Oh man, that is music to my ears. Bryant McKinnie is an above average left tackle and thats about it, but its still a big deal when he’s out. I’m not expecting a Winston Justice-like performance out of Artis Hicks, but we need to find a way to exploit him big time. Is everyone here comfortable with Michael Montgomery and Cullen Jenkins getting alot of snaps at d-tackle in the heat of the opener, in lew of keeping one more true D-Tackle on the roster? That really only leaves Colin Cole to spell Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly on first and second downs.
We really need to find a way to exhaust Pat Williams during the game, and I would run plays away from his side and have his guard pull, but he identifies those plays and gets down the line way too quickly to consistently do that. I think after plays of ten yards or more we should hussle to the line of scrimmage and call the play at the line to keep him moving and prevent from catching his breath in the huddle. I have alot of respect for Pat Williams, he may be the best player on that defense.
We should also try and attack Cedric Griiffin as much as possible. He’s probably the biggest liability on the Vikings defense. Don’t forget that Madieu Williams is also out for the Vikings, so if we put some men in motion, we could find some one-on-one spots with his backup, which is to our advantage against any of our receivers. Also, we should run out of three and four wide sets to get EJ Henderson off the field.
We need to show some exotic coverages to Tarvaris Jackson, not much cover 2, he practices against that all day. I already know we’re going to blitz him alot, we’ve only been saying that all offseason, but that also means we are going to see Nick Collins play alot of Center field, acting as the last line of defense, not the most comforting thought. I know the D-Backs will be tempted to sneak peeks into the backfield, with alot of Adrian Peterson runs, but its imperative that they don’t. Minnesota’s best chance of a big play in the air will come off play action. Any receiver double moves against a cheating D-Back and its six for the bad guys. Oh, and Ryan Pickett also needs to be a monster out there.

I’m not thrilled that Colin Cole is the backup defensive tackle. He gets shoved around a lot, but no one else they had in camp was any better. I’m not sure Pat Williams can be worn out. That guy is a rock. Losing Madieu Williams is a huge blow for Minnesota. They went out and signed that guy right at the start of free agency for top dollar because they were determined to improve their poor pass coverage, and now he’s out for a while. I don’t know if it makes a difference in this game, but psychologically it’s gotta hurt that one of the key moves you make in the offseason isn’t ready to play. I have no doubt defensive coordinator Bob Sanders is more than up to the challenge of frustrating Tarvaris Jackson.