With a win on Monday Night Football over the Bears, the Vikings will vault themselves into the playoff picture and into the No. 7 seed overall in the NFC.
It would be a reprieve to what has been a disappointing season for Minnesota. Though they sport an above-average offense and decent defense, their inability to close games has left them on the fringes of the NFC playoff picture when they probably shouldn't be.
The Vikings have lost a ridiculous five games in the dying seconds, including a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals in Week 2 that saw their kicker miss a chip-shot, 37-yard field goal to win the game.
They've also lost two overtime games and a contest against the Lions in which Detroit scored a TD on fourth down with no time remaining to win, 29-27.
Still, somehow, they could put themselves into a great position to make the playoffs with a win in Chicago on Monday.
Dalvin Cook, Justin Fields Most Popular NFL Player Prop Picks for Vikings vs. Bears on Monday Night Football
Chicago's season is doomed. It's all about developing quarterback Justin Fields at this point.
These teams have completely different motives heading into the home stretch of this season. And the betting splits reflect that.
About 70% of the total money is on the Vikings to win by at least 6.5 points. The spread opened -4.5 but quickly climbed throughout the week.
The public is also hammering these player props for Monday Night Football.
Vikings vs. Bears Most Popular NFL Player Props
- Dalvin Cook to score the first touchdown (+600)
- Dalvin Cook to score a touchdown at any time (-110)
- Justin Fields to rush for over 37.5 yards (-110)
Odds and data are according to BetMGM
Generally, touchdown props are too high-variance for my liking and seldom hold value. Especially ones of the "first touchdown" variety.
Cook has scored a touchdown in five of his 10 games this season, which implies the odds for his TD prop should be around +100.
There is an avenue to bet on this — Chicago's defense is pretty terrible and ranks No. 23 overall against the run.
So, if you're heavily fading the Bears tonight, -110 on Cook to score might be a solid workaround to Vikings ML (-300).
But typically I wouldn't wager on touchdown props with at this price.
On the other hand, Justin Fields' rushing yard prop probably has the best value on this list.
He's cashed this prop in five of his last six games and Minnesota's pass defense is far better than its run defense.
Fields should often see himself with no options after looking through his progressions, forcing him to tuck it and run.
Roll with that prop at just a -110 vig.
