Frazier’s defense held the Colts to 25 yards on 19 rushing attempts last Sunday.
ESPN.com’s Rick Reilly wrote a column this week about which pro sports teams rule their cities. The Vikings, of course, were a no-brainer for Minneapolis. Reilly wrote: “The Twins get no love. Once, they were playing a Saturday afternoon game in the HumpDome, and it went extra innings. The game was stopped so the stadium crew could get the field ready for a football game that night. Ouch.” https://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3576248
Jared Allen is not only among the better potential pass rushers in Vikings’ history, he’s also the best paid cheerleader. Allen, who came to the Vikings in the off-season for the richest contract for a defensive player in the NFL, was frequently raising his arms to encourage crowd noise during last Sunday’s game in the Metrodome.
The Purple Nation responded and the Colts’ offensive players had to run their plays in a noisy environment that furthered the dome’s reputation as one of the loudest stadiums in pro football. Last week, even before Allen played his first Vikings regular season game in the dome, he was talking about the importance of the home crowd to the defense.
“Yeah, definitely,” he told Sports Headliners. “You thrive off the crowd. …”
Allen said defensive players respond to energy from the fans. Plus, the opposing offense sometimes can’t “hear their checks (play changes),” he said. The results can be penalties or turnovers such as fumbles.
The Vikings’ Adrian Peterson leads the NFL in rushing after two games with 263 yards.
Dave Mona’s new book, “Beyond the Sports Huddle,” is headed for a second printing. Mona said earlier this week about 4,200 books from the original press run of 5,000 had been sold.