New York Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 12/4/2022

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Venue: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

Where to watch: CBS

DraftKings: Vikings -3

FanDuel: Vikings -3

BetMGM: Vikings -3

Caesars: Vikings -3

Jets: 7-4 (2nd place, AFC East)

Vikings: 9-2 (1st place, NFC North)

Jets: won 31-10 vs. Bears

Vikings: won 33-26 vs. Patriots (Thanksgiving)

I am not going to lie to you all. In my opinion, this is going to be one of the biggest toss ups of the NFL schedule this week. Because while I could see the Minnesota Vikings running away with this game, I could very much see the New York Jets playing some very stout defense and keeping this game close enough long enough to the point were the Jets could pull off the upset. And considering every game for the AFC East to this point is must-win territory, I'm not going to discredit the Jets no matter how big of underdogs they might be in this game.

Both teams are coming off wins last week, but Minnesota is getting some extra rest after defeating the New England Patriots 33-26 on Thanksgiving night. Despite not having an answer for New England quarterback Mac Jones, Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins still had himself a very decent game completing a season-high 81% of his passes, 30 of 37, for 299 yards and three touchdowns in the win over New England at home last week. For all the talk about how inconsistent cousins can be throwing the football, he has absolutely been really good at home this year. Cousins has put together a quarterback rating of at least 90 in seven of his last eight starts at home. I know that shouldn't come as a shock considering it is Minnesota’s home field advantage, but for them to be able to do this at 9-2 is pretty impressive.

And once again as fate would have it, Justin Jefferson was a beast once again. Jefferson, without question the best receiver in the game right now, caught nine passes for 139 yards and a touchdown for his 21st career game with at least 100 yards and the most by a player in his first three seasons in the history of the NFL. How ridiculous is this kid right now? He surpassed Randy Moss for the most receiving yards by a player in his first three seasons in NFL history and he is just one of three players along with Moss and Odell Beckham with 1200 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons.

This is the kind of skill that you can't teach. And it will always make me wonder how teams let him drop so far to Minnesota in the draft. It is incredible to see him take the field every week and no matter what defense it is, maybe with the exception of Dallas because he was nonexistent that game a couple weeks ago, he has been consistent and dominant every time he is taking the field. And I am very much looking forward to the match-up with jets rookie corner Sauce Gardner in what might be the most epic wide receiver/defensive back matchup we get this season.

The Jets continue to find ways to win and it might be the most baffling thing I've ever seen. No matter who you put a quarterback, whether it be Zach Wilson and his struggling mantra, or like last week when it is Mike white getting his first start of the season, and he goes out to put up 22 of 28 completions for 315 yards and three touchdowns for a career-high 149.3 quarterback rating. I'm not even sure where they found Mike white off the street, but the fact that he joined Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with 300 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 75% completion percentage in two of his first four career starts, clearly someone screwed up and not keeping him as a starting quarterback.

The main topic of the game here is trying to find a quarterback who can get this offense going and it has not been easy all year. New York has been able to stay afloat thanks to its defense, but the 31-10 win over the Chicago bear last week was the first time this season that we looked at New York and said that this team belonged. Rookie receiver Garrett Wilson had five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns last week for his second game of the season with two receiving touchdowns. Just so you are aware, he has four receiving touchdowns on the entire season. Meaning he has barely found the end zone despite leading this team in receiving yards and is halfway there with five games to go of hitting 1000 yards. I think that's a good microcosm of how bad things were with Wilson did the first 10 games.

This is going to be the ultimate defense versus offense matchup and I am excited to see how this unfolds. No matter what offense has gotten in New York’s way, they've always been met with a tough matchup no matter what. And I think this will be no different. However, in a hostile environment with a team still trying to get to home field advantage in the playoffs, you can't expect the Vikings to just roll over the rest of the way. This is going to be a very close game that I think the home team pulls out in the end. Vikings by 3

Vikings are 15-30 ATS after a home game when both teams scored 24 points or more since 1992.

Jets are 35-54 after gaining 6 yards or more per play in the last game since 1992.

The over is 28-16 when the Vikings play the last 3 years.