Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens Betting Pick
Baltimore is chomping at the bit to get back on the football field after a humiliating 41-17 loss to the Bengals last time out. The Ravens have had an extra week to get keyed up after their bye, and now welcome in Minnesota, who lost at home to a Dallas team playing without Dak Prescott last Sunday night.
The Cowboys are beating everybody (including Minnesota) right now, but sportsbooks such as BetOnline and BetUS still have the Vikings as +6 point underdogs on Sunday afternoon. Both teams can also move the ball at will, so totals betting has the number up there at 49.5.
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Time for Cousins to Step Up
Dallas has the #29 ranked passing defense in the NFL, but the Vikings still managed only 16 points at home and in a nationally televised game on Sunday Night Football. A lot of that ineptitude falls on QB Kirk Cousins, who was 23/35 but for just 184 yards passing vs. the Cowboys.
Cousins gets another chance in the Week 9 NFL picks, this time against a Baltimore pass defense that is 32nd in the NFL giving up 296.1 ypg through the air. The Ravens were torched for 416 yards and 3 TD by Joe Burrow in the Bengals’ 24-point win in NFL Week 7.
If Cousins can get going, betting lines of the Vikings getting +6 points looks like it has some value. Cousins is still completing 69% of his passes with 14 TD and 2 INT, but Minnesota also needs more from RB Dalvin Cook, who had 18 carries for 78 yards in the loss to Dallas.
Minnesota’s defense is by no means off the hook for the Sunday night loss, even though holding Dallas to 20 points is usually considered a win. The Cowboys were playing without QB and MVP candidate Dak Prescott though, and Minnesota allowed a 325 yard, 2 TD performance to backup Cooper Rush, who was making his first start in two years.
Baltimore Rested
The Ravens didn’t play last Sunday, but they actually had a good week with the Bengals losing to the Jets, putting Baltimore back into first place by themselves. Now John Harbaugh’s squad comes off the bye to host Minnesota before the short turnaround in a Thursday night game at Miami.
The Ravens are -6 point favorites for the betting odds here, and there are worse players to back than Lamar Jackson coming off a bye. Jackson completed just 15/31 passes vs. the Bengals but did have 257 yards and a TD while adding another 88 yards on the ground.
Another reason Baltimore looks solid for sports betting on Sunday is that the Vikings’ defense hasn’t fared well against mobile QBs this season. Kyler Murray threw for 400 yards and had four total TDs in a 34-33 win vs. Minnesota earlier this season, and Russell Wilson followed that up by completing 72% of his passes with 298 yards even though the Vikings won 30-17.
Vikings at Ravens Pick
Baltimore has alternated covering the betting odds in each of their games this season, which bodes well for the Vikings matchup after the Ravens lost 41-17 to Cincinnati in their last game as -6.5 favorites. Minnesota is just 1-3 ATS their last four and lost to Dallas SU on Sunday night even with MIN -4 betting lines.
Minnesota is on the road Sunday, heads to the Chargers the week after that, then is back home for Green Bay, so it’s a tough three weeks. The Vikings are already three games back from Green Bay in the NFC North, so even though the Ravens game is technically a ‘must win,’ Minnesota probably already knows their season is over.
Pick: Ravens -6
