Barring a barrage of turnovers and letdowns on special teams, the Vikings should flat out smoke the Ravens on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Baltimore is a bad 3-3 football team. Their wins came against the Bengals, Browns and Raiders. But the Bengals stunk the first two weeks of the season and they beat the Raiders the week E.J. Manuel started at quarterback in place of an injured Derek Carr.
The Ravens can still tune up an opposing offense with some playmakers on defense, but Joe Flacco and the offense are having a hard time moving the ball.
Flacco is averaging under 160 passing yards a game and he’s thrown eight interceptions to just four touchdowns. And he’s put up those numbers with a healthy receiving corp, which he won’t have Sunday in Minnesota, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Jeremy Maclin missed last weeks’ game with a shoulder injury and he has yet to practice this week. Breshad Perriman got obliterated by a hit to the head last week and he’s still in concussion protocol. So unless something called Griff Whalen can move the chains, Flacco will be targeting one decent receiver – Mike Wallace, who leads the team with 39 yards per game. That is if Wallace plays. He’s been limited in practice this week with an injury of his own.
Making matters worse is that their trio of running backs – Buck Allen, Alex Collins and Terrence West – have to go up against the NFL’s third-ranked rushing defense. Minnesota has allowed just one rushing touchdown all season.
Pro Football Focus says Minnesota has the best defense in the NFL. It could make for an easy win on Sunday.
