Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's game day once again for your Minnesota Vikings, as they will play host to the San Diego Chargers at the Metrodome this evening.
These two teams only meet once every four years or so, and as a result there isn't a lot of "recent history" to go off of. The Vikings started last season against these same Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium, and things looked good early as Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown, and the Vikings took a 17-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, the second half was a different story, as Donovan McNabb looked like hot garbage and the defense eventually got worn down as the Chargers scored 17 unanswered points en route to a 24-17 victory.
The last time the Chargers visited the Metrodome, however, it was a different story. Adrian Peterson went what the kids might call "buck wild" against the Bolts, setting the single-game NFL record with 296 rushing yards and three scores as the Vikings thumped the Chargers, 35-17.
The Chargers actually lead the all-time regular season series against the Vikings by a tally of 6-5, and the results for the Vikings have gone loss-win-loss-win-loss-win-loss-win-loss-win-loss. I guess that means that when the Vikings see them in the 2015 regular season, we can pencil them in for a win. Patterns and such.
If you're going to be watching the game tonight, KARE-11 will be showing the game live, with kickoff scheduled for 7 PM Central time. The initial NFL Network replay of the game will be at 2 AM Central. If you have no intention of staying up that late, hopefully you can find a way to record it.
As far as radio, the Vikings Radio Network will likely have many affiliates airing the game across the Upper Midwest. You'll just have to find the one nearest to you. If you have satellite radio, the feed will be on XM Channel 225. If you're listening to satellite radio via the internet or a smart phone app, you can find the Vikings feed on Channel 817 and the Chargers feed (should you want to listen to it for whatever reason) on Channel 825.
And, as always, the Game Thread will be up and running about an hour or so prior to kickoff. Hopefully we'll have a good crowd on hand for that.
We're about ten hours from kickoff, folks. . .enjoy your Friday until kickoff gets here, and then proceed to enjoy it even more with some Minnesota Vikings football!