The Minnesota Vikings host the Oakland Raiders Saturday August 25th at 7:00 at TCF Bank Stadium. This is the 2nd consecutive home game and is also the last preseason home game for the Vikings.
The game will be simulcast live locally on FOX 9 and KFAN 100.3 FM with Paul Allen and Pete Bercich in the booth and Ben Leber and Greg Coleman with sideline duties.
VIKINGS VS RAIDERS SERIES FACTS
-Oakland leads the all-time head to read regular season 10-4
-Oakland traveled to Minnesota in 2014 for a preseason game as well
-2014 Preseason game vs Oakland was Coach Mike Zimmer’s first ever head coaching game with the Vikings as Minnesota won a low scoring battle 10-6
MINNESOTA VIKINGS PLAYERS BIG GAMES VS OAKLAND
-Kyle Rudolph caught a 1 yard touchdown pass from Christian Ponder on 11/20/14 for Rudolph’s first NFL touchdown in his career
-Chad Greenway had 22 tackles including 4 for yard loss on 11/20/14
-Mike Wallace has had 2- 100 yard games vs the Raiders with 3 catches for 116 yards and 8 for 123
VIKINGS-RAIDERS CONNECTIONS
-Norv Turner, Vikings Offensive Coordinator was Oakland Head Coach from 200-2005
-Jack Del Rio, Raiders Head coach played linebacker for the Vikings from 1992-1995
-Bill Musgrave, Raiders offensive coordinator was Vikings Offensive Coordinator from 2011-2013
-Mike Tice Raiders Offensive Line Coach was Vikings Tight End Coach in 1996, Offensive line Coach from 1997-2001, and Vikings Interim Head Coach in 2001 then Head Coach from 2002-2005
-Vikings cornerback, Marcus Van Dyke was Raiders 2011 3rd round draft pick
-Donald Penn, Raiders starting offensive tackle was with the Vikings in 2006 as an undrafted rookie
Christian Ponder, Raiders quarterback was Vikings quarterback from 2011-2014
LOCAL CONNECTION
Raiders Quarterback Coach, Todd Downing is from Eden Prairie, Minnesota and was the Football coach at his Alma matter Eden Prairie from 1999-2000. Todd graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2002. Downing played semi-pro football for the Minnesota Maulers from 2000-2002.
A LOOK AT A FEW VIKINGS VS OPPONENT NUMBERS
Possession Time: Minnesota 31:02 vs 28:58 for opposition
Net yards: Minnesota 633 vs 502
Net yards rushing: Minnesota 190 vs 157
Net yards passing: Minnesota 443 vs 348
Quarterback completion: Minnesota 78% vs 49.3%
Sacks: Minnesota 5 vs 2
Scoring: Minnesota 40 vs 19
Minnesota 9 21 10 0 0- 40
Opponents 3 9 7 0 0- 19
VIKINGS OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Quarterbacks
Tyler Heinicke 19-26 for 154 yards 73.1%
Teddy Bridgewater 12-14 for 130 yards 85.7%
Shaun Hill 8-9 for 104 yards 88.9%
Mike Kafka 7-10 for 66 yards 70%
Receiving
Adam Thielen 5 for 82 yards
Jarius Wright 4 for 64 yards
MyCole Pruitt 4 for 51 yards
Kyle Rudolph 4 for 46 yards
Stefan Diggs 4 for 40 yards
Rushing
Dominique Williams 8 carries for 55 yards
DuJuan Harris 10 carries for 44 yards
Matt Asiata 10 carries for 43 yards
Tackles
Eric Kendricks- 6
Andrew Sendejo- 5
Anthony Harris- 5
Trae Waynes- 5
Shamar Stephen- 5
Tom Johnson- 5
Gerald Hodges- 5
Brian Peters- 5
THOUGHTS ON THE GAME
The talk I have heard all week is will Christian Ponder get booed? Yes he will but I don’t care he is gone to a new team and it is our job as fans to take interest in our current team which I happen to think is going to be a team that opponents better not take lightly.
Preseason game can be boring to watch but it is at the same time to watch if the first string is making strides and looking smoother each game. The next 2 to 3 wave of players that play the rest of the game who do you think looks good and should be on the 53 man roster?
Raider’s rookie wide receiver, Amari Cooper will be a fun matchup to watch against our secondary. The other key match will be the offensive line vs 2 players in particular and that is Justin Tuck and Khlail Mack. The loss of Loadholt will be big this game to see just who does step up to replace Phil.
I look at this also as this is one game closer to the regular season. A Vikes win will be nice especially at home in front of some hungry Viking fans.
Go Vikings
Thanks for reading
Todd Walkingstick
Kick some butt, Vikings! SKOL!
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