NFL
By: Trevor Gibbs
The Minnesota Vikings are looking good through 3 weeks with a perfect record. They welcome the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday at home. Coming in as heavy favorites, a lot has happened to help the hot start.
What’s Been Working
The main great thing is the defense. This Brian Flores unit has been the backbone of the team the first three games. Racking up sacks and leaving QBs running for their lives, giving up one touchdown or less in back-to-back games. Through three games, they have given up 3 total touchdowns that carried the offense as they figured things out, looking for a rhythm.
Special teams has been the other quiet hero. Kicker Will Reichard hasn’t missed a kick all season, and Myles Price has a TD return on the stat sheet already in the Tampa Bay game right when the team needed a jolt. The formula has been that the defense creates turnovers, and the field position battle has been ours to win. Force teams to be one-dimensional while the offense does just enough.
On the offense, Kyler Murray is the starter with no questions about it. He has already had some big moments like his 41-yard TD pass to Jordan Addison last week. Addison has become a go-to target, as he showed against the Bucs. This hasn’t been flashy football; Minnesota ranks at the bottom of the league for EPA per play among the 3-0 teams historically. But it has been efficient enough to win, and that’s all that matters so far.
Looking At Miami
After spending 4 seasons in Miami for Brian Flores, this game has some extra juice in it. Don’t think for a minute he won’t release the hounds on Miami and look to make a statement. They also come to Minny minus star running back De’Von Achane, who suffered a torn ACL, making life harder for new QB Malik Willis, who has been ok even without a lot of weapons to use.
New head coach Jeff Hafley saw so many stars and playmakers leave in the offseason: wideouts Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, both out with injuries.
Minnesota isn’t fully healthy as well; Justin Jefferson is nursing a sprained ankle, so he will be limited, but the oddsmakers still have the Vikings a 9.5-point favorites with an 80%-win probability.
What To Watch For
If the Vikings defense keeps playing at this level, this could be a short afternoon for the Dolphins. My bigger question is if the offense can get rolling and find a spark versus a defense that has given up 627 yards through the air already. This is a great opportunity for the Vikings to pad their record and keep pace atop the NFC North heading into October.
#SKOL
