Vikings Week 6 Preview and Prediction
It’s 5:30am on Saturday, October 17, 2020 and as of right now ESPN’s website is still showing Dalvin Cook as questionable despite the Vikings listing him as out on the injury report. I am going to go with the idea that Cook is not playing Sunday, which leaves the load to Mattison and Boone. However, I am not worried about the running game, because Atlanta’s rush defense is actually pretty good, allowing on average 110 yards a game. That is 22 yards less than what the Vikings’ defense allows.
To me this game is simply going to come down to two key elements.
- Can Kirk Cousins throw the ball accurately and sustain drives without turning the ball over?
- Can the Minnesota defense keep the Atlanta wide receivers in front of them and prevent the big play?
Cousins is the typical quarterback that the Vikings have had since Favre. I am not saying I agree with it but, in recent history we have had success with game manager quarterbacks.
Playing within the system plus don’t make mistakes equals winning the game. The challenge has been mistakes and when the game needs to go get won, we don’t have that guy. We have a guy who wants to be that guy. Yet time and time again with opportunities to drive down the field, chew up clock and win the game, he falls short.
Half of the responsibility tomorrow will be on Cousins to manage the pressure, both literal and figurative and play within the system to give the Vikings a win.
The other half is on the defense, which in my opinion starts up front. The Vikings need to be able to put consistent pressure on Matt Ryan without always having to blitz. 
This will allow the defense to run multiple different types of coverage and play the defensive scheme Zimmer wants to run, instead of letting the Falcons dictate the pace and style of play.
If the Vikings defense can stop the Falcons’ big play capability, and Cousins plays within the system and himself, then I think the Vikings get their second win this year versus the Falcons. Then they can go into their bye week to prepare for an important divisional game in their second meeting with the packers. On that note it is crazy to me that the Vikings and Packers would play twice before the Vikings play anyone else in the division.
Predictions for Sunday.
The Falcons seem like they hate to win, so I truly believe this is the Vikings game to lose. As an avid Vikings fan, I know that there are times when we love to lose games like this. In this scenario though, we are 1-4 and just as hungry as the Falcons. Had we come in at 4-1, this would have trap game written all over it. But at 1-4, losing a close game to a good Seahawks team, I think the Vikings end up beating the Falcons by more than a touchdown.
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~RD
