Week Three Preview: Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers
If the Vikings think they can rest after their hard-fought victory over the Packers on Sunday night, they better think again. The Vikings travel to Carolina to face the defending NFC Champion Panthers at noon, Sunday, on FOX. The Panthers (1-1) are coming off a convincing home win versus the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 46-27. The Vikings will have to score more than 17 points against last season’s scoring champions, who are once again on pace to put up 500 points this season.
The reigning NFL MVP, Cam Newton has been looking every bit the player he was last season and is coming off a 353 yard, four touchdown performance this past Sunday. The sixth year superstar is prone to making mistakes when pressured though and rest assured, Mike Zimmer surely has a few exotic defensive looks in mind for this one.
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The last time the Vikings faced off with the Panthers was in 2014; since that meeting, the Panthers have only lost a total of four games. In the 2014 meeting, the Vikings sacked Newton four times and intercepted him once. The Vikings also returned two blocked punts for touchdowns in a 31-13 schallacking.
Quarterback, Sam Bradford also had some success against the Panthers in his week seven matchup against the eventual NFC Champions last season. He threw for 205 yards and looked great on some throws but just ran out of time in the eventual 27-16 loss.
Essentials to win the game
As mentioned in the opening, the Vikings must get to and sack Newton. The Denver Broncos have shown in Newton’s last two losses, that he tends to try to do too much and is prone to making mistakes when flustered. Getting to Newton is one thing and bringing him down is another, as he stands at an imposing six-foot-five and weighs 245 pounds. Eric Kendricks and the other blitzers must be sure to wrap Newton up when they get to him.
The Vikings will have to recreate some of that same magic they had in the 2014 meeting against the Panthers, by wreaking havoc on Newton. This week would be a great time for at least three more turnovers and one or more special teams’ touchdowns. This week would also be a great week for the special teams to take over the game. Jeff Locke punted admirably enough to even get mentioned in Zimmer’s post game presser. Pinning the Panthers deep inside their own territory five times this week could stop the Locke criticism altogether.
Possible downfalls to avoid
Relying on the defense is great when they come through like they have the last two weeks, however, this week they face the number one scoring offense in the league and their defense is going to need a rest. Sustaining drives will be a must for the Vikings’ offense this Sunday.
The Panthers’ offense gets tons of attention and for great reason, however, their defense is the true cause to why they lose so few games. The Panthers’ defense makes a living on destroying offenses that are in third and long situation. If the Vikings plan on winning this game, they will want to avoid, at all costs, being in third down with more than three yards to go.
Containing Newton may be impossible, though, limiting his big gains is achievable when defenses don’t bite on his option reads. The defense will have to stay home with vigor or suffer the consequences of Newton running amuck all day long.
Player spotlight
If all five of the people that read this article have yet to notice: this section is for spotlighting players that may not normally be spotlighted. It is obvious that Cam Newton is a human highlight reel, Luke Kuechly is one of the best defensive players on planet earth and the Bradford/Diggs combo will be intriguing every week.
The Panthers also will be without their starting running back, Jonathan Stewart on Sunday due to injury. According to Panthers.com senior writer, Bryan Strickland, Cameron Artis-Payne may be activated so he and Fozzy Whittaker will likely get the bulk of the carries while Mike Tolbert will contribute as well.
As well of a game Andrew Sendejo had on Sunday night, he performed his patented 15 yard sprint to make a tackle and in Orlando Thomas fashion, completely whiffed on the ball carrier. Missed tackles cannot be afforded against an opportunistic and athletic Panthers’ offense. One major factor as to why the Vikings must tackle well is Kelvin Benjamin. The third year wide out has become Newton’s go-to, can’t miss red zone target, this season. The two have connected on three touchdowns already in the first two weeks.
Cordarrelle Patterson has nearly broken through for a touchdown in each of the first two games. This Sunday would be a great time for Patterson and or Marcus Sherels to score on special teams.
Game projection
The Panthers are easily one of the best teams in the league, regardless of where they play. However, when they play at the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium, they are even better. According to ESPN.com’s weekly power rankings, the Panthers have averaged 40.4 points per game in their last seven at home.
Safely, this writer can say, the Vikings have a better chance of bringing the Panthers down to their 21 points per game than they do scoring more than 40. If the Vikings want to win this game, the Panthers cannot score 40 points; in all actuality, if the Panthers score 30 points, this game may be a blowout.
The Panthers like to start out fast by getting their running game on track. They then run the read-option to perfection as Newton can suck even the best defenders into one of his ball fakes. Once the read option makes safeties and corners cheat up in the box, wham, Newton hooks up with Greg Olsen for a 78-yard touchdown.
As strange as it may seem, the Vikings, for now, have the leading receiver in the league in terms of yardage in Diggs. They may be more equipped to handle a shootout, more than they have been in the past, if Bradford and Diggs continue to blossom as a premiere duo.
The Vikings will finally need to get the running game on track as Asiata and McKinnon could work out to be the perfect one-two punch. The Vikings have the ability to hang on and battle for the entire game but ultimately will need to score more offensive touchdowns if they want to win this one.
The Panthers’ defense is perfectly designed to stop the speedy Diggs and trustworthy Kyle Rudolph. Conversely, the Vikings’ undoing will be their speedy over pursuing defense that will have trouble picking up Newton’s fakes.
The Panthers are seven point home favorites and will eventually pull away for another sound victory by the score of 28-17. The Vikings prove they can hang with the NFC heavyweights but Zimmer knows there is no such thing as a moral victory.
Justin Ekstrom can be followed on Twitter @thesportscrib21 and be sure to follow and comment on Facebook and Twitter.
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