The New England Patriots take on the Minnesota Vikings today in NFL Football action. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on CBS. Currently the odds for the game have the Patriots favored by less than a touchdown.
With the news of Adrian Peterson being indicted coming down late this week, the Minnesota Vikings went from having a chance in this one to...still having a chance. It's not going to be easy without their main offensive weapon and workload back, but the Vikings are going to have to try and find a way. New England comes into this game today. This will be the Patriots' first trip to Minnesota's new stadium and they aren't exactly happy coming in off the team's loss last week to the Miami Dolphins.
Tom Brady and the boys will be poised to get the job done here. Coming off a loss the past few seasons the Patriots have held a record of 25-9 against the number in their next game, also going 6-1 the last seven times in that scenario. They're favored here, so indication is they probably are going to win the football game. Hard to believe, but the Patriots were just awful in the second half of last week's loss — combining for just 67 yards and five first downs offensively in the final two quarters. That obviously has to improve this week if they are going to win.
Minnesota whipped up on St. Louis in a road game last week, making the second and third string quarterbacks not get the job done. Without Peterson in the lineup in this one, Minnesota will have to turn to a couple of backs and Cordell Patterson on sweeps and short passes to try and move the football down the field. Last week Patterson accounted for 102 yards on three carries, which helped the Vikings immensely. But now without the threat of Peterson in the backfield, New England should be able to key in on him.
The Minnesota defense will be important in this one — they finished last week with a pick-six and four sacks, continually getting pressure on the St. Louis quarterbacks. But Brady should be able to move the football around to his targets, including Julian Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who caught a touchdown pass last week.
The Patriots are going to be too much for Minnesota to handle here. New England is too good to start the season at 0-2, so they will be focused and ready to put up some points in this one.
Free Pick: Patriots 30, Vikings 20
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