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Minnesota Vikings vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written November 14, 2008 by Jason Lowry

The Minnesota Vikings have crawled their way back into contention this season, as the Vikings started the season 1-3 before rolling off 4 out of 5, including a big win over the Packers last week 28-27, and now they sit tied atop the NFC North at 5-4 with the Chicago Bears. This week the Vikings have to take their game on the road, as they get ready to take on the 6-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now the Bucs are coming into this one fresh off their bye week, and they need this win if they want to keep pace with the Panthers and Falcons in the NFC South. Now for those of you looking to do a little NFL betting this weekend, the oddsmakers have the Buccaneers 4 point favorites over the Vikings at Sportsbook.com

Now even thought the Vikings are winning games now a day, they aren’t winning them very convincingly, as their last 4 wins have come by a combined 13 points. Last week against the Packers it was pretty much all Adrian Peterson, as No. 28 ran it 30 times for 192 yards and the game winning 29 yard touchdown run late in the 4th quarter. Gus Frerotte had his good moments and his bad ones, as he threw for 2 touchdowns and was picked off by the Packers 3 times, including one by Nick Collins that went 59 yard for a score not to long after the Vikings had went up 21-10. Now the problem this week is the Vikings need Peterson to be able to run the football, but the Bucs have the best run defense in the league, giving up just 53 yards a game, so it will be a matter of strength vs. strength in this one.

The Vikings defense was all over Aaron Rodgers last week, as they sacked the quarterback 4 times and forced Rodgers into two safeties. Had it not been for the offense and special teams giving up a score, this one wouldn’t of even been close. The Vikings allowed just 75 yards on the ground, and really kept Rodgers in check in the passing game, as he had just 142 yards on the game. If the defense gets a little help from the other units on this football team its going to keep winning them football games, but if the offense keeps turning it over and the special teams keeps screwing up, its going to be too much for this unit to overcome. Bet Vikings +4 at Sportsbook.com

Now the Bucs should be ready for this one, as they have had two weeks to get their team ready for the Vikings, and they are playing at home where they are a perfect 4-0 this season. In fact the closest game they have had on their home field, was a 0 point win over the Packers back at the end of September. The Bucs needed all kinds of help in their most recent win over the Chiefs, as they found themselves down 24-3 with just a little over 2 minutes to go in the first half, but a kick return for a touchdown by Clifton Smith and a field goal by Matt Bryant as time expired had this team down just 24-13 at half. The Chiefs didn’t go away easy, as they forced the Bucs to beat them in overtime, as Matt Bryant hit the game winning 34 yard field goal to lock in the win. Quarterback Jeff Garcia better get ready to move in the pocket, as the Vikings are going to be all over the veteran in this one.

We already mention that the Buccaneers have the best run defense in the NFL, but they just so happen to have the 2nd best pass defense as well, and they seem to play even better in front of the home crowd. Now this week they have to face a back that is unlike most backs in the NFL, as Peterson has so many ways to beat you. He has already shown in his short career that it doesn’t matter how good your defense is going into the game, there is a very good chance this guy is going to get his yards. Now the key is making sure they don’t let old man Frerotte beat them in this one. We expect this one to be close simply on the fact that we don’t think either offense is going to be able to do much of anything. Bet Buccaneers -4 at Sportsbook.com

To make sure you have the best NFL picks on the board this week, its always a good idea to have the best NFL betting lines to go with it.

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