The Vikings (5-2) are preparing to take on the Cleveland Browns (0-7) across the pond in London's Twickenham Stadium on Sunday.
Cleveland is coming off a 12-9 loss against the Tennessee Titans in which no touchdowns were scored by either team.
Minnesota has won three games in a row.
Let's see who the experts pick to win the fourth and final matchup in the 2017 London Games series.
On paper, this is a really bad matchup for the Brownsoffense. Minnesota has allowed 20-plus points once all season, and that came against the Steelers in Case Keenum'sfirst start. All of the Vikes prior opponents field better offenses than Hue Jackson's. First of all, who is the quarterback? Of the three — DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hoganand Cody Kessler — the middle guy has been the best. Kind of like "The Two Towers," which, as any smart person knows, is the premier offering from Peter Jackson. If Latavius Murraygets going again, Cleveland might be another Helm's Deep this week. The Brownsare 0-7 for the second straight season. The last team to pull that off was the 1993-94 Bengals, coached by David Shula. Ah, the days of David Klingler and ErikWilhelm ...
Vikings 23, Browns 10— Elliot Harrison,NFL.com
The biggest thing with the contest between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns is the quarterback shuffle in Cleveland. DeShone Kizer is starting after being benched multiple times, and it's hard to believe he'll be able to lead an effective attack against a special Minnesota defense.
The Browns don't have a horrible offense, but they find ways to screw things up — Kizer especially. He'll do some good things, but there are three or four throws every game that leave you scratching your head. He just isn't a consistent thrower of the football, and he makes plenty of rookie decisions.
The Cleveland defense can slow down the Vikings to a degree, and the Minnesota offense is a little beat up along the offensive line. However, Browns star pass-rusher Myles Garrett is in the concussion protocol, so Cleveland might not even be able to capitalize.
Ultimately, the Vikings defense should be too much for the Browns in and of itself. What we've seen from Case Keenum and Latavius Murray has been encouraging, and the Vikings should be able to get enough offense to win.
Vikings 24, Browns 10 — Chris Simms, Bleacher Report
*The Browns are winless, so maybe a trip overseas is good for them. The Vikings are 5-2 and playing great defense. With the Browns offense so bad — no matter who plays quarterback — look for the Vikings to eat that unit alive. This will be ugly. *
Vikings 24, Browns 10— Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
In my opinion *Cody Kessler is the best of the Browns' three bad quarterbacks, but Hue Jackson disagrees with me and has gone back to DeShone Kizer. It probably doesn't matter, as the Vikings' defense is good enough to shut down the Browns no matter who plays quarterback.*
Vikings 20, Browns 3 — Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
The Browns have won one of 23 games since the latest reset of the franchise, and the current regime has passed on the likes of *Deshaun Watson and Carson Wentz. Whoever passed on Watson and Wentz is about to be gone, for good.*
Vikings 30, Browns 16 — Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
FiveThirtyEight's 2015 NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of winning each week.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 84 percent— FiveThirtyEight.com
9 of 10 experts pick the Vikings,**ESPN**
8 of 8 experts pick the Vikings,**CBS Sports**
9 of 9 experts pick the Vikings,**SB Nation**
