Week 3 features the Minnesota Vikings hosting the Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams made the playoffs last season, but now find themselves at 0-2 after the first 2 weeks. Historically, teams that start 0-2 end up making the playoffs about 10-15% of the time, making this game extremely important to avoid starting 0-3. Considering those details, this should be one of the most exciting games of the week even with both teams being winless. There will also be big decisions to be made for both organizations depending on who loses. If the Chargers lose, I would not be surprised to see HC Brandon Staley fired between the final whistle and Monday morning. If the Vikings lose, they will need to evaluate how they want to attack the rest of the season; tank for a top QB or continue to fight and try to win a very winnable division even starting 0-3. I can pretty much guarantee you that neither of these teams will win the Super Bowl this season, but you never want to see your hometown team go into complete tank mode. That is just depressing.
Both the Chargers and Vikings will be coming into this game with key injuries, so we can call that part a wash. The Chargers are the highest scoring 0-2 team so far, scoring the 6th most points in the NFL through the first 2 weeks. The Vikings have only scored the 18th most points through 2 weeks. Both teams have their struggles on defense, but the Vikings seems to be more due to the Offense and Special Teams already having committed 7 turnovers! Not exactly helping the defense in any way. I would say the Chargers have a much stronger offense and the Vikings have a slightly better defense. With that being said, I don't think the Vikings Offense will be able to keep up with the Chargers' Offense for the full game. Justin Jefferson is an alien and will likely go for over 100 receiving yards again, but QB Cousins will unfortunately throw for 2 first half interceptions causing the Vikings to have to fight back in the second half (maybe toss in a strip sack for a 3rd consecutive game?). All of the headlines I am reading keep asking "How many yards and touchdowns will Cousins RACK up this Sunday?!" It's a must win for both teams and everybody is talking about how Cousins is expected to put up another crazy statistical game...that usually doesn't end well for him. I predict a 31-24 victory for the LA Chargers. I hope I am wrong, but then again, continuing this winless trend gets us closer and closer to good old USC QB, Caleb Williams, in next year's draft!
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