The Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings are set to face off on Monday night in a battle of two 6-1 teams. The Bills are the current No. 1 seed in the AFC, and while the Vikings are the No. 2 seed, depending on the result of the San Francisco 49ers’ matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Minnesota could be playing as the technical No. 1 seed when their game kicks off Monday night.
The Bills currently have the NFL’s top scoring offense, as head coach Joe Brady’s bunch averages 33.3 points
per game so far this season. Minnesota, on the other hand, has the NFL’s top scoring defense, as defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ charges allow just 13.3 points per game so far this year. Minnesota’s offense is ranked just 27th in the league; Buffalo’s defense is ranked just 24th.
In a lot of ways, these two teams are polar opposites; however, they’re similar in the most important way: They win football games. And, if Buffalo wants to improve their mark to 7-1 this season, they’ll need to turn in another stellar defensive performance against a backup quarterback, albeit one with much more starting experience than their last opponent.
Here are five Vikings to watch on Monday night.
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QB Carson Wentz
In some ways, having Wentz start the game might present greater problems for Buffalo than Kyler Murray, who is Minnesota’s normal starter. Murray is out with a sore hamstring, and while he is a great scrambler, he’s not as good a pure passer as Wentz is. Wentz was once rather mobile, but injuries and age have slowed him down, and he’s not close to the player he was when he was an MVP front-runner with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2019.
I expect the Bills to take a page out of the Brian Flores playbook—or the Week Eight Jim Leonhard playbook, even—by blitzing Wentz early and often. Buffalo blitzed on nearly two-thirds of their defensive snaps last week. Doing that again while setting a solid edge will keep Wentz in the pocket and cause him to process quickly. If he has time to throw, he’ll find receivers. If he’s rushed, he’ll look to dump the ball off before taking big hits, which could lead to some turnovers for a Buffalo defense looking for a second straight week of solid play.
WR Justin Jefferson
Jefferson will always be a “what-if” for Buffalo, even if that characterization isn’t necessarily fair. Yes, he was drafted by the Vikings with the first-round pick Buffalo sent to Minnesota in exchange for Stefon Diggs. While some people say that the Bills just could have drafted Jefferson rather than making the trade, there was no way to tell exactly what Jefferson would become, or even if he would be available when Buffalo picked. If draft choices are lottery tickets, stud veterans are closer to sure bets, and for the better part of four seasons, Diggs was as sure a bet as there was in the NFL.
With all that said, Jefferson is Buffalo’s problem this week, and I’d expect to see No. 47, Christian Benford, lined up across from him more often than not. If Jefferson is matched up against literally anyone else in Buffalo’s secondary, I’d expect Wentz to throw that way. If he’s covered by Benford, we at least know that it’s Buffalo’s best on Minnesota’s best. That matchup is one of the biggest keys of the game.
OLB Andrew Van Ginkel
The veteran is a Brian Flores staple, as he was teamed with Flores during his time with the Miami Dolphins. As a result, the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen are quite familiar with Van Ginkel and his flowing locks. The big edge rusher is having a great year so far, as he leads the Vikings with 6.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss.
Guard Alec Anderson did not practice on Thursday with an ankle issue, and tackles Dion Dawkins (rib) and Spencer Brown (back) were out of practice and limited in it, respectively. Buffalo’s offensive line is beat up a little bit, and it’s not a great time for that to happen. No time is great for a banged-up offensive line, but a date with the league’s No. 1 defense is basically the worst time for that to be the case.
Regardless of who’s at tackle, the Bills will have to account for Van Ginkel on Monday.
OLB Dallas Turner
They’ll also have to look out for Van Ginkel’s teammate, as Turner has six sacks and a team-high 19 quarterback hits this season. The third-year man is improving on his breakout 2025 campaign, and he’s on pace to surpass his 2025 sack total (8) by plenty this season. At the risk of sounding like I just teleported in from 1992, Buffalo’s best bet to slow the pass rush might be to establish the running game early.
Play-action passes on first down can give the Vikings’ edge rushers pause, and some solid second-down runs can slow them further. Minnesota is allowing opponents to average 4.5 yards per rush, and given that the Bills average 4.8 yards per rush on the season, it’s a strength on offense and a weakness for Minneosta’s defense in what has otherwise been an outstanding unit.
This might be a James Cook III day moreso than a Josh Allen day if Buffalo is going to come out on top. Cook can help keep his quarterback clean by breaking some big runs, which should hopefully make the Vikings’ stellar edge rushers hesitate before pinning their ears back and going full-force into pass-rush mode.
CB Byron Murphy
No name bias here, but Murphy is a stud. He’s allowing just a 57.3 quarterback rating this season when he’s the closest man in coverage, as he has three interceptions and six pass breakups while allowing zero touchdowns on 40 pass attempts his way. He’s really playing better than he has at any point in his career. Buffalo’s passing offense has been outstanding, but against the league’s No. 1 pass defense, it might be wise to avoid the guy who’s currently having a career-year. The problem, of course, is that James Pierre and Isaiah Rodgers are also playing extremely well.
What if I told you that, despite the numbers listed above, Murphy is still the guy allowing the greatest percentage of completed passes on this defense, as he’s allowed a 65% completion rate for 310 yards. Compared to Pierre (47.6%, 20.2 passer rating against) and Rodgers (33.3% competion rate, 34.7 passer rating against), Murphy might actually be the one performing the worst at the moment.
This is a really good defense. The Bills will have to pick their poison. Murphy might be it.
