NFL Betting: Packer Pickers Rejoice

READ MORE: Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Monday Night Football, NFL Betting

Once again, Covers does its weekly Monday point-counterpoint breakdown of tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup. Here are the handciapping gurus insights on why Brett Favre and the Gado-happy Packers will smoke the Vikings:

5. Offense settling down

Packer fans needn’t hold their breath anymore when Brett Favre slings the ball downfield.

Over the last two games, Green Bay’s offense has gone back to the basics as Favre is picking his spots instead of being picked off. After throwing 13 interceptions in the first seven games of the season, Favre has thrown just one interception in each of his last two starts. Green Bay went 1-1.

“For the most part, [I`ve played] well enough to win, but in some of these games, I don`t think I needed to take as many chances as I did,” Favre said Wednesday.

Read the rest of the genius-ness, after the jump.

4. Third-down

It’s an overlooked stat but when a team converts on third down, the impact stretches beyond the moving of the chains.

The extra yard or two gained on the next possession could be the difference between a field goal and a punt or may keep a tired defense on the field for an extra few minutes. So where’s this going? Green Bay ranks second in the NFL in third down tries, converting 45.3 percent.

The Vikings meanwhile, rank dead last in stopping third down attempts (45 percent).

3. No Daunte’s inferno

Over the last couple years, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper has flourished at Lambeau Field, silencing any claims that the dome QB couldn’t perform on frozen tundra.

Culpepper, who will have season-ending knee surgery next week, has thrown 11 touchdowns in his last three trips to Green Bay without any interceptions. The result helped Minnesota walk out of Green Bay with a win and a pocket full of cash three straight times.

In his last start in Green Bay, Culpepper threw four touchdowns on 19-of-29 passing to help his Vikings bounce back from a 17-0 halftime deficit to win the NFC Wild Card game 31-17.

2. Good Gado

Four touchdowns later and Samkon Gado’s first start as an NFL running back was a success.

Gado, who is listed as fifth on the depth chart, rushed for three touchdowns while catching for another against Atlanta last week.

He did fumble twice en route to 103 yards on the ground, but his emergence should give the Packers confidence in the backfield. That should also begin to open up some gaps downfield for the league’s fifth-ranked air attack.

1. Brad Johnson

Before you hop on the 37-year old Brad Johnson train, think back to his performance in Minnesota’s win over New York last week.

Johnson connected on just 56 of his passes and threw for only 144 yards as Minnesota finished with its worst yardage output of the year. Despite this, the Vikings still pulled off a 24-21 upset over the heavily favored Giants with special teams pitching in all three majors.