First rematch of the season

The 17th of may has come and gone, and the Vikings move on to yet another matchup against the Carlstad Crusaders. The Crusaders are coming off a loss against their long time rivals the Örebro Black Knights while the Vikings are staring at a 1-3 record. Which team will be able to bounce back as the second half of the season begins?

What to watch for

The Vikings offense disappointed in their last game, putting up no points and was unable to move the ball consistently. In the rematch against the Crusaders, this offense needs to start putting up points to be able keep this game close. Hopefully a bye week has given the Vikings enough time to fine tune blocking schemes and route running to dice up a good Crusaders defense.

On the defensive side of the ball the Vikings have been playing fairly well this year, managing to keep games closer than the end result may suggest for much of any given game. The second half in the first matchup against the Crusaders stands out, keeping them to only 7 points to the half. While the offense is struggling, the defense might just need to pick up more of the slack to keep the Vikings season alive.

Players to watch

The big boys up front will be an integral part of this game. Led by center Trygve Langballe, this is a unit that has to play well for the Vikings offense to perform. Langballe, along with tackles Thomas Holt Sundby and Jakub Zamoyski, are the key to success for this offense. While you obviously can’t blame the offensive line for the Vikings offensive struggles, great OL play often result in at least decent offensive production. It all starts up front, and if these guys can dominate the trenches the Vikings might be able to get their revenge.

We are not completely done with the trenches yet. For the football historians out there, the tight end actually used to block. Before the likes of Travis Kelce there was the blocking tight end, a player that was mostly used as an extra blocker and occasionally a pass catcher as an outlet for the quarterback. The Vikings actually have a player listed as a tight end on the roster in young gun Kristoffer Solli Steffensen. Along with the offensive line, Steffensen will be tasked with opening up running lanes. He will also be used in the passing game as sort of an extension of the running game as the pass part of a “run/pass option”.  Will this be Steffensens breakout performance in just his fifth ever game in the Superseries?

But enough about the offense, what about defense? A guy that has been making waves in practice is first year Viking Ole Martin Svae. Listed as a linebacker this stud has seen the field both as a linebacker and as a defensive end. Svae has earned more and more playing time, and might be part of the improved play of the Vikings defense. Like I mentioned before, the defense might have to play even better than before to help out a struggling offense, and Svae is part of a front seven that has to be able to contain the Crusaders offense.

The Vikings are set to travel to Carlstad for a 13.00 kickoff. Follow and cheer on the Vikings through Swe3play’s stream as the Vikings fight to keep their season alive.