Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings – Sunday December 30, 2012 4:25PM EST
The football betting world loves record-breaking performances. Minnesota Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson is on the hook for a lot of different honors and recognitions this season. He could be the “Comeback Player of the Year” and he could also wind up be the MVP of the league as well. But there are two more immediate goals that Peterson has his sights set on for week 17. If the Vikings can beat the Green Bay Packers in week 17, then Minnesota makes the playoffs. If Adrian Peterson can rush for 102 yards against the Packers, then he would get 2,000 for the season. If he can rush for 208 yards in the game, then he probably ran the Vikings to a victory and he would also break Eric Dickerson’s single season rushing record.
Ever since the week three officiating debacle in Seattle, the Green Bay Packers has been quietly winning a lot of football games. The online sports book experts have the Packers’ latest winning streak at four games, but the Packers need to keep on winning if it wants to retain its second seed in the NFC playoffs and get the first week bye. Most Green Bay fans are willing to bet that the Packers players are not taking anything for granted this season, especially after the way the team was bounced from the playoffs in the divisional round last year.
Minnesota Vikings
The price per head bookie experts were surprised to see Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder step up in week 16 after several weeks of sub-par play. Ponder was recently married, and his coaches have been joking that marriage seems to be really agreeing with Ponder. But it was refreshing how Ponder was able to pick up the slack in week 16 against the Houston Texans when the rest of the Minnesota offense seemed to stall. The focus on this game, for the Vikings, will be on winning and not on Adrian Peterson’s rushing numbers.
Green Bay Packers
A sportsbook review of the Packers’ season shows that Green Bay lacked confidence early in the season. The disaster in week three seemed to harden the Pack’s resolve and things just took off from there. The most significant difference between this year’s Packers’ team and last year’s team is the defense. Last year, the Green Bay defense was one of the worst in the league. This year, Green Bay is strong on defense. That includes dramatic improvements in the run defense where the Packers are ranked 14th in the league.
The Bottom Line
The Packers have way too much to play for in this game to sit any starters. That means that fans can expect a high-scoring clash of two teams that may wind up meeting in the playoffs, depending on what happens in this game. Look for the Pack to come away with the win and for Peterson to eclipse 2,000 yards but fall short of Dickerson’s record.
Click here for more on the Packers’ roller coaster season.
Pick: Green Bay Packers
The NFL betting experts always look forward to the last few weeks of the NFL season because it is always divisional matchups that could decide playoff spots. Some of the best football of the year is played in the final few weeks, and this week 15 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears could prove to be one of the best of the week. The only monkey wrench could be the status of Chicago’s starting quarterback, Jay Cutler.