The Minnesota Vikings vanquished a number of demons on Monday night with their first home win of the season when they downed the San Francisco 49ers, 22-17. The win was a rare triumph for their quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who has a history of both trouble beating teams with winning records and in primetime games.
Now, in retrospect, even though I thought the 49ers would bounce off their first loss of the season with a victory in Minnesota, there was a plausible case to be made for the home team on Monday night too. First, the 49ers were banged up in their loss the prior week in Cleveland, having three of their primary offensive weapons sidelined. That list included Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams.
Both Samuel and Williams missed the Monday night loss, while McCaffrey played with his injury and fumbled away a scoring opportunity on the 49ers first offensive series. Still, San Francisco appeared poised to pick up their sixth win in seven starts, but didn’t.
So, are the Vikings, who had lost their previous four home games better than we thought?
Nope.
They picked up the wind of some intriguing motivational factors as a home team on Monday night getting points against an opponent that had them fearful of a one-sided loss. They took that hand and parlayed it into a surprise victory.
Now what?
The Vikings head to Green Bay to meet a Packers team looking to find footing in their first season in thirty years with their offense not under the direction of a pair of current and future Hall of Fame members, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Their current signal caller, Jordan Love, does not have the look of a player destined to end his playing career with an induction into the Hall.
So, take the Vikings to continue on their winning ways?
No.
Now the Vikings go from a team playing to avoid getting beat at home by a better team to a road appearance against a Packers squad that is coming off three straight losses and needing a win to stay in shouting distance of the NFC North leading Detroit Lions.
The Vikings have one more win than Green Bay entering this contest. Minnesota has won their two most recent games and have three victories on the season. The Packers have two wins without a victory since September 24, a one point conquest of the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field.
This week, the Vikings go from the hunter to the hunted. Before their win on Monday night, Minnesota was an underdog in this week’s game. Now, following their victory, the Vikings have moved to a pick ‘em on the point spread. That means, the Vikings Monday Night Football win actually reduces their chances from a motivational perspective of winning this game and they pay the price on the line. Those facts land the Packers in a perfect spot to take advantage of a home win set up by the 49ers loss on Monday night.
Qoxhi Picks: Green Bay Packers (pk) over Minnesota Vikings