Minnesota at Arizona

If Seattle losses to San Francisco on Saturday, this game will not have playoff implications for Minnesota – they’ll be in. Given that Seattle has won just one road game all year, this is a distinct possibility. If that happens, this game becomes an even stronger play. However, I like it regardless of what happens in ‘Frisco. The Vikings are an up-and-down team. They won big last week as I predicted, in a highly important and emotional game. They often play down to their competition, though. Four of their six losses this year have come against teams with losing records. Since mid-season, they’ve lost on the road to the Giants, Chargers, Raiders and Bears. That gives pause to think the Cardinals actually have a shot in this one. After their last three big wins, the Vikings have fallen down hard. After an 8 point win against Denver in week 7, they lost by 12 to the Giants. After a 10 point win in week vs. Detroit in week 12, they got crushed 17-48 by St. Louis. And, after a week 14 34-7 win over Seattle they fell by 3 to the Chicago Bears. Now they are laying over a touchdown on the road after a big win. The Vikings still have a very suspect defense (ranked 26th in the league). As bad as Arizona has been over the past few years, they are 17-6 ATS at home after 3+ losses. How’s this for a nice contrast: Arizona is 5-1 ATS at home in their last six while Minnesota is riding a 0-4 ATS streak on the road. Oh yeah, and Minnesota is 1-15 SU in their last 16 games played outdoors.