As measured by yards per game, the Vikings will play three of the NFL’s top offenses in their final regular season games. Arizona ranks fourth, Atlanta fifth and the New York Giants sixth. If defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams are available for those games it dramatically increases the likelihood the Vikings, 8-5 after beating Detroit Sunday, can qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
Saying he needed more time to review the case, a federal judge prevented the NFL last Friday from suspending Kevin and Pat Williams, and three other league players, for violating the NFL’s anti doping policy. While the two Vikings played against Detroit, their future availability isn’t so clear but it’s evident the Vikings will face much more competent offenses in the final weeks than some teams on the schedule earlier. (New Orleans, No. 1 in the league at 405.9 yards per game, is the only top 10 team the Vikings have seen so far.)
“This whole situation is going to be interesting based on teams we have left to play,” Vikings linebacker Ben Leber told Sports Headliners last week. Leber is part of a defense that ranks No. 2 against the run and No. 20 versus the pass in yards per game.
As pretty much known throughout the planet, those Williams guys are particularly extraordinary against the run. Kevin Williams can put pressure on the passer, too. Overall, a dominant Vikings’ defense stopped Chicago from scoring a touchdown on four downs inside the five yard line a week ago Sunday, a stand that seemed to be a catalyst in Minnesota’s 34-14 win and likely a turning point in 2008 as the franchise tries to win its first division championship since 2000.
Defense defines the Vikings and that unit, no matter who is on the field, will be on trial starting Sunday in Arizona against the Cardinals. Arizona is second in the league in yards passing per game, with an offense that includes 37-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner (second in the NFL in touchdown passes and passing yards) and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, both among the NFL’s top eight in receiving yards.
Atlanta, here on December 21, is second in the NFL in rushing yards per game, while the Giants, who come to Minneapolis for a game on December 28, are first. Michael Turner of the Falcons, with 1,269 yards, is second in the NFL in rushing. The Falcons also have a productive passing game with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Roddy White, first in the NFL in receiving yards per game.
The Giants have the NFL’s ninth leading rusher in powerful Brandon Jacobs (1,002 yards). A second rusher, Derrick Ward, has 669 yards. Then, too, the Giants have some guy named Eli Manning. Oh, yeah, the quarterback of last season’s Super Bowl champs.
Arizona, Atlanta and New York? No doubt that kind of competition gives the Williams lads something to keep their minds focused on instead of the court room.