Minnesota at Washington

The two most dysfunctional teams in the NFL this year have been the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. The Cowboys fired their head coach a couple of weeks ago and went on to a huge upset in their next game. The Vikings have finally gotten a clue as well, firing Brad Childress. While the Vikings may respond in a similar way with an inspired effort, the fact remains that this offense, behind an aging QB who is simply a bad player right now, isn't likely to explode. Thanks in large part to Brett Favre's 17 interceptions, Minnesota is ranked 29th in the league in scoring. Washington certainly had to fix some leaks on the defensive end as they allowed 37 to the Lions and 59 to the Eagles in consecutive weeks. But the truth is, this defense has actually played quite respectably outside of those two debacles. In their five games surrounding those two bad outings, the Skins have allowed an average of 16.4 points per game. So this defense has a worse reputation than deserved. The problem is that their offense has scored less than 20 in six games and has topped out at 28, most of that in garbage time in their 59-28 loss to the Eagles. The Skins have played better defensively at home vs. on the road, leading to a 7-0 mark to the UNDER in their last seven home games. In the favorite role, they are 10-2 UNDER the past three seasons. The Vikings have come back strong from a poor defensive showing as they are 9-4 to the UNDER after allowing more than 350 yards in their previous game. I like the UNDER in this one.