Week 8 of the NFL season is here, and we have an interesting Thursday Night Football matchup to kick off the week. When looking at the schedule before the season started, it seemed like this game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Chargers would be a battle between two titans.
However, the Vikings are banged up and starting Carson Wentz at QB, and while the Chargers are rolling out Justin Herbert, their offensive line is depleted, and they have plenty of injuries at other positions.
Oddsmakers adjusted accordingly, and the over/under is set at a low 38.5 points. Will these teams rise to the occasion and make it a more exciting game than people are expecting? We’ll soon see, so let’s get into our favorite player props from Underdog!
Call us crazy, but we’re riding with a pass-heavy game script in this game for the Vikings. Wentz has had 236+ passing yards in each of his past three games, including a monster 350-yard game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He’s likely going to throw the ball a lot in this one, and even though he’s been prone to interceptions, the Vikings will keep him in the game, so he shouldn’t have a problem going over this line.
You might think that with a depleted offensive line, Justin Herbert would struggle to achieve a lot of passing yards. That hasn’t been the case through seven games, as he’s the league leader in passing yards and tied for sixth in passing touchdowns.
Herbert isn’t afraid to sling the rock, especially with limited running backs at his disposal. Look for him to have closer to 300 yards in this one than 250, easily going over this passing yardage total.
We were torn about which Chargers receiver to take in this game, but ultimately landed on Quentin Johnston. DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown torched the Vikings last week, and Johnston has the game-breaking speed necessary to tear the top off their defense.
He might not get targeted at the rate of Keenan Allen, Ladd McConkey, or even Oronde Gadsden, but he makes up for that in big-play potential. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Johnston break off a few 20+ yard catches against the Vikings, which gives us confidence in him going over his receiving yardage line.