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Titans vs. Vikings preview
Tennessee Titans (2-0) at Minnesota Vikings (0-2)
Time: Sunday, September 27 - noon, CBS
Location: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
Line: Titans -2.5
The Tennessee Titans will be visiting Minneapolis to take on the Vikings after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 33-30 in Week 2. The Vikings are coming off a Week 2 loss against the Indianapolis Colts 28-11, which made them 0-2 for the season.
Titans Keys to Victory
1. Establish the run game: Getting Derrick Henry and this Titan run game going is always important each week for Tennessee to come out with a win. Last week, the Vikings gave up over 100 yards to rookie running back Jonathan Taylor for the Colts. Expect Henry to break the century mark also.
2. Containing Dalvin Cook: If the Titans can contain Vikings running back Dalvin Cook and force Kirk Cousins to beat them through the air, the Titans will consider that a win. Cousins has struggled early this year when he has been forced to throw the ball without run support.
3. Forcing Cousins to beat you: Last week, Cousins had one of his worst games of his career. He threw for only 113 yards on 26 pass attempts and threw three interceptions. The Titan defense can look to get back on track in facing the struggling Cousins.
Vikings Keys to Victory
1. Forcing turnovers: If the Vikings defense can create turnovers and get stops, it could really help them find a way to win this week. If the Vikings want to win, they are going to have to be able to find a way to get the ball out of Ryan Tannehill and Henry’s hands.
2. Protecting the ball: Cousins has four interceptions through two weeks. The Vikings should want to pound the ball and try to rack up on time of possession. They can do this by protecting the ball and using Cook as a work horse.
3. Slowing down the Titan offense: The Vikings have given up 28-plus points in both games so far this season. They will need to find ways to limit this Titan offense. One way they can do this is ball possession and running the clock.
My Prediction
The Titans will start the NFL season 3-0 after beating the Vikings today. I feel that the Titan offense will be just too much for the struggling Viking defense. Look for the Titan defense to force a few turnovers and find their mojo after giving up a large amount of points last week to Jacksonville.