The Minnesota Vikings game against the Washington Redskins promises to be a good matchup. Both teams are currently struggling and unable to make the playoffs, but they both have some promising talent that they are trying to develop.
The Vikings are primarily working their offense around Christian Ponder as they try to examine his fit for the future, and so far he has performed reasonably well. This game will see Adrian Peterson return even healthier than he was the previous week in which he only had 10 rushes. With the running game coming back and the recent emergence of Percy Harvin, the Vikings offense is shaping up to be quite formidable.
The Washington Redskins have recently put together a string of good games with their victory over the New York Giants last week. With the reinstatement of Rex Grossman at quarterback, the emergence of Roy Helu at running back and Santana Moss returning from injury, the Redskins have put up a respectable 23.2 points per game over the last 5 weeks. They will face a Vikings defense that has given up a league worst 29 points per game.
This matchup promises to potentially be a high scoring game. The focus will definitely be on Adrian Peterson once again and whether he has fully recovered from his high left ankle sprain. Last week on a run where he normally would have finished the play for a touchdown, he was caught from behind after 39 yards. It was apparent on the run that he was still bothered by the ankle sprain.
Roy Helu finally had his streak of 3 straight 100 yard games broken last week against a stout New York front four, but will look to get back on track this week against the Vikings. Coach Mike Shanahan who is notorious for his lack of commitment to a running back has definitely bought into the promising young rookie. Helu is strong and quick which allows him to constantly get past the first level of the defense and make big gains into the secondary.
This game will also be an important one for Christian Ponder. As the 12th pick in the draft and the potential quarterback of the future for the Vikings, there was a lot of excitement for him when he defeated Cam Newton and started his career out 1-1. Since then the Vikings have lost 6 consecutive games and Ponder has seemingly regressed in each game. These last 2 games are incredibly important for Ponder as he assures the diehard Minnesota fan base of his ability to get the job done at the quarterback position. Ponder has a great arm, good mobility in the pocket, and just needs to grow in his accuracy and decision making.
Against the soft Minnesota Vikings defense, Rex Grossman can look to continue to build on a string of solid performances in his last couple games. The Vikings currently allow the 3rd most passing yards in the league and Grossman has a very capable receiving group at his disposal. Although there are no superstars, Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney have proven to be reliable and capable veteran presences for Grossman, and Helu has established himself as one of the best check down running backs.
Both quarterbacks have shown flashes of good play over the course of the season, but it will really depend on which one is more consistent and takes better care of the football this week. Both quarterbacks are turnover prone and need to really depend on the running game to win it for them this week. Adrian Peterson will bring a huge lift back to this Viking offense and hopefully take some pressure off Ponder. Grossman needs to take care of the football and rely on Helu.