Categories
NFL

Minnesota Vikings 2015 Gambling Odds & Handicapping Preview

2015 Minnesota Vikings Predictions

The Minnesota Vikings struggled last season, but there were some bright spots. Teddy Bridgewater looks like he could be a starting QB in the NFL for years to come. Adrian Peterson is back too, which will take some pressure off Bridgewater.

NFL Week 1 Matchup Analysis
NFL Week 1 Betting Trends
NFL Week 1 News
NFL Week 1 Picks
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]

NFL Futures

2014 Record: 7-9
ATS: 10-6
Vikings Odds to Win the NFC North Division: +650
Vikings Odds to Win the NFC Conference: +2000
Vikings Odds to Win the 2016 Super Bowl: +3300

I expect the Vikings offense to improve, but the defense needs to show more improvement in 2015.

Last season the defense improved, as the Vikings ranked 14th in yards allowed (344.7 YPG) and 11th in points against (21.4 PPG). If the Vikes want to compete in the NFC North – they’re going to need to rank inside of the top 10.

[dfads params=’groups=63753&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]

Minnesota lost some players, but no one overly important. The losses this off-season include Greg Jennings, Jasper Brinkley, Charlie Johnson, Matt Cassel, Erin Henderson, Corey Wootton and Jerome Felton.

The Vikings also made three key signings by bringing in Mike Wallace, Terence Newman and Taylor Mays.

Newman and Mays will bolster the secondary and Wallace will provide a legitimate deep threat. Wallace doesn’t do much in a game, but he’s usually good for one big gain and a few more catches week in and week out.

[dfads params=’groups=66501&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]

Cordarrelle Patterson was supposed to breakout last season, but that never happened. Patterson has speed and could be a deep threat like Wallace, but he needs to become way more consistent this season to reach that level.

It’ll be interesting to see how Peterson fares. On one hand – he had a year off and rested up his legs. On the other hand – he has been out of football for a year and he may be rusty when he gets back onto the field.

The main concern on Minnesota this season is the run stopping unit. The Vikings allowed 121.4 RYPG (25th) last year and they didn’t address the weakness this off-season. They can’t afford to give up so many rushing yards if they want to win.

Vikings Betting Outlook

It’s important the Vikings start the first few weeks of the season off well. They play the 49ers, Lions and Chargers, before heading to Mile High to play Denver. If they start 1-3 or worse, they’re never going to get back in the division race.

Minnesota went 2-6 on the road and 1-5 in the division last season. There may be a bit of improvement this season, as the team definitely got better, but they’re still a couple years before contending with the Packers and Lions.

It sure looks tempting to bet on the Vikes at +650 in the NFC North with Peterson back, but when he was around it didn’t change the fact that the Packers are the dominant team within the division in recent years.

The Vikings regular season win total has been set at 8 wins, which is too close to call.

[dfads params=’groups=63752&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]

Minnesota have a very tough schedule against a lot of teams that like to grind it out on defense. That’s going to wear on this team. A major injury or slow start could derail this inexperienced team as well, so I lean to the under.

There’s an extremely slim chance the Vikings win the NFC, so I’m not going to spend time discussing that.

Vikings 2015 Prediction

This team has a lot of questions to answer and it’s tough to predict where the Vikings will end up. I could picture them with three wins at the end of the season or knocking on the wild card door with nine wins.

In my opinion – there are plenty of better 2015 NFL futures to wager on.

The 2015 NFL futures betting season is right around the corner! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting.

CappersPicks.com has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well.

[dfads params=’groups=63706&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]

By Scott Jack

Scott is new to Cappers Picks, but has been in the industry for 7 years and he’s only 25 years old. He lives in Toronto, Canada and bleeds blue and white. He grew up playing sports and still has a love for the competitiveness.