Monday Night Football: Vikings v. 49ers

Teddy Bridgewater will lead the Minnesota Vikings into San Francisco tonight, and more than a few Texans fans might find themselves pondering what he might have looked like under center at NRG Stadium yesterday if Houston would have moved up just one spot in the 2014 NFL Draft instead of taking left guard Xavier Su'a-Filo with the first pick in the second round.  Notwithstanding the latest absence due to injury, Su'a-Filo is a player who still has much to prove that he was worthy of such a lofty pick.  This narrative likely won't go away anytime soon with the Texans struggling and losing games due to poor performance at the quarterback position now going into three consecutive seasons.

But I digress...

VIKINGS PREVIEW

Mike Zimmer will be in the discussion for Coach of the Year if Minnesota carries forward the success from last December.

From NFL.com:

As a rookie, Teddy Bridgewater was one of December's premier quarterbacks with Matt Asiata,Charles Johnson, Jarius Wright and Chase Ford -- not the big-name foursome of Adrian Peterson,Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph that he was expected to have at his disposal.

Now Bridgewater is entering the season with a full arsenal. Jennings has been replaced by deep threat Mike Wallace, while Patterson has been displaced by the emerging Johnson. The key, though, is the return of Peterson, the most dynamic running back of his generation. As defenses stuff the box in a vain attempt to keep Peterson under wraps, Bridgewater will be passing through bigger windows this year.

49ERS PREVIEW

Colin Kaepernick and company will host the Vikings with a new head coach after Jim Harbaugh departed to take over the program at Michigan.  He wasn't the only loss from last season, as NFL.com reports:

The Niners have been dismantled, putting plenty of pressure on new coach Jim Tomsula to keep the ship afloat. That won't be easy with so many big names -- Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, Chris Borland, Aldon Smith, Chris Culliver, Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis and Michael Crabtree -- out the door.

Grab your favorite beverage, and pull up a chair as this game is about to start.  Wait, that is unless you have to get up early tomorrow, in which case you may want to just prop that pillow so you can see the TV while in bed.  As you drift off to sleep, perhaps Bridgewater will show you what could have been something of a dream in an alternate universe, instead of the nightmare us Texans fans face instead.

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