Sport: NFLPick Selection: Minnesota Vikings -4.5 -110
Oakland Raiders at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 PM ET
Minnesota Vikings -4.5 -110
***NFC High-Roller Blowout*** One of the best NFL capping strategies is no take a team that is coming off a shutout loss and the Vikings fit that mold here. It did not work out for the Seahawks, who were the lone shutout victim heading into last week but the Vikings are in a much better spot than Seattle was. Minnesota is 2-2 at home with losses coming against Green Bay and Philadelphia by a touchdown apiece.
Oakland has lost five straight games and the confidence of this team, which at one point was good, is at a season low following yet another game it had a chance to win. The Raiders have been outgained in four of their last five games and they are hoping that inserting Daunte Culpepper into the lineup against his former team will spark the same thing it did against the Dolphins. Well, it won?t.
With Adrian Peterson out of the lineup, people are calling the Vikings done. Well, Chester Taylor, the original starter before Peterson starting going wild, is a very capable replacement. He is averaging five ypc on the season and over the last two games, he has rushed for 97 yards on just 12 carries. The running game will be just fine especially knowing that the Raiders rushing defense is horrible.
Minnesota remains extremely tough against the run as it is allowing just 75.9 ypg on 3.0 ypc. The Raiders started out by rushing the ball great this season but they have struggled of late, averaging only 93.2 ypg over their last five games. They have been outgained on the in four of those games, the lone exception coming last Sunday against the Bears, who are ranked 30th in the league in rushing offense and 26th in rushing defense.
The east coast trip for Oakland puts it in a tough spot and is one of the great situations around. Play against teams that are traveling two time zones and playing an early Sunday game. Those teams are a woeful 10-50 ATS (16.7 percent) since 2000. That includes a 1-8 ATS mark last season and a 2-6 ATS mark this year.
Play on any team after being beaten by the spread by more than 28 points in their previous game in the second half of the season. This situation is 31-10 over the last 10 seasons (75.6 percent) including an 11-2 ATS mark (84.6 percent) over the last three years. Look for the Viking to bounce back strong and keep the Raiders reeling. Play Minnesota Vikings 2 Units
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