Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers Picks and Odds NFL Week 14
Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers Betting Preview
WagerTalk NFL handicapper Andy Lang offers his Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Week 14 Thursday Night Football betting preview. At the time of posting, the Vikings have dropped slightly to a 3-point home favorite over the visiting Steelers, with the total sitting at 44 points.
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Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers Predictions
- Minnesota Vikings -3 vs Pittsburgh Steelers
- Total: 44 Points
- The Steelers are 11-4 against the spread in their last 15 games as an underdog.
The 6-5-1 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 5-7 Minnesota Vikings kick off the Week 14 slate of games when they face off on Thursday Night Football at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings are coming off a last second defeat at hands of the winless Detroit Lions by a score of 29-27. While the Pittsburgh Steelers snapped a three game winless streak with a narrow 20-19 victory over the division rival Baltimore Ravens.
It’s ironic that these two meet this week, as they are the two teams that the Detroit Lions have the most success against this season. Both teams desperately need a victory as each team has split their last 10 games, which has resulted in dwindling playoff hopes.
It’s not surprising, but recent reports out Pittsburgh say that this will be quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s final season in the NFL. Of course Roethlisberger dismissed the reports, saying that he is a one game at a time type of player. Big Ben has completed 64.8% of his passes for 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions so far this season. He leads an offense that ranks only 22nd in yardage and 21st in points.
Defensively the Steelers defense allows 364.1 yards and 23.8 points a game ranking them 11th and 12th respectively. They do have a candidate for defensive player of the year in T J. Watt who has recorded 16 sacks and forced 4 fumbles. The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost 3 of their last 4 road games. The AFC is a complete log jam, so at 6-5-1 the Steelers still have legitimate playoff hopes but a win here would do wonders.
The Detroit Lions have finally won a game after multiple heartbreaking losses and the Minnesota Vikings were their victims. Minnesota also needed a last second 54 yard field goal to get past the pathetic Lions the first time they met. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is having a career year, as he’s thrown for 3,353 yards with 25 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. The Vikings offense ranks 6th in yardage, but struggles to score points at the same rate with 25.7 points a game. Minnesota will be without two of their most explosive weapons in Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen. Cook missed last week with a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum and will be out again this week. Meanwhile Adam Thielen suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain against Detroit and this is injury with a typical 4-6 week timeline for return.
The Vikings’ defense has been horrendous as they allow the 3rd most yards and 8th most points per game. At 5-7 another loss would essentially end the Vikings season, however a win will probably just delay the inevitable.
Both teams have similar against the spread records as the Vikings are 6-6 and the Steelers are 5-7. Minnesota is 7-5 over/under ATS while the Steelers are 4-7-1. The Vikings are favored by 3 points with an over/under of 44.5. It’s tough to be excited to back either team on a short week as both are inconsistent underachievers.
I’m going to take a shot with the Steelers money line at +145. As the Pittsburgh defense is slightly better and I think the Vikings injuries on offense may catch up with them. I’m actually more excited for the player prop in this one.
Diontae Johnsons receiving yards total was set at 74.5 yards last week. It took him til the 4th quarter to surpass it, but he’s cleared that number in 9 of his last 10 games. The Vikings have allowed the 3rd most yards to opposing wide receivers. While the number will obviously be higher, I’m comfortable going over anything in the range of 80-90 yards.
Official Play: Pittsburgh Steelers ML +145
Official Player Prop: Diontae Johnson Over receiving yards
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Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers Analysis from The GoldSheet
Mike Zimmer (and GM Rick Spielman, for that matter) are rapidly running out of time to justify sticking around in Minnesota for another go in 2022. Even had Minnesota avoided that last-second defeat to Detroit, whatâs the deal with being forced into the last play now twice vs. Detroit after doing almost everything wrong (2-for-11 on third downs, shaky playcalling and a defensive scheme that made it far too easy for Jared Goff to exploit) last Sunday at Ford Field? And if Dalvin Cook (shoulder) remains out, it canât help matters.
Meanwhile itâs a poorly-kept secret that Big Ben is nearing the end of the line, but Mike Tomlin is going to hold off on giving Mason Rudolph an audition for 2022 if the Steelers can hang in the AFC playoff race, especially if Roethlisberger can still prove serviceable as he did last week (236 yards, 2 TD passes, no picks) in the close win vs. the Ravens. Tomlinâs underdog mark (5-2 this season, 11-4 last 15) also suggests it might not be the worst idea to give Pittsburgh a look.
Bet On It | Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers Preview
The barking dogs, sandwiches, teasers, and steam plays are back! Join Kelly Stewart, Marco D’Angelo and Gianni the Greek for this week’s edition of Bet On It as we break down the NFL Week 14 slate. We discuss this Minnesota Vikings vs Pittsburgh Steelers clash at the 5:20 timestamp.
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