Tough Guys Wear Purple - RT's Minnesota Vikings (M16)

[RoundingThird]

2015 Minnesota Vikings Regular Season Preview:



Now is not the time to be concerned. This is supposed to be our year. AP is back! We have a new coach, a coach that knows what winning feels like. We have a new stadium opening up in the near future. We need to blow those horns, Vikings nation! Your support is needed. Do your part. Make every game loud. Don't hold back. We want teams to fear us. Bring down the Pack. Bring down Da Bears. Bring down everybody. Embrace the cold. Use it to your advantage. You'll only have the cold advantage for one more year. Don't shy away from the spotlight, but be humble when you're in there. We Are VIKINGS!!!!!!

2015 Vikings Roster/Depth Chart:

2015 Minnesota Vikings
#	OFFENSE	POS	AGE	OVR	EXP	COLLEGE
5	Teddy Bridgewater	QB	22	82	1	Louisville
13	Shaun Hill	QB	35	72	13	Maryland
4	Mike Kafka	QB	28	69	5	Northwestern
6	Taylor Heinicke	QB	22	62	R	Old Dominion
28	Adrian Peterson	HB	30	94	8	Oklahoma
31	Jerick McKinnon	HB	23	73	1	Georgia Southern
20	DuJuan Harris	HB	26	71	4	Troy
48	Zach Line	FB	25	71	2	Southern Methodist
11	Mike Wallace	WR	29	84	6	Mississippi
12	Charles Johnson	WR	26	79	2	Grand Valley State
17	Jairus Wright	WR	25	77	3	Arkansas
84	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	24	74	2	Tennessee
19	Adam Thielen	WR	25	70	2	Minnesota State
82	Kyle Rudolph	TE	25	86	4	Notre Dame
86	Chase Ford	TE	25	76	3	The U
81	Brandon Bostick	TE	26	75	3	Newberry College
85	Rhett Ellison	TE	26	74	3	Southern California
75	Matt Kalil	LT	26	79	3	Southern California
63	Brandon Fusco	LG	25	81	4	Slippery Rock
66	David Yankey	LG	23	73	1	Stanford
65	John Sullivan	C	30	85	7	Notre Dame
61	Joe Berger	C	33	78	10	Michigan Tech
72	Tyrus Thompson	RG	27	68	R	Oklahoma
79	Mike Harris	RG	26	66	3	California - Los Angeles
71	Phil Loadholt	RT	29	83	6	Oklahoma
68	T.J. Clemmings	RT	23	72	R	Pittsburgh
#	DEFENSE	POS	AGE	OVR	EXP	COLLEGE
96	Brian Robison	LE	32	87	8	Texas
95	Scott Crichton	LE	23	71	1	Oregon State
97	Everson Griffen	RE	27	92	5	Southern California
99	Danielle Hunter	RE	20	68	R	Louisiana State
73	Sharrif Floyd	DT	23	90	2	Florida
98	Linval Joseph	DT	26	86	5	East Carolina
93	Shamar Stephen	DT	24	69	1	Connecticut
50	Gerald Hodges	LOLB	24	89	2	Pennsylvania State
55	Anthony Barr	LOLB	23	85	1	California - Los Angeles
40	Edmond Robinson	LOLB	23	71	R	Newberry College
54	Eric Kendricks	MLB	23	73	R	California - Los Angeles
57	Audie Cole	MLB	26	73	3	North Carolina State
59	Casey Matthews	MLB	26	68	4	Oregon
52	Chad Greenway	ROLB	32	78	9	Iowa
58	Brandon Watts	ROLB	24	75	1	Georgia Tech
29	Xavier Rhodes	CB	25	89	2	Florida State
24	Captain Munnerlyn	CB	27	80	6	South Carolina
21	Josh Robinson	CB	24	76	3	Central Florida
23	Trae Waynes	CB	23	75	R	Michigan State
33	Josh Thomas	CB	26	71	4	State University of New York at Buffalo
22	Harrison Smith	FS	26	94	3	Notre Dame
27	Shaun Prater	FS	25	76	3	Iowa
32	Antone Exum, Jr.	FS	24	71	1	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
36	Robert Blanton	SS	25	86	3	Notre Dame
34	Andrew Sendejo	SS	27	76	5	Rice
#	SPECIAL TEAMS	POS	AGE	OVR	EXP	COLLEGE
3	Blair Walsh	K	25	82	3	Georgia
18	Jeff Locke	P	25	67	2	California - Los Angeles
84	Cordarrelle Patterson	KR/PR	24	93/95	2	Tennessee

Names in bold: Starters
Names in red: Injured

2015 Vikings Schedule:

[RoundingThird]

Week 1 Schedule:

[LopaKa]

looking good bro, i'm excited to see what you can do with the Vikings! Love the title as well haha

[RoundingThird]

Quote: Originally Posted by LopaKa

looking good bro, i'm excited to see what you can do with the Vikings! Love the title as well haha

Thanks, Lop! I'm starting to regret skipping the preseason. I've already played the first game, and need to make some tweaks to the sliders. The preseason would have been perfect for that. So, at least for the first few games or so, the results may be inconsistent.

[RoundingThird]

Vikings Gameday Preview: Week 1


The Vikings head to Santa Clara for their season opener, on Monday Night no less.



It's Monday Night, and it's Vikings football! But, let me tell how hard it was for Coach Freday to sit and watch as Opening Sunday took place around the NFL. The Vikings did have a walkthrough at Levi's Stadium, but it was after the 49ers, so it was pretty late. Coach Freday feels confident about his team, but at the same time, who knows what could happen? He didn't see the preseason, so by the end of the game tonight, what will he see? There's just no way to find out, except for watching the game and finding out.

This game features two rookie head coaches, with Jim Tomsula on the other side for the Niners. Frank Gore left for Indy, so now is the time for Carlos Hyde to shine, getting occasional help from Reggie Bush in the backfield behind Colin Kaepernick, who could be facing a make or break year. He struggled last year with his accuracy down the field. He does have a good crew to help him out. Vernon Davis is Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of this Vikings defense, but if they focus too much on slowing him down, they could easily be beaten by Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin. Yep, Xavier Rhodes and Captain Munnerlyn have a pretty heft task on their hands, but hopefully the front 7 will step up. Coach Freday was the sack champion of the world in Cleveland, and here in Minny, he's got a good crew as well. Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Sharrif Floyd. Sounds like sacks, or at least run stoppers, to me.

But don't get me wrong. The Niners defense is still full of life. Teddy Bridgewater has his work cut out for him. NaVorro Bowman is back, after missing all of 2014. Gone, of course, are Aldon Smith and Ray McDonald, taking the load off the front line. And the secondary? To be completely honest here, the only two worth worrying about are Eric Reid and Tramaine Brock. Both teams were 7-9, but for San Fran, it was a disappointing year that led to a new coach. The Vikings went 7-9 without Adrian Peterson.

Matchup Preview | September 14, 2015
	@
Minnesota Vikings (0-0, 0-0 Away)		San Francisco 49ers (0-0, 0-0 Home)
Injury Report RT Phil Loadholt (ACL) 31 weeks None Reported MLB Casey Matthews (ACL) 32 weeks Game Notes Time: 9:20 CDT TV: ESPN Follows the Eagles-Falcons game on ESPN, but audiences in Minneapolis and San Francisco markets will see the game as soon as it starts. Streaks: Vikings: W1 49ers: L2 Last Meeting: Vikings 24, 49ers 13 (9/23/12)

[Cheese2121]

Looking forward to seeing the season kickoff! Should be a good measuring stick of where you are as a team against a solid 49ers squad. Hyde is usually a pain to bring down on first contact. Good luck!

[RoundingThird]

Gameday Recap: Vikings 24, 49ers 13
Defense shines on big stage in season opener


You're going to be hearing this one a lot: Bridgewater to Wallace for 6. When it happened here in the second, it was Teddy's first passing touchdown of 2015.

That was quite the interesting game. Coach Freday certainly got a feel for his players (and the sliders) in that one. His defense played great, but the whole first quarter should have been called the Stupid Bowl. Both offenses looked turrible (to quote the great Charles Barkley), because the defense kept making great plays. Neither offense could take advantage of turnovers, or get any kind of rhythm going until the Vikings did in the second. Teddy led the troops down the field, but they stalled in the red zone. Adrian Peterson really didn't look too good running the football, and had a low yards per carry average. It was 3rd and goal from the 2, and the Vikes were trying desperately to punch it in. AP was short (again), but there was a facemask on the tackle. Fresh set of downs. After a quick play action bootleg (Freday's favorite red zone call) that went incomplete, Bridgewater decided to take matters into his own hands. If AP couldn't score, he would. And he did. 7-0 Vikings, even though Blair Walsh wasn't used to kicking the extra point from the 15 yard line. The defense continued its fine play, and the Vikings went on another long drive before the break, this one ending in a Blair Walsh field goal that was shorter than the extra point he had made earlier. And then, one of those drives happened that Coach Freday claim he can't stop no matter what he does. He calls them "Full on Desperado Drives." The other team is so desperate, they score easily, and you can't stop them. The Niners went right down the field, tripling their offensive yards, made possible by the team of Colin Kaepernick and Vernon Davis. But, the Vikings defense did manage to bend, not break in the red zone, and it was 10-3 going into the locker room. San Fran would get the ball out of the break.

First drive out of the locker room? Three and out. Anthony Barr and the front 4 of the Vikings were swallowing Carlos Hyde whole. He got even less over the entire game than Peterson did in the first half. But what does Teddy do after the punt? Throw it away. Well, I shouldn't say that. The past was complete... to NaVorro Bowman, inside the 50. But, the Vikings defense didn't break, and only conceded a field goal 10-6. That's when the offense came to life. @teddyb_h20 put together a nice drive, and threw a perfect pass to Mike Wallace, ahead of the defender, for an 8 yard score, depicted above. 17-6. The Vikings got the ball back after a first down or two, and Teddy led another great drive, rolling out to his right to find Chase Ford, who did the rest en route to a 29 yard score. 24-6. Both teams temporarily hit a wall, until Kaepernick found Hyde from 4 yards out in garbage time. The Vikings recovered the onside kick, and pounded the rock with Peterson (who really stepped it up in the 2nd half) so that he could get to 100 yards. Most teams would've taken a knee, but we're not most teams, and Coach Freday isn't most coaches.

The only downside to this game? The Vikings didn't sack Kaepernick once.


Chase Ford finished his 29 yard score early in the 4th that put the Vikings up 24-6.


Tramaine Brock manages to pull the ball away from Mike Wallace, who was trying to channel is inner OBJ, in what was one of the few 49ers highlights. AP is caught in a weird pose. Do you see him in the background?

Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers
Sep 14, 2015	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Minnesota Vikings (1-0)	0	10	7	7	24
San Francisco 49ers (0-1)	0	3	3	7	13

Team Stats Comparison
	MIN	SF
Total Offense	326	292
Rushing Yards	107	16
Passing Yards	219	276
First Downs	19	16
Punt Return Yards	24	13
Kick Return Yards	74	114
Total Yards	424	419
Turnovers	2	3
3rd Down Converstion	7-14 (50%)	4-11 (36%)
4th Down Conversion	2-2 (100%)	0-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-3-0 (100%)	2-2-0 (100%)
Penalties	5-60	6-56
Posession Time	27:12	20:46

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MIN	SF
8:08	(MIN) T. Bridgewater 1 yard run (B. Walsh kick)	7	0
1:18	(MIN) B. Walsh 22 yard FG	10	0
0:20	(SF) P. Dawson 27 yard FG	10	3
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MIN	SF
8:21	(SF) P. Dawson 46 yard FG	10	6
3:08	(MIN) M. Wallace 5 yard pass from T. Bridgewater (B. Walsh kick)	17	6
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MIN	SF
8:25	(MIN) C. Ford 29 yard pass from T. Bridgewater (B. Walsh kick)	24	6
1:40	(SF) C. Hyde 4 yard pass from C. Kaepernick (P. Dawson kick)	24	13

Minnesota Vikings PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Teddy Bridgewater 21/32 219 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Adrian Peterson 28 101 3.6 0 Jerick McKinnon 3 5 1.6 0 Teddy Bridgewater 1 1 1.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Mike Wallace 6 61 10.1 1 Charles Johnson 2 57 28.5 0 Chase Ford 2 44 22.0 1 Jarius Wright 3 19 6.3 0 Kyle Rudolph 3 19 6.3 0 Brandon Bostick 1 10 10.0 0 Zach Line 1 6 6.0 0 Adrian Peterson 3 3 1.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Harrison Smith 12 0 1 0 Eric Kendricks 11 4 1 0 Robert Blanton 8 1 0 0 Anthony Barr 8 4 0 0 Shaun Prater 5 0 0 0 Josh Robinson 3 0 0 0 Linval Joseph 2 2 0 0 Trae Waynes 2 0 0 0 Everson Griffen 2 1 0 0 Xavier Rhodes 2 0 0 0 Josh Thomas 2 0 0 0 Gerald Hodges 2 0 0 0 Sharrif Floyd 2 1 0 0 Captain Munnerlyn 1 0 0 0 Audie Cole 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Blair Walsh 1/1 3/3 6 22 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Jeff Locke 3 133 44.3 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Cordarrelle Patterson 2 51 25.5 0 Jerick McKinnon 1 22 22.0 0 Chase Ford 1 1 1.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Cordarrelle Patterson 1 24 24.0 0

San Francisco 49ers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Colin Kaepernick 30/42 276 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Carlos Hyde 10 16 1.6 0 Reggie Bush 1 3 3.0 0 Colin Kaepernick 1 -3 -3.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Vernon Davis 10 122 12.2 0 Jerome Simpson 6 61 10.1 0 Torrey Smith 3 58 19.3 0 Anquan Boldin 2 15 7.5 0 Carlos Hyde 7 13 1.8 1 Quinton Patton 1 5 5.0 0 Vance McDonald 1 2 2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD NaVorro Bowman 13 0.5 1 0 Corey Lemonier 13 0.5 0 0 Antoine Bethea 11 0 0 0 Eric Reid 11 0 0 0 Patrick Wheeler 9 0 0 0 Shareece Wright 6 0 0 0 Aaron Lynch 5 1.5 0 0 Tramaine Brock 4 0 1 0 Ian Williams 4 0 0 0 Tank Carradine 2 0 0 0 Jimmie Ward 2 0 0 0 Dontae Johnson 2 0 0 0 Eli Harold 1 0 0 0 Ahmad Brooks 1 0 0 0 Darnell Dockett 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Phil Dawson 2/2 1/1 7 47 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Bradley Pinion 3 133 44.3 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Reggie Bush 2 48 24.0 0 Torrey Smith 2 44 22.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Torrey Smith 3 13 4.3 0

Minnesota Vikings 2015 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 14	at San Francisco 49ers (Monday Night Football)	Won, 24-13
Sep 20	vs Detroit Lions
Sep 27	vs San Diego Chargers
Oct 4	at Denver Broncos
Oct 18	vs Kansas City Chiefs
Oct 25	at Detroit Lions
Nov 1	at Chicago Bears
Nov 8	vs St. Louis Rams
Nov 15	at Oakland Raiders
Nov 22	vs Green Bay Packers
Nov 29	at Atlanta Falcons
Dec 6	vs Seattle Seahawks
Dec 10	at Arizona Cardinals (Thursday Night Football)
Dec 20	vs Chicago Bears
Dec 27	vs New York Giants
Jan 3	at Green Bay Packers

So, I don't know if the sliders are too easy, or if the 49ers aren't a good enough team. Bear with me while I try to figure it all out. I should have a good idea after the next game.

[Adam14]

Certainly following, seems like the Vikings would be a great team to work with. Good luck.