EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wasn’t at a loss for words when asked Wednesday why the Falcons’ offense is so good on third down.
“Well, they’ve got good players,” said Zimmer, whose 9-2 Vikings play the 7-4 Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. “Quarterback (Matt Ryan) does a heck of a job. (Wide receivers Mohamed) Sanu and Julio (Jones) are two of the top guys on third downs in the league.
“They give you a lot of different things. They give you some different routes. They condense it, they move guys around. They won’t just line them up in the same place. The quarterback has a lot of confidence in them.”
Sunday’s key NFC meeting could be a classic matchup between Atlanta’s resurgent offense and a dominant Vikings defense. The Falcons rank first in the league in converting third downs (48.1 percent), while the Vikings rank first in preventing other teams from converting third downs (28.5).
A big part of that matchup will feature Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes shadowing Jones, who had 253 yards receiving and two touchdowns in last week’s win over Tampa Bay.
Shadowing top receivers is something Rhodes has done a lot of since 2014.
“Calvin (Johnson) was the first guy I followed,” said Rhodes, referring to the former Lions receiver. “You can imagine how I felt before that one. But I’m used to it now. It’s what I do.”
Rhodes struggled some in the 30-23 win at Detroit on Thanksgiving. He drew two flags, but also came up with the clinching interception late in the game.
If Rhodes can shut down Jones the way he did Antonio Brown in a Week 2 loss at Pittsburgh, the Vikings have a better chance of winning their eighth straight game and moving closer to clinching the NFC North. They lead the Lions by three games with five to play.
At this point, however, the Vikings are playing for much more than their second division title in three years. They’re sitting with the No. 2 seed behind Philadelphia heading into a two-game road trip that takes them to Carolina next week. After that, they have home games against Cincinnati and Chicago sandwiched around a trip to Green Bay.
In his post-game locker room speech following the Lions game, Zimmer mentioned that the team’s goal wasn’t just to “get into the tournament,” but to win the Super Bowl at home inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
“Yes,” he said. “That is everybody’s deal, isn’t it? Go out and win as many games as you can and try to get in and play as many games as you can at home. But we have to win and we have to take one game at a time. Talking about it doesn’t do anything.”
SERIES HISTORY: 28th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead series, 17-10. Vikings are 7-7 in Atlanta, including last year’s 20-10 victory at the Georgia Dome. This will be their first visit to new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Vikings have won the last two meetings, including a 41-28 win in Minnesota in 2014. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made his starting debut that day, throwing for 317 yards while rushing for 27 and a touchdown. The teams have met twice in the postseason. The Vikings won at Minnesota during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Falcons won the only NFC title game played at the Metrodome. In January of 1999, the No. 1-seeded Vikings lost for only the second time all season when kicker Gary Anderson missed a field goal for the first and only time that season. That allowed the Falcons to take the game into overtime and win 30-27.
–Common sense screams the Vikings aren’t going to change quarterbacks as long as they’re winning.
But head coach Mike Zimmer hasn’t committed publicly to sticking with Case Keenum for the rest of the season. So reporters keep asking, just to be sure nothing has changed.
Keenum took over for Sam Bradford in Week 2 and has played all but six quarters this season. The career backup has played well enough to help the team win seven straight games. But Teddy Bridgewater has been healthy for weeks and is ready to play when needed.
“We’re just going one week at a time,” Zimmer said when asked about Keenum on Wednesday. “That’s just the way it is. I’m not looking to pull him, but every week is a different week in this league.”
–One person won’t be fooled if Falcons receiver Mohamed Sanu pulls up and throws a touchdown pass for the second straight week.
“He threw five of them in Cincinnati,” said Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, who was Bengals defensive coordinator at the time.
Sanu notched his first passing touchdown as a Falcon when he completed a jump pass near the goal line last week. For his career, Sanu is 6-for-6 for 228 yards, six touchdowns and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
“Great kid,” Zimmer said. “Tough, excellent option runner, good start and stop, size, catches the ball well. Good player.”
NOTES: WRs Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs have combined for 1,603 receiving yards in a combined 20 games this season. That ranks No. 2 in the league behind Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster (1,763). … RB Jerick McKinnon, an Atlanta native, posted his first career 100-yard rushing game in 2014 when he rushed for 135 yards on 18 carries in a win over the Falcons. … CB Xavier Rhodes tied his career high for passes defensed with four in the 2014 win over the Falcons. … MLB Eric Kendricks didn’t practice Wednesday because of a hip injury. He hasn’t missed any time because of the injury, but it’s a concern considering he didn’t practice after having extra time off after the Thanksgiving game. If he can’t play, the Vikings probably would start Kentrell Brothers, who is a key contributor on special teams. … RT Mike Remmers is over the concussion that has sidelined him the past three games. But he was limited in Wednesday’s practice because of a lower back injury. If he can’t play, the Vikings will give Rashod Hill his fourth straight start.
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