By Charles Jay
Steelers vs Vikings – Hall of Fame Game Gets Things Underway for NFL 2015
In the pro football betting odds posted on this game at Vietbet, the Steelers go into the fray as underdogs:
- Minnesota Vikings -3.5
- Pittsburgh Steelers +3.5
- Over 34.5 points -110
- Under 34.5 points -110
The long wait for pro football bettors has finally come to an end, as the NFL season, or at least the preliminary part of it, is about to get underway. The Hall of Fame Game traditionally kicks off the pre-season in the birthplace of professional football as we know it, and this year the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings will square off in an 8 PM ET kickoff on Sunday night. Vietbet customers will be pleased to know that they can place wagers on this contest whenever they want during the contest, although the numbers change in fast and furious fashion with Live Betting Extra.
The Steelers made the playoffs last season with an 11-5 record, but lost the wild card game to the Baltimore Ravens, as they were without their biggest weapon, Le’Veon Bell, who had compiled over 2200 combined rushing-receiving yards but was injured. The team, which had cut LeGarrette Blount earlier in the season, had no depth at the position. Coach Mike Tomlin raised a few eyebrows in the off-season when he parted ways with defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who had been in the Steel City for eleven years.
The Vikings had a rocky first season under coach Mike Zimmer, as they had to go without Adrian Peterson, who was up on a charge of child abuse and sat out the entire campaign. They went 5-11, but they were encouraged greatly as they broke in quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 64% of his passes.
The head coaches here, Tomlin and Zimmer, are obviously no strangers to each other, as Zimmer was for six years the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. And Zimmer will be pleased, no doubt, that his stop unit will not have to deal with the Steelers’ big guns on Sunday night. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Bell will be sitting out completely, as will receiver Antonio Brown, who was on the other end of 129 passes last season. Center Maurkice Pouncey is also being held out of the lineup, as is James Harrison, the former Super Bowl hero, on the other side of the ball.
Keith Butler is the new defensive coordinator, but Vietbet patrons should know that he is hardly new in Pittsburgh; in fact, he worked all eleven years under LeBeau as a linebacker coach. So you can bet there will be some continuity in terms of the scheme, which includes a lot of blitzes, artfully disguised. LeBeau was one man who believed very strongly in getting some pressure on the other team’s quarterback. In the pre-season, with largely inexperienced signal-callers, that can really show itself.
The Vikings will be using a mixed bag; on the one hand, there is Mike Kafka, who is now in his fifth different NFL training camp, and Taylor Heinicke, who will be seeing his first pro action after spending his college years playing out of a shotgun formation at Old Dominion, where he became one of the NCAA’s all-time leaders in touchdown passes. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh starts Landry Jones, who played his college ball at Oklahoma and is beginning his third season in the league.
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