San Diego Chargers vs. Minnesota Vikings Betting Odds, Analysis, NFL Pick

“It feels good to be a trendsetter – to be a guy looked at as an inspiration to younger guys, younger backs that come into the league”.

After a brutal loss in week one, the Minnesota Vikings recovered and put up a solid effort against the Detroit Lions and won 26-16.

Offensive coordinator Norv Turner got his first chance to see Adrian Peterson in almost top form in the Minnesota Vikings’ first victory of the season. He did fumble twice and a third was negated by penalty, but came away happy that he was once again the workhorse back. “And I guess if it was working, don’t stop”.

Note: Former Lions quarterback Josh McCown will start ahead of Johnny Manziel for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday against Oakland, after passing the NFL’s protocol on concussions. No running back reached double figures.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has already taken a beating this season.

“It was night and day”, Zimmer said of the run defense. “We respect him even more for that”.

“Coach just mentioned that he was sorry”, Barr said.

Now, of course, comes the flip side of what Zimmer faced a week ago.

“Hey, Mike, ‘” Parcells told Zimmer in their conversation earlier this week, “it’s human nature”.

On Wednesday morning, Stafford said he was feeling “pretty good” but would not confirm his status for Sunday’s game against the Broncos.

“We can’t take the cheese this week either because people will be saying nice things about us”, Zimmer said.

-He didn’t exactly channel his inner Michael Vick, but quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was noticeably more mobile against the Lions. No one wakes up on Sunday morning and says “I think I want the trauma equivalent to an oncoming Mack truck hitting me several times today”.

Stafford, who has played 68 straight games since missing most of the 2010 season with two separated shoulders, said it’s important to him to be on the field whenever possible. “[Gordon] runs the ball downhill, north and south. And that’s what I tend to like most”.

Bridgewater ran for only 21 yards on six carries. The Vikings played like their season was on the line, and their pride was at stake in front of the home crowd.

Although the Lions are often known for their defense, their offense is no cake walk. “I’ve just got to find a way to get down and protect myself”. “It kind of throws defenses off a little”. They didn’t necessarily plan on him touching the ball 31 times.

Sunday, he had seven carries on the first drive alone and 29 for 134 yards in the entire game.

Emotional readiness is not a quantifiable stat that they are tracking on Pro Football Focus.com (at least not yet), but when teams (and fans) are scratching their heads on Monday morning wondering how the Bucs beat the Saints last weekend, or the Raiders beat the Ravens, or the Jaguars beat the Dolphins, you might want to consider just where the losing team was at mentally going into their game.

“You know the players are going to go as their coach goes”.

The Vikings meant to get Peterson involved right from the get-go, something they didn’t do in their season-opening loss at San Francisco.