Can the Vikings shake off a surprising 1-1-1 start and beat the ailing 3-0 Rams?

The Minnesota Vikings are coming off a surprise Week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills, and now have the tall task of facing the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams sit at a perfect 3-0, and will host the Vikings under the bright lights of Thursday Night Football. The game is set for 8:20 p.m. ET (live streaming via FuboTV, Fox Sports GO, NFL, Prime Video).

It’s been a rough season for the Vikings thus far. They beat the San Francisco 49ers in a competitive Week 1 game, then went on to tie the Green Bay Packers, 29-29. Last week, they gave the Bills their first win when they couldn’t get anything done on either side of the football. Kirk Cousins threw for 296 yards and a touchdown, but he also had an interception, was sacked four times, and got just 12 yards from his running backs.

The Rams were challenged in their Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, but handily bested the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals in their prior two games. They loaded up on talent this past offseason, and it’s paying off. Unfortunately, some notable players — like Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters — are injured, so Week 4 could be a tough time for the undefeated Rams.

Below is all you need to know to follow the action on Thursday.

Time, TV, and streaming info

• Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
• Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
• TV: NFL Network, Fox
• Streaming: FuboTV, Fox Sports GO, NFL, Prime Video
• Odds: The Rams opened as 7-point favorites for Thursday’s matchup.

Vikings vs. Rams news

• The Rams are ailing big time after a Week 3 win over the Chargers that saw all of Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, JoJo Natson, Dominique Easley, and Andrew Whitworth injured. All but the latter appeared on the initial injury report for Thursday.
• Rams coach Sean McVay has a simple ask: just go ahead and take off work early Thursday if you’re in Los Angeles.
• If you happen to be watching the game on Amazon Prime, you’ll be treated by the first-ever all-female booth calling an NFL game in Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer.
• On the Vikings injury front, starting left tackle Riley Reiff is ailing and that’s a concern. Dalvin Cook was also a limited participant in practice, while the team got Trae Waynes back as a full participant.
• Nobody is quite sure what is going on with Vikings DE Everson Griffen, but hopefully whatever it is gets sorted out for his sake — he was involved in some kind of incident prior to the team’s last game, and very little is known about it.
• Unfortunately for the Rams, they placed Talib on injured reserve with an ankle injury on Wednesday, promoting Dominique Hatfield to the active roster in a corresponding move.
• The folks at Turf Show Times have five Rams players to watch on Thursday, and of course, their own staff predictions for the action.

Vikings vs. Rams prediction

Of the seven SB Nation experts picking Week 4 games, not a single one of them is going with the Vikings to win on Thursday. The OddsShark computer joins them, and the coin flip is rolling with Minnesota.