3 matchups the Vikings should worry about in Week 3 vs. the Raiders
By Chris Schad
The Minnesota Vikings will be looking to avoid a hangover from their loss to Green Bay, but the Oakland Raiders are a team capable of playing spoiler.
When the Minnesota Vikings’ schedule first came out, one of the games that seemed like an easy win was the Week 3 matchup with the Oakland Raiders. Even with Antonio Brown at the time, the Raiders were coming off one of the most dysfunctional seasons in NFL history and with so many question marks and a head coach that appeared to be over his head in today’s NFL, it seemed like this should be marked in the win column.
While the public consensus should have confidence in the Vikings heading into Sunday’s game, a lot has changed with the Raiders in recent weeks. Brown forced his way off the roster and onto the New England Patriots and Oakland has proven to be a tough team anyway in a Week 1 win over the Denver Broncos and a Week 2 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although nobody is going to pencil the Raiders in as Super Bowl contenders, they still have several ways to hurt you and have a better roster than the Buffalo Bills did before dismantling the Vikings in a Week 3 hangover.
The Vikings loss to the Green Bay Packers last week is still fresh in everyone’s mind. If the Minnesota Vikings aren’t careful, they could be in for a similar fate against a Raider team that’s better than you think.