Week 4 in London Preview Vikings vs. Steelers

Home game in London feels a little weird! This could be a good thing with the way we have been playing. We face another 0-3 team against the Pittsburgh Steelers. We will play this game without some of our starters like QB Christian Ponder, DB Chris Cook and S Jamarca Sanford. Yes, the big news is Quarterback Christian Ponder has been ruled out due to a fractured rib. For all those Viking fans wanting Ponder benched got your wish. I will root for QB Matt Cassel, but don't expect Cassel to come in and shine in this offense. I hope he does because that means we beat the Steelers and are heading in a better direction based on record. We can not afford to lose and drop to 0-4. 

Victor Stars

-Adrian Peterson will need to get things going on the ground to give us a shot at winning this game. The Steelers have allowed over 100 yards on the ground in their first three games. Expect AP to reach over 125 yards.

-Harrison Smith is going to have a lot of opportunities to make plays against a Steelers team that will come out throwing.

-Kyle Rudolph needs to get things going and why not in London? Look for Rudolph to be Cassel's go to receiver.

Steelers Stars

-Ben Roethlisberger is in need of a big stat day and should expose the Vikings secondary.

-Antoino Brown is an outstanding Wide Receiver who can make big plays. He should see 10 plus targets and could have a monster game.

-Troy Polamalu will be all over the field and will have many opportunities to get pressure on Cassel and Adrian.

Overall

We need to spread things out and not allow 8 guys in the box. We also need to get Patterson more involved in this offense which will help Peterson and Cassel. On defense we need to figure out how to stop Quarterbacks from throwing all over us. We must pressure Big Ben because he is known for holding onto the ball longer than usual and that can put Pittsburgh in tough third and long situations.

Prediction:

Vikings 17 Steelers 14.

Line: Pitt -3