Vikings vs. Seahawks Betting Preview: Seattle Looks to Stay Hot at Home
Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks(-3)
Mon. 12/10, 8:15 p.m. ET
Three things you need to know before betting on Minnesota-Seattle:
1. NFC teams trending in opposite directions play a game with significant playoff implications when the slumping Vikings visit the surging Seahawks on Monday night. With a 24-10 loss in New England on Sunday, Minnesota is still without a straight up or ATS win this season against a team that currently has a winning record. Five of the Vikings’ half-dozen victories this season have come against opponents that have yet to win their fifth game of 2018 (2-10 San Francisco, 3-9 Arizona, 3-9 New York Jets, 4-8 Detroit and 4-7-1 Green Bay). Seattle, meanwhile, has gone 5-3 straight up and 6-1-1 against the spread since the start of October, with two of the three straight-up defeats coming at the hands of the 11-1 Rams and the third one coming against the 9-3 Chargers. The three losses have been by a combined 15 points.
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2. The Seahawks’ success this season has been due in large part to a potent ground game that has produced the most rushing yards in the NFL (148.8 per game), and Seattle will be facing a Minnesota defense that has allowed an average of 130 rushing yards per game over its past three contests. But it’s quarterback Russell Wilson who has been the primary reason for the Seahawks’ success against the Vikings in recent years, as Seattle has prevailed by double digits in each of the three regular season meetings between these teams since the start of 2012, winning the three games by an average margin of more than 20 points. Wilson has completed 73% of his passes for 677 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions in those games. That’s good for a 142.0 passer rating, which has helped Wilson’s career rating of 100.5—which currently ranks second in NFL history behind only that of Aaron Rodgers (103.4).
3. Home favorites with a winning record that have won 60% or less of their games on the season are 11-2 against the spread since the midway point of 2016 when facing an opponent with a winning record in the second half of a season. This is also the point in the season in which Seattle has excelled in recent years, as the team is 25-11 against the spread in December games since Pete Carroll took over as the team’s head coach prior to the 2010 season.
Pick: Seattle -3
Confidence Level:High (on a scale of Low/Moderate/High/Very High/Extremely High)
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