Monday Night Football at it’s finest. Yeah, right. The 0-6 Giants host the 1-4 Vikings at MetLife Stadium.
If the Vikings weren’t throwing Josh Freeman into the fire there wouldn’t be much excitement for fans of the Purple.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: Not much, other than two coaches getting closer to the end of their tenures with their team. Tom Coughlin has been under the gun in New York for years, but he has a pair of Super Bowl to back up his brutal season. Leslie Frazier has led the Vikings to one playoff appearance… and that’s it. We’re not saying either coach gets the axe if they lose this game, but it definitely doesn’t help their chances of staying with the team for the long run.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Minnesota leads the all-time series, 14-11. The last time they played was also a Monday Night game, although it wasn’t supposed to be. But thanks to the Metrodome roof collapsing in 2010 the game was moved to Ford Field in Detroit on Monday Night. The Vikes got smoked, 21-3.
PLAYER IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Josh Freeman, of course. The 6-foot-6 rocket-armed QB makes his first career start as a Viking. In his only career game against the Giants (2012, week 2), Freeman threw for 242 yards with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. His time with the Vikings has been a “smooth adjustment” so far.
WHAT THE OTHER GUYS ARE SAYING: This dandy from the New York Post.
Are you ready for some “Monday Night Football” featuring teams with a combined record of 1-10? The Giants (0-6) next welcome in the Vikings (1-4) ,and perhaps ESPN should quickly put together a “Bud Grant: The Iceman Cometh’’ documentary to air in Minnesota and replay the 2000 NFC Championship Game to the New York/New Jersey market.
INJURY REPORT: The main injury to note is the painful turf toe injury that Vikings safety Harrison Smith is dealing with. He won’t play against the Giants and he might need season-ending surgery.
Linebacker Desmond Bishop has been placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. Rookie wide receiver Rodney Smith was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
Vikings: Walsh held out of practice, Peterson (hamstring), Rhodes, Williams and Wright all limited.
— Aj Mansour (@AjKFAN) October 17, 2013
Peterson was limited with a reported hamstring injury.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “At least we messed up the front half of the season. It’d be terrible if this was in December and we had a chance to go to the playoffs. So we have a chance to rebound … I fully expect to see a completely different defense on the field on Monday night. I know I’m excited to get out there, and I know everybody else is.” – Jared Allen to the Pioneer Press.
THE LATEST LINE, OUR PREDICTION: Neither team can play defense and both quarterbacks — Freeman and Eli Manning — have bad habits of throwing a ton of interceptions. This one could be the most exciting battle of horrible teams in the history of the NFL. We’ll take the winless Giants over the hapless Vikings, 42-34… with a combined three defensive touchdowns.
