Know Your Enemy: The Vikings Offense
- Thread starter Super Nomario
- Start date
I assumed they were planning to ground-and-pound, given their success against St. Louis, the Pats' struggles, and ADP. But without Peterson, I'm not sure they have the horses. They're definitely going to need to get some big plays, probably out of Cordarelle Patterson. Any thoughts as to the Vikings' offensive approach tomorrow? What would you do?
They should be targeting Kyle Rudolph a lot now IMO. Without Collins in the lineup(presumably), there really isn't anyone the Patriots have that can match up well with his size and skill set. I think you bracket on Rudolph and let Revis deal with Patterson. Rudolph has a large chance at hurting the Patriots badly.Super Nomario said:
Another direction the Patriots can take is to put an extra man in the box and turn Minnesota one-dimensional. Blitz Cassel and hope to force some bad and ill-timed throws. Make them show you that they can run the ball without Peterson.
I think Revis on Patterson is kind of a waste of Revis' cover skills, since Patterson isn't really a great receiver. I'd rather have Revis take away Jennings, put Dennard or whoever on Patterson, and make sure to provide safety help (and LB help whenever Patterson's in the slot).RedOctober3829 said:
Rudolph is big but I don't think he's anything special as a receiver, at least not at this point in his career. If the Pats put Hightower on him, is he going to go off to the tune of 100 yards or something? I doubt it.
I do think Minnesota will run the ball to control the clock and try to wear the D down, so I agree putting another man in the box makes sense. I think we're looking at more 3-4 this week, but maybe with Chandler Jones at OLB and more of a traditional 3-man front.
The Vikings have a good O-line but without AP they're not great on skill position players -- Patterson is it, as he's explosive. They'll have to run a balanced attack and need to control the line of scrimmage in order to do that. I don't think they can be one-dimensional due to lack of skill players and a need to keep the Pats from focusing on any one dimension. The line of scrimmage is obviously key for any game, but more so here. If it can allow them to generate a decent running game and short passing attack, then they'll be in the game. The Pats have to hope that Revis earns his keep by holding Patterson down (as a receiver) and that the rest of the team can do a good enough job stuffing the run/generating a pass rush such that Vikings can only win if Cassell/Rudolph or the 2 back-up running backs work wonders. Doubt they have the skill to do that absent big holes/lots of time in the pocket.
In other words, this is a big test for Wilfork, Siliga, Easley, Jones, Nink and whoever else rotates in. If they do their job, then the Pats should be fine.
In other words, this is a big test for Wilfork, Siliga, Easley, Jones, Nink and whoever else rotates in. If they do their job, then the Pats should be fine.
I think if all the LB were healthy, we might see more 4-3, but since Collins might not play (or be limited if he does play) I think you might see a 3-4 with Jones and Ninkovich as OLB and Hightower and Mayo inside. That's different than last week's 3-4 with Jones at 3-4 DE (Jones wasn't standing up much, he was mostly playing 3-4 end). Front might be Vellano - Siliga - Wilfork, with Easley rotating in. In the nickel, take off one of the linemen, bump Jones and Ninkovich to DE and play a 4-2. Vikes play a lot of 2 WR personnel, though; this will likely be a base-defense-heavy game.Tony C said:
Another wrinkle I could see: Wilfork at DE matched up with Phil Loadholt, their gargantuan RT. As I mentioned in the article, Minny likes to run right, so Wilfork lined up there might force them to go against their strengths.