Vikings have more bulletin board material this week against Baltimore

The Vikings are coming off of an impressive road win, but they're still largely being doubted in Week 10.

Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) runs the ball for a touchdown in the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

The Vikings are coming off of an impressive road win over the Lions that nobody saw coming, but it'll take more than one win to raise expectations from national experts. Ahead of this week's home game against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, the Vikings are largely being doubted again. If they needed any more bulletin board material, they've got it.

Last week, all 10 members of NFL.com's predictions panel took the Lions. So did all 11 from ESPN. This week, 9 of 10 at NFL.com are going with the Ravens, with only Daniel Jeremiah backing the Vikings to win by a single point. At ESPN, 7 of 10 with predictions in are taking Baltimore on the road.

Put it on the white board pic.twitter.com/VLYEgW66vw

— 𝙆𝙖𝙨𝙚 (@verysadvikings) November 5, 2025

The Vikings wound up as 9.5-point underdogs for last week's game in Detroit, so their victory marks the second-biggest upset in the NFL this season (behind only the Panthers beating the Packers that same day) and Minnesota's biggest upset since 2010. This week, because they play at home, the Vikings are underdogs by just 3.5 to 4.5 points, depending where you look.

If another upset is going to occur, the Vikings' first order of business is to find a way to slow down Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the Ravens' elite offense.

Jackson is as good as is it gets at the quarterback position in the NFL, having thrown 55 touchdowns passes and just 5 interceptions since the start of last season. But for whatever reason, the two-time MVP isn't running nearly as much usual this season, which has led to a career-high 12.6 percent sack rate (well above his career mark of 7.1 percent). The Vikings' path to victory starts with limiting Henry's early-down success and then getting after Jackson on passing downs. If Henry starts to rip off chunk gains and Jackson has time in the pocket, the Ravens will rack up points.

On the other side of the ball, it'll be all about J.J. McCarthy building on last week's performance. The Vikings' young quarterback did some very good things in his third career start, but there were also miscommunications, bad decisions, and flat-out missed throws. He'll look to take another step forward in his second regular season start at U.S. Bank Stadium. To keep pace with the Ravens, the Vikings will probably need the first 200-yard passing game of McCarthy's career. He has the offensive line, the weapons, and the coaching staff to help him do it.

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