You might want to jump on the “Over” on the Vikings 2018 win total

Since we’ve got about four months to go until the start of the 2018 NFL regular season, we’re going to have plenty of time to speculate about how the Minnesota Vikings (and 31 less important teams) are going to fare this coming season. The “experts” already have their idea about how the Vikings are going to do, and if you’re inclined to placing monetary wagers on these sorts of things, the indicators seem to be indicating which direction you should be leaning on.

As things stand right now, the sharps in Vegas (and, presumably, at other respectable houses of sports gambling) have the Vikings’ 2018 win total at 10 games, at least for over/under purposes. According to the folks from Covers, if that’s the number we’re looking at, the early odds tell you that you should be hammering the “over” early and often.

Yes, as they do during the lead-up to every season, Covers has already released their betting odds for every game of the 2018 season. Well, at least the first 16 weeks of the season. There are no lines for Week 17 yet. Here are their lines for all of the Vikings’ 2018 contests, four months before any action takes place.

Week 1: San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings (-4.5)

Week 2: Minnesota Vikings (+2.5) at Green Bay Packers

Week 3: Buffalo Bills at Minnesota Vikings (-10)

Week 4: Minnesota Vikings (+3) at Los Angeles Rams

Week 5: Minnesota Vikings (+3.5) at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 6: Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings (-10.5)

Week 7: Minnesota Vikings (-4) at New York Jets

Week 8: New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings (-4)

Week 9: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (-7)

Week 11: Minnesota Vikings (-3) at Chicago Bears

Week 12: Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (-3)

Week 13: Minnesota Vikings (+4.5) at New England Patriots

Week 14: Minnesota Vikings (-2) at Seattle Seahawks

Week 15: Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings (-10)

Week 16: Minnesota Vikings (-6.5) at Detroit Lions

Again, the odds for the Week 17 matchups, including the Vikings’ (seemingly) annual home finale against the Chicago Bears, have not been posted. However. . .and with all due respect to our friends from Windy City Gridiron. . .if I had to wager a guess right now, I would assume that the Vikings would be favored in that contest.

If we make that assumption, if the Vikings were to win every game they were favored in, they would finish the 2018 season with a record of 12-4, including a perfect 8-0 mark at U.S. Bank Stadium and a 4-4 record on the road (with losses at Green Bay, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New England). That would put them firmly into the “over” category as far as the win totals in Vegas are concerned.

As I’ve stated numerous times before in this space, I think that a 10-win season should be viewed as the absolute minimum for this team in 2018, barring a 2016-esque rash of injury issues. So, if you’re inclined to do so, you might want to get your early money in on the “over” for this sort of thing.

And, as always, if you win, we’d like to ask for our 10% cut.

Okay, not really. Though we’re not going to tell you not to, necessarily.