Speechless — Hard to believe, but without Adrian Peterson and Teddy Bridgewater, the Minnesota Vikings and their 4 Bruins are 5-and-0 — the ONLY undefeated team in the NFL
The Minnesota Vikings, or “Minnie” as my gambling friends always call them (as in “I have Minnie minus seven”), now find themselves alone at the top of the NFL, after losses last week by Denver and Philly. The Vikings are 5-0, with a bye this week, so after 6 weeks of the 2016 season, they will still be the League’s only unbeaten team. Not bad for a team that lost their starting Quarterback and Hall of Fame Running Back at the start of the year.
Minnesota has defied the odds, winning without Teddy Bridgewater and Adrian Peterson. Those two headliners have been replaced by guys who weren’t even blips on the radar of Fantasy Football Draft Experts. Sam Bradford is the new QB, and the duties of Peterson have been split by Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata. All three of them have filled in as well as possibly could have been expected. Add to that the stellar play of Receivers Stefon Diggs, Cordarrelle Patterson, Adam Thielen, and Kyle Rudolph, and the Offense is doing plenty to keep on winning.
But it is the Defense that is #1 in the League, thanks especially to Bruin Linebacker Eric Kendricks. Bruin Anthony Barr is no slouch either at another Linebacker spot. Speaking of no slouches, Vikings Defensive Back Xavier Rhodes is stealing all the headlines lately for his shut-down coverage on all the opposing teams’ best Receivers, including Odell Beckham Jr., Kelvin Benjamin, and DeAndre Hopkins.
The Vikings are also doing well on special teams, and that’s where the other two Bruins reside. Jeff Locke is the Punter, and Kevin McDermott is the Long Snapper. But it’s Defense that wins Championships, so Kendricks and Barr could be leading the way to 4 Bruins getting Super Bowl Rings this Winter. Rings for the ‘Kings!
Meanwhile, while Minnesota is the only perfect team so far, there is also only one WINLESS team. And that is the 0-5 Cleveland Browns, who have had ex-trojan Cody Kessler starting at QB for most of those losses. But the troy Rookie got hurt last Sunday, and injured Josh McCown, who started the season ahead of Kessler on the depth chart, is healing, so maybe the Browns can lose their bagel, if Coach Hue Jackson gives the reins back to McCown this Sunday when they play the lowly Titans in Tennessee. At this point, a starter has not been named. Maybe they don’t want the Titans to know who to gameplan for. Ha. Like it matters.
Kinda like Jim Mora not letting on as to whether Josh Rosen will be starting against Washington State. With UCLA’s ultra-predicatable playcalling and unimaginative plays, WSU probably doesn’t care. If Rosen starts, they will blitz and key against the passing game, because the Bruins have no running game — practically the worst rushing stats in the entire Country. And if Rosen doesn’t play, the Cougars can just relax and do anything they want, as, based on last week, back-up QB Mike Fafaul presents no threat.
At this point, there is NO point in stressing about UCLA Football. Not much you can do if The Rosen One can’t go. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy these 53 new UCLA Spirit Squad photos, which never disappoint.
