This Thursday, the online NFL odds and lines will present us with a marquee NFC inter-divisional primetime showdown at the suburban Phoenix (Glendale) where star RB Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings (8-4) will be squaring it off against veteran QB Carson Palmer and the streaking Arizona Cardinals (10-2). With so much hype on this game and many conference and divisional implications from the matchup, let’s look at what the NFL betting trends tell us in regards to making educated NFL picks on the primetime football encounter.
Minnesota at Cardinals NFL Betting Trends and Odds Analysis
Preliminarily, it is worth noting that, over the recent times, the Vikings have owned the Cardinals in terms of winning their matchups, though with the OVER/UNDER trends sort of balancing out each other, as is highlighted below:NFL Betting Trends in Last Six Meetings
• 2006: @ Vikings 31 Cardinals 26 (MIN -6½), Total Points Scored: 57 (Over, 38½)• 2008: Vikings 35 @ Cardinals 14 (AZ -4½), Total Points Scored: 49 (Over, 46½)• 2009: @ Cardinals 30 Vikings 17 (MIN -3½), Total Points Scored: 47 (Under, 48½ )• 2010: @ Vikings 27 Cardinals 24 OT (MIN -7½) Total Points: 51 (Over, 42½)• 2011: @ Vikings 34 Cardinals 10 (MIN -3) Total Points: 44 (Under, 45)• 2012—@ Vikings 21 Cardinals 14 (MIN -7) Total Points: 35 (Under, 39½)The @nflnetwork takes a look at some Thursday night storylines. #MINvsAZ WATCH: https://t.co/oRNBPudTpz pic.twitter.com/Gpp7YSDh9n
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) December 9, 2015
From the above games, it is clear that that Minnesota is 5-1 SU in its last six overall games against Arizona. However, only one of those wins came on the road (in 2008) with the Cardinals winning the other game played in Arizona (in 2009). Not to mention, the Cards have covered the three of six games, with Minnesota covering just twice and one of the games (in 2012) being shared by the two teams.Total-wise, the trends indicate a 3-3 OVER/UNDER mark in the six games, though with the UNDER coming strong in the recent matchups (3 of the last 4).So what does all these recent trends point indicate, given the Cardinals are placed as 7.5-point home favorites this Thursday, with the OVER/UNDER trading at 46? To have a clear understanding of how to wager correctly in the NFL lines, let’s take a look at how both teams have fared this year.NFL Betting Trends This Year
Entering this game, the Cardinals are 10-2 SU and 7-5 ATS this season, including a 4-1 SU record at home that featured wins over the Saints, 49ers, Ravens and Bengals. Arizona’s lone home loss came against in Week 4, which was in fact a close upset that came by a 24-22 score. Even more notably, Arizona enters this game riding high on a 6-game winning streak, on top of boasting of 17 wins in their last 21 home regular season games in Glendale.Additionally, Palmer is having a ridiculously effective season with 3,693 yards, 29 TDs and 9 INTs for an 87.6 QBR). His top targets WR Larry Fitzgerald (91 reception, 1,047 yards, 7 TDs, 11.5 ypc), WR Michael Floyd (35 receptions, 550 yards, 5 TDs, 15.7 ypc), and WR John Brown (517 receptions, 817 yards, 4 TDS, 16.0 ypc) are equally proving worthy by the day, constantly offering solid options for Palmer.Conversely, the Vikings are decently 8-4 SU and 9-3 ATS this season, though they’ve had a rough past that has seen them lose two of their last three games. Most recently, Minnesota suffered a humbling loss in the hands of Seattle in Minneapolis, where the Vikes were embarrassed to a 38-7 thrashing. More worryingly, they’ve only managed to score a total of 40 points (13.3 ppg) in those 3 games.The recent struggles by Minnesota are largely attributed to the fact that Peterson, who has been the bread-and-better in the Vikings offense, has been struggling and is coming off a season-worst performance against Seattle last Sunday. Minnesota’s second-year starting QB Teddy Bridgewater (2,398 yards, 8 TDs, 8 INTs, and 60.8 QBR) has also been far from efficient, despite some slight improvement in the team’s receiving corps.