In a battle of 7-6 teams, the Minnesota Vikings are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon. The last time the Vikings played on Saturday afternoon was also in week 15. They beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime, setting a record for the largest comeback (33 points) in NFL history.
The Vikings don’t have the greatest history against the Bengals. The series is tied 7-7 but the Vikings are only 1-7 in games played in Cincinnati. Their only win in Cincinnati came in 1992 where they won by a score of 42-7.
Heading into Saturday’s game, our staff broke down one player for the Vikings that could be a big difference-maker.
Managing editor Tyler Forness: OLB Danielle Hunter
When Hunter signed a restructured contract at the beginning of training camp, there were three bonuses he could meet with $1 million attached to each threshold. Hunter has bet two of the three already and needs just 0.5 sacks to reach the last threshold.
He is going against a really tasty matchup. Both Orlando Brown and Jonah Williams are tied for the 49th-best offensive tackle per Pro Football Focus and neither is the most nimble on their feet. With Jake Browning in the game over Joe Burrow due to injury, Hunter could be primed for a big game on Saturday.
Columnist Judd Zulgad: WR Justin Jefferson
Jefferson suffered a chest injury early in his first game back last Sunday and was taken to the hospital to be examined. After getting the all clear, he expects to play against the Bengals. That would be great news for Nick Mullens. Jefferson, who had missed seven games because of a hamstring injury, should make life easier on the pocket-passing Mullens as he makes his first start for Minnesota. Vikings’ receivers have had issues with drops this season, a problem that continued against the Raiders, but adding Jefferson back into the mix will help with that. It also will create more opportunities for rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison to get open.
Columnist Saivion Mixson: RB Ty Chandler
Asking Alexander Mattison to go on Saturday after his high ankle sprain on Sunday will be a tall task. It’s got all the makings of Ty Chandler making his first start against the Bengals on a shortened week. Chandler gives a semblance of hope to a run game that has been inconsistently good but mostly pedestrian this season.
With the Vikings starting their fourth quarterback of the year, this will be a team effort to get past a Cincinnati defense that has struggled but looked to find their stride against the Colts last week. The Bengals were second in rushing EPA/play in week 14. A tall task awaits Chandler, it’s time to see if he’s up for it.
Columnist Chris Spooner: QB Nick Mullens
It feels like a given to say that all Vikings fans are going to have a watchful eye on new quarterback Nick Mullens on Saturday, but it’s an unavoidable fact. The play at the position simply has not been good enough the past few weeks, and that’s a season-ender if it continues. Minnesota is still in the playoff picture – for now – but they’re fading fast thanks to the subpar play from the quarterback.
Is it *all* the quarterback’s fault? No. Seldom does everything that happens in a game come down to one player, let alone a string of games. But the move had to be made if this team has any hope of holding onto their playoff positioning. Now it’s time to see what Mullens can do for the Vikings. We got a brief glimpse of it last week, and we’ve seen a couple games worth of what he can do during his time in San Francisco. But that was several years ago with a vastly different set of circumstances. Can he be what the Vikings need? We’re about to see.
