NFL
Sports Interaction Staff
October 17, 2017

Ravens vs. Vikings Point Spread: NFL Week 7 Odds, Prediction

Things are looking up for the Minnesota Vikings. They beat the Green Bay Packers last week, largely due to the fact that they knocked Aaron Rodgers out for the season. Next week, the Vikings play the lowly Cleveland Browns. If the Vikings can take care of business at home against the Baltimore Ravens, they’ll be in great shape at the halfway point of the season.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Minnesota Vikings

Point Spread: Minnesota -5
Date: Sunday October 22, 2017 – 1:00 PM ET
Location: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Point Spread And Betting Analysis

The Vikings are posted as a five-point favorite but the action has been on the Ravens. Sports Interaction’s betting trends show that 56% of the bets so far have been on Baltimore. As for the total, 75% of bettors like over the posted number of 39.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens need to put last week’s loss behind them in a hurry after a brutal performance at home. Baltimore fell behind 17-3 in the third quarter before rallying back to give itself a chance but that was mostly due to special teams. They were inept on both sides of the ball otherwise. Joe Flacco completed just 24-of-41 pass attempts for 180 yards and two interceptions. He also took three sacks.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore ground game failed to click early on and never really got the opportunity to get going after they fell behind by a couple of scores. The Ravens will attempt to establish a capable running game and keep the Vikings offense off the field for as long as possible this week. Flacco doesn’t look like he can carry this team on his own. The Ravens rushing offense actually ranks sixth in the NFL but the Vikings run defense is ranked third. If the Ravens can’t run, they’ll very likely lose in this spot.

Minnesota Vikings

He doesn’t get much attention but Case Keenum, who is filling in for an injured Sam Bradford, has done an admirable job of leading the Vikings offense. He has five touchdowns and just one interception on the season, and he’s completing 64.2% of his passes with a 93.1 quarterback rating. And he’s doing that without much help in the ground game. Running backs Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray were held to 97 rushing yards on 31 carries against the Packers last week.

The Vikings defense continues to shine as they’re allowing just 17.2 points per game this season (fifth in the NFL). They have 16 sacks on the season – tied for seventh most – and have to be licking their chops at facing a Ravens team that is struggling to move the football. Baltimore has lost three of their last four games and the offense has accounted for just 26 points in those losses. The Vikings might only need 14 points to win this game.