"Run the ball right down his throat, basically"

Watt will be ready no doubt, unfortunately, by the time James can react to a run play Peterson will already be past the second level, meanwhile Merciless only tries to tackle 1 person, the QB.

 

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Seriously though, we've been saying for the entire season, but somebody besides JJ Watt is going to have to have a good game. Someone is going to need to step up and make some tackles, because once AP gets going North and South we don't have ANYONE on the team that is capable of catching him.

 

"get sacks, get stacks" - brian cushing

 

The one thing Peterson hasn't faced this season is a defensive backfield that has safeties that tackle as well as Quinn and Manning do. I can't find the actual stat, but I believe we lead the league in fewest runs of 20 yds or more against. I want to say there has been only one or 2 this entire season. Peterson is not going to get the 40, 50, 60 yard runs he's been getting against other teams.

That and it's probably not a good idea to give JJ any reason to step his game up even more than it's already been. If that is even possible, AP might end up needing more than the 294 yards he currently needs to catch Dickerson.

 

We haven't played a back anywhere as talented as AP. This game is scary.

 

The Vikings haven't played a defensive lineman nearly as talented as Watt.

 

There is no reason for this game to be "scary." The Texans simply have to follow thier gameplan. AD is great, and that's who the Texans will have to contend with. But the Vikings will have to contend with the TEXANS. You know... Watt, Foster, Johnson, Daniels, etc..

 

Why are Texan fans always so scared of every game?

 

Jonathan Joseph ran a 4.31 40 at the combine. Peterson ran a 4.38. It might not make any difference on the field but, just sayin'.

 

Agreed. I have no clue.

The Texans are favored to win this game. If they play like they should, not only do they win... they win by a lot.

Its like this team went from being a laughing-stock to "not meeting super high expectations" overnight... there has to be a middle ground.

 

because they see every Texans game to only point out their weaknesses while they get exposure to the opponent on ESPN who only shows the other teams strengths.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comeback_%28American_football%29

When this happens to your hometown team, you never fully recover. There's no such thing as a safe game.

 

If the Texans just play a good normal game, Peterson by himself can't beat them. The Vikings are 24th in total offense and 17th in scoring. Mainly because they're dead last in passing. Their defense is mediocre too.

Peterson is going to get his, but him having a big game doesn't mean they're going to win. In the Vikings last 4 losses, AP ran for 210, 108 (6 ypc), 182, and 123 (8.2 ypc). It's not enough by itself. Something else has to happen for them to win. Ponder has to play better than usual. They have to win the turnover battle. They have to score on defense or special teams. Something like that.

The Vikings have beaten 2 teams with winning records this year, San Fran in Week 2 (by virtue of turnovers, missed FG's, and a plain bad SF offense) and a fading Chicago team that has lost 5 of 6 in week 14. They can beat up on St. Louis and Arizona and Detroit, but if we play at our normal level, they shouldn't be able to play up to us.

If the Texans put a decent number of points up, don't turn the ball over, and don't let Ponder play above himself, then this should be a relatively straight forward win regardless of what Peterson does.

 

Score enough points early and fast they will have to slowly abandon the run

 

i hope jj "runs his foot right up his ass, basically"

 

Start Dobbins, problem solved. It isn't like Ponder will be able to take advantage of him in the passing game anyway.

 

If the offense can start fast, and put together a couple of touchdown-scoring drives early and play ball-control, then it eliminates the running game. I don't care how much they run it down our throats, the end result will be a W for the Texans.

 

Even if the Vikings are down they might not abandon the run. AP is one back that you can legitimately consider for 3rd and long.