(SportsNetwork.com) - Minnesota Vikings fans would surely concede Teddy Bridgewater is not Peyton Manning. But the Vikings rookie can soothe himself by recognizing that hes also not Geno Smith. Unlike his signal-calling counterpart for Sundays game at TCF Bank Stadium, the youngster from Louisville is not only playing well as the 2014 season reaches its final stages, but theres also a very good chance - unlike Smith in New York - that hes already penciled in for a starting job next year. Bridgewater has four touchdowns against a single interception in his last two games, and played perhaps his best game of the season last week against Carolina - completing 15-of-21 passes for 138 yards, two scores and a 120.7 passer rating in a 31-13 defeat of the Panthers. Im better at just making quicker decisions, he said. Earlier in the year, I talked about getting rid of the ball faster. That wasnt the issue. I think I just made quicker decisions, and if Im able to make quicker decisions Im able to get the ball out faster. One of his prime targets, wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, should be around for the full 60 minutes against the Jets after having just one pass thrown to him last week. He only played three snaps against Carolina after attending a funeral during the practice week and dealing with a knee injury. He caught six passes for 86 yards in Minnesotas Week 8 defeat of Tampa Bay, but has caught just five balls since for 51 yards. Hes got 30 catches for 350 yards and one touchdown this season, after arriving as a rookie in 2013 and catching 45 passes for 469 yards and four TDs. I have high hopes for him. Im in his corner. I want him to be a good player, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. It would help this football team. It would help me. It would help everybody around that he becomes a great player. It may be not right away. Meanwhile, though history shows the Jets last lost to the Vikings when Gerald Ford was president and Joe Namath still played at Shea Stadium, it doesnt do a lot of good for modern-day Rex Ryan. A 16-13 loss to Miami on Monday night plunged New York to 2-10 in Ryans sixth season and added another layer of certainty that the last four games of 2014 will be his last four at Gang Greens helm. Im embarrassed for myself, absolutely, he said. Its an embarrassment. Its definitely embarrassing to me. I feel like Ive let my owner down. Ive let our fan base down. The year hasnt gone anywhere close to what we were thinking. Im going to focus on beating Minnesota. Im not worried about anything else but that. I dont think that way. My job is not to worry about myself. My job is to get this team prepared to the best of my ability, and thats what I plan on doing. Ryans teams reached the AFC Championship Game in his first two seasons on the job in 2009 and 2010, winning four road playoff games with Mark Sanchez at the helm. Theyve not had a winning record since, however, and Sanchez was let go in the offseason after Smith became the rookie starter last year. Sanchez is now quarterbacking the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles, while Smith, backup Michael Vick, Ryan and even general manager John Idzik are on a collective hot seat with the Jets. Smith completed only seven of 13 passes in the loss to the Dolphins, a game in which New York led by 10 points in the first half. The Jets ran the ball 49 times, but when they were forced into rally mode on a final drive, Smith was intercepted - which led to talk that the game plan reflected an absence of faith in the quarterback. Ryan insisted, though, that the run/pass ratio was not a reflection on Smith. The second-year man, who was benched in favor of Vick before regaining the job, is last in the league among full-time quarterbacks with a 65.8 passer rating. Hes thrown 11 interceptions and has averaged 5.91 yards per pass attempt, and hasnt thrown a TD pass in three games. Incidentally, the Vikings are sixth in the league in defending the pass, but have allowed 123.8 yards per game on the ground for the season and 157.0 per game over their last three outings. I understand the fact that we didnt win and the passing attempts werent there, Ryan said. But it had nothing to do with us not having confidence in Geno Smith. Thats completely false. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Awakening Johnson Running back Chris Johnson was among the symbols of the Jets ineptitude in the early season as he tried to regain his 2,000-yard form from his days in Tennessee. But hes started to pick things up in the second half and has amassed 305 yards on his last 58 carries - a 5.3-yard average per attempt. Minnesota is 24th of 32 teams against the run, so it could be another showcase for the veteran. Strength against Weakness The Vikings are by no means a scoring juggernaut when compared to the rest of the NFL, as an average of 19.4 points per game accurately indicates. But theyre facing an even more impotent outfit in the Jets, who are 30th in the league with a 15.8-point average. Minnesotas defense has held offensive powers like New Orleans, Detroit and Chicago to less than 21 points, and has a real chance to do it again. OVERALL ANALYSIS Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us two, three or four times, shame on us. While its true Ryan got more than he should have from an 8-8 team last year and true that hell probably land another NFL job and succeed after this season, the reality for 2014 is that hes pretty much out of tricks. The Vikings are not the Packers and the Jets could out-mediocre them, but the default setting is lose from here on out. 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Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, With a lot of playoff games this year already going deep into overtime, weve all heard talk about how no player wants to be the one who makes a mistake prompted by exhaustion that leads to the game-winning goal. But to what extent does all this extra play time affect the officials? How much do they feel the physical and mental fatigue caused by a game heading into its second or third overtime period, and is this related to the perception - real or imagined - that officials tend to "swallow their whistles" in OT? Best,Mark Hill Mark: Fatigue was much more of an issue to contend with in the one referee system when we chased the play from end to end and didnt get much of an opportunity for a rest. A refs best friend can be a moving puck. Whenever possible, I attempted to force players to "move it"! Aside from enhancing the entertaining value of the game another upside of sustained action was that players gave and received hits with less likelihood of retaliation and scrums developing. On occasion I wore a heart monitor and during three to five minute runs without a whistle the readings would be sustained between 165-175 bpm. By comparison the highest my heart rate ever got in the two referee system was 98 bpm. There should be no reason (in the two-ref system) where physical fatigue might negatively impact the decision making process for an official regardless how many overtime periods are played. The mental aspect of a referees performance is a whole different kettle of fish! While players dont want to become the "goat" by making a bad play or mistake, the referees internal struggle is all about rendering a decision that might be perceived as a game ending bad call. (You notice I said perceived.) The best remedy in dealing with this pressure is for the official to maintain a rock solid focus of concentration by remaining in the moment and react to call penalties whenever they occur. Once a ref stops refereeing and puts his whistle away he becomes a spectator instead of an enforcer of the playing rules. Each referee can feel intense pressure to make sure any call he makes is viewed as a "must call" in the late stages and overtime. The referees best work is done well in advance of the late stages of a game by maintaining the expected standard of enforcement and to keep the players in check throughout the entire game.dddddddddddd The best deterrent against infractions being committed is "fear" a ref can instill in players that he will call the penalty whenever it is committed. When that is achieved players tend to play much more disciplined. The onus is placed more squarely on the players not to commit infractions once the referees enforce the rules more consistently and when expectations are met. I notice a difference in these playoffs as to which referees the players respond to and those they take full liberties with. Once the penalty standard slides and obvious infractions are let go it is extremely difficult for the referee to make a call in the late stages unless it involves a scoring opportunity, a puck over the glass or a major infraction. At times such as this the referee crew become spectators and fly on a wing and a prayer in hopes that the players will not do something really stupid that might force a call. If the referee chooses to turn his whistle into a fossil the worst thing he can do is upset the apple cart with a penalty call that doesnt have a direct bearing on the play or is of less quality than what he previously has let go. We saw a prime example of this with fewer than two minutes remaining in Game 4 of the Habs-Lightning series. While it is difficult to deny that the trip by Cedric Paquette on Michael Bournival was a legitimate foul, given the countless infractions that were not penalized, the referee(s) were subjected to justifiable ridicule for calling a trip in the corner of the rink at that time of the game. It is important to note there have been some real solid performances by the zebras in games thus far. The officials we notice most however are ones that stop refereeing the game and employ a standard of enforcement that resembles shifting sand. This isnt a result of fatigue; physical or mental. There is an answer to this dilemma. The referees have to be given clear direction by the Officiating Management to know and maintain the expected penalty throughout the entire game. In this regard the officials need to be better coached and held accountable when the expected standard is not met. Finally, when the officials do the job and make the tough calls they need to know they will be supported. 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