Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings, Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
Sunday, November 21, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: FOX
Opening Line: Packers -2.5
Current Line: Packers -3
Opening Total: 42
Current Total: 44
Money Line: Packers -170 / Vikings +150
The Minnesota Vikings (3-6) do not have many more chances to try to turn things around and could find themselves out of the playoff race with a loss to the Green Bay Packers (6-3) on Sunday. The Vikings are already on the outside looking in but could fall four full games behind Green Bay (-3) and Chicago with six games remaining if they lose at home here to their NFC North rivals.
Even future Hall of Famer Brett Favre knows the odds are not in Minnesota’s favor after he turned the ball over four times – three interceptions and a fumble – in a 27-13 road loss to the Bears last week. Favre is the lowest-rated passer in the NFL among quarterbacks who have started every game this season and leads the league in turnovers with 16 interceptions and five fumbles lost. That obviously is a far cry from last season’s brilliant campaign, resulting in a loss at New Orleans in the NFC championship game and giving him hope that this year could be even better.
Now the worst nightmare for Favre will come true if the Packers win in Minnesota to pull off the season sweep following a 28-24 loss at Lambeau Field in Week 7. The Vikings swept Green Bay last year but are a shell of that team due to injuries, most notably to Favre and his favorite target in wide receiver Sidney Rice.
Favre has battled through ankle and shoulder injuries with only one truly good performance to show for it, which came in a 27-24 overtime win against Arizona two weeks ago. He threw for a career-high 446 yards in that game but has struggled otherwise. Rice may or may not play following offseason hip surgery, and his absence forced the team to trade for Randy Moss, who caught a touchdown pass in the last meeting with the Pack. But Moss is gone and Green Bay has gotten healthier since that game, giving the Vikings even more reasons to worry.
The Packers are coming off their bye week after a 45-7 dismantling of Dallas that ended up costing head coach Wade Phillips his job. That followed a 9-0 road win against the Jets and has given Green Bay a lot of confidence heading into this rematch. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had arguably his best game of the season against the Cowboys, completing 27 of 34 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns without throwing an interception.
Green Bay is 3-0 against the spread during its three-game winning streak while Minnesota has failed to cover four in a row and five of six. The OVER is 5-1 in the last six games for the Vikings and 6-1 in the last seven meetings with the Packers, who are 5-2 ATS in those games.
Now that you have read this football betting preview between the Vikings & Packers, make sure to check out the NFL lines on all the games and compare the best odds at multiple sportsbooks.
