2016 NFC Championship Game Preview
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings
2016 Recap
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Record: 12-4 (Won NFC South)
Playoffs: 1st Round, BYE; 2nd Round, def. PHI 27-6
Regular Season Leaders
Passing: Mike Glennon 92.8 rtg 221-339 65% comp 2,823 yds 23 td 17 int
Rushing: Doug Martin 296 att 1,484 yards 5.0 avg 12 td
Receiving: Mike Evans 58 rec 862 yds 14.9 avg 4 td
Defense - Tackles: Mason Foster 79,
Sacks: George Selvie 10,
INT: Jatlen Cooper 8
Minnesota Vikings
Record: 15-1 (Won NFC North)
Playoffs: 1st Round, BYE; 2nd Round, def. NO 27-3
Regular Season Leaders
Passing: Teddy Bridgewater 95.2 rtg 226-324 69% comp 2,724 yds 20 td 16 int
Rushing: Carlos Hyde 272 att 1,196 yds 4.4 avg 14 td
Receiving: Cordarrelle Patterson 59 rec 868 yds 14.7 avg 6 td
Defense - Tackles: Anthony Barr 65,
Sacks: 3 Tied With 8,
INT: Two Tied With 5
OFFENSE
The Tampa Bay and Minnesota offenses mirror each other in many ways. Both offenses look to establish the running game, have young quarterbacks whohave three wide receivers and a tight end with which they feel comfortable throwing the ball. The biggest difference would be that Tampa Bay will take shots down field with a little more frequency than the Vikings. Bucs' QB Mike Glennon has one of the most powerful arms in the game. Glennon will use that toair the ball out and can also be very effective on deep out routes and comebacks. Minnesota's Teddy Bridgewater, meanwhile, doesn't have quite the arm action as his counterpart, so the Vikings try to feature a lot of mid range passes as evidenced by Bridgewater's remarkable 69% completion percentage. The area where Minnesota has a huge edge though is on the offensive line. All five of the Vikings starting offensive linemen made the Pro Bowl and they led the way for the league's 2nd best rushing attack. Even though Tampa Bay's Doug Martin won the league's rushing title, he has to rely on talent to generate a lot of those yards. The Viking's Carlos Hyde and backup Brody Love can usually just put their nose into the back of one of their lineman and push forward for three or four yards. That's a huge plus when trying to play ball control as the vikings so frequently do. The Vikings' line is also better in pass protection, allowing just 17 sacks all season compared with Tampa Bay's 36.That means that the Bucs are going to have to find a way to contain the running game and pressure Bridgewater or else they will be facing a lot of 10 and 12 plays drives which will favor the Vikings as the game progresses.
EDGE: Vikings
DEFENSE
Once again, each team is very similar in the way that they approach their defense and the way they use their players. The Vikings, however, were a little bit better as evidenced by their leading the league in total defense by nearly 500 yards over the 2nd ranked Bills. The Vikings also led the league in points allowed at just 10 points per game, more than three points per game better than the #2 49ers. The Bucs weren't far behind, ranking 8th, but allowed more than six points per game more than Minnesota. Although the Vikings don't have a bonafide superstar on their defense (and zero Pro Bowlers), they feature 11 guys (12 including their nickle back), who have Pro Bowl talent. There is just not a weakness that you can single out and attack and that makes them very difficult to prepare for. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has a few playmakers surrounded by solid role players. The biggest playmaker on their defense is strong saftey Jaylen Cooper. The rookie, who played at nearby at Florida in college, lead the team with eight interceptions. He is paired in the back end with free safety Dashon Goldson (6 INT) to form one of the most dangerous safety tandems in the league. The Bucs also have a very good middle linebacker in Mason Foster (team leading 79 tackles) along with Lavonte David and Zach Brown. That makes the Bucs hard to run against or pass against down the middle. If there was a weak spot for the Vikings it would be their linebackers. While the trio of Anthony Barr, Brian Coker and Jelani Jenkins are solid, they leave their safeties to make far too many tackles and can be beaten in the pass game. All thing considered, though, the Vikings were one of the league's best defenses historically and that cannot be overlooked in the biggest game of the year to this point.
EDGE: Vikings
SPECIAL TEAMS
The kicking game certainly favors the Vikings as they possess one of the league's most accurate kickers in Blair Walsh (21-22 FGs) and one of the league's best punters in Jeff Locke (43.8 AVG). However, the return game is certainly won by Tampa Bay. The Bucs' Dosha Swain ranked 9th in the league with a 25.5 kick return average including one that he took 108 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings primary kick returner, Timario Stallworth, averaged only 20,9 per kick return which was better than star receiver Cordarrelle Patterson's 20.5 early in the season. Swain has the ability to swing a game following a score and that can be a huge asset in a game of this magnitude.
EDGE: Buccaneers