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NFL Week 6: Minnesota Vikings vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Picks, Predictions 10/18/20

NFL Week 6: Minnesota Vikings vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Picks, Predictions 10/18/20
2020-10-18 13:00:00 EDT

The Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings meet Sunday in week 6 NFL action at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Atlanta Falcons need a feel good victory here to prevent a brutal 0-6 start to the NFL season. The Atlanta Falcons have split their last eight road games. Matt Ryan is completing 63.2 percent of his passes for 1,472 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Ryan has one touchdown pass in his last three games. Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage have combined for 709 receiving yards and five touchdowns while Julio Jones has 15 receptions. The Atlanta Falcons ground game is averaging 114.6 yards per contest, and Todd Gurley II leads the way with 375 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, Atlanta is allowing 32.2 points and 446 yards per game. Deion Jones leads the Atlanta Falcons with 38 tackles, Grady Jarrett has 2.5 sacks and Blidi Wreh-Wilson has one interception.

The Minnesota Vikings also need a win here to bounce back from a 1-4 start to the NFL season. The Minnesota Vikings have lost four straight home games. Kirk Cousins is completing 64 percent of his passes for 1,132 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Cousins has one or less touchdown passes in five of his last eight games. Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen have combined for 735 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while Bisi Johnson has five receptions. The Minnesota Vikings ground game is averaging 160.6 yards per contest, and Dalvin Cook leads the way with 489 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, Minnesota is allowing 36 points and 404.4 yards per game. Eric Kendricks leads the Minnesota Vikings with 53 tackles, Yannick Ngakoue has five sacks and Eric Wilson has two interceptions.

The Falcons are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games, 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Vikings are 10-2-1 ATS in their last 13 games in October, 4-1 ATS vs. a team with a losing record and 38-17-1 ATS in their last 56 home games. The over is 6-2 in Falcons last 8 vs. NFC. The under is 5-2 in Vikings last 7 vs. NFC. The Falcons are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings. The underdog is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings. The under is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings.

The Atlanta Falcons probably played their cleanest game of the season last week against the Panthers and still came up short. The Falcons just can’t catch a break these days and now they’re without a head coach or general manager. The Vikings have had issues finishing games, blew a Sunday night contest against the Seahawks and could be without Dalvin Cook who suffered a groin injury. You shouldn’t be eager to back either of these teams, but the Vikings have shown more signs of life and their last two losses were decided by one point. The Falcons are in much worse shape and make silly mistake after silly mistake to blow games. The Vikings should win this one at home.

I’ll lay the reasonable number, as Vikings by a touchdown.

Randy Chambers's Free Pick: Minnesota Vikings -3.5

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Randy Chambers

Randy has covered sports betting since 2014 and writes about everything from NFL to WNBA. Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter.

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