You know the saying, ‘good teams win, great teams cover’? Well, I guess that makes the Minnesota Vikings a great team. Back in May, when the odds for the 2024-25 season dropped, Vegas basically had the Vikings as underdogs in almost every game.

Do not bet against Minnesota Vikings

That’s been the case for a while. But now, with the Vikings sitting at 5-0, it’s clear the oddsmakers didn’t believe in them, and now they don’t have a choice but to adjust. So far, the Vikings have only been favored in two games this season. In Week 1 against the New York Giants (-1), they covered the spread pretty easily. Then in Week 5 against the Jets (-2.5), it came down to the last few plays.

From weeks 2 to 4, the Vikings came in as underdogs, even with two of those games at home. They went up against some really strong teams, but not only did they cover the spread as underdogs, they straight up won those games outright too, proving a lot of people wrong, including oddsmakers.

Vikings results against the spread

It’s wild to think about how much the Vikings have grown in just five weeks, especially after all the disrespect they faced before the season started. The Minnesota Vikings are the only team that’s started 5-0 against the spread this season, while a few others are sitting at 4-1.

Best NFL teams against the spread this season:

Minnesota Vikings 5-0
Denver Broncos 4-1
Kansas City Chiefs 4-1
Indianapolis Colts 4-1
Washington Commanders 4-1
Detroit Lions 3-1
Chicago Bears 3-1-1

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) October 8, 2024

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If you’re a Vikings fan who likes to place bets, hopefully, you’re betting on them every week, not just covering the spread but also taking the money line for some extra value. They’ve been underdogs in three out of the last five games, so it’ll be interesting to see how Vegas adjusts.

Yes, Kirk Cousins was the best QB this team has seen since Brett Favre and he was here for six seasons. But do QB questions suddenly equate to having a bad team? Because if we look beyond quarterback, especially after the addition of (RB) Aaron Jones, the 2024 Minnesota Vikings offense is arguably better than it was one year ago.

Last season, the Vikings finished with a 7-10 record, but they were 7-6 before a five game losing streak to end the season killed their playoff chances. They were 4-4 when Kirk Cousins got hurt and remained a .500 team for most of the season while rotating Jaren Hall, Sean Mannion and Josh Dobbs at QB.

Defensively, there are questions surrounding whether or not the MN Vikings have as much talent as they did in 2023. Danielle Hunter left and that certainly hurts the talent pool, but Kwesi went and found three guys (Van Ginkel, Greenard and Turner) to replace him, and they were all hand-picked by defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Dallas Turner's length and technique are a great benefit to him in the run game, where he consistently disengages from opposing offensive linemen to make plays. pic.twitter.com/pgt6ExKxBC

— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) May 7, 2024

Minnesota Vikings fans… have you seen the NFC North odds lately?

Now, let’s talk about the rest of the division. Are we really supposed to believe that the Detroit Lions are suddenly a perennial NFC North champion; that Jordan Love is the next all-time great Green Bay Packers quarterback, or that Caleb Williams is going to slide into QB1 for the Chicago Bears and immediately take them back to the 80s? Because I am not sold on any of those things.

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That was until I looked at the current betting odds to win the NFC North. Now, I’m questioning everything about my own homerism and football knowledge. Hell, I’m wondering if I’m losing my marbles. Is it surprising to see the Minnesota Vikings with the worst odds of any team in the NFC North at both DraftKings and FanDuel? No. But +1000 when the Bears are +265? What in the fu…

Has Caleb Williams developed superhuman powers that will immediately turn him into Patrick Mahomes, without ever taking a snap in the NFL? How can sportsbooks realistically look at the NFC North and think, ‘oh yeah, the Packers, Lions and Bears are at least 3-4x better than the Vikings’?

WTF are these NFC North odds telling us?

Even if you want to prematurely crown the Lions as the next great NFL dynasty or Jordan Love as the next Aaron Rodgers, I’m at a loss for why Vegas would be so confident in the Bears. Do they look a bit better on paper, this season? Maybe… if Caleb Williams can immediately prove himself to be a functional QB.

Jump on the Lions bandwagon if you dare but that franchise has sucked for my entire life, and long before. It will take more than a couple of playoff seasons to wipe that stain from my memory. Even if Jordan Love is hitting his stride, the Packers have a lot of holes on their team.

I am not convinced any of the above will happen. In fact, I wouldn’t feel all that confident betting on any team as the NFC North winner preseason. There’s no telling how this division will shake out in 2024.

Video: Adam Thielen Continues to Work Out with Vikings Rookie JJ McCarthy

I mean where are all the Kirk Cousins haters who have been telling us for years that the Vikings would be better off without Kirk? I never bought into that thinking, of course, but now without him, Vegas has us pegged as being four times worse than other unproven teams like the Packers and Bears. How?

To say that the Vikings, who with Jefferson, Addison, Jones, Darrisaw, O’Neill and Hockenson have arguably the best offense in the division, outside of QB. So either oddsmakers have no faith in Kevin O’Connell, who now has two talented young quarterbacks to mold, or they know something about the NFC North that we don’t.

Or… maybe both sportsbooks made a mistake…? I guess I’d almost believe that over the Vikings being extreme long shots like they are.

Not long after the NFL schedule was released, sportsbooks had odds out for every single game. How high are oddsmaker on the new-look Vikings, entering the 2024-25 season? Let’s just say… optimism is hard to find.

The Vikings may have used the first round of the NFL Draft to add Dallas Turner to their defense and replace Kirk Cousins with JJ McCarthy, but their offseason didn’t impress NFL oddsmakers, who remain skeptical about how many wins this new-look team can pile up this season.

Oddsmakers don’t believe in 2024 Minnesota Vikings

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings gives the Vikings an upper hand in only three games this season. Of course, it’s the NFL (any given Sunday) so the spreads are small in most of these matchups.

But no doubt, there’s money to be made if you are optimistic about what Kevin O’Connell can do with his new QBs, and what Brian Flores’ defense will look like now that he has more of a hand-picked roster.

It’s definitely hard to accept that the Vikings are only favored to come out on top in three games of their 17 games next season. But as soon as training camp kicks off and the season gets underway, the optimism is sure to shine through anyway.

Related: ESPN NFL Insider Wants Vikings to Sign Hunter Renfrow

At the end of the day, morning-after schedule release odds shouldn’t define the Minnesota Vikings’ 2024-25 season. In reality, anything can happen. The NFL is the league of ultimate parody. Surprise teams jump up and fall every single season. Nevertheless, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Vegas is writing them off already.

Worth noting: DraftKings might only have the Vikings favored in three individual games this season. Yet, they’ve set Minnesota’s over/under win total at 6.5, a number that wouldn’t get them into the playoffs, but a number that is more than double the number of games they are favoring the purple to win.