The Minnesota Vikings will play their second primetime game to begin the NFL season. This time, it’ll be at home against the Atlanta Falcons.
Minnesota struggled in its season-opener against the Chicago Bears, but added 21 points in the fourth quarter to stun the Chicago faithful. Now, J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings will look to use that momentum in tonight’s home opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
Can the Vikings begin the season 2-0? I’ve got a best bet and player prop for tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. Check out my top NFL Sunday Night Football picks & player props below.
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Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings (Game Pick)
The Atlanta Falcons lost their season opener to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend, 23-20. Younghoe Koo missed the potential game-tying field goal in that game and will not be making the trip to Minnesota for this one. Instead, the Falcons will use Parker Romo as the place kicker. He’ll have his first opportunity with the Falcons.
In last week’s game, Michael Penix Jr. played well. He threw for 298 yards and added a passing touchdown. He also scored a rushing touchdown on six carries. The team struggled rushing the football, even with Bijan Robinson in the backfield. He finished with 12 carries for 24 yards and will now take on a Vikings rush defense that looked very good against the Bears last weekend.
Robinson still had a long play of 50 yards, but it was through the air and not on the ground.
The Vikings escaped the Bears last weekend, but the secondary and tackling didn’t look so great. The Falcons can certainly take advantage of Minnesota’s secondary in this game, especially with Drake London available to play.
Meanwhile, the Falcons really didn’t show much on defense, either. They tackled better and held Baker Mayfield to just 167 yards passing on 17-of-32 passing. Yet, Mayfield still added three touchdowns. Don’t expect J.J. McCarthy to dominate. But he certainly gained some confidence from the fourth quarter of last week’s game.
Both offenses should be able to do enough to hit the projected over of 44.5 points.
Pick: Over 44.5 Points (-110)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings (Player Prop)
Michael Penix Jr. added 298 yards passing against the Buccaneers in Week 1. But don’t forget that he finished with 312 passing yards to close out the regular season last year for the Falcons. He’s thrown for more than 600 yards in his last two regular-season games combined.
At the end of the day, the Vikings didn’t throw much with McCarthy. They were conservative. But when the Vikings decided to air it out, they got some good results. McCarthy threw an interception, but still completed two touchdowns on 13-of-20 passing. Pro Football Focus (PFF) gave the Vikings’ secondary a 40 grade. Look for Penix to find more success in the air.
Penix recorded 42 passing attempts last weekend since the running game couldn’t get much going. The analytics suggest the same thing will happen tonight. The Falcons will struggle to run the football and pass it more frequently. Let’s take Penix to throw for at least 226 passing yards tonight.
Pick: Michael Penix Jr. Over 225.5 Passing Yards (-114)
