Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings NFL Odds & Picks

Matchups don’t appear much closer than this one with a pair of 4-4 NFC North teams facing off in a game odds makers feel will go right down to the wire. Green Bay took round one, winning at home in the first week of the season and now the Vikings will look to even the score on their home turf. The Vikings are 2-point favorites with the total set at 44.5 at BetUS sportsbook.

Green Bay’s victory over Minnesota in its season opener was a positive to the start of the Aaron Rodgers era. And while his play has already inked him a big paycheck and contract extension, the Packers are just 4-4 with on-and-off play. Meanwhile, the Vikings have manages to turn around a frustrating start by benching Tarvaris Jackson in favor of veteran QB Gus Frerotte. This becomes a critical matchup in a very tight NFC North race between Minnesota, Green Bay, and Chicago.

Rodgers made his first career NFL start against the Vikings back on September 8th, completing 18 of 22 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown in leading the Packers to a 24-19 win. Rodgers threw four touchdowns strikes with no interceptions as Green Bay opened the season 2-0, but they have lost four of six games since. Minnesota has taken the opposite path, starting the season with a pair of losses before winning four of its next six games. Both teams enter this contest one game back of Chicago. A win by either team and a Chicago loss to Tennessee would have one of them back in a tie for first.

The Packers lost a tough one in overtime to the undefeated Titans last Sunday racking up 390 yards, the most a team has tallied on Tennessee this season. But Green Bay scored just one touchdown and added three field goals in four red zone trips. If the Packers were more efficient in the red zone, they easily could have handed Tennessee its first loss of the season. Rodgers was 22 of 41 for 314 yards and a touchdown against the Titans, but also threw an interception and fumbled once. Green Bay has had Minnesota’s number like no other team in the league, winning five straight against the Vikes. If you see this domination continuing, bet the Packers at +2 at BetUS and receive up to a 50% sign up bonus.

The Vikings will look to use a big play defense to finally break its losing streak against Green Bay. Minnesota has 21 sacks and has forced 14 turnover thus far this season. Five of those sacks and three of those takeaways came in last Sunday’s 28-21 win over the Texans. The Vikings could be without last season’s sack leader, Jared Allen, though as he is nursing a sprained right shoulder. Allen has five sacks in the last three games.

The Vikings have to feel good about what they saw from their veteran QB last week. Frerotte threw a season-high three touchdown passes in the win and is building chemistry with receivers Bernard Berrian and Visanthe Shiancoe. And we can’t talk about the Vikings without talking about running back Adrian Peterson. The 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year finished with 139 yards on 25 carries last Sunday. He has rushed for 371 yards and three touchdowns in his last three games. Peterson racked up 103 yards on 19 totes in week 1 against the Pack. That was actually one of Green Bay’s better performances against the run as it is allowing 146.4 yards per game on the ground this season.

Home field has not helped Minnesota much against the Packers as it has dropped four of its last five games to Green Bay in the Metrodome since winning nine of the previous 11. Be sure to bet the Vikings at -2 if you think they break their five-game losing streak to the Packers this week.

Editor’s Note: Jimmy Boyd’s one and only 5* NFC North Game of the Year is going on this matchup. Get this guaranteed play in addition to four other premium picks in his Week 10 Sunday NFL picks package. Jimmy started off his Week 10 NFL betting Thursday night by nailing his 5* AFC Game of the Year on the Broncos and there’s a whole lot more winning where that came from Sunday.

Catch the early NFL odds at Locksmith Sports each week.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings NFL Odds & Predictions
• Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers NFL Picks & Predictions
• Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams NFL Picks & Betting Odds
• Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions NFL Week 12 Odds & Picks
• Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns NFL Betting Odds & Picks

Comments