I took my son to the game yesterday in Atlanta. We tailgated in the parking lot right across the street from the new stadium. Met a lot of great people (Vikings fans) from all over.
Although the ticket and parking prices were NUTS, the food and drinks inside the Mercedes Benz Stadium were very reasonable. I talked to one Vikings fan who had been at both new stadiums (Vikings and Falcons) and said that he liked the Falcons' new digs better (for whatever that's worth). Although my game experience was great, I have friends here who have complained about echo in the new Falcons stadium (bad acoustics) and I didn't experience that -- however, there were a lot of empty seats and it may be much different when its packed-out.
Throughout the whole game I kept hearing Falcon fans chanting and yelling for Julio Jones to do something big, to save the day. As you know, it didn't happen and Rhodes shut him down.
There was that one play at the beginning of the game where if Jones would have caught the slant pass he would have gotten the TD, but the pass wasn't very good and it was incomplete. 
After the game, I kept hearing the chant "Julio Jones" -- except this time it was from Vikings fans, basically mocking what they had heard in the stadium and probably all week about what Jones was going to do. Don't get me wrong, Julio Jones is a beast, but our Vikings D is great and 29 followed Jones wherever he went. 
Throughout the game, they kept playing videos (on the 360 degree screen) of past games versus the Vikings (especially the NFC championship game) and they also had Morten Andersen come out on the field during a commercial break. I think it was all a psychological thing they were trying to do, but that game was a long time ago now and this is a totally different team -- and so is theirs.
There were a lot of angry Falcons fans regarding the play calling. I also think they screwed up -- not going for it on 4th down, calling their first time out when Jarius Wright ran on the field, etc.
Isn't it nice when our team out-coaches another team?
All in all it was a great day and great win. Skol!

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/937722722662211584

For discussion purposes only.

Would Treadwell be better served if he switched to TE?  We know he has trouble getting open as a wideout, but he makes contested catches, has good hands and is a good (read: willing) run-blockerin space.  If he put on 20 pounds, could he make it as a Kyle Rudolph-type TE?

IIRC, most on the board had us at 10 wins, maybe less, a few more...but I think we all were thinking/hoping 10 was doable...4 games left and we have a legit shot at 14 wins and a 1st round bye throughout...as big a surprise as the OL has been, Keenum's ability to take advantage of that protection has to rank right up there with the starting five and how they have performed to date...
The only downside to the D I'm seeing is they don't produce a lot of turnovers...probably because they don't let the opposing O stay on the field long enough...if we start getting some turnovers we might be unstoppable...the way Zim has been calling the D, we might be unstoppable regardless...and to think he was contemplating turning over the play calling to Edwards...

When the schedule was released, we thought about going to this game. I checked into the tickets (they were high) and did some investigating. I have never been to that stadium.

We decided that we would just watch it at home. Didn't want to deal with the drive and parking and all that. It's MUCH more fun going to Minnesota for a game.

Well, last week my wife gets an e-mail from her employer, Greenville Hospital Systems. They were offering tickets for this game only. At $40.00 each plus a bus ride from Greenville to Charlotte. We couldn't turn that down so we bought 2. I have no idea where the seats are gonna be (we get our tickets Sunday morning at the bus pick-up) but with the hospital buying a block of tickets, maybe the seats will decent. 

The bus ride is what sold us. We can party some and not have to worry about driving back home, parking, etc. 

The only downside is that we've had weather in the high 60s to mid 70s for weeks now. This Thursday, a cold front is coming down with lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s. You Minnesota guys may be used to it but we're not. Whatever, we've got plenty of Viking gear to keep warm plus hand and toe heaters. We'll be ready.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Viking turnout will be. Hopefully we can do a SKOL chant.

So just sitting around pondering after yesterdays win, and I came up with three things that I really hope happen this week in the NFL:
#1 Vikings beat the Panthers:  This one is obvious, you know being a Vikings fan and all we should want our team to win every game.  Plus, it pretty much solidifies a first round bye with all the tie breakers going Minnesota's way at that point.
#2 Rams beat the Eagles:  Yes, if we win out, the #1 seed is ours (At least that's what I heard this morning).  But having an extra game cushion would be nice, PLUS if the Vikings can win up to the last game of the season, 50% of the people in the Vikings world would get their wish.  At that point, the Chicago @ Minnesota game would have no meaning.  We would have the #1 seed locked up and then they can run Bridgewater out there to see what they have there. 
#3 For the love of God, please let the Browns beat the Packers:  Not just because it would be fun to rub the Packer fans nose in it, and not even because I am worried that Aaron Rodgers might come back, well in a sense.  This is a request because if the Packers get to 7-6.  ALL you are going to hear at ALL times for ever until they lose again is how Aaron Rodgers is going to save the Packers season.  There will even be some Super Bowl predictions and the mania will begin.  It will be on every channel at all hours.  They will probably even do a press release from NATO headquarters or something.  I am not worried that he could beat the Vikings, I think the Vikes are a better team, but I am enjoying listening to sports talk radio right now.  If the Packers beat the Browns, it will be unbearable.  The pre-game shows will have exposes on Rodgers life while he had a broken collarbone.  We will see the play of him walking in to A. Barr over and over again, and the debate of whether it was a "dirty" hit will be rehashed ad nauseam.  So please, for the love of God, GO BROWNS!!

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/video...e30ff89784

Unreal.

VikingUpdate.com‏ @VikingUpdate 4m4 minutes ago

Throughout the summer and again during the Vikings' bye week, coach Mike Zimmer preached the importance of situational football. That was on display Sunday in Atlanta.During their most impressive victory of the season, the Vikings taught a master class in situational football, beating the Atlanta Falcons 14-9 with the mundane rather than the spectacular. They excelled on third down and close to the goal line, smothering the Falcons’ superstars with schemes and play-calling.
The Falcons had scored 95 points in their past three games while converting 27 of 41 third downs. The defending NFC champs were hot and playing at home. Then Zimmer and his staff arrived with a large asbestos blanket.
Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, star quarterback Matt Ryan failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 31 games and Julio Jones produced 229 fewer yards receiving than the previous week. The Falcons failed to produce a touchdown for the first time since 2015 and posted their lowest yardage total since 2013.
Throughout the summer and again during the Vikings’ bye week, Zimmer preached the importance of situational football, particularly third-down conversions and red-zone touchdowns. “That stuck in our membrane,’’ running back Jerick McKinnon said.
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-have-...461750973/

Good morning, Vikings fans: If the NFL season were over as of this morning, your team would have the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs for the first time since 1998.
(It doesn’t end today, of course, which is why we’ll permit just a second for you to celebrate before moving on. But things could be much clearer a week from now.)
After the Philadelphia Eagles lost their second game of the season (and first to a NFC opponent), the Vikings vaulted from the second spot to the top perch in the conference, by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Eagles. Both teams are 10-2, and have 8-1 records in the NFC. They’re both undefeated against common opponents (the Bears and Redskins), but the combined winning percentage of the teams the Vikings have defeated is .467, whereas the Eagles’ strength of victory is just .375. That, for the moment, puts the Vikings ahead of Philadelphia.
But only for the moment — which brings us to why Week 14 is so important.
After the Vikings play the Panthers and the Eagles play the Rams on Sunday, the NFC’s two best teams will have four common opponents. Following Week 14, the only game either team has left against one of their four common opponents (again: the Redskins, Bears, Panthers and Rams) comes in Week 17, when the Vikings play host to the Bears. Which means the results of next Sunday’s games could play a pivotal part in establishing a pecking order between the two teams.
At the moment, the Vikings are 2-0 against their common opponents with the Eagles, while the Eagles are 4-0, having beaten the Redskins twice already, as well as the Bears and Panthers once. A win against the Panthers, coupled with an Eagles loss to the Rams, would give the Vikings a 4-0 record against the two teams’ common opponents, dropping the Eagles to 4-1. It would also give Philadelphia two conference losses, with the Vikings still at one and holding onto a sizable edge in strength of victory. At that point, the Vikings would be 11-2, with a one-game lead on the Eagles and everything pointing in their favor.
Now let’s say the Vikings lose to the Panthers next week, and the Eagles beat the Rams. They’d be behind Philadelphia both in the conference games tiebreaker and the common opponents tiebreaker (3-1 to 5-0). Even if the Eagles lost another conference game, bringing the Vikings level with them in the first tiebreaker between the two teams, the Vikings couldn’t catch the Eagles in the common opponents tiebreaker.
Here's the NFL playoff picture
Essentially, the two most important games the Vikings will play the rest of this year, in terms of home-field advantage, are on Sunday against the Panthers and Dec. 31 against the Bears. Vikings fans should also be rooting hard for an Eagles loss to the Rams, since it’s the last chance for Philadelphia to finish with less than a perfect record in the common opponents tiebreaker.
http://www.startribune.com/week-14-could...461818773/