Minnesota Vikings News and Links, 12/18

A brand new week of football kicks off tonight, ladies and gentlemen, with an AFC South matchup between the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars. We're also one day closer to the Minnesota Vikings taking to the road to battle the Miami Dolphins, which I know is what we all care about anyway.

Since the last time we brought you an Open Thread. . .

-CCNorseman has done the first version of his Armchair GM look at the 2015 Minnesota Vikings.

-We know almost all of Minnesota's opponents for 2015. . .a couple will depend on who finishes where in the NFC's divisions.

-The Vikings promoted safety Ahmad Dixon to the main roster and signed offensive lineman Jordan McCray to the practice squad yesterday.

-We're already starting to see mock drafts for 2015 coming in from around the interwebs. Somewhere out there, Mark is cackling and rubbing his hands gleefully.

-CCNorseman has also put together the Matchup Index for Sunday's game in Miami.

From some other sources around the interwebs. . .

-Hey, remember when Jared Allen cited Jay Cutler as one of the big reasons he went to Chicago?

-The weather in Miami this weekend is going to be pretty great.

-Miami native Teddy Bridgewater is expecting that he'll have a pretty big cheering section for this Sunday's contest.

-Speaking of returns, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd expects to return to the field after missing last week's game against Detroit.

The rules of the Open Thread are the same as they've ever been, ladies and gentlemen. . .no politics, no religion, no feeding of the trolls, keep the bad language to a minimum (using spoiler tags, if necessary), and keep the pictures work-safe and appropriately-sized.

For today's musical entertainment, something a little different.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open for this Thursday, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your day!