Get to Know Buffalo Bills Week 10 Opponent: Minnesota Vikings
By Adam Hayward
Is Week 10 a potential Super Bowl preview for the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings?
The Buffalo Bills lost yet another divisional game, losing to the New York Jets 20-17 in a close defensive battle. After being down 14-3, the Jets made an improbable comeback as the Jets defense picked off Josh Allen twice and kicker Greg Zuerlein made a go-ahead 28-yard field goal with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss, however, the Buffalo Bills remain at the top of the AFC at 6-2, although they are now tied with the intraconference rival Kansas City Chiefs.
Hoping to get back on the right foot, the Bills will head back home to Buffalo for their Week 10 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. While the Bills don’t regularly play the Vikings, Minnesota does lead the series with Buffalo with a record of 8-6.
The Vikings are the second-best team in the NFC after the Philadelphia Eagles, with a record of 7-1. They’re currently 15th in the league in offense, but 25th in defense. Justin Jefferson is second in the NFL with 867 receiving yards, and eleven-year veteran Harrison Smith has collected four interceptions, tying him with four other players for second in the league.
The focus for the Buffalo Bills is on the status of Josh Allen
Bills fans everywhere were in for a scare in the Jets game when Allen suffered an injury to his elbow. The injury occurred late in the fourth quarter when Allen was strip-sacked and his forearm was bent backward. He was seen nursing his right elbow afterward, flexing his forearm, and shaking out any pain. Allen still had it in him to make the final throw of the game, throwing a long pass that Gabe Davis that was broken up by Sauce Gardner.
Allen suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), per reports, and head coach Sean McDermott says that the elbow injury is ‘day-to-day’. It should be known that this isn’t Allen’s first time suffering from an elbow injury, as he had a similar injury in his rookie season causing him to miss four games.
Should Allen be ruled out for Sunday’s game, backup quarterback Case Keenum will be expected to slide into the starting QB role. Keenum facing off against the Vikings would be quite the interesting storyline, as he would be facing his former team, the same team that he led to a 13-3 record in an NFC title berth in 2017. On that note, Stefon Diggs would also be facing his former team for the first time in his career.
Depending on the severity of Allen’s injury, Keenum may be expected to be the starter for a foreseeable future. But the good news is that the injury is considered to be minor, so there’s a solid chance that Allen will be able to suit up versus the Vikings. Still, the Bills should tread very carefully, and not risk any harm to their franchise quarterback.
