MINNEAPOLIS — WHO: Minnesota Vikings vs. Baltimore Ravens
WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 7 at 12:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
The 3-4 Minnesota Vikings hit the road to play the Baltimore Ravens, after a disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The 5-2 Ravens are coming off a bye week and a blowout home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7.
The Vikings are allowing 184 rushing yards a game this season and the Ravens feature one of the NFL's best runners. Quarterback Lamar Jackson leads all quarterbacks with 76 rushes this season. He is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, and the Vikings' unit will be without some major athleticism on the edge, with Danielle Hunter's torn pectoral muscle prematurely ending his season.
Here are three keys to the game for Sunday:
Slow down Lamar. No team can stop the man. They can only hope to contain him. Jackson ranks fifth in the NFL with 2,691 rushing yards since the start of the 2019 season. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said, "It's really assignment football. You have to be really disciplined in where you're going and you've got to make the tackle." Defensive tackle Michael Pierce is expected to return to the line up on Sunday against his former team and he should help with the Vikings' run defense. But Jackson is also dangerous through the air. Baltimore's offense ranks fourth in the NFL with 6.21 yards per play. Jackson is always a threat to turn it loose and connect with one of his bevy of weapons on the explosive play.
Be more consistent on offense. I feel like a broken record at this point, but the Vikings offense just gets stuck in the mud after the first offensive series. The big guys up front can help. Kirk Cousins was pressured on a season-high 39.5% of his dropbacks against the Cowboys. A healthy dose of Dalvin Cook should relieve some of that pressure and open up the play-action pass. The Vikings are 29th this season in that category. The offense does play better on the road though. They racked up 571 yards against Carolina in Week 6. Oddly enough, all of their second half touchdowns have happened away from U.S. Bank Stadium. That's encouraging, because they're going to have to keep up with this hungry Ravens offense.
Play to win. The Vikings have to be more aggressive and they know it. Vikings co-defensive coordinator said, "We have to get to the point to where instead of trying not to lose the game as players, we're going to win the game, and that mentality has to flip. It's gotta be 11 guys on the field that believe that they're going to go win the game. 'I'm going to make the play to win the game.'" We've seen too many times this season how letting a team hang around can be detrimental for the game's outcome. It's time to step on the gas and go.
The Vikings start a critical stretch of games with Baltimore, L.A. (Chargers) and Green Bay in consecutive weeks. All of these teams are above .500 and playoff contenders. If the Vikings want to be a playoff contender, they'll need to break through in one or more of these games.
Let's watch together on Sunday. Kickoff is at 12 pm and I'll be live tweeting (@ReggieWilsonTV) from Baltimore. We'll have all of your game day coverage throughout the evening on KARE and make sure to stay up for Vikings Extra after Sunday Night Football.
