Vegas Not Showing Vikings Much Love

Well, that whole "getting you more stuff on Friday" thing didn't materialize quite the way I had hoped it would. Apologies for that.

In the category of "stuff that it's way too early to talk about but, hey, what else do we have," there are a couple of things that have come out from the odds makers over the past couple of days that merit taking a look at. The first is the first set of NFL victory over/unders that are out there.

For a team that went 10-6 last season, the Vikings sure aren't getting a lot of respect. Right now, the Atlantis Sportsbook has the over/under for the 2013 Minnesota Vikings at 7.5 wins. Within the NFC North, only Detroit has a lower number, and theirs is at 7. Green Bay is at 12 (tying them with Denver for the highest mark in the NFL. . .hilarious), and Chicago is at 8.5. Color me biased. . .because I am. . .but the only team that I can see hitting their "over" in this case is Minnesota. But, it's not even Memorial Day yet, so everyone can say that about their teams, for the most part.

Just as strange is the point spreads for each of the first 16 weeks of the 2013 NFL season. Yes, if you've got a bit of a gambling jones, there are already point spreads available for the first 15 games for each team this coming year (nothing for the Week 17 games was released). Here is the schedule for your 2013 Minnesota Vikings, along with the point spreads for each game.

Week 1: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions (-2.5)
Week 2: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (-2,5)
Week 3: Cleveland Browns at Minnesota Vikings (-6.5)
Week 4: Pittsburgh Steelers (-1.5) at Minnesota Vikings in London, England
Week 5: Bye Week
Week 6: Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings (-2.5)
Week 7: Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants (-3)
Week 8: Green Bay Packers (-1) at Minnesota Vikings
Week 9: Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys (-1.5)
Week 10: Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings (-1.5)
Week 11: Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks (-6)
Week 12: Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers (-4.5)
Week 13: Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings (-1.5)
Week 14: Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens (-3.5)
Week 15: Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings (-3.5)
Week 16: Minnesota Vikings at Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5)

That shows that the Vikings are favored in just 1/3 of their first 15 games this upcoming season as it stands right now. For the rest of the North, the Packers are favored 11 times, an underdog twice, and a "pick 'em" twice. Chicago is favored eight times, and underdog five times, and a pick 'em twice. Detroit is favored in eight of their games, an underdog six times, and a pick 'em once. Minnesota is also not favored on the road one single time as it stands right now.

I know that the objective behind Vegas point spreads is to get money to come in, but come on. . .this is sort of ridiculous. The Vikings were a playoff team last season, and I'm pretty sure they didn't get worse during the course of the off-season or anything. On the other hand, nobody gave this team any respect going into last season, either. Maybe this whole thing is for the best.