NFC Wild Card Sunday Giants at Vikings Betting Preview
Can New York Pull Off the Upset?
The Sunday Giants at Vikings betting matchup is a rematch of the Christmas Eve game that Minnesota won 27-24, failing to cover the -4.5 point spread at home. The close victory was nothing new for the Vikings, who had 11 of their 13 victories decided by one score.
New York is just a +3 point underdog in Sunday’s Wild Card contest at U.S. Bank Stadium, alternating wins and losses over their last seven games of the regular season. That’s an alternating trend that bodes well for this matchup considering the Giants lost 22-16 at Philadelphia last weekend.
Home teams fared well on wild card Saturday, but 51% of the public likes the Giants to at least cover the +3 on Sunday afternoon in the Twin Cities.
Giants Like the Matchup
In the Christmas Eve matchup the Giants took a 13-10 lead into the 4th quarter before the teams combined for 28 points over the final 15 minutes and a 61-yard Greg Joseph FG at 0:00 gave Minnesota the 3-point win. Even in the loss New York outgained the Vikings 319-270 through the air and 126-83 on the ground.
Giants QB Daniel Jones had a solid first meeting with the Vikings, going 30/42 for 334 yards with 1/1. Jones’ INT vs Minnesota was the only one he’s thrown in the last seven games, and he’ll be crucial on Sunday as the Vikings had the #31 ranked pass defense in the NFL this year allowing 265.6 yards/game.
New York’s Brian Daboll makes his postseason head coaching debut in the Sunday Giants at Vikings betting matchup, but he’s got plenty of experience in the playoffs going to the AFC Championship and the divisional round with the Chiefs the last two years. Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell is also head coaching in the playoffs for the first time, but he won the Super Bowl last year as offensive coordinator of the Rams.
Minnesota Needs a Bit More
Perhaps the best bet on Sunday is on the total of 47.5 considering these are both offensive-minded head coaches and the team’s combined for 28 points in one quarter alone in their first meeting which went ‘over’ 48.
There is also value on Minnesota -3 Sunday considering the Giants couldn’t contain Justin Jefferson in the first meeting as he had 12 catches for 133 yards and a TD. The problems didn’t stop with Jefferson for the New York secondary as TE T.J. Hockenson had 2 TDs as part of his 13 catches for 109 yards. QB Kirk Cousins finished that game 34/48 for 299 with 3 TDs and 0 INT.
The Chicago Bears shut things down last week as Minnesota beat them 29-13, but 7 of 8 opponents prior scored at least 24 points and five had at least 30. There are some real concerns with this Vikings defense coming into the wild card round.
Free Sunday Giants at Vikings Betting Pick
It wouldn’t be a shocker at all if New York went on the road and won this game, as Minnesota has been walking on a thin line all year with so many close victories. The almost sure thing here though is that each team gets to 24 points due to both Minnesota’s potency with Jefferson in the passing game as well as their problems on defense.
Free Pick: Over 47.5
