ESPN Unanimously Predicting Doom for Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings

The Atlanta Falcons dropped their opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 last week in a game they probably felt they should have won. They outgained the Buccaneers by nearly 100 yards and held the ball for almost 10 more minutes.

Still, their inability to stop Bucs' quarterback Baker Mayfield on third down and poor special teams doomed Atlanta to an 0-1 start.

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Atlanta heads to Minnesota on Sunday Night Football to take on the Vikings on national television. The Vikings are fresh off a thrilling 27-24 come-from-behind win against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

The Falcons are a 3.5-point underdog to the Vikings, according to ESPN Bet, and their panel of analysts doesn't give Atlanta much of a chance to even their record at 1-1. They're unanimous in their predictions that the Falcons fall to 0-2.

ESPN's panel includes reporter Pamela Maldonado, fantasy analyst Eric Moody, and analytics writer Seth Walder.

Maldonado's pick: Vikings 24, Falcons 20
Moody's pick: Vikings 23, Falcons 20
Walder's pick: Vikings 24, Falcons 17
FPI prediction: MIN, 64.3% (by an average of 5.6 points)

ESPN included a foreboding stat for the game. Not only do the Falcons rarely win as underdogs, but they don't cover the spread under Raheem Morris either. The Falcons are 1-5 ATS as underdogs since hiring coach Morris last season, according to ESPN research.

Yet, there are plenty of reasons to think the Falcons can pull the upset on Sunday night. The Vikings are without several key defenders, including Pro Bowl linebacker Andrew van Ginkel, and quarterback Michael Penix has looked terrific in his young career.

"Penix had 298 passing yards in the loss to the Buccaneers in Week 1. The last Falcons player to record at least 250 passing yards in each of the team's first two games was Matt Ryan in 2020," according to ESPN Research.

The Falcons were let down by their special teams last week, even beyond the game-ending miss by Younghoe Koo. They're hoping to remedy their kicking problems by leaving Koo in Atlanta and employing former Vikings kicker Parker Romo. However, their kick coverage has looked susceptible as well.

Walder thinks the Vikings could take advantage of the Falcons' poor coverage unit.

"Minnesota's Myles Price will return a kick or punt for a touchdown. Price had juice in his NFL debut Monday night, particularly as a punt returner, where he recorded 22 yards over expectation -- second most in Week 1," Walder wrote.

Kickoff is set for Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. EST on NBC.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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