The Thursday night NFL game pits the Minnesota Vikings against the Los Angeles Rams. Currently, it is the first who are the favorites with a margin of three points.
First, I’ll give you some arguments in favor of the Rams. They will be playing at home for the fourth week in a row, which is an important advantage. Additionally, the Vikings could see some slack after an emotional game against the Detroit Lions, a team in their division.
Minnesota’s defense has regressed in recent weeks. After giving up an average of 10 points per game in the first three games, they have now allowed 25.7 points per game over the last three weeks.
Even quarterback Sam Darnold is showing signs of slowing down. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes against three interceptions in his first four games, while in the last two he’s thrown just one touchdown pass against two steals.
Now let’s move on to why we should bet on the Vikings. They are clearly the better team on both ends of the floor. Their point differential this season is +61 compared to -40 for the Los Angeles team.
The Rams defense was struggling until last week, when they forced four turnovers. But that was against the Las Vegas Raiders, who already had a weak offense and got even weaker after trading Davante Adams to the New York Jets. The Rams defensive unit remains very vulnerable.
Getty Images via AFP
In attack, the Californian club will benefit from the return of excellent pass catcher Cooper Kupp. They need it, because finishing 2/10 on third downs against the Raiders’ average defense is inexcusable.
Initially, I was tempted to bet on the Rams with a +3 point spread. However, I find it very unlikely that Los Angeles will win this game, so I would basically bet on losing by a margin of one or two points. The chances of this happening are not very high.
So my final recommendation is: I bet on the Vikings with a -2.5 point spread at 1.80 odds.
Good luck!
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