Experts divided on Minnesota Vikings chances to win vs Saints in Week 8

The Minnesota Vikings face a tough challenge in the New Orleans Saints and the experts are divided on who will get the win in Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season.

Entering Week 8, the Minnesota Vikings are in a good spot. They are 4-2-1 and sitting on top of the NFC North riding a three-game winning streak but face a tough opponent on Oct. 28 on Sunday Night Football.

In fact, their opponent will be a familiar one on Sunday night. The New Orleans Saints will be in town to play at U.S. Bank Stadium for the first time since the NFC Division Championship round of the NFL playoffs last year.

While these two teams aren’t the same squads as they were when the faced off last, this should still be one of the most competitive games of Week 8 as well as the Vikings season as a whole. Experts around the internet are having trouble deciding which team should be favored during the contest.

Picking the Minnesota Vikings

• CBS Sports – Pete Prisco: “The Saints have been the better team so far this season, but they are playing consecutive road games and the Vikings are back on track after a slow start.” (24-20)
• CBS Sports – Jason LaCanfora, Will Brinson, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson, Jamey Eisenberg
• ESPN – Clay Qerim, Riddick, Siefert
• ESPN – Football Power Index: “Eli Apple isn’t saving the Saints defense. In fact, FPI thinks the Saints have the worst defense in the NFL going forward.” – Seth Walder (Vikings by 2.1)
• Pioneer Press – Kevin Cusick: “Despite the Saints’ lust for payback, we’re guessing Sunday night’s end result will be the same, only now it will be 100-yard man Adam Thielen leaving Marcus Williams in the rear-view mirror.” (Vikings by 3)
• Pro Football Talk – Mike Florio: “The Saints will outplay the Vikings (like they did in January), but the Vikings will find a way to score at least one more point (like they did in January).” (34-31)
• SBNation – Steven White, Geoff Schwartz, Christian D’Andrea, Jenna Thomas
• USA Today – Mike Jones (27-24), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (27-23)

It’s understandable why experts may like the Vikings in this one. They are playing at home and are on a nice winning streak. They also have been able to run the football the last couple of weeks and the defense has been looking good in addition to how Adam Thielen has just been on FIRE!

Picking the New Orleans Saints

• Bleacher Report – Consensus: “the majority of our experts believe the streaking Saints are finally due to overcome Mt. Viking.” (24-27)
• CBS Spotts – John Breech, Dave Richard
• ESPN – Bowen, Golic, Graziano, Kimes, Wickersham, Wingo
• NFL.com – Elliot Harrison: “The Saints are coming off an important road win at Baltimore, and will face another such test against a talented defense, with crowd noise an obvious factor.” (27-28)
• Pro Football Talk – Michael David Smith: “This should be a fun one, with Drew Brees leading the Saints to a big conference road win.” (17-20)
• SBNation – RVB, Charles McDonald, Adam Stites
• Sporting News – David Steele: “New Orleans escaped last week in Baltimore; it’s equipped to do more than escape here … and exact some payback.” (30-33)
• USA Today – Jarrett Bell (24-27), Nate Davis (24-27), Lorenzo Reyes (30-31)

It’s always hard to pick against Drew Brees and an explosive Saints offense even though their defense hasn’t quite been among the top units in the league. It’ll take some great effort from the Vikings defense to keep Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas in check, but that will be the test on Sunday.

This is a game that should be considered a toss-up, but perhaps the Vikings could be given the nod for playing at home and having the emotional boost of having Everson Griffen back, even if he doesn’t play.

Who do you think will win the Sunday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints? And will these teams meet again in the playoffs this year? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below.