Vikings visit woeful Titans, looking to stay perfect against AFC this season

Minnesota (7-2) at Tennessee (2-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Vikings by 6.

Against the spread: Vikings 6-3; Titans 1-8.

Series record: Vikings lead 9-5.

Last meeting: Titans won 31-30 at Minnesota on Sept. 27, 2020.

Last week: Vikings beat Jaguars 12-7; Titans lost 27-17 at Chargers.

Vikings offense: overall (13), rush (16), pass (12), scoring (10).

Vikings defense: overall (11), rush (3), pass (26), scoring (3).

Titans offense: overall (27), rush (10), pass (31), scoring (27).

Titans defense: overall (1), rush (13), pass (1), scoring (29).

Turnover differential: Vikings plus-4; Titans minus-11.

Vikings player to watch

QB Sam Darnold. After throwing only five interceptions over the first seven games, Darnold has been picked off five times in the past two games. He is tied for the most in the NFL with 10 interceptions. Still, Darnold has already matched his career high with seven wins as a starter.

Titans player to watch

QB Will Levis. The 33rd pick overall out of Kentucky in 2023 is back after missing three straight games. He's still looking to start and finish a game the Titans win. He also has to show he can get rid of the ball and avoid piling up sacks after being taken down seven times by the Chargers. Now he will have Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel chasing him.

Key matchup

Titans secondary vs. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson. Opponents have been employing a split-safety scheme to slow Jefferson more than ever this season, and last week the Jaguars used that two-high alignment on 92.9% of the snaps, according to NFL NextGen Stats. That was the highest rate by any team in a game since 2018, until the Rams (93.5%) topped it against the Dolphins on Monday night. Jefferson had a season-low 48 yards on five receptions.

Key injuries

Vikings: RB Aaron Jones (ribs) missed part of the previous game, but returned to action and said he’s fine to play this week. … LT Cam Robinson (foot) was dealing with soreness midweek and limited in practice.

Titans: CB L’Jarius Sneed (quadriceps) remains week to week and likely to miss a fourth straight game. OLB Arden Key (back) and RT Leroy Watson IV (back) did not practice Wednesday.

Series notes

This is the first game between these teams in Tennessee since the 2016 opener. Minnesota won that 25-16 with two defensive touchdowns. ... The Vikings have won two of the past three. They also are 2-3 on the road in this series and 2-1 in Tennessee. ... The previous time they met was Week 3 of the 2020 season and part of then-rookie Justin Jefferson's breakout. Jefferson had seven catches for 175 yards and one touchdown. The average of 25 yards per catch still is the fourth-highest mark of his career.

Stats and stuff

The Vikings are 4-0 against the AFC after going 1-4 last season. … The Titans are 0-3 against the NFC North this season. ... The Vikings are 7-0 when they outrush their opponent this season. … Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson had eight catches for 72 yards on nine targets against the Jaguars in his heaviest workload in a year, after missing the first seven games of the season and the last two of last season following a torn ACL and MCL. … The Vikings lead the NFL in takeaways (20) and interceptions (15). … The Vikings are 23-2 under coach Kevin O’Connell in games when they’re even or ahead in the turnover margin. … Vikings rookie John Parker Romo, subbing for the injured rookie Will Reichard, went 4 for 4 on field goals in his NFL debut last week. ... The Titans are trying to string together back-to-back home wins for the first time since last season when they won Oct. 29 in Levis' NFL debut as a starter Oct. 29 and again Nov. 26 after a three-game road trip. ... Levis completed a career-best 78.3% of his passes last week. ... Titans CB Roger McCreary leads all NFL DBs with eight TFLs. ... Tony Pollard has 334 yards from scrimmage and ranks fourth in the NFL among RBs over the past three weeks. ... WR Calvin Ridley ranks fourth in the NFL with 342 yards receiving over the past four games. ... RB Tyjae Spears led the Titans with a season-high 47 yards rushing last week.

Fantasy tip

Jefferson. He has more catches (53), yards receiving (831) and TD receptions (5) than anyone on the Titans. He also will be targeting a secondary missing the two veterans brought in to help Tennessee's defense with Chidobe Awuzie still on injured reserve and Sneed still trying to return.

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The Associated Press