Thursday Night Football Betting Pick: Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings
A new week in the NFL season gets started on Thursday night as the Minnesota Vikings try to stay hot against the lowly Washington Redskins. At home, the Vikings are favored by 16 points with an over/under of 42.5 points.
The good news for Washington is that the monkey is off their back after it got its first win of the season against the Dolphins a couple of weeks ago. The bad news is that it couldn’t keep it going last week, getting shutout in a 9-0 loss to the 49ers. The Redskins are now 1-6 on the season and don’t appear to have many more good opportunities to win games this season.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are hoping to stay hot after rattling off three consecutive wins. Since an ugly loss to the Bears a few weeks ago, things have turned around in a hurry with double-digit wins against the Giants, Eagles, and Lions. Those three wins have the Vikings sitting at 5-2 on the season, nipping at the heels of the 6-1 Packers in the NFC North standings. Of course, there’s a little bit of pressure on the Vikings to keep on winning if they want to catch Green Bay.
Now He’s Worth the Money
It’s no secret that Minnesota’s turnaround the last three weeks has coincided with Kirk Cousins playing much better. Over his last three games, Cousins has completed over 75 percent of his passes while throwing 10 touchdowns and just one interception. He’s come a long way since that dreadful performance in Chicago and even earlier in the season when the Vikings would take the ball out of his hands by focusing on their running game.
Cousins will have to overcome a little bit of adversity with Adam Thielen set to miss Thursday’s game due to injury. On the bright side, Stefon Diggs has come alive in recent weeks with three 100-yard receiving efforts in his last four games. The Redskins are also likely to be without cornerback Josh Norman, which should make it easier to get the ball to Diggs. Plus, the Vikings can always lean on Dalvin Cook and the running game, which ranks third in the NFL.
Homecoming King
While Cousins will be facing his former team, the same will be true of Washington quarterback Case Keenum, who led the Vikings to a magical season just two years ago. Unfortunately, things have not gone well for Keenum, especially in recent weeks. Even in the win over the Dolphins, Keenum was just 13 of 25 for a mere 166 yards.
In all fairness, Keenum isn’t getting much help around him. Rookie Terry McLaurin has emerged as the team’s no. 1 wide receiver. But the Redskins are lacking playmakers other than McLaurin, especially with Chris Thompson and Vernon Davis nursing injuries and Adrian Peterson averaging less than four yards per carry on the season.
Is It Enough?
It’ll take a minor miracle for the Redskins to win on Thursday, but the 16-point spread certainly adds an interesting twist. It all hinges on whether Cousins can continue to play at a high level, especially with Thielen out. The short week should actually make it easier for Cousins to keep his rhythm and keep the Minnesota offense rolling. Bet on the Vikings to cover the 16-point spread.
