Giants and Vikings Get a Snow Day
Today’s game between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings has been moved to tomorrow (Monday) night at 7:20 in Detroit due to a record snowstorm in the Minneapolis area. The roof of the Metrodome collapsed under the weight of the snow which reported reached volumes of more than 17 inches. The Giants could not even fly into Minneapolis on Friday and had been in Kansas City waiting for word from the league about rescheduling. The Vikings wanted the game moved to nearby TCF Bank Stadium, home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, but the stadium has been shut down the for the winter and would take about a week to prepare for an NFL game. The Giants got their wish in having the game moved to Detroit, a much more neutral site.
The news is not all bad for the Vikings though, as the 31 hour delay gives Brett Favre a better shot at playing in the game. He stated that if the game was played at its regular time at 1pm on Sunday then he may not have played but the extra rehab time gives him an outside shot at starting. The change could also give wide receiver Percy Harvin more time to get over his migraines and possibly suit up for the Vikings.
Regardless of game location, the Giants will welcome back three injured offensive starters this week as receivers Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks, and left tackle David Diehl will all play against the Vikings. Smith and Nicks will be on limited snap counts so look for continued heavy doses of Mario Manningham and Derek Hagan. Manningham will be the happier than Miley Cyrus after a bong hit this weekend as Nicks’ return means that he will no longer be seeing constant double teams.
The Giants defense should still be game planning for Tavaris Jackson rather than Favre and will need to watch out for his scrambling ability and also not underestimate his arm. They will need to disguise their blitzes and force Tavaris to make the right reads at the line of scrimmage because a major knock on him has always been the mental side of the game. The real test will be containing Adrian Peterson, but if the Giants can manage to just slow him down and force TJax into some long third downs then you have to believe that the odds are in the NYG favor.
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