Thursday Night Lock (NFL Week 14)
Steelers @ Vikings (-3.5), O/U 44
Huge interconference Thursday Night game here with major playoff implications. Both of these teams are currently on the outside looking in of their respective conferences’ playoff picture. Whoever loses faces a major uphill battle the rest of the way. Whoever wins will find themselves right there.
The Steelers victory last week put a little pause in the whole “Big Ben is done” thing, but don’t fool yourselves, he is most certainly done. Fortunately for this team, Najee Harris is a beast, Diontae Johnson is a true #1 WR, and their defense is still an elite unit. But to be clear, the Steelers are a bad football team. The Vikings will likely be getting their star RB Dalvin Cook back, which helps their chances a little, but it’s tough to envision him being handed a full workload less than two weeks removed from dislocating his shoulder and tearing his labrum.
I like the Steelers here. I’m fairly low on both of these teams. Kirk Cousins still has the stigma surrounding him that he plays poorly in primetime, which is certainly a factor here, especially going up against a stout Pittsburgh defense. To his credit, he’s quietly played extremely well this season. Thielen being out is a major red flag though. And with the uncertainty surrounding Cook’s workload, I have to take the points here. Give me the Steelers.
