Patriots hope to get in win column against tough Vikings defense

New England Patriots (-3, 49 o/u) at Minnesota Vikings

Going into the NFL season, most folks – literally everyone – had the New England Patriots inked in to winning the AFC East with ease. It turns out Bill Belichick is going to have to do one heck of a job coaching this year after the team lost last weekend in Miami.

Said Belichick “We just didn’t do well enough offensively. We were in a lot of long yardage situations. We had a lot of penalties. We didn’t perform well enough to move the ball consistently.”

As far as his take, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady isn’t going to dwell on the loss. He said, “You can’t go out there and play the way we played today and think you will win a game this season. There is nothing positive to really take from the things that we were doing. It was a good example of if you do the things that we did today, you will get beat. We played a good football team at home. I would say we had a decent first half, but you have to put 60 minutes together if you are going to beat them.”

This weekend the Patriots find themselves traveling to Minnesota to face a team that last Sunday dismantled the St. Louis Rams with its tough defense.

Vikings defensive end Brian Robison said the team’s new head coach Mike Zimmer sets the tone. He said, “He’s very proud of the way we work, and he lets us know that every single day. When a coach tells you he likes the way you do things on the field, it gives you a little boost in morale.”

This Sunday’s game is tricky for the Patriots, who are looking to get into the win column against what appears to be a tough and physical defense. The X factor – as always – will be running back Adrian Peterson, but from a betting standpoint the over could be in play .