Dan Wiederer began covering the Vikings in 2011, enthusiastically delivering insight on the team across the Star Tribune's print and digital products. Prior to joining the Access Vikings team, he spent seven seasons covering ACC basketball at The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He also covered the Chicago Bears in 2003 and 2004. Follow him on Twitter @StribDW.
Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL the past 20 years, including the Browns from 1991-95 and the Vikings and the NFL since 2003. Since 2008, Craig has served as one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. He can be followed on Twitter at @markcraignfl.
As the Vikings prepare for Sunday’s Week 7 game with Arizona at Mall of America Field, here’s a look at a handful of eye-opening figures and facts.
22
Sacks allowed by Arizona in its past three games. The Dolphins got to Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb nine times in Week 4. St. Louis delivered eight sacks of Kolb the next week in a 17-3 blowout win. And on Sunday, in a 19-16 overtime loss to Buffalo, Kolb was sacked five times by the Bills. Only one other team in the NFL has allowed more than 20 sacks for the season. That’s Green Bay with 23.
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4
Consecutive games with a sack for defensive end Jared Allen, who recorded the Vikings’ only takedown of Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III behind the line of scrimmage on Sunday. Griffin was the 51st different quarterback Allen has sacked. Allen now has 109 career sacks. His personal best streak for consecutive games with at least a half-sack is 11, a streak that began in Week 16 of 2010 and lasted through Week 10 last season.
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283
Yards per game delivered by the Cardinals’ offense in their 4-2 start, the second worst production in the NFL. Only two other teams -- the Jets at 295.5 and the Jaguars at 241.2 -- have been more feeble offensively. Arizona has topped 300 yards only once this season. That came Sunday when they managed 332 yards in that overtime loss to Buffalo. The Cardinals also have scored just 10 offensive touchdowns in six games.
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22
Trips into the end zone for the Vikings in their first six games. In those trips, they’ve scored 11 touchdowns, 10 field goals and had one interception – the one Christian Ponder threw with 22 seconds left Sunday in a 38-26 loss at Washington. That 50 percent touchdown rate in the red zone ranks 17th in the NFL and it’s something the Vikings are vowing to address this week after three first-quarter red zone trips on Sunday produced three field goals.
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354
Yards from scrimmage for running back Adrian Peterson over the last three weeks. Peterson had 17 carries for 79 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Redskins and added a career-high seven catches for 50 yards. Peterson now has 20 receptions this year through six games. Only twice has he had more than 25 catches in a season – 43 in 2009 and 36 in 2010.
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123
Touches for Peterson since he scored his last touchdown on a 2-yard run in the third quarter of the season opener against Jacksonville. Peterson has now gone five full games without reaching the end zone, the worst scoring drought of his career. He appeared to have a 1-yard TD run late in Sunday’s game against the Redskins. But the play was nullified due to a false start penalty on Kyle Rudolph.
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366
Yards gained by the Vikings in the first and fourth quarters of Sunday’s loss. The Vikings scored 23 of their 26 points in those quarters and averaged 5.9 yards on 62 plays.
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41
Yards gained by the Vikings in the second and third quarters of their most recent loss. They had the ball for only 22 plays in that span as Washington took control of the game. The Redskins had the ball for nearly 21 minutes and 40 plays in the second and third quarters, delivering four straight scoring drives and outscoring the Vikings 24-3.
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| Chicago Cubs - LP: E. Jackson | 2 | FINAL |
| Pittsburgh - WP: V. Mazzaro | 4 |
| Baltimore - LP: K. Gausman | 6 | FINAL |
| Toronto - WP: B. Morrow | 12 |
| Cleveland - WP: Z. McAllister | 12 | FINAL |
| Boston - LP: R. Dempster | 3 |
| Minnesota - LP: J. Burton | 6 | FINAL |
| Detroit - WP: J. Benoit | 7 |
| LA Angels - WP: J. Blanton | 5 | FINAL |
| Kansas City - LP: E. Santana | 4 |
| Boston | 3 | FINAL(OT) |
| NY Rangers | 4 |
| Chicago | 0 | FINAL |
| Detroit | 2 |
| San Jose | 0 | FINAL |
| Los Angeles | 3 |
| Date/Opponent | Time | W | L | Score |
| 2013 preseason | ||||
| Aug 9 - vs. Houston | 7 pm | |||
| Aug 16 - at Buffalo | 6 pm | |||
| Aug 25 - at San Francisco | 7 pm | |||
| Aug 29 - vs. Tennessee | 7 pm | |||
| 2013 regular season | ||||
| Sep 8 - at Detroit | Noon | |||
| Sep 15 - at Chicago | Noon | |||
| Sep 22 - vs. Cleveland | Noon | |||
| Sep 29 - vs. Pittsburgh (in London) | Noon | |||
| Oct 6 - Bye | ||||
| Oct 13 - vs. Carolina | Noon | |||
| Oct 21 - at. NY Giants | 7:40 pm | |||
| Oct 27 - vs. Green Bay | 7:30 pm | |||
| Nov 3 - at Dallas | Noon | |||
| Nov 7 - vs. Washington | 7:25 pm | |||
| Nov 17 - at Seattle | 3:25 pm | |||
| Nov. 24 - at Green Bay | Noon | |||
| Dec 1 - vs. Chicago | Noon | |||
| Dec 8 - at Baltimore | Noon | |||
| Dec 15 - vs. Philadelphia | Noon | |||
| Dec 22 - at Cincinnati | Noon | |||
| Dec 29 - vs. Detroit | Noon |
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