ST. LOUIS RAMS (4-3)	WEEK 9	MINNESOTA VIKINGS (5-2)
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When the schedule came out back in April, there probably weren't a lot of people that had a mid-season match-up between the Minnesota Vikings and the St. Louis Rams as a "must-see" type of a game. But, lo and behold, here we are with a game between two teams that, as of now, are in the thick of the wild card hunt in the NFC. For the Vikings, if they should win today and the Carolina Panthers can knock off the Green Bay Packers, they'd be tied for first place in the NFC North as well. The Rams, on the other hand, are in hot pursuit of an Arizona Cardinals team that they've already beaten once in the NFC West race.

So, how can Minnesota ensure that they're the ones that improve their standing this afternoon?

1) Contain Todd Gurley - Gurley has exploded on to the NFL scene over the past four weeks, putting up at least 125 yards in each of his first four NFL games. Gurley will, in all likelihood, get his yards in this one, but the Vikings have to do their best to keep from giving up the big play. If they can keep Gurley from getting into the second level too many times, they'll put more pressure on a St. Louis passing game that isn't very good. Keep an eye on Linval Joseph. . .the big man has had an outstanding season thus far, and will have to continue to play big to keep Gurley from going crazy.

2) Run the offense through Adrian Peterson - With all the hype that Gurley has been getting this week, it may be easy for some to forget that Peterson will be on the field this afternoon, too. Peterson went over the 100-yard mark last week in Chicago, and found the ability to stay away from the negative-yardage and short-gaining runs that had plagued him over the previous two weeks. Peterson is going to need that consistency this week, as the Vikings will need to stay "ahead of the chains" on offense and keep themselves in manageable situations. Too many second or third-and-long situations is a recipe for disaster against a potent St. Louis pass rush.

3) Be smart with the football - We emphasize this one pretty much every week, but the Vikings can't afford to be giving a team like the Rams extra chances. St. Louis has struggled on offense for much of the year, as have the Vikings. Minnesota can't be giving St. Louis short fields to work with, and if they can force St. Louis to execute on longer drives, they stand a much greater chance of stopping them and/or forcing a mistake. The Vikings need to limit their mistakes and force the Rams into a few mistakes of their own in this one.

It's going to be a breezy one at TCF Bank Stadium today, which does more to lend to the idea that this is going to be a ground-and-pound, physical sort of contest. It should be a good one, folks. . .let's see if the Vikings can run their winning streak to four.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!