Randy Moss returns to New England as the Patriots host the Minnesota Vikings
Former New England Patriot, Randy Moss, will return to Gillette Stadium for the first time after being traded to the Minnesota Vikings as the two teams meet in New England this Sunday.
Previous Meetings and recent games
Since 2001 the Vikings and Patriots have played twice with the Patriots winning both times. The most recent meeting was back in 2006, almost four years ago to the day, when the Patriots won 31-7.
Aside from a 28-14 loss to the New York Jets on week 2, the Patriots have been near perfect on the season. They recently beat the San Diego Chargers, who boast the league's best offence and best defence, 23-20 last Sunday.
The Minnesota Vikings have struggled so far this season and have only two wins. Both wins came against teams that have a combined record of 2-10. They lost last Sunday 28-24 to the Green Bay Packers.
How they match up
The game between the Vikes and Patriots is not short of a few talking points that have been making headlines around the NFL recently. The first, of course, being the return of Randy Moss to New England, and the recent speculation that he could use his inside
knowledge of the Patriots to share game signals with his team.
"Sure, he can probably tell them the plays," New England quarterback
Tom Brady said Wednesday. "He knows the signals and stuff, but that's why you have to change them. Hopefully, he tells them one thing, then you fake it, and they're guessing and maybe they guess wrong. Who knows?"
Signal stealing was a subject that landed the Patriots in hot water back in 2007 forcing them to forfeit their first-round draft pick in 2008 after stealing signals from the Jets. Something which Vikings coach Brad Childress alluded to when he said, "These
were some of the all-time great signal-stealers. In fact, that's what was going on. We were signaling from the sideline. They were good at it. It's like stealing signals from a catcher."
There is also the Brett Favre saga which continues. It's still uncertain whether or not he will get the start on Sunday as he continues to battle through two fractures in his foot. There's also the sexting scandal which continues to swirl through the media
and act as yet another distraction in the Vikings' soap opera story of 2010.
What to expect
With so much brouhaha surrounding the lead up to the game, it's hard to believe that the two teams will actually play football on Sunday.
Even if Favre is in a wheelchair he need only hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson who is once again averaging more yards per game rushing than any other player in the NFL.
For all the Patriots offensive weapons, they have had trouble stopping opposing offences.
Even if Moss does share signals, Patriots Bill Belichick isn't stupid and has enough sense to throw in some misdirection to keep the Vikings guessing. The Vikings have A.P., but other than that they're a sinking ship.
Patriots win 41-14.
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