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There’s no time for the Minnesota Vikings to mope around about losing quarterback Kirk Cousins for the remainder of the season, as they have to turn around and get ready to take on a division leader on the road.
This weekend, the (presumably) Jaren Hall-led Vikings will head to the deep south to take on the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Vikings are searching for their fourth straight win, while the Falcons will be looking to stay atop the NFC South with New Orleans.
Of course, the Vikings will have to do so without Cousins, who was arguably having his best season before tearing his right Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter against Green Bay on Sunday, an injury that will end what had been a brilliant 2023 season. They’ll likely turn to Hall, the team’s fifth-round pick in this past April’s Draft, because. . .well, there really isn’t anybody else at this point.
The Falcons are coming off of a disappointing loss to Tennessee that saw them allow four touchdown passes to another rookie quarterback, Will Levis, in his first-ever NFL start. That game also saw the Falcons bench second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder in favor of veteran (and former Viking) Taylor Heinicke. There hasn’t been any word yet on who the Falcons will start on Sunday.
Likely owing to the uncertainty around the quarterback situations for both teams, the Falcons have been installed as an early 5-point favorite by the folks from the DraftKings Sportsbook. It will be interesting to see how that line changes throughout the course of the week.
Kickoff for this one is slated for noon Central time, with the broadcast being handled by the FOX family of networks.