

The read
On rating alone Minnesota Vikings are 3.9 points better (#11 vs #22 of 32), and MIN add 0.0 for home field. The clearest mismatch is the rushing game: IND rushing ranks #2, MIN defends it at #13; the other way MIN #18 into IND's #8.
Who has the edge
The margin, factor by factor
Bars are in points toward the favored side. Blue factors are inside the model's margin; grey ones are context it does not add on top (form and offense/defense are already in the ratings; injuries beyond the quarterback are not priced).
Dissect the matchup
nflverse play-by-play + FTN charting · 2025 season (last season until three games are in)Biggest mismatches
- ▸IND defense (#10 takeaways / game) against a MIN offense ranked #32
- ▸MIN defense (#1 explosive pass rate allowed) against a IND offense ranked #21
- ▸IND rush success rate (#5) against a MIN defense ranked #21 at stopping it
- ▸IND defense (#16 interceptions forced) against a MIN offense ranked #32
- ▸IND defense (#12 completion % over expected allowed) against a MIN offense ranked #27
A mismatch is a rank gap of at least a fifth of the league between an offense and the defense it faces on the same measure. Descriptive rows (pass rate, pace, direction) are shown for reading the game, not ranked. ▲▼ mark where the last three games sit clearly above or below the season number, in the direction that helps that side.
Indianapolis Colts offense vs Minnesota Vikings defense
ranks of 32| IND off | MIN def | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | |||
| Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them. | 60% | 52% | · |
| Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy. | 56% | 46% | · |
| Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode. | 56% | 49% | · |
| Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass. | −0.9% | −8.9% | · |
| Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster. | 30.1 | 31.7 | · |
| No-huddle | 5% | 9% | · |
| Shotgun | 72% | 57% | · |
| Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting). | 28% | 24% | · |
| RPO rate / RPOs faced | 9% | 4% | · |
| Screen rate / Screens faced | 5% | 8% | · |
| Pre-snap motion / Motion faced | 53% | 53% | · |
| Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them. | 30% | 46% | · |
| Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers | 4.35 | 4.61 | · |
| Passing | |||
| EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow. | +0.08#11▼ | −0.12#2▼ | MIN |
| Pass success rate | 47%#10 | 40%#3▼ | MIN |
| Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards. | 7.3%#21▼ | 6.1%#1▼ | MIN |
| Yards / dropback | 6.8#9 | 5.6#6▼ | · |
| Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at. | 8.0 | 6.8 | · |
| Deep-ball rate (20+ air) | 10% | 9% | · |
| Short throws (≤5 air) | 54% | 56% | · |
| Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow. | +0.6#17▼ | −4.4#4▼ | MIN |
| YAC / completion | 5.0#17 | 5.3#22 | · |
| Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create. | 4.8%#7 | 9.3%#3▲ | · |
| Scramble rate | 4.2% | 5.7% | · |
| Interception rate / Interceptions forced | 2.6%#22▲ | 1.8%#21▲ | · |
| Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row. | L 41 · M 20 · R 38 | L 39 · M 23 · R 37 | · |
| Rushing | |||
| EPA / rush | +0.06#2▼ | −0.08#13▼ | IND |
| Rush success rate | 45%#5 | 42%#21 | IND |
| Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards. | 10.1%#13▼ | 9.4%#16▼ | · |
| Yards / rush | 4.6#8▼ | 3.8#6 | · |
| Runs left / middle / right | L 26 · M 43 · R 32 | L 33 · M 28 · R 39 | · |
| Situational | |||
| Third-down conversion | 43%#7 | 35%#3 | · |
| Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown. | 65%#6 | 43%#1▼ | · |
| Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game | 1.24#21▲ | 1.18#16▲ | · |
| Plays / game | 59 | 60 | · |
Minnesota Vikings offense vs Indianapolis Colts defense
ranks of 32| MIN off | IND def | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | |||
| Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them. | 61% | 63% | · |
| Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy. | 55% | 60% | · |
| Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode. | 54% | 57% | · |
| Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass. | −1.2% | +0.0% | · |
| Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster. | 30.7 | 28.8 | · |
| No-huddle | 8% | 9% | · |
| Shotgun | 56% | 68% | · |
| Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting). | 26% | 22% | · |
| RPO rate / RPOs faced | 5% | 6% | · |
| Screen rate / Screens faced | 9% | 6% | · |
| Pre-snap motion / Motion faced | 52% | 52% | · |
| Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them. | 26% | 28% | · |
| Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers | 4.29 | 4.32 | · |
| Passing | |||
| EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow. | −0.16#29▼ | +0.06#18▲ | IND |
| Pass success rate | 42%#28 | 47%#21 | IND |
| Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards. | 7.0%#24▼ | 8.2%#18▲ | IND |
| Yards / dropback | 5.4#28 | 6.4#20 | IND |
| Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at. | 7.8 | 7.9 | · |
| Deep-ball rate (20+ air) | 12% | 12% | · |
| Short throws (≤5 air) | 51% | 50% | · |
| Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow. | −2.9#27▲ | −0.4#12▲ | IND |
| YAC / completion | 5.1#15 | 4.9#13 | · |
| Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create. | 10.5%#31▲ | 5.6%#24▼ | IND |
| Scramble rate | 4.9% | 4.3% | · |
| Interception rate / Interceptions forced | 4.3%#32▼ | 2.3%#16 | IND |
| Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row. | L 36 · M 18 · R 46 | L 34 · M 21 · R 45 | · |
| Rushing | |||
| EPA / rush | −0.05#18▲ | −0.09#8▲ | IND |
| Rush success rate | 44%#8 | 42%#19 | MIN |
| Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards. | 11.7%#4 | 9.1%#12 | MIN |
| Yards / rush | 4.4#11 | 3.8#5 | IND |
| Runs left / middle / right | L 33 · M 29 · R 37 | L 34 · M 30 · R 36 | · |
| Situational | |||
| Third-down conversion | 32%#31 | 43%#25 | IND |
| Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown. | 57%#17▼ | 54%#10 | IND |
| Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game | 1.65#32▼ | 1.24#10 | IND |
| Plays / game | 55 | 65 | · |
Route-by-route data (which routes are run and how coverage plays them) is not published anywhere public — it is sold by PFF and NGS. Throw depth, direction, play-action, RPO, screens, motion and pass-rush counts above are the public pieces of the same picture.
Indianapolis Colts · key players
- Daniel Jones QB20.1/29.5 · 239 yds/g · 19-8 TD-INT · +0.16 EPA/db
- Tyler Warren TEQuestionable6.6 tgt/g · 21% share · 48 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 5.4
- Michael Pittman WR6.5 tgt/g · 21% share · 46 yds/g · 7 TD · aDOT 8.2
- Josh Downs WRQuestionable5.5 tgt/g · 17% share · 35 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 7.5
- Alec Pierce WR5.6 tgt/g · 18% share · 67 yds/g · 6 TD · aDOT 19.0
- Jonathan Taylor RB19.0 car/g · 93 yds/g · 4.9 ypc · 18 TD · +0.06 EPA/car
- DJ Giddens RB5.2 car/g · 19 yds/g · 3.7 ypc · 0 TD · +0.00 EPA/car
2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.
Minnesota Vikings · key players
- J.J. McCarthy QB14.0/24.3 · 163 yds/g · 11-12 TD-INT · −0.20 EPA/db
- Listed starter this week: Kyler Murray — line above is J.J. McCarthy's.
- Justin Jefferson WR8.3 tgt/g · 31% share · 62 yds/g · 2 TD · aDOT 10.2
- Jordan Addison WR5.6 tgt/g · 18% share · 44 yds/g · 3 TD · aDOT 13.7
- T.J. Hockenson TE4.4 tgt/g · 16% share · 29 yds/g · 3 TD · aDOT 5.0
- Jalen Nailor WR3.1 tgt/g · 12% share · 26 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 12.4
- Jordan Mason RB9.9 car/g · 47 yds/g · 4.8 ypc · 6 TD · −0.04 EPA/car
- Aaron Jones RB11.0 car/g · 46 yds/g · 4.2 ypc · 2 TD · −0.02 EPA/car
2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.
Season
| IND | MIN | |
|---|---|---|
| 8-9 | Record | 9-8 |
| 27.4 | Points for / game | 20.2 |
| 24.2 | Points against / game | 19.6 |
| 6-3 / 2-6 | Home / road | 4-4 / 5-4 |
| 9-8 | Against the spread | 9-8 |
| 9-8 | Over / underOvers–unders in this team's games. A tendency, not a lean. | 8-9 |
| L L L L L | Last 5 | W W W W W |
Season numbers are from 2025 until this season has games.
Power ratings
| IND | MIN | |
|---|---|---|
| 1464 | Elo | 1549 |
| #22 of 32 | Rank | #11 of 32 |
| +2.5 | Offense ratingPoints per game above league average scored, opponent-adjusted. | −2.9 |
| −2.6 | Defense ratingPoints per game below league average allowed, opponent-adjusted. Positive is good. | +5.5 |
| — | Strength of scheduleMean Elo of opponents faced this season. | — |
Elo drives the winner call. Offense/defense ratings drive the total.
Efficiency
| IND | MIN | |
|---|---|---|
| 0.080 | EPA / play (offense)Expected points added per offensive play, nflverse. The single best efficiency number. | -0.120 |
| 0.007 | EPA / play allowed | -0.087 |
| 240 | Pass yards / game | 189 |
| 118 | Rush yards / game | 108 |
| 262 | Pass yards allowed | 178 |
| 102 | Rush yards allowed | 124 |
| 0.9 / 1.4 | Turnovers / takeaways | 1.4 / 1.5 |
| 1.7 / 2.3 | Sacks allowed / made | 3.5 / 2.9 |
| 18.9 | First downs / game | 15.2 |
| 51 | Penalty yards / game | 52 |
| +6.9 · #6 of 52 | QB EPA / gameThe listed starter's passing + rushing EPA per game, ranked among starters with three or more games. | +2.0 · #22 of 52 |
Efficiency is from the 2025 season until this one has games. Source: nflverse.
Head to head
| 2024 | IND 13 at MIN 21 | MIN · MIN covered |
| 2022 | IND 36 at MIN 39 | MIN · IND covered |
| 2020 | MIN 11 at IND 28 | IND · IND covered |
| 2016 | IND 34 at MIN 6 | IND · IND covered |
| 2012 | MIN 20 at IND 23 | IND · IND covered |
How the margin was built
- Rating gap
- MIN +3.9 pts
- Home field
- MIN +— pts
- Rest
- Even
- Quarterback
- Usual starters — no adjustment
- Weather / roof
- — pts on the total
- Model margin
- —
- Model total
- —
Market
- Spread
- MIN -2.5
- Total
- 46.5
- Moneyline
- IND +120 · MIN -142
Per-book prices appear once the multi-book feed has this game (about a week out).
Indianapolis Colts injuries
- Cameron Mitchell CBInjured Reserve
- Carson Towt TEInjured Reserve
- Coleman Owen WRInjured Reserve
- D.J. Montgomery WRInjured Reserve
- Will Mallory TEInjured Reserve
- A.J. Haulcy SQuestionable
- Charvarius Ward CBQuestionable
- Josh Downs WRQuestionable
- Sean McKeon TEQuestionable
- Tyler Warren TEQuestionable
From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.
Minnesota Vikings injuries
- Jamal Adams LBInjured Reserve
- Jermar Jefferson RBInjured Reserve
- Marcus Allen CBInjured Reserve
- Michael Jurgens CInjured Reserve
- Tyler Batty LBInjured Reserve
- Caleb Tiernan OTQuestionable
- Jacob Thomas SQuestionable
- Jakobe Thomas SQuestionable
From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.
Informational only. Winner probabilities are backtested and calibrated; spread and total calls are tracked leans. 21+, 1-800-GAMBLER.