Sunday Night Football Betting Picks: Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings meet on Sunday Night Football. Through the first four weeks, neither team showed the ability to stop the passing game. Will Russell Wilson and the Seahawks stay hot? Can Kirk Cousins and the Vikings keep pace with the explosive Seattle offense? Here are Sunday Night Football betting picks for the Vikings at the Seahawks.
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Vikings at Seahawks NFL Betting Odds
Spread: Seahawks -6.5
53% of bets backing Seattle, per ScoresandOdds.com.
Over/Under: 56.5
55% of bets on the under.
Update: This total has fallen due to inclement weather.
Vikings at Seahawks SNF Betting Preview
The Seattle Seahawks are dishing out delightful cuisine in 2020 as Chef Russell Wilson continues to cook through the first four games. Now 4-0, the Seahawks welcome the Minnesota Vikings — a team hellbent on turning the NFL clock back to the 1950s and running the ball. With the Seattle offense remaining so efficient thus far, Minnesota will surely need to shake up the gameplan if they want to avoid being boat-raced on Sunday night.
The Seahawks are the second-best scoring offense in the NFL — averaging 35.5 points per game. The strength of Seattle’s offense lies in the hand of Russell Wilson and his pair of emerging superstar wide receivers — DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Russ averages 303.0 passing yards per game on only 34.2 attempts. The efficiency is ridiculous and explains the Seattle average 136.7 passer rating in 2020.
The Vikings defense was once reputed for being stout and extremely stingy to opposing offenses. Once featuring a perennial pass rush that struck fear in quarterbacks, the Vikings only flash a 4.7% sack rate in 2020. The addition, this season, of Yannick Ngakoue still has not paid dividends. Potentially due to the poor pass rush, the Vikings allow the second-worst yards per pass attempt in the NFL — 8.4. A wildly efficient offense against an extremely inefficient defense that cannot rush the passer…? Yikes.
The Vikings continue to run the ball successfully (5.3 yards per attempt) but refuse to pass the football. In many cases, the coaching hand is forced and the Vikings need to move the ball through the air behind many teams. Yet, Minnesota averages the lowest number of pass attempts per game (25) while averaging 8.3 yards per pass attempt. This number may be inflated by playing from behind often this season at 1-3, but Seattle presents a matchup where Mike Zimmer and company must throw the football. The Seahawks will be without safety Jamal Adams and have allowed 50 pass attempts per game. The Seattle secondary allows a ton of yards (8.0 yards per pass attempt) but stifles opposing ground games (3.4 yards per rush attempt).
My gut tells me that Minnesota will still try to establish the run with Dalvin Cook, but my brain tells me that tonight should be a great night for Adam Thielen. Thielen makes for a great DFS captain play tonight with the Seattle pass-catchers coming back the other way in a shootout. Both defenses cannot stop opposing passing offenses, this game could shoot out pretty easily — whether or not Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak like it. Captain Kirk should see plenty of passing volume, tonight.
Sunday Night Football Betting Picks
On a primetime stage and with both defenses seemingly incapable of stopping the forward pass, a shootout game script feels very, very likely. Russ and his pass-catchers remain so efficient and can put points on the board very quickly. While the Vikings want to feature Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins might need to handle a heavier workload tonight as the Vikings hope to keep pace with the Seahawks.
I want to bet on this game blowing open early and forcing the ball in both quarterbacks’ hands. Points will be scored aplenty in Seattle, tonight, I will take the over at PointsBet.
SNF Betting Pick: Over 56.5 (PointsBet)
Update: This total has fallen due to inclement weather.
Editor’s note: PointsBet just launched their online sportsbook in Illinois and Colorado. Sign up at PointsBet to get these odds and $1000 in free bets!
Vikings and Seahawks Player Props
Here are my first touchdown picks for Sunday Night Football at DraftKings Sportsbook.
D.K. Metcalf +750
Adam Thielen +1000
Justin Jefferson +1400
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Here are my picks for one of the “More or Less” games at Monkey Knife Fight for tonight’s matchup.
Russell Wilson More Than 320.5 Passing Yards
Adam Thielen More Than 83.5 Receiving Yards
Tyler Lockett More Than 5.5 Receptions
Dalvin Cook Less Than 79.5 Rushing Yards
Image Credit: Imagn