NFL
By Steve Rogers
Through four weeks the Minnesota Vikings are the talk of the town. Now they fly across the pond to play the New York Jets in London. The Vikings have played in London three times. They have won all three games. This is the first time since week one that the Vikings will be the favorite. The Vikings were favored against the New York Giants. Now they are favored over the other New York team the Jets.
Notable Nuggets
They are storylines abound for this match-up. There’s the continued rivalry of Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings. Rodgers has played against the Vikings 30 times over his career. All of them are member of the Green Bay Packers. His record is 18-11-1 against the Vikings. Rodgers and Vikings safety Harrison Smith will be facing off for the 21st time in their careers. Smith has two career interceptions of Rodgers. This is the first time Rodgers will face the Vikings as a member of the Jets and likely his last.
The Jets are the organization that drafted and dumped Sam Darnold. Darnold can exact some revenge when he faces his former team this Sunday. Since the start of this year, Darnold has been on fire. He currently leads the league in touchdowns with 11. That’s an average of 2.75 per game. Darnold is second in the league in average yards per attempt with 8.8. Darnold also has the second-best QBR at 73.5. Darnold has the top rating in the NFL at 118.9. Darnold by the numbers is in the top 10 to top 3 in every measurable quarterback statistical category. Right now Darnold is the early front-runner for the league MVP award. Darnold has been named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month for September.
Darnold is not alone there’s another former quarterback who was also coldly dumped by the New York Jets. He is current Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. A video of the Jets’ dismissal of O’Connell is worth a look as it shows just how emotionless the Jets and probably plenty of other organizations operate in that fashion. Not only does O’Connell have the Vikings team off to their best start since 2009 currently 4-0. He has coached away any and all notion of Sam Darnold being a bust. O’Connell is among the short list of coaches being discussed for coach of the year. This feels like an opportunity for O’Connell to dial up his offense to a 12 for this game and put an exclamation point on this victory.
Defense to Defense
Both the Jets and the Vikings have two of the top five defenses in the league. The Vikings have the fourth-best points against at 14.8 and the Jets are fifth at 15.5. While the Vikings are the second-best at shutting down the run game. They’re averaging giving up a whole 75 yards per game. The Jets on the other hand are number two in passing defense. They only allow 128 yards passing per game. The Jets are giving up a half-yard more rushing per game at 128.5. That will be interesting to watch as the Viking’s offense has been averaging 123.8 yards per game. The Vikings are number one in sacks with 17. The Jets are fourth with 14. The major difference between these two defenses is the turnovers. The Vikings are tied with the Packers for the top spot in interceptions with eight. Overall the Vikings are number two in total turnovers with 10. The Jets have one interception and four total turnovers putting them at 22 overall.
Offensive Potential
The defenses are very similar and also very different. Let’s look at the offenses they are going up against. The Jets average less than 300 yards of total offense. With only 91.5 yards per game rushing the Jets are 26 in the league at running. They might struggle to run the ball against the Viking’s defense that allows 16 fewer yards per game than you already average. The Jets have yet to find their rhythm offensively as they only average 19 points per game.
The Vikings offense is much more productive thus far. Both on the ground running but through the air passing as well. The Vikings offense averages over 340 yards per game. The Vikings have a balance to their offensive attack more so than the Jets do. Aaron Jones is running hard and healthy for the Vikings as is his counterpart Ty Chandler. The Vikings are averaging 29 points per game. There are so many talented weapons on this Vikings offense. Like the two first-round draft pick wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Jefferson well all he does is make big-time plays and currently leads the NFL in touchdown catches with four. Addison has missed two games with an ankle injury and still has two total touchdowns. Add in sixth-round pick Jalen Nailor who is emerging as a third threat for Darnold to look for. Nailor has three touchdowns on eight catches.
Final Thoughts
As much as this might look like a good defensive matchup I disagree. Yes, both teams have great defenses. However, the Jets offense has been underwhelming to this point. The last time the Jets defense played a team with this much offensive firepower was back on week one against the San Fransisco 49ers. The final score of that game was 32-19 and the Jets lost. The Viking’s defense has been diligent about keeping offenses off balance and off the scoreboard. When you line up the Jets and Vikings points per game you get 29-19 that’s awfully close to that 49ers game score no? So my final prediction for Sunday’s game in London is 37-16 Vikings go 5-0 to start the season heading into their bye week on cloud nine.
