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Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Minnesota Vikings NFL Week 1 Preview & Free Pick

NFL Handicapping – Jaguars vs Vikings Betting Spread / Matchup

In the opening game for this season the Jags and Vikings may be without their biggest stars, as Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew are questionable.

Jacksonville vs. Minnesota

Venue/ Stadium: Mall of America Field, Minneapolis, MN
Time/Date: 1 PM EST Sunday September 9, 2012
MLB Odds From: Bovada
Spread: Vikings -4
Moneyline: Jags +165 / Vikings -200
Over/Under:  39.5

Matchup | Preview

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Minnesota Vikings Preview

Both teams struggled last season with rookie QB, and Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder look to get off to good starts to the 2012 season. NFL lines have the Vikings as 4-point home favorites with a total of 39.5.

The Jags won 3 of their 4 preseason games and the Vikings lost 3 of their 4 preseason games.

Last season the Jags were 7-8-1 ATS with an Over/Under record of 4-11-1 and the Vikings were 6-8-2 ATS with an Over/Under record of 10-6.

Gabbert did not have a good WR corps last season, which is why the Jags used their first round pick to take Justin Blackmon and they signed free agent Laurent Robinson. He plays behind a solid line and will face the weakness of the Vikings’ D, which is their pass defense.

If Jones-Drew cannot go Rashad Jennings will get the start and he will not have it easy facing Jared Allen and a solid Minnesota run defense. The Jags’ offensive line has to key on Allen, who had 22.5 sacks last season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

While Gabbert got some help in the off-season the Vikings picked up Jerome Simpson to be the #2 guy behind Percy Harvin, but he is suspended for the first 3 games of the season.

Toby Gerhart will get the nod as the starting back if Peterson cannot go and he will be counted on to help Ponder out. One thing the Vikes have going for them is that they have a big and physical offensive line that Gerhart can run behind and the Jags do not feature a great front line defense. The offensive line will only be better this season since Minnesota used the 4th pick in the draft to take OL Matt Kalil,

In some betting trends for this non-conference match up the Jaguars are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in September and they have an Under record of 6-1-1 in their last 8 road games.

The Vikings are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games, 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall, and they have an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 home games.

Jason’s Pick: I think Gabbert is a legit QB and now that he has some weapons the Jags will have a much better passing offense. Facing a Vikings’ secondary I think he will play well and the Jags will pull off the away upset and not only cover the 4-point spread, but win as well.

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By Jason Green

Jason Green is back with Cappers Picks again to give out his free sports plays. As always he's hoping the Braves and Redskins can win a championship since their last one in the 90’s was long ago. He’s starting to know the pain of Cubs fans.