NFL Week 4: Minnesota Vikings vs. Carolina Panthers betting picks, preview
These are a couple of 0-3 teams. For Carolina, not much was expected coming into the season thanks to a rookie starting quarterback and a coach in his first year with the team. However, Minnesota has to be feeling the heat and wondering whether they should trade their veteran QB and start over. This is the second week in a row the Vikings are playing a winless opponent.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Carolina Panthers Betting Trends and Odds
Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 - 1 p.m. ET
Odds: Minnesota -4.5, Over/under 46.5, Minnesota -210 | Carolina +170
It tells you a lot about what the markets think of Carolina that they are underdogs at home against a winless team. (I think I wrote the same thing about Minnesota last week ... haha). I do think Minnesota is the better side, but it is a hard team to get comfortable with right now. This number is in the dead zone too with Minnesota taking up the significant majority of the tickets and the cash.
Picks for Minnesota vs. Carolina
Minnesota -4.5, T.J. Hockenson TD Scorer (+145)
These are a couple of winless teams so it is really hard to know what we have on either side. With Minnesota, there is definitely more proof of concept with the head coach and quarterback and they have one of the best weapons in the league in receiver Justin Jefferson. There is debate whether top pick QB Bryce Young will suit up for Carolina this week. His backup is Andy Dalton, who is a great player to have in that role, should they need him again, but I am not going to trust him to outduel Kirk Cousins. Not with the weapons that Cousins has available to him. Minnesota makes sense as the favorite and as the side to back on Sunday afternoon.
Tight end T.J. Hockenson is one of those weapons and probably one of the more underrated players at the position. He has not caught less than seven balls in a game this season and has a couple of TD passes. He is the most productive TE the Panthers have faced this season and should get into the end zone this week (along with Jefferson) in a game featuring multiple scores.
This line looks like it will only go up, but sitting in that weird in-between range it probably won't matter, except for in your teasers.
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