have their spot. And if the win next week against Green Bay, they will be NFC North Champions for the first time since 2009.
Teddy Bridgewater has been playing Playoff style football for the past few games. He threw a career best 335 yards in their loss at Arizona on December 10th and posted a career high 154.4 passer rating in last Sunday’s win against Chicago. Bridgewater had four touchdown passes and became the second quarterback in NFL history to complete at least 85% of his passes without an interception and ran for a score in a single game.
The biggest story for the Giants is the loss of Odell Beckham, Jr. who was given a one game suspension by the NFL on Monday for his three personal foul penalties including the helmet to helmet hit on Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Losing OBJ means they are losing a great player. This season Beckham has had six or more receptions in four straight games, 91 catches for 1,396 yards and a league high 13 receiving TDs. Without that, the once mighty receiving team for New York seems less scary.
But don’t count out the Giants completely. Their defense held the undefeated Panthers to 171 rushing yards. And that is a feat for any team. That is going to hurt the run first style offense of the Vikings.
A key to the offense is getting the ball to Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph is fifth among all NFL tight ends with 24 catches since Week 11 and Diggs is in fifth place in Vikings history with 47 receptions among rookies. Also it seeming more and more likely that Minnesota will be getting back Anthony Barr, Harrison Smith and Linval Joseph. The Vikings have fared well without them so far but bringing them back into the fold will help tremendously against the Giants.
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