NFL 2025 Week 8 Thursday Night Football Preview: Vikings Take on Chargers in Los Angeles

  

Minnesota Vikings (3-3) at Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)  

This is a tough game to call. 

Both of these teams have been quite inconsistent so far this season. That would suggest that there are no safe bets as to who will win this game.

The Vikings are better so far on the road (2-1) than at home, so that should work in their favor. However, the Chargers are tougher at home than away, so that neutralizes that. The Vikings must be the most well-traveled team in league history for a single season. They played a game in Dublin, Ireland, and then another in London, United Kingdom. Here they are traveling across the country to play a game out on the West Coast.

At some point, that likely will catch up with them, won't it?

For Minnesota, this will be a crucial game. Already quite behind the Packers and the Lions and even the Bears, they simply cannot afford to lose any more ground to any of these teams if they hope to salvage this season. After this game, it will not get any easier, as they travel to Detroit to take on a well-rested Lions team. So it feels imperative for them to win this one and build momentum, as well as confidence.

Now, the Chargers are quite well-traveled as well. They went down to São Paulo, Brazil, for their season opener against the Chiefs, which was a successful one. Then they raced out to an impressive 3-0 start. However, they have lost three of four since then. That means that they, like the Vikings, lost a lot of ground to tough divisional opponents, particularly the Broncos and the Chiefs. Granted, they beat both of those teams earlier this season, but they will have rematches against both, and will be on the road in both of those games, as well. 

So games like this one cannot be overlooked by either team. 

The Chargers have some real talent and potential explosiveness on offense. However, Minnesota's defense ranks among the better defenses in the league. And since the Chargers have struggled a bit on offense in recent weeks, I expect the Vikings to give them some problems.

However, the Vikings offense has struggled a bit themselves. The Chargers defense is more or less middle of the road, average. So there are question marks as to whether or not the Vikings will be able to be productive against the Chargers defense, or if that defense can contain them. 

Again, this kind of game between two inconsistent teams is tricky to make a prediction for. However, I like head coach Jim Harbaugh to prepare his team well for this one, and to get back on track with a tough win over the Vikings. That said, I do feel that it will be a tight one decided in the final quarter.

My pick: LA Chargers