Veteran wide receiver Darrell Jackson previews Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings. Here's a little bit of a scouting report and find out what he thinks some of the keys to getting a W are for this Sunday!
Minnesota has a bunch of guys who are really playing extremely well right now and they are on a three game winning streak so they are playing with a lot of confidence right now.
On defense, they are at the top of the NFL in defending the run and I think that starts up front with their line, although they've got an extremely active front seven which makes them so effective.
Pat and Kevin Williams are run stoppers and they are eager to take on the double teams. They'll clobber you and when they can stop you in the middle, it forces you to run outside where they've got very active linebackers who can keep you contained.
We think we can run the ball on anyone with our line and our fullback and our back, but it's a matter of going straight ahead and getting the job done. You've definitely got to have a strong will against these guys and you also have to stick with it.
They have given up some yards in the passing game and rank 32nd in the league in that regard, but I still think they've got a bunch of great guys in that back end. They'll gamble and keep their eyes on the quarterback and sometimes that leads to big plays and sometimes it leads to big time interceptions for them.
Marcus McCauley is a young guy but he's done exceptionally well filling in while
Antoine Winfield was out. Antoine is back practicing and so we'll expect him out there this week. He is an excellent quarterback. He's been doing it for ten years.
Darren Sharper is a Pro Bowl safety, very smart and he really knows what he's doing out there. Dwight Smith is an aggressive safety who really likes to come up in the box and hit. Their other corner is Cedric Griffin, a very physical corner who likes to jam you. All in all, they are a nice group and they all go out there and fly around with the intent to make big plays.
Anytime you play any football game ball security is important. Turnovers can take you out of a game and we did have five last week. We still had our chances to win but we let it slip away. We know we have to protect the ball better and then be able to move the ball and score some points to help out our defense.
I think Trent Dilfer will come back and play an excellent game. He's been playing pretty well and even with the interceptions last week, I thought he made some great throws. We expect him to come out and be our leader and put us in position to make plays. I think for us, we need to play our game, take what they give us, and make the plays when they come.
We've been on the road the last few weeks so it'll be good to return to Monster Park and hopefully pull out a win for our fans. It's Red Fog Day, so everyone grab whatever you have that is red, put it on, and come to the game!
