# Adam Carlson: Carlson argues Minnesota's pass rush, pass defense and T.J. Hockenson's matchup advantage will carry the Vikings to a road win over the Saints in Week 5, leaving them undefeated heading into the bye.

**Claimed:** Oct 10, 2026
**Pundit:** Adam Carlson — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/adam-carlson
**Outlet:** Sports Illustrated — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/sports-illustrated
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/onsi/vikings-3-clear-advantages-over-saints-week-5-01m4hsfnk01p

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

The call scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> If the Vikings can make the most of those opportunities, they should get a big road win to take them into the bye week with an undefeated record.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Minnesota Vikings to beat New Orleans Saints**
  - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Minnesota Vikings
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess
  - Line: Closing line (Oct 11, 2026): Vikings by 2.5 · favorite pick, Vikings 56%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade.

## Who this take is about

- Minnesota Vikings — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/vikings

## What others said about the same people

- Trevor Ripley on Minnesota Vikings: Ripley predicts the Vikings beat the Saints 27-24 in Week 5, with Chris Olave likely to have another big game against Minnesota's shaky secondary. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/22db36c9-14e9-403d-8d6d-99e5a1c1b1ae (scored 83.33)
- Grant Chachere on Minnesota Vikings: Chachere expects Minnesota's defense to carry the Vikings past the Saints despite the Vikings' poor offense, predicting a 17-14 Minnesota win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ed56545e-25a0-4fb4-890a-ef9f8b9d2860 (scored 83.33)
- Doug Joubert on Minnesota Vikings: Joubert picks the unbeaten Vikings to beat the Saints in New Orleans, predicting a 31-28 Minnesota win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9fb49a01-3132-4548-9589-e33a51458fe4 (scored 83.33)
- Dan Parr on Minnesota Vikings: Parr picked every Week 5 game with scores, leaning on Chicago's ground game at Lambeau, Seattle's defense against the unbeaten 49ers, and the Rams handling Buffalo on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/0c10b52a-0a51-43ee-a55a-78a478f3c2b3 (scored 83.33)
- Brooke Cersosimo on Minnesota Vikings: Cersosimo picked winners and scores across the Week 5 slate, including the Vikings moving to 5-0 in New Orleans, the Browns at the Jets, the Colts at Pittsburgh and the Falcons over a Lamar-less Baltimore. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bd69c182-b54d-4692-912f-0dd26817dafb (scored 80.95)
- Eric Moody on Minnesota Vikings: Moody gave final score picks for every Week 5 game, siding with the Bears at Green Bay, the Patriots over the Raiders, the Vikings staying unbeaten in New Orleans and the Falcons edging the Ravens. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8b18af22-128d-4a43-9c55-860e5adc0bad (scored 83.33)

## More game outcome picks

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- John Green on Buffalo Bills: Green argues the Bills will beat the Rams on Monday Night Football at SoFi Stadium, citing Josh Allen's career success against Los Angeles, James Cook III's rushing against a middling Rams run defense, and Buffalo's edge in special teams field position. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b9a4d252-511b-48ff-b2cf-7cde00fb0894 (scored 100)
- Anthony "Tone Digz" DiGuilio on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night because of their defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3c8da282-f981-43ec-97e4-d147ef00b42a (scored 0)
- Darius Butler on Los Angeles Rams: Said Brian Flores could be Coach of the Year for what he is doing with the Vikings defense, and picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night with Stafford outplaying Josh Allen. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bbaeb70d-e67f-4a28-88ea-c0d95a26f4e9 (scored 0)
- Pat McAfee on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills in the Monday night game at SoFi Stadium. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b11b3677-3d44-49d4-ac2d-bb8ac3179121 (scored 0)
- AJ Hawk on Los Angeles Rams: Took the Rams over the Bills on Monday night, saying they win by seven in a high-scoring quarterback duel. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/95507356-2ff5-404a-82b1-0963b8665fff (scored 0)
- Blaine Grisak on Buffalo Bills: Grisak expects the Rams to lose to the Bills on Monday night, dropping to 2-3, before getting right against the Cardinals in Week 6. He also expects Myles Garrett back more realistically in Week 7 against the Raiders and Terrance Ferguson back in Week 8 against the Chargers, and thinks Aaron Donald and Colby Parkinson will be available against Buffalo. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ed2f394b-966a-4bd4-90d3-5dfabb82b478 (scored 100)

---

Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology

We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us:
https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=adam-carlson