The Major Threat Facing the Vikings in Week 2
In Week 1, the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons experienced contrasting emotions. At the same time, the Vikings were joyous as JJ McCarthy helped engineer a fourth-quarter comeback win in Chicago.
A missed field goal meant heartbreak for the Falcons, who lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on home soil. One Falcon had a good day and will threaten a Vikings victory in Week 2.
VikingsTerritory looks at the major threat the Vikings face in their Week 2 matchup with the Falcons.
That man is running back Bijan Robinson. The 2023 8th overall pack did have the best day on the ground, with just 24 rushing yards from 12 carries at an average of 2 yards per carry. What is always a stout Buccaneers defensive front bottled both Robonson and Tyler Allgeier up pretty well. However, Robinson showed his explosiveness in the passing game, catching six passes for a team-high 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Quick/screen passes to running backs have been one area the Vikings defense has had problems with under Brian Flores. They don’t come much more dangerous in that regard than Robinson, as he proved with the Falcons’ first touchdown in Week 1, when he took a short pass from Michael Penix 50 yards to the house. When Robinson gets the ball in space, he is a difficult man to stop; he bested several Buccaneers defenders on the way to the endzone.
Minnesota has managed to keep Robinson quiet in the passing game when they met in both of the last two seasons. Over two games, the Falcons’ back only managed four catches for 17 yards. He did, however, have more success on the ground in both games, clocking up 143 rushing yards, at over 4.5 yards per carry — plus a rushing touchdown in last season’s game. The Vikings won both games and have a very good recent record against the Falcons, winning six of the previous seven meetings.
Injuries Pose a Problem for the Vikings
If Minnesota is to continue its good recent record against Atlanta, its cause on Sunday night won’t be helped by injuries to several key players on defense. Blake Cashman has been placed on Injured Reserve and will be a big loss in run defense.
Andrew Van Ginkel will also miss this game, and the loss of the all-action edge defender who does everything will be felt keenly, particularly as his ability to pick and undercut the screen pass is becoming legendary. He did it again in Week 1 against the Bears.
Nobody has had more success against the Flores defense than Chicago’s new head coach, Ben Johnson. His offense in Detroit carved up the Vikings on the ground and with short passes with regularity, which led to the big plays and knockout punches that saw the Lions beat the Vikings in their last four meetings. Flores got his revenge on Monday night, and the Vikings’ defense looked very good. However, with injuries mounting up, Jeff Okudah was also ruled out of this game, and Harrison Smith is questionable to play.
The news was more positive on the injury front for Atlanta, whose top two wide receivers, Drake London and Darnell Mooney, both appeared on the injury report this week but carry no injury designation going into the game. Both have had shoulder injuries, which caused Mooney to miss the Falcons’ opening game. Their fitness is a boost to the Falcons’ offense, but for my money, Robinson remains the primary threat that Minnesota will need to control for success in this Week 2 matchup.
It all goes down on Sunday Night Football, as the Vikings look to move to 2-0 with back-to-back wins in primetime football.
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