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There is only one way that the Vikings can beat the Lions this Sunday. They have to deal with the thought of losing this game before it ever happens. Don't get caught up in the trap like we did in Denver ... and so many times before ... thinking that we lost a game that we should have won. It is quite clear that Stafford is not only capable of coming from behind ... in a close game ... you can count on it, even if it is not close. Detroit at home is one of the most dangerous teams that the Vikings will face this year ... if the Viking mindset and it's team become complacent. Why? Just take a look at Detroit's schedule. If Bud Grant was right when he said, "It's not who you play but when and where you play them", then you'll get an idea of the degree of difficulty at hand. The Chargers at home on opening day is just like our game facing the 49ers. In week one ... everyone is going to the Super Bowl and every team plays like it. Each team also has it's full compliment of players so expectations follow the effort. With the return of Gates, we all saw what the Chargers did to Green Bay on their own home turf ... so enough said. Now pop in teams like the Bronco's, Seahawks and Cardinal's and you have an idea of how strong Detroit's schedule has been ... not to mention some team in Purple that beat the snot out of Stafford. Their only cup-cake, by comparison, if you will was Chicago, where Detroit found a way to just barely secure it's first victory at home. What Detroit knows is that they could go on a significant run if they can beat the Vikings on Sunday. Detroit would like nothing better than to return the favor given to Stafford, of pounding Teddy into oblivion. To be successful, Teddy has to get evolve past any and all of this fear. Our offensive line, et al, has to prevent anything like what Detroit has planned and wished for from ever happening. T.J. Clemmings did a workman like job last weekend versus one of the leagues top pass rushers. TJ has to understand, and feed off of, that he's starting to progress exponentially with each and every start. His confidence has to exude this. Our collective group of rookies were young and inexperienced once but every NFL game brings them to a new level of dominance. Fear (Teddy has been forced to deal with 7 Sacks versus Denver, 5 sacks versus the 49ers) and evil are negative energies that have taken a significant chunk out of Teddy. Anyone can see Teddy's proliferation of play has changed due to these outcomes. What we need to focus on is that negative energies cannot compete with, and are consumed by, Positive Forces. Simply stated Positive Energies are always much more powerful than negative energies. To drive this point home, every knows that negative energies must hide within the shadows else they be smote into oblivion. Do the words ... Teddy ... Teddy ... Teddy ... connotate the positive or negative? Just imagine that chant and it's effect in Detroit. In fact, in Denver if our Viking fans had chanted Teddy, over and over again, rather than making noise, the effect would have be devastating to just about any team that had to face it. Too often, we've heard the word "POISE" in reference to Teddy. That word doesn't do Mr. Teddy Bridgewater justice, as what he carries falls well beyond that simple word. He carries a unique positive energy that goes well beyond the norm where at any moment in time it can be cast upon the water with brutal force and efficiency. At some point, every member of the offense is going to become hungry for it, as if your hunger for your next meal has you insatiable for immediate gratification. How this need gets fulfilled comes within an internal focus linked by the person standing next to you. The days of Individualism ... Pro-Bowl-Ism fever ... Fantasy-Stat-Ism ... are over. It is quite clear that "Focal Fantasy (and all the whining that goes with it)" and goals within football ... are divergent. You thought that you were going to fail. You thought you'd be unable to come up with that catch. You thought that there was no way that you would beat that defender. You thought that you were not going to be able to make that down field block that opened up that seam. You thought that you couldn't protect Teddy ... that you were going to mess up. You thought that somehow you were going to fail in some way once again. You thought that you were unable to break through that open field tackle. You thought Adrian Peterson was always going to be unable to have that devastating block splash play that ultimately puts him into the hall of fame. All of it ... All of it ... was negative energy. It is now time to consume all that positive energy that's been around you for some time now. In watching the Cubbie fans last night, it was clear that there was no positive energy in that crowd from their fan base... but it's not too late. Positive Energy is like a light switch ... all you have to do is turn yourself on. In doing so, there is nothing that can stop you. Feel it flow ... Feel its power ... become insatiable for it. The truest statement ever utter to you and everyone around you is that you can do whatever you put your mind into doing. You can accomplish anything. Now make it so. Now look at this franchise and the team assembled before it. What positives can you take from this moment in time. Sure, it has many young pieces but the talent and depth everywhere is simply off the charts ... that is ... if we can dump all the negative energies. Would you rather have Detroit's defense or would you rather have the brilliance of what Mike Zimmer has assembled for us all to drool over? Would you rather have Megatron or would you rather have the break-out running style of Patterson's right countering Peterson's slashing left? Would you rather have the speed demons of Wallace, Johnson, Wright & Diggs? Would you rather have the positive energies of Teddy or would you rather have Stafford? The answer becomes quite clear when you consider these positive energies that are about to explode on stage before our eyes. Sure ... we'll lose a battle hear and there to the negative forces that slash at our veins ... but overall, the positive energy will win the war. Are you worried about Detroit? No, with these guys, I don't fear a thing. Will Adrian Peterson be slated as a first round Hall of Fame inductee. We think of all the great backs that have come before him and one in particular rises to the top ... Sweetness. What separated Walter from all the others was that 1985 season where Jim McMahon was benched, standing next to Ditka whining to be let in the game. The bears were well behind the Vikings playing in the roller dome. McMahon had been in traction all week long and he's begging to get in the game. Ditka relents. Then it happened. McMahon let's go a ball in the deep left to Gault for a touch down where just at the moment of Jim's release, Mr. Walter Peyton delivers the most devastating block to our blitzing line backer that I've ever seen ... ever. It was such an outstanding play by Walter that some could say that it set our franchise back another decade. It was that block ... in my mind ... that secured Walter Peyton into the annals of history. That block separated him from Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders into the stratosphere of never to be forgotten football legends. To me that play puts the immaculate deception to shame. Is Adrian Peterson there yet or is he still harboring? It depends when you catch him as at times his words are measured. Is he biding his time ... collecting big game checks? Not to worry ... as it is his choice, and only his choice. If the positive energy surrounds him he'll be powerless to believe in advise that is counter from his overall destiny. Adrian doesn't need to kill himself ... he doesn't need to sacrifice himself ... all he need to do is lead with unselfishness and believe in the power of his positive energy. He needs to let the power flow in the latter quarters when the negative energy of his foes are ready to succumb. For AD, it will become addictive. Now think of Joe Montana and Rodger Staubach. Do you think what surrounded them was positive energy? Well what does it say when the players around Rodger knew that no matter what, Rodger gave them a chance to win in each and every game. Joe was nothing more than a twig but he was surrounded by a bunch of hungry people that fed off his energies. The Viking Ghost Writer http://MyVikingBlood.org Date: October 21, 2015 
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