Penix Should Keep Game Close Against Lucky Vikings

Falcons vs. Vikings 8:20 ET

Sunday Night Football's game this week is not going to live up to the excitement of last week. You may or may not remember that historically awesome game that we saw, so let me refresh your memory a bit. The Ravens and Bills took each other on and racked up points. The fourth quarter was Josh Allen's quarter as the Ravens defense melted down and the Bills eked out a one-point victory over the Ravens. Another heartache of a trip to Buffalo for Baltimore, but this one at least didn't knock them out of the playoffs. This week we won't get as fun of a game, but we should get an entertaining one nonetheless as the Falcons take on the Vikings.

The Falcons are one of the darlings of the league this season. There were a lot of talking heads saying that Atlanta would come into this year as one of the better teams in the NFC and find a way to overthrow the Buccaneers for the top spot in the league. They had a great opportunity to show how good they can be in the first week of the season, and I think they did precisely that. Sure, Atlanta lost the game, but the Falcons were very competitive and had a lead with roughly two minutes remaining in the game. The defense just couldn't stop Baker Mayfield's attack. Michael Penix Jr. looked great in the game, throwing for nearly 300 yards, a touchdown, and rushing for 21 yards and a touchdown. The running game never really got going, though. It seems to be a theme for Atlanta ever since they drafted Bijan Robinson, which is a bit ironic. They only had 69 rushing yards on 28 attempts. Robinson and Allgeier split carries for some reason as well, though Robinson was significantly more involved in the passing game. 

Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) under center against the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The Vikings had an exciting game of their own in Week 1. For three quarters, the Vikings looked like hot garbage. The team struggled to get much offense going, and quarterback JJ McCarthy looked uncomfortable at best under center. At the end of the third quarter, the Bears were beating the Vikings 17-6. The Vikings ended up winning the game 27-24 after putting up three unanswered touchdowns in the final quarter with McCarthy tossing two touchdowns and running for another. I can't say that the Vikings can afford to trail for that long or struggle for that long. They will need to get things moving a bit more against the Falcons, and I think McCarthy should be more comfortable considering it is not his first game or a road game. The running game for Minnesota looked pretty decent with a mixture between Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones. The defense struggled in a lot of the game, allowing 210 passing yards and 119 rushing yards. 

You can't take much from one week, and you'll probably find team defense and offense rankings, but the reality is that you'd see the Bills and Ravens as the worst defenses in the league and the Broncos, Browns, and Colts as the best. Some of that could be true by the end of the year, but it has more to do with who they played in the first week. The Falcons were pretty good on the road last year, winning their first three games. Then they lost their four of their last five road games. The Vikings were won of the teams that beat the Falcons last year, and they won by 21 points. That game had Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold under center, but I think we should see the Falcons be able to keep this one close. I look at the Bears collapsing more than I do the Vikings winning. I will probably back out of this bet if Drake  London doesn't play though. Take the points with the Falcons.

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