You’ll never believe this
After three weeks of being made underdogs by the folks who run the nation’s sportsbooks, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in the unfamiliar position of favorites as they head overseas to take on the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Yes, according to the folks from FanDuel, the Vikings have been installed as a 2.5-point favorite in the early betting lines. The over/under for the game is currently sitting at a pretty low 40.5 points.
The Jets are coming off of a game against the Denver Broncos that threatened to set offensive football back 30 years, as the Broncos won 10-9 in a contest that saw them throw for all of 60 yards on the afternoon (and negative yardage in the first half). The Jets had an opportunity to pull out the victory, but a last-second field goal missed the mark and dropped Aaron Rodgers and company to 2-2.
The Vikings, as we know, are coming into this one with a 4-0 mark, having knocked off three Super Bowl contenders. . .well, two Super Bowl contenders and the Packers. . .over the last three weeks. This week is the first time the Vikings have been favored since the season opener against New York’s other squad, the Giants, a game they won with ease by a score of 28-6.
In fact, the disrespect the Vikings have gotten from the oddsmakers early on was the subject of this little tidbit from Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
In the least anticipated Vikings season in recent memory, the Vikings are now 4-0.
They are the FIRST TEAM in the Super Bowl era to start 4-0 without being more than a 1-point favorite in those games. They have, in fact, been underdogs in their past three games. https://t.co/Sra0kzeGol
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) September 29, 2024
Yes, the Vikings are the first team in the Super Bowl era to get off to a 4-0 start despite not being favored by any more than a single point in any of those first four games. Pretty solid work for a team that had almost no expectations from most of the Really Smart Football People™ when the season began.
If the Vikings can find a way to win this one and get to the bye week at 5-0, they’ll be ready for some reinforcements, as tight end T.J. Hockenson and offensive lineman Dalton Risner should be close to ready to get back onto the field after that week off. They’ll then return to U.S. Bank Stadium for their first divisional home game of the year when they face Detroit in Week 7.
But, first things first, and that means beating the Jets in London. And, unlike the past few weeks, it looks like people outside of the greater Twin Cities area are actually expecting it to happen.
