The Vikings travel to Atlanta this week to take on QB Matt Ryan and the Falcons. We scoped around the web to see what the experts are predicting for the rivalry matchup on Sunday.
*The Falcons blew a 14-point lead against the Colts at home, and now face a tough Vikings team. The Falcons just don't look right on offense, and that's not a good thing against the Minnesota defense. Adrian Peterson will get it going on the ground and be too much for the Atlanta defense. *
Vikings 23, Falcons 21--Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
The Falcons have a dangerous passing game with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but the Vikings will need a win here to stay in the playoff chase, and the guess is they get one.
Vikings 30, Falcons 21--Ben Goessling, ESPN
This is a huge game in the NFC wild card race, as the Vikings and Falcons would currently be the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds in the conference. I like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones to have a big day in what should be an exciting game.
Falcons 28, Vikings 27--Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
The Vikings had one bad game in their last six. The Falcons have had one good game in their last six. The Vikings have the better team on both sides of the ball, and (most importantly) it's not really a big game for Minnesota. Which means they won't stain their purple pants yellow.
Vikings 26, Falcons 18--Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
When Zimmer spoke to Craig Peters of the team's website, it was exactly what you'd expect from the Coach of the Year candidate no one is talking about:
I'm disappointed in our performance, but I'm not discouraged about our future. I still believe in this football team and I believe in everything about us. We just have to figure out who we are and stay true to who we are and not let outside influences affect us and just go ahead and play.
I told them, it's OK to be upset today. But when they come in … Wednesday they better be smiling because it's time to get going.
Of course, the Vikings are just trying to wash away the stink of one loss after five straight wins. For the Falcons, it's another story. Four losses in five games after a 5-0 start.
Vikings--Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report
Each Tuesday, WhatIfSports.com's **NFL simulation engine* generates predictions and box scores for every NFL game for the coming week. The highly sophisticated algorithms simulate every play of every game to produce each team's likelihood to win. Each matchup is simulated 501 times.*
Win Percentage: 56.0%, Average Score: Vikings 25.6, Falcons 23.1--WhatIfSports.com
FiveThirtyEight's 2015 NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning Super Bowl 50. Playoff probabilities are based on 20,000 simulations of the season and will update after each game.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 49%--FiveThirtyEight.com
6 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, CBS Sports
6 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, FOX Sports
7 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, Bleacher Report
7 of 7 experts pick the Vikings, USA Today Sports
6 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, SB Nation
