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The Daily Sweat: Rams are still good, and they should show it at the Seahawks

Nobody has been hyping up the Los Angeles Rams as Super Bowl favorites all week. That might be a good thing.

The NFL is a recency-bias league. We're going to go overboard on whatever happened last. The Rams soundly beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. For the next week, everyone seemed to be punching L.A.'s ticket to a Super Bowl at its own stadium and inscribing Matthew Stafford's name on the MVP trophy.

Then Week 4 happened. The Rams got worn out by the Arizona Cardinals in a 37-20 loss. The Cardinals became the team everyone is buzzing about.

The Rams might not be the 1984 49ers like everyone seemed to figure a week ago, but they're still very good. They might be a great rebound candidate as a 2.5-point favorite at BetMGM vs. the Seattle Seahawks. The line has moved up from -2 earlier in the week, indicating action is coming in on the Rams.

Los Angeles will have its hands full with Russell Wilson, but everyone does. The problem Seattle has is its defense has not been very good. It was better last week, but that had a lot to do with San Francisco starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo being injured before halftime and rookie Trey Lance coming in cold to replace him. The Seahawks potentially being without running back Chris Carson (neck injury) isn't a plus, either.

The Rams are the superior team in this matchup, and home-field advantage is less important than ever. If you liked the Rams a week ago, you should like them on Thursday night. They'll be just fine this time without all of the week-long hype.

Matthew Stafford and the Rams look to bounce back in Seattle. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)
Matthew Stafford and the Rams look to bounce back in Seattle. (Photo by Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Here's the first look at the sports betting slate for Thursday:

What other action is there for Thursday night?

The total seems high at 54.5. Both teams have good offenses, but they also both like to run it. Seattle might want to shorten the game just a little. The under seems like the right play.

I'll take the under on 267.5 passing yards for Russell Wilson and the under on 60.5 receiving yards for Robert Woods, who looks like he might be passed soon by Van Jefferson in the Rams' pecking order (if he hasn't been already).

What else is on the slate?

It's a nice sports day. The MLB division series start, first with the White Sox at the Astros, then with the Red Sox at the Rays. The Astros are -135 favorites, and the Rays are -160. That seems a little steep for both favorites. Perhaps taking both underdogs can be profitable.

We also have college football, with Coastal Carolina as a 19.5-point favorite at Arkansas State and Houston as a 6.5-point favorite at Tulane.

That's a lot better than preseason NBA.

Who cashed tickets on Wednesday night?

Surprisingly, anyone with Dodgers run line bets got to go to the window. The Dodgers didn't lead by two runs the entire game until Chris Taylor hitting a walk-off two-run homer for a 3-1 win. Bettors who had Dodgers -1.5 can't complain about any bad beats for a while. The Dodgers, the World Series favorites even before the NL wild-card game, advance to the NLDS against the Giants in what should be an epic series.

What's the best bet?

I'll take the Rams for this, but will go a little off the board for a bonus pick and suggest the White Sox at +105 for a series bet against the Astros. I think Chicago matches up pretty well and I like getting a plus number there.