Even the Lions HC Is Confused by DET-MIN Odds
The Detroit Lions (5-7) host the Minnesota Vikings (10-2) on Sunday at Ford Field, and the points spread is a little wonky. Detroit is favored by two points despite a record five games worse than Minnesota’s, an odd spread concocted by Vegas sportsbooks.
The Vikings toppled the Lions in Week 3 during a topsy-turvy game where Detroit went for it on 4th Down six times — almost like a compulsion — the most by an NFL team in the 2022 season. The Lions were successful four times on 4th Down, but luck ran out twice. Correspondingly, the Vikings capitalized on head coach Dan Campbell’s risk-taking and won the game 28-24, kickstarting a seven-game win streak for Minnesota.
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The two teams meet in Michigan for the 2022 sequel, and the aforementioned Campbell is a bit perplexed by his team’s status as favorites.
A reporter asked Campbell about the Lions as two-point favorites, and the Detroit skipper replied, “I’m shocked by that.”
“But there again, all those things don’t matter, point spread, who’s favored, it doesn’t. This team finds ways to win, and if we’re not ready to go, and we don’t handle our business,” Campbell added.
The Vikings have defeated the Lions nine times in the team’s last 10 meetings, and Minnesota holds an all-time 80-40-2 (.663) advantage over Detroit. And because the Vikings have thoroughly dominated the Lions for 62 seasons, there’s a temptation by fans to believe Minnesota is truly playing “the Lions” — complete with negative connotation — this weekend. But that isn’t the case, evidenced by Detroit’s recent success.
The Lions traded tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings on November 1st, and since then, both teams boast a fancy 4-1 (.800) record. At least for a while, the transaction worked wonders for both teams. Too, Detroit was a whisker away from remaining undefeated since the trade, only losing to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving courtesy of Josh Allen’s last-minute heroics. The sooner Vikings fans realize the Lions have turned the corner in the last five weeks, the easier it is to digest the points spread — regardless of Campbell’s befuddlement.
Still, at the end of the day, the Vikings are 10-2 while the Lions are 5-7. Detroit favored by two points is a bit embarrassing for Minnesota, no matter how Vikings fans or NFL pundits spin the point spread. Outside of Week 16 or Week 17 games, only one team in NFL history with a win percentage of .800 or better in December has been an underdog to a losing team. The year was 2004, and the 9-2 Falcons were underdogs versus the 4-7 Buccaneers. In that contest, oddsmakers were correct, as Tampa Bay crushed the 9-2 Falcons by a score of 27-0. So, the old adage of “Vegas knows” was in full effect.
“It’s going to come down to the last two minutes of this game, and we’ve got to get ourselves in that position in the last minute of the game to have an opportunity to win,” Campbell elaborated on Lions-Vikings in Week 14.
If that’s the case, the Vikings are 9-0 in 2022 via games decided by eight or fewer points.
Viking Fined for a Wee Bit of Twerking
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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