New York at Minnesota

Quick question - who has the 2nd best defense in the NFL? Not many people would answer Minnesota. They just don't come to mind as quickly when thinking defense as does Chicago, Baltimore, Miami or Jacksonville. But they are second giving up just 282 yards per game. Against the run they are tops - by a huge margin. They are giving up just 54 yards per game on the ground. The next closest team is Baltimore allowing 80. The Jets have outperformed expectations this year. They are solidly in the playoff hunt but we aren't completely sold on them being as good as they appear. Their offense is ranked 27th in yards gained. They are average in rushing offense. But against this run defense, they will really struggle. Passing wise, Pennington has a good job but they are still ranked just 23rd in yards gained through the air at 201. Bottom line, when the game is put on Pennington's shoulders, how will he perform? Will he be able to put up a lot of points? We don't think so. Despite their great defense, Minnesota is 5-7 on the yar. Why? Well it can only be on thing - their offense. This team has scored 20 or less in nine of their 12 games. They are facing a pretty bad defense so they may get into the mid to high twenties here but that leaves a lot to come from the Jets - a team with a below average offense facing a great defense. Take the UNDER here.