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Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions Week 14 Free Pick

Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions matchup this Sunday. The Detroit Lions are still in pretty good shape for a playoff berth but they have to get their act back together.

NFL Betting Predictions – Vikings vs Lions

Well Donovan McNabb is gone…now what?  This team has been shockingly bad all season long and hasn’t found a way to shake it.  Last week’s loss to Denver might have been the hardest to take yet as they actually made Tim Tebow look like an NFL passer.  

Ford Field – Detroit, MI
Sunday December 11 – 1:00PM
Moneyline:  Detroit -556, Minnesota +400
Spread (ATS):  Detroit -7
Over/Under: 48
Odds courtesy of 5Dimes

Minnesota

This team is searching for answers in so many places and finding them in Detroit is going to be very difficult.

Lets start by looking at the Vikings offense.  Last week was only the second time all season they scored more than 27 points.  What went right?  Toby Gerhart was productive on the ground and Percy Harvin was able to make some explosive plays in the passing game. Rookie QB Christian Ponder seems to be coming along but like most rookies he needs to keep it away from the team wearing different colour jerseys.

Defensively, this team just has to stop giving up the big play.  The Denver Broncos shored 35 points last week but only controlled the ball for 22 minutes.  7 points were scored on a pick 6, but still when Tebow decided to put it in the air he was way more effective than he ever has been.  You want to give him some credit but what happened to the Vikes defense.  This week might be worse against a Lions team which is light years ahead of the Broncos passing the ball.

Detroit

The Detroit Lions are still in pretty good shape for a playoff berth but they have to get their act back together. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

 After a red hot start they have gone 2-5 in the middle portion of the season and are running out of time to right the ship.  Last week they weren’t ready to handle the Saints in their house but now they get to play host to the struggling Vikings.

Even though the running game has been scarce the Lions are still one of the most prolific offenses in the league.  They are 5th in passing and 4th in scoring, averaging 27ppg.  They should be able to outscore the Vikings rather easily, especially given how Tebow shredded their pass defense last week.  With Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson the Lions could easily break 40 points.

Defensively they have been sagging after getting off to a good start.  Ndomokong Suh will be sitting out another game this week but the rest of the defense hasn’t been stepping up anyway.  In their past three losses they haven’t held an opponent to less than 27 points.  That just puts too much pressure on their offense which has been known to turn the ball over.  This is a perfect game to settle things down some.

ATS Pick:  Detroit -7
Over/Under Pick:  Over
Score Prediction:  Detroit 38 – Minnesota 17

By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.