NFL Betting Preview for December 5, 2010: Buffalo Bills vs. Minnesota Vikings (-6.5)

Betting Overview:

The Buffalo Bills have now tied an NFL record for most overtime losses in a single season when they logged their third overtime loss of the season last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But NFL betting experts know that Buffalo wide receiver Stevie Johnson had the game winning catch in his hands, and then he dropped it. The preseason NFL predictions for the Bills were not very rosy, but no one expected the Bills to take three playoff caliber teams to overtime in the same season.

The NFL scores for the Minnesota Vikings in the early part of the season were depressing to Vikings fans. But when Leslie Frazier took over as head coach a week ago, quarterback Brett Favre was the first person on the team to publicly welcome Frazier with open arms. Now Favre does not have to worry about being called out by his coach after every press conference. It was this new attitude that Favre and the Vikings took into their win against the Washington Redskins last week.

Offense:
The Vikings need every win they can get, and against the Buffalo Bills the best thing that the Vikings could have is a running game. However, all-pro running back Adrian Peterson hurt his ankle in the first half of the Washington game, and it was bad enough where Peterson could not return to the game. The Bills have one of the worst run defense in football, and the Vikings are in no position to take any team lightly. If Peterson cannot play, then that changes the game completely.

The Buffalo Bills have found their starting quarterback in the calm and cool Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick takes a beating and gets up without any drama. He rallies his offense when he needs to, and he scores points in bunches. The problem with Fitzpatrick is that he is a slow starter. He does not get the offense really ramped up until the second half. That was fine against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Steelers were only up 13 points at the half, but that may not fly against the Vikings.

Defense:
The Bills defense, considering how poorly it is ranked against the run, has actually played pretty well in the last three quarters of play. From the second half of the Bengals game up to the end of the Steelers game, the Buffalo defense has allowed less than a total of 20 points. Considering they have played two pretty prolific offenses, that is impressive. But you can just feel it when the Bills talk about interceptions. The entire team only had two this season, and this secondary is a bit better than that. The combination of Brett Favre’s accuracy problems and the Bills hungry secondary could be a big problem for the Vikings.

The Vikings defense has absolutely terrorizing opposing quarterbacks lately. But, aside from yet another helmet to helmet hit from James Harrison on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills offensive line has been able to keep the opposing pass rushers at bay. The Buffalo offensive line has also become a bit better at run blocking for running back Fred Jackson. The Vikings defense is nothing like it was last season, and that may mean that the Bills can handle them.

The Bottom Line:
The Vikings should not take the Buffalo Bills lightly. The Bills have been able to hold their own against teams better than the Vikings this season. It will be Brett Favre and the Bills defense that decides this game, and the fans in Minnesota may not like the results.

BSN Sports Pick: Buffalo Bills