Questions Answered: MIN-CHI Prediction, Teddy or Tua, Saving Grace
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the October 7th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
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Q: What’s the prediction for Vikings-Bears in Week 5?
A: We’ll take the Vikings, 31-13.
There’s simply no excuse — none whatsoever; not even traveling back from London — for the Vikings to lose. Minnesota’s roster is leaps and bounds more talented than Chicago’s, the Vikings are at home, and Kevin O’Connell’s team does virtually everything better.
Of course, the teams are division rivals, which always thickens the plot. But jot this down — the Vikings have absolutely no reason to lose in Week 5. If they do, no yeah-buts are allowed afterward.
Q: Do you think Teddy Bridgewater or Tua Tagovailoa will play for the Dolphins against the Vikings next weekend?
A: It’s not ironclad, but we’ll say Bridgewater, mainly because the NFL basically revealed the severity of Tagovailoa’s head trauma when it fired the doctor who cleared the young passer after Week 3.
Bridgewater is also one of the best QB2s in the league, and a team employs such caliber quarterback for a reason. Tagovailoa is dealing with one of the only quasi-deadly injuries in football. It’s best to play it safe, particularly with all the scrutiny on the situation.
We won’t be surprised if Tagovailoa is “healed” by next weekend, but our gut says Bridgewater.
Q: Who has been the Vikings saving grace this season?
A: We don’t have a who — but a thing. A lack of penalties.
The Vikings are No. 1 in the NFL through four weeks via penalty yards — as in the fewest. Last year, they ranked third to last in the same metric.
Put simply, they’re not shooting themselves in the foot. If they were doing that, the win-loss could be flipped by a game or two.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).