Will injured Pro Bowl running backs Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey play in Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers NFL Week 6 matchup? Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Sunday, October 17, 2021 – 01:00 PM EDT at Bank of America Stadium
Sunday’s Vikings at Panthers matchup could have some NFC wild-card implications down the line – neither team is likely good enough to win its division – and Fox has the telecast at 1 p.m. ET. Not yet clear if it will be a matchup between two of the NFL’s best (and highest-paid) running backs in Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook and Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey.
The Vikings are 9-6 all-time vs. the Panthers – the franchises have never met in the postseason. Last year in Week 12 in Minneapolis, the Vikes were 3-point favorites on the NFL odds but didn’t cover in a 28-27 victory, the total going over 50 points. Kirk Cousins hit Chad Beebe on the game-winning 10-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left. Cousins was great in throwing for 307 yards and three scores. Justin Jefferson caught the other two TDs. Cook rushed for 61 yards. McCaffrey was injured then and Carolina’s QB was Teddy Bridgewater, who is now in Denver.
The underdog is 6-1 ATS on NFL picks in the past seven meetings.
Well, Minnesota’s Mike Zimmer had been among the betting favorites at BetOnline to be the first NFL coach fired/to leave his job, but the winner of that prop was decided Monday night when the Raiders’ Jon Gruden resigned in disgrace.
Zimmer certainly isn’t safe with his team at 2-3 and he might have been fired Monday, too, if the Vikings at lost at home Sunday to the winless Lions. Minnesota led 16-6 with less than three minutes left but allowed a 40-yard field goal and then seven-yard TD pass to trail 17-16 with about 30 seconds remaining. However, Greg Joseph made a 54-yard field goal as time expired. He made four field goals on the day, including a 55-yarder. It was the third time in five weeks the Vikings had a game decided on a last-second field goal attempt. They are 1-2 in those.
Kirk Cousins threw for 275 yards with a TD and pick. With Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook out with an ankle injury, Alexander Mattison rushed for 113 yards on 25 carries. He has become one of the best backups in the NFL. We may not know until Friday if Cook will go this week.
Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr made his season debut off injury and had four tackles. Minnesota’s defense has been solid the past three games, allowing just 16.0 points per game, although that unit did allow at least 100 yards rushing for a 12th straight.
Any players like Cook who are a bit banged up might get this week off because then Minnesota is on the bye. The Vikes now have an over/under regular-season total of 7.5 at BMR’s top-rated books. They are 2-10 ATS in their past 12 games.
I’m honestly not sure whether the Panthers (3-2) are any good. They have two wins over horrible teams in the Jets and Texans but a dominant win over a pretty good team in New Orleans. However, the Cats have lost back-to-back games. In Dallas, fine, but not this past Sunday at home to Philadelphia.
The Eagles were down 15-3 late in the second quarter and still 15-6 late in the third. However, they won 21-18 on a Jalen Hurts six-yard run with 2:38 left. Carolina still had plenty of time to score, but Sam Darnold threw his third interception of the game. Carolina managed just 267 net yards, their fewest since Week 10 of the 2020 season against Tampa Bay.
It was easily Darnold’s worst game with the Panthers, completing 21 of 37 for 177 yards with one TD. That’s multiple picks in back-to-back games and maybe getting him away from the Jets and fixing Darnold won’t work after all. Panthers coach Matt Rhule says Darnold simply needs to play within the system: “Sam needs to take what’s given him. If we do that we’ll get back on track quickly.’’
To be fair to Darnold, he was pressured on a season-high 43% of his dropbacks vs. Philly and Carolina was again without Pro Bowl running back Christian McCaffrey. It is likely that he will return Sunday, though. In three games, McCaffrey has racked up 201 rushing yards and one touchdown on 52 carries. He also has 16 catches for 162 yards. We will have to wait and see on left tackle Cameron Erving and stellar linebacker Shaq Thompson, who both missed Week 5.
Carolina now has an over-under of 8.5 wins this season on the NFL futures odds. The Panthers are 5-1 ATS in their past six following an ATS loss.
NFL pick: Panthers at +1 (-110) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.