NFL Week 8 starts on Thursday Night Football between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams tonight. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video from SoFi Stadium.
Beyond spread and total bets, I'm looking at Vikings vs. Rams props & touchdown scorers. To kick off NFL Week 8, I'm backing a pair of receivers to find the end zone.
Here are my two anytime TD scorer picks tonight.
Vikings vs. Rams Props: Anytime Touchdown Scorers
- Cooper Kupp Anytime Touchdown (+130, DraftKings)
- Jordan Addison Anytime Touchdown (+195, DraftKings)
Cooper Kupp Anytime Touchdown (+125)
I know it’s chalky but when Cooper Kupp is playing, he’s the clear focal point of this Rams offense.
When Kupp has played with Matthew Stafford as his quarterback (40 regular-season games), the Rams' WR1 is averaging just under 10 targets per game. Without Kupp and Puka Nacua, no one has stepped up in Los Angeles' passing game. I expect Kupp will jump right back in as Stafford's go-to target.
The Vikings defense is pretty predictable, as they play zone coverage at a top-five rate but rank 24th in defensive DVOA against WR1s. We know defensive coordinator Brian Flores will try to put a lot of pressure on Stafford, who will in turn be looking for Kupp early and often.
The matchup is also good for Kupp since he has done extremely well against zone coverage, averaging two yards-per-route-run in each of the past three seasons against that defense.
As long as Kupp is plus-money, we have to keep playing him.
Jordan Addison Anytime Touchdown (+200)
Jordan Addison has had an up-and-down season that has seen him deal with injuries and inconsistent production — and that was after an unfortunately eventful offseason. The second-year man only has one touchdown but has a great matchup against Los Angeles.
The Rams rank 28th in defensive DVOA against the pass and 29th against the deep ball, which is Addison’s specialty. They’ve also allowed 10 passing touchdowns, seven of which have gone to wide receivers.
Not only that, but Los Angeles plays a lot of zone coverage – at a top-six rate, to be exact – and Addison is the only Vikings receiver (outside of Justin Jefferson) to catch a touchdown against zone.
Addison also checks a bunch of boxes because he leads the Vikings in yards-per-route-run against zone, along with the highest aDOT.
