Hiram Moreno
There are only two weeks left of this 2022/23 NFL regular season action, and there is still much to be defined heading into the playoffs. This Vikings vs Packers game between NFC North rivals features one team with little motivation to work hard, while the other is determined to play for its life in the what is left of the campaign.
JefeBet has been your source for football betting information throughout the year 2022, and we will start this 2023 still bringing you predictions, previews, odds and other information for every game of NFL Week 17, including this Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers .
Predictions and Betting Preview for the Vikings vs Packers NFL Week 17 Game on January 1, 2023.
- Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- When: Sunday, January 1, 2023, 4:25 PM E.T.
Odds provided by BetMGM.
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Betting on the Minnesota Vikings
It was known that the Minnesota Vikings had the necessary tools to perform well in this campaign, but the team has been able to take advantage of the low level of its opponents in the NFC North to comfortably lead the division, having already been crowned champion going into this week with a five-game lead over the second-place finisher.
Minnesota arrives to this game on a streak of two consecutive wins, although neither was entirely convincing, which shows how relaxed the team has been heading into the last few weeks of the regular season. In Week 15 they defeated the Colts 39-36, in a game that was decided in overtime, and in Week 16, they defeated the Giants 27-24 thanks to a field goal on the last play of the game.
Such close victories are not uncommon for the Vikings, who despite the good work they have done know that they have a lot of room for improvement heading into the postseason.Such improvement can be made especially on defense, as they are second in the NFL in total yards allowed to their opponents on average (416.9), while their average of 281.5 yards conceded through the air is the highest in the league (281.5).
Betting on the Green Bay Packers
The departure of Davante Adams seemed to have affected a Green Bay Packers, which is a team that has been losing important pieces year after year and that has finally saw that translated into a season full of ups and downs, but in which the team was able to find a steady course.
Regardless, the Packers have a chance to get into the playoffs via the final wildcard ticket, with as many as five teams being separated by one game in the fight for one of the three tickets to the promised land. However, to stay in the race they will have to improve on the image they left in their first game of the season against the Vikings, a game they lost 23-7.
Green Bay comes into this game going through a three-game winning streak that began in early December against the Bears (28-19). That victory was followed by two more wins over the Rams (24-12) and over the Dolphins (26-20) in Week 16. That last result against a postseason contending team should serve as a reflection that the Packers will be playing all their cards in this game.The defense ranks third best against the pass in the NFL (average of 192.4 yards allowed).
JefeBet Prediction
The Vikings may have been the ones who dominated comfortably in the first meeting between the two in the campaign, in that distant Week 1, but now things are different because of the context that both teams are immersed into.
Minnesota’s only motivation to continue to going further is to achieve the best record in the NFC, and thus, guarantee themselves a bye in the first week of the postseason, but for that, they must get into a Lambeau Field, that at this time of the year, becomes a challenge for any team that visits it.
Not only are the weather conditions adverse, but they will be facing a Packers team that seems to have finally found their rhythm when it matters the most and that is far from being the permissive team of the first weeks of the campaign.
With the weather not being conducive to the long passing game, and with Green Bay’s defense being really effective against these types of plays, it is possible that the Packers could continue their positive streak and head into the final week of the regular round with a realistic chance of keeping their season alive in mid-January.
Prediction: Packers Moneyline (MIN 23 – GB 27).
