The Week 8 Sunday Night Football matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings sets up to be a hum-dinger. Both teams are hot with the Saints winning five straight after a season-opening setback. The Vikings responded to an opening malaise to post three consecutive victories to move atop the NFC Central. The betting public is split on this one as well with near even money pushing the line to a pick ‘em. What will be talked about most on the NBC broadcast, however, is how last year’s playoff game ended. No one will forget the Minneapolis Miracle, especially Marcus Williams, as the team’s play for the first time since that epic finish.
Watch this Week 8 regular season matchup live on Sunday, October 28, 2018, at 8:20 p.m. ET at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
New Orleans Saints PK
Minnesota Vikings PK
Over/Under 52
Last season was not a good time to be a Saint in Minneapolis. New Orleans started and ended its season with a loss on the Vikings home turf and they’re hoping to change the narrative this season. After opening the season with a disastrous defensive showing against Tampa Bay in a 48-40 loss, the Saints have regrouped to win five straight games while going 4-0 against the spread in the past four.
Sometimes a team would rather be lucky than good, and the Saints caught a massive stroke of good luck last week to extend their winning streak. After surrendering a late touchdown pass that pulled the Ravens within one, Justin Tucker missed the first PAT of his career, clanking the ball off the upright, and the Saints escaped. What worried Sean Payton, though, was his team’s pass defense.
The Saints gave up two quick touchdowns late in each half with the first set up by a long pass play and the second being a scoring pass with 24 seconds remaining that got the Ravens within a point. The two drives covered 156 yards and Baltimore needed just 3½ minutes to do it. The Saints identified the secondary as an area that needed attention and they made a move to shore up that part of the team by acquiring former first-round pick Eli Apple from the Giants. While there has been some improvement in the pass defense, the Saints rank 28th allowing nearly 300 yards a game through the air.
Drew Brees and the offense have been able to mask many of the deficiencies on the other side of the football. Once again the Saints have one of the most prolific units in the league with Brees throwing for 1,870 yards and 13 touchdowns with zero interceptions. The Saints are the only team in the league that hasn’t thrown a pick. With Minnesota’s defense back in form, it might be difficult for the Saints to put up the kind of numbers they’re used to and I expect them to fall below their yardage total on a prop bet you can find at BookMaker.eu.
Kirk Cousins will be the third different starting quarterback in as many games between these teams. You remember the playoff game when Case Keenum heaved the prayer that was answered. The 61-yards on the miracle play allowed Keenum to top the 300-yard mark in the game. And going back to last season’s opener, Sam Bradford was the guy that shredded the Saints, throwing for 346 yards on 27 of 32 passing with three scores.
Running the football successfully hasn’t been a strength of the Vikings this season, but throwing it has, and that sets up well for Cousins to break some marks on the live betting lines at BookMaker. Adam Thielen has been the favorite target and the Vikes won’t stray from something that’s been successful. It would be worth dropping a few sheckles on Thielen to go over his total for receptions on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
Bengals at Chiefs Live Betting
The Saints will use the memory of last season’s playoff loss as motivation to get off to a quick start. The offense is more balanced now that Mark Ingram is back from suspension and Brees uses all his weapons judiciously, which is enough to keep the Vikings guessing. Alvin Kamara has become a top threat around the goal line with his ability to run and catch the football out of the backfield. He will be used plenty at the outset and is a good pick to score the game’s first touchdown on the live betting feature at BookMaker.eu.
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