For the first time in team history, the Minnesota Vikings will host a game on Thanksgiving night, as they’ll take the field at U.S. Bank Stadium to close out the holiday triple-header when they host the New England Patriots.
The last time the Vikings beat the Patriots was in September of the year 2000 in Foxborough. It was the first year of the Bill Belichick era and the Vikings won on the strength of two Daunte Culpepper touchdown passes and a touchdown run from Robert Smith to defeat the Patriots, 21-13. Since then, the Patriots have beaten the Vikings five consecutive times.
These two teams are coming off of vastly different results in Week 11. The Vikings, as we know, suffered one of the worst losses in team history, getting pasted by the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 40-3 to put an emphatic end to their seven-game winning streak. The Patriots won courtesy of what was, essentially, a walk-off punt return, as they got the key play with seconds left to defeat the New York Jets, 10-3.
The Vikings have been installed as an early 3-point favorite for this one, with the over/under currently sitting at 43 points. We’ll be watching our friends at the DraftKings Sportsbook to see how the numbers move up until kickoff.
Speaking of kickoff, it’s scheduled for 7:20 PM Central time this coming Thursday, 24 November, and the game will be broadcast nationwide on NBC.
We’ll be putting everything about this week’s game in one easy-to-find place for you right here, so keep refreshing for the latest on this week’s contest.