As they have made their way towards this big-time matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, the Minnesota Vikings have become one of the more polarizing teams in the league. One week, they cannot get anything going on offense, and the next week they are giving up 30+ points. A lot of that has to do with coaching. It is the coaches of the Vikings' job to make sure that all three phases of football (offense, defense, and special teams) are crisp and ready to go on game day. Even if just one of those units doesn't play up to par, it could cost you a game.
The Vikings definitely know this, and before last week's game, they had been trying to fix the run defense that was one of the worst in the league. They managed to do just that, forcing the Cowboys to pass the ball much more than they wanted to. In the end, Dallas ended up with just 78 yards on 24 carries, a pitiful 3.3 yards per carry average. That leads me to the four bold predictions for the Vikings this week, as it all starts with defending the run.
Vikings Week 9 Bold Predictions
4. The Vikings will hold the Ravens to under 100 yards rushing.
Minnesota might have figured out the golden ticket with regards to stopping the run in their last game. Defending the running game in the NFL comes from having fast linebackers and being able to play one-on-one with your corners on the boundary against the other team's best receivers. Last week against Dallas, though, the team was able to bring multiple extra guys into the box in order to stop the tun. That was because the Vikings were technically giving away the deep ball to Cooper Rush if he wanted it. Rush ended up with one very long pass to Cedric Wilson, but in the end, the team only scored 20 points on them If they can hold Baltimore to close to 20, they can keep it a game. But, that all starts with stopping the run.
3. Kirk Cousins throws for three touchdowns
With Dalvin Cook slowly working his way back to full health, the Vikings offense has struggled. They depend in large part on their explosive receivers getting open in the pass-game and making big plays. Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Adam Thielen is as solid of a number two option as you can get and they even have KJ Osborne producing at a high level. If Cook can get back to being himself rather quickly, this offense will do just the same.
2. Justin Jefferson will go for over 150 yards
The second-year wideout has only gone over 100 yards twice throughout the first half of the season, but this could be his game to shine. His fellow LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase just torched Baltimore for over 200 yards and a couple of touchdowns. With Jefferson sitting back and watching that game, hoping to one-up his former teammate, you have to think he is coming out to try and top the 200 yards. Should be a fun angle to watch this Sunday, so keep an eye on him for sure.
1. The Vikings will still lose
Despite all of these three things happening, the Vikings will still struggle to contain Mark Andrews, Hollywood Brown, and Rashod Bateman through the air. Cam Dantzler was repeatedly picked on during the Dallas game and Baltimore will be attacking them no differently. Jackson is fifth in the league in yards per attempt, so he is not afraid to challenge corners down the field who are in one-on-one situations. As mentioned before, those “man-to-man” situations are what you HAVE to play if you want to be able to stop the run AND the explosive pass plays.
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