Vikings-Eagles Shootout Among ‘Thursday Night Football’ Bets To Make

Week 2 of the NFL regular season is set to kick off, so let’s examine three bets to make when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday. We start with the point total of 49.

All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Over 49 total points -112
This is a tale of a game with two explosive offenses that looked anything but in their respective season debuts. The Eagles seemed out of sorts and were stifled by an elite defense on the road against the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, to say the Vikings came out flat at home in their season debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be an understatement. Despite quarterback Kirk Cousins throwing for 344 yards, and star wide receiver Justin Jefferson hauling in 150 yards, the Vikings still were only able to muster 17 points in a loss. I anticipate both offenses will get back on track this week. In the Eagles’ case, they aren’t facing a defense anywhere near as stout as the Patriots’ D. Minnesota ranked second-to-last in total defense last season. Conversely, although the Eagles have a great defense, the Vikings have far too many weapons to struggle again as a unit.

Jalen Hurts anytime touchdown -120
Last week, Hurts showed flashes of what we all witnessed last season in an MVP-caliber performance. But in the end, according to the numbers, he was outplayed by Mac Jones. Hurts only rushed for 37 yards and was a pedestrian 22-for-33 with 170 yards and a touchdown through the air. Hurts also gave up a fumble, but I could make the case the turnover and his less-than-stellar performance could have been due to the rainy weather in Foxboro that day. The numbers would support that, as Hurts only averaged 5.2 yards per attempt. With weapons like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on the outside, expect Hurts to take more shots downfield this week. Once that passing game opens up for Hurts, he becomes an even bigger threat as a runner and his game is more complete.

Kirk Cousins to throw an interception -125
Much has been made about Cousins’ not-so-impressive overall record in primetime games. I won’t judge him based on the total body of work; let’s just focus on his time in Minnesota. Since joining the Vikings, Cousins is 7-12 in primetime games. There could be a multitude of reasons for his poor performances on the big stage, but my theory dates back to his time in Washington. I covered his six seasons there, and what I observed is Cousins would press too hard to make a play and force the football instead of taking what the defense gave to him. Even if the Vikings win this game, Cousins will make a mistake or two. He fumbled twice last week in a loss to the Buccaneers and that wasn’t even a primetime game.