The Vikings are 3-5 and no stranger to close games this season, as seven of Minnesota's eight contests have been decided by seven points or less.
The Chargers are 5-3, and have won four games this season in contests that have been decided by six or fewer points.
Kickoff between Minnesota and Los Angeles is at 3:05 p.m. (CT) Sunday from SoFi Stadium.
Let's see who the experts are picking to win the game:
Chargers 31, Vikings 21 — Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com
The Vikings defense was already going to be in trouble without Danielle Hunter and Patrick Peterson against this Chargers attack. Even if Mike Zimmer can scheme up coverage looks to slow Justin Herbert, Minnesota's coach knows his defense is overworked. Five Vikings starters played 96-98 snaps last week, a preposterous number for a unit without depth. After fighting so hard in so many close losses, this erratic Minnesota squad is overdue to simply get beaten.
Chargers 34, Vikings 28 — Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
The Vikings are out on the road for a second straight week after losing in overtime last week to the Ravens. They played well in that game, but the defense let them down. Now they have to try and slow Justin Herbert, who got back on track last week. Look for a high-scoring game here with the Chargers winning it.
Chargers 31, Vikings 27 — Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
The Vikings don't fare well in close games. The Chargers have learned how to finish those types of games much better with Justin Herbert and Brandon Staley. Minnesota's secondary is awful and the pass rush is limited, setting up Herbert to light it up with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Austin Ekeler's speed and quickness out of the backfield is also a handful. The Vikings will stay in this game with a chunk of Dalvin Cook, but look for L.A.'s pass defense to stop Kirk Cousins when it counts most again in the fourth quarter.
Vikings 24, Chargers 17 — Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
Both of these teams are inconsistent and hard to figure out, and on nothing more than a hunch I'll say the Vikings win this one.
Chargers 38, Vikings 34 — Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
The Vikings are unraveling, one week at a time.
Chargers 28, Vikings 23 — Staff, Bleacher Report
[Justin] Herbert is coming off an AFC Offensive Player of the Week performance, while Minnesota had a deflating loss to the Dak-less Cowboys and an even more deflating collapse against the Ravens. The Bolts don't have much of a home-field advantage in L.A., but that might be built into a mere three-point number in favor of a team that is a hell of a lot better than Minnesota on paper.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 31% — FiveThirtyEight.com
1 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, CBS Sports
1 of 5 experts pick the Vikings, The MMQB
2 of 9 experts pick the Vikings, ESPN
2 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, The Athletic
