National Football League

2023 NFL odds: Kirk Cousins' injury shifts Vikings-Falcons spread, MIN's playoff odds

Updated Oct. 31, 2023 2:55 p.m. ET

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Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings defeated the then-vaunted San Francisco 49ers 22-17 in a Week 7 Monday Night Football showdown. In that game, they covered as 7-point underdogs and helped bettors who backed them cash in on the upset.

In short, the Vikings and their backers were riding high.

However, in the fourth quarter of the Vikes' 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, Cousins — who had passed for 2,331 yards and 18 TDs on the season — went down with an apparent ankle injury.

Further tests determined that he had torn his Achilles.

Now, with Cousins out for the remainder of the season, the Vikings' odds have already shifted.

After Minnesota's win over the Niners, the team's Super Bowl futures shortened from +7000 to +5000. In the wake of the unfortunate Cousins injury news, the Vikings' odds to win the Big Game have lengthened all the way to +12000.

Minnesota's odds to win the NFC are at +4400, and at +1300 to take the NFC North.

In Week 9, the Vikings will square off against the Atlanta Falcons on FOX and the FOX Sports app. Both teams enter this matchup 4-4 straight up (SU). 

The Falcons are opening up as 4.5-point favorites after being 1-point home favorites in the look-ahead line. 

On Monday, FOX Sports' Craig Carton said that the Vikings need to move quickly now that Cousins is out, in hopes of salvaging the season.

Kirk Cousins out for Vikings' season with Achilles injury

"They gotta go get a quarterback today or tomorrow," he said on "The Carton Show." 

"And you're gonna hear in the next 24 hours names like Nick Foles, Carson Wentz, Ryan Tannehill, Jameis Winston. You're gonna hear about a lot of guys who have played quarterback in the NFL. And here's why it's important to get that guy today: The next four weeks, you gotta win all four of those games. Because you're better than all four of those teams. Minnesota has a chance right now to get themselves into a solidified playoff spot, but all of a sudden, they don't have a quarterback."

Vikings acquire QB Josh Dobbs from Cardinals following Kirk Cousins injury

Editor's Note: Minnesota took Carton's advice as the Arizona Cardinals traded Josh Dobbs and a seventh-round pick to the Vikings for a sixth-round pick a couple of hours before the trade deadline. Dobbs has thrown for 1,569 passing yards and eight touchdowns with an 81.2 passer rating and 62.8 completion percentage. 

Their superbowl odds have not moved upon the announcing of this news. 

Following their matchup with the Falcons next week, the Vikings take on New Orleans, Denver and Chicago in the following three weeks.

Follow along on FOX Sports for the latest news on the Vikings, the NFL and the rest of the sports world.

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NFL - Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons - 11/05/2023

Craig Carton