The Vikings resume play on Sunday after a bye week but a few players interviewed by Sports Headliners didn’t believe the layoff will affect timing. Wide receiver Aundrae Allison, for example, said yesterday the rest can give players fresh legs and feel the sort of “explosiveness” experienced on opening day.
Place-kicker Ryan Longwell, a 12-year NFL veteran, said any challenges with timing are more than offset with the benefit of a rested body. The layoff isn’t so much timing anyway, he said, it’s more about adjusting to game-like speed.
Last year the Vikings won six of their last nine games to finish 8-8. The 3-4 Vikings play Houston at home on Sunday and coach Brad Childress was asked this week about the remaining games.
“Well, it’s key in the fact that there are nine games to go,” he said. “Yeah, I would expect them to be better as we go. …It’s not stuff that isn’t correctable. You look at your flaws, you share them together. … But yeah, I expect them to get better and better and better. The good teams get hot and play well as they finish through November and December.
“There is no reason to believe that we can’t continue on something like last year. But our whole focus has to be the Houston Texans. We can’t look beyond the horizon, I don’t believe.”
The Vikings meet a Houston team that also has a 3-4 record, having won three consecutive games.
Before the bye on October 19 the Vikings not only had their best offensive performance of the season against Chicago with 439 yards of total offense, they also controlled the ball for over 35 minutes in the 48-41 loss to the Bears.
The Vikings have two players among the NFL’s top 15 sack leaders. Defensive tackle Kevin Williams is tied for the lead among tackles and tied for seventh overall with 6.0 sacks. Defensive end Jared Allen is tied for 15th with 5.0 sacks.
Safety Darren Sharper makes his 175th career regular season start on Sunday.