The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 15 matchup between the Bengals and Vikings.
Find a breakdown of every Week 15 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Minnesota | Rank | @ | Cincinnati | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | Spread | -3.5 | ||
| 17.75 | Implied Total | 21.25 | ||
| 20.5 | 21 | Points/Gm | 21.5 | 17 |
| 18.6 | 5 | Points All./Gm | 22.1 | 19 |
| 63.9 | 16 | Plays/Gm | 60.5 | 25 |
| 63.1 | 11 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 63.4 | 14 |
| 5.3 | 13 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.2 | 15 |
| 4.9 | 8 | Def. Yards/Play | 6 | 31 |
| 37.79% | 29 | Rush% | 36.01% | 30 |
| 62.21% | 4 | Pass% | 63.99% | 3 |
| 39.76% | 7 | Opp. Rush % | 42.48% | 17 |
| 60.24% | 26 | Opp. Pass % | 57.52% | 16 |
- The Vikings are a league-best 6-0-1 against the spread on the road.
- Minnesota games are 10-3 toward the under this season, tied for the highest rate in the league.
- Minnesota games are averaging a league-low 188.1 combined rushing yards.
- The Bengals are averaging 62.1 rushing yards per game at home, the fewest in the league.
- The Vikings have allowed one run of 20 or more yards this season, the fewest in the league.
- The Bengals have allowed 12 runs of 20 or more yards, 30th in the league.
- Minnesota has three runs of 20 or more yards on offense, tied for the fewest in the league.
- The Vikings have scored a touchdown on 15.8% of their possessions since losing Kirk Cousins (22nd) after 23.8% prior (eighth).
- Cincinnati is averaging 2.36 points per drive with Jake Browning, seventh in the league.
- Minnesota has allowed a touchdown on a league-low 11.2% of opponent possessions since Week 4.
- 24.4% of the drives against Minnesota have reached the red zone or scored prior, the lowest rate in the league.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Jake Browning: Browning has delivered back-to-back top-five scoring weeks against the Jaguars and Colts.
Over the past three weeks as the starter, Browning is averaging 9.8 yards per pass attempt, second in the league behind Brock Purdy (10.6 Y/A).
The Bengals have done a great job just getting the ball out of Browning’s hands.
A league-high 34.5% of his passes have been at or behind the line of scrimmage over that span.
Just 10.3% of his passes have been 15 yards or further downfield, ahead of only Aidan O’Connell over the past three weeks.
62.7% of Browning’s passing yardage has come after the catch, trailing only Patrick Mahomes (63.4%) and O’Connell (63.2%).
Living his best life, Browning also has a rushing touchdown in each of the past two games.
As strong as the past two weeks have been, I still would prefer to use Browning as a floor-based QB2 with an upside outcome.
On the Saturday DFS slate, he is definitely in play for stacking.
This will be the toughest test that Browning has had since taking over as the starter.
Minnesota is fourth in the league in passing points allowed per attempt (0.345).
They are 31st in the league in allowing a 69.6% completion rate, but the Vikings are allowing just 6.7 yards per pass attempt (10th) and only 9.6 yards per completion (second) paired with a 3.1% touchdown rate (third).
No quarterback has finished inside of the top 10 against Minnesota since Week 3, a group that includes Mahomes, Justin Fields (twice), and Brock Purdy.
The Vikings are blitzing on a league-high 45.8% of dropbacks but also play zone coverage 75.6% of the time, eighth in the league. They are playing man coverage on just 34.0% of their blitzes, 27th in the league.
Browning has faced a zone blitz on just seven dropbacks, completing 4-of-7 passes for 51 yards.
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