Vikings @ Broncos Preview – Around the Web

Taking a look around the Internet, on what the experts, beat writers, soothsayers, and your grandpa are saying about the upcoming game. We’ll give you a snippet, then you can jump through the links provided and read everything they had to say.

Adrian Peterson, the rare rookie Pro Bowl back. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell needs to get Peterson going early to keep the Broncos’ defense on its heels. Guards Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera are road graders who can easily move defensive tackles Marcus Thomas and Alvin McKinley out of the way. Then, with center Matt Birk, chipping downfield to block undersized middle linebacker D.J. Williams, the Vikings can at least keep the Broncos from playing a designated pass defense on every down. [The War Room]

There’s no secret about what it takes to beat the Broncos this season. Run the ball until the final whistle and you’re going to give yourself a healthy chance at winning the game. That shouldn’t be a problem for the Vikes. With Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, Minnesota is well suited to letting their running game do all the heavy lifting. Yet last week against the Redskins they threw the ball 41 times, a dubious idea when the erratic Tarvaris Jackson is your quarterback. Jackson has shown flashes this year but they are almost always because the run game has set him up to make big plays downfield. The Broncos have tried eight and nine men in the box to stop the run, to no effect, and should try the same this weekend. Unless the Vikings pin all of their hopes to the aerial game again, they won’t have any more success defensively. [AOL Fanhouse]

Ideally, the Broncos would like to establish the run. But Minnesota’s run defense is fantastic. The Vikings, however, give up a lot of passing yards. So expect the Broncos to do what everyone else does, which is drop back on a majority of snaps. Their only concern might be keeping quarterback Jay Cutler upright. Cutler has been sacked nine times in two games and has a sore knee. [Broncos Inside Slant – USA Today]

The Washington Redskins became the latest team to put nearly its entire focus on the Vikings’ usually potent running attack and dare quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to beat them via the pass last Sunday. The Denver Broncos are sure to follow suit this weekend at Invesco Field. Whether it works remains to be seen. The 49ers and Bears also focused on the Vikings run game but ended up losing. [Vikings Inside Slant – USA Today]

Picks Around the Web

Mark Schlereth Mike Golic Eric Allen Sean Salisbury Merril Hoge Chris Mortenson Moose Johnston Brian McGovern Pat Kirwan Tim Ryan Gil Brandt Jim Miller Jerry Rice	Seth Wickersham Jerry Rice Bruce Murray Adam Schein Solomon Wilcots Hagen/LeGreca Shannon Sharpe

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The Spread – Vikings By 3