New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams NFL Sports Betting Guide
The New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams played the most controversial and memorable game of the 2018 NFL season. Their NFC Championship Game in New Orleans produced one of the worst and most consequential officiating decisions in NFL history when the referees missed a defensive pass interference. As unfortunate as it was, what’s done is done. It’s a new season and a new matchup – an important one at that. This will establish an early pecking order in the NFC.
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Details
- Opening Line: Rams -3
- Current Line: Rams -2.5 at PointsBet
- O/U: 52.5
- Location: Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
- Start Time: 4:25 pm ET
- Last Meeting: January 20, 2019 – Los Angeles defeated New Orleans 26-23 in the Superdome in the NFC Championship Game, to go to Super Bowl LIII.
View consensus picks from 100+ experts for the Saints at Rams >>
Overview
The Saints were outplayed for much of Week 1 at home against the Houston Texans, but kicker Wil Lutz banged through a 58-yard field goal on the final play to save them. It marked the second straight season where the Saints struggled in a Week 1 matchup where they were a big favorite.
The offense lacked timing and rhythm in the first half against Houston and will need to come out of the gate strongly against the Rams, who are likely to punish them if New Orleans scores just three points in the game’s first 20 minutes.
The Rams had to like what they saw in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers – not that everything went perfectly, but that they struggled in several ways and still won a road game. Cory Littleton had 14 tackles, a forced fumble, and an interception. Dante Fowler sacked Cam Newton twice. These efforts and the running of Todd Gurley – who looked really good after an offseason of speculation about the erosion of his durability – helped the Rams win 30-27. The Rams won in spite of the fact that Jared Goff threw for under 200 yards and completed under 60 percent of his passes. They’ll need him to be better but remember that the entire offense rested in the preseason, so that explains some of the rust. Winning without a great game from Goff shows that this team can win in many different ways.
Trends
- The Saints are 18-5 against the spread in their last 23 road games versus opponents with winning home records.
- New Orleans is 1-6 ATS in its last seven games in Week 2.
- The Saints are 0-5 ATS in their last five games following an ATS loss.
- The Rams are 5-0 ATS in their last five games versus NFC opponents.
- Los Angeles is 5-1 ATS in its last six games.
- The Rams are 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight home games.
Bottom Line
This is a game the Saints desperately want to win, but they did not look good in Week 1, while the Rams prevailed on the road and showed that their defense can make a lot of impact plays. I expect both offenses to be crisp from the get-go in this one.
A lot of people want to make a pick on the side here, but this is a very even matchup where I don’t see much of an edge. However, I am expecting to hit the over as we should see plenty of points.
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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.