Minnesota vs Indianapolis Odds & Prediction
Andrew Luck’s first game in the NFL didn’t go exactly as planned. The Bears defense made life miserable for Luck. Can he bounce back in his home opener against a mediocre Minnesota Vikings team?
Minnesota Vikings vs. Indianapolis Colts
Lucas Oil Stadium
Sunday September 16, 1:00 PM EST on FOX
NFL Betting Odds from Bovada
Moneyline: Minnesota (-125) Indianapolis (+105)
NFL Spread: Vikings -1.5 (-110) vs. Colts +1.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 44.5
Minnesota picked up an overtime victory over Jacksonville to start off the 2012 season. Let’s take a look at this contest.
Minnesota
Christian Ponder is the main man under center for the Vikings. Ponder shared duties at quarterback last year, but he’ll be the man this year unless he gets hurt. He had a very good 105.5 quarterback rating in the team’s win last week. Adrian Peterson ran for 84 yards on 17 carries last week. Peterson isn’t completely healthy, but he is still one of the best backs in the league even when he is at 80 percent. Percy Harvin got five carries last week. Look for the team to continue to try to get Harvin involved in the offense.
Jared Allen piled up 22 sacks last season. Allen is the best pass rusher in the NFL right now. Kevin Williams is a beast in the middle of the defensive line. The linebackers are solid, but the secondary seems to be the place where the team has the most inexperience. Two rookie safeties are starting for the Vikings right now. Minnesota will need to get pressure on Luck in this one to keep the heat off their secondary. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Indianapolis
While RG3 had a perfect start to his NFL career, Andrew Luck threw three interceptions in his first start. To be fair, Griffin did it against a subpar Saints defense, while Luck was up against a very good Chicago Bears defense. Running backs only had 13 carries in the Colts season opener against the Bears. This is a very concerning statistic for Colts fans. At some point, the Colts must find some sort of a running game if they want to keep Andrew Luck healthy in the long run. It can’t just be a pass every single down or the opposition will tee off and bring the heat constantly. The offensive line for Indianapolis is a weakness, and the group seems to be lacking chemistry right now.
The Colts defense has two of the best pass rushers in the game in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Getting after the quarterback really is the strength of this Colts defense. Expect Indianapolis to try to get to Christian Ponder a lot this week. Ponder is still an inexperienced quarterback who could make bad decisions under pressure. The Colts secondary is led by veteran Antoine Bethea and newly-signed Vontae Davis.
The Vikings should be able to run the ball on the Colts, and the Colts should be able to throw it on the Vikings. I don’t think Minnesota should be favored on the road at this point, so I’ll take the Colts at home here.
Free NFL Pick: Colts ML
