Vikings and Bills both come into Monday Football matchup 6-1 but doing it in very different ways

The last time these two teams met, it was one of the most memorable games in recent team memory, an epic, back-and-forth game that included an insane catch by receiver Justin Jefferson, and a 33-30 win in Buffalo. This time, the game is more likely to be decided by how the Viking defense contains the Bills, and far less likely to be the shootout it was in 2022.

While the Vikings defense has been dominant so far this season, they seemed to run out of steam late in the loss last week in Detroit, with the offense continuing to struggle putting all the weight on the defense to pull out another win.

The challenge now gets even tougher, with MVP-candidate Josh Allen coming to U.S. Bank Stadium. Safety Josh Metellus says even beyond the dynamic Allen, the Bills roster is chalk full of talent.

"So, I think it's very challenging, but that's (when) team defense comes into play," Metellus says. "Rush and coverage playing together, us running to the ball, us plastering on the back end, us understanding that the players are gonna take longer and not getting frustrated with the D-line when he does make a couple guys miss."

Even if the defense came up a little short in Detroit, they dominated for much of the game against one of the league's best offenses. They know hosting Buffalo means they have to do it again.

"NFL season, this is 18 weeks, so you know you gotta turn the page fast and move on from it," Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner adds. "But, you know, made the mistakes. I mean, made the mistakes we did during the game, hopefully we corrected them during this week. positive we corrected them during this week, and going to Monday feeling confident about ourselves."

It would help - a lot - if the offense can pick up the pace. That side of the ball has struggled mightily, and on Monday night, veteran Carson Wentz will be the QB again as starter Kyler Murray deals with a strained hamstring. Wentz played well in stretches last season after signing with the team late in August, and having to pick things up on the fly. He also played and helped the Vikings come from behind after Murray got hurt in the season opener against Green Bay, and won in a rainy, muddy Chicago in week two.

"Feel very comfortable," Wentz said with a full week of prep this week. "Obviously last year was a whirlwind. We've talked enough about that, but you know even those two games early this year, just to kind of get kind of the whirlwind out of the way, so to speak, and hear his voice in the head say 'go through a game,' see how he calls a game. I mean we had a mud bowl obviously down there in Chicago, but still just going through a game again and now these last couple of weeks just watching from the sideline, I do feel very comfortable when I'm out there."

A good place to start is getting the All-Pro Jefferson involved. He showed some frustration after the Detroit loss, and declined to speak to the media after the game. But Jefferson says it is just competitiveness, and it is up to the players on the offense to step up their game.

"I feel like the potential and the guys that we have in that room is something very, very special," Jefferson said. "So I feel like we're wasting that if we're not going out there executing the plays that we have called. And just not living to that standard that we feel like we live up to every single day. So just want better throughout the whole group.

The Vikings host the Buffalo Bills tonight, it's a 7:15 kickoff on ABC and ESPN.

Need to know

Buffalo (6-1) at Minnesota (6-1)

Latest odds: Bills by 3½.

Against the spread: Bills 5-2, Vikings 4-3.

Last week: Bills beat Ravens 36-10; Vikings lost to Lions 19-15.

Last meeting: Vikings beat Bills 33-30 in OT on Nov. 13, 2022, in Buffalo.

Series record: Vikings lead 9-6. Bills wins 2018, 2014, 2006, 2002.

Matchup to watch

Bills running back James Cook vs. Vikings defensive front. Cook, the three-time Pro Bowl pick, is fifth in the league with 707 rushing yards entering Week 9. He’ll face a fired-up Vikings defense, which held the high-scoring Lions to 19 points but lapsed down the stretch with a bunch of missed tackles on running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Stats and stuff

— Allen and Cook have scored a rushing touchdown in the same game 16 times, the most in NFL history. Allen’s nine rushing scores this season entered the week as the second-most in the league, behind Bears running back D’Andre Swift.

— Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau has seven sacks, one shy of a career high.

— Before limiting the injury-depleted Ravens to 10 points and 144 yards last week, the Bills had allowed 29-plus points five times in six games.

— Tyler Bass has the Bills franchise record with 21 straight field goals made, including seven in a row from 50-plus yards.

— Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell needs one win in the next two games to become the fastest in franchise history to 50 career wins.

— Jefferson has only 335 receiving yards in six games for the Vikings, on pace for what would be by far a career low. He had 193 yards in the 2022 game in Buffalo.

— T.J. Hockenson leads the Vikings with 31 receptions. Since entering the league in 2019, he has the fourth-most receiving yards (4,735) in the NFL among tight ends.

— Vikings edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel had a career-high 2½ sacks last week against the Lions.