3. Sylvester Williams

The departure of fan and team favorite, Terrence “Pot Roast” Knighton in the offseason clearly set Williams in a “sink or swim” situation in 2015 and thus far he has stepped up to the task. Playing in the 3-4 defense is not only a change for the team but for Williams, who did not play in a 3-4 his entire professional or college career. After an offseason in which the coaches praised his work ethic and progress and into the season Williams has played well and he knows the task Sunday will his toughest test yet. The soft-spoken big man is excitedly waiting for the showdown.

“Obviously when you have one of the best running backs of all time coming to town you get kind of excited because you want to go out there and do your best against him. Thanks what I’m looking forward to, going out there and playing my best,” he said emphatically Thursday.

Th Vikings are the third ranked rushing offense in the NFL through three weeks, averaging 144.3 per game and Peterson leads the NFL with 291 rushing yards. Williams and the entire defense knows that the Vikings will be heavily relying on the run to crack through the Broncos’ top ranked defense. Williams has been quietly carrying a lot of responsibility in the middle this season and the obviously battle ahead is boosting his preparation this week.

“My teammates and coaching staff are really depending on me,” Williams explained Thursday. “This week is a big week for us because this is a huge running team. We know what’s coming, they know what’s coming and the whole world knows what’s coming.”

Last week the Vikings running backs rushed 28 times, Peterson carrying the ball 20 of those plays, and they ran up the middle or over the guards on 15 plays. Williams knows the role of nose tackle is often a selfless one and spoke Thursday about what he needs to do in the middle for the team to have success stopping the Viking’s rushing attack.

“I need to be stout at the line of scrimmage. You are going to get double teamed a lot. I need to hold up on those double teams and not give up ground and allow the linebackers to flow along that line of scrimmage.”

It will be easy to see if Williams and his teammates inside can stop the run early and if they can the Vikings will find themselves in the uncomfortable position of trying to pass on the Broncos defense. It is a proposition the Broncos first three opponents did not succeed at and that the Vikings are not used to doing. They rank deed last in pass yards per game, averaging only 149.7 so far this season.

No. 2 needs to live up to the hype that surrounded him this offseason…