5 Bold Predictions: Minnesota Vikings vs. Carolina Panthers – Week 6

Minnesota will be more aggressive on offense

One of the biggest takeaways from last week’s victory over the Lions was Minnesota’s conservative play-calling that nearly gave the game away.

A sequence at the end of the first half saw the Vikings get the ball at their own 25 with around 40 seconds and two timeouts remaining. Instead of pushing for a bigger lead, Minnesota decided to run the ball twice and go into the locker room with a 13-6 lead.

The Vikings also got away from throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Even though they were playing against an undermanned secondary, the presence of double coverage and clouded schemes kept Kirk Cousins from taking a shot, leaving Minnesota to ground and pound.

This boiled over late in the game when the Vikings called six straight runs before running back Alexander Mattison fumbled. The turnover set up the go-ahead score before they finally opened up the playbook and drove for the game-winning field goal.

Talking to reporters, Zimmer instructed his coaching staff to do some self-scouting before Sunday’s game. While it’s possible that Zimmer is running the offense, he has to realize the way he’s doing things isn’t working. That could lead to an aggressive approach similar to what they used in Arizona and a fast start against the Panthers.