The Minnesota Vikings will be looking to record consecutive wins for the first time since Week 10 when they play host to the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football as 5.5-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Vikings are coming off a convincing 38-17 victory over the Chicago Bears last weekend, halting a worrisome two-game losing streak while solidifying their position in the NFC Wild Card race with a 9-5 straight-up record.
The victory over the Bears also keeps Minnesota in contention in the NFC North, where they sit just one game back of the Green Bay Packers entering Sunday night’s Giants vs. Vikings betting matchup at TCF Bank Stadium.
It has been a challenging second half for the Vikings, who kicked off their campaign on a 7-2 tear, briefly seizing top spot in the NFC North standings. However, the club has battled inconsistency since, losing three of five SU, including a pair of devastating home losses to the Packers and Seattle Seahawks. Minnesota is averaging just 19.6 points per game during their current slide.
Despite their struggles, Minnesota continues to be a strong bet, going 11-3 against the spread. But that success has been built on limited expectations at the sportsbooks, where the Vikings have been pegged as underdogs on six occasions, and were favored by more than three points for the first time this season in last week’s win over Chicago, covering as 4-point chalk.
The Giants travel to the North Star State desperate for a win to maintain playoff hopes they no longer control. With just one SU win in their last five outings, New York has tumbled out of top spot in the NFC East, and at 6-8 teeters on the verge of elimination from postseason contention.
New York must win their final two regular season games and hope for a Philadelphia Eagles win in their matchup with the Washington Redskins to secure a playoff spot.
That may be asking a lot from a Giants squad that has failed to post consecutive wins since Week 5, and is 0-3 SU, 2-1 ATS, in their last three games against teams with winning records according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
With the Redskins and Eagles facing off on Saturday night, New York’s playoff fate may already be decided come game time on Sunday night.
But even if the Giants hit the gridiron as an also-ran, they can still play spoiler with a third consecutive SU win over Minnesota, which combined with a Packers victory over the Arizona Cardinals would hand Green Bay their fifth straight NFC North crown.