In 2019, "Thursday Night Football" generally features intriguing matchups, even if the quality of play takes a dip as a result of a short week for the participating teams. That's part of the reason the NFL can continue to get away with forcing teams to play a few days early each week. As long as fans care to scan their TV channels for "Thursday Night Football," the league will give the people what they want.
This week on "Thursday Night Football," the Vikings will host the Redskins at U.S. Bank Stadium in a game scheduled to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on Fox and NFL Network. Based on the massive point spread attached to this game, per Sportsbook Review, few expect Washington to be able to hang with Minnesota. The 5-2 Vikings are 16-poing favorites over the 1-6 Redskins.
WEEK 8 NFL PICKS: Straight up | Against the spread
Yes, Washington's general ineptitude as a football team has a lot to do with that massive spread. But Minnesota, which has reached the top five in Sporting News' NFL power rankings, is riding a three-game winning streak thanks in part to improved play from Kirk Cousins.
The Vikings quarterback, of course, is the top story in Thursday night's game. He spent his first six NFL seasons in Washington before the Redskins, after franchise tagging him couple times, let him hit free agency last year. As former Vikings general manager Jeff Diamond writes for SN, in order for Cousins to earn a second contract with his current team, the QB needs to keep playing with the edge he is carrying into this prime-time game against his former team.
Below is all the info you need to watch "Thursday Night Football" this week, including the TV channel and kickoff time for Vikings vs. Redskins.
Who plays on Thursday Night Football tonight?
- Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings
- Kickoff time: 8:20 p.m. ET
In both our picks against the spread and our straight-up NFL predictions for Week 8, Sporting News has the Vikings handling the Redskins on Thursday night. Below are the explanations.
Pick against the spread: This is either an Adrian Peterson and Case Keenum revenge game against the Vikings or a Cousins revenge game against the Redskins. Washington will force Peterson and the running game too much against Minnesota's nasty front seven, hitting a wall and putting Keenum in bad third-down situations. On the other side, the Redskins can't stop Dalvin Cook, and Cousins will set be up for plenty of big plays against their secondary, even without Adam Thielen. Pick: Vikings win 33-10 and cover the spread.
Straight-up prediction: Though he is on a hot streak, Cousins doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to these prime-time games, especially one in which all eyes will be trained on the Vikings quarterback playing against the team that let him hit free agency a couple years ago. That would matter if his former squad was pretty much any team but the Redskins. Washington is awful, and because of the mismatch its run defense faces against Cook and Co., Cousins won't need to do much. Pick: Vikings 30, Redskins 13.
MORE: Key to Kirk Cousins' next contract is the chip he carries vs. Redskins
What channel is Thursday Night Football on?
- TV channel (national): NFL Network, Fox
- TV channel (Minneapolis): KMSP
- TV channel (Washington D.C.): WTTG
- Live stream: Amazon Prime
"Thursday Night Football" broadcast rights in 2019 are shared between Fox, NFL Network and Amazon Prime.
Thursday night games on Fox this season are called by the network's lead broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink, and rules analyst Mike Pereira.
Andrea Kramer and Hannah Storm are the voices for Amazon Prime's broadcasts.
MORE: Full betting preview for Redskins vs. Vikings
Thursday Night Football TV schedule for 2019
All "Thursday Night Football" games start at 8:20 p.m. ET.
| Week | Date | Matchup | TV channels |
| 4 | Sept. 26 | Eagles at Packers | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 5 | Oct. 3 | Rams at Seahawks | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 6 | Oct. 10 | Giants at Patriots | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 7 | Oct. 17 | Chiefs at Broncos | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 8 | Oct. 24 | Redskins at Vikings | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 9 | Oct. 31 | 49ers at Cardinals | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 10 | Nov. 7 | Chargers at Raiders | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 11 | Nov. 14 | Steelers at Browns | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 12 | Nov. 21 | Colts at Texans | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 14 | Dec. 5 | Cowboys at Bears | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |
| 15 | Dec. 12 | Jets at Ravens | Fox, NFLN, Prime, fuboTV |