Vikings @ LAC - Pregame Thread

[Dames]

Certainly not an easy game coming up Sunday. Chargers are better than their record, but we are still favored and should win. We need to win to stay in control of our destiny.

We played well in our last game we traveled to the West Coast, even though we lost (Seattle). It might be a factor, but I'm optimistic that it won't be much of one. LAC really doesn't have a home filed advantage other than the travel/time change. It's certainly nothing like Seattle.

You have to worry a little about our secondary holding up vs Rivers. He had a hell of a game last week, even though it was vs a Jags team that appears to have given up. Rivers clearly still has the talent though. I like the way the Vikings's defense played last week, but it's hard to take much stock in it since it was the Lions. Still, if we can get that kind of pressure on Rivers, it will certainly be helpful. If so, it would force Rivers into the mistakes he's been making all year.

Depending on where you look the Chargers are ranked 7th or 21st. It's hard to get a grasp on if they are good or not. DVOA ranking has them at 21st, and honestly I take more stock in that vs yardage stats or whatever decides ranking on other sites. Maybe someone else can give me a better understanding of the discrepancy. They are not good at forcing turnovers (27th worst), so I imagine that is a big factor. The Chargers are ranked similarly to the Vikings in Scoring Defense, and that's a pretty important factor. 8th in the league, so that's not bad.

Bottom line: the game is unlikely to be easy. Hopefully we play like we have been since week 4. If we do, we'll win. Turnovers will be key I think.

Injury news:
Good news is that Thielen appears to be on track to play. That's HUGE for us I think. Hopefully there are no more set backs!

Bad news is that Mattison is OUT. That's good for my fantasy playoffs since I'm playing Cook, but not good for the Vikings. He's such a great 1-2 punch. Hopefully it's just a short term injury, but having him declared out already is not a great sign.

Kearse is also out. Not great either.

[cmoss84]

Live near LA and was hoping to find decent tickets. But man. They are expensive!

Ekeler could be the wildcard here. He is kind of this year's Kamara. I do think we win this one though. We put consistent pressure on Rivers and he throws 2+ picks.

[J. Kapp 11]

With Thielen coming back, watch Dalvin Cook get back to being Dalvin Cook. Teams have been loading up on us ever since AT went down. It's no coincidence that the last 100-yard game for Cook was the same game Thielen got hurt. Thielen changes the entire dynamic of the offense. Stefon Diggs stands to benefit a lot.

Defensively, we don't have to worry about Rivers moving off his spot, which means Hunter and Griffen could have big games. Austin Eckler is a good player who is breaking out, but I don't see this team doing all that much against us. They're 18th in points scored, 18th in yardage, 22nd in rushing offense. They're in the top 10 in passing offense, but Rivers has also thrown 15 picks and dropped 7 fumbles. Pressure definitely affects him at this stage of his career, and there's simply no reason for Zimmer to play conservatively when it comes to the pass rush. I really hope he turns Anthony Barr loose on the blitz.

Also, in that small-college soccer stadium, there is no home-field advantage.

I don't predict scores, but I like us in this game. I feel like the offense is going to look worlds better than last week's sleepwalk against Detroit. I'll be surprised if we put up less than 30.

[PacificNorseWest]

This is a game a typical Vikings pretender team would lose. Chargers have some players, which make them dangerous. I feel like the Vikings need to win this convincingly in order to take them serious as contenders, but a win in any fashion should suffice.

[CharVike]

This will be a tough game. Getting Adam back is big for us. Losing Matti isn't good. He provides Cook with some solid relief. These west coast games are always difficult and we need to treat this as a must win. The Chargers don't even have a home field advantage. Do the LA fans really give a dam about this team? I have no idea what will happen. We should win easily, We are a better team and finally have a WR opposite Diggs. I'm hoping for a 23-17 win.

[Maelstrom88]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

[J. Kapp 11]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

10th ranked offense?

They're 18th in yards and 18th in PPG.

[CharVike]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

This ranking stuff can be very misleading. Depends on who teams play. However this Charger team is better than their record. I'm only going off one game and that was the Packers. To beat that team you have to have something. Rodgers only had 161 yards passing. That's playing pass D. I suspect they have a good pass rush because it all starts with that. Rivers average 10 yards an attempt against them. He picked them apart. IMO our pass D blows. Yes they played great last week. Who cares. That Lion team is a joke and are basically taking the beat down at this point. That gets back to my ranking thoughts. We should/could've posted a shutout. If our D stepped up like that against the Seahawks we would be in great shape. They are not talented enough to do that. So I expect the Chargers to move the ball and score some. That will put our offense in a tough spot. Zim better get our team ready to play. He needs to get this pass D playing much netter. It all starts here. We need this win big time and he better treat it that way. It won't be the end of the world but it will be the end of playoff hopes with a loss. We are in must win mode. I know there are a million options but we need to forget that. Get on a roll and win out and it's ours. That's a great spot to be in.

[CharVike]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

This ranking stuff can be very misleading. Depends on who teams play. However this Charger team is better than their record. I'm only going off one game and that was the Packers. To beat that team you have to have something. Rodgers only had 161 yards passing. That's playing pass D. I suspect they have a good pass rush because it all starts with that. Rivers average 10 yards an attempt against them. He picked them apart. IMO our pass D blows. Yes they played great last week. Who cares. That Lion team is a joke and are basically taking the beat down at this point. That gets back to my ranking thoughts. We should/could've posted a shutout. If our D stepped up like that against the Seahawks we would be in great shape. They are not talented enough to do that. So I expect the Chargers to move the ball and score some. That will put our offense in a tough spot. Zim better get our team ready to play. He needs to get this pass D playing much netter. It all starts here. We need this win big time and he better treat it that way. It won't be the end of the world but it will be the end of playoff hopes with a loss. We are in must win mode. I know there are a million options but we need to forget that. Get on a roll and win out and it's ours. That's a great spot to be in.

[Maelstrom88]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

10th ranked offense?

They're 18th in yards and 18th in PPG.

I was looking at this:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/team

[Maelstrom88]

They have the 10th ranked offense and the 4th(!) ranked defense. This team is much better than their record. Our defense will have to step up or this game could very well be a loss.

This ranking stuff can be very misleading. Depends on who teams play. However this Charger team is better than their record. I'm only going off one game and that was the Packers. To beat that team you have to have something. Rodgers only had 161 yards passing. That's playing pass D. I suspect they have a good pass rush because it all starts with that. Rivers average 10 yards an attempt against them. He picked them apart. IMO our pass D blows. Yes they played great last week. Who cares. That Lion team is a joke and are basically taking the beat down at this point. That gets back to my ranking thoughts. We should/could've posted a shutout. If our D stepped up like that against the Seahawks we would be in great shape. They are not talented enough to do that. So I expect the Chargers to move the ball and score some. That will put our offense in a tough spot. Zim better get our team ready to play. He needs to get this pass D playing much netter. It all starts here. We need this win big time and he better treat it that way. It won't be the end of the world but it will be the end of playoff hopes with a loss. We are in must win mode. I know there are a million options but we need to forget that. Get on a roll and win out and it's ours. That's a great spot to be in.

I've heard that Bosa kid is pretty good. Will be interesting to see how they block him.

[CharVike]

This ranking stuff can be very misleading. Depends on who teams play. However this Charger team is better than their record. I'm only going off one game and that was the Packers. To beat that team you have to have something. Rodgers only had 161 yards passing. That's playing pass D. I suspect they have a good pass rush because it all starts with that. Rivers average 10 yards an attempt against them. He picked them apart. IMO our pass D blows. Yes they played great last week. Who cares. That Lion team is a joke and are basically taking the beat down at this point. That gets back to my ranking thoughts. We should/could've posted a shutout. If our D stepped up like that against the Seahawks we would be in great shape. They are not talented enough to do that. So I expect the Chargers to move the ball and score some. That will put our offense in a tough spot. Zim better get our team ready to play. He needs to get this pass D playing much netter. It all starts here. We need this win big time and he better treat it that way. It won't be the end of the world but it will be the end of playoff hopes with a loss. We are in must win mode. I know there are a million options but we need to forget that. Get on a roll and win out and it's ours. That's a great spot to be in.

I've heard that Bosa kid is pretty good. Will be interesting to see how they block him.

You're correct. That kid is getting headlines. That's hard to do when the team you play on get's min exposure. If he was in Dallas his name would be splattered all over the place. And they suck. Our OL will need to play lights out or Cousins won't have much time. That's when the problems start. I would imagine that's how they stopped Rodgers so well. Pressure. No QB handles that very well.

[Bowhunting Viking]

I've heard that Bosa kid is pretty good. Will be interesting to see how they block him.

You're correct. That kid is getting headlines. That's hard to do when the team you play on get's min exposure. If he was in Dallas his name would be splattered all over the place. And they suck. Our OL will need to play lights out or Cousins won't have much time. That's when the problems start. I would imagine that's how they stopped Rodgers so well. Pressure. No QB handles that very well.

Born and bred Buckeye here. My daughter is a Master's graduate from The Ohio State University. I've seen both the Bosa boys play on TV and live in the Shoe.
Bosa SCARES the crap outta me today. Big time. Better have a great scheme to block him or that kid will wreak havoc. I just have this horrible Vision of strip sacks.. and I want it to go away!!!
Please don't let it happen O line.

[StumpHunter]

10th ranked offense?

They're 18th in yards and 18th in PPG.

I was looking at this:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/team

Scoring efficiency they are 10th on offense, BUT they turn the ball over 5th most of any team.

Defensively they are 12th in scoring.


Based on those numbers their record is due to all the turnovers on offense. The key to beating them then is turning over Rivers early and often. We do that we win going away. We don't...

[Pondering Her Percy]

With Gordon in the fold and comfortable, this team is much better now. There are two different kinds of Philip Rivers. The rivers that looks like a pro bowl QB and slings it all over the field or the rivers that crumbles under pressure and turns the ball over 100 times. We need to get after him. I hope Zim is ready to send blitzes and not just sit back and rely on our DEs. Rivers does not do well under pressure and is as immobile as immobile gets. We can’t just sit back and let him throw all over the field.

This is a classic underachieving team. Ton of talent and a 5-8 record. We need to exploit their weaknesses and start fast.