Seahawks slight favorite over Vikings

Las Vegas oddsmakers like the Seahawks to beat Minnesota in week #13, but not by much.

The Seattle Seahawks open up as one-point favorites to beat the Vikings in Minnesota this Sunday. This had to be a tough early line to set, for a couple of reasons:

• The Vikings are perhaps the league’s most surprising team in 2015, sitting at 8-3 and leading the NFC North, yet their 8 wins have come against teams with a combined record of 37-51 (43%). They’re coming off a 20-10 victory over the struggling Atlanta Falcons.
• The Seahawks will be without TE Jimmy Graham for the rest of the season. Graham was having another strong game yesterday before tearing suffering a torn patellar tendon trying to haul in a pass in the end zone. He’s having surgery today and recovery time is around 9 months.

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The Vikings have been surviving with a solid defense and an outstanding bounce-back year from RB Adrian Peterson. Minnesota is 9th in the NFL in yards allowed per game, displaying the kind of physical, consistent defense that head coach Mike Zimmer was known for in his 34 years as a defensive assistant before being named to lead the Vikings last year. However, they may be venerable in the running game. They rank 20th overall in that category, allowing 110 yards per game. Versus the pass they appear to be much better (4th, 223.5 YPG) but some of that may be due to the teams they’ve played.

Peterson has returned with a fury after being suspended in 1014. He’s piled up 1,164 yards and 8 TD’s so far, averaging 4.9 yard per carry.

Second year QB Teddy Bridgewater (acquired with the first round pick Seattle traded them on draft day in 2014) hasn’t been asked to do much, and hasn’t made many plays when he has. He’s thrown 8 TD’s and 7 INT’s on the season, and is near the bottom of the league in passer rating at 85.4.

The two teams have only met 13 times in their history, with Seattle winning eight. Under Pete Carroll the Seahawks are 2-0 against Minnesota, beating them 30-20 in 2012 and 41-20 the following year.

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Weather used to never be a factor when travelling to Minnesota, but the old Metrodome is no more. The Vikings are borrowing the University of Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium while they have their own, brand-new open-air stadium built downtown. The Seahawks appear to be catching a break, as the forecast calls for partly sunny skies with a high in the mid-30’s and light winds. But we’ll keep our eye on any changes in that department. It’s currently snowing in Minneapolis, and snow is expected to fall into tomorrow.