NFL Must Win Giants @ Vikings
BetUS Sportsbook bettors who follow pro football know that the New York Giants (12-3 SU, 11-4 ATS) have clinched home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. The Minnesota Vikings (9-6 SU, 6-9 ATS) can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win when these two teams get together in Sunday’s NFL betting action that is scheduled to get underway at 1 PM ET at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (artificial turf) in Minneapolis.
BetUS NFL betting odds: MINNESOTA -6.5, Total 42.5
NOTABLE STAT: Vikings have allowed 3.3 yards per rushing attempt
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Giants are 13-2 ATS last 15 on the road
In the BetUS NFL football betting odds, the Vikings are listed as a 6.5-point favorite, with a posted total of 42.5 points.
Here are some NFL betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NY has covered 17 of its last 21 games
* NY has won 16 of its last 19 games SU
* NY has covered 13 of its last 15 road games
* NY has won 16 of its last 18 road games SU
* NY has played 12 of its last 18 road games UNDER the total
* MINN has covered six of its last 18 games
* MINN has won four of its last five games SU
* MINN has played six of its last nine games OVER the total
* MINN has covered three of its last nine home games
* MINN has won five of its last six home games SU
Also…
* NY has won and covered four of the last five meetings as the road team
The Giants managed to avoid a third loss in a row last week when they came back to nail an overtime win over Carolina. The New Yorkers hammered out 302 rushing yards, including 215 from Derrick Ward, and Brandon Jacobs, who was snubbed for the Pro Bowl, banged it in at the end. Now the Giants have secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs, which would normally dictate that they would rest a lot of people in the “meaningless” season finale.
Tom Coughlin, however, has stated that it wouldn’t necessarily be that simple. With the bye week, and considering what good it did for the Giants to go all out against the Pats in Game #16 last season, that’s believable. It is entirely possible that people like Jacobs, Aaron Ross, Fred Robbins and Justin Tuck wouldn’t be extended. Of course, if Jacobs sits, we’ve already seen that the Giants have plenty in reserve, including Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw, who are both averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
On top of that, you just know that for as long as he’s going to be in there. Eli Manning is going to want to redeem himself for last season’s horror story against these Vikings, a 41-17 loss at the Meadowlands where he threw four interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns.
We know that Minnesota needs this game to clinch the NFC North title. We know that they allow just 3.2 yards a carry. We know that they rush the passer (43 sacks). We know that Adrian Peterson leads the NFL with 1657 rushing yards. We know that Tarvaris Jackson has actually thrown eight TD passes with just one interception.
At the same time, we also know that when they were in a good position to wrap up the division, opposing a rookie quarterback, they couldn’t get it done against Atlanta at home last week. We know that they make the key mistake, e.g., putting the ball on the ground seven times last Sunday. We know that Pat Williams is not in the lineup. We also think we know that if David Carr (you know, the #1 draft pick who backs up the other #1 draft pick, Manning) is in the game just handing off, he may be as effective as Jackson or Gus Frerotte.
We will not ignore the fact that the Giants have won 16 of their last 18 road games and covered 13 of the last 15. Don’t think they won’t do everything they can to make it extra difficult for Minnesota to salt things away.
We are going to grab the points with the Giants, the 6.5-point underdog in the BetUS NFL pro football sports betting odds.
