Minnesota Vikings predictions: Week 2 at Colts

When last we left you, prognosticators were mixed on who they thought would win the Week 1 matchup between Minnesota and Green Bay.

We know how that turned out and there’s no reason to dredge up that misery again only to say it obviously impacted thoughts for the Vikings’ Week 2 matchup on the road against Indianapolis.

The Colts, though, also lost their opener at Jacksonville.

That makes the Week 2 meeting between the Vikings and Colts and interesting prediction – one team will fall to 0-2. Which will it be? The so-called experts have a mixed opinion once again.

Here’s this week’s Vikings predictions from around the web:

Barry Wilner of the Associated Press: Vikings 21, Colts 19 (he labels this his upset special).

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com: Colts 30, Vikings 21. “You hate to say a Week 2 game is a must-win, but this might be for these two. They can’t afford to go 0-2 with both losing last week. The Minnesota defense was awful and I think that will carry over. Philip Rivers gets the Colts offense going as they win their first game.”

NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal: Colts 34, Vikings 27. “The Colts averaged the second-most yards per drive in Week 1, and this matchup sets up well for them. The Vikings’ total lack of an interior D-line presence in the opener was even more alarming than the young secondary’s struggles. That’s bad news coming into a matchup against one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, with rookie Jonathan Taylor positioned to rip a few big runs up the seams. Indy’s defense hasn’t played well in a long time — going back to last season, in fact — but this Colts offense is better positioned to win a shootout.”

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times: Colts 23, Vikings 21. “No reason Philip Rivers should be throwing it 46 times. With that line, he should be checking into runs, establishing a ground game and setting up play-action. The Vikings lost some key players on defense.”

John Breech of CBSSports.com: Colts 34, Vikings 24. “Basically, I think what I’m trying to say here is that I don’t trust Rivers and I don’t trust the Vikings defense, but I have to pick one of them to win, so I’m going with the Colts. If you don’t count the back-breaking interceptions that Rivers threw against the Jaguars, the Colts were actually pretty good in the game. They didn’t punt a single time and their offense moved the ball up and down the field. Fortunately for the Colts, there’s an easy way to cut down on back-breaking picks: You run the ball more and let Rivers throw less. I’m assuming that’s what they’re going to do on Sunday.”

Will Brinson of CBSSports.com: Colts 24, Vikings 17. “Everyone should be on the Vikings here, given how the Colts, you know, lost to the Jaguars. … The Vikes were dead last in terms of pass rate on first and second down. Not great! To make matters worse, their defense is bad. Just bad. I think Indy might smash them here because [Mike] Zimmer doesn’t want to get involved in any shootouts and Frank Reich is trying to run no-huddle. My biggest concern is Reich falling prey to a game script that is super negative to what the Colts should do. I’ll still take Indy here.”

Vinny Iyer of the Sporting News: Vikings 23, Colts 19. “Lost in these teams’ upset losses in Week 1 was the fact that Kirk Cousins rebounded to play very well after a slow start while Philip Rivers, despite higher pass volume and better running support, carried his shakiness from the Chargers. Minnesota’s defense is better than the one that got gashed all-around by Green Bay, while Indianapolis remains inconsistent, in the middle of the pack. The Vikings are better positioned to win with a run-heavy, efficient passing game plan with Dalvin Cook and Cousins than the Colts are with their young backs and Rivers.”

Tad Haslop of the Sporting News: Vikings 30, Colts 23. “The Colts getting a field goal at home makes this a toss-up game in the eyes of oddsmakers, which seems reasonable for a contest featuring a pair of contenders who suffered disappointing results in Week 1. The Vikings, though, lost to a much better team than the Colts did. They also have more stability at quarterback and better health in the running game.”

The Miami Herald’s Greg Cote: Vikings 27, Colts 20.

Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com: Vikings 30, Colts 21.

Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski: Vikings.

Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area: Vikings 24, Colts 21. “The Vikings are better than they showed against Rodgers and the Packers in Week 1. Philip Rivers looked like the same old gunslinger in his Indy debut, throwing two interceptions in a loss to the Jaguars. Mike Zimmer’s defense forces a couple of turnovers and Adam Thielen finds the end zone twice as the Vikings get back to .500.”

Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith and Mike Florio: MDS – Vikings 20, Colts 17; Florio – Vikings 30, Colts 21.

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: Vikings 27, Lions 17.

Collegefootballnews.com’s Pete Fituak: Vikings 30, Colts 27. “Minnesota won’t exactly fix the glitch, but it’ll be far tighter against the passing game than it was against Green Bay. The offense will be a bit more effective earlier in the game than it was last week, and while the defense will get hit hard, there were will be a whole lot of bending without too much breaking.”

Damond Talbot of Draft Diamonds: Vikings.

The six analysts at SI.com are split down the middle with three each taking the Vikings and Colts.

Five of seven USA Today writers pick the Vikings to win.

Only one of the three writers at Athlon Sports pick the Vikings to win.

Six of 10 SB Nation writers predict a Vikings victory.

Four of seven PennLive.com writers pick the Vikings.