The Detroit Lions (5-2) and Minnesota Vikings (3-4) will square off in Week 9, with both teams coming off extended breaks. The Lions are riding high after a Week 7 win on “Monday Night Football,” convincingly taking down a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was previously sitting atop the NFC. Meanwhile, the Vikings are limping in their break after a disastrous Week 8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on “Thursday Night Football.”
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook are leaning towards Detroit at home and have set the opening betting line at Lions -8.5 points.
The Vikings’ season has seen its ups and downs, mainly due to inconsistent quarterback play, injuries, and surprisingly poor coaching decisions. Their three wins have come over the Bears (by just three points in Ben Johnson’s first game), a Joe Burrow-less Bengals, and a four-point win over a Browns team starting rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Their losses have come at the hands of the Falcons, Steelers, Eagles, and a beatdown by the Chargers.
In their last game, the Vikings were without several starters, and it showed on the field. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was held out while still dealing with an ankle injury, leaving the Vikings to turn to Carson Wentz, who was able to play through his shoulder injury—though he was constantly beat up by the Chargers and left the game in a lot of pain. Their left tackle, Christian Darrisaw, returned from injury but was pulled from the game after just nine offensive snaps. That was a tough loss for an offensive line that was also without right tackle Brian O’Neill and center Ryan Kelly (who is on injured reserve with a concussion). On defense, Andrew Van Ginkel has missed a few weeks, and his absence has limited the defense’s impact, especially in garnering consistent pressure.
If there is any optimism in Minnesota right now, it’s that each of the players mentioned above could return as soon as this week. The frustrating part for Minnesota fans is, will the return of injured players be enough?
The Vikings have struggled mightily on offense, especially in the run game, while they have also uncharacteristically given up a lot of rushing yards on defense, and have shown huge gaps in their zone coverage this season. Making matters even potentially worse, there are rumors that McCarthy has actually been healthy enough to play but was given a “soft benching,” as the coaching staff has shown more confidence in Wentz. If true, the Vikings’ struggles at quarterback could continue.
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