Cincy Jungle staff picks for ‘Thursday Night Football’ and open thread

Dec 8, 2022 - 6:19 PM

Thursday Night Football has a match up of two teams that came into the season with playoff aspirations. Neither the Las Vegas Raiders nor Los Angeles Rams have been eliminated from contention, but it is doubtful either will be punching their ticket.

The defending Super Bowl Champion Rams have really regressed. They lost some key pieces on the offensive line over the offseason, and that had a huge impact. Matthew Stafford was getting pressured and hit regularly to the point that he will miss the rest of the season with a spinal cord contusion.

It doesn’t help that Cooper Kupp also landed on the injury list before he went down as well. We have seen Bryce Perkins and John Wolford start a game each, but neither managed to win. Los Angeles also picked up Baker Mayfield off waivers, but it is very doubtful we see him start or play major snaps this quickly.

The Raiders season — like most of the AFC West — has not gone as planned. They went out and hired Josh McDaniels this offseason and traded for Davante Adams who went to Fresno State with quarterback Derek Carr.

A team that earned a Wild Card spot last season, despite some very real drama, appeared set to make some more noise. They started the year (2-7), but they have won their last three games. That gives them a very outside chance to maybe hop into that seventh seed if the schedule breaks their way and they can continue to win.

Here is who our staff is taking, as well as tonight’s open thread!