Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers: Key information and first quarter discussion

We are just about an hour away from kickoff at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as the Los Angeles Chargers and your Minnesota Vikings will do battle as part of the late window of NFL action. The Vikings are looking to avoid a third straight loss, and they’ve got a tough task ahead of them against a Chargers team that is capable of putting up points in bunches.

Here’s everything you need to know about today’s contest.

Date and Time: Sunday, 14 November 2021, 3:05 PM Central time

Location: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Television Coverage: KSTP-9 in the Twin Cities, FOX affiliates around the country, DirecTV Channel 713

Radio Coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 137, XM Channel 380, SiriusXM App Channel 820

Line: Vikings +3.5, over/under 53

Chris’ Prediction: Vikings 30, Chargers 27

Three Keys

1) Once again, open up the offense - The Chargers come into this game as the worst-ranked run defense in the NFL, which means that we’re likely going to see a big dose of Dalvin Cook this afternoon. However, that doesn’t mean the Vikings can completely abandon the passing game, as the Chargers have plenty of injury issues in the secondary as well. This team is capable of big plays. . .it just needs to start taking more shots. Hopefully we’ll see that happen today.

2) Get after Justin Herbert - The Chargers’ young quarterback is quickly climbing the ranks of the NFL’s best at the position, but he’s still prone to the occasional mistake. The Vikings are going to have to put themselves in a position where they can bring the heat on the second-year quarterback, including keeping the Chargers behind the chains so that they can concentrate more on bringing pressure.

3) Win on special teams - We saw Kene Nwangwu make an immediate impact for the Vikings against Baltimore with a big kickoff return for a touchdown, and we need to see more of that from this team. A team like the Vikings can’t afford mistakes anywhere, and particularly on special teams. If they can keep getting solid performances from guys like Nwangwu and punter Jordan Berry, they can tilt the field in their favor.

Know the Foe: Bolts from the Blue

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As always, we will be opening up a new discussion thread at the start of each quarter, so make sure you’re keeping an eye out for that and move the discussion along accordingly.

I don’t want to see this team lose a third consecutive game, and I’m pretty sure that you don’t either. So, hopefully we can all meet up back here in about three hours or so and talk about how awesome it was to see the Vikings put up another W.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!