Vikings vs. Dolphins: What Are Experts Saying About Minnesota?

The Minnesota Vikings (6-8) and Miami Dolphins (7-7) will go head-to-head on Sunday for the first time in over four years.

Minnesota will be looking to get revenge on a Miami team that defeated it 14-10 during Week 2 of the 2010 NFL season.

This interconference matchup will take place at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, which happens to be the birthplace of Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

In a homecoming game of sorts, both Bridgewater and Rhodes will be tested in different ways by a Dolphins team that features a top-10 defense and a pair of skilled wide receivers. While Bridgewater is reading coverages and making decisions against a Dolphins secondary, headed by cornerback Brent Grimes, Rhodes will be attempting to shut down Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry and Co.

Assuming Bridgewater can play well from start to finish and Rhodes can find a way to contain the explosive Wallace and one of the NFL's top rookie wide receivers in Landry, Minnesota will have a strong chance of taking another step toward finishing with a .500 record.

Let's take a look at what the experts have to say about Bridgewater, Rhodes and the rest of the Vikings this week.

Jeff Saturday, Herm Edwards: Predicting Matchup Winner

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In yet another edition of NFL Live game predictions, former Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday and former Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards delivered their opinions and predictions for Sunday's Vikings-Dolphins matchup.

Host Trey Wingo kicked off the show with a little insight of his own: "Minnesota is at Miami; we're seeing a second straight late-season fade by the Dolphins here." Saturday then jumped in:

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And I don't think it stops. I'm going with Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings. I think this team is getting better each week. I think his performance is getting better. You can see this team beginning to grow in the right direction. I think Miami is going the other way, I think [the Vikings] get the win.

"

Seems to me like Saturday has been pretty impressed with the play of Bridgewater, as this is the second time that he has based his matchup prediction on the play of the rookie Vikings quarterback.

With that said, he also references Miami's recent decline as a reason why the Vikings should be victorious over the Dolphins this weekend.

To be more specific, the Dolphins have lost three of their past four contests, with their lone victory coming over the underwhelming Jets in late-game comeback fashion. Now on a two-game losing streak, which has more or less eliminated Miami from playoff contention, the Dolphins appear to be a very vulnerable team right now.

It is pretty difficult to argue with Saturday's brief analysis here. Bridgewater has been considerably better in recent weeks than he was when he took over at quarterback mid-game against the New Orleans Saints during Week 3. Additionally, the Dolphins have struggled mightily in recent weeks, as third-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill has not looked like the same player he was early on.

Still, Edwards predicted the Dolphins to win this weekend:

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[The Dolphins] might be going the other way, but here's the problem: they are playing at home and that is good for Miami; I like their defense. Teddy Bridgewater struggled last week against a pretty good defense in Detroit. I'm gonna give the nod to Miami.

"

Although the segment is slightly under 40 seconds long and there isn't much time for an expanded pregame analysis, this is a very basic argument by Edwards.

Home-field advantage plays a role in deciding the outcome of games, Miami's defense is "likable" and Bridgewater didn't play well for the entire game against Detroit Lions in Week 15, but these arguments are easily debunked.

First of all, Miami's defense is not nearly on the same level as Detroit's. In addition, Bridgewater actually played pretty well against Detroit early in the game, and it really was only three mistakes (two interceptions and an overthrow) that cost him and the Vikings a win.

More specifically, Bridgewater started the game with 13 completions in 16 attempts for 168 yards and one touchdown, as the Vikings jumped out to an early 14-0 lead.

Assuming Bridgewater can play close to this level against the Dolphins, the Vikings shouldn't have a problem making Saturday's prediction the correct one.

Personally, I am siding with Saturday here. The Vikings will win 23-17.

Master Tesfatsion: Norv Turner High on Teddy Bridgewater

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Saturday isn't the only one who has been impressed with Bridgewater this season; Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner has been more than satisfied with the play of his rookie quarterback.

Master Tesfatsion discussed Turner's praise of Bridgewater in a recent article for the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

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'I’ve seen a bunch of guys really, really have a tough time with [carrying an offense] and a bunch of guys that are good players,' Turner said. 'It’s pretty incredible to me what he’s done, how he’s handled it, the things he’s gotten done, and what he’s really done is made everyone around him better and that’s a quality that you’re looking for.'

"

A quick glance at Bridgewater's game log shows the progression of the former Louisville quarterback this season. Over the past three weeks, Bridgewater has posted a quarterback rating over 100 twice, something he hadn't done once before his Week 13 matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

Additionally, Vikings fans have been (or should be) satisfied with Bridgewater's play and don't even have the benefit of watching him work during practice each week. Turner, on the other hand, has been one of Bridgewater's most important teachers and, as his offensive coordinator, gets to see him play each and every day.

"He knows how to play football and that’s the starting point of the quarterback position," Turner continued, per Tesfatsion's article. "He’s got the intangibles you need and he’s going to continue to get better and better."

Bridgewater entered the 2014 NFL draft under plenty of scrutiny, mostly due to a terrible performance on pro day, during which he didn't look like the player who threw 31 touchdowns and four interceptions during his senior season.

However, Bridgewater received a second chance to sell his skill set during a private workout with Turner.

According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, it was this workout that "sold" the Vikings on Bridgewater.

Maybe now general managers won't place as much of an emphasis on pro day and place more focus on the player's body of work or a team-specific workout performance.

It's always important for coaches to have confidence in their players. Turner has plenty of confidence in his rookie quarterback, and after his recent performances, why shouldn't he?

Brian Hall: Blair Walsh Expresses Confidence

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Vikings fans have come to expect consistency and positive results from their kickers. This is likely because the team has boasted some pretty good kickers over the past decade or so.

Blair Walsh was well on his way to being a part of this list before his recent struggles raised some doubts.

Despite missing five of his past six field-goal attempts—which includes an improbable 68-yard attempt— the Vikings kicker and his coaches remain confident in his ability to get the job done. Brian Hall details this story in a recent article for Fox Sports.

According to Hall's article, Mike Priefer, the Vikings special teams coach, had some kind words to say about his struggling place kicker:

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'He set the bar high anyway,' Minnesota special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said Thursday. 'I really think he's a good kicker. I don't know if he's in a slump right now. Maybe he's not hitting the ball exactly how he wants to. He's still swinging the ball well. They're not ugly misses. But he'll get it figured out, he's a pro. He's a mentally tough kid. He'll keep working and try to get better.'

"

If nothing else, Priefer certainly nailed it with his point on Walsh setting the bar high for himself. In his rookie season alone, Walsh converted 35 field goals in 38 attempts, converting a team-record 10 of 10 attempts from 50-plus yards. It's hard to ask for much more than 100 percent accuracy from deep and an overall conversion mark of 92 percent.

Still, the NFL is a cutthroat industry and, as many of us have come to realize, a "What have you done for me lately?" business. Walsh will need to prove he is the same kicker he was when he was 22 or the Vikings may have to bring in a replacement.

Fortunately, Walsh is only 24-years-old and only two seasons removed from his prolific rookie year, so the expectation should be that he will be able to bounce back. More important than our expectations of him, Walsh's personal opinions of himself and his ability to convert field goals with consistency remain positive:

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I'm still confident. I think you guys know me a little bit by now. I'm pretty confident in general. I know I can hang with any of these guys in the league and I just want to go out there and be dependable for my team right now. That's really what I'm focused on right now.

"

Confidence is key at every position, and as I referenced earlier, it is important—possibly even more important—that the people surrounding a given player express the same confidence. As we have seen with Robert Griffin III, it isn't beneficial for the player if his coach seemingly loathes him and his playing style.

Priefer isn't the only Vikings coach who is satisfied with Walsh's abilities, as his head coach also expects the third-year kicker to rebound soon.

"I honestly do not have a problem with Blair at all. I will continue to, if I feel good about the kick, we will kick it," Mike Zimmer stated, according to Hall's article.

Zimmer is a pretty transparent coach—and person for that matter. Personally, I have come to take everything he says as the truth, and I would assume his players do as well.

All signs point to Walsh improving, at least from the psychological side of this issue. Zimmer will continue to give him opportunities if he believes it's best for the team, which is possibly the best thing a coach can do to help a struggling player—assuming he hasn't gone off the deep edge.

Kevin Seifert: Improved Pass Protection Benefiting Teddy Bridgewater

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While a few individuals on the Vikings offensive line are still struggling to find consistency, the unit as a whole has played much better in recent weeks.

Given that this overall success started to become apparent when Bridgewater began to see noticeable improvement on a weekly basis, the offensive line deserves a pat on the back.

NFL Nation writer Kevin Seifert details how these improvements have affected Bridgewater and touches on some other related points in a short video segment that can be viewed on ESPN.com.

Seifert, similar to Saturday and plenty of other NFL analysts, had high praise for Bridgewater:

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I think it's pretty clear the Vikings have the best rookie quarterback in the NFL in 2014. Teddy Bridgewater's steady ascendance and development during the second half of the season has far outpaced the rest of the guys in the draft.

I think it has been interesting asking around this week, especially listening to Mike Zimmer—the Vikings coach—to get an idea of what their priorities were in this rookie season for Bridgewater.

"

In fairness, aside from Derek Carr, the other rookie quarterbacks have not given Bridgewater much competition.

Sure, some analysts would argue Carr has been the best rookie quarterback—and they certainly have a valid claim—but Bridgewater has considerably more wins, mostly because he is on a far superior team, and he has the better overall quarterback rating—Bridgewater's quarterback rating is 82.7 compared to Carr's 76.9.

Additionally, Bridgewater's basic statistics—11 touchdown passes, 2,451 passing yards and a 63.5 completion percentage—are comparable to Carr's—18 touchdown passes, 2,898 passing yards and a 59.2 completion percentage—despite playing in three fewer games.

Seifert went on to briefly detail the Vikings' plan for their rookie quarterback:

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It sounded like the main thing was to keep him upright. The Vikings did a lot of research into what quarterbacks in previous years had gone through when they had started as rookies and I think they found a pretty clear correlation, no surprise, to quarterbacks who had been sacked and beat up a lot during their rookie season and a low trajectory for their careers that followed.

"

Keeping Bridgewater upright was big problem earlier this season. The Vikings allowed Bridgewater to be sacked an enormous 17 times in two games against the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.

Since that two-game span, however, Bridgewater has been sacked a grand total of 13 times over the past seven games, which obviously shows considerable improvement.

Hat tip to Turner for putting together a better offensive game plan, the team's offensive-line coach, Jeff Davidson, and the rest of the guys in charge of helping out Bridgewater and the offensive line.

Naturally, the Vikings have posted a much better record over the course of these seven games (4-3), compared to the 0-2 mark the team recorded against the Lions and Bills in Week 6 and Week 7.

To add a bit more perspective, the Vikings' protection group held the Lions' defense to 12 quarterback hurries—including three sacks—in Week 15, compared to their Week 6 performance, when they allowed 25 quarterback pressures and 10 sacks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required)—ESPN.com and other conventional statistics-recording websites attribute eight sacks to the Lions defense in the Week 6 and four in the Week 15 contest.

Naturally, the results were far better for Bridgewater in the latter performance, and he posted 315 passing yards and a quarterback rating of 84.9, compared to 188 passing yards and a career-worst quarterback rating of 41.3. Still, the Vikings lost both games—which really is the only statistic that matters—but the improvement is clear.

The Vikings' protection group—running backs and tight ends included—has shown noticeable improvement, especially over the past three weeks, and these statistics prove what the naked eye could already see.

This consistency will have to continue if the Vikings are to defeat the Dolphins this weekend, as Miami's defense has done a solid job pressuring the quarterback this season. The group ranks tied for 14th with the Jets on 34 team sacks this season. 

Assuming this steady improvement continues, Minnesota could field a pretty competitive offense next season, especially with Phil Loadholt and Brandon Fusco back from injury, roster additions—or subtractions—and an offseason's worth of practice.

Matt Vensel: Vikings Defense Among NFL’s Most Improved

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Honestly, it doesn't take an article full of statistics and quotations to know the Minnesota defense has improved considerably, but it is fun to bask in your team's glory every now and then.

Matt Vensel gives you a chance to do just that, detailing the Vikings' defensive improvements this season in a recent article for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

According to Vensel's article, no other NFL team has improved its ranking in total defense from 2013 to 2014 more than the Vikings. Specifically, the Vikings defense ranks 11th in total defense this season, compared to last year's 31st ranking under former head coach Leslie Frazier, who is currently the defensive coordinator of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that ranks 25th.

Take a moment to let that all settle in.

It certainly appears that Zimmer has once again done what he has done so often before: fix defenses and fix them quickly. For a bit of perspective here, Zimmer took control of a previously 27th-ranked Cincinnati Bengals defense in 2008 and, in just one season, revamped it into a 12th-ranked unit.

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'It always comes back to one attitude I like about this team,' defensive end Brian Robison said. 'No matter what our ranking is, we’re not satisfied and we want to be better. So for these next two games, we’re going to make a push to keep climbing the rankings and hopefully have something good to build off in the offseason.'

"

This isn't exactly a dig on Frazier, but really, it's a dig on Frazier. Robison is right—this team has a completely different attitude to the 2013 edition of the Vikings defense. The level of enthusiasm and passion they play with is noticeably higher, despite the team no longer playing meaningful games.

Zimmer has brought some life to this defense in a way Frazier never could have. It is easy to see how his fiery personality—see the "Hard Knocks" 2009 edition—may not only be inspiring but actually scare a few guys into working their tails off for him.

He conducts himself in a manner that one would use to define a defensive-minded football coach to an alien or someone that has never heard of American football before.

As expected, Zimmer showed the personality we have come to love in a quote Vensel references in his article:

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There’s still a lot of football to be played, the first-year coach said. I had a defense in Dallas one time that was really good, I think we were fifth in the league at one time. And the last four games we didn’t play worth a lick, and we ended up 13th in the league, so I’d just as soon wait until we finish up.

"

Typical Zimmer stating nothing is ever good enough—the ideal personality for a head coach and a great point of view to install in a football team.

For the record, 13th overall isn't exactly a poor ranking. It's slightly above average, but then again, Zimmer has shown he isn't a big fan of average or being average in pretty much all of his press conferences this season.

Minnesota has two games left on its schedule—this Sunday against Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins and next week against Jimmy Clausen and the Chicago Bears, so the team's defense should have a pretty good chance to finish the season with a top-10 total defense ranking.

However, Anthony Barr—one of the biggest reasons for the team's defensive turnaround outside of Zimmer—will not be on the field. He will undergo "minor surgery" and miss the team's remaining two games.

Regardless, with only a few exceptions, the Vikings have been defensively awesome all season long. The team should send, at the very least, two defensive players to the Pro Bowl—Harrison Smith and Everson Griffen. Additionally, Xavier Rhodes has been remarkable this season and is certainly deserving of a trip to Hawaii, while a case could be made for Sharrif Floyd and even Robert Blanton as well.

With Zimmer around, the defense should only improve next season. It sure seems like the Vikings not only have reason to be optimistic about Bridgewater and their offense but—probably more so—Zimmer and their defense as well.