After two of the most surprising games last week, the New England Patriots will be on the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings to cap off the three-game slate on Thanksgiving day.
These are two teams that don’t generally match up with each other too much, and the Vikings are going to be hungry for redemption after they were absolutely destroyed by the Cowboys on their home field.
While it was an improbable victory for the Patriots over the Jets, they have turned their season around a little bit and managed to stay alive in the playoff picture in the AFC.
Another win could be huge here for the Patriots, but winning the game on another punt return touchdown seems unlikely.
Maybe Kirk Cousins will wake up for this game, or maybe the prime time slot will get to him like it has in the past.
Seeing as the two records are not far off, the Vikings get an average home favorite spread of -2.5 over the Patriots.
Get ahead early and hold on for dear life
Where the Patriots have been able to find most of their success this season is when they exit the first quarter of their games with at least a one-touchdown lead.
Once they are able to do that, their execution on defense and with their rushing attack is fantastic, and they play pretty much mistake-free.
You are not going to see a lot of risk-taking plays from their offense. Most of what they run is conservative in handoffs or short-passing situations.
This formula could work again for them on Thanksgiving, and the Vikings’ defense has been exposed more than a couple of times this season to give up some early scores.
The Vikings cannot get out of their own way
With how much hype came off the victory over the Buffalo Bills, the Vikings laying a stinker at home of all places was not to be expected.
Granted, Dallas is another top NFC team, but the way they took the Vikings’ lunch money was unbelievable at times.
The defense could not get a stop to save their lives, and the offense was dysfunctional and completely out of sorts rushing or passing.
Redeeming themselves in front of their home crowd is going to be a top priority, but it isn’t going to be smooth sailing against the Patriots.
Patriots @ Vikings Betting Prediction
This feels like one of those years where it has been impossible to predict anything week to week in the NFL.
Teams have risen and fallen over the course of the season, and these two teams on Thursday night will be no exception to this.
The spread feels like it is right on the money, and no team is getting any extra favoritism which makes it feel more like a coin toss than anything.
In these kinds of situations, it is best to roll with the home team, so take the Vikings at -2.5 over the Patriots to bounce back after their loss.
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