Vikings vs Saints London 10/2/22

[VikingsVictorious]

Looking forward to another victory and a game that I can finish in time to still make it to church.

[J. Kapp 11]

Looking forward to another victory and a game that I can finish in time to still make it to church.

Vikings fans need to prepare … this game could be even uglier than the Lions game.

The Saints have some really good players on defense. Our offense is going to have its hands full trying to score. Their offense, however, is a dumpster fire, led by the ultimate dumpster-pyro, Jameis Winston.

I could see a 17-10 type game. Vikings’ favor, of course.

[VikingsVictorious]

Looking forward to another victory and a game that I can finish in time to still make it to church.

Vikings fans need to prepare … this game could be even uglier than the Lions game.

The Saints have some really good players on defense. Our offense is going to have its hands full trying to score. Their offense, however, is a dumpster fire, led by the ultimate dumpster-pyro, Jameis Winston.

I could see a 17-10 type game. Vikings’ favor, of course.

48-0
35-33
17-10

As long as the first number is Vikings I'm happy with any of those results.

[StumpHunter]

Looking forward to another victory and a game that I can finish in time to still make it to church.

Vikings fans need to prepare … this game could be even uglier than the Lions game.

The Saints have some really good players on defense. Our offense is going to have its hands full trying to score. Their offense, however, is a dumpster fire, led by the ultimate dumpster-pyro, Jameis Winston.

I could see a 17-10 type game. Vikings’ favor, of course.

Plus those overseas games tend to be bad games in general no matter who is playing.

Shutouts for instance, happen at twice the rate as they do when games are played in the US. There have also been 13 games of 31 where a team has scored 10 points or fewer, with the designated home team being the most likely team to score 10 or fewer. The home team is also most likely to lose the game, winning only 13 of 31 games. This is not a coincidence, as the NFL typically chooses bad franchise for the home team to avoid screwing over a contender, and there is no actual homefield advantage obviously.

For the most part the better team does win these games, usually big. 17 of 31 winning teams won by two scores or more and for context only 18 games have been won with a 2+ score lead in the 48 games played this season.

[J. Kapp 11]

Interesting things about the Saints.

First, they should be 0-3 except that Atlanta choked away their game in Week 1. That’s neither here nor there, and it’s just my opinion.

But what IS fact is that the Saints’ pass rush ranks last in pressure rate (16.2 percent), last in average time to pressure (2.88 seconds) and has the seventh lowest blitz rate (19 percent).

That surprises me. I guess I just assumed they were really good on defense, especially rushing the passer. They have been stellar the past several years. We Vikings fans are frustrated with our lack of pressure … the Saints have been even worse. This bodes well for Kirk Cousins, who, for all the criticisms against him, is one of the best QBs in the league when he’s not pressured.

If Jameis Winston starts, he’s not good against zone defenses. If Andy Dalton starts, I’m not worried. Everybody cites our jinx against backup QBs … we beat Dalton and the Bears in Week 18 last year, when Zimmer had pretty much lost the team.

Always the optimist, I like our chances in this game.

[VikingsVictorious]

I placed a bet on the Vikings giving 2.5 points. I like making bets on teams I expect to win when they have to give less than 3 points. Glad I didn't bet on the Vikings covering the spread last week as it was 6.5.

[cogitator]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the London NFL games but were afraid to ask. Or things you didn't know you wanted to know. This is from a year ago, so obviously not specific to the Vikings games, but some interesting information.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/10/1 ... nt-jaguars

[Texas Vike]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the London NFL games but were afraid to ask. Or things you didn't know you wanted to know. This is from a year ago, so obviously not specific to the Vikings games, but some interesting information.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/10/1 ... nt-jaguars

Great read, thanks for posting it!

Looks like we're getting Andy Dalton instead of Winston. Dalton is a steadier hand on the ship's mast, IMO, with lower ceiling but higher floor. The Saints are also missing MT, which should help us quite a lot. On paper, this should be a pretty straight-forward win, but some factors make it difficult to predict: 1) we've taken vastly different approaches concerning the inevitable jet-lag. The Saints have been in the UK since early in the week. IIRC the Vikings will fly there tonight. 2) We have a poor record against backup QBs and Dalton is underrated IMO. Our secondary doesn't inspire much confidence, but the Saints have given up a lot of sacks. Should be interesting.

[CharVike]

Not exactly a barn burning event for the Londoners so I'm sure they will pound many Gin and Tonics during pre game festivities. Looks like Dalton will take over for Famous and Hill is back playing QB so he'll probably bang out a few busted run plays and look for a deep strike off that. He will confuse our secondary who might leave a guy uncovered deep. Dalton is a sitting duck in the pocket but we can't generate much pressure. I imagine they will run Kamara as much as possible. I don't see much from them. I liked that rookie WR Olave in the draft and he's starting to make noise and could make a play or two. On our side everyone knows they will put half the secondary on JJ so that will eliminate him. It's up to the other guys to chip in. I guess we will run Matti until he falls over and hope he can get us in position to kick a few easy FGs. This will be a weird score of 13-12 or 11-8 or 15-5 or some other once in a generation deal but I think we eek it out.

[Crax]

Sounds like it will be Dalton.

Andrew Krammer
@Andrew_Krammer
·
22m
Andy Dalton will likely start vs Vikings for a third straight year with Jameis Winston listed doubtful.

Almost feel like this is worse, reminiscent of the Cowboys without Dak...

[JJBreaksRecords]

It says Harrison Smith wont play. I'd sure like to see Cine get a few reps.

[CharVike]

It says Harrison Smith wont play. I'd sure like to see Cine get a few reps.

Didn't the other guy have a good game last week? Should he ride the pine for that?

[CharVike]

Sounds like it will be Dalton.

Andrew Krammer
@Andrew_Krammer
·
22m
Andy Dalton will likely start vs Vikings for a third straight year with Jameis Winston listed doubtful.

Almost feel like this is worse, reminiscent of the Cowboys without Dak...

It's worse for us because Famous will turn the ball over. Getting some interceptions always helps.

[soflavike]

Looks like MIchael Thomas will not be playing for the Saints, nor will Andrus Peat, their starting LG. Maybe we can get some pressure on Dalton and ruin his day.

[JJBreaksRecords]

It says Harrison Smith wont play. I'd sure like to see Cine get a few reps.

Didn't the other guy have a good game last week? Should he ride the pine for that?

I didnt say the whole game. I said a few reps.