Vikings open 2021 season as favorites to best Bengals
Joe Johnson
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Despite what Justin Jefferson may think about the quarterbacks for both teams, the Minnesota Vikings have entered the 2021 season as unsurprising favorite over their Week 1 opponent the Cincinnati Bengals if you’ve paid any attention to Vikings Twitter or media. After an off-season full of hype that seems to continuously intensify, many in the great state of Minnesota genuinely feel like 2021 may be the Vikings’ year with the Bengals being the first time the Vikings will be able to validate those hopes.
Turns out that the Vikings’ fan-base isn’t completely alone, as despite the fact that the 2021 season schedule was just released today there are already betting lines for the Week 1 road contest. Our very own Vikings insider and managing editor of our new centralized NFL site, FranchiseTagged.com, Dustin Baker actually got the inside scoop on the entire 2021 schedule.
https://purpleptsd.com/full-vikings-2021-schedule-revealed/
Most of the top legal sports betting sites reviewed here today featured bets and lines for the Vikings and the rest of the 2021 NFL season almost instantly Wednesday. For the most part they all agreed that the Vikings are 2.5-point favorites Week 1.
Considering the fact that this is also a road game, where the home team is typically spotted 2.5-to-3 points, and you can see where some of the above referenced confidence derives from.
Whether or not young star Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will play remains to be seen, but considering the relative recency of his ACL injury (Week 11) and the recent updates on his rehab? It’d be a mjracle if he faced former teammate Justin Jefferson and the team he (currently) plays for.
In early April the following update made the rounds on Bengals media:
“In late February-early March, he started throwing. Nothing strenuous, he wasn’t dropping back, throwing bombs, planting on his plant leg. The Bengals, Zac Taylor said this, they like the way he is recovering, but there is still a long road to go for his recovery.”
“The Bengals want to be extremely cautious with him. That is why you don’t seen a whole lot of videos. You’re not seeing him throw passes. You’re not seeing him running around. They want to protect him.”
Even with Jefferson using Burrows ability to “take a hit” over Cousins (which is ironic considering the context above), unless Burrow is using Adrian Peterson’s stem cells? The Vikings should be a relative shoe-in to start the season 1-0 against Brandon Allen and the Bungles.
Maybe the 2.5 points is far too low?