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The Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots play for the first time in over four years as Week 13 of the NFL’s 2018 continues. Last year’s NFC runner-up Minnesota and last year’s Super Bowl runner-up New England collide on Sunday 12/2/18 at the Gillette Stadium.
The Vikings are fresh off a huge 24-17 win over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers last week. Meanwhile, the Patriots are coming off a 27-13 victory over the New York Jets in their most recent encounter.
Still In The Thick Of The Fight
Despite a roller coaster season, the Minnesota Vikings are still in the thick of the fight for the playoffs. Minnesota was predicted to make the playoffs but after 12 weeks of action, it’s the Chicago Bears who have emerged as favorites to win the NFC North. Despite that, the Vikings currently occupy the first wild card spot but at 6-4-1 on the season, this game could very well be a must-win for them.
Minnesota Vikings vs New England Patriots 12/2/18
Moneyline Odds: Vikings +205, Patriots -245
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/29/18
Back At The Top
The New England Patriots started the season at 1-2 and then they won six in a row before bowing to the Tennessee Titans prior to their bye week. The Patriots bounced back with a two-touchdown win over the New York Jets in their last game. At 8-3, the Pats are back at the top of the AFC East. Going to the playoffs is out of the question. However, whether this current team achieves the same greatness as that of previous Patriots’ teams, remains to be seen as this one looks streaky and perhaps even fragile.
As always, Tom Brady has been the catalyst of this Patriots unit. Considered as one of the greatest ever (if not, the greatest), Brady is defying father time with yet another impressive season. Brady has thrown for 3,031 yards with 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while completing 65.2% of his passes. The Patriots will look to Brady to deliver again on Sunday as they hope to win another Super Bowl title with him at the helm.
Who Wins?
Minnesota is 18-6-1 SU in their last 25 games played and are 2-3-1 SU in their last 6 games on the road. New England is 7-1 SU in their last 9 games played and are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games played at home. Head to head, the Patriots are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against the Vikings and New England is also 4-1 SU in their last 5 home games against Minnesota.
The Minnesota offense is imposing with Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen plus the Vikings’ defense seems to be peaking at the right time. But I don’t think these are enough to beat the Patriots at their home field.
New England has been very formidable at Gillette Stadium over the years and that hasn’t changed this year. The Patriots are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS at home this season. Brady will always be Brady but Kirk Cousins has a tendency to struggle in big road games. I don’t think he is the type who can lead a team to break the Patriots’ dominance at home. New England has the better team overall and Brady is the better quarterback. New England takes care of business in this game.
We’re picking the New England Patriots to beat the Minnesota Vikings on 12/2/18.
Other Bets To Make
Minnesota is 5-4-2 ATS in 11 games played this season and are 2-3-1 ATS in their last 6 games on the road. New England is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games played and are also 4-1 ATS in their last five games played at home. Head to head, the Patriots are 3-0 ATS in their last 3 games against the Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings vs New England Patriots 12/2/18
Spread Odds: Vikings +4.5 (-105), Patriots -4.5 (-115)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/29/18
Betting against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium has been a futile act. The Pats are not just 12-0 SU but also 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games at home. New England has also won those game by an average margin of 14.8 points. I’m not going against history here. The Pats have simply been dominant at home.
Prediction: Patriots -4.5
The total has gone under in 6 out of the 11 games played by the Vikings this season but the over is 4-1 in their five road games played. The total has gone under in 4 out of the last 5 games of the Patriots.
Minnesota Vikings vs New England Patriots 12/2/18
Over/Under Odds: Over 48.5 -110, Under 48.5 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/29/18
Minnesota has seen the over often on the road as five of their last six games on the road have hit the over with an average combined score of 52.5 points. However, not only is the under 7-4 in the Patriots’ 11 games this season but the under is 5-1 in the last six meetings between Minnesota and New England with an average score of 39.5. I think this bet can go either way but Brady should be able to do his thing at home while Cousins will have a fairly good game against a below average secondary. I’m picking a score in the 50’s for this game.
Prediction: Over 48.5
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