Minnesota Vikings (6-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
The Minnesota-Pittsburgh matchup is easily the game of the weekend in the NFL and could very well be a Super Bowl preview.
The Steelers are 6-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Minnesota is trying to go 7-0 for the first time since 2000, when it advanced to the NFC title game. And the Vikes have Brett Favre to thank for it. He is off to one of the best starts of his Hall of Fame career and is going for his fourth straight game with a 100-plus passer rating. Favre has a passer rating of 109.5, third best in the league. In no previous season did he finish as high as 100. But Pittsburgh, now that Troy Polamalu is back, seems back to normal on defense, and it ranks third overall in the NFL on that side of the ball.
Favre may have to throw plenty on Sunday because Pittsburgh is No. 2 in the league in rushing defense, allowing 73 yards per game. It hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 26 regular-season games. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson leads NFL in rushing (624 yards) and averaged 161.5 yards in first two games against AFC North foes Cleveland and Baltimore.
Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is 9-1 against NFC teams at home in his career, has an NFL-best 26 completions of 20 yards or more. Hines Ward has caught 10 of them and leads NFL receivers with 599 yards in six games and averages 125 yards at home. The Vikings have allowed 15 passes of 25 yards or longer this season and have the No. 23 pass defense in the league.
Rashard Mendenhall has taken over for Willie Parker as Pittsburgh’s starting running back after rushing for 304 yards and four touchdowns in his last three games. The only other Steeler with a rushing TD in 2009 is Roethlisberger.
Turnovers likely will decide this game. The Steelers already have 12 turnovers, while Minnesota has scored six touchdowns off of opponents’ turnovers in 2009 — most of any team in football.
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