We enter another week where the Minnesota Vikings will play a team they could face in the postseason. Kirk Cousins brings his Atlanta team to town, and while Minnesota knows what he will bring, we also look at what the Vikings can expect from the Falcons across the board.
What the Vikings Can Expect from the Falcons
We start with Cousins, who returns to the place he called home for the previous six years. Cousins was paid handsomely to be the missing piece to take the 2017 Vikings team that lost in the NFC championship game over the hump in 2018. That never happened, and it somewhat tarnished his view of his career in Minnesota. His numbers were great, but they only translated into three playoff games and one postseason win.
Life started well for Cousins in Atlanta, but a run of three defeats has seen the Falcons fall to a 6-6 record in this game. A four-interception game last time out against the LA Chargers has Cousins coming into this game under pressure, with first-round rookie Michael Penix waiting in the wings. Plenty of offensive weapons on this Falcons team include Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts.
The Falcons have good secondary players like AJ Terrell, Clark Phillips, Justin Simmons, and Jessie Bates. However, they aren’t great up front and struggle to get to the opposing QB. They only have 15 sacks as a team, which is dead last in the league, and six fewer than the second-lowest. The Vikings have 39 sacks as a comparison. Atlanta also conceded many first-half points, allowing opponents to score on 53% of their first-half drives, the second-worst rate in the league. Look for the Vikings to make a fast start on Sunday.
The Rams Connection
This Sunday’s meeting of the Vikings and Falcons is like a meeting of the Sean McVay coaching tree. Both teams’ head coaches and offensive coordinators arrived at their current positions via the Los Angeles Rams. Kevin O’Connell, Wes Phillips, Raheem Morris, and Zac Robinson all worked together under McVay in LA – including during the Super Bowl-winning season in 2021.
The Falcons have several other coaches who moved to Atlanta with Morris from LA, including defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. Morris is in his first year as Falcons HC, while it’s Year 3 in Minnesota for O’Connell, who widened the net for his coaching appointments, particularly in the key roles.
Vikings/Falcons History
The Vikings and Falcons have met on 33 occasions, with the Vikings leading the series 21-12. Minnesota has had much better recent meetings, winning five of the last six. Atlanta’s win came in the last meeting at US Bank Stadium in 2020.
The most famous meeting between the two teams came in the 1998 NFC Championship game, which many consider one of the most memorable conference championship games in NFL history. The Falcons won in overtime after leveling the game after the now-infamous missed field goal by Vikings kicker Gary Anderson. It was a devastating loss for a Vikings team that was the favorite to win the Super Bowl.
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