Minnesota Vikings v New Orleans Saints – Wild Card NFL Betting Picks

Minnesota Vikings (10-6 9-7 ATS) at New Orleans Saints (13-3 11-5 ATS)

Betting Line: Saints -8 O/U 49.5

Moneyline Odds: Vikings +240 – Saints -360

Date and Time: Sunday, January 5, at 1:05 PM ET
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA
TV: FOX

The Minnesota Vikings head to the Big Easy as big underdogs facing the New Orleans Saints in the early Sunday Wild Card game in NFL action.

The Vikings lost their last two games of the regular season where they only totalled 29 points. Kirk Cousins did not play in the season finale with Minnesota’s playoff seed already set. He struggled in his last game and while he had a solid season for Minnesota he has a history of not coming through in big games.

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The Saints have won three in a row and six of their last seven games. They have the fourth highest scoring team in the league putting up an average of 28.5 ppg and in their last three games they have averaged 38 ppg.

These teams did not face each other this season.

This season the Saints are 6-2 at home and the Vikings are 4-4 on the road.

The Saints have covered the spread in five of their last six games facing the Vikings.

In their last game of the season the Vikings lost to the Chicago Bears 21-19. In their previous game they lost to the Green Bay Packers 23-10, which cost them the NFC North title. The Packers game was the last one Cousins played in and he only passed for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The big question for the Vikings will be the health of star RB Dalvin Cook (1,135 yards 13 TD), who is listed as questionable for this game but stated that he “feels good.” He has been hampered by a shoulder injury for the last few games and did not play in the last two games. The shoulder injury limited his production in the last four games where he rushed for over 29 yards only once.

Cousins may have to shoulder more of the offense even if Cook is healthy, as the Saints rank fourth in the NFL in run defense but only 20th in pass defense.

In their last game of the season the Saints crushed the Carolina Panthers 42-10. They forced three turnovers in the game and did not commit any and outscored the Panthers 35-3 in the first half.

Drew Brees passed for 253 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win over the Panthers. In his last four games he has 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. Michael Thomas (1,725 receiving yards) led the league this season in receiving yards, by a wide margin, and he and TE Jared Cook (705 receiving yards) each had nine touchdowns.

Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara combined for 100 rushing yards in the win over Carolina. Kamara led the Saints on the season with 797 rushing yards, had 81 receptions for 533 yards, and while he only had 39 rushing yards in the season finale he only had eight carries while in the previous two games totalled 144 rushing yards and 25 carries.

Minnesota ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of pass defense (15th) and run defense (13th)

Vikings v Saints betting trends

Vikings are 2-5 ATS in their last seven playoff road games
Vikings are 4-14 ATS in their last 18 games facing a team with a winning record
Vikings are 1-5 ATS in their last six games as a road underdog
Vikings have an Over record of 5-0 in their last five road games

Saints are 4-1 ATS in their last five games
Saints are 1-4 ATS in their last five home playoff games
Saints are 4-1 ATS in their last five games facing a team with a winning record
Saints have an Over record of 5-2 in their last seven games

New Orleans v Minnesota head to head betting

Saints are 5-1 ATS in their last six games facing the Vikings
Favourite is 5-1 ATS in the last six games between these teams

In the last 11 games between these teams the Over record is 8-3

Vikings v Saints Wildcard predictions and pick

We’re predicting the Saints, who have failed to cover in their last four playoff games, to win as a favourite but do not look for that trend to continue. They ended the season on fire and Brees played great down the stretch.

On the other side of the coin the Vikings lost their last two games and Cousins did not look good in his last game. Minnesota will not be able to contain Brees, who will have a big game while Cousins will struggle. The Saints will win and cover in their house and move to the next round of the playoffs.