Raiders vs. Vikings: Ground and Pound Will Be Tough Going in This One

The Vikings are not going to make it easy on the Raiders this week. Oakland loves to establish the run and pass off of that. And establishing the run may not be easy this week.

The Vikings are 6th in rushing yards allowed per game, and 5th in yards allowed per rush with an impressive 3.7 yards per carry.

They do this with a front seven that is made to stop the run. Everyone knows about Jared Allen's pass rush skills, but the dude is awesome against the run too. The interior of the D-line is held down by Kevin Williams.

Their LBs are solid against the run as well. Erin Henderson has been fantastic on the edge all season.

The Vikings have used this strong front seven to lead the league in runs stuffed. However, and this doesn't make much sense, they have not been all the great when it matters most. Teams are getting first down 71 percent of the time when they rush with two or fewer yards on third or fourth down. That ranks them 23rd.

The Raiders are 15th on offense in these power running scenarios. This will be key in this game. The Raiders cannot let the Vikings continually stuff them when they need to get tough yards on the ground.