TVA Predictions: Can the Vikings push their winning streak to eight?
By Adam Patrick
Spencer Suckow:
Falcons win 27-23
Something has to give this Sunday in Atlanta.
The Vikings have one of the NFL’s best defenses, and the Falcons’ offense has seemed to finally recover from their Super Bowl/post-Kyle Shanahan hangover. The Falcons feature an offense with a litany of weapons, all of whom are capable of busting a game open at any given time with chunk plays.
A key reason why Minnesota has had such a successful season to this point has been their ability to limit those chunk plays from opponents. According to ESPN, the Vikings have given up the fewest amount of big plays among all NFL teams this season.
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For the Vikings to win, they’ll likely have to go back to the formula that they primarily used over the past decade. That is, control the ball offensively with the ground game and keep the ball out of the hands of a more explosive offense.
However, with how hot Atlanta’s offense has been of late, there’s a good chance that the Vikings won’t get the chance to control the game on the ground like they want to. This means that Minnesota will likely have to rely on Case Keenum to win them the game
While Keenum has been undeniably great over the past three games, he really hasn’t proved that he can win a close game as of yet. He may very well have to do that this weekend.
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Additionally, for as exciting as his gunslinger style-of-play is, I can’t help but feel that it could end up costing the Vikings a game at some point. In what will likely be a close game on the road, “some point” could easily turn into “this Sunday”.