Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings: Key information and First Quarter Open Thread

We are just an hour away from kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium for our Week 6 contest between the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals. This is the first home game for the Vikings since Week 3, when they found themselves in a similar situation as they do today. . .huge favorite, taking on a team that is perceived to be terrible with a rookie quarterback at the helm. Hopefully they will avoid a similar fate.

Here is all of the important stuff that you need to know about today’s contest.

Time: Sunday, 14 October, noon Central time

Location: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Television coverage: KSTP-9 in the Twin Cities, FOX affiliates across the country that you can see on the maps right here, and DirecTV Channel 711

Radio coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 113, XM Channel 231 (PHI feed)

Line: Minnesota -10.5, over/under 44

Prediction: Vikings 31, Cardinals 17

Three keys

1) Contain David Johnson - With a rookie quarterback at the helm, the Cardinals will likely try to lean heavily on their dynamic running back. Johnson, who missed most of last season with an injury, has gotten off to a rough start this year, but still has the ability to make things miserable for Minnesota’s defense. If the Vikings can keep Johnson bottled up and put everything on the shoulders of Josh Rosen, it should. . .yes, should. . .spell good things for the purple this afternoon.

2) Take care of the football - The last time the Vikings played at home, they turned the ball over on their first two possessions and quickly found themselves in a 17-0 hole. Against a team like Arizona, you don’t need to give them extra opportunities and short fields. If the Vikings can avoid a similar fate in this one and make Arizona earn their points rather than just handing them points, that would go a long way towards a victory this afternoon.

3) Focus - I’m part of the crowd that thinks the Vikings may have overlooked Buffalo in Week 3, and they had the Everson Griffen situation to deal with at the time as well. This team needs to focus and continue to show the sort of intensity that they showed last week in Philadelphia. If they’re on their game, there’s no reason for them to lose this one.

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As usual, we will have a new Open Thread up and running at the start of each quarter, so keep your eyes open for that, ladies and gentlemen. Other than that, let’s enjoy the game and hope that our favorite team can get themselves a winning streak started.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!