The hard luck Minnesota Vikings (3-5), who have lost all five of their games by seven points or fewer, head west to take on the Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) at 4:05 p.m. ET Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Below, we look at the Vikings vs. Chargers odds and lines, and make our best NFL picks, predictions and bets.
Minnesota is trying to patch things together without arguably its top five defensive starters – DE Danielle Hunter, CB Patrick Peterson, S Harrison Smith, LB Anthony Barr and DT Michael Pierce. That’s brutal news given the fact that the Chargers can do a lot of damage through the air and on the ground.
The Chargers entered play in Week 10 with the league’s worst run defense – allowing 162 yards a game — 25 yards more than any other team in the league. Facing an offense the is heavily focused on running back Dalvin Cook, Los Angeles will have its hands full against a Vikings team prepared to run 30 or more times if the Chargers can’t stop them.
Vikings at Chargers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Vikings +135 (bet $100 to win $135) | Chargers -170 (bet $170 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Vikings +3.5 (-120) | Chargers -3.5 (+100/EVEN)
- Over/Under (O/U): 53.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Vikings at Chargers key injuries
Vikings
- LB Anthony Barr (knee) out
- S Harrison Smith (COVID) out
- DT Michael Pierce (elbow) out
- C Garrett Bradbury (COVID) out
- CB Bashaud Breeland (groin) questionable
Chargers
- CB Ryan Smith (knee) out
- CB Michael Davis (hamstring) doubtful
- RB Justin Jackson (quadricep) doubtful
- LB Joey Bosa (ankle) questionable
- WR Keenan Allen (knee) questionable
- S Nassir Adderley (ankle) questionable
Vikings at Chargers odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Chargers 27, Vikings 24
Money line
When healthy, Minnesota has a better roster on both sides of the ball than the Chargers, but clearly the Vikings aren’t healthy. Forced to go deep into the depth chart to find defensive backs and defensive line help, it’s hard to take Minnesota here.
Personally, I would avoid this bet because you aren’t getting great return on investment, but if I was putting money on this one, I would take the Chargers (-170)
Against the spread
This is a tough one because of the Chargers dismal run defense. Minnesota is likely going to run Cook and Alexander Mattison until one of them drops because the Chargers run defense is so brutal. That should be enough to keep Minnesota in the game and, has been their history this season, they keep games close, but end up losing.
I could see this one coming down to the final possession, so getting more than field goal is enough for me to take the Vikings +3.5 (-120)
Over/Under
With both defenses banged up and shorthanded, the initial belief would be that Justin Herbert and Kirk Cousins will be exchanging bombs. But, just as Minnesota will look to control the time of possession by running the ball, the Vikings run defense is 30th in the league.
If you have a weakness in the NFL opponents tend to exploit it. I could see both teams trying to run as much as they throw because they can be productive in both. There will likely be a couple of play action bombs over the top, but I still like the UNDER 53.5 (-115)
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