Patriots @ Vikings

[BLUE 1,026]

(AP) -- Fresh off an impressive season debut, the Minnesota Vikings have their sights set on sending the New England Patriots to their first 0-2 start in more than a dozen years.

 

They will be without Adrian Peterson for Sunday's home opener, however, after the star running back has been indicted in Texas on a charge of child abuse.

 

An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Peterson after he was accused of using a branch to spank his son. Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said the six-time Pro Bowl selection will have to turn himself in and there is no timeline for when he will appear in Texas.

 

About an hour after issuing a statement acknowledging the case but deferring questions to Hardin, the Vikings announced he would be deactivated this weekend.

 

Peterson had 75 yards on 21 carries along with two catches for 18 yards in last Sunday's 34-6 win at St. Louis.

 

The Patriots built a 10-point halftime lead at Miami last week before giving up 23 unanswered points to fall 33-20 and lose a season opener for the first time since 2003.

 

"There was certainly an element in the second half that we'd love to stay away from," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

 

New England last dropped its first two games of a season in 2001, when Tom Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe in a Week 2 loss to the New York Jets.

 

Protecting Brady could go a long way in avoiding a repeat performance.

 

He was sacked four times while completing 29 of 56 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown against the Dolphins, who limited the Patriots to 67 of their 315 total yards in the second half.

 

Brady is trying to re-establish his rapport with Rob Gronkowski. The tight end returned from knee surgery in Week 1, catching four passes for 40 yards with a touchdown.

 

"We've gotta do a better job, in general - coaching, playing, managing the game and putting ourselves in better position than what we did offensively in the second half because we didn't do anything to help ourselves," McDaniels said.

 

The Vikings' defense likely won't make things easy on the Patriots after allowing a pair of field goals with two interceptions, five sacks and six forced punts against the Rams.

 

Minnesota hasn't opened a season with back-to-back wins since going 6-0 in 2009.

 

"We're facing a huge challenge this week," rookie coach Mike Zimmer said. "We're so far in the infancy stages of what we're trying to do in this program, that we want to go out and perform well each and every week. This is the process that we're trying to build here."

 

Matt Cassel is trying to build on his 17-for-25 effort for 170 passing yards and two TDs from last week, as he faces the Patriots for the first time since spending his first four seasons with them.

 

Like Brady, Cassel became notable due to an injury. He replaced an injured Brady in 2008 and went 10-5 as a starter that season, before spending the next four years in Kansas City.

 

Cassel feels his experience in New England and friendship with Brady are valuable.

 

"There's a number of different things I took away from Tom, but one of the main things was his leadership and how he approached his leadership, his work ethic," Cassel said. "And each and every day, his accountability to knowing the offense and being accountable."

 

Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn't think there's any advantage in being familiar with Cassel.

 

"We know him. He knows us," Belichick said.

 

He's about to become familiar with Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota's electric wide receiver. He caught three passes for 26 yards against the Rams, but did the majority of his damage on the ground with 102 yards and a score on three carries.

 

"Patterson is obviously an explosive guy; you see that in the return game," Belichick said. "He's a deep threat. He's dangerous with the ball in his hand, whether they hand it to him or throw it on a short pass."

 

With Peterson out, Matt Asiata is expected to carry the workload as the Vikings' No. 1 running back. He had two carries for 10 yards last week and faces a Patriots team that gave up 191 rushing yards to the Dolphins with 126 coming in the second half.

Minnesota last faced the Patriots in 2010, losing 28-18 in New England.

 

The Patriots have won three straight in the series with Brady passing for eight touchdowns to one interception and compiling a QB rating of 110.7.

 

Source: Hosted.Stats.com

Edited September 13, 2014 by BLUE

[RazorStar 4,025]

No Adrian Peterson?

 

NO PROBLEM.

 

30

:Patriots: 16

 

Cordarelle Patterson rolls while Tom Brady throws rocks.

[OSUViking 505]

As far as I know, Matt Asiata has become somewhat of a fan favorite. Kind of like Chester Taylor, I guess. I hope he has a good game. I hope McKinnon shines too. I worry that AP's future with the Vikings is set in stone at this point, so it's best to let the RBs that are supposed to be our future get their experience in now.

[BwareDWare94 723]

The only way this isn't a game is if Matt Cassel sucks, and unless the Patriots all of a sudden prove able to tackle a tough runner like Asiata (Moreno just shed people last week), Cassel shouldn't have too much pressure to throw at a high rate.

 

The Patriots are a better team than Minnesota, with or without Adrian Peterson, but Minnesota is the kind of team that could beat anybody, any week. This one is really up in the air. I'm sticking with New England.

 

:Patriots: 27

23

[BC 331]

Darrelle Revis vs Cordarelle Patterson

 

No way the Patriots drop this game. Tom is pissed. :patriots: 30 16

[theMileHighGuy 656]

I love the Vikings in this game, AP or no AP. Knowshon and co. put up 190 yards on the Pats, I think between Asiata and Patterson the Pats are gonna be gashed. Just need a decent game out of Cassel for it to happen.

 

- 27

:patriots: - 24

[The Burfict Storm 39]

Zimmer gets win #2

[Cherry 1,302]

:patriots: 23

21

[Vin+ 3,121]

 

Vikings declared RB Adrian Peterson, QB Christian Ponder, LB Michael Mauti, G David Yankey, WR Rodney Smith, LB Brandon Watts and DE Scott Crichton inactive for Week 2 against the Patriots.

With Peterson out, Matt Asiata will carry the load in the Vikings' backfield. Rookie Jerick McKinnon should also see some work. Brandon Watts is week-to-week with a knee injury. Michael Mauti (foot) and Rodney Smith (hamstring) were both game-time decisions.

 

 

 

Patriots declared WR Kenbrell Thompkins, CB Alfonzo Dennard, DE Zach Moore, RB James White, LB Jamie Collins, C Ryan Wendell and DE Michael Buchanan inactive for Week 2 against the Vikings.

Thompkins had a horribly inefficient Week 1, and was replaced on the active roster by Aaron Dobson. White is a healthy scratch for the second straight week, and is now clearly behind Brandon Bolden on the Patriots' depth chart. Dennard was never listed on the injury report, but is reportedly dealing with a left-shoulder injury. Wendell (knee) and Buchanan (ankle) were both game-time decisions.

[Piggly Wiggly 960]

The Pats have huge problems if they can't beat Matt Cassel and a RB tandem of Asiata and McKinnon by double digits. Really no excuses.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Yeah, they do, but they didn't need this bullshit line of help they got from the stripes at the end of the first half.

 

Get this--the Vikings have 3rd and 3 around the Pats' 25, Cassel completes a pass to Jennings, who gets the first down. There's a flag--OPI on Jennings. It happens, but then on reply all that happened during the play was Jerod Mayo CRUSHING Greg Jennings in the chest, and Jennings somehow recovering to catch a pass. Anyway, these fucking moronic refs (Terry McCauly's crew) make that bogus OPI call, which lead to third and long and a long field goal that was blocked and returned for a touchdown. Instead of a 17-10 or 17-14 halftime score, it's now 24-7 ALL BECAUSE OF A BULLSHIT PENALTY THAT THEY HAD NO BASIS TO CALL IN THE FIRST PLACE>

 

Nothing. Fucking. Happened. If anything, it should have been illegal contact because while I think you can touch players when it isn't five yards down field, Mayo can't just crush Jennings for no reason coming across the shallow middle. Either no penalty or a penalty on the Pats.

 

Now this game is, for all intents and purposes, out of reach for the Vikings because of a bullshit penalty. I don't think Minnesota was going to win, but under no circumstances should a fuck up of this magnitude by PROFESSIONAL REFEREES occur in an NFL game. There. Are. No. Excuses. For. That. Call.

 

Oh my god. I keep my mouth shut about officiating when it comes to the NFL now, for the most part, but my team just got fucked royally and now the game is all but decided. What a crock of bullshit. How in the hell can this be tolerated by the league?

 

Can't we have some people in a centralized location, in contact with these officials, who can review plays, and if something is completely bogus, tell them to pick up the flag? Things like this can't be happening. That is such bullshit. I'm so fucking livid. That's a 14 point fucking swing. Jesus Tapdancing Christ, Terry McCauley's crew should be suspended for a game for that shit.

Edited September 14, 2014 by BwareDWare94

[BradyFan81 404]

Settle down Bware. First off, the refs favored the Vikings in that 1st half penalty wise. We had 6 penalties for 45 yards, and Minny had 3 penalties for 20 yards. 2nd, the refs have absolutely NOTHING to do with the Vikings not blocking on the FG and allowing it to get blocked and taken to the house.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Settle down Bware. First off, the refs favored the Vikings in that 1st half penalty wise. We had 6 penalties for 45 yards, and Minny had 3 penalties for 20 yards. 2nd, the refs have absolutely NOTHING to do with the Vikings not blocking on the FG and allowing it to get blocked and taken to the house.

 

Yes they do. They set up the situation in which that FG was attempted in the first place. There are no excuses for that bullshit call that resulted in that situation in the first place. You can't call something that egregious with NO VISUAL CUE for the call. Nothing happened. What in the world did that official think he saw? He had to fucking hallucinate to throw that flag. Nothing happened.

 

This is a 14 point swing that is the officials fault. No bullshitting with me, right now. Acknowledge it or don't fucking reply to me. There are no excuses for that call, at all.

[BwareDWare94 723]

I'm sorry, dude. I'm just particularly livid about that. That changed the game, pretty much ended it, imo. If the Vikings make something of a comeback, awesome. If they don't, though, we'll know what swung it in the Pats favor.

 

The amount of penalty calls for each team do not matter when one call, in particular, is so bad that it affects the game. You can't tell me that that call didn't change this game drastically, in favor of the Pats.

[BradyFan81 404]

It was a terrible call, obviously. No question about that. Still they had chances to overcome it though. Cassel missed Patterson who was wide open the next play. And the blocked FG is inexcusable and not something you can pin on the refs directly, even if a bad call was preceding it you still have to execute and block so you can get the kick off.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Can we PLEASE see Bridgewater, now? Did you honestly have to see how bad Cassel was in order for this to happen?

It was a terrible call, obviously. No question about that. Still they had chances to overcome it though. Cassel missed Patterson who was wide open the next play. And the blocked FG is inexcusable and not something you can pin on the refs directly, even if a bad call was preceding it you still have to execute and block so you can get the kick off.

 

My point is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place. If the refs don't create that absurd situation out of thin air, that play never happens. It should not have happened, in any sense of the word. That needs to go to the league and the league needs to acknowledge it, just like the NBA has started to do. No excuses.

Cassel is fucking terrible. I can't believe he's the starter. Makes no sense.

[Piggly Wiggly 960]

lol Bware blowing a gasket as usual over the officiating. Hey brah, the officiating was terrible for both sides. Deal with it.

 

And good job, good effort by Matt Asiata today. People thinking he could even replicate a fraction of Moreno's dominate game vs. the Pats was pretty laughable. Guy came in with like 175 career rushing yards... I mean... lol.

 

Pats won by 20+ and rightfully so. Only winning by double digits would have been more pathetic than blowing a 10 pt lead in Miami last week. srs.

[FartWaffles 1,857]

Damn BWare! You should start a YouTube channel with your butthurt rants. That shit would go viral. Shit happens to every team. A game is not won/lost on one play OR penalty.

[Piggly Wiggly 960]

And for the record...

 

The Pats got flagged 15 times for 163 yards while the Vikings got flagged 7 times for 58 yards.

 

Wow, the Vikings really got jobbed!!! Refs were really on the Pats side!!!!

 

Shut the fuck up, Bware.

[BwareDWare94 723]

I only said that that call created the situation that swung the game into finished territory. If you saw it, you cannot argue that.

 

As for your Patriots at their penalties..they're sloppy as fuck, right now. I didn't see the second half on TV, but every first half penalty was absolutely warranted. Deal with it.

[OSUViking 505]

I thought there were two dumb OPI calls, one of them against the Pats. I thought pass interference in general was horribly called all game. The refs penalized some legitimate physical coverage by both teams.

 

At the end of the day, fuck Matt Cassel. Tried to defend him for a while so as to not seem like an irrational fan, but all of his interceptions were dumb decisions. All. Of. Them. McCourty did a good job reading it on the first one, but Cassel should have seen him.

 

^Phil, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not about Asiata's performance. Running wise he didn't do so great, but I thought he was effective in the passing game. He had our only TD and I think was 3rd or 4th in receiving yards.

[BwareDWare94 723]

My only complaint was that the phantom OPI call on Jennings swung the game away from the Vikings. Without a doubt.

[BwareDWare94 723]

All these negs tell me is that people haven't seen the play in question. It will be one of the worst calls of the season.

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

One PI call doesn't change who wins a game that ended up 30-7, where the losing team had a QB that threw 3 interceptions and his only TD pass was because the Patriots blew an assignment on D and the pass only had to travel 4 yards through the air.

[BwareDWare94 723]

One PI call doesn't change who wins a game that ended up 30-7, where the losing team had a QB that threw 3 interceptions and his only TD pass was because the Patriots blew an assignment on D and the pass only had to travel 4 yards through the air.

 

No single call changes who wins a game unless it's something akin to the Fail Mary, but you have to acknowledge that a single call can drastically affect the outcome of the game, or who has momentum, in a game. That's what this call did.

 

The Vikings were driving at the end of the first half, down 17-7. They were at the 25 yard line, 3rd and 3. Cassel hits Jennings for the first down, inside the 20. They call OPI on Jennings. On replay, the only contact on the play was Mayo drilling Jennings in the chest. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that showed any kind of offensive pass interference. It was a made up call.

 

Anyway, you miss on third and long, which resulted in play that was the blocked FG and return. Because of an egregiously bad penalty, the score swings from 17-14 or 17-10 into 24-7. The phantom OPI call absolutely swung this game. I'm not saying I think the Vikings would have won, but that penalty took this game out of their hands.

 

You can't make that call with NO visual cue. It was easily the worst call of the season, so far, and it will probably be one of the top 5 worst calls of the entire season.

 

No, single calls don't decide games, obviously, but they can have a huge impact and you cannot deny that this call changed this game.

Edited September 15, 2014 by BwareDWare94