We go into another week where the Minnesota Vikings will play a group they might deal with in the postseason. Kirk Cousins brings his Atlanta group to town, and while Minnesota understands what he will bring, we likewise take a look at what the Vikings can anticipate from the Falcons throughout the board.
What the Vikings Can Expect from the Falcons
We begin with Cousins, who goes back to the location he called home for the previous 6 years. Cousins was paid handsomely to be the missing out on piece to take the 2017 Vikings group that lost in the NFC national championship over the bulge in 2018. That never ever occurred, and it rather stained his view of his profession in Minnesota. His numbers were fantastic, however they just equated into 3 championship game and one postseason win.
Life began well for Cousins in Atlanta, however a run of 3 beats has actually seen the Falcons are up to a 6-6 record in this video game. A four-interception video game last time out versus the LA Chargers has Cousins entering this video game under pressure, with first-round novice Michael Penix waiting in the wings. A lot of offending weapons on this Falcons group consist of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts.
The Falcons have great secondary gamers like AJ Terrell, Clark Phillips, Justin Simmons, and Jessie Bates. They aren't excellent up front and battle to get to the opposing QB. They just have 15 sacks as a group, which is dead last in the league, and 6 less than the second-lowest. The Vikings have 39 sacks as a contrast. Atlanta likewise yielded lots of first-half points, enabling challengers to score on 53% of their first-half drives, the second-worst rate in the league. Search for the Vikings to make a quick start on Sunday.
The Rams Connection
This Sunday's conference of the Vikings and Falcons resembles a conference of the Sean McVay training tree. Both groups' head coaches and offending planners got to their present positions by means of the Los Angeles Rams. Kevin O'Connell, Wes Phillips, Raheem Morris, and Zac Robinson all collaborated under McVay in LA– consisting of throughout the Super Bowl-winning season in 2021.
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The Falcons have a number of other coaches who transferred to Atlanta with Morris from LA, consisting of protective organizer Jimmy Lake. Morris remains in his very first year as Falcons HC, while it's Year 3 in Minnesota for O'Connell, who expanded the web for his training consultations, especially in the crucial functions.
Vikings/Falcons History
The Vikings and Falcons have actually satisfied on 33 celebrations, with the Vikings leading the series 21-12. Minnesota has actually had better current conferences, winning 5 of the last 6. Atlanta's win was available in the last conference at United States Bank Stadium in 2020.
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The most popular conference in between the 2 groups can be found in the 1998 NFC Championship video game, which numerous think about among the most remarkable championship game video games in NFL history.
