BetUS Sportsbook is back with another set of NFL parlay picks in the Week 1 NFL betting duel between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints from the Louisiana Superdome.
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Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints
Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 9th, 8:30 ET
Game Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
TV/Radio Broadcast: NBC, Westwood One, Sirius

Football Odds: Minnesota Vikings (+5) -110 vs. New Orleans Saints (-5) -110: Over/Under 48

The poor Vikings have been all over the board in the preseason. First, Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels thought they were dueling for the starting quarterback job. Then Brett Favre came back to town. Then Sidney Rice was ruled out for the first half of the regular season. Then Percy Harvin suffered migraines that have kept him off of the field for a number of weeks.

Now Rosenfels is gone, Jackson is a backup, and the receiving corps for the men in purple and gold is totally cut and paste.

To Favre’s credit, he is coming off of a season in which he played like an MVP, but odds have it, a preseason with two picks and no TD passes probably doesn’t bode well for another season of less than double digits in INTs.
Inevitably, there is going to be more pressure put on Adrian Peterson this year after the departure of backup Chester Taylor. AP rushed for 122 yards in the postseason defeat last year to the Saints, but that was his only 100 yard rushing game since Week 10 of the regular season.

On the other side of the field, the Saints have done nothing but stay remarkably consistent. They are notably thin at running back after the losses of Lynell Hamilton and PJ Hill in the preseason, but aside from that, they made it out of training camp relatively unscathed.

It looks like a potentially fantastic year once again for Drew Brees, who is working on the heels of a season in which he threw for 4,388 yards and 34 TDs.

You have to go back to Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys to find the last time that Brees was picked off in a game, and you can bet that he’ll be hard pressed to turn the pigskin over in this one as well.

NFL Insider Tip: The Vikings have covered five straight and seven out of eight spreads in this series, making them great NFL parlay picks dating back to 2001.

That all ends on Thursday, though. Minnesota just has too many question marks coming into this game, particularly offensively, and with the banners being raised on Thursday night for their first championship, the Saints are certainly going to be coming out with guns blazing.

The Saints would make for great NFL parlays picks on Thursday night.

My NFL Predictions: New Orleans Saints (-5) -110

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BetUS Sportsbook is back with another fantastic NFL line analysis in the Week 4 NFL preseason duel between the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings from Minneapolis.
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Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings
Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 2nd, 8:00 ET
Game Location: Mall of America Field, Minneapolis, MN
TV/Radio Broadcast: Local TV, Westwood One, Sirius

NFL Football Odds: Denver Broncos (+4.5) -110 vs. Minnesota Vikings (-4.5) -110: Over/Under 35

The key to figuring out the winner of the football game line in this one is going to be quarterback play.

Quite simply, for the visiting Broncos, their QBs just aren’t quite there yet. Neither Brady Quinn nor Tim Tebow is completing more than 57 percent of their passes, and neither has even reached 200 passing yards yet in the preseason. The two have also combined to throw just one touchdown against two INTs.

Denver is clearly also not being helped by its defense, which is allowing 385.3 yards per game, the second worst total in the NFL. Will the ‘D’ that picked off three passes and made life a living hell for the quarterbacks of the Pittsburgh Steelers show up? Or will the one that seemingly tanked its first two games of the year rear its ugly head?

If it is the latter, the backup QBs for the Vikings are going to make Denver pay. The Vikes, without a doubt, have the strong trio of quarterbacks right now in the league, and even if Brett Favre doesn’t play (or doesn’t play much), there is no reason not to believe in the combination of Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.

Look for Rosenfels to get the majority of the reps once again for the men in purple and gold, as this will probably be the last time that he ever steps foot on the turf for his current team. Rosenfels has looked sharp all preseason long, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 392 yards with four scores and no picks.

Even the fourth man on the depth chart, rookie Joe Webb has looked great, throwing for 91 yards and two TDs and rushing for another 78 yards and a score.

NFL Insider Tip: These two teams are clearly in different mindsets right now in terms of recent form. Denver is just 2-5 ATS and 1-6 SU in its L/7 games overall, while Minnesota has beaten the football game line in five of its L/6.

That being said, we tend to believe that the backups for the Vikings are just all around better than they are for the Broncos. Yes, we understand that Tebow generally refuses to lose as a starter, but this is a game that isn’t exactly for keeps. Go with Minnesota, and you’ll be a winner against the football game line on Thursday night.

My NFL Predictions: Minnesota Vikings -4.5

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Hopeful eyes will be honed in on the Minnesota sideline when it takes on San Francisco in NBC’s Sunday night telecast waiting to see if good ‘ol #4 will lace ‘em up and take a few reps against the 49ers first team defense. If so, I’m betting his efforts won’t be enough to allow the Vikings to cash tickets on the football money line as underdogs in this contest.
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Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers
Game Date/Time: Sunday, August 22nd, 8:00 ET
Game Location: Monster Park, San Francisco, CA
TV/Radio Broadcast: NBC, Sirius

NFL Odds: Minnesota Vikings (+3) -110 vs. San Francisco 49ers (-3) -110: Over/Under: 35

Though the Vikings pasted the Rams in their first exhibition game of the preseason, all the news is currently centered around Brett Favre and how he finally decided to make one last go of it to capture the Vikings franchise first ever Super Bowl victory.

Regardless of whether he’ll get any game action in this spot, the Vikings will very much want to build off of their solid football money line victory against St. Louis. They went off the board as 2.5-point underdogs, but made the oddsmakers look foolish after they trounced the Rams 28-7 to easily cash NFL bettor’s money line tickets.

While Tarvaris Jackson did nothing to impress, the same can’t be said of Sage Rosenfels who lit the Rams defense up to the tune of 310 yards passing and three TDs. Defensively, the Vikings looked to be in mid season form as well giving up 150 combined yards and allowing St. Louis to convert just 3-of-14 third down tries.

When taking a gander at the box score from last week’s game at Indianapolis, the 37-17 final would lead you to believe that Head Coach Mike Singletary’s squad dominated from the onset.

That was far from the case however, as it wasn’t until Peyton Manning and the rest of the first teamers departed with a 10-0 lead that San Francisco caught fire. That will not have sat well with the firey Singletary who will most definitely expect more from his team in this spot.

Since taking over the Niners reins, the former Chicago Bears linebacker has won four of the five games he’s coached in the preseason against the football betting line. Though his club failed to cover the spread, San Fran is a perfect 2-0 SU in both home games during that stretch.

NFL Insider Tip: Now that the Vikings have their lynchpin back in place, I don’t foresee them doing much of anything to compete throughout the remainder of the exhibition season – And why would they? They were an overtime loss away from going to the Super Bowl a year ago, and a bulk of the pieces from that squad are still in place.

There really just isn’t much to be decided right now. Favre has let it be known that this will be his swan song of a season, so why would Head Coach Brad Childress want to put any of his major contributors in harms way when the games simply don’t count.

On the flipside, the Niners are expected to walk away with the NFC West Title for the first time in years. Singletary is a coach that above all wants to win, and I firmly believe he’ll have his men ready to trounce these guys this evening. It also doesn’t hurt that it would maybe take some of the sting of that brutal Week 3 loss they suffered in the Dome last season. Not much, but maybe a little…

Look for the Niners to at the very least cover the football money line in this contest!

My NFL Preseason Predictions: San Francisco 49ers -165

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NFL betting action is back! At BetUS Sportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs!
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Green Bay Packers (+125 odds) – With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with. Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season.
My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North

Minnesota Vikings (+130 odds) – There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
My NFL Predictions: 9-7, 2nd place in NFC North

Chicago Bears (+350 odds) – The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year. No, we don’t think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there’s still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren’t so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500… but then again, maybe it doesn’t. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
My NFL Predictions: 7-9, 3rd place in NFC North

Detroit Lions (+1500 odds) – The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren’t just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
My NFL Predictions: 5-11, 4th place in NFC North

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