Sunday night’s game at Arizona is a benchmark for the Vikings, a team that may deserve being ranked as first or second best in the NFL.
The 10-1 Vikings have played against teams with a combined 32-49 record. The Vikings’ only loss is on the road to Pittsburgh (6-5), one of only three teams Minnesota has played with a winning percentage above .500. Arizona is 7-4 and played in the last Super Bowl, losing to Pittsburgh.
Sunday night’s national telecast on NBC is much anticipated including in the metropolitan area where viewership could reach 1.3 million, according to John Remes. He is president and general manager of KARE 11, the local NBC affiliate.
Remes told Sports Headliners that about 80 percent of televisions in this market will be tuned into the game. The game will certainly have the attention of men ages 25-54, with Remes expecting about 50 percent of that group to be watching.
Among the storylines for viewers to watch is whether Arizona’s 38-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner will play after having a concussion last month. He missed last week’s game, a 20-17 loss to Tennessee.
Like 40-year-old Brett Favre of the Vikings, Warner has been a Super Bowl winning quarterback. The comparisons between the two are likely to come often on Sunday night’s telecast if Warner plays. Favre has overcome a list of injuries during his career that sometimes seems as long as his game statistics. Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton told Sports Headliners that Favre is even “tougher” than Warner.
Dalton also said second year Vikings center John Sullivan has improved since the season began but he’s not as good yet as the man he replaced, 12 year veteran Matt Birk. Favre has praised Sullivan’s intelligence and line calls.
Sunday night’s game will be the third time that Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald, who ranks with the NFL’s best wide receivers, will face his home town team wearing an Arizona uniform. Fitzgerald said this week that the experience isn’t becoming old. “No, it’s not old-hat,” he said. “I’m 0-2 against the Vikings right now; 0-3 if I count the preseason. That’s not good enough.”