NFL nut Kyle Robins (@AhhYeahKyleYeah) shares his expert opinion on the best bets available from Monday Night Football as the Minnesota Vikings head to the Seattle Seahawks.
Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks | Tuesday 11th December 2018, 01:15 | Sky Sports
A critical NFC match-up headlines Monday Night Football this week, as Kirk Cousins and his Minnesota Vikings head into CenturyLink Field to take on Russel Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks.
Before we dive in, it’s worth noting Cousins has never won a game on Monday night, whilst his counterpart on this occasion Wilson has pretty much dominated on all his displays on primetime – dominated being the key word…
Another key word heading into this contest is ‘run game’, and for the Vikings, it’s not something they’re extremely proud of right now. They rank 30th in the NFL in rushing, especially in the end zone, where they average a lowly two yards per-carry. It’s safe to say they’ll be looking to Cousins to work them in through the air.
Seattle, on the other hand, certainly do know how to pound the football downfield, to the tune 148.8 yards per-game, leading the NFL in that category.
Minnesota badly needs this game to keep up any hopes of catching the Chicago Bears atop the NFC North, and whilst the game may come down to how they can deal with the Seahawks ground attack, Seattle is certainty a team who are capable of hurting you with their passing attack too.
For Minnesota, their clear route of victory in this game, stems from their passing attack. The Seahawks rank 30th against the pass, and have certainty allowed more than a few yards through the air in recent weeks, albeit in victories.
After an explosive opening to the season, wideout Adam Thielen has been slowed down in recent weeks, thus allowing Steffon Diggs to break out a bit. Given how Seattle’s games have panned out recently, I think this could be a rather high-scoring affair, forcing the Vikings to attack through the air.
With Thielen’s line currently set higher than Diggs, I’ll most definitely be looking towards the latter in this market, taking the 5/6 with SkyBet for Diggs to go Over 74.5 Receiving Yards.
Flipping the game script over to Seattle, as I said, their offense primary focus is to dominate on the ground. While the Vikings don’t have the worst run defence in the league, it’s nowhere near as dominant as it was last year.
Seattle often likes to rotate their running attack, usually based around their three-headed running back attack. With Rashaad Penny questionable for this contest, it may lead to a few extra carries for both Chris Carson and Mike Davies, adding that extra incentive for me to take the 5/4 with Unibet for Carson to get into the end zone, as he’s done in two of his three past games.
The final angle of attack is simply, take the Overs with Total Points. Seattle’s last few games have emphatically been in the higher-scoring margin, totalling 59, 57 and 51 points in their past three match-ups; the Vikings also have had a steady average of 43.5 points per-game over their last three games.
Given this game is set at 45.5, despite this tactic failing me last week, I’ll be aiming slightly higher and taking the 13/10 with Betway for Over 48.5 Points.
Best Bets
Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks – Chris Carson to score a touchdown at anytime (5/4 Unibet)
Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks – Over 48.5 Points (13/10 Betway)
Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks – Steffon Diggs Over 74.5 Receiving Yards (5/6 SkyBet)
