VIKING SEASON HOME OPENER AGAINST THE DOGHOUSE

Today the Vikings (0-2) may see an unmotivated team show up to play. Some say the Browns are a team that could go away if the Vikings jump on them early. I am not in that camp. The front seven from Cleveland will be here to play. This is the last week that the Vikings will be playing without fullback Jerome Felton, who is serving his final week of his suspension. Zach Line will once again take the spot to lead Peterson through tough wall of defenders, which may be the toughest he has yet to see.  It will be important for the Vikings to start quickly and score first. However, we also need to be careful and learn from our history of last week. Play to the end of the game. Never feel comfortable with the score being what it is, play the four quarters and come up with a victory!

This past week Coach Frazier was asked what he thinks of when he hears about a “Norv Turner offense.” Frazier’s response was: “A lot of deep routes, a lot of screens, a lot of play-action, taking shots downfield and a lot of screens in situations where we faced them in the past.”  In case you are a fan that has not heard the news, starting quarterback Brandon Weeden was injured and will not play. The Browns also traded away their star running back, Trent Richardson, to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round draft pick.  With those two changes, Norv’s passing game seems like the best option for offense.  In order to overcome the offensive passing potential, we will need to get pressure on the third string starting quarterback Brian Hoyer, and stop backup running back Bobby Rainey and the newly-signed from off the street Willis McGahee. The purple has struggled with stopping the run in the past two games against division rivals.  There was a noticeable improvement having Kevin Williams back on the d-line last week.  The Vikings organization will acknowledge before the game an impressive and important milestone will be set by Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams He will start his 158th career game, passing Alan Page for most career starts by a Vikings defensive tackle and trailing only Jim Marshall (270) and Carl Eller (201) for starts by a defensive lineman.
The Vikings and Browns will meet for the 15th time in the history of the franchises today and for the 8th time in Minnesota. The Vikings hold a 11-3 all-time series advantage and have won all 4 previous meetings in Minnesota. We are looking to add a “W” today and hopefully have a few amazing plays for the record book!  

SKOL VIKES!

THE RECORDBOOK VS THE CLEVELAND BROWNS

The last time the Vikings met the Browns was the 2009 season opener at Cleveland. Adrian Peterson set the Vikings opening-day record with 180 yards and 3 TDs in the game.

In 1980 at Met Stadium, Tommy Kramer became the 1st Vikings QB to pass for 450 yards, going for 456 and 4 TDs, a team yardage record that stood until Kramer broke his own mark in 1986 at Washington with 490. The Washington game did go to overtime though, so the 456 yards still stands as the record for games played in regulation time.

In the series history, 14 games, only 3 Vikings RBs have rushed for 100 yards:

• Adrian Peterson: 180 (2009)
• Bill Brown: 138 (1965)
• Darrin Nelson: 118 (1986)

In the inaugural game of the series in 1965 in Cleveland, Fran Tarkenton connected with Tommy Mason for the longest pass play by the Vikings in the series, a 72-yard score en route to a 27-17 Vikings win.