The Indianapolis Colts (0-1) and Minnesota Vikings are preparing for a crucial battle on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium as both teams are trying to bounce back from a season-opening loss.
Vegas has given their input making the Colts home favorites while the experts around the league are split on who to pick in the Week 2 matchup.
Here’s how the Colts Wire staff sees the Sunday matchup shaking out:
Kevin Hickey (@KevinHickey11): Colts 23, Vikings 21
This is a really tough matchup to predict. The Colts and Vikings are similar in so many ways. They are both coming off of divisional losses in Week 1 with their defenses needing to show some life after a poor performance. The offenses will also lean on the rushing attack with their featured backs.
There should be an expectation for a big day for the Colts offense. The Vikings defense doesn’t have a strong pass rush right now while their secondary struggled mightily in Week 1. Jonathan Taylor should be in for a chance to grab his first 100-yard game while T.Y. Hilton and Parris Campbell should both be in for big games.
The defense will run into a tough matchup defending Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen but outside of them, the weapons aren’t spectacular but both of those stars are likely in for a big day.
It will be close and likely to come down to the wire but with the Colts defense being better than the Vikings’ they are able to even their record.
Sam Sinclair (@samsinclair96): Colts 31, Vikings 23
After a letdown Week 1, the Colts look to rebound after their 27-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
Week 2 will be the home opener for the Colts as they will have roughly 2,500 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday. What impact that makes on the game remains to be seen.
The Minnesota Vikings are coming in off an embarrassing 43-34 home loss to the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota’s defense struggled to defend the pass allowing 364 yards to Aaron Rodgers.
The Vikings have revamped their defense in the secondary and have young corners defending the Colts’ pass offense. That’s how Indianapolis should attack this Vikings defense. On defense, the focus should go to Dalvin Cook, the Vikings running back.
Luckily the Colts rush defense has been solid since Matt Eberflus took over the defense in 2018. I got Indianapolis bouncing back from their opening week loss to the Jaguars and winning 31-23.
John Alfieri (@alfierijohn): Vikings 24, Colts 21
Vegas has the Colts as three-point, which might be a more generous line than this game indicates. This is a battle between two fairly even teams talent-wise and it will be a battle on the field come Sunday.
The Colts will have a couple of guys they have to stop defensively, Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen. Cook has home run ability and is tough to bring down while Thielen will be one of the best receivers the Colts see all year. His unique combination of route running and hands makes him a constant threat.
The Colts and the Vikings do have something in common though, a limitation at quarterback. Kirk Cousins has shown the ability to be a top QB in this league but struggles to throw the ball downfield and seems to choke in key situations. Philip Rivers sadly has similar issues.
This will be a close game that will feature over 600 yards of combined passing and 200 yards of combined rushing. Jonathan Taylor gets his first career start which will be a tall task against this talented Vikings front seven.
A field goal will be what separates these two teams in the end as the Colts drop to 0-2 on the year. Expect a big game out of Nyheim Hines and Michael Pittman—if he plays— as the Colts offense finds success once again, but fails to pick up the win.