It ALL Leads to This...

It all leads to this as we preview the Vikings versus Bills Monday night battle that is building up to be the biggest game of the year for both of these teams looking to establish themselves as leading contenders in each conference as we are nearing the crunch time of this season. We're going to break down all of that in this episode of Vikings Digest, but first, we are just under 200 subscribers away from hitting our goal of 6,000 subs before kickoff on Monday night, so if you're part of the 89% of viewers who are not yet subscribed and you want to stay up to date on all things Vikings, make sure to hit that subscribe button and the bell icon so you don't miss any of the episodes when they drop. This is going to be a very big game against the Buffalo Bills, in a game in which the Vikings are only at a 38% chance of winning on Kalshi right now. And on Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. For example, if you were to make a $25 trade on the Vikings to win on Monday night, that would give you a payout of $63.05. Or if you want to jump in on the Jonathan Taylor sweepstakes and place a $25 trade on Minnesota to be his next team, That would give you a payout of $213.90. So if you are interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description or pin comment. Use code DIGESTNFL to get $55 added to your account instantly when you trade your first $25. With that, let's just hop right into it, folks, which is the Vikings versus Bills game preview on Monday Night Football. We know it's going to be a very big game for the Vikings and the Bills. When you look at how this game is breaking down, of course, the biggest thing. is going to be the defense and of course I have Ben Volker here from Bill's Digest to help me break all this down for you guys. Ben welcome to the show as we kind of get going here with this very big week. What are your initial thoughts or storylines and things you're looking out for in this game? Well, thank you once first, Griffin, for having me here today. I'm very excited to break this down, all of this regarding the Bills and the Vikings. And I think the biggest storyline to look for here is that it is the number one offense in the league with the Buffalo Bills versus the number one defense in the league with the Minnesota Vikings. These two teams, I feel like, are polar opposites of each other because we talk about the number Number one offense versus the number one defense, but you also talk about. One of the worst defenses in the league against one of the worst offenses in the league. So where do where is the middle ground here? Is this going to be a big offensive game or is this going to be a low scoring defensive affair? Or are we going to get something that is kind of in the middle of that? That, I think, is the biggest storyline that we are looking at right now. Yeah, I definitely agree with you there, like, because when you look at how Buffalo's offense is performing, you guys are clicking on all cylinders right now. Your first in total offense, your 10th in passing, third in rushing, I mean, when you got Josh Allen, who's basically your RB2 or RB1A at this point, then you have your scoring offense, which is still really good as well, then third down in red zone, you guys are absolutely crushing it, but you look at us on the offensive side of the ball, we can't do anything worth a damn where it seems like we're 29th, 31st, 17th in rushing, which Has kind of dissipated over the last couple of games. We're probably a little bit higher since Jordan Mason came back from injury. We just have not rushed the ball whatsoever. Then scoring, we need to get that up more. Third down, we've been abysmal. And then in the red zone, we just have been absolutely crapping out on drives and being bailed out by Will Reichhardt. So I definitely agree with you there, where it's going to be a very interesting matchup. Me personally, I think it will be more on the defensive side, because when you look at the way that Brian Flores has just been absolutely locking down these offenses, where you look at the Lions, where they were only able to put up 19 points with their high-powered offense, and Brian Flores keeping it, keeping the main thing the main thing, where he's only allowing 271 yards per game, that's second in the NFL, only nine total touchdowns, where you look at these numbers, and it's baffling that, I mean, it's understandable why Minnesota Minnesota is 6-1. But it's baffling that they have been in so many close games and low scoring games when you see how Brian Flores has just been absolutely cooking on defense. But with the offense, they absolutely cannot get it going. But what gives me a little bit of reprieve is that your guys' defense has been absolutely Swiss cheese, particularly in the secondary. So I'm really looking forward to how we can kind of take advantage of that a little bit more. But again, what is the kind of, which matchup are you looking at more? Are you looking at more Brian Flores versus Joe Brady? Or are you looking more at Kevin O'Connell versus your defensive coordinator? I think the big thing that everybody is going to be tuning in for is Brian Flores versus Joe Brady, a mastermind at defensive coordinator in Brian Flores versus a hotshot rookie head coach that is calling the plays and having the Bills offense rolling. I think the big thing that we do need to watch out for is Brian Flores. What is he known for? He is known for the blitz. It's the Vikings have been blitzing at an insane rate all year. And when you look at Josh Allen's numbers against the Blitz this year, yes, you have to take this with a grain of salt because it is Josh Allen. But compared to his normal numbers versus his numbers against the Blitz, three of his five interceptions he has thrown when he is being blitzed. And he does have a passer rating under 90 against the Blitz. So I think that is a big, big area of concern for the Bills in this matchup. Yeah, absolutely. I think taking the ball away is going to be huge, especially with Minnesota's secondary, starting to kind of get back to their kind of interception ways where they're able to kind of pick off teams a lot more. Byron Murphy is really starting to really come into his own this year, I think, I feel like, with getting a lot of picks. He had two picks a couple of weeks ago. Isaiah Rogers is getting involved. James Pierre is getting involved now. So with a secondary like Minnesota has, where you can take advantage of Josh Allen's stats against the Blitz this year, Brian Flores is going to be blitzing at a high rate but the problem is when you blitz a guy like Josh Allen he's quick enough where he can roll out this isn't a Jared Goff this isn't a Brock Purdy this isn't a Sam Darnold or it's not even a Tyler Shook where Tyler Shook is mobile but not on nearly the mobile level that Josh Allen is where if that blitz is coming fast and the protection is breaking down Josh Allen is at least that type of quarterback that can just Kick it out on a snap, really, and just boot it out and go for a 15-yard run. And that's where Minnesota is really going to be struggling because the run has been their biggest Achilles heel on defense. And you guys have been running the ball very, very well. And this is a game where I think, if anything, this will be what proves that Minnesota needs to go out and get defensive line help. When you're looking at that rushing yards per game, they're allowing 116.7 yards per game, only four touchdowns, but still it is 17th in the NFL. Whereas you guys on offense. You guys are running like crazy. I mean, Josh Allen's been stealing all the touchdowns from James Cook, but still, you guys have just been going absolutely ham with the running game, 148 yards per game. That's going to be a very big problem. So while I do think that there is going to be a decent amount of offense, it'll be a more defensive type of game because of the way that Brian Flores is locking up offenses, but you can be sure that the Buffalo Bills are going to be running that ball at a very high clip and they're going to be very effective with it. It's just going to be a matter of us putting the pressure on you with the pass and not letting Josh Allen beat us with his legs. Yeah, I think this is a game that if the Bills are going to be rolling on offense and putting up those big numbers like we know they can do, it is going to be on the ground game. We saw the Vikings. They had their first real crack, I think, on defense that we saw last week against the Lions with Jahmyr Gibbs running absolutely wild against that defensive line. And James Cook, now he is no Jahmyr Gibbs. Jahmyr Gibbs is one of one, in my opinion, but James Cook is a premier top level running back. So you combine that with the threat of Josh Allen and his ability on the ground. And yeah, if the Bills are going to win this game, I think that they are going to have to rack up those rushing yards for sure. Yeah, James Cook is going to be a problem. And then also with the way that Minnesota's been on third down with defense, they've been great on third down defense. But the problem is when you guys get to third and short, you have a seven-foot-tall giant at quarterback that you can run a tush-push with and very effectively, too, where you guys are going to be able to get those third and threes on a very short kind of QB sneak kind of thing. And that's what really worries me, especially with our defensive tackles. I really hope Caleb Banks and Dominique Orange. And Jalen Redman just really show up on Sunday and just stuff those lines because this is going to be a battle of the trenches. It's going to be about our defensive linemen being able to free up those gaps for our stunning linebackers and making sure that Josh Allen can't bounce it outside. And as well as with the running game, the Jahmyr Gibbs, he ran all over us. To me, he's the best running back in the NFL. But James Cook, he's a top five back. And I think that the only reason why he's not considered that is because Josh Allen steals his touchdowns. When you look at the yards, James Cook is just racking them up like crazy. Just hasn't translated to touchdowns because Josh Allen steals it at the goal line, shocker. But with the way that Minnesota's run game has been, that is what really, really worries me about this game is if James Cook can find a rhythm and start going off, it's going to be a very, very long night for the Vikings and it's going to be a very stressful game for us to experience as well. So it's going to be very, very scary as far as a Viking standpoint. I know the Bills fans, you guys are kind of thinking it might be a little bit of a trap game in a sense, just because it's on the road, prime time, Minnesota, tough environment, the history from 2022. So there's a lot of factors that play into it, but I still think there's a reason for the Bills to be comfortable in this game. It's only going to be a matter of who is the quarterback going to be playing, because Tom Pelissero was reporting that it is believed that Kyler Murray will not be starting and that he can see them putting in Carson Wentz. On Monday Night Football, hopefully it brings a lot different results than it brought a couple of years ago on that Thursday night game where Carson Wentz was just put out to pasture and killed by the Los Angeles Chargers. So I'm hoping that if Carson Wentz goes in here, that could be a very big start to a very interesting conversation with the quarterback controversy that might be brewing in Minnesota for the rest of this year, especially with the trade deadline coming up. Because if Carson Wentz goes in there and he flops, maybe Minnesota is truly committing to finding a quarterback before the NFL trade deadline. But Ben, let me know any last second thoughts you have before we wrap this up about this game on Monday night coming up. Yeah, real quick, I do think it is interesting, the Kyler Murray versus Carson Wentz debate, because I think you would agree with this, the Vikings' best offensive performance came in week one against the Packers, right, when Wentz came in in relief for Murray because he suffered a concussion, so the Bills now have to prepare for two different outcomes on Monday night, one where they play Kyler Murray, one where they play Carson Wentz, And I think. Either one, it is going to, either option is going to be a tough test for this Bills defense because like you said, it doesn't really matter who the Bills have been playing. They have been giving up a ton of points. Unless it's a third string rookie undrafted emergency quarterback in Baltimore. I think that is a little bit of an outlier there. So it will remain to be seen how either Murray or Wentz will do. But either way, the Bills need to bring their A game on Monday night. Yeah, it's absolutely going to be a huge game for both teams. Like I said in the intro, it's going to be a game where both these teams can really try to cement themselves as contenders in the AFC, in the NFC to show that, hey, if you want to make it to the Super Bowl, that road is going to have to go through Buffalo or it's going to have to go through the Twin Cities. But let us know your guys' thoughts down in the comments below, what you think the final score of the Vikings versus Bills game will be on Monday night, and if you think that it'll be Carson Wentz or Kyler Murray under center. Let us know down in the comments below as that's going to do it for this episode of Vikings Digest. And make sure to go and check out Ben's channel on Bill's Digest as well. We're going to be dropping a duo as well on that channel with a game preview. So go ahead and check it out. I'll link it in the description. But for now, I've been your host Griffin with my co-host Ben Volker. Take care.