Jets Finally Get Welcome Opponent In Vikes

I realize 5-7 is no great shakes, but I still can’t figure out how the Minnesota Vikings have achieved that record so far.

Coming off an ugly 5-10-1 season, the Vikes were dealt a huge blow when future Hall of Fame runningback Adrian Peterson was benched indefinitely by the NFL in September after he was indicted on charges of child abuse. Soon after, Matt Cassel, who beat out -- or, more accurately, was slightly less bad than --veteran Christian Ponder and rookie Teddy Bridgewater for the starting quarterback job, was lost for the year with a foot injury.

Luckily for Minnesota, the NFL’s schedule-makers put plenty of turkeys on the Vikings’ slate, and the team has taken full advantage, notching each of its five Ws against opponents with a losing record.

Will the Jets be victory #6? Well, Gang Green fits the bill in the sub-.500 department. In fact, at 2-10, they’ve gone above-and-beyond in the wrong direction.

However, it appears as though this may be one of the more winnable games on the visiting Jets’ own schedule. The Viking D is much stouter than in 2013, as it’s surrendering nearly 10 points less per game than last year. Still, the unit’s weakness --defending against the run -- is the Jets’ strength.

In this lost year for Gang Green, they continue to run the ball as effectively as nearly any team in the league -- an especially impressive feat considering the fact that opponents are able to stack the box due to Geno Smith’s pop-gun passing game. Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson continue to put forth workmanlike effort, while Percy Harvin has added some big-play punch to the running attack since arriving in New York in October.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the action, the beleaguered Jets defense and its porous back line should have an easier time than usual against a Bridgewater-led passing “attack” that’s nearly as offensive in its lack of offensive firepower as the one Gang Green’s D faces in practice.

Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, a first-round draft pick last year, has caught fewer than half of the passes thrown his way (or, more likely, in his somewhat general vicinity), and he hasn’t done much with the ball when he’s held onto it. Patterson hasn’t had a 30-yard reception all season.

This is basically the first game in the 2014 season in which the Jets aren’t playing an opponent with postseason hopes. OK, let’s be honest, the Bears may have still been harboring them in Week Three, but by Week One the Raiders surely realized the postseason wasn’t in the cards. But the point is, the Vikes have less to play for than just about anyone else the Jets have lined up against. That, combined with Minnesota’s Gang Green-like lack of talent, should give the Jets a good shot on Sunday.  

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