St. Louis Rams Week 1 Predictions Roundup: Minnesota Vikings

Aug 28, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; St. Louis Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (55) reacts on the sideline during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins won 14-13. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the unfortunate outcome on Thursday Night Football, with the Seattle Seahawks demoralizing the Green Bay Packers, we can all still rejoice that the NFL has finally returned to our television screens. With the season opener in the rearview, the rest of the football world will have two days to recover before the next onslaught of games are underway. Included in that next batch is the Rams bout with the Vikings, where the highly-anticipated St. Louis defense will attempt to slow Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota ground game. While it might not be the “sexiest” of the matchups to open the regular season, there is still plenty of intrigue surrounding the game. Can Zac Stacy continue his dominating performance from last season? Can Shaun Hill step in and lead the St. Louis Rams offense? Are the additions of Aaron Donald, Lamarcus Joyner, and, most importantly, Gregg Williams enough to take the Rams defense to the next level?

Given the murkiness of the water in St. Louis following the Sam Bradford injury, the opinion on the Rams has seemingly been split into two halves: One grouping believing that the Bradford injury will have little-to-no impact on the Rams’ season, and the other believing it will drop the squad from a potential Wild Card contender to, now, a likely Top 10 lock in the 2015 NFL Draft. With such a  diversity of opinions swirling around the NFL world, who will the media project to come out of Week 1 with a win under their belt?

NFL.com: 26-20, Vikings

"The idea that these two squads can put up this many points might be pie-in-the-sky thinking. TheRams’ defense should be able to shut down Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel; St. Louis’ offense, meanwhile, is relying on a journeyman quarterback in Shaun Hill and the most suspect receiving corps in the West (west of the Mississippi, that is, not just in the NFC West). Greg “Legatron” Zuerlein probably will be called upon early and often, but his Minnesota counterpart, Blair Walsh, will be the kicker who hits from 50-plus yards twice in this game. Overall, Adrian Peterson needs to dominate for the Vikes to pull off the road win. Still very curious about St. Louis running back Zac Stacy, though. #MINvsSTL"

CBS Sports: 23-20, Rams

"This will be the first start for Rams quarterback Shaun Hill since 2009. That’s tough. But the Vikings have Matt Cassel. That’s even tougher to overcome. I think the Rams get after him with their front and turn short fields into scores."

Pro Football Talk: 24-20, Rams; 16-10, Vikings

"MDS’s take: Shaun Hill is going to surprise a lot of people and turn in a solid season in place of Sam Bradford this year. I’m not picking another Kurt Warner/Trent Green situation, but I am picking the Rams to be better than anyone thinks, and to get it started with a win over a rebuilding Vikings team.Florio’s take: The Vikings finally will have balance on offense. The Rams suddenly won’t. Sometimes, it’s that simple."

Ramblin’ Fan: 21-18, Rams

"The Minnesota Vikings are a team in transition. New head coach Mike Zimmer decided to start Matt Cassel at quarterback instead of Teddy Bridgewater, an offense that could experience growing pains either way. Adrian Peterson will be his usual All-Pro self, but both Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson will need to take steps forward if the offense is to have balance.The biggest factor for the Vikings is Zimmer’s talent with the secondary with two potential top flight corners in Xavier Rhodes and Captain Munnerlyn.The Rams are a team in limbo. With Sam Bradford out the team has decided to go with consistent and bland Shaun Hill at quarterback. Hill won’t win the Rams games, but it is unlikely he will win any either. The offensive line could be special if all the pieces fall into place, which could mean huge things for Zac Stacy.Defensively is where the Rams shine with arguably the top D-line in all of football.The key battle is going to be the Rams D-line vs. the Vikings O-line. If the Rams can pressure Cassel expect him to mess up, but if the Vikings O-line keeps their QB clean then it could be a bad day for the Rams."

Some sites prefer to merely throw out their picks, instead of outlining boldly predicted scores. In a majority vote, the USA Today went with the Rams to pull out the victory on Sunday, with four out of seven analysts picked St. Louis over the Minnesota Vikings. In the Week 1 “expert picks” for ESPN, 8 out of 14 picked the St. Louis Rams to win. In CBS Sports’ “Against the Spread” predictions, only one out of eight went with the “favorite,”with most taking the Vikings and their 3.5 point cushion. However, with their “Straight Up” picks the votes were a little more evenly divided, with five pulling for Minnesota and four going with St. Louis.

Much like the mainstream NFL media’s take on Sam Bradford, there appears to be an equal divide about how the St. Louis Rams will perform this season. The Rams are favored by Vegas, which has got to mean something heading into the season opener. Hopefully, Shaun Hill and Co. can do their best Kurt Warner, post-Trent Green impression. Guess we’ll find out on Sunday…