The Minnesota Vikings want to make a change. On Wednesday, the day before their game against the Dallas Cowboys, quarterback Sam Bradford begged for more chances to throw the ball downfield. And if they’re looking closely at the Cowboys’ weaknesses, he might just get the chance to do that in a Thursday night matchup.
Sam Bradford is just as tired of the Vikings’ dink and dunk offense as the rest of us
Will the Vikings actually throw it beyond the sticks on Thursday against the Cowboys? They just might try it if Sam Bradford has his way.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
As Blogging the Boys points out, the Cowboys are thin in the secondary. The pass rush isn’t helping things. Dallas has just 20 sacks on the season and a sack rate of 5.9 percent, ranked 18th, according to Football Outsiders.
Together, those things are a serious concern when the Cowboys get into the playoffs and face teams able to keep pace with them on the scoreboard. Against the Vikings, it doesn’t matter all that much.
Bradford’s been sacked less over the last three weeks, but that’s due in large part to an increasingly short passing game. He’s averaging 6 yards per attempt. He wasn’t sacked at all on Thanksgiving against the Lions, but it didn’t matter. They still lost.
The Cowboys are favored by three points on Thursday night. It’s a good bet that they’ll beat that spread. Minnesota’s only hope might be what Bradford is suggesting, throwing the ball somewhere past the sticks for a change, but it might just be too late for that.
ZIMMER DOUBTFUL FOR THURSDAY: Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to undergo emergency eye surgery. Zimmer could end up missing Thursday night’s game.
PANIC INDEX: NFL panic index, Week 13: Packers and Steelers will somehow find their way in the playoffs. The Bills and Bucs are giving their fans glimmers of hope, but they’re more pretenders than contenders.
INSIDE THE RED ZONE: An NFL Sunday with the Red Zone Channel. We spent a game day with Andrew Siciliano and crew in the DirecTV Red Zone studio, where the pace is frenetic and there’s no patience for commercials, punts or the host’s bodily needs
CHIEFS' GAME PLAN: Andy Reid hopes Julio Jones "misses the bus." Any defense’s best chance to contain Jones is for Jones to not even show up for the game.
See More:
