Hartman: Vikings, Lions cope with absent players

The Vikings and Lions are having similar starts to their seasons, especially when it comes to struggling offenses. The Vikings rank 26th in the NFL averaging 20.2 points per game, while the Lions rank 27th at 19.8. Compare that with last season, when the Lions finished sixth in the league in scoring average at 24.7 points.

If the Vikings want to stay in the NFC North race, they will have to find a way to defeat the Lions on Sunday and move to .500. If they lose, they will fall to 2-4 and be two games behind Detroit.

The Vikings are missing star running back Adrian Peterson (legal issues), Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph (hernia surgery) and right guard Brandon Fusco (torn pectoral). The Lions could be missing star wide receiver Calvin Johnson (ankle) and have watched running backs Reggie Bush (ankle) and Joique Bell (head) deal with injuries. Right tackle LaAdrian Waddle (calf) just rejoined the team.

The Lions have scored only six offensive touchdowns in their past four games, while the defense has contributed two touchdowns. In those same four games, Lions kickers have gone 2-for-9 on field-goal attempts, leading them to sign Matt Prater this week, who had been suspended for four games and underwent treatment for alcohol addiction.

While the Vikings offensive line struggled in protecting Christian Ponder, who was sacked six times by the Packers last week, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has been sacked 17 times this season, most in the league. The Lions went scoreless in the second half of their 17-14, last-second loss to the Bills.

"Their front four is talented," Stafford said about the Vikings' pass rush at a news conference Wednesday. Stafford added that the Lions offense as a whole has struggled.

"I think for a number of reasons, you know we definitely have not executed at certain times as well as we can," Stafford said. "We've had some tough injuries that everybody in the league is having. It's our first year in this offense, still trying to get it as down pat as we perfectly can."

It will be a matchup of a rookie quarterback trying to prove himself against a star quarterback who is clearly struggling with offensive injuries all around him.

Still, Bridgewater said Wednesday that it's not all on him.

"I hold myself to high expectations," he said. "At the same time, the game can turn out any way. We can go out and run the ball for 400 yards and I pass for 50 yards. It's an overall team effort and we're just going to expect the entire team to just play at a high level and not let the one loss in Green Bay affect us."

Pat Fitzgerald, who will coach Northwestern against the Gophers on Saturday, sang the praises of coach Jerry Kill at Fitzgerald's weekly news conference after upsetting Wisconsin.

"Jerry Kill's personality is all over this football team," Fitzgerald said. "They're tough, they're physical, they play very well-coached, very disciplined football in all three phases. You couple that with having to go on the road again, it's going to be a great challenge for us."

"If he's not [the best], he's in the top 10. His [assistants] have a blueprint on the young men they recruit, on how they coach them, they have a blueprint on how they do things schematically and it shows up on tape. The credit starts at the top with his leadership and just who he is."

Fitzgerald stressed the importance for the Wildcats (3-2, 2-0 Big Ten) of not having turnovers against the Gophers (4-1, 1-0).

"It's going to be big on Saturday," he said. "Every conference game, every football game, especially conference play, you have to take care of the ball on the road. That's probably what I was most proud about for our team on Saturday [against Wisconsin], all the things we did well, we took care of the football."

Fitzgerald also sang the praises of Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover's play-calling. The Wildcats coach remembered Limegrover as a graduate assistant at Northwestern in 1995 and 1996.

"Big up front, big offensive line, big backs, bigger running backs than we saw a week ago, they're going to pound it," Fitzgerald said. "A little bit more gap-schemes, at least what they've shown earlier, a little bit more quarterback runs, similar to Northern Illinois. Our defensive staff is going to have their hands full, and … they had a bye. We'll be adjusting quite a bit. They do a lot of formation variations. But their defense is fast and physical, do a great job playing man, and their special teams may be the best that we've seen."

• Eden Prairie running back Will Rains, who transferred to the Eagles from Eastview, recently scored five touchdowns in a 41-14 victory over Osseo. The senior running back told GopherHole.com he has heard from Kill's staff. "In the past they were saying that I am a good player and I am pretty high on the recruiting list for running back and I just have to keep it up," Rains said. "They send me a lot of mail and game invites. They talked to me a little bit about running back and the school."

• The Gophers wrestling team will spend the holidays in Honolulu, where on Dec. 30 coach J Robinson will put on a clinic and the team will take part in the Aloha Open tournament along with Oregon State, American and Oklahoma.

• Chandler Harnish, who was signed by the Vikings off their practice squad for their game at Green Bay last week, was a great quarterback for Northern Illinois and was recruited by Kill when he was head coach there. So it's no surprise that Harnish, who is now back on the Vikings practice squad, is close with Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner and occasionally gives the young QB advice.

• Phil Esten, who served as the president and CEO of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, has been appointed Penn State's deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer for intercollegiate athletics.