Vikings favored early over Jets as Week 13 begins

It’s officially time to start looking at Week 13 in the National Football League, and after getting back on the winning track on Thanksgiving the Minnesota Vikings are expected to keep things rolling against another AFC East opponent at home.

Our friends at the DraftKings Sportsbook have installed the Vikings as an early 3-point favorite as the lines have opened for Week 13 action. It looks like they’re expecting a fairly low-scoring game, as the over/under for this one is currently sitting at 42 points.

The Jets have been one of the surprise teams in the NFL this season, as they enter this week’s game with a record of 7-4, which puts them in third place in the very competitive AFC East. The Jets benched Zach Wilson in favor of Mike White ahead of their game against Chicago, and the offense responded with a 31-10 victory over the Bears at Soldier Field MetLife Stadium (not Soldier Field) in Week 12, including three touchdown passes from White.

Minnesota had a hard-fought battle against the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving night, but they eventually did what they needed to do to secure a 33-26 victory. They did manage to make Mac Jones look like an all-world quarterback in that game, so hopefully they’ve taken the mini-bye they got after that victory to sort out some things with the defense in the hopes that it won’t happen again.

A win by the Vikings in this one could secure them a playoff berth and their first division title since the 2017 season if they can get some cooperation from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville will be at Ford Field facing the Detroit Lions at the same time the Jets/Vikings game is going on, and a Minnesota win coupled with a Detroit loss would sew up the NFC North for the purple with five games left to play in the season. (Jacksonville is currently a 1-point underdog to the Lions.)

Will the Vikings secure their spot in this year’s NFL postseason party on Sunday afternoon? Whether they do or not, they can do their part and, at the very least, reduce their “magic number” to one if they can win a game that they’re currently favored to win.