The Lions are slight underdogs in Minnesota. (Getty)
Editor’s note: The odds below are courtesy of Heavy’s partners at OddsShark. Click here for more NFL odds and betting info at OddsShark.com.
The Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions meet in Week 2 at TCF Bank Stadium, and the Vikings are listed as 1-point favorites against Matthew Stafford and the Lions at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Lions are 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall and 1-6 ATS in their last games in the road. They dropped one in both categories last weekend as the San Diego Chargers racked up 483 yards of total offense in beating Detroit 33-28 in Week 1 out in San Diego.
The Vikings are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games, but lost in ugly fashion to the San Francisco last weekend 20-3 to drop to 0-1 in 2015. Minnesota was outgained 395-248 as Adrian Peterson was held to 31 yards on 10 carries in his first game back from a 15-game suspension.
Without defensive tackles Ndamakong Suh, Nick Fairley and CJ Mosley, the Lions run defense — which averaged 69.3 yards per game against the run, the best figure in the league since 2010 — will get a test from Peterson, who has averaged 5.3 yards per carry in 12 career games against the Lions.
The Vikings are 15-2 against the spread in their last 17 home games against the Lions. Though Minnesota has dropped six of the last nine games in the series, the Vikings have won 18 of the last 25 matchups.
The betting total for the game is set at 44 points. The total has gone under in 10 of the last 14 meetings between the two teams. The OddsShark Computer projection lists the teams dead even at 21.6-21.6, but if Peterson can get going on the ground the Lions may find it hard to get rhythm on offense.