Vikings vs. Cardinals: What's the Game Plan for Minnesota?

Resilience has been a common theme for the Minnesota Vikings throughout the duration of the 2015 season.

"We’re a pretty resilient football team," Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said following a Week 9 win over the St. Louis Rams. "I think even last week and as it continues on, I think they believe in each other. I think we played very good complimentary football.

"It’s not always pretty all of the time, but it’s awful pretty when you get the W."

Coming off an emphatic loss to the Seattle Seahawks this past weekend at TCF Bank Stadium, the Vikings will put their resiliency to the ultimate test against the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football.

Arizona will force the injury-ravaged Vikings to overcome insurmountable odds to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, Minnesota will be without four defensive starters in Linval Joseph, Anthony Barr, Harrison Smith and Andrew Sendejo on the road against arguably the most well-rounded team the NFC has to offer:

"

#Vikings ruled out four defensive starters -- Linval Joseph, Anthony Barr, Harrison Smith and Andrew Sendejo -- against #AZCardinals. Oof.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 9, 2015"

In addition, Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner were required to cram a week's worth of preparation for an elite opponent into just three days while also accounting for these injuries.

From Arizona's overall level of talent to a laundry list of injuries to players of critical importance, all signs point to Minnesota kicking off Week 14 with another blowout loss.

The Vikings have proved their resiliency time and time again this season, but it will take a lot more than physical toughness and mental fortitude for them to leave University of Phoenix Stadium with a victory.

Offensive Game Plan

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Minnesota has produced a number of discouraging losses over the course of contemporary history, but this past Sunday's disaster performance against Seattle may represent the pinnacle of these failures.

The Vikings finished with an abysmal 125 total yards on offense, the lowest output since 2006 when a Tarvaris Jackson-led offense finished with just 104 yards in a 9-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota also lost by a 31-point margin, which is the largest deficit since losing to the Packers 42-10 during Christian Ponder's spot start at Lambeau Field last year.

For as dreadful as these numbers are separately, they are even worse in combination. The most recent occurrence of a Vikings team producing an offensive total of 125 yards or less in a loss by a margin of 31 points or more was the 41-0 loss to the New York Giants during the 2000 postseason—nearly 15 years ago.

Simply, Minnesota's offensive game plan against Arizona involves doing the exact opposite of what it did against Seattle. This statement does reflect a hint of sarcasm, but there is actually plenty of truth embedded within it.

For starters, Adrian Peterson received eight carries and four targets for a grand total of 12 touches (he caught all four pass attempts) against the Seahawks. Against the Cardinals this week, Peterson should touch the ball an absolute minimum of 25 times.

Quarterback Carson Palmer has led the Cardinals to the No. 1-ranked scoring offense (31.8 points per game) and the No. 1-ranked offense in terms of both total yardage (5,034) and average yards per game (419.5).

In addition, Football Outsiders' offensive efficiency ratings rank Arizona No. 4 in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average; 16.8 percent), No. 5 in weighted offense (15.2 percent) and No. 2 in passing offense (49.1 percent).

These rankings are also reflected by Pro Football Focus' grading system, as the Cardinals have earned their No. 1 overall offensive grade (86.9) through 12 games.

Head coach Bruce Arians has constructed an elite offense by essentially all accounts, but there is not anything in his offensive playbook designed to find the end zone from the sidelines. The turnover factory that is Arizona's defense has eased this concern, but time of possession remains the ultimate defensive tool if harnessed efficiently.

Peterson, who has averaged 4.9 yards per attempt throughout his career, possesses the necessary skill set to help Minnesota use the clock as a weapon. While the Cardinals' run defense ranks No. 4 in yards per game allowed (89.0)—which is inflated due to opposing teams needing to throw more frequently to keep pace—the same unit comes in at No. 16 in yards per attempt allowed (4.0).

Above all, the Vikings cannot afford to become one-dimensional against arguably the best defensive secondary in the NFL. Rashad Johnson (5), Tyrann Mathieu (4), Patrick Peterson (2), Tony Jefferson (2), Justin Bethel (1) and Jerraud Powers (1) have combined for 15 interceptions, and allowing this unit to hunt a struggling Teddy Bridgewater without an obligation to defend the run represents the worst-case scenario.

This strategy requires masterful play-calling, pinpoint execution and a fast offensive start to work effectively. It is by no means a flawless plan of attack, but maximizing the usage of its best player and keeping an iPad in the hand of Arizona's most dangerous weapon may be the only chance Minnesota has to win this mismatch.

Defensive Game Plan

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The Vikings' offensive game plan naturally carries over to their defensive game plan. Controlling the clock with long, time-consuming drives consistently throughout the game allows the Cardinals less opportunities to take advantage of the abundance of replacement-level players spread across Minnesota's defense.

But, Palmer and Co. will still see the field at some point—even if the Vikings are able to dominate the time-of-possession battle.

With Joseph out, Sharrif Floyd will once again slide over to the left side while Tom Johnson replaces him on the right. Floyd and Johnson combine to form a solid starting interior duo, but the hulking nose tackle's absence will be felt even if Floyd matches his typical production.

The combination of Floyd and Johnson will not be on the field for every snap, as the defensive tackle position typically requires a rotation to some degree. Being without Joseph will force a larger workload for Kenrick Ellis again, and the Vikings will likely move Brian Robison inside on occasion to eat up snaps.

This is a weakness that may only be combatted through efficiency—both on offense and defense—as stamina has a way of claiming even the greatest interior defensive linemen.

Replacing Barr along the middle level of the defense will be next to impossible, as few athletes on the planet possess his combination of size, strength, speed and athleticism.

Against Seattle, Eric Kendricks (2), Chad Greenway (1) and Barr's replacement, Jason Trusnik (0), recorded a grand total of three pass-rushing snaps, per Pro Football Focus. This defensive tendency will not change, as the double A-gap look lacks the intimidation factor that Barr brings to the table.

It is unknown whether undrafted rookie Anthony Harris or Shaun Prater will start in place of Sendejo, but either option represents a weakness for Palmer to exploit. Regardless of overall talent, Harris and Prater (five snaps in 2014) both lack significant experience playing in Zimmer's defense. This will keep coverage calls vanilla and essentially eliminate the possibility of a safety blitz.

As a result, Minnesota may be best served running a simple Cover 2 nickel defense, with Xavier Rhodes, Terence Newman and Captain Munnerlyn in man coverage and the pairing of safeties in zone coverage on the back end.

The presence of Larry Fitzgerald throws a bit of a wrench into this plan, however. According to Pro Football Focus, Arizona's No. 1 wide receiver has lined up in the slot for 255 of his 431 routes (59.2 percent) this season—the role that Munnerlyn typically maintains for the Vikings. This could present a significant issue, given the six-inch difference in height between Fitzgerald (6'3") and Munnerlyn (5'9").

Minnesota's defense will not look like itself against Arizona, as Zimmer does not have access to personnel capable of efficiently running his exotic blitzes and coverages.

Zimmer has put together a number of noteworthy defensive performances throughout his long career, but stopping the top-ranked Cardinals offense with three of the most integral members of his defense on the shelf would likely be his best trick to date.

Prediction

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press/Associated Press

Facing the Cardinals at TCF Bank Stadium with a completely healthy roster and full week of preparation would still have represented a difficult test for the Vikings.

Minnesota, having been stripped of its greatest defensive playmakers and forced to spend three hours of its halved preparation period studying on a plane to Arizona, was hardly dealt a fair shot at winning this week.

The Vikings offense, which recently reached a 15-year low, has been borderline one-dimensional in recent weeks, and their defense does not possess enough healthy playmakers to slow down Arizona's high-powered aerial attack. 

Given these significant advantages on both sides of the ball, all the Cardinals have to do is not turn the ball over a significant number of times and cruise to an uncontested victory.

Unless Bridgewater breaks out of his sophomore slump to the tune of a 300-yard, three-touchdown performance or Adrian Peterson reaches the 300-yard rushing mark for the first time in NFL history, the Vikings are almost certainly going to return to TCF Bank Stadium with an 8-5 record for a critical divisional matchup with the Chicago Bears.

With all of this said, there is a reason why the opinions of writers do not determine the outcome of games. Anything can happen when the lights come on in Arizona.

Final Score: Cardinals 31, Vikings 10

Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted.

For more Vikings news and discussion, find me on Twitter @RobertReidellBT.