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Whitworth

The game’s marquee matchup in a marquee matchup. The Table likes what Whitworth brings to his scrum against the NFL’s second-leading sacker and while they disagree on whether the Bengals have to help Whitworth with a back or tight end, they think he can hold up on Allen because he’s not so much an edge speed rusher that has given Whitworth problems in the past. The Bengals coaches think Whitworth is having a big-time season and have him down for only missing one sack.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think Allen is a good player,” Big Bird says. “But 7.5 of his 12.5 sacks came against Green Bay in two games. That’s a beat-up group that didn’t have healthy tackles when they played.”

The Sage thinks the Bengals will have to help Whitworth and gives Allen an edge because he’s in the dome but, “Whit is having a good year and Jared isn’t really a speed guy, so that’s good for Whit. Whit is powerful and I would think you’re going to see them run at Allen to try and stop him from running up the field. Maybe some draws and screens.”

Williams

“Cedric (Benson) isn’t going to be able to run up the middle on these guys,” The Sage says. “These are two of the best. Pat is huge and Kevin can really run around." The Bird says although he’s seen Cook “get thrown around a few times,” he also says he has to tip his hat to Cook because every time he looks up, it seems the Bengals have rushed for 100 yards. Cook’s own scouting report is that the Williamses are huge and don’t make many mistakes and rarely roam from their gaps. The Vikes haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 straight games and the Williamses are reason 1 and 1A.

Caldwell

The Vikings play a pretty conservative Cover 2 defense, The Eye says. They don’t have to blitz that much because their front seven is so good. They’ll get the occasional backer blitz from, say, a Chad Greenway, but mainly they drop the safeties, who play like cornerbacks. But the Vikes start a rookie at strong safety because of injury and Williams, the former Bengal, struggled in coverage last week even though that is considered his strong suit.

“They’ve got to get something from a receiver other than Chad,” The Bird says of Ochocinco. “The middle is going to be open underneath and Caldwell is going to have to get open. Inconsistent is a good word. He didn’t have a catch last week. I don’t think Madieu is a great cover player and Caldwell has to make some hay.”

The Sage thinks the Bengals can run at Williams, or, at the very least, outmuscle him with the ball in the air. That’s what the Cardinals did last week, but he doesn’t see the Bengals receivers being that physical.

“Arizona had success putting multiple guys out in the routes, but the Bengals haven’t been doing that. It takes too long and it’s not their style,” The Sage says. “That’s why you can’t say that the Bengals can use the blueprint the Cardinals used to beat the Vikings because the Bengals don’t pass like the Cardinals anymore. I do think you can get some yards after catch. Madieu isn’t really a hitter. He goes low on guys. He dives. (Are you listening Brian Leonard?) When they blitz the linebacker, the safeties come down to cover the quick stuff.”

Crocker

“(Favre) has never looked better,” The Eye says. “It’s unbelievable how fast he throws the ball. He’s got a cannon. And he can put it into a tight spot. Of course, that also means he gives you a chance for interceptions. But he hasn’t thrown many of those this year.”

The Sage says the safeties must play with discipline: “He’ll pump-fake one way to a cornerback, get a safety out of the way, and go back to the tight end the other way. He’ll go to the hard count and make you show blitz. If you get caught in a disguise, you’ve got to play it through. If you were going to cover a guy, you better cover the guy. You can’t try and do too much against him. Everybody has to play honest.”

The Bengals DBs are being schooled on the notion that Favre throws the ball with such velocity that at times his ball gets on his receivers hands so quickly that it results in tips and potential picks.

Jones

The Bengals franchise streak of eight straight games without allowing a club 100 yards rushing is quivering on the line with Peterson’s 92-yard per game average. The Bengals have allowed only one 100-yard rusher all season and that was back on Oct. 4 in Cleveland against Jerome Harrison. They have also allowed the fewest runs of 20 yards or more with just four. But they have yet to face a guy that Crocker calls the best running back in the league because he’s the best at combining power and speed.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any question that they’re going to feed it to Peterson and try to become more balanced,” Big Bird says. “I’m sure he’s not happy he only carried 13 times last week (for 19 yards), so you know exactly what they’re going to do. The Bengals have to make Favre one-dimensional. If they get him to throw it 40 times, the Bengals win. But they only have to stop Peterson, the best football player in the world.”

Maualuga

If the Bengals offense has to step up its red-zone performance, the Bengals defense has to maintain against a Vikings offense that is fourth in the NFL in touchdown percentage inside the 20. The Bengals have allowed just 120 points in the red zone, second best in the league. And the man they have to stop is Shiancoe, who is Favre’s most prolific scoring target in tight with nine touchdowns.

Maualuga is used mainly on first and second down and comes out on third down, but Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer says Maualuga has done a good job covering the pass and he’ll get tested by a guy who has a knack at finding seams.

“This is the kind of guy the Bengals don’t have: A big target that goes across the middle and underneath,” Bird says. “Rey gets the edge on Shiancoe in the run game because he’s not a great blocker, but it will be a huge test for Rey in the pass game. They can’t let Favre score touchdowns in the red zone because they will get in there. You can’t stop that, but you have to make them kick field goals.”

Trent

Harvin didn’t practice at all this week because of his continuing problem with headaches. But they can’t be any more than the migraines he’s given the Bengals coaches this week as they’ve watched his antics in the slot put stress on a defense that also has to account for receivers Sidney Rice and Bernard Berrian on the outside.

In this Draft Day Weekend battle of the first-rounder Harvin and the sixth-rounder Trent, The Table gives Harvin the edge because of his blinding speed. He’s got six touchdowns and averages 14.2 yards per catch and Trent will need some help. Trent missed some time with a knee problem this week in practice but he was full go Friday.

Trent is part of a pass package that leads the NFL on preventing first downs in third down situations and the Bengals defense will have to be good because the Vikings are third in the league in succeeding on third down and Harvin is tied for fourth in the NFL with 23 third-down catches at 13.6 yards per shot.

Joseph

Favre had Robert Brooks and Sterling Sharpe and Antonio Freeman and Donald Driver in Green Bay, but he may have never had a guy like Rice at 6-4, 202. Think a combination of Andre and Calvin Johnson and if that doesn’t make you pause, his numbers will at 16.4 yards per catch while already racking up 1,036 yards.

“Rice can go up and get it,” The Eye says. “And there are about four, five times a game that Favre is just going to throw it up there to him. Take his shot. And it’s either a completion or inteference."

Remember when the Bengals came out of the Texans game on Oct. 18 six games ago leading the league in passes of 20-plus yards allowed with 25? They’ve allowed just eight since and are tied for 13th fewest in the NFL, but this is their biggest deep threat since Ravens QB Joe Flacco/Derrick Mason-Mark Clayton a month ago.

Sims

The Bengals won’t have who many think may be their most dominant run defender in tackle Domata Peko (knee) and the Sage says they’ll have to get more production out of Johnson, who has picked up his game of late.

“Sims has been pretty solid,” The Sage says “He’s been getting a lot of snaps and he’s a big guy, but they should be OK because they’ve got (Frostee) Rucker and (Jon) Fanene going inside on passing downs, so the run tackles are theoretically only playing a couple of downs a series. The Vikings run a similar deal to the Bengals with zone stuff, so the key is going to be the tackles penetrating against the guards.”

They Bengals signed another run tackle in Shaun Smith on Wednesday, but since he’s been on the street for all but two weeks, don’t look for him to be active against the Vikes. But The Sage thinks it’s a good move.

“He can help them if he’s got his head on straight and it sounds like he does,” The Sage says. “He played well when he was there. He was productive when he played. I thought they were going to pick him up when he got cut before the season started.”

Hebert

The Bengals special teams captain didn’t practice much this week because of a knee problem, but he sounded ready in preparing for Harvin, a big-time threat with two return TDs this year.

“He’s like nobody we faced all year,” Hebert said. “He’s bigger than you think and he runs like it. He runs like a running back. You can’t bring him down with just a shot, you have to tackle him. He’s not as big as Josh Cribbs, but he’s the closest guy to Cribbs we’ve seen.”

With a crew that is half rookies and first-time players, the Bengals are 14th in the league covering kicks.