Monday Night Football Odds – Drama Surrounding the Vikings

If you are interested in the MNF betting lines for this week’s game, you need to know that there has been a lot of drama surrounding the Minnesota Vikings during the two weeks since they have played.

Part of that involves what happens on the field, and part of it concerns the latest sex scandal making the rounds in the NFL.

The New York Jets, who are the host team in this Monday night encounter, are favored by 4.5 points, while the total in the MNF odds is 38 points.

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The game will begin at 8:30 PM ET at Meadowlands Stadium (artificial turf) in East Rutherford, NJ.

Minnesota Vikings (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS) at New York Jets (3-1 SU & ATS)

Live at Meadowlands Stadium

East Rutherford, NJ

Monday, October 11 — 8:30 PM ET

TV: ESPN

MNF Odds:

N.Y. Jets -4.5

Minnesota +4.5

Total 38

Key stats for Minnesota — The Vikings have had to gain 22.9 yards for every point they have scored, and that is a very poor number. Adrian Peterson has gained 5.6 yards a carry. Backup Toby Gerhart has only 22 yards. Brett Favre has thrown two touchdown passes with six interceptions. The Viking defense has recorded only four sacks.

Key stats for the New York Jets — The Jets have held their opponents to just 3.2 yards per rushing attempt, and only one TD on the ground. Mark Sanchez has thrown eight touchdown passes without an interception. The Jets had 273 rushing yards against Buffalo last week, and LaDainian Tomlinson is on pace to rush for 1364 yards.

Here are some of the football trends as they impact our pick on the MNF odds on this game:

• Minnesota has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• Minnesota has won 14 of its last 21 games SU
• Minnesota has lost its last five road games SU
• New York has played four of its last five games OVER the total
• New York has won seven of its last nine games SU
• New York has covered eleven of its last 14 games
• New York has won the last five meetings SU

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Those people who were way down on the Jets, and writing off quarterback Mark Sanchez (does that include myself?) after the opener against the Baltimore Ravens may not recognize this current Jets crew.

They’re moving like they’re going downhill with the running game, and Sanchez, who threw 20 interceptions last year to go with his 12 TD’s, now has eight TD passes (all in the last three games) without a pickoff. Reinforcements have arrived as well, and that needs to be digested by anyone who is looking at the MNF odds.

Trevor Pryce was cut by the Ravens but was expected to go back. Instead, the Jets picked him up. Santonio Holmes, the wide receiver who was the MVP of the Super Bowl two seasons ago, is also eligible after coming off suspension. Darrelle Revis should be back at corner after resting his hamstring, and so we segue into a few words about the player who is suddenly the most dangerous receiver on the other side.

Randy Moss is once again a member of the Minnesota Vikings, and although that does not make much of a difference right now in the MNF odds, it may help paint a pretty picture for Minnesota in the second half of the season.

With Moss in the fold, along with Sidney Rice, who’ll be coming back from injury, maybe a healthier Percy Harvin, and Visanthe Shiancoe, this will be a very formidable receiving corps for Favre. But for now, Rice is out, and Moss is a guy who has only had a few days to work out with Favre.

Favre, by the way, has been looking for a different kind of workout, and that is what has recently gotten him into trouble. An internet site has revealed that in 2008, when he was a member of the Jets, Favre was chasing after a former Playboy model-turned-sportscaster (gee, never heard that one before) who co-hosts a show on the Versus Network.

Reportedly, Jennifer Sterger, who was working for the Jets at the time, was sent a number of lewd photos, as well as some suggestive messages, to her cell phone, along with open solicitations from Favre. Sterger apparently has "refused comment" although how the texts to her personal phone got to the guys at the gossip site are anyone’s guess.

The NFL may issue some discipline. To Favre, not Sterger, mind you.

Looking at the MNF odds, how much of an effect will that have on the game?

The Vikings have allowed only 38 points so far, but they are not doing a lot of the things that marked a successful return by Favre last year. Moss is one of the biggest of big-play threats, and we’ll see how much of factor he is in the game itself. Meanwhile, what is supposed to be a high-powered offense is decidedly not.

Favre has two touchdown passes. So what we’re essentially looking at here is a game between one team that is doing what it has set out to do, and one that isn’t, with a quarterback who is under an active NFL investigation that could end his streak of consecutive starts, which will be at 289 come tonight (that’s where the vanity part comes in).

I’ve got to move with the jets, the 4.5-point favorite in the MNF odds.

JAY’S PLAY: N.Y. JETS -4.5 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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