The Minnesota Vikings will take on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon, looking to sweep the AFC South.

The last two weeks saw the Vikings win games against the Indianapolis Colts (21-13) and Jacksonville Jaguars (12-7). while this game appears easy with the Titans sitting at 2-7, it has the potential to be far from it. The Titans' defense might be 29th in points allowed this season, but they have allowed the least amount of yards in the National Football League.

At publishing, the Vikings are favored by six points on DraftKings Sportsbook and that feels about right for where these teams are currently. Heading into the game, these players are going to be vitally important.

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Vikings QB Sam Darnold

Last week wasn't a great one for the Vikings starting quarterback. He completed 24-38 passes, but threw three interceptions and nearly threw two others in getting the win. It's not out of the norm for Darnold to turn the ball over. He's always been a little bit volatile with the football with some coming from bad processes but most of them have come from missing throws.

The latter was the cause of Darnold's issues on Sunday against the Jaguars and that is easier to fix than poor decision making. How head coach Kevin O'Connell makes adjustments in the passing game to help Darnold will be key to his success. It will also help that cornerback L'Jarius Sneed is trending to be out for the game.

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Titans CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

As mentioned above, Sneed is trending in the opposite direction the Titans were hoping for. He is their best cover corner and had a lot of success against Justin Jefferson last season when he played for the Kansas City Chiefs. If he is out, their top cornerback on the outside will be a rookie they selected in the fifth round out of Louisville Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

In last year's NFL Draft class, Brownlee was my 41st overall player, my eighth-ranked cornerback and made the third-annual All-Forno team. 

There is often a cornerback in the NFL Draft that is beyond feisty who just stands out and Brownlee is that guy. Before the Senior Bowl, I hadn't seen much of Brownlee but that performance stood out and his film matched the All Star game. He doesn't have great size at 5100 and 194 lbs, but he makes up for that in a big way with his aggressiveness. The one worry that he has on his profile is getting his aggressiveness taken advantage of.

So far this season, Brownlee has been solid, especially for a rookie. He's been targeted 42 times with 26 of them being caught for 356 yards and a touchdown. The Buffalo Bills picked on him heavily in their matchup, getting seven completions on 12 targets for 175 yards. There is a real chance that Brownlee sees some action against Jefferson and his performance in those situations will be a key factor in whether or not the Titans will be competitive against the Vikings.

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Vikings OLB Jonathan Greenard

The Titans offensive line isn't very good. When looking at the grades from Pro Football Focus, they have just one player in the top 50th percentile of his position group in  Daniel Brunskill at 15th/38 centers. They also have Pro Football Focus' worst qualifying tackle in Leroy Watson with a grade of 35.1/100.

Greenard has been the Vikings' best player on defense and also their best free agent signing. On the season, Greenard has 7.0 sacks and is tied for third in pressures this season with 48. Although he didn't register an official pressure against the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon, he was dominant in stopping the run and was still wreaking havoc on their offensive line. With the Titans having a poor offensive line, this is where Greenard should have a field day.

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