The team has headed out to the west coast hoping that the results are different than the east coast. Your Minnesota Vikings are coming off another tough and maddening loss versus the Baltimore Ravens, and now will face the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers are headed up by a young franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert. They have two very good wide receivers in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, along with a very shifty running back, Austin Ekeler. The Vikes’ defense will be understaffed with up to 3 starters and 2 backup players out. It will be a tough test in SoFi Stadium.

Dave and Darren who both started blogging on the Purple decades ago will go over a way to possibly see how this game will go and if the Vikings can win, so get ready for the Climbing The Pocket and Daily Norseman pregame show!

Breaking down the game with a brief look at the stats, then:

1. Containing Justin Hebert and the Chargers offense for an entire game?

Vikings' defense has been good at times (like the first half against Ravens) but rarely sustains it.

The run defense is almost as bad as it was last year.

Can this defense keep the Chargers under 30? Big test for a defense that has underperformed,

But it had 23 pressures against the Ravens without Hunter. This defense can rush the passer but it's not doing other things very well.

2. Vikings' offense needs a spark - how about Kene Nwangwu?

Vikings' offense is boring and struggling.

It needs a weapon that teams aren’t ready for.

Nwangwu could be that weapon.

His kickoff return for a TD and nine-yard fake punt displayed his speed. Guys had angles to tackle him. He outran the angles.

Teams don't have tape on him yet. They aren't ready for him.

Vikings need to get him some offensive touches in this game and see if he can use that speed to hit on some big plays.

He could be an X-factor in this game.

3. Can the Vikings and Klint Kubiak run on a defense that can't stop the run?

The Chargers defense is giving up 5 yards per carry. Their pass defense is much better.

The Vikings have Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, and Kene Nwangwu - they should be looking to attack that run defense.

However, the Chargers will be game-planning to stop our run game?

It seems when teams do that, the Vikings offense under Kubiak has not been able to find ways to keep running effectively.

The offensive line also isn't able to open holes when defenses do things to stop Cook, at al.

Can our offensive line impose its will on the Chargers' soft run defense, help the Vikings sustain long drives, and keep Hebert and Co off the field?

This is a big game for Kubiak. He appears overmatched after the first drive of the game. If the Vikings offense falls flat again on Sunday, is he out as OC?

Join us for your Minnesota Vikings talk amongst Two Old Bloggers and join the conversation! Fan with us!!! Come join the @Climb_ThePocket’s & @DailyNorseman’s blogger show with Darren @KickassblogVike and Dave @Luft_Krigare.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to us here! - https://www.youtube.com/climbingthepocket

Catch it here: https://youtu.be/M6BrCrNVPqA

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices