Who Needs A Win In The NFL: Week 10 - Brendan Darr's Blog

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Brendan Darr's Blog

Who Needs A Win In The NFL: Week 10 Stuck

Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:54 AM.

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Matt - The Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings were one of the best surprises in the early part of the season.

At 4-1, the Vikings seemed to be contenders for an already competitive NFC North division. Adrian Peterson had bounced back to what seemed like full strength and second year quarterback Christian Ponder was making the improvements necessary in order to win.

However in the last few weeks, the Vikings have struggled. Ponder has regressed and they are now 5-4 heading into a crucial game for the Detroit Lions.

In contrast, the Lions finally seem to be hitting their stride. The Lions started off slow, only winning one of their first four games. Since then, their lone loss has been to a 7-1 Chicago Bears team.

The loser will be sitting at the bottom of the NFC North division and while the top two teams will most likely earn playoff spots, the Vikings will need a win if they want the second wildcard spot.

A loss in this rematch would kill any momentum built from early on in the season and lose position in the best division in Football.

Brendan - Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are favored against the Titans, but can't afford a slip-up if they want to stay in the Wild Card hunt. With a win, the Dolphins can try and keep pace with the Steelers for that second Wild Card berth, and stay just a game back of the Patriots in the AFC East.

After getting knocked out of the game two weeks ago, Ryan Tannehill returned last week and had his best yardage outing in a month. Against the Titans, I would expect the Dolphins to focus on running the ball more with the Titans porous run defense. Now who is carrying that ball is anyone's guess after last week.

I think Reggie Bush is the more dynamic of the two candidates, but Daniel Thomas is sticking around and stealing carries. That said, when Tannehill does pass, he should be able to take advantage of a weak Titans secondary.

The Dolphins can't afford to lose to an inferior team at home. A loss would dampen any playoff hopes, especially after a disappointing loss last week to the Colts.