Saints Vikings Spread

Written by Jack Jones

The New Orleans Saints hit the road Sunday to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15 NFL action. New Orleans will be in a comfortable environment in Minnesota considering these are both dome teams. This has been a very tight series in recent years, with all three meetings since 2008 being decided by a combined 11 points. The Saints won the last two, including a 31-28 home victory in overtime over the Vikings in the 2010 NFC Championship.

Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have yet to set a line on this game as we await some important injury information. I’ll be back with the spread and total as soon as they’re up.

New Orleans

The Saints have won five straight to inch closer to a division title. New Orleans (10-3, 4-3 away) sits two games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South division. They have already clinched a playoff spot thanks to Chicago’s 10-13 loss to Denver over the weekend. This team is hitting on all cylinders right now, and many believe that the Saints are the only team that can possibly challenge the Green Bay Packers for a spot in the Super Bowl in the NFC.

New Orleans is coming off a hard-fought 22-17 road win at Tennessee last Sunday. The game appeared to be in hand after Drew Brees found Marques Colston on 35 and 28-yard touchdown connections in the fourth quarter, giving the Saints a 22-10 lead. But Jake Locker would hit Nate Washington on a 40-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to five. Tennessee got the ball back one last time, marching it down to the Saints’ 5-yard line with 7 seconds remaining. The New Orleans defense came up with two big stops on the ensuing two plays, including a sack of Locker on the game’s final snap. Brees threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

The Saints rank 1st in the NFL in total offense (447.8 yards/game) and 27th in total defense (378.3 yards/game). Brees has now joined Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas as the only quarterbacks to throw a touchdown pass in 40 straight games. He is also tied for the most 300-yard games (10) in a single season in NFL history, tying his own record which he shares with Rich Gannon. Brees only needs to average 239 passing yards over his final three games to break Dan Marino’s single-season passing record set back in 1984. He has thrown for fewer than 239 yards just once this season.

Minnesota

The Vikings continue to fight, but they just keep coming up short week in and week out. Minnesota (2-11, 1-5 home) has lost five straight games to eliminate themselves from the playoffs. Each of their last four losses have come by 10 points or less as they had a chance to win in all four. This team deserves a lot of credit for the way they have battled, but at some point I wouldn’t be surprised to see them give in. That could be this week when they take on the top-ranked offense in the league.

Minnesota is coming off yet another painful 34-28 loss to the Detroit Lions. This meeting was completely opposite of the first time these teams met this season. Detroit erased a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 26-23 in overtime. This time, the Lions held a 21-point lead two different times, yet nearly managed to blow the game. The Vikings somehow overcame five turnovers, including four from rookie Christian Ponder. Joe Webb would replace Ponder, and he was absolutely brilliant.

Webb completed 12 of 23 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing seven times for 109 yards and a score. But he did fumble on their last play of the game after getting the ball down to the Detroit 1-yard line. However, Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy clearly grabbed his facemask, and the Vikings should have gotten one more play before the final whistle sounded. It’s unclear who will be under center against the Saints, but it will be Ponder or Webb. Also, Adrian Peterson is likely to return from an ankle injury after missing the last three games.

Betting Trends

The Saints are 7-1 ATS in dome games this season, but 0-7 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. bad defensive teams who give up 24 or more points/game.

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