The Minnesota Vikings will be hoping to clinch a playoff spot this weekend as they host the division-rival Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football as 5.5-point favorites on the NFL betting odds.
Minnesota is coming off its biggest victory of the season, a 39-10 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers that leaves the team poised to join Green Bay atop the NFC North standings with a win in Monday night’s matchup at US Bank Stadium.
With last week’s win in Los Angeles as 1-point road favorites, the Vikings have now covered the NFL spread in consecutive outings for the first time since Week 7, while evening their middling straight-up record on the road this season at 4-4. The Vikings have been far more dominant on home turf, racking up an unblemished 6-0 SU record this season. Minnesota also covered in four of those contests, with their only ATS defeats coming while pegged as double-digit home chalk on the NFL lines.
Entering the week sporting a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC wild card race, the Vikings sit as heavy -6600 favorites to advance to the playoffs for the third time in five years. But while Minnesota can pull even with the Packers in the NFC North with a win on Monday night, the team faces an uphill battle in their bid to claim the divisional crown. With Green Bay holding the edge in tiebreakers, the Vikings will need to post wins in their final two contests and see the Packers fall to defeat in their Week 17 visit to Detroit to claim their third NFC North title in five years. As a result, Minnesota lags as a +450 longshot to win the division on the NFL lines.
Packers Ride Winning Streak into Monday Night
The Packers arrive in Minnesota for Monday’s contest riding a three-game SU win streak, and can clinch the NFC North title with a victory. Green Bay received yet another solid defensive performance in last week’s 21-13 win over the Chicago Bears as a 4.5-point home favorite, and has now surrendered just 15.7 points per game over its three recent victories.
Green Bay’s three-game surge leaves the team knotted in a tight four-way race with New Orleans, Seattle, and San Francisco for the top of the NFC conference standings, and enters Week 16 in control of the second seed. However, with the Packers looking at two road games to close out the schedule, and both the Seahawks and 49ers enjoying more favorable matchups this weekend before meeting next week in a pivotal season-ending showdown, they sit well back of the favorites as +1100 longshots to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
A shaky recent track record against the Vikings also remains a concern. The Packers tallied a 21-16 win over Minnesota as 3-point home favorites earlier in the season, but have otherwise struggled against their divisional rivals, going 2-5-1 in their past eight overall meetings including three straight SU and ATS losses in Minnesota.
The Packers have also struggled badly in recent contests away from Lambeau Field after opening the current NFL football season with SU and ATS victories in their first three road contests. Green Bay recorded a decisive 31-13 win over the New York Giants while favored by 6.5 points on the NFL odds in their most recent road date back in Week 13.
However, the team suffered a season-worst 37-8 beating on the road at the hands of the 49ers a week later, and also came out flat in a road date with the Chargers in Week 9, suffering a stunning 26-11 upset loss while pegged as 4-point favorites in NFL betting.
*Odds as of December 21st, 2019
The post NFC North Battle Favors the Vikings at Home appeared first on Sports Betting Odds, Lines, News and Articles - Bovada Sportsbook.
from Sports Betting Odds, Lines, News and Articles – Bovada Sportsbook https://ift.tt/2tBoacz
via IFTTT
Comments
Post a Comment