NFL ODDs   Vikings vs Cardinals

NFL ODDs – Vikings vs Cardinals

Longshot Vikings Seek Some Improvement Against Cards

By Charles Jay

The Minnesota Vikings will have to overcome some long NFL odds if they want to get to the Super Bowl. On Saturday night they would like to show how much progress they have made as they play host to the Arizona Cardinals in football betting action that is slated to get underway at 8:30 PM ET at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Vikings registered a rather drab 10-6 victory over the Oakland Raiders in their pre-season opener, but there are some holes that appeared to be gaping. Certainly first-year head coach Mike Zimmer has some challenges to face as he enters the regular season in the NFC North, where the Green Bay Packers won the division with an 8-7-1 record last year.

Meanwhile, you couldn’t have gotten much better than the Cardinals were in their pre-season opener, as they scored a 32-0 shutout over the Houston Texans. The 407-172 gap in yardage was highly unusual for an exhibition game.

NFL ODDs   Vikings vs Cardinals

In the NFL odds at VietBet, the Vikings are laying points vs Cardinals:

Vikings -3 (-120)
Cardinals +3 (+100)
Over/Under 38.5 Points

It would seem quite strange that a team with the finest running back in the game (Adrian Peterson) and made the playoffs two seasons ago would be the longest of longshots to win their conference, but the Vikings have quarterback issues to sort out, and perhaps that explains why they are priced at +6000 in the NFL odds at VietBet to reign supreme in the NFC.

The perception is that Christian Ponder may not be the future for the Vikes after all. In fact, he may not even survive training camp cuts. The team made Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville their first-round draft choice and it may not take them very long to start exploring those possibilities. The rookie’s first appearance had some ups and downs, as he completed six out of 13 passes. Zimmer found time for his other two quarterbacks as well – Matt Cassel went five-for-six and showed some command in only ten snaps, while Ponder went 3-for-7 and was sacked three times. All told, the Vikings’ offensive line gave up six sacks, and you don’t have to be an expert at the NFL odds to realize that just isn’t going to get the job done.

Cassel, who will most likely be the starting quarterback for the regular season opener while Bridgewater sits and learns, may actually get to play the entire first half, and that is something which needs to be noted by VietBet patrons. There is always a period of adjustment with a quarterback when he has a new offensive coordinator, and Norv Turner, who likes to go downfield, wants to see more of Cassel in game situations with the new scheme. But that scheme will likely not include anything from Peterson, who hasn’t had a pre-season carry since the 2011 season.

Once upon a time the Vikings were one of the toughest teams in the league to run against, and Zimmer, who serves as his own defensive coordinator, is dead set on having that happen again. It is a good bet there will be less of a pass rush after the departure of Jared Allen. For purposes analyzing this game in the NFL odds, the Vikings may need to exert some pressure; after all, Arizona’s Carson Palmer was a perfect five-for-five last week, and Logan Thomas, the team’s “project” QB out of Virginia Tech, ripped through the Houston defense, going 11-of-12 for 113 yards. Drew Stanton also made his case for playing time (11-for-17, 152 yards). All three Cardinal QB’s threw a TD pass last week, so Minnesota had better not look for a letup.

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NFL ODDs   Vikings vs Cardinals
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NFL Odds
Description
In the NFL odds at VietBet, the Vikings are laying points vs Cardinals: Vikings -3 (-120), Cardinals +3 (+100), Over/Under 38.5 Points
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