Ray Lewis Makes Bombshell Prediction On Patriots Vs. Vikings

Entering Week 13’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in Foxboro, the Patriots put their 5-0 home record on the line. Of course, the Patriots have long been a difficult team to beat in New England. Already this season we’ve seen Aaron Rodgers and the Packers along with the red hot Kansas City Chiefs fall in Foxboro. That’s also not even mentioning wins against Andrew Luck and the Colts and Deshaun Watson’s Texans to open the year.

While there have been a handful of marquee wins already, former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who does have experience taking part in many Foxboro showdowns, sees the Vikings as a rare team that can go into the Patriots’ house and take the win.

“There’s a lot of built teams that can’t go into New England and win,” Lewis said on Showtime’s Inside the NFL. “This team, the way they’re built, can go into New England and win. And one of the biggest pieces why — what they do in their front seven on defense is incredible — but Dalvin Cook. Having Dalvin Cook fresh and running against New England’s defense, I’m going to take the Vikings in this one.”

Minnesota will be a tough test for the Patriots this weekend, but Lewis may be off on when saying that Dalvin Cook could be the reason for their demise. While they haven’t completely shut down the run this year, New England is a middle of the road team defensively against the run allowing just over 100-yards a game on the ground on 4.4 yards per carry. They’ve also been extremely stout at keeping runners out of the end zone allowing just five scores on the season, tied for the second fewest in the NFL.

Where Cook could do his most damage potentially is as a pass catcher out of the backfield. That area has been a little weak for New England when they’ve faced backs of that elite caliber. Back in Week 6, Kareem Hunt caught five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown against them and even Tarik Cohen went for eight catches, 69 yards and a touchdown against the Pats earlier in the year. New England was able to win both of those games so it didn’t hurt in the grand scheme of things, but it simply shows that there is room for a back to do damage in that regard. Against the Packers last weekend, Cook caught all three of his targets for 47 yards and a touchdown in the winning effort.

Cook will certainly be a player to keep an eye on, but Bill Belichick has already highlighted that it’s the Vikings’ receivers in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen that are one of the deadliest receiver combos in the league, so there are weapons all over the field that the Patriots must account for.