Thursday Night Football: Rams vs. Vikings is available on Amazon Prime Video at 8:20 PM ET/5:20 PM PT.
There have been a lot of rumors lately about the Rams and Vikings. The Rams are likely shopping Cooper Kupp. The Vikings are reportedly trying to trade Sam Darnold to the Rams for Matthew Stafford.
Therefore, it would be ideal for these two NFC teams to face off on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. Let’s move on to the tape.
Cooper Kupp (and Puka Nacua?!) is back – what can we expect?
Heck, in Week 1, Cooper Kupp seemed to have stolen fantasy drafts from all over the world. Kupp started the year with a 25 fantasy point outburst while everyone pondered his injury history and age-related regression.
He looked well on his way to a similar performance in Week 2, but an ankle injury sidelined him for the next six weeks (the Rams received a forfeit in Week 6). However, he is fully back in practice and is scheduled to start tonight. Fantasy managers would no doubt enjoy adding him to their starting lineups, much like Thanos with the Time Stone. The question is, will Kupp return to his otherworldly volume anytime soon?
Now, let’s go back in time. Kupp missed two games in 2018 with an MCL sprain. He posted a record of 6-5, 89-1 in his first game back. He was third in targets behind Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks and second in catches. Kupp would suffer a torn ACL later that season.
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Currently, Puka Nacua will likely be limited in his first game back, and the Rams’ receiving corps is not as strong as it was in 2018. Kupp’s involvement will be essential if the Rams have any chance of countering this high-flying Vikings offense. However, his ankle injury was much more serious than the 2018 MCL sprain that cost him two games, so it’s hard to say he won’t be used with caution. For all we know, Kup will go the decoy route!
Or if Stafford takes Kupp off the bus, he could end up with a record like 13-9-106-1.
TL;DR — Unless you’re embarrassed to be big bucks on a WR in the lineup you’re imagining, you’re going to start Kupp, and if he’s fully healthy and wide open as always You’ll want to run a cross-country route.
Nacua, on the other hand, went from having a practice window open to being active off IR and getting ready to play in this game in the time it would take most of us to set our lineups.
I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but it reminds me of classic fantastical horror. Once you start him he will give you something like 3-30. If you bench him, he’ll be 6-120-1.
Fantasy can be wild at times.
Will Kyren Williams score a TD in 10 consecutive games?
Remember when everyone was talking about Blake Collum eating up Kyren Williams’ workload and eventually replacing him? We were convinced that Sean McVay was going to feed Williams in a moment when he had a player who showed something on the ground.
It seems like a million years ago.
All Williams has done since then is show some supernatural magnetism in the end zone. He is fourth in half PPR RB scoring and is tied with Derrick Henry for the league’s most rushing touchdowns (eight). For what it’s worth, Williams also scored a touchdown through the air.
Now, a few weeks ago, I might have said this would be the end of Williams’ touchdown streak. But after what Jahmil Gibbs did to them, I’m happy for Williams to do this for 11 games in a row. Certainly, the Lions offensive line is light years better than the Rams, and I think we can all agree that Gibbs is a better overall back than Williams, especially in terms of efficiency.
But I think we can all agree that a football fanatic like McVay was likely watching the Lions’ Week 7 game plan closely. And considering Kevin O’Connell comes from McVay’s coaching tree, it’s a good idea to see McVay show wrinkles in the run game in this game, especially with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua demanding defensive attention. I wouldn’t be surprised either. And remember, Williams rarely leaves the field — he ranks third among starting running backs in overall snap percentage this season — so even if the Rams are behind Even if the odds are against him, Williams will be out there looking to make a comeback.
This could be Aaron Jones’ best game of 2024
Aaron Jones is an elite offensive running back who was drafted in the late fourth to early fifth round, and is likely to go down as one of the most valuable picks in 2024. I was understandably hesitant. The Vikings have quarterback questions, and Jones, who turns 30 in December, has missed time with injuries throughout his career. He currently ranks 13th on the overall RB leaderboard (half PPR).
I’ll keep this short and sweet. The Rams were completely destroyed by opposing running backs this season. That’s not an exaggeration. In Week 1, Jahmil Gibbs and David Montgomery scored. In Week 2, James Conner dropped 122 rushing yards and a score. In Week 3, Jordan Mason rushed for 77 yards. D’Andre Swift crushed them both in the air. Jones’ old team, the Green Bay Packers, defeated the Rams in Week 5 with help from Josh Jacobs, who ran for 73 yards on opposing territory. The bye week didn’t help either. Despite the win over the Raiders, the Rams allowed 123 total yards to Alexander Mattison.
You could also argue that the Vikings are the best overall offense the Rams have faced since Week 1 against the Lions. Jones has been an overall better RB1 this week.