The Thursday Night Football this week looks an absolute belter when two of the best in the NFC collide in what could very easily be the NFC Championship match at the end of the season as the Los Angeles Rams host the Minnesota Vikings.
The Rams have begun the season on fire and are looking every bit a Super Bowl side but places at the big show aren’t handed out in September. Minnesota have started slower than they would have liked and could do with a short week win.
Los Angeles Rams
It has been a perfect start to the season for the Los Angeles Rams and they will be looking for the win which will see them go to 4-0 for the campaign. They have been favoured with the fixture list I think it is fair to say but they have been totally dominant, scoring 33pts or more in each match and averaging just 12pts against.
This will be their biggest test of the season for a couple of reasons. Minnesota Vikings are genuine rivals in the NFC for one and also because they are expected to be without their star corners Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters who both picked up injuries on Sunday. The short week is unlikely to have given them enough time to recover.
Minnesota Vikings
There was a lot of optimism surrounding the Minnesota Vikings heading into the season and after they demolished San Francisco 49ers in their opening game they looked like justifying the hype but then a kicking nightmare saw them tie with Green Bay in their second game and then the wheels came right off against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, a result which was a huge concern for them going forward.
Offensively they look to have the weapons to deliver the goods with Kirk Cousins already linking up with the quality set of receivers he has at his disposal nicely but there are a couple of concerns. They were torched defensively by the Bills on Sunday and Dalvin Cook looks set to miss this match so they need someone to step up in the run game.
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Betting
I’m not one for betting on the match outcome on a Thursday night as people know by now but there are a couple of player markets which interest me. The first of those is Kirk Cousins and his passing yards. His line is 265.5 which looks a little on the low side for a quarterback with a decent arm and a top class receiving core. The odds suggest that the Rams will win this match and I would lean that way too which means Cousins could end up passing more especially with Cook out. The Rams are expected to be light at cornerback so Cousins can go after this secondary to good effect. Cousins has passed for 425 and 296 yards the last two weeks and he can go beyond 265.5 yards here.
Todd Gurley has already rushed for more than 100 yards in two matches this season and so I’m a little surprised his rushing yards line for this one is as low as 77.5. This Minnesota defence hasn’t shipped too many rushing yards yet this season but they’ve not been up against an elite runner yet unlike here where they most certainly are. Assuming the Rams get on top they will continue to feed their star rusher and given the amount of carries I expect him to get he probably doesn’t need to burst a big run to cover here. I’m happy to be on this over.
Tips
WON – Back K.Cousins – Over 265.5 passing yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back T.Gurley – Over 77.5 rushing yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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