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If the Vikings have a major weakness, it is their defensive line and linebackers, both of whom are vulnerable to a rushing game. The Vikings ranked 17th in rushing defense this season, after finishing first in the league last year. Defensive Linemen Carl Eller, 34, Alan Page, 31, and Jim Marshal, 39, dubbed the Purple People Eaters in their prime, are now a step slower. Still, when the time comes for the sack, they make it.
Fortunately for the Vikings, Oakland's strength, its passing, must contend with the strongest part of the Minnesota defense, the secondary. But even with that, the Raiders were a four-point favorite as they settled down to final practices. Only Minnesota's cool might keep the Vikings from setting an unenviable record: four Super defeats.
But until Sunday at 12:30 p.m. P.S.T., in Pasadena, all is conjecture. Then a brand-new $41 N.F.L. football will be kicked high into the warm Southern California air. More than 103,000 people, jammed into the Rose Bowl's circular rows of seats, will roar in anticipation. Across the land, 30 million households will fall silent as television screens show a small figure hurrying toward a goal line nearly 100 yds. away. The Vikings and Raiders will have seized the rapt attention of a nation. For one of the teams, and all its fans, Sunday is going to be a long-remembered Super Day.