NFL Thursday Night Football: Vikings vs. Steelers

Well, if the Vikings had a slim chance of making the playoffs last week, that chance is almost totally dead after losing to a winless Detroit Lions team. If the Vikings are going to be in contention for a final spot in the NFC Playoff race, they will need to beat the Steelers, tonight. 

Last week, the Steelers were able to beat the Baltimore Ravens but are also not a team that has a shot at the playoffs, currently in a battle for last place in the AFC North with a record of 6-5-1. The Steelers will need to pull out a big win tonight at the Vikings, which is never an easy stadium to leave with the win. 

The Steelers are really not a good team when on the road, this season, as they have lost their last two games away from their home turf. In those losses, the Steelers had a real problem stopping their opponents from scoring and scoring a lot of points. In both of those games, opponents scored 41 or over points, each. 

Injured Players

The Vikings will be without their all-star receiver Adam Thielen and tackle Christian Darrisaw because of ankle injuries.

Thielen got hurt early in Week 13 and Darrisaw left Minnesota's Week 12 game at San Francisco. There are also quite a few questions including running back Dalvin Cook (shoulder), safety Camryn Bynum (ankle), and linebacker Blake Lynch (hip). Cook and Lynch have recently been listed as limited, while Bynum participated in practice on Wednesday.

The Steelers will be without four players tonight including CB Joe Haden (Foot), LB Robert Spillane (Knee), OL B.J. Finney (Back), and DE Isaiah Buggs (Ankle). 

NFL Thursday Night Odds

Even after losing to the Lions last week, the Vikings are still the favorite to win tonight. Bet365 Sports has placed them at 1.60 for the outright win, while the Steelers are at 2.45. It should be a very good game between two teams that play well in the cold. 

The odds in this article at the bookmaker mentioned above were accurate at the time of writing on December 9, at 8:00 GMT.