Inside The Vikings

Vikings-Broncos: Minnesota Opens as Underdogs For Third Straight Week

The Vikings still aren't getting much love from Vegas during this winning streak.
Will Ragatz|
Vikings-Broncos: Minnesota Opens as Underdogs For Third Straight Week
Vikings-Broncos: Minnesota Opens as Underdogs For Third Straight Week

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Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings are riding the NFL's longest active winning streak at five games, but they're still not getting a lot of love from the Vegas oddsmakers. They've opened as 2.5-point underdogs for Sunday night's game against the Broncos in Denver, marking the third straight week where they won't be the favored team entering the contest.

Kevin O'Connell's team has now been underdogs four times in five weeks, including this one. After being favored in Chicago for the start of this winning streak, the Vikings were big underdogs when they upset the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 7. They were very slight favorites on the road against the Packers the following week — a game they won by 14.

That's when Kirk Cousins got hurt. Since then, the Vikings have been underdogs two more times and won both games behind the brilliance of Josh Dobbs. They went into Atlanta with Jaren Hall as the starter and then won that game in comeback fashion behind a storybook Dobbs performance. On Sunday, they were home 'dogs against the Saints and wound up leading 24-3 at halftime in another victory.

Now, barring a big line swing this week, the Vikings will head into their third primetime game of the season as underdogs against a Broncos team that ranks 26th in DVOA (the Vikings are 14th). Something tells me O'Connell and company have no issue being viewed that way amid this winning streak.

To be fair, the Broncos' season-long metrics are certainly skewed by their 70-20 loss against the Dolphins back in Week 3. Since starting 1-5, they've beaten the Packers, Chiefs, and Bills to get one game away from the .500 mark. The Denver defense, which was truly horrific through the season's first five weeks, has allowed just 16.75 points per game over the last four weeks. They forced four Bills turnovers in their win in Buffalo on Monday night. The Broncos' offense, led by Sean Payton and a somewhat resurgent Russell Wilson, ranks in the middle of the pack in DVOA and EPA per play.

This is nonetheless a very winnable game for the Vikings, who will look to stay undefeated in the Dobbs era and stretch their winning streak to six.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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