NFL Player Prop Bets Wild Card Weekend: MNF Vikings vs. Rams
Welcome back to Fanelli’s Fave Five Prop Bets. An exciting Wild Card Weekend has kickstarted the 2024-2025 NFL playoffs. Wrapping up the weekend, we have a Monday Night Football matchup. On MNF we will see Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings (14-3) take on Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams (10-7). Today, I’ll be breaking down my NFL top player prop bets for this Wild Card Weekend MNF matchup.
NFL Player Prop Bets Wild Card Weekend: MNF Vikings vs. Rams
Our final Wild Card Weekend game is on Monday night in a matchup between the Vikings and Rams. Originally scheduled to be played in Los Angeles, this game has been moved to Arizona due to the tragic wildfires in California. This MNF game kicks off at 8:00 PM, EST. All props are from DraftKings. Continue reading for my top NFL player prop bets in this game.
Sam Darnold Over 1.5 Passing Touchdowns (-170)
Last week, Darnold had arguably his worst performance of the year in the blowout loss to the Detroit Lions. The veteran quarterback completed 43.9% of his pass attempts for 166 yards and zero touchdowns. It was his third game this season without a passing score, with the other two contests coming in Week 5 and Week 10. However, Darnold has been one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL this year.
The veteran had a career-high 35 passing touchdowns, the fifth-most in the NFL. Darnold averaged 2.1 passing scores per game, totaling two or more in over 70% of the contests. Furthermore, he had three passing touchdowns in back-to-back games before last week’s matchup. Meanwhile, the Rams surrendered 29 passing touchdowns to quarterbacks during the regular season, the fifth-most in the NFL. Last week, Geno Smith had four passing touchdowns on only 27 attempts.
Kyren Williams to Score an Anytime Touchdown (-125)
There is no such thing as a guaranteed bet. However, Williams finding the end zone is as close as it gets for NFL bettors. The star running back had 14 rushing touchdowns during the regular season, the fifth-most in the league. He has found the end zone in 75% of the games this year, including five of his past six contests. More aggressive bettors should take Williams to score the first Rams touchdown (+240).
Most teams share the wealth in scoring the first touchdown of the game. However, Los Angeles has made Williams their go-to guy early in contests. The star running back has the team’s first touchdown in 75% of his games, including five consecutive matchups where the Rams found the end zone. More importantly, the Vikings had no answers for Jahmyr Gibbs in Week 18, surrendering an NFL-high four touchdowns to the superstar.
Jordan Addison Over 58.5 Receiving Yards (-115)
Unfortunately, Addison severely struggled last week against the Detroit Lions. The second-year pro had one reception on six targets for zero receiving yards despite the appealing matchup. However, he had been on fire before last week’s outing against the NFC North champions. Addison averaged 82.4 receiving yards per game over the previous seven outings before last week’s matchup, totaling 61 or more in 71.4% of those contests, including over 130 twice.
Furthermore, the star wide receiver has averaged 58.3 receiving yards per game during the regular season despite an inconsistent target share, totaling 61 or more in nearly half of the contests. Meanwhile, the Rams surrendered 142.1 receiving yards per game to wide receivers during the regular season. However, they’ve had issues against quality passing attacks. While Addison struggled in the Week 8 contest against Los Angeles, expect him to bounce back in the rematch.
Puka Nacua Over 88.5 Receiving Yards (-125)
Nacua missed six games earlier this year with a knee injury. However, the second-year pro took over as the Rams’ clear-cut No. 1 wide receiver while becoming one of the top pass catchers in the NFL. The superstar averaged 90 receiving yards per game, up slightly from his record-setting rookie season. More importantly, Nacua averaged 104.8 receiving yards per game in the nine contests he didn’t leave early with an injury or ejection.
Furthermore, the superstar wide receiver had 97 or more receiving yards in 77.8% of those nine contests. Notably, totaling over 106 in over half of the outings. More importantly, Nacua had his way with the Vikings’ secondary in the Week 8 matchup despite it being his first game back from the knee injury. The second-year pro had seven receptions on nine targets for 106 receiving yards despite playing only 57% of the snaps.
T.J. Hockenson Over 41.5 Receiving Yards (-120)
Last week, Hockenson struggled against his former team, totaling two receptions on eight targets for nine receiving yards. However, the star tight end has been productive this year. Impressively, he averaged 49.6 receiving yards per game before last week’s matchup. Despite coming off a massive knee injury that forced him to miss the first half of the season. More importantly, Hockenson was playing well before the Week 18 contest against the Detroit Lions.
While the veteran tight end struggled last week, Hockenson averaged 56.7 receiving yards per game over the previous six contests, totaling 45 or more in 66.7% of the outings. Meanwhile, the Rams surrendered 64.8 receiving yards per game to tight ends during the regular season, the fourth-most in the NFL. Furthermore, they’ve given up 243 receiving yards to tight ends over the past two weeks, including 97 to the Seattle Seahawks unit last week. Hockenson’s player prop bet for his receiving yards wraps up our Wild Card Weekend player props for this MNF between the Rams and Vikings.
Trending Now
