Okay, let's be honest. There are going to be 53 extremely talented professional football players suiting up for the Minnesota Vikings Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. It takes a special amount of skill to make it as a player in the NFL. But let's face it: The Vikings rely on one man to carry them, and that's the man who will be carrying the football out of the backfield for them Sunday, Adrian Peterson.
The man who came just nine yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record in 2012, Peterson is the heart and soul of the Vikings. In fact, I believe the team has filed paperwork to the league to officially change their name to the "Minnesota Adrian Petersons." It'll catch on, eventually, right?
Needless to say, if the Vikings plan on having any success at M&T Bank Stadium against the Ravens Sunday, it all starts with Peterson.
The only problem? Baltimore has the league's 6th-best rush defense, and have been particularly strong stopping the run as of late. The Ravens have only allowed one 100-yard rusher all season, and only one back has even eclipsed the 80-yard mark against the Ravens in their last six games.
You can try to analyze this game further than that; but if you do, you're really just wasting your time. As long as Baltimore doesn't allow Peterson to run all over the place Sunday, they should have no problem securing a third consecutive win.
The Ravens will most likely have to do so without oustide linebacker Elvis Dumervil, however, who is doubtful for Sunday's game with an ankle injury. On the other side of the injury coin, though, Dennis Pitta has a pretty good chance of returning to the field Sunday for the first time since fracturing his hip back in training camp.
The story for the Vikings in 2013 is the revolving door that has been the quarterback position. Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman have all started under center for Minnesota this year. Cassel will get the start this week, as Ponder has been ruled out due to a concussion.
I have a simple rule, though: If I don't know who your starting quarterback is from week to week, and you don't know who your starting quarterback is from week to week, I can't pick you to win a game.
The Vikings will by no means roll over in Baltimore, though. They're coming off of back-to-back weeks in which they forced NFC North rivals into overtime, tying the Green Bay Packers and beating the Chicago Bears by a field goal. While a win is a win (and a tie is a tie, too, I guess), keep in mind that those wins came against two back-up quarterbacks.
With a win Sunday, quarterback Joe Flacco will have 61 victories for his career, the most by a quarterback in his first six seasons in the Super Bowl era. Congrats, Joe. Because the Ravens only give up 12.3 points per game at home, while the Vikings defense gives up the most points in the NFL (30.5 per game).
And even though it seems like rules are constantly changing in the NFL, at least one rule remains the same: The team that scores the most points wins. Ravens 31, Vikings (or Adrian Petersons, if you prefer) 12.
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