The Green Bay Packers travel to face Minnesota for a Monday Night Football contest with playoff ramifications.
The 11-3 Packers top the NFC North by a game over the 10-4 Vikings, and with a win, they’ll ensure the division title and improve their chances greatly for a first-round playoff bye. Green Bay can still clinch the division next week with a win at Detroit even with a loss on Monday night.
Like the Packers, Minnesota has already secured a playoff spot. However, Minnesota gets the division crown if the Vikings win out and the Packers lose or tie against the Lions. If New Orleans loses at Carolina next week, they also would have an slight chance for a first-round bye.
At both William Hill and PointsBet, the Vikings are five-point favorites, whereas DraftKings offers the Vikings at 4.5 points, and FanDuel makes them 5.5-point favorites over Green Bay.
The Packers are straight-up +190 at William Hill and DraftKings, whereas FanDuel and PointsBet offer them at +180.
Although the sportsbooks differ on the point spread and moneyline odds, they’re in accord with the total score, setting the over/under at 47.
The NFL season’s final Monday Night game kicks off at 8:15 pm ET. It will be broadcasted by ESPN.
Bettors Support the Pack
Over at FanDuel, bettors have little hesitation backing the road dog for Monday Night Football.
They’re confident on Green Bay getting the points. 78 percent of spread bettors are on the Packers according to oddsFire. That accounts for 76 percent of the handle.
The handle’s tilted even more on the moneyline, with bettors seeing a chance to nearly double their wager. As of Monday afternoon, 91 percent of bettors are willing to take the Packers straight up. That equals 88 percent of handle.
There’s less accord on the over/under. 57 percent of bettors are on the over, with that equaling 60 percent of the money, reports FanDuel.
Can Cousins End MNF Misfortune?
As reported by casino.org, there are a number of factors at play as to why bettors are sidelining the Vikings on Monday night.
One is Kirk Cousins, starting quarterback and his 0-8 career record on Monday Night Football, with the latest defeat taking place on Dec. 2 at Seattle. A look at his stats however, shows the record isn’t essentially on Cousins’s performance.
According to statistics from ProFootballReference.com, in those eight Monday night starts, he’s completed better than two-thirds of his passes (204-of-305) for 2,226 yards, to go with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Cousins posted a quarterback passer rating of better than 100 in four of the games.
Last week Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, when talking to reporters, brushed off any opinion that Cousins, who has thrown for 3,481 yards with a 70.5 completion percentage and a 25-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season, isn’t a top quarterback.
Zimmer said,
“Kirk has done a great job for us this year. He’s been outstanding, he’s played great all year long. If we get beat on Monday night, it’s not going to be because of Kirk Cousins. It’s because we didn’t win as a team.”
The absence of starting running back Dalvin Cook might be a more challenging issue for the Vikings on Monday. Cook, who previously fought a chest injury earlier in the season, injured his shoulder in last week’s victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Cook has finally become a 1,000-yard rusher in his third season. However, his shoulder injury may stop him from taking part in the playoffs. Spoiling the rushing attack further is that second-stringer Alexander Mattison is fighting an ankle injury and was listed as doubtful over the weekend.
