The Houston Texans and the Minnesota Vikings meet on Thursday for the final game of the 2012 NFL preseason schedule.
The Houston Texans are one of the early favorites to go to the Super Bowl and for good reason; the Texans are loaded. Matt Schaub returns at QB and T.J. Yates had plenty of playing time last season that he is a reliable backup and a playoff game winner. Andre Johnson is healthy again and DeVier Posey looks like he will contribute at receiver as well and Trindon Holliday just looks like a playmaker. Ariam Foster and Ben Tate are one of the best running back tandems in the NFL if not the best and while Eric Winston is gone from the OL this is still a very strong unit. Defensively there has been some change in Houston as well but this is a very strong unit and Wade Phillips impact we saw a year ago and only be bigger this year. J.J. Watt was looking like a superstar by the end of the season and Brian Cushing is a Pro Bowler. The secondary saw huge improvement last season as well.
The Minnesota Vikings are a wok in progress and while they have some of the best players at certain positions in the NFL, they are still missing a few pieces they will need in order to compete in the NFC North. Christian Ponder enters his second year at QB and adding Jerome Simpson to his receiver will only help as Percy Harvin gets a lot of the attention of the defense. Adrian Peterson’s recovery is ahead of schedule and Toby Gerhart is very capable as well. The offensive line gets a big boost with the drafting of Matt Kalil. Defensively there aren’t too many better than Jared Allen while Chad Greenway and Erin Henderson are both solid tackling linebackers. The Vikings secondary needs some help but they are hoping Chris Carr can step up and rookie Harrison Smith from Notre Dame.
Like most NFL games this week they are tough calls because we don’t know who we are going to see but we know who we won’t, and that’s a lot of the players we are familiar with and most of the ones I mentioned above. If this is your first time at the site be sure to look around and check back next week for our real NFL football picks and coverage as this isn’t even one of those games where there is much of an angle. The Texans are home and are deeper and I will give them a slight nod looking to that alone.
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