The Rams have their work cut out for them in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions. No team has repeated since the Patriots from 2004-05 for a combination of reasons. It takes plenty of good fortune to win a Super Bowl and the constant NFL roster turnover can put teams in tough spots.
Players also look to get paid after winning a ring. Oh, and there’s usually that tough schedule filled with division-winning teams. For the Rams, this roster shuffling resulted in Allen Robinson and Bobby Wagner joining the defending champions, while Von Miller took a massive check from the Bills , Andrew Whitworth retired and Robert Woods landed with the Titans .
AFC East Over/Under Wins Total: BUF | NE | MIA | NYJ | Division Odds NFC East Over/Under Wins Total: DAL | PHI | WSH | NYG | Division Odds AFC South Over/Under Wins Total: TEN | IND | HOU | JAX | Division Odds NFC South Over/Under Wins Total: TB | NO | ATL | CAR | Division Odds AFC West Over/Under Wins Total: KC | LV | LAC | DEN | Division Odds The Rams, despite not having a pick in the first two rounds of the draft, still have one of the elite rosters in football. Matthew Stafford , who’s been slowed in camp with an elbow injury, hit it off with Cooper Kupp and formed arguably the best quarterback-receiver duo in the NFL. Adding Robinson to the mix makes the Rams all the more dangerous.
The defense has studs at each level, including Aaron Donald , Jalen Ramsey and the former Seahawks’ standout in Wagner. The Rams have some of the best future odds at SI Sportsbook , but their over/under wins total of 10. 5 is one win behind the NFL’s highest mark of 11.
5 wins shared by the Buccaneers , Bills and Packers . All four teams are early Super Bowl favorites and Los Angeles gets to play each of those teams, including two on the road. The Rams went 12-5 last season en route to their title.
Let’s see if they can get to 11 wins this season to cash the over on this bet. Bet on the NFL at SI Sportsbook Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports 2021-2022 record: 12-5; First NFC West; 3-seed; Won Super Bowl vs. Bengals NFC West future odds: +120 (First) NFC future odds: +450 (Tied-second) Super Bowl future odds: +1000 (Tied-fourth) Key additions: WR Allen Robinson, LB Bobby Wagner, OL Logan Bruss Key losses: LB Von Miller, WR Odell Beckham Jr.
, WR Robert Woods Rams Digest Offseason Grade: A On the surface it looks like the Rams lost a lot of talent, but most of the losses have been replaced by either rookies or players waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves. The loss of Robert Woods resulted in an upgrade in Robinson II, and the loss of Whitworth will give Joseph Noteboom the chance to step into the starting role at left tackle. The biggest loss was Miller, who left for Buffalo.
But the Rams were able to upgrade middle linebacker with Wagner. — Matt Galatzan Week 1: Bills Week 2: Falcons Week 3: At Cardinals Week 4: At 49ers Week 5: Cowboys Week 6: Panthers Week 7: BYE Week 8: 49ers Week 9: At Buccaneers Week 10: Cardinals Week 11: At Saints Week 12: At Chiefs Week 13: Seahawks Week 14: Raiders Week 15: At Packers Week 16: Broncos Week 17: At Chargers Week 18: At Seahawks This is a brutal schedule with arguably just four games against teams that aren’t true postseason contenders (Seahawks twice, Panthers, Falcons). The Rams face each of the other seven teams in the top eight in Super Bowl odds at SI Sportsbook (the Rams are in the top eight, too).
Yes, this is a ridiculous slate. The NFC West being loaded leads to four tough division games and the Rams also get the Packers and Cowboys since they won the NFC West last season. Facing the AFC West in the crossover games is hellacious and, oh, let’s not forget the other AFC game is against the Super Bowl favorites in the Bills.
What a gift from the schedule makers for the reigning champions. We always start these breakdowns in the division. Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports The Rams are 19-11 in the division (22-11 including postseason) under head coach Sean McVay and have gone 3-3 inside the division in three straight years.
Including the postseason, they are 10-1 against the Cardinals and 8-3 against the Seahawks but just 4-7 against the 49ers and have lost six straight regular-season games. However, that fourth win is the biggest in the series: an NFC Championship Game victory last year that set up their Super Bowl win over the Bengals . The Rams should sweep the lowly Seahawks this year and are favored in both Arizona games and are road underdogs and home favorites against the 49ers.
The road games against the Cardinals and 49ers come in back-to-back weeks and it’s hard to predict a 2-0 mark there. Considering the Rams have dominated the Cardinals and struggled versus the 49ers, let’s project they go 1-1 in those road games. Getting the 49ers at home out of the bye certain helps but getting the Cardinals after the road game against the Buccaneers could be a tough spot.
The Cardinals will have DeAndre Hopkins back by then, but the Rams are six-point favorites. We usually suggest being conservative with these so let’s project 1-1 to give the Rams a 4-2 division mark, which would be their best since 2018. Quarterback Props Series: Passing Yards | Passing TD | Brady | Herbert | Allen We pivot next to the remaining NFC games.
The Rams welcome the Falcons, Panthers and Cowboys and we can easily see a 3-0 mark in those games. The Cowboys are the only team that could present an issue. A perfect home slate has the Rams at 7-2.
The three road games are against the Buccaneers, Packers and Saints . While the Rams are 3-0 (including postseason) against Tom Brady during his Tampa Bay tenure, the Rams are underdogs in that game for a reason. They also will likely be underdogs against a tough Green Bay team they’ve struggled against the last two seasons, and Los Angeles is a three-point favorite at New Orleans.
The Buccaneers game coming after the 49ers home game is a tough spot and the Rams seemingly just don’t match up well with the Packers. We do believe the Rams can beat the Saints, though, and that gets us to 8-4 entering the AFC games. The Rams welcome the Bills, Raiders and Broncos and visit the Chargers and Chiefs .
Buffalo is actually now favored in the season opener, perhaps due to the uncertainty with Stafford, and that game certainly is a tough one to prognosticate at this moment. There certainly seems to be better vibes for the Bills heading into this game. Let’s project 2-1 for the Rams in those home games.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports The road games at the Chiefs and Chargers are both extremely tough games and the Rams are 2. 5-point underdogs at Kansas City. It would be easy to say 0-2 for those games but the Rams, with their championship pedigree, should be able to steal one of those games.
That would have the Rams at 11-6 and have us with the over. However, the concern is Stafford’s health. If that elbow injury pops up and he misses time, the Rams could be in trouble with this slate.
The Rams can say all they want about managing Stafford’s workload, but an elbow injury is not insignificant. With both the over and under juiced to -118 odds, there is no incentive to go either way. Let’s take one final look before we place our bet.
Wins: Four divisional wins, ATL, CAR, DAL, LV, DEN, at NO, at KC/LAC Losses: Two division losses, BUF, at GB, at KC/LAC, at TB If we project a win over the Bills, we could easily say the Rams lose both games to the Chargers and Chiefs. A 5-1 division record could again be offset with two losses at the Chiefs and Chargers, provided we still expect the Bills win the first game. While we’re tempted to take the under with the schedule and Stafford’s health questions, it’s hard to see the Rams being two games worse than last season.
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