Two Former LSU Stars Match Up in Unique Prop for Vikings vs. Bengals

The first win of the season be on the line when the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals match up Sunday afternoon, but college bragging rights are also up for grabs!

The Vikings open 2021 as three point favorites on the road when they visit the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The total for Sunday's 1pm ET kickoff is set at 47, with even odds of -110 (bet $110 to win $100) set for both the over and under.

However, one of the more unique prop bets offered for that matchup at WynnBET, is the combined prop of Week 1: Most Passing + Receiving Yards. This is an opportunity for bettors to determine which quarterback/top wide receiver combination will combine for the higher number of total passing yards in the game, as well as for that specific receiver's yards.

For example, if the quarterback on Team A throws for 300 yards, with 100 yards to Team A's receiver, that's a total of 400 yards. If Team B's quarterback throws for 275 yards, but 130 yards go to Receiver B, that's 405 total yards; giving team B the prop bet victory.

For Minnesota, quarterback Kirk Cousins and last year's standout rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson are slight favorites at -120 odds over Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and No. 5 overall pick Ja'Marr Chase. Burrow, Chase and Jefferson all played together at LSU when the Tigers won the national championship back in the 2019-2020 season, so all three players may look to one-up each other if the game goes back and forth.

Can Justin Jefferson repeat his success from 2020?

Even if Jefferson regresses slightly from his 2020 season, it would still be considered an outstanding year. Jefferson was the fifth wideout taken in last year's draft, but became the only rookie at his position to surpass 1,000 receiving yards, finishing with exactly 1,400 yards on 88 receptions and seven touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Cousins finished eighth in the NFL last year in passing yards with 4,254 for an average of 266.6 per game. Burrow actually finished a few yards ahead of Cousins on a per game basis, throwing for 268.8.

Vikings vs. Bengals Prediction

My initial thought was to side with Cousins and Jefferson for a multiple of reasons. First, both are already established NFL players, making it easier to project how both will be used. Secondly, Burrow will be taking his first regular season snaps since he tore his ACL midway through last season. Much like Dak Prescott playing his first game since a season-ending injury, I thought the Cowboys would try to ease him in against Tampa Bay, but instead, he threw 58 times for 403 yards and three touchdowns.

There remains the concern that Chase's drops throughout the course of the preseason could linger throughout the regular season. I'm not worried about that, but I do think he will take more time to get acclimated after sitting out the 2020 season, as well as the Bengals having more consistent passing options than the Vikings. Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and A.J. Green saw more than 100 targets last year, compared to just Jefferson and Thielen in Minnesota.

Chase has the ability to break open a big play, and I expect him to play well in his regular season debut, but I'll side with the favorite and buy Cousins not only connecting more with Jefferson, but also throwing more often in this game as well.

PICK: Cousins + Jefferson (-120)

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