The Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts meet for a cross-conference showdown on Sunday Night Football.
The pregame narrative: Anthony Richardson has been relegated to the bench for the Indianapolis Colts. Joe Flacco takes over but I’m not optimistic about his chances against this Minnesota defence. I’m backing the Vikings on a teased-down spread, Aaron Jones to have a big game, and the over.
Check out my Colts vs. Vikings same-game parlay predictions for Week 9 below.
Colts vs. Vikings same-game parlay predictions
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Parlay: Vikings -2.5 + Jones over 99.5 rushing/receiving yards + Over 44.5 points (+300)
Vikings -2.5 (-190): I expect Minnesota’s defence to be the difference in this matchup.
The trademark of defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ defence is blitzing. The Vikings lead the league in blitz percentage (41.4%) and pressure percentage (30.2%).
The best way to beat pressure is to evade it. Mobile quarterbacks like Richardson can roll away from the pressure, but a pocket passer like Flacco can’t.
Flacco is 11th among all QBs in clean pocket completion percentage (69.8%), but he drops to 27th in pressured completion percentage (50.0%).
Minnesota’s offence should be able to move the ball well against this Colts defence. Indianapolis is tied for 22nd in opponent yards per play (5.6).
Other parlay picks
Jones over 99.5 rushing and receiving yards (+100): Let’s get some of the bad news out of the way first. DeForest Buckner’s return last week is a significant boost for the Colts’ run defence.
The good news for bettors is that Jones doesn’t exclusively make his living by running the ball up the middle. The talented back is also a polished receiver. Jones has topped 30 receiving yards in four of seven contests this season.
It does help, however, that Jones is also a strong runner. He has four games with 90-plus rushing yards this campaign.
The Colts should still be viewed as one of the better matchups until further notice. They’re ceding the third-most rushing yards per game to opposing RBs (123.3) and the 10th-most receiving yards to the position (36.5).
Over 44.5 points (-141): Thirdly, I’m betting on these two offences scoring a fair amount of points.
While Minnesota’s defence should be able to get home on Flacco in key moments, Indianapolis’ offence will likely have some success moving the football.
The Vikings have allowed 61 points over their last two games after holding four of their first five opponents to fewer than 20 points.
Their offence should be able to deliver in this spot. Minnesota is tied for 11th in yards per play (5.7) and seventh in points per game (26.9).
Picks made at 2:38 p.m. on 11/02/24.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.