New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings: Prediction, Odds, Depth Charts (10/2/11)

The 2-1 Minnesota Vikings face off against the 1-2 New Orleans Saints in London, England on Sunday as the kickoff to the annual NFL London games. Playing at Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the game will kick off at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT and will be the 31st London game in which at least one of the teams has a losing record. The Saints are desperate to get back into the win column after losing 22-14 to the Carolina Panthers and the Vikings hope to continue their win streak after defeating the Detroit Lions 28-24. Who has the betting edge in this one though? Let’s take a look at the odds, depth charts, injury report, and key matchups in this one. 

Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints Odds

The Vikings are -2.5 point favorites to the Saints +2.5 point underdogs. The moneyline is set at -140 for the Vikings and +120 for the Saints. The over/under is set at 44.5. 

Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints Prediction

The London games are notoriously ones that never go the way anybody suspects and that’s the sense I’m getting for this one, especially given the odds. On the surface, it seems like the Vikings would get more points than just -2.5, given that their team didn’t just lose to the 0-2 Carolina Panthers. While the Saints’ loss to Baker Mayfield and co. doesn’t look great, let’s remember that the Vikings had to overcome a 10-point deficit to defeat the Detroit Lions last week. 

The +2.5 number ultimately bodes well for the Saint here. The low total means that bookmakers aren’t yet writing off this team despite recent dismal performances. In all, the team still has a great defense with pieces in the secondary that include CB Marshon Lattimore and FS Tyrann Mathieu and a house-hold name in DE Cameron Jordan. Then there’s always the trusty back Alvin Kamara on offense, who put up 6 touchdowns in his last game against the Vikes. While Jameis doesn’t necessarily seem like the guy, he can still sling the ball anywhere down the field. 

Ultimately, the -140 moneyline is a small nod to the Vikings but a number that doesn’t exactly exude confidence in this Minnesota team. While they got the win over Green Bay and Detroit, the team was throttled by the Eagles, who, to be fair, are 3-0. While the Saints are certainly not the Eagles, they have the defensive pieces to emulate something similar. Like the Eagles defensive front and secondary, I expect the Saints defense to cause major headaches for QB Kirk Cousins, who has looked absolutely awful under pressure this year. 

Because of the wackiness that these London games entail, I’m going with the underdog New Orleans Saints in this one. Desperate for a win to save their season, I think Dennis Allen turns to Alvin Kamara to save the team’s season. Look for this offense to get Kamara going early and for the Vikings’ offense to remain stagnant down the stretch against this Saints’ defense. 

Prediction: Saints 31 | Vikings 24

Betting Trends

-Vikings are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games in Week 4

-Saints are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game

Key Injuries

Minnesota Vikings Injuries:

-RB Dalvin Cook (Questionable)

-OLD Za’Darius Smith (Questionable)

-FB CJ Ham (Questionable)

-LB Eric Kendricks (Probable)

-S Harrison Smith (Probable)

New Orleans Saints Injuries:

-QB Jameis Winston (Questionable)

-RB Alvin Kamara (Probable)

-OT Ryan Ramczyk (Questionable)

-OT Andrus Peat (Questionable)

-WR Michael Thomas (Questionable)

-WR Jarvis Landry (Questionable)

Key Matchups

Check out my key matchup in this one. 

QB Kirk Cousins versus Saints’ Secondary

While Cousins had a terrible performance against the Eagles’ talented secondary, he followed it up with a mediocre showing against a much less savvy defense. Finishing 24 of 41 for 260 yards and two touchdowns, Cousins finished with a 41.6 QBR rating according to ESPN. in three games, the average QBR rating against this defense is just 36. 

Player Prop Watch: Taysom Hill versus Vikings Defense

With Jameis listed as questionable on the injury report, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a decent amount of Taysom Hill. While I don’t expect Hill to be playing quarterback, it makes sense to run him out of the shotgun given the Lions had success running the ball against the Vikings defense with 139 yards on the ground. 

Vikings Depth Chart

QB: Kirk Cousins
RB1: Dalvin Cook
RB2: Alexander Mattison
LWR: Justin Jefferson
RWR: KJ Osborne
SWR: Adam Thielen
TE1: Irv Smith Jr.

Saints Depth Chart

QB: Jameis Winston
RB1: Alvin Kamara
RB2: Mark Ingram
LWR: Michael Thomas
RWR: Jarvis Landry
SWR: Chris Olave
TE1: Adam Trautman