The opening betting lines for Week 7 have been released and the Detroit Lions are road underdogs against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.
Through six weeks, only four teams are remaining that have one loss or fewer, with two in each conference. The Chiefs (5-0) and Texans (4-1) represent the AFC, while both NFC teams are from the North division: the Minnesota Vikings (5-0) and Detroit Lions (4-1).
In Week 7, the Lions will travel to the Twin Cities to square off with the Vikings, in a battle for the top spot not only in the North but the entire NFC. This should be a highly entertaining game, and the good folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook have set the opening betting line at Lions +1.5 points.
It’s not overly surprising to see Minnesota as the early favorites, seeing as they are undefeated, the home team, and are coming off their bye week. But the Lions have been on a tear of late, scoring 89 points in their last two games and definitively taking care of two teams that have historically given them problems. The Lions beat the Seahawks 42-29 in Week 4 on “Monday Night Football,” and most recently dismantled the Cowboys 47-9 in Dallas.
The Vikings opened the season taking care of business against the Giants (28-6), upset the 49ers (23-17) in Week 2, and then showed they were for real by handing the Texans their only loss of the season (34-7). They jumped all over the Packers in Week 4 and managed to hold off a second-half comeback (31-29) in a game that probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was. They beat the Jets (23-17) in Week 5, then headed into the bye this previous weekend.
The Vikings offense started the season hot but has settled down of late. Since the first half of the Green Bay game, they have only scored one offensive touchdown over the last six quarters, while settling for field goals four other times. Their saving grace has been their defense, who has scored two touchdowns over that same time period.
Heading into Week 6, the Vikings boasted the No. 1 overall defense in DVOA, while also checking in at No. 1 in defending the run, and No. 1 in defending the pass. In fact, their defense has been so good, that the Vikings team is No. 1 overall in DVOA, despite their offense landing at No. 19 (pass: 9, run: 22) in DVOA.
Meanwhile, the Lions’ offense entered the week with the No. 7 (pass: 18, run: 2) offense in DVOA, but they’re coming off a game where they scored on nine of the 10 drives that did not end at the half or game, and the only non-scoring drive came when the second team offense was on the field. So, expect their numbers to climb when DVOA updates for the week on Tuesday.
This game figures to come down to a battle between the Lions offense and the Vikings defense, with the winner sitting atop the NFC.