Detroit Lions (-3.5) at Minnesota Vikings, Total 45 |
Detroit enters Week 3 of the 2011 season with a perfect 2-0 record, coming off wins over Tampa Bay (27-20) and the Kansas City Chiefs (48-3). The Lions are the only team in the NFL that have covered all six games this season, which includes the preseason.
“It’s a good start,” commented Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. “That’s the way we look at it. We’ve got to keep it going, though. It’s a 16-game season.”
Stafford is definitely the leader of the offense, coming in fourth in the NFL with 599 passing yards. He has been spreading it around, as none of his receivers are in the top 25 in receiving yards. Nate Burleson currently ranks 27th and Calvin Johnson is 47th.
One of the main story lines in this contest is certainly the fact that the Lions are road favorites, as they’ve lost 13 consecutive trips to Minnesota dating back to Dec. 14, 1997. Overall, Detroit has lost 22 of 26 versus Minnesota.
Detroit is 4-2 ATS as a favorite in its last six opportunities, while the team is 18-13 ATS over the last two-plus seasons in betting predictions.
Minnesota will need to continue getting the ball in the hands of running back Adrian Peterson, who ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns in last year’s 24-10 home win over Detroit.
It’s important to note that the Vikings were out-gained by a 357-211 margin in the last meeting of the 2010 campaign, as that game took place at Ford Field. The last two times these teams have met in the Twin Cities, Minnesota went off as 13 and 17 point favorites.
The Vikings are 0-2 with the 27th-ranked offense in the league that has scored just 30 points. One of the main concerns in practice this week was wide receiver Percy Harvin, who has been limited due to illness.
“We definitely want to expand Percy’s dynamic ability,” commented offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. “And we want to do a lot of good things in all packages.”
Fans are well aware of the team’s success against Sunday’s opponent at home, but the squad is going to have to play better in the second half to pull off the slight upset. The Vikings have been outscored 41-3 in the second half of games.
Vikings betting fans will find that they are 4-10 ATS as an underdog, but are just 0-1 ATS when getting points of a field goal or less at home.
The NFL betting in this contest will likely land on the Vikings due to their 7-3 ATS as a home underdog of 3.5 to 10 points, while the Lions betting are 0-8 ATS as a road favorite.
