Vikings vs. Rams Preview: Injuries, Returns & Betting Odds

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00:00Matt, I think we've got a little intrigue going into the game tonight because it looks

00:06like the Rams have their weapons back, which makes this line a little bit weird, I would

00:11say.

00:12I mean, normally, if the Rams have their full complement of players, wouldn't they be favored

00:16in this game?

00:17Well, it looks like Cooper Cup is back.

00:19There's a chance Puka Nakua could play.

00:22I understand the Vikings record is good.

00:25They've had a really good season, but are the Vikings better than the Rams?

00:29Do they deserve to be two-and-a-half point favorites tonight, what do you think?

00:32Yeah, it's pretty close with the receivers back.

00:35That really changes an offense.

00:37A lot of times we don't think of a wide receiver as someone who's going to move the line much

00:41at all, that's usually reserved to quarterbacks, and maybe a few of the other elite players

00:46at other positions in the NFL, but certainly two all-pro caliber wide receivers makes a

00:53difference.

00:54Now, to be fair, the Minnesota Vikings are getting a pro-bowl caliber tight end back

00:57too in TJ Hawkinson, but I think this is one of those situations where, at least at

01:03the beginning of the week, while everyone's on the Vikings, they're just a better team,

01:07the Rams are beat up, they're tanking, they're about to trade Cooper Cup, there was that

01:11crazy Matthew Stafford rumor that came out of nowhere too, which I don't think is true,

01:15but nonetheless, and it just felt like, well, that's all the momentum, pick the Vikings,

01:20and now it's swinging back, and I think you're absolutely right.

01:23People are really stopping and taking a look at this and thinking, you know, this game

01:26before the year, the Rams would have been favorites, do we need to really rethink this?

01:32And I think that's a more than fair thing to do.

01:34I do still think, just straight up, the Vikings are the better team, but I do think the Rams

01:38provide more value, I think they can definitely win outright, we all know crazy things happen

01:43on Thursday night, and so that's why I would look for the Rams as, like I said, just a

01:48better value.

01:49Yeah, and Brian Flohr has done a great job with that defense in Minnesota, that's probably

01:53a big part of, an understated part as to why they've had such a good year.

01:56Let's take a look at the quarterbacks here, we'll start off with Sam Darnold, and look

01:59at his passing props here, 243.5 is what we have in store for us tonight on the FanDuel

02:04Sportsbook, passing touchdowns over 1.5 is minus 122, and Darnold does tend to get a

02:10little picky, meaning that he'll throw an interception, minus 120 to throw a pick tonight.

02:15Anything stand out for you there?

02:16Yeah, I like those yards, I think they're going to have to put it in the air, I think

02:21the Rams offense is going to look way better than it's looked pretty much all season, since

02:25they've had at least one of those guys banged up pretty much all season.

02:30And so I think that's going to lead to maybe a little bit higher scoring of a game, and

02:33I think Sam Darnold's going to have to throw.

02:35You know, the Vikings run offense is one, I don't know how reliable it is, it's looked

02:40very good at times, for sure, but I also think that when it comes down to it, and we saw

02:45this last week from then, you've got to get some of the other guys involved, you've got

02:48to get Justin Jefferson involved, he hit Jordan Addison on a big pass too last week, before

02:53halftime.

02:54They have that ability, and getting TJ Hawkinson back is only going to help that.

02:58All right, fair enough.

03:00Let's take a look now at the other quarterback tonight, and again, these numbers have moved

03:04since this morning, with the announcement of Pukunukua potentially coming back.

03:08It seems pretty quick, by the way, given the fact they just opened that window for him

03:12to practice, but Matthew Stafford's props tonight, 237 and a half, now up to 242, passing

03:20touchdowns, one and a half, and interception a little bit different than Darnold here,

03:26Noah's minus 138.

03:27Yeah, no, I like the yards there again.

03:30I think with the rams and the touchdowns, it's a little harder to count on, because

03:33Kieran Williams is just so efficient when they get inside the 10, he seems to finish

03:38every drive for them, and you know, sometimes you look at touchdowns, you say, well, those

03:42are kind of fluky, those don't, for whatever reason, with Kieran Williams, it's almost

03:46an automatic, you can almost count on it, the streak's going to end at some point, but

03:50I like the way he runs and just has a nose for the end zone, so therefore, I feel much

03:53better about yards, too, with Matthew Stafford than I would touchdowns.

03:57The interceptions for both guys, we know they're both going to take chances, but at the same

04:01time, I don't know if either of these defenses have the type of secondaries where you say,

04:06oh yeah, they're the type of big play secondaries who get a pick.

04:09If I did think one was more likely than the other, I think just given the way the Vikings

04:13defense has played this year, they can put a little bit more pressure on the quarterback.

04:18You know, I think Matthew Stafford, there's better value there in him throwing an interception,

04:21but at the same time, I think there's going to be yards in this game, even if he just

04:26gets one of those wide receivers back.

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