The New York Giants are set to visit the Minnesota Vikings on Wild-Card Weekend in a playoff game between two evenly matched teams. That's what the betting odds and many predictions suggest, at least.

The Vikings cruised to the NFC North title by going 13-4 in the regular season, winning four more games than the Giants. Minnesota secured the conference's No. 3 seed and only failed to land the No. 2 seed because of a tiebreaker. New York went 9-7-1 for a third-place finish in the NFC East. The Giants had a minus-six point differential.

Minnesota is only a three-point favorite at home, where the Vikings tied for a league-best 8-1 record. The Vikings are viewed by many to be fraudulent contenders with little chance of competing for a championship, despite finishing just one game behind the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs atop the overall NFL standings.

There are good reasons to believe that the Vikings won't make it beyond the wild-card round, let alone out of the NFC. Minnesota's opponents outscored it by three points over the course of the season. The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers beat the Vikings by a combined score of 81-20 in two of their most recent high-profile games. Kirk Cousins is perhaps best known for his failures on the big stage.

The Vikings' offensive line is missing right tackle Brian O'Neill and the team's third-string center finished the season as the starter. The Giants are likely to have safety Xavier McKinney and cornerback Adoree Jackson both back in the lineup for the first time since midseason.

On Christmas Eve, Minnesota needed a 61-yard field goal in the final seconds to beat New York 27-24. The Giants outgained the Vikings by 92 yards on the road. Daniel Jones carved up Minnesota's soft coverage by completing 30 of 42 passes for 334 yards. New York had an interception of Cousins erased by a penalty. The Giants' two turnovers were ultimately the difference in the game.

Minnesota has the worst defense of any playoff team. The Vikings rank in the bottom three in opponents' yards per play, yards allowed and points allowed.

Throwing for well over 300 yards in a regular-season game is one thing. Doing so in a road playoff game, and for the second time against the same opponent in just the span of a few weeks, is another.

Jones averaged 188.5 passing yards per game in the regular season. The Giants quarterback eclipsed the 228-yard just two times.

Sunday will be the first playoff start of Jones' NFL career. When quarterbacks make their postseason debut against a signal caller who has playoff experience, they are 14-35-1 against the spread.

Cousins had better numbers than Jones in their Week 16 matchup. Minnesota's quarterback went 34-of-48 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 107.9 passer rating. Amidst his poor performances in the national spotlight, Cousins does have a road playoff win on his resume.

If the Giants can put pressure on Cousins for much of the afternoon, they'll have a great chance to upset the Vikings. New York did sack the quarterback four times in Week 16, but it still surrendered 27 points. Minnesota's offensive line should be better than it was at the very end of the regular season when center Chris Reed was thrust into the starting lineup during the middle of a game. With a week of preparation under their belts, the Vikings' offensive line didn't allow a single sack in a 29-13 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 18.

Look for the Vikings to make some adjustments from their near-loss on Christmas Eve. Even a newly healthy Giants' secondary is unlikely to contain Justin Jefferson. Minnesota's star receiver had 12 catches for 133 yards against New York on the way to a league-leading 1,809-yard campaign.

The Vikings earned a home playoff game by winning close games against teams that they were supposed to beat. Minnesota went 8-0 at U.S. Bank Stadium against opponents who finished with fewer than 10 wins.

The Vikings went 11-0 in one-score games. Six of those victories came by at least four points, and none of them came by less than a field goal.

Minnesota can beat New York in yet another close game, getting to the divisional round in the same way that it won the NFC North.

Prediction: Vikings over Giants, 24-17

Kirk Cousins Minnesota Vikings
Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings passes the ball in the third quarter of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images