Heading into their bye off a stunning 24-point loss to the Titans, the questions that come up at this time of year when the New England Patriots falter made the headlines. The obvious is in regards to Tom Brady and whether he can lead the Pats to another Super Bowl at his advanced age. Well, those questions were answered in a win over the Jets on Sunday. It wasn’t a dominating victory, but the Pats covered the 13-point spread and they showed they have much more than just the best QB of all-time. A Week 13 date with the Minnesota Vikings awaits as the Pats play their first home game in a month.
Watch this Week 13 regular season matchup live on Sunday, December 2, 2018, at 4:25 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Minnesota Vikings +6
New England Patriots -6
Over/Under 48
The Vikings got the good Kirk Cousins and their defense was stellar in shutting down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to stay in the NFC playoff picture. In what amounted to a must-win game for both sides, Cousins got the better of the matchup, throwing for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the 24-17 victory. And it was a glorious sight for Mike Zimmer, a week after watching his mega-bucks quarterback struggle in a loss to the Bears.
Cousins wasn’t given a boat-load of money to contend for a playoff spot, he was identified as the missing link for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Things haven’t gone according to plan, but when Cousins and the offense are as efficient as they were on Sunday night, the Vikings are a tough team to beat. Having his weapons available in the passing game is another boost for the team’s confidence.
With Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs feeling better, they both had big games against the Packers. After collecting just 88 receiving yards in the previous two games, Thielen was back to his old tricks with eight catches for 125 yards, giving him nine games with 100 or more receiving yards. Thielen leads the NFL with 93 catches and his 1,138 yards are second to Julio Jones.
Diggs sat one game and used the bye to get healthy. He returned two weeks ago with a season-high 13 receptions for 126 yards and had eight grabs with a touchdown catch in his third straight game on Sunday night. The Pats will pay close attention to those two, leaving the secret weapon Kyle Rudolph open to have a big game.
Running the football has been torture for the Vikings all season. They amassed 91 yards and averaged just 3.1 yards per carry against the Packers and they rank 30th in the NFL with 85 yards per game. Don’t expect much on the ground against the Pats, leaving Cousins to do all the heavy-lifting. An offshoot of the running game has been the screen pass, a staple of the Vikings offense the past few seasons. It hasn’t been as effective this year, but the Vikes made the most of their chances on Sunday.
Dalvin Cook had the first touchdown reception of his career on a perfectly executed screen pass and he totaled three grabs for 47 yards. Cook has 10 of his 19 receptions over the past three games and will be utilized in that role to mitigate the Pats pass rush. You can expect more short throws going his way making him a candidate for the over on receptions on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu. Also, given the lack of a run game, play Cousins on a prop bet to exceed his completions and passing yardage total.
The Pats have Brady and Rob Gronkowski to direct the offense, but a key figure has emerged in rookie Sony Michel, who ran for 133 yards against the Jets on Sunday. Michel has assumed the role of lead back and it’s that time of the year when the Pats want to exert their will up front. The presence of a run game opens things up for Brady, and he’s not shy about throwing to Gronk, who returned to the lineup with three catches and a touchdown against the Jets. You can expect those two to hook up even more on Sunday with Gronk’s receptions and receiving yards hitting the over on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
Vikings at Patriots Live Betting
With Gronk back and Rex Burkhead ready to return, the Pats will be complete for the first time all season. That will make things tough on the Vikings defensively and I anticipate the Pats doing all kinds of funny stuff to slow the pass rush. Brady will have another big game and the Pats will hit the over on their projected point total, giving bettors a chance to line their pockets on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu.
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