Monday Night Football: Kyler Murray Is Inactive, Carson Wentz Starts for the Vikings and the Bills Lose Dion Dawkins
The inactives settled Monday night's storyline an hour before kickoff in Minneapolis: Minnesota starts its backup against the league's best offense, and Buffalo protects Josh Allen without its left tackle against the league's most aggressive blitz.
MINNEAPOLIS — Monday Night Football's matchup of 6-1 teams lost its starting home quarterback before it began. Kyler Murray is officially inactive for the Minnesota Vikings with the hamstring injury he suffered in the loss to Detroit, and Carson Wentz starts in his place, as coach Kevin O'Connell confirmed last Thursday.
Buffalo's loss is on the other side of the ball: the Bills are without starting left tackle Dion Dawkins, protection that matters against a Minnesota defense that has blitzed on 73.1 percent of opponent dropbacks this season, per Next Gen Stats — the league's No. 1 scoring defense (13.3 points allowed per game) against Buffalo's No. 1 scoring offense (33.3 points per game), with Josh Allen carrying no injury designation and James Cook averaging 5.1 yards a carry. Buffalo wide receiver Joshua Palmer is also out with a hamstring injury.
Kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium was set for 7:15 p.m. CT on ESPN, with Buffalo a 3-point road favorite and no ManningCast on the alternate feed. The winner leaves Monday night alone at 7-1; the Sports Desk files the final after the game.
