Sunday NFL and we will see the Minnesota Vikings take on the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The game has a start time of 1:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on FOX. Current Vegas odds have the Dolphins listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 42.5.
Analysis: The Minnesota Vikings have not had a great year as they come in at 8-6 overall and 2-5 on the road. Still this is a team that continues to play hard and they have gone 4-3 in their last 7 games. The Vikings are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games in December and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win, but just 3-8-1 ATS in their last 12 games after accumulating more than 250 yards passing in their previous game. Minnesota has not been a good offensive squad this year, ranking 28th in total offense, 27th in passing, 15th in rushing and 24th in scoring (19.8 ppg). The Defense for the Vikes has been very solid this year, ranking 9th in yards allowed, 6th vs the pass, 22nd vs the run and 10th in points allowed (21.2 ppg).
The Dolphins come in having dropped two games in a row and that currently has them with a 7-7 record and in 3rd place in the AFC East. Their two game slide has pretty much taken them out of playoff contention. The Fish are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games on grass, but just 15-35-1 ATS in their last 51 home games vs. a team with a losing road record and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing more than 30 points in their previous game. Miami has been a rather average offensive squad this year, ranking 20th in total yards, 20th in passing, 14th in rushing and 12th in scoring (23.4 ppg). The defense for Miami has been very solid, as they come in ranked 7th in yards allowed, 3rd vs the pass, 21st vs the run and 13th in points allowed (21.5 ppg).
Pick: I will be going with the Vikings in this game. It seems as if Miami put everything they had into the game at Denver, in which they lost by a 39-36 score. The team has not looked right since then as they followed up that game by needing a second half comeback to beat the Jets 16-13 and then followed that up with a 15 point home loss to Baltimore and a 28 point loss at New England last week. This is not a team that is playing very good right now. On the other side we do have a team that is playing well and looking to build confidence for next year. The Vikes are 4-3 in their last 7 games and their 3 losses were by 8 points to Chicago, 3 points to Green Bay and 2 points to the Lions. Minnesota is 10-1 ATS in their last 12 games in December, while Miami is 1-6 ATS in their last 6 games after allowing 30+ points. I will call for the outright upset here from what I feel is a more motivated Minnesota squad.
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