Week One Bold Predictions: Bring On The Titans

Adam Warwas presents five bold predictions for today’s Vikings versus Titans game.

How’d you sleep? Yeah, me neither.

The much anticipated start of the 2016 Minnesota Vikings season is just hours away, with the first stop being Tennessee, and I think we here at Vikings Territory have hit about every storyline from about every angle… sometimes at an admittedly excessive rate. What can I say? The whole gang of contributors here loves their Minnesota Vikings.

Now it is time for our collective offseason analysis, our breakdowns of a paper roster, to take to the actual turf in pursuit of greatness. The Teddy Bridgewater disaster will doubtless have a rippling impact throughout the season, voiding some of our offseason projections, but that won’t stop us from trying to shake the magic eight ball in search of hope and optimism.

Here are five bold predictions, largely based on my own stated opinions from this offseason, for what could unfold on the field today.

Bold Prediction #1 – Adrian Peterson Leads The Team In Rushing… And Receptions

The Vikings are expected to employ a run-heavy offense, despite Jerick McKinnon’s presence on the injury report, and so it is no surprise at all that I think Peterson will lead the team in rushing. The part of this bold prediction that is actually bold is the part where I think he leads the team in receptions.

Peterson’s pass-catching abilities are not as putrid as the popular narrative would have you believe. In 2015, his first full season under Norv Turner, Peterson caught 83.3% of his targets and that is a very admirable statistic for any running back to achieve.

The Vikings will almost certainly have a conservative game plan on offense, but Turner can’t allow things to get too one-dimensional. He can’t allow all of the focus to be on Peterson’s rushing attack, so look for Peterson himself to help open things up a bit with a hefty amount of routes being run in the flats.

Bold Prediction #2 – Trae Waynes Gets A Pick

I loved the selection of Trae Waynes in 2015 and was among the few that didn’t let his lack of playing time as a rookie stain my perception of his future. I still think the guy is going to be a star.

I also think he should be starting ahead of Terence Newman as soon as tomorrow, but we’ll know shortly if that is going to be the case. Even if it isn’t, however, I still expect we’ll see him take on a larger role in Mike Zimmer’s defense than what we saw last year.

The second-year corner has a nose for the ball, perhaps a better nose than any corner we’ve had on this team in a long time, and I’m going to go ahead and predict that he is able to again come down with a Marcus Mariota interception.

Bold Prediction #3 – Flash Gets Flashy

If there was ever a week to deploy five to eight gadget plays that put the ball in the hands of Cordarrelle Patterson, this is probably it. As mentioned above, the playbook will likely be reigned back a bit given Bridgewater’s sudden absence, so what better way to keep the defense guessing than to throw a wild card like Patterson into the mix more often than usual?

By most accounts, Patterson has been working particularly hard this offseason to become more valuable than “just a returner.” Whether or not he has mastered the playbook, improved his route running in a meaningful way, and is ready to contribute in the passing game remains to be seen… but he’s an explosive athlete that is exactly the type of talent that could earn some accolades by making Shaun Hill look good.

My prediction is that he puts up his best stats since Week One of the 2014 season where he managed 128 combined rushing and receiving yards.

Bold Prediction #4 – Mariota Goes Down Eight Times

That’s right! Eight sacks!

I can’t tell you how jacked I am about this defense in general, and this pass rush specifically. They are finally equipped with athletes that can effectively counter a mobile quarterback like Marcus Mariota, appear to be about as healthy as one could ask for, and the pass rush has looked downright dangerous at times this preseason.

I think rookie Jack Conklin is going to be overmatched for most of the afternoon, while Everson Griffen abuses left tackle Taylor Lewan on the other side and Linval Joseph does Linval Joseph things in the middle. Combine that with Zimmer’s confusing looks and aggressive blitzing, not to mention a secondary plenty capable of blanketing whatever wide outs the Titans roll out… I think Mariota will be running for his life all day long.

Eight sacks. And it’ll be so much fun to watch.

Bold Prediction #5 – Despite All Of That… The Game Is Still Decided By A Field Goal

With all of the optimism I’ve projected in the first four predictions, I think this game could go either way, and will be a nail biter that has a final margin of three points or less.

The Titans have a menacing two-headed rushing attack to worry about. They have a defense full of potential. They have a young quarterback who is very promising and has, you know, two fully functioning knees.

The Vikings played all through training camp with Teddy Bridgewater. They played all of the preseason without Adrian Peterson. I don’t think it would surprise anyone if they come out looking a bit rusty, especially on offense, and I think that is the primary reason this game is as low-scoring as it is close.

 

Share: