The Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills come into play tonight both leading their divisions with 6-1 records.
That is where the similarities between these two teams end.
The Vikings play out of the National Football Conference. The Bills out of the American Football Conference. The Vikings have the best defense in football, the Bills the highest scoring offense. The Vikings, despite their record, are apparently in search of an upgrade at quarterback. The Bills have perhaps the best signal caller in the game with Josh Allen.
The Vikings have lost only one game this year, that was last week against division rival Detroit, 19-15. The Bills are coming off their largest point differential of the season when they blasted the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday, 36-10. The Bills commonly give up 30 or more points a game, they’ve done that in four of their six wins, but rely on their potent offense to carry the day. Their only loss was when they were limited to 26 points by the New England Patriots in Week Four action.
Only once this season, on opening day in a win over the Green Bay Packers, have the Vikings scored more than 23 points … but they have only allowed since that game a total of 71 points in their most recent six games.
So, is tonight just a simple case of the best defense against the best offense?
No.
We also have the situation where last week the Bills hosted the Baltimore Ravens at their new stadium in a real tough motivational spot. The Ravens, who have a solid defense but were without Lamar Jackson since he was injured during a win over the Tennessee Titans on October 4th, had lost two straight games. For the Bills contest, Baltimore was getting their All-Pro Quarterback back for this critical game while the Bills were holding first place in their division and Baltimore needed a win in pursuit of all three of their competitors in the talented AFC North Division.
The Ravens, following their losses while Jackson was sidelined, came into the Bills contest with four wins and three losses, a record that would be good enough to lead the NFC South Division but last place in the AFC North. In other words, it was a more important game for the Ravens, and their hopes were high with the return of their star quarterback.
The return lasted one play.
Jackson broke his thumb on the first play he ran and had surgery that will sideline him likely for the rest of the season. The Ravens, still in a must win situation, turned to back-up Tyler Huntley, but not too long after Jackson was knocked out of the game so was Huntley, who has also undergone surgery for the injury suffered in last week’s Bills contest.
That left Baltimore with an undrafted rookie to lead their offense, and that didn’t work enroute to a 36-10 drubbing.
The Bills knew what the challenge was when the Ravens visited Buffalo last week … and instead of getting the game they expected and prepared for they coasted to their most lopsided win of the season.
What does this do to Buffalo motivationally?
When a team prepares for a tough challenge and the victory comes easy, there is a natural tendency to fall trap to overconfidence in their next outing. If the Bills were playing the New York Jets or Titans, they would have a lot of trouble getting mentally right for the contest. But shouldn’t the Vikings defense and record get their attention?
One might think so, but it simply doesn’t play out like that in reality.
What we have tonight is a more motivated Vikings team with the best defense in football on their side and challenged by the Allen led offense. The Bills are a top team, but their defense is not Super Bowl quality. The better defense is most often the way to go in a matchup like this … and with even more extending circumstances spiking the better defensive team’s performance it is a solid spot for the home underdog to win tonight.
Qoxhi Picks: Minnesota Vikings (+3½) over the Buffalo Bills