Take the Packers moneyline against the Vikings in Sunday night football game

One of the most pivotal games of Week 17′s NFL slate is the Green Bay Packers taking on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. The best NFL betting sites have this as a closely projected game in favor of the hosting Vikings.

I’m taking the slight underdog Packers to pull off the upset and win on the road. The best odds for them sit at -102 from FanDuel Sportsbook.

(Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

The Packers and Vikings are both 7-8 but Minnesota carries a surprising 2-5 record at home. After being 8-1 at home in 2022, this stark contrast is surprising. Green Bay are just 3-5 on the road, so something has to give in this game.

My pick for Green Bay winning is in large part due to two players: Jordan Love and Aaron Jones. Love is the quarterback and deserves most of the attention. He’s been fantastic despite injuries and his defense doing him no favors this year.

After struggling with turnovers from Set. 24 through Nov. 12 (Ten interceptions), he’s thrown just one in his last six games. He’s throw 13 touchdowns in those six games. Jones has been injured most the year, but ran for 127 yards last week showing he still has juice.

If anything is likely to cost Green Bay this game, it’s their abysmal defense. Jaire Alexander is suspended for this game, which will do no favors to a unit that ranks 30th against the run, 17th in points allowed, and 13th against the run. They’re also 22nd in sacks.

Whether the Vikings are a team capable of exploiting that defense is something I doubt. T.J. Hockenson will miss the rest of the season and Jordan Addison will be playing hurt with an ankle injury if he suits up.

Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn are a solid pairing at wide receiver. But Jaren Hall isn’t a quarterbacks I’m confident in completing enough accurate passes to balance their offensive attack that’s not good on the ground.

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While Ty Chandler has brought some life to a rushing attack that was bad with Alexander Mattison leading it, he was stuffed for 17 yards last week and is an imperfect player. Green Bay’s run defense is bad enough that he could have a big game however.

Defense is an area that’s hit or miss for the Vikings, who are one of the heaviest blitzing teams in the league. Their best players are incredible (Danielle Hunter and Harrison Smith), but they’ll be without edge rusher D.J. Wonnum who had eight sacks this year.

Both teams have a 7-8 record because of one side of their team in particular. For the Packers, it’s their underachieving defense. In Minnesota’s case, it’s been their injured offense.

I don’t trust the Vikings offense but I trust Love and company. The Packers are in this position despite several key injuries on their offense throughout the season, but Love has found chemistry Matt LaFleur throws in the lineup.

The Packers have played well the last month of the season and are a team that can hang around as tough competition in a playoff game. Winning this game like I predict them to will be a statement to the rest of the NFC of just that.

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