The storylines for this contest are aplenty. Adam Thielen will run out of the tunnel as a member of the home team once again. Kirk Cousins will exit the tunnel as a clipboard holding member of the away team. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr. get to redo their National Championship showdown of a couple years ago.

Under the primetime lights of Sunday Night Football, this one should be plenty of fun. Minnesota enters as -3.5 point favorites at home.

Before the game kicks off, it’s worth taking a look at who locally thinks the Vikings emerge victorious, and how the game will shake out. Of course those covering the team on a daily basis have the greatest insight as to where things should stand.

To add context, we’ve also included picks and predictions from popular national media outlets, who do not follow the Vikings as closely as those on the local beat. That will allow you to compare and contrast how local media views the MN Vikings vs those in the national space.

Week 1 Minnesota Vikings local beat writer & media predictions

• Ben Goessling (Star Tribune) – Vikings 23, Falcons 21

The Falcons‘ offensive weapons, especially with Robinson’s elusiveness and Drake London’s physicality, will test a Vikings defense that is without two starters because of injury and had three defensive backs on the injury report this week. It will require the Vikings to get creative with their secondary, and they’ll need solid performances from players like cornerback Dwight McGlothern. But they’ll get a boost from a U.S. Bank Stadium crowd that should be electric on Sunday night, and their offense will have some favorable matchups against Atlanta’s defense. They’ll win their home opener in a close one. – Star Tribune

• Dane Mizutani (Pioneer Press) – Vikings 24, Falcons 17

It took J.J. McCarthy roughly 45 minutes of game time to find his rhythm in his NFL debut. The hostile road environment at Soldier Field contributed to that. He should be more comfortable from the onset at U.S. Bank Stadium. – Pioneer Press

Related: Three Keys for Minnesota Vikings Against Atlanta on Sunday Night

• John Shipley (Pioneer Press) – Vikings 23, Falcons 18

Rising rookies take the stage, with the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy bolstered by a come-back Monday night win and the birth of his first child. Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr., meanwhile, will be getting advice about winning a nationally televised night game from Kirk Cousins. – Pioneer Press

• Charley Walters (Pioneer Press) – Vikings 30, Falcons 24

Quarterbacks drafted in 2024, J.J. McCarthy (No. 10 overall) of the Vikings and Michael Penix Jr. (No. 8) by the Falcons, will be on the big stage for comparison. Ex-Viking Kirk Cousins and his guaranteed $27.5 million will get to compare, too, from the Atlanta sideline. – Pioneer Press

• Jace Frederick (Pioneer Press) – Falcons 28, Vikings 24

Another week, another battle of second-year quarterbacks. But Michael Penix Jr. is significantly better than Caleb Williams. Minnesota’s pass rush needs to get home to get Atlanta’s signal caller out of rhythm. – Pioneer Press

Sunday Night Football – Vikings vs Bears national predictions

• ESPN – 10 of 11 experts pick Vikings
  • Sonia Bell – Vikings
  • Mike Clay – Vikings
  • Jeremy Fowler – Vikings
  • Dan Graziano – Vikings
  • Kalyn Kahler – Vikings
  • Matt Bowen – Vikings
  • Pamela Maldonado – Vikings
  • Eric Moody – Vikings
  • Seth Walder – Vikings
  • Lindsey Thiry – Falcons
  • Seth Wickersham – Vikings

Minnesota’s Myles Price will return a kick or punt for a touchdown. Price had juice in his NFL debut Monday night, particularly as a punt returner, where he recorded 22 yards over expectation — second most in Week 1. — Seth Walder (ESPN)

Related: Falcons Bringing Scorned Vikings Kicker to Minnesota

• The Athletic – 6 of 8 experts pick Vikings
  • Joe Buscaglia – Vikings
  • Chad Graff – Vikings
  • Larry Holder – Vikings
  • Josh Kendall – Vikings
  • Nick Kosmider – Falcons
  • Austin Mock – Vikings
  • Zack Rosenblatt – Vikings
  • Josiah Turner – Falcons

J.J. McCarthy just finished cramming one of the best quarterback debuts ever into just 15 minutes. Who doesn’t want to watch the follow-up act? – The Athletic

• MMQB (Sports Illustrated) – 5 of 6 experts pick Vikings
  • Conor Orr – Vikings
  • Gilberto Manzano – Falcons
  • Matt Verderame – Vikings
  • John Pluym – Vikings
  • Mitch Goldich – Vikings
  • Claire Brennan – Vikings

Minnesota Vikings vs Indianapolis Colts Flexed to Primetime – Sunday Night Football

Then, in week nine, they’ll be back to Sundays (November, 3). Their opponent will be the Indianapolis Colts. Today, however, we found out that they will no longer play at the originally scheduled noon timeslot. Instead, their contest has been flexed to primetime that same night. That’s right, Sunday Night Football, baby.

NEW YORK — Oct. 21, 2024 — The Week 9 Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings game will move to Sunday Night Football on NBC. The Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles game will be played at 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

NFL PR

The Jaguars and Eagles were supposed to be played on Sunday Night, in week nine. That contest will now take place at 3:05 CT. Obviously, the NFL loves to prop up the Eagles. But after the Minnesota Vikings’ red-hot start, we can expect more flexes to primetime, going forward, if they continue to win.

More Vikings flex opportunities coming up

The only other primetime game on the Vikings schedule is Monday Night Football (week 15) vs the Chicago Bears (Dec 16). Their season finale, in Detroit vs the Lions, is currently set as “TBD”. That could very well be another primetime matchup.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Seriously Considering a Move to Dalton Risner

One week prior, vs the Packers, is currently scheduled for noon. That is another game to keep an eye on, after Green Bay moved to 4-2, over the weekend. At the end of the day, what time the games are played doesn’t matter. Just win baby.

Minnesota Vikings defense can’t overcome turnovers on offense

But that wasn’t the story on Sunday Night Football vs the Denver Broncos. Instead, a great defensive effort was wasted thanks to three turnovers by the offense. Brian Flores and the Vikings defense kept Russell Wilson & Co from paydirt the first five times they crossed into scoring position. But that sixth time is a bitch.

ALL RISE.

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/AYby1pl8Nr

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 20, 2023

The Vikings offense looked better in the first half than it did the second, yet again. But this week, the defense couldn’t overcome the turnovers.

It was Alexander Mattison’s fumble early in the 4th quarter, with the Vikings up 17-9, that really flipped this contest on its head. The defense held up, and held Denver to another yet another field goal, but the game never felt the same after that.

Related: How Much Will Kirk Cousins Cost; Could Vikings Get Discount?

Josh Dobbs falls back to earth

Josh Dobbs played pretty well, going 20/32 for 221 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, but the 28-year-old journeyman QB continues to show more and more vulnerabilities, the more snaps he takes. I’d imagine Cardinals fans know what I mean.

Still, he gave the Minnesota Vikings a chance to win, which is all you can ask from a backup quarterback. But, he was responsible for two of the three Vikings turnovers. Fans and football talking heads have mentioned Dobbs’ running ability as a positive over Kirk Cousins. We saw Sunday night that is not always the case.

KAREEM JACKSON LIT UP JOSH DOBBS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/uijgMmeli7

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) November 20, 2023

At the end of the day, an elite QB makes up for a lot of deficiencies on both sides of the ball. If the Minnesota Vikings want to be a playoff team without Kirk, they will need to play much better team football than what we saw vs the Broncos, starting with taking care of the football, which they’ve struggled with all season.

The devastation is expected to be widespread and Tampa, the site of Sunday Night Football this week, sits directly in its path. According to a report from Kevin Seifert (ESPN), the NFL has chosen US Bank Stadium as the relocation site for Bucs vs Chiefs, should that be necessary.

The NFL has selected U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as the contingency site for Sunday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, league executive vice president Jeff Miller confirmed Wednesday. — Kevin Seifert (ESPN)

What are the chances?

The current radar doesn’t look goof for Tampa. They stand directly in the eye’s crosshairs, over then next 12-24 hours. Even if the stadium is in good enough shape to play (doubtful), how is the infrastructure and production needed for SNF going to be put in place?

Don’t buy your tickets yet. But if you’re a Bucs or Chiefs fan living near the Twin Cities, you should keep your Sunday evening open. Prayers up for those on the Gulf Coast tonight.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Last night’s 27-26 heartbreaker in Seattle now has the Minnesota Vikings buried in a deep 1-4 hole to start the 2020 season. Game after game, the disbelief hasn’t been as much about the losses themselves, but instead, HOW they’ve found their way to those losses. The L’s have piled up in the most Minnesota Vikings ways imaginable. Quickly, let’s high-five and cry our way through Sunday night’s rollercoaster of emotions.

It was a dream start, led by Dalvin Cook and Kirk Cousins, that put Minnesota up 13-0 at the end of the 1st half (high-five). Things went south quickly in the second half, starting with two Kirk Cousins’ turnovers in the third quarter and compounded by the loss of Dalvin Cook to a groin injury (cry).

Seattle scored 21 points alone in that third quarter to take a 21-13 lead, entering the 4th. Of course, the Vikings didn’t let us flounder out, instead reeling us back in just when you were about to give up. With 8 minutes left in the 4th, Kirk Cousins and the offense sculpted together an 11-play, 77-yard drive that cut the Seahawk lead to two (they missed the two-point conversion to tie).

The next offensive possession? How about a 15-play, 92-yard drive that ate over 8 minutes of clock and gave the Vikings a 26-21 lead LATE in the fourth (high-five)!

97 yards later… @AThielen19's second TD puts the @Vikings ahead! #SKOL

?: #MINvsSEA on NBC
?: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/fJGRlSb2nV pic.twitter.com/evBgnb1BfO

— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2020

NSFW

You know the rest, it’s as expected and inevitable as the Timberwolves giving up 120 every night they step on the floor. Russell Wilson directed a 13-play, 94-yard game-winning drive in 1:42 and shattered dreams of Vikings fans everywhere.

In the process, Wilson converted TWO backbreaking 4th downs to DK Metcalf. The first was a 4th and 10 heave from their own 23 yard line that Cam Dantzler misplayed badly, leaving DK wide open for an easy high-point catch. Then, Mr. Unlimited connected with Metcalf on 4th and goal in what looked like great coverage from Anthony Harris (cry).

Win Probability: Vikings @ Seahawks pic.twitter.com/wEyG9ZTGvv

— Lee Sharpe, ⛓️ @ ? (@LeeSharpeNFL) October 12, 2020

The Vikings Aren’t 1-4 Bad

Here’s the thing that kept me up last night, though… The Vikings are so much better than their 1-4 record shows. If you’ve watched all the one-win NFL teams, you’d be the first to tell me that Minnesota is in a completely different class than the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles or the Washington Football Team. If this 1-4 Vikings team that lacked the talent or coaching to get to the postseason, I’m not writing this blog. They have what’s needed to be a playoff team but only one number matters at the end of the day. It’s the number underneath the “W” column in the standings.

Football is a fragile game and the smallest mistake can cost you a win. Just look at the Vikings’ four losses. They now have (2) one-point losses; Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans 31–30 and yesterday night at Seattle 27-26. Tennessee and Seattle have a combined record of 8-0 this season. I’d argue that Minnesota should’ve won both of those games. Even with all the new analytics now-a-days, there’s still gained from “should’ve won” losses.

Better than Seattle on Sunday Night

The Vikings dominated Seattle in almost every statistical category on Monday night. They out-rushed, out-threw, out-received, and out-possessed Seattle…. but still lost. Bad teams couldn’t do that to Seattle. Bad teams can’t sack Russell Wilson four times in the first half or out posses the seahawks 39:28 to 20:32 for the game.

The game plan was flawless, the execution was ALMOST perfect. It was all there for the taking but three things defined this loss. (1) Cook’s groin injury, (2) two Cousins’ turnovers in the third quarter and (3) a failed 4th down conversation that would’ve sealed the game. Now, Minnesota sits at 1-4 and Cook’s health is in question moving forward. Just gut-wrenching.

Cheers to the best 1-4 team in the NFL, your Minnesota Vikings.

Stephen Strom | Minnesota Sports Fan