4 Bold Predictions for Minnesota Vikings’ Season Opener vs Giants

Excitement fills the air ahead of the Minnesota Vikings’ season opener against the New York Giants on Sunday. While it often takes a full season to separate contenders from pretenders, starting with a fresh slate always provides reasons to be optimistic.

Last year’s Vikings started with a loss against the Buccaneers when many NFL experts didn’t expect much from a Tampa Bay team led by Baker Mayfield. But what about the Vikings? Could Sam Darnold have a Mayfield-like career renaissance in Minnesota?

On Sunday, we’ll finally get our first clue. Below, we make four Vikings vs Giants bold predictions ahead of their Week 1 matchup.

Sam Darnold has a 300-yard Minnesota Vikings debut

Sam Darnold could very well fall flat on his face with the Vikings. Yet, there’s a reason the Jets saw enough potential to make him the third overall pick too. Of course, that was six years ago. But now, Darnold’s maturity could work in his favor.

He’s been humbled at every stop since his Jets departure. Except, last year, one of the NFL’s brightest offensive minds (Kyle Shanahan) saw something in Darnold, and now that same scenario is playing out in Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell.

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If Darnold is going to have a strong season, it starts by putting his best foot forward against a Giants team with low expectations. After allowing the seventh-most points in the NFL a season ago, now some would argue the Giants have one of the NFL’s worst cornerback groups.

If Darnold can’t pick them apart, it could be a long season, but we expect a big game from the former first-round pick, provided Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor are both available after battling recent injuries.

Darnold has finished with 300 or more passing yards in just eight of his 56 starts, so accomplishing that feat in his first official appearance with the Vikings would be significant.

Vikings finish with the NFL’s most points in Week 1

If Addison and Nailor are both healthy and as long as the Vikings can avoid any other surprise injuries, they have the potential to start the season with a bang. The Giants are breaking in a new defensive coordinator.

While Brian Burns is a significant addition to New York’s front-seven, this defense doesn’t look much improved from last season. The Vikings, however, have completely rebuilt their offense.

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Sure, Kirk Cousins is gone, but Aaron Jones is a massive upgrade over Alexander Mattison. Instead of being stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage, Jones can help shorten the chains, handing Darnold fewer 3rd-and-long situations that set him up to fail.

If the Vikings’ offense is firing on all cylinders, they just might lead the NFL in scoring, for one week anyway. We’ll see if they can pull it off, but a questionable Giants offense could help seal the deal.

Giants fail to score 10 points

Giants fans don’t have a lot of confidence in their offense heading into the season. Which, after letting their best skill position player (Saquon Barkley) leave for the Eagles, it’s understandable that they’d have doubts about Daniel Jones too.

Jones struggled last season, even with Barkley, but now that defenses won’t have to worry about game-breaking plays coming from the backfield, being able to shut down Devin Singletary shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

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The X-factor here is Malik Nabers. If ‘Danny Dimes’ can make a quick connection with the former LSU star receiver, then the Vikings could be in for a long day. But then again, the Giants’ offensive line isn’t exactly a cast of Pro Bowlers either. This leads us to our next bold prediction.

Vikings defense records six sacks

The Vikings didn’t have more than five sacks in any single game last season. They tied for having the 13th-fewest sacks in the NFL and averaged 2.5 per game. That’s part of why the Vikings made improving their pass rush such a big priority.

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They couldn’t convince Danielle Hunter to spend another season in purple. But getting Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner in one offseason came as a surprise.

Combine those sack specialists with a rebuilt secondary, and the Vikings could be ready to unleash on a Giants O-Line that allowed an NFL-high 85 sacks last season. While the Giants have since rebuilt their line, Pro Football Focus still ranks their OL as the fourth-worst group in the league.

We’ll put our belief in Brian Flores to scheme up some exotic blitz packages that leaves Daniel Jones’ head spinning when the final whistle blows. Who knows, the Vikings might even finish with six sacks for the first time since Week 6 of the 2022 season.

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