Minnesota Vikings at Arizona Cardinals: Key information and first quarter discussion

We are sixty minutes away from kickoff in Glendale, as your Minnesota Vikings hope to avoid an 0-2 start to their 2021 NFL season when they battle the 1-0 Arizona Cardinals. Here’s all of the information that you need for today’s contest.

Date and Time: Sunday, 19 September 2021, 3:05 PM Central time

Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Television Coverage: KSTP-9 in the Twin Cities, FOX affiliates around the country, DirecTV Channel 714

Radio Coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 137, XM Channel 383, SiriusXM App Channel 820

Line: Vikings +4, over/under 51

Chris’ Prediction: Cardinals 31, Vikings 23

Three Keys

1) Stop committing stupid penalties - The Vikings had 12 penalties accepted against them last week in Cincinnati, and several more that were declined. It’s hard to succeed in the NFL when you’re constantly “behind the chains,” and if the Vikings haven’t gotten themselves more disciplined since last week, it’s going to be another long afternoon.

2) The offensive line needs to step up - With the exception of right tackle Brian O’Neill, every member of the Vikings’ offensive line pretty much stunk against Cincinnati. The penalties didn’t help when it came to pass protection, but since the majority of the penalties were on the offensive line, there’s really only one place to point the blame. The unit has to play better, period.

3) Get more aggressive - And yes, I’m sure that this is connected to #1 and #2 up there as well. This team’s skill position players are too good to consistently settle for short gains and hoping that they can sustain 11-12 play drives every time they get the football. This offense needs to start taking some shots, because they’re going to be there. Of course, this goes back to not committing dumb penalties and actually blocking people so that the offense has time to take those chances.

Know the Foe: Revenge of the Birds

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As we usually do, there will be a brand new Open Thread at the start of each quarter, so be sure to keep your eyes open for it and keep the discussion moving along to keep things from getting bogged down.

With that, we’re nearly ready to start another Sunday afternoon of Vikings’ football. I’m not super optimistic about today, but maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised and we can all meet back here in a few hours to celebrate the first victory of 2021.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!