Here's my 2 cents.
- Weather... I think beyond anything this will be the biggest factor. Vikings fans are right when they say we aren't used to playing in super cold temps. I think there's some evening out in that we tend to play games in freezing rain and sleet that soak you and you never get warm again. The bigger worry is our guys catching passes and how RW does throwing a cold ball.
-Rusty RB?! - I keep hearing people say that BM will be rusty as he comes back. I don't know if that would really affect a running back since the ball is handed to him rather than him having to catch it. The vision shouldn't have gone away. Perhaps coming back to an evolved offense that trusts RW more will be something he has to adjust to, but as far as rust goes, he's been doing this for ... 8,9 years now.
-The usual 3 reasons why team xxx is going to shut us down- 1)Put a spy on/Keep RW in the pocket 2) establish the run to open up xxx 3) Just do what the Rams do - I've been to countless message boards this year and these are essentially the 3 things everyone says that are going to be the reasons they win or this time is different etc. I've yet to see anyone but the Rams really corral RW and with the way he's playing i'd LOVE for them to do the half assed contain RW rush and let him throw the ball around. Establish the run seems to be the Vikings best hope. AP's done it to us before. If he can, they'll make the game close, but I think to do that, Teddy would have to make the defense respect him, and they don't. He won the division title by throwing for less than 100 yards and a left handed awful pick. AP's dinged up enough that he left the most important game of their season for treatment. Even if that means 90% instead of 100% i think that they would need 110% to have a real shot at this. and #3 is just silly. Until someone plays us 2x a year for years and builds a team that is specifically designed to beat us (first rounders at every Dline position etc) it's not going to happen
-But we had 3 missing starters on Defense last time. Ok i'll give it to you. 1 guy you knew wouldn't be there and hasn't been there for any of the games since. If you're gonna say that Lynch will be rusty, then so will Linvale and a leg injury to a big man is a big deal. The other 2... a LB and a Safety? i believe will matter, but if the Dline can't get to RW (like last time) an extra S and LB won't keep him from finding open receivers. On the same note, Seattle was missing Kam, one of our best run stuffers and intimidation factors, and we held AP to 18 yards. We also had Cary Williams playing I believe, which is kind of like missing a starter on D. So it could be a wash. Maybe they'll both play out of their minds and it'll matter. We shall see.
I doubt this will be a blowout like last time. The players on Minn all know that it's win or go home. They'll give it everything they have. But at what point do we say, it's a team who didn't score an offensive point against us and couldn't run or pass effectively 1 month ago at the same field with the same starting time (although admittedly a much colder game) and the Seahawks fans are supposed to be anything but supremely confident going into the game?
Obligatory any given sunday comment.
Good luck to the Vikings on Sunday and whoever wins, I do hope no one on either team is seriously injured.