NFL Experts Do Not Believe in the Vikings. Nope.
The Minnesota Vikings are hot off a Week 1 triumph over the New York Giants, but the body politic of NFL punditry does not believe the success will transfer to Week 2.
NFL Experts Do Not Believe in the Vikings. Nope.
Kevin O’Connell’s team hosts the San Francisco 49ers, a team widely considered the second-best in the business behind the Kansas City Chiefs.
And according to NFL Pick Watch, a site that logs all experts’ game-by-game predictions, 92% believe Minnesota will lose this weekend at home to Brock Purdy and friends.
It’s one of the most lopsided prediction variances of the week, rivaling the Baltimore Ravens over the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers over the Carolina Panthers, for example.
A few notable voices, like NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah and The Athletic’s Chad Graff, think the Vikings can score the upset.
Pro Football Network’s Ben Rolfe predicted San Francisco would topple Minnesota and explained, “I expect this game to look a lot different for the Vikings. They should not be able to dominate defensively with the 49ers in the same way they did with the Giants. I expect Minnesota to come back down to earth, but San Francisco’s winning margin could be right in that seven-point range, making this a tough game to call.”
Bleacher Report weighed in, too. “The 49ers ran through the Jets defense without Christian McCaffrey, who’s dealing with calf and Achilles injuries. After an offseason of extensive negotiations with the team, wideout Brandon Aiyuk only played 60 percent of the snaps on offense and had a couple of uncharacteristic drops,” BR’s collective staff wrote.
“On a short week, the 49ers will go on the road to face the Minnesota Vikings, whose offense looked mostly sharp with Sam Darnold at the helm in a 28-6 win over the New York Giants.”
However, BR’s Brad Gagnon was the lone picker of the Vikings over the 49ers, noting: “The 49ers are a little banged up coming off a short week, and they’re on the road for an early kickoff against a team with relatively little to lose that looked strong in Week 1. With that in mind, this is too many points. The upset is on the table, but I expect a field-goal game either way.”
The same teams squared off last season on Monday Night Football, with San Francisco favored to beat Minnesota by seven. The Vikings won by five. This year, the 49ers are expected to win by six.
The 49ers have not won a game in Minnesota in 32 years and have lost seven consecutive matchups at The Metrodome and U.S. Bank Stadium, one of the weirdest stats in the Vikings’ current orbit.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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