Game Day Thoughts

This could be the best day of NFL football of the season. Every NFL Sunday starts off terrific with Vikings football. We have that today with the Carolina Panthers visiting the Vikings.  Then we have a possible classic in the afternoon. New England Patriots at Green Bay Packers. Oh my. The Flea Flicker has these two teams as the best two teams in the league. A Super Bowl preview? In the evening we have a terrific AFC West battle. Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs. A great day!

The Vikings are still in the playoff mix but a whole host of things have to go their way. The most significant being improved play on their part. If they can play more consistently on offense, the Vikings can win their final five games. Carolina Panthers today, New York Jets, at Detroit Lions, at Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears. Every game is a tough game in the NFL but the Vikings can win these games. That's the only thing that they can control.

The Vikings lost right guard Brandon Fusco earlier in the season to a torn pectoral muscle. Last week they lost right tackle Phil Loadholt to a torn pectoral muscle. Very strange coincidence. Vladimir Ducasse and Joe Berger have filled in for Fusco. Mike Harris gets the start today in place of Loadholt. Harris has some starting experience with the San Diego Chargers. It's nice to have players with some starting experience to step in for injured starters but it's tough to lose an entire side of the offensive line. Especially for an offensive line that has struggled most of the season. Continuity is critical throughout the position groups of a football team but it's especially critical on the offensive line.

Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon has been the team's top back for most of the season. It looks like he's out for this game due to a lower back injury. As a result, this could be the game in which Ben Tate gets his first action in a Vikings uniform. The Cleveland Browns released Tate two weeks ago. The Vikings quickly signed him. He dressed for the game against the Packers last week but didn't play. That should change today. Matt Asiata has cleared the concussion protocols and should play after missing the Packers game. Joe Banyard should also factor into the running back rotation.

Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had some accuracy issues early in the Packers game. He seems to play his best on third downs and at the end of halves. He has to play better on the first two downs and in the first and third quarters. It's great that he steps up in critical situations but he's got to play better throughout the game.

The Vikings defense plays better with each game. That's a very good thing.

Patriots-Packers! I sure hope that this game lives up to my expectations.

I was shocked to hear that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has never played against the Patriots. I really shouldn't have been. Unless the Packers and Patriots make it to a Super Bowl they only play once every four years. That's only happened twice since Rodgers became the Packers starting quarterback in 2008. Matt Flynn replaced him in that previous meeting in 2010. Seeing Rodgers throw against a Bill Belichick defense should be a real treat.

It's amazing that Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson were so overlooked coming out of high school. Rodgers had to go to Butte Community College and was only "discovered" there when Cal coach Jeff Tedford visited the campus to check out tight end Garrett Cross. Nelson was only recruited by Emporia St. and Washburn and walked on at Kansas St. When each finally got a chance to play Division I football it was pretty damn clear that they were special talents.

Some big college games yesterday.

BYU-Cal wasn't one of them. Cal had a chance to become bowl eligible. Four incomplete passes from the BYU 13-yard line ended Cal's season.

It's really painful to watch Cal's defense. Fortunately, I had to listen to the game. Directv's inability to make the Pac-12 Network available may have saved me from coronary issues. It's still pretty painful to listen to commentary on Cal's defense. The Bears have an historically bad pass defense and it sounded like they were even worse against BYU than the previous 11 games. It didn't sound like the secondary was even in the same area code of the BYU receivers.

When Sonny Dykes was hired as Cal head coach two years ago everyone knew that the offense would take precedence. His Air Raid, now Bear Raid, offense is built to outscore opponents. Defense would be a work in progress. There is a lot of work to do on that defense.

Cal ended their 2014 season at 5-7. They were close to 8-4. The Arizona, UCLA, and BYU games could have been wins. The defense couldn't defend an Arizona Hail Mary pass. The offense couldn't close out UCLA and BYU. The disappointing 5-7 record is a big step up from the pathetic 1-11 record of a season ago. They were competitive in every game. They were competitive in very few games last year. I think that Dykes has the team headed in the right direction. The defense has to improve.

As for those big games.

Michigan surprised Ohio St. for about three quarters. 21-21 at that point. Ohio St. pulled away for a 42-28 win. It was a costly win. Ohio St. lost starting quarterback J.T. Barrett for the season with a broken ankle. It will be interesting to see if a lost quarterback will keep Ohio St. out of the playoffs. The Buckeyes still have to beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship for any chance at the playoffs.

Urban Meyer has yet to lose a Big 10  regular season game in his three seasons as the Ohio St. head coach.

Jerry Kill has done a terrific job at Minnesota. The Gophers have been a conference afterthought for years. Those days are over.

Wisconsin defeated Minnesota for a spot in the Big 10 Championship. If Wisconsin can get a lead in games they are tough to beat. Led by Melvin Gordon, the Badgers running game is a beast. If they can get a lead, they can just melt away the clock.

Congratulations to Mississippi on their Egg Bowl win over Mississippi St.

Alabama and Auburn put on a show in the Iron Bowl. The Tide pulled away some in the fourth quarter to make the ending much more relaxed than last year but the game was back and forth until then. 99 points scored. 55-44.

Alabama receiver Amari Cooper is pretty good. 13 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns. He took over the game.

Nebraska fired Bo Pelini after a 9-3 season.

Enjoy a great game day! Go Vikings!