The New England Patriots will face one of their toughest tests of the season Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Minnesota Vikings to Gillette Stadium.
Save for the Chicago Bears, the Vikings arguably feature the strongest defense the Patriots will see in the regular season. But despite Minnesota’s defensive prowess, Tedy Bruschi still believes his former team will come out victorious in Week 13.
“I’m going to take the Patriots in this one,” Bruschi said during Friday’s edition of “NFL Live” on ESPN. “The Vikings have a great defense, there’s no doubt about that. The players that they have, the pass rush that they have. I just think that the short and intermediate throws, the completions to (Julian) Edelman, to (James) White, those type of throws are what Tom Brady is going to lean on heavily. So I’m going to take the Patriots.”
The Vikings aren’t nearly as strong against the pass as they are against the run, so Bruschi’s logic is fairly sound. The former linebacker also believes a healthy Rob Gronkowski will pay dividends, as Brady now has his full arsenal of weapons including Rex Burkhead, who recently was activated off injured reserve.
Not all NFL analysts are rolling with the Patriots this Sunday, however. Bruschi’s co-panelist, former head coach John Fox, believes the Vikings’ desire to stay in the NFC North title hunt will lift them to a road win, while Ray Lewis also is picking Minnesota.
