The Vikings will travel to the west coast to play QB Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders (4-4) We scoped around the web to see what the experts are predicting for the matchup on Sunday.
*This is a major game for both teams. The Teddy Bridgewater concussion issue bears watching. But even if he plays, I still think the Raiders will win this one at home. Derek Carr continues to light it up. *
Raiders 28, Vikings 21--Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
The Vikings' second trip West features another winnable game and a matchup of the two most successful quarterbacks from the class of 2014 thus far. The Raiders' spread looks will present a challenge, with Amari Cooper catching passes from Derek Carr, but it's tough to pick against a Zimmer defense when it's facing a Bill Musgrave offense.
Vikings 31, Raiders 14--Ben Goessling, ESPN
Before the season, not many people expected this to be a game with significant playoff implications for both teams. But it absolutely is, as the Vikings would be a wild card team if the playoffs started today and the Raiders are only a half game out. I like Oakland's impressive offense to make enough plays to win this one.
Raiders 31, Vikings 20--Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
The Vikings haven't won many games away from home in recent years, and victories over struggling teams like the Lions and Bears don't really count. In Minnesota, the outcome would be different. In Oakland, the Raiders have the firepower to outscore the Vikings.
Raiders 27, Vikings 24—Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
We are halfway through the 2015 NFL season, and the Oakland Raiders are a .500 football team. It's been a few years since that sentence was uttered aloud.
In fact, Elliot Harrison of NFL.com ranked the Raiders inside his top 10 in Week 10 despite last week's 38-35 setback in Pittsburgh:
Frustrating loss in Pittsburgh, but we got another reminder that this football team -- especially when it comes to quarterback Derek Carr -- is no fluke, given that the Raiders nearly overcame several self-inflicted wounds. Carr lofted a beauty to Michael Crabtree to keep them in it with less than two minutes left. Ultimately, poor technique cost Oakland a 57-yard catch-and-run to Antonio Brown that led to the Steelers' game-winning kick. Of immediate concern is running back Latavius Murray, who left his best game of the season with a possible concussion.
….
This game is essentially a battle of who comes back from their concussion. But the loss of Bridgewater would, in the eyes of our voters, be a much bigger blow than no Murray for the Silver and Black.
*Speaking of things we haven't said for a while, chew on this one: Vikings-Raiders is one of the best games of this week. *
Raiders--Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report
Each Tuesday, WhatIfSports.com's **NFL simulation engine* generates predictions and box scores for every NFL game for the coming week. The highly sophisticated algorithms simulate every play of every game to produce each team's likelihood to win. Each matchup is simulated 501 times.*
Win Percentage: 62.3%, Average Score: Vikings 25.3, Raiders 21.3--WhatIfSports.com
FiveThirtyEight's 2015 NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning Super Bowl 50. Playoff probabilities are based on 20,000 simulations of the season and will update after each game.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 56%--FiveThirtyEight.com
1 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, CBS Sports
2 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, FOX Sports
3 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, Bleacher Report
1 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, SB Nation
