The oddsmakers have reviewed the film, crunched the numbers and decided that the Packers are better than the Vikings.
A lot better.
And we can't say we blame them.
The Packers are 9.5-point favorites against the Vikings on Sunday. That game is at TCF Bank Stadium, and we really can't remember too many times when Minnesota was that big of a home underdog.
It's common for oddsmakers to dictate that home-field advantage is worth three points, so they're saying that on a neutral field Green Bay is 12.5 points better than Minnesota. At Lambeau? 15.5 points (though in reality they were more than double that good in the real game earlier this year, a 42-10 Packers rout with Christian Ponder at QB).
Based on that dismal showing and all of the Vikings' losses, really — Minnesota has been held under 300 yards and 16 points in each of their six setbacks — the 9.5-point spread really isn't surprising. Green Bay has topped 50 points each of the past two weeks, including hanging 55 on a Bears team the Vikings could only manage 13 against on Sunday.
So not surprising, but still a bit sobering considering 24 hours ago some of us were talking about the Vikings picking off a wounded Bears team and possibly making a playoff run with the Packers game representing the first of three in a row at home.
Instead, the Vikings are 4-6 and will need to pull a major upset to avoid dropping to 4-7.
