-- One must applaud the Vikings for making progress as quickly as they have under Brad Childress, especially as the style of play has changed so much. They're emphasizing the run, exploiting the left side of that offensive line, doing a good job of taking care of the ball, and playing good defense. The flip side of that, of course, is that this is an offense that is not going to explode against many opponents, not with the dinking and dunking of Brad Johnson. And in their last two outings the Vikings have benefited from stupid Detroit turnovers in a game they were trailing 17-3 going into the 4th quarter, then by the injury to Matt Hasselback (Seattle QB) in what was, until then, a tie game in which the Seahawks were already without last year's MVP (Shaun Alexander). In other words, the ball has bounced fortuitously in their direction in more ways than one. Minnesota still has a couple of giant steps to take before they graduate to New England's level. The Pats have demonstrated their ability to win games on the road, capturing eight of their last ten regular season tilts straight-up. Tom Brady holds a distinct advantage over counterpart Johnson, and has gotten the most out of his group of receivers, particularly Doug Gabriel and Reche Caldwell. His team can play ball-control, with combo of Corey Dillon and rookie Lawrence Maroney (former Golden Gopher). Bill Belichick's defense had handled offenses like Minnesota's. Can't see any surprises for him here.
JAY'S PLAY: NEW ENGLAND ***
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