Our New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings prediction takes a look at the Super Wild Card Weekend matchup that features two resilient teams. Let’s dive into the current NFL betting odds, key storylines to watch, and make a prediction for the game. Note that all odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook as of Monday, Jan. 9.
Giants vs. Vikings Odds
- Spread
Vikings -3 - Moneyline
Vikings -150, Giants +130 - Over/Under
47.5 points
Giants vs. Vikings Prediction
The expectations for the 2022-2023 Giants weren’t exactly very high. Brian Daboll was taking over a situation where the franchise hadn’t had a winning season since 2016, with a roster void of top-tier talent.
However, through a magnificent display of coaching, the Giants find themselves in the NFL postseason and ended this campaign with a regular-season record of 9-7-1. However, New York will be immediately put to the test this week with a matchup against the 13-4 Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota.
Last week, New York’s starters got the week off in order to prepare for a big game that figures to be closely contested throughout. The key to winning this matchup, though, and moving on to the next round comes down to execution in the passing game.
Minnesota’s defense — particularly their secondary — has been well-discussed this season, and it’s an advantage that New York will need to take advantage of in order to pull off this upset. The Vikings are allowing the second-most passing yards per contest this year with 265.8.
It all comes down to whether or not New York has the playmakers to take advantage of that mismatch. If they step up, we could see a pretty big upset right out of the gates in this postseason.
As for the Vikings, they’re coming off a solid 29-13 victory over the Chicago Bears and wrapped up the 2022-2023 regular season with an impressive 13-4 record. With that being said, it is seemingly an impossible task to try and predict what this team will do any given week.
Despite their 13 wins, the Vikings enter this postseason with a -3 point differential. That statistic may just go down as the most bizarre from this already wild season. Nevertheless, Minnesota will have a chance to prove that their record wasn’t a fluke with this game against a resilient Giants team.
These two teams squared off just a few weeks ago on Christmas Eve, and the Vikings narrowly escaped with a victory. Minnesota won 27-24, but they needed a strong showing from Kirk Cousins to pull away at the end.
MORE: Ravens vs. Bengals Prediction, Odds, and Picks for Wild Card Weekend
Cousins racked up 299 passing yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions against the Giants’ secondary. Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson had over 130 receiving yards and a score. Since that performance, Cousins has thrown for just two touchdowns to three interceptions and he hasn’t eclipsed more than 225 passing yards in any game.
The Vikings will need more from their veteran QB and this passing game if they hope to offset their own defensive struggles. If they can get a rebound performance from Cousins, it would go a long way to getting a victory and silencing the naysayers.
Giants vs. Vikings Score Prediction
Giants 24, Vikings 21