NFL Week 1 Picks: Minnesota Vikings vs. Tennessee Titans 9/11/16

Vikings vs. Titans Pick

Will the injury issues at quarterback keep the Minnesota Vikings from hitting the over when they face the Tennessee Titans today at 1PM ET?

According to the oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Minnesota is a slight road favorite against the Titans, as the Vikings are getting odds of -2.5 points. The over/under total has been set at 40.5 points. These two teams have hit the under in three of their last five encounters.

Bet on Vikings vs. Titans

It’s hard to know what to expect from the Vikings as they enter this game without their clear starting QB following the injury to Teddy Bridgewater. The team traded for Sam Bradford, but he’s only had a week to learn the offense, which leaves the other option as veteran backup Shaun Hill. No matter who is under center for Minnesota today, they are likely to rely on Adrian Peterson heavily. They also will need their defense to step up, which wasn’t an issue last year. The Vikings gave up just 18.9 points per game a season ago.

The Titans welcome the challenge of the Vikings today, as their defense ranked 12^th in the NFL in yards allowed, so they have confidence that they can stack the box to stop Peterson and force the quarterback to beat them. On offense, the Titans will hope to run a ball-control scheme, but that requires an improved running game. They averaged just 92.8 yards per game on the ground last year, but they added DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry to the roster during free agency and the NFL Draft. That should ease some of the pressure on second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota.

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This game is likely to be ugly. Both offenses have some new pieces to work in and likely won’t be a well-oiled machine quite yet. The opposing defenses are also both physical units. Points should be hard to come by in this game, which is why we like the under to hit. You can’t expect the Vikings to be able to do much with their pass game and the Titans’ run game should still be a work in progress despite the new backs.

 

NFL WEEK 1 PICK: VIKINGS/TITANS UNDER 40.5