Tampa Bay at Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings lost last week to San Diego, despite the Chargers being up to their old tricks from last year. The San Diego special teams and mistake-laden football kept a talented team out of the playoffs last year. Their fans must have gotten that deja vu feeling when Percy Harvin took the opening kickoff 103 yards for a 7-0 Vikings lead. Philip Rivers threw a pair of INTs right on cue, but the Vikings showed just how poor they are, losing despite the fact that the Chargers tried to hand them the game. Minnesota was outgained by 407-187 so the final score had nothing to do with their efforts - it should have been a 20+ point loss. The Vikes surrendered 31 first downs, while garnering only 10 themselves. Losing to Detroit at home, formerly an embarrassment, is no longer is the case. The Lions are for real, the Vikings are not. Remember that this Tampa team won 10 games a year ago and are on the way up, not down. Josh freeman found a lot of room vs. the Lions secondary last week, completing 28-43 for 259 yards, and he will get plenty of room to pass in this one. The Bucs have dominated on field turf at 12-1 ATS in their last 13, and have been solidly under the radar when playing on the road at 13-3-1 ATS in their last 17, 13-3 ATS as a road dog including a perfect 7-0 since last season. The Bucs are dominating their former division foes, taking the money in the last four, and are a very live dog here.