In a matchup that pits two struggling teams up against one another, the 1-4 Minnesota Vikings host the 0-5 Atlanta Falcons in a contest that should see absolutely no construct of what a defense should look like. Both offenses should rule the gridiron on Sunday, with the potential for each unit to score 30+ points quite high.
The Falcons are going to be welcoming back wide receiver Julio Jones into the fold, giving quarterback Matt Ryan another weapon to target alongside fellow receiver Calvin Ridley. Ridley is looking to string together another strong performance, as the last time the Falcons faced an NFC North opponent, cornerback Jaire Alexander and the Green Bay Packers shut him down, holding him to zero catches on the Monday Night affair.
For the Vikings, they are going to be without star running back Dalvin Cook, who is nursing a groin injury and will get this week and next week’s bye week off to hopefully heal up and be ready coming out of the break. In Cook’s absence, backup running back Alexander Mattison will slide into his heavy usage role, something that will continue on Sunday against Atlanta’s porous defensive unit.
Here are four bold predictions about Sunday’s game that you can expect to happen in what looks to be a game between two teams that have absolutely nothing to lose this season.
Alexander Mattison puts up 20+ fantasy points and 120+ total yards
In lieu of having Cook out on the field, fantasy owners are needing to scramble to find a replacement for Cook, who was slated to probably produce his best game of the season to date. Instead, Mattison will be out there for Gary Kubiak’s offensive unit, taking the bulk of the carries.
Mattison projects more as a threat on the ground than through the air, but he certainly has both capabilities in his arsenal, providing QB Kirk Cousins with a more than competent fill-in for Cook.
His projected usage will make fantasy teams that have held onto him as a handcuff or perused the waiver wire for him this week very happy, as the ATL defense is one of the worst in the entire league on all three levels. While the Vikings’ offensive line is not great, they certainly are able to carry out the run-heavy plan under Kubiak’s play-calling, something that should help get Mattison plenty of looks.
Earning over 20 fantasy points through at least 120 total yards seems like a bit of a stretch for a backup to provide, yet Mattison has a very strong hold of this offensive scheme, which he showed in the second half of last week’s game after Cook suffered his injury.
The command of the backfield snaps goes to Mattison in a landslide (even though Mike Boone will vulture around 7-10 in this game), and getting him above 120 total yards will make anyone who puts him in their lineups this weekend very happy.
Julio Jones & Calvin Ridley both catch a TD and have 100+ receiving yards
Both Jones and Ridley look to be healthy thankfully for the Falcons, and with Jones not carrying an injury designation into Sunday’s game, Ryan can finally get back to using his entire arsenal of weaponry against a hapless defense, helping turn this contest into a likely shootout.
Both Ridley and Jones have a high likelihood of individually producing over 100 receiving yards, but getting both above the century mark may require a little bit of help from the MIN defense, which they certainly look more than capable of providing.
For Ridley, he has much more of a nose for the end zone than Jones does, but both could very easily turn in scoring performances this weekend, especially if the passing game seems to be much more efficient against the Vikings’ defense than keeping the ball on the ground with Todd Gurley.
Ryan certainly is poised for a big game, and he gets there by simply relying on his two studs outside in Jones and Ridley to carry him there.
Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan both throw 2 interceptions
What is a common theme in struggling teams is the dependence on a QB to help drag teams out from early, large deficits, something that both the Vikings and Falcons have unfortunately become accustomed to so far in the 2020 NFL season. Sunday looks to present each of these QBs with a bit of a different outlook, but there will probably be similar results for both gunslingers.
Their turnover numbers are certainly not helping their teams up to this point so far, as Cousins leads the league in interceptions with seven, while Ryan’s three picks put him inside the top ten of the league. These turnovers have come at costly times as well, and both will most likely continue that trend with heavy passing volumes on Sunday.
Both Cousins (39 pass attempts) and Ryan (54) have been chucking the pigskin around a ton on game day, with these numbers inside the parentheses represent the most passes that each have attempted in a game this season so far. Large amounts of pass attempts have generated more chances at yardage and QB ratings (even though both are underachieving in those areas so far), but instead, they have resulted in negative plays like turnovers.
Look for both starting QBs to connect on at least two passes to the opposing defenses on Sunday, as bad as each defensive unit may be.
Todd Gurley has fewer than 80 total yards on the day
So, with the projected offensive breakouts by Jones, Ridley, and Ryan, where does the dropoff occur? With the best running back in Sunday’s game, Todd Gurley, of course.
The kind of injury baggage that Gurley has been carrying throughout his career has followed him to Atlanta, although (so far) not on as serious of a scale as it was with the Rams. But his efficiencies on the field have been catching up with Gurley a bit, and even in a plus matchup, he may end up being the odd man out.
Gurley is a solid dual-threat RB that can offer a bunch of production both on the ground and through the air, and he has been worked into the offense in that way to try and facilitate that kind of work. However, Minnesota offers enough of a formidable front seven that can make the game very tough for Gurley, which would make sense, since they very much know they will not be able to stop the passing game.
Gurley may still find the end zone at least once on Sunday, but his yardage total will leave fantasy owners wanting more, especially in a game that should favor everyone except the defense.
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