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For and wide. Welcome in to episode number 107 of the Talking the Line podcast. And as always, thank you so much for taking a few moments out of your day to come and kick it with the crew on this beautiful Friday, August 20th, 2021. Now, I know you saw the title.
I know you know we're talking LA Rams today. I know you know we got plenty of other banter and nonsense to get to in between. But before we do that, please take a few moments too. Smash that subscribe button on whatever platform you are currently ingesting the Talking the Line podcast on.
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Ladies and gentlemen, beautiful gambling people, NFL fans, LA Rams fans, I am your humble and far from perfect host, Colton, cold 45, Soroka. Man enough to admit my mistakes here or there when I have them. And yeah, for once in a while, we'll fumble over some words, but we'll still get the job done here. We got an absolutely loaded episode to bring you guys today.
We are now officially 20 days away from the start of the NFL season. We will be cashing grid iron tickets before you know it, but we're still going to be bringing you the NFL special editions, getting prepared best we can. All that being said, I keep saying we, but you keep hearing me. So I got to bring in the second half of that aforementioned week, the co-host of the Talking the Line podcast, a young man who is absolutely thrilled with where his white socks currently sit, a young man who is absolutely enthralled with the news coming out of the cheese head factory that being Green Bay, Wisconsin day by day.
It seems to look better and better in a Super Bowl run. Might just be on the horizon. Don't ask him about it because you'll be sitting here listening for about two and a half hours. So without further ado, let's bring him on in.
The man, the mid- The Gen. Gambling legend himself, Mr. Riley, R. Max, Magneson.
How you doing over the day pal? My man, I am doing fantastic. It is Friday. We're feeling good.
The weather's nice outside here in the Windy City. The sunshine is shining on the inside. We've got a hell of a show cooked up today. I mentioned it's Friday.
I've got my softball game tonight. Some layoff softball trying to get myself into that right mindset. My man, keep my 1,000 batting average intact. Might be, I missed a few games, but 1,000 batting average season.
Are we potentially seeing the return of show Hey, Magneson tonight? Yeah, no fucking kidding. OK, absolutely. So take the bump and rip it at least three dangers tonight.
You heard it here first on the Talking the Line pod. Of course. Of course. Absolutely.
Strikeouts. Way. Hey, you also said beautiful weather here in the Windy City. I think we have a little bit of flowers.
I guess. We typically keep things closed up here. Don't want extra light flood in. But nice, a little bit of frogginess here this morning.
I think you could cut that fog with a knife. But hey, nonetheless, you also mentioned we're bringing the sunshine inside. Doesn't matter. You know the vibes that come when you tune into the Talking the Line podcast.
Don't worry. We got it covered. If it may be cloudy in your location, not anymore. We got raised sunshine coming through whatever device you're watching.
Our smiling faces on this morning. All right. With all that being said, enough of this damn nonsense. We got a lot to talk about today.
We got a loaded show. As always, we will have the four segments. We will go through the entire team. We will go through the schedule, the full betting preview, and then start Stasher Pass our best fantasy advice.
Now we did switch up the format a little bit yesterday, adding the two teams. And we're going to stick to some of those cuts. So it's going to look a little different. The team breakdown, obviously, I'll start things off both times with the key losses.
And then I actually will flip that back around. I apologize. So we'll do it. How we then do it.
I'll do the key losses for offense. Key additions will be mags on the offensive side of the ball. And then we'll flip that for the defense. But then I'll just run through quickly the 2020 stats from last year.
Go quickly through the lineup. And then give you my opinion as far as the 2020 outlook. Kick it over to mags. And then we'll get right into the defense.
That way we'll kind of skip some time through there, because we just dish out enough of our opinions in all the other segments as well. So the schedule as well, we won't break it down week by week. We'll break down the schedule week by week when we do it as well in the betting preview. So we don't do it twice.
That way you get not only the matchups, some of the rest, but also the game totals and the spreads that we're going to be seeing. So knock it all out. Get one about five birds with one to go in there. So we move that all there.
We'll just give you our predictions for the RAM season in their schedule preview. Then we'll give you everything betting preview. Season went total additional value that we found, everything in between like we usually do. And then start sash pass is going to be exactly the same.
So no changes there. But a few minor little tweaks and things here or there. But we are going to be rocking right through it. So with all of that officially being said, it is time for today's team of the day to step up on the podium and get ready for their season preview.
Enter the Los Angeles Rams. I first things first before we start here need to get something off my chest. OK. This is my favorite NFC team outside of my Chicago Bears.
OK. I have very high expectations and hopes for the Rams this season. Sure. And I will try my best to analyze as unbiasedly and as an NFL analyst as I can because I am extremely excited for this Rams season.
Yeah. But I also think you can be excited from an NFL analyst standpoint or just an NFL fan standpoint. Yeah, I don't think this team is damn good in the rest of solid. So I don't think it would be too.
I don't think it would be too. So just a brief disclaimer. If I get a little too homeery, but they are my second favorite team in the NFC, that all being said, let's kick things off. First segment of the day.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, well, I feel less at the moment. But I'm not honored earlier.
You guys are not a Tuesday. You as well. You look beautiful out there on this beautiful Friday. A little, uh, that's a quick joke.
Extra half hour of sleep last night. So when the one cup did me nicely, I was the one and a half to that. You're just going to be on just a four or five company guy, regardless of, uh, if it's Sunday through Sunday, just no rocket enrolling. So back to the show.
First segment of the day, the full team breakdown for these Los Angeles Rams. All right, my friends, we're getting into it. First things first, like I said, we'll talk about key losses and additions. And then I'll run through all the 2020 stats and talk about the lineup and then we'll give you our predictions.
So key losses off and subside the ball for the Rams going into 2021. Obviously some names to note, some names that you don't really need to worry about. Names to note, Jared golf, quarterback out of town. But we will talk about him.
And I think that that is a very good thing that he is out of town. In my opinion, Blake Bortle's quarterback. He is also dumb. So both starting and backup QB out of town, Austin, but life big name you need to know about.
We talked about him a few episodes back center is out of town as well. Gerald Everett goes and joins the Seahawks as a tight end, opening the door wide for Tyler Higby this year, who I also am extremely high on Josh Reynolds wide receiver. Look like he was primed to break out last year and just couldn't do it. Uh, they sent him to the Titans.
I think he'll have some success in that offense. No doubt in my mind. And then Malcolm Brown running back, they sent him to the fins. And, uh, after that cam, acres injury here, I am sure they are wishing they would not have made that move.
Right. But that does it for all of the losses, not too many, uh, some big names, obviously six in general, but as my partner tell you, they will be back filled those. And I think they have plenty of success with these names he's about to drop down. Sure.
This list isn't all too long, but as you mentioned, they are some key players. Nonetheless, name that pops off to everyone. Don't have to go too deep into a mat. Staff forgot him and they trade with the lions, ship, Jared Goff on out.
Staff is going to be the quarterback week one. They also brought in handful receivers out of the free aging class and the draft class to Sean, Jackson wide receiver. He's going to be if healthy, possibly a nice little factor here, but I say if healthy, because that's key factor last two seasons, he did not play even close to a full season. So we'll see how that goes for the Rams this year.
And that about does it for free agency and trades out of the draft. They took three wide receivers throughout all seven rounds. Second round wide receiver to two at well, I Louisville, he could be a key factor, possibly this year, if not, he should be down the road here for this next decade, Rams football fourth round. They picked up Jacob Harris at a UCF also a receiver fifth round.
They made a little bit of a switch brought in Jake Funk, a running back out of Maryland. And then in the seventh round, Ben, scow, Roque. Not sure if I'm pronouncing that one right, but he's out of Notre Dame. So I would say at least one of these guys might have some trouble making this roster, but nonetheless, they really invested into this offense in the draft, especially that wide receiver barner.
Yeah, I definitely say Ben, Scowron, a guy who's somewhere right around in that ballpark. That's a good good shot by you. No question at all. Sure.
But yeah, they did make some good additions, obviously free agency and wasn't the biggest additions, maybe by quantity. Sure. But as far as quality, you obviously bring in Stafford. And then I think to Sean could have some sort of an impact here, but you mentioned it, biggest factor is going to be him staying healthy this year.
That all being said, let me give you some key 2020 stats and then I'll give you the 2021 starting or projected starting offensive lineup. Then we'll talk about some projections. So as 2020 goes, I do think we see a lot of improvement upon most of these numbers. A lot of these numbers were down because of the quarterback play of Jared golf.
His play only declined 2018, 2019, 2020. It never improved. It had never stayed at a median. He he was shipped out of town because Sean McVay did everything with him that he possibly could enter Matt Stafford.
I think that these numbers improved. They averaged 5.5 yards per play last year. They rushed the ball at a 44.25% clip passed on 55.75% of their plays across the board 66.20%. We saw John Walford come in a few plays.
He or a few games here or there. He actually played really well when he did. Third down conversion was at 41.37%. So definitely think that improves this year.
And then the red zone, they only scored at 57.81%. With that high powered McVay offense and some of the crazy things that he can do with pre snap motion play action, there should be no reason that they should be north of 60, 65% in the red zone. As a matter of fact, because of Jared golf, they were forced to run the ball 10 yards in in, not even the full red zone, 10 yards in in, they couldn't even really get anything going on those quick slant routes. So I think that improves massively here this year.
That's one of Matthew Stafford's key things. Him, there was no passes are what he really succeeds in in the red zone. But that'll be it said. Quickly through the lineup and then we'll talk just a little projections here.
As far as the offensive line goes, looks to be very solid this year. Rob Havenstein on the right side, Bobby Evans next to him, right guard, Austin Corbett center coming in. David Edwards left guard opposite of him and then Andrew Whitworth, you know, the old man left tackle. I believe he is 38 now, but still playing at a set, really high level on the outside of them.
Sometimes the left, sometimes the right, sometimes block and sometimes catching passes tied in Tyler Higby. Think he has a huge season this year gets Gerald Everett out of the way. And if you did have him in 2020 in fantasy, he closed out the year beautifully. So I think he picks up right where he left off and we see a ton of production from him, especially with a quarterback that likes to target tight into Stanford.
Wide receiver room. I think we see up to con production from all of these guys. If there was a mediocre fall off last year, Van Jefferson on the far outside. I was really high on him last year.
Kind of got let down, but I think he is definitely going to see some improvements here in year two. Cooper Cup, my man out of the slot, a little Cooper Cup is an absolute monster. He just needs to stay healthy. I think he will had obviously a little bit of ACL injury, stuff like that.
But I think he'll be fine coming in here in 2021. And then Robert Woods on the far outside. I also think he is going to be a dog this year. Finally gets a guy who consistently put the ball on him on some of those deep passes where he rips top off the defense.
Last but not least, some of the depth wide receivers as far as wide receivers go. Deshawn Jackson, you talked about him, has to stay healthy. We've already said that multiple times. And then to two at well, everybody talks about him as being severely undersized coming out of Louisville, but I think he could make some serious impacts in the league.
He is a speech during a half. And I think a lot of people are overlooking him, but not Sean McVay. Then there's some question marks as far as the running back room goes. Obviously, Cam Aker's gets hurt, tears is Achilles.
That opens the door for Dale Henderson. Henderson had a really solid season last year. I think he has another solid season here. And then it's just really muddy outside of that.
Could be Otis Anderson, Raymond K-list, Jake Funk, or Xavier Jones that backs up Henderson. We don't really know right now. What I do know is Henderson should be very solid. And we'll talk about it in fantasy.
I think he has some definite value there as well. Wofford, Walford, back it up, Stafford, Stafford coming in. I think Stafford is going to light it up this year. He has a beautiful offensive mind in Sean McVay.
Kevin O'Connell being right there as well, doesn't hurt. We'll talk about the full coaching staff shortly. Let me stop the lapping man. You guys know all about the lineup.
You know my thoughts. I'm extremely high on him. How you feeling about the 2021 LA Rams? Yeah, I can't say too many bad things about it.
I'm interested to see what some of these depth receivers do. Robert Woods does. He's been really solid the last couple of years. I think, and obviously we'll talk about him later in fantasy, but I think he's the guy that is the prime candidate for a massive increase in target share catches receiving yards.
And he's going to look very, very solid at the end of the year when it all shakes out as far as the top receivers in the league. You're a little higher than I am on Tyler Higby. I do like Tyler Higby. It sounds like you're a little bit higher than I am, but I do think he's going to have a solid year, especially without Gerald Everett there.
And as far as the running back room goes, obviously losing can makers hurts, but I really, really think Henderson is going to have a solid year. And you know, this offense has kind of proved that they can make it work with just about anybody in that backfield. So even if anything happens, the Henderson knock on wood, I think they'll be all right. Obviously it's not ideal.
Like I said, Sean McVay has proved that even with Jared Goff under said that it doesn't really matter who's running back. They're going to figure out how to make him productive. So obviously we hope Henderson is all right because like you said, the depth is a little concerning, but I think they'll be all right. And then at, well, I mentioned at the top, I think I'm right in line with you.
I'm not sure what we see from him this year, but I think the next few years we're going to really start to see him pop off and make an impact here. And then, you know, this offensive line coming back again here. I'm pretty excited to see what they do. Jared Goff was terrible under pressure and Matt Stafford is just a total opposite of that.
So even if this offensive line has any type of struggles, Matt Stafford should make up for it. So like I said, Robert Woods is the one guy that I think is going to be the biggest benefactor of Matt Stafford coming in here. So I've got nothing else bad to say as far as the entire offense goes, my man. All right.
Well, hey, I mean, I have said it. I said it on the Lions episode. I've said it when we were only doing a newsletter, when we didn't even do a dog on podcast, Jared Goff gets this look in his eyes when he is totally confused. He doesn't know what's happening.
And he totally forgot to put on his football pants for Sunday action. You can see it every single time. And unfortunately for Lions fans, I think we're going to see that a lot. And that face where he found himself was the demise for the Rams so many times last year.
Now I had a winning record. You definitely can write home about that. But the same time, I think they can be, I know they can be so much better with better than mediocre quarterback. Right.
And Matt Stafford brings that to the table. Right. And we talked about it with the Lions. We think the Lions are going to be absolutely terrible.
If you still get these quarterbacks in the same situations, the Lions would still be bad. But we'd be talking about them in a much nicer light. You know, maybe a live dog here or there can snap off some teams because Stafford elevates his play and elevates that team. Now you switch the roles here.
This, you know, this offense has such a sky high ceiling compared to what they had in the last couple years. It's not even funny, man. Absolutely. In one final closing thought before I give you the rankings and we switch on over to the defensive side of the ball, you can tell me all the Matt Stafford stats you won how he hasn't been good, how he hasn't got any playoff wins, how he hasn't done this, hasn't done that.
I don't really care. Every one of his head coaches have been a defensive mind. Now he has one of the right dopest defensive minds in the NFL in Shawnick Bay. Oh, by the way, mind you is my coach of the year candidate.
OK. But we'll talk about that. So for the rankings, these actually every unit from the quarterbacks to the head coach offense, defense, everything, every single unit. This is the only one per SFA to fall in the top 11 in every single category.
The quarterbacks ranked number eight, obviously they are as high on Stafford as we are. No question. They're offensive line 10th overall worthy of that ranking. And I think they can break into the top eight, top seven in the league for sure.
And then the running back unit 11th in the league. Now, obviously with Cam Aikers going out out for the season, that is going to tick that number back a little bit. I'd probably put him about 15th, 13th, 15th somewhere in that ballpark, but definitely with the opportunity to improve if we see something out of one of these guys that we really don't know too much about back in Henderson and then the receiver unit dominant is all hell ninth unit in the NFL right now, ninth ranked unit. I do believe that they can crack the top five.
The biggest question mark is Van Jefferson and then the guy who's going to be backing up basically be that fourth guy on the depth chart. We don't know if it's going to be to Sean if Atwell has success in his first year, but I think the biggest thing here, if they want to stay ranked better than 10th, maybe even better than ninth, Van Jefferson is going to have to show out in a sophomore season for sure. So that does it for the positional rankings courtesy of our friends over at Sharp football analysis for the offensive side of the ball. Now let's move right on over defensive side of the ball.
Part of, did you do the losses or the additions? Yeah, I got the defensive losses. Okay, perfect. I wanted to make sure.
So go right on ahead, kick things off defensive side of the ball, tell these kind folks and enlighten me as well. All right. On the key losses for the Rams defense going into 2021. All right.
So obviously this defense has a lot of stars. They didn't lose any stars, but they did lose a few guys that played some key roles for this Rams defense. John Johnson, the biggest name there. Safety played 16 games for the Rams combined for 105 tackles in 2020.
It's going to be a tough loss to fill. They do have some guys on the roster that might be able to make up that slack, but that's a little hot of tackles that they're going to have to make up for in that back back after that defense there. Michael Brockers on the front side of the defense interior defensive line played 15 games. Morgan Fox another interior defense alignment played 16 games.
Samson Ibucom, Edge rusher played 16 games as well. Troy Hill, cornerback played 16 games. So, you know, these names aren't household names, but they are guys that have some key roles or had some key roles the last couple of years on this defense. Let me know what they were able to do as far as fill in these holes here, partner.
They did a little bit, nothing too crazy to write home about, but they did a little bit, something I want to enlighten you about before I do. So we got a little request to talk about the Washington football team in Bengals game tonight as well as the Cardinals and Chiefs game tonight. I have made a couple of plays already myself. I know you haven't had a white yet.
Look, we'll talk about that as promised. No doubt about it. We'll promise we'll talk about that. Save it.
We'll just get through everything Rams. And then we'll talk about it right away right before we get into your sidebar in the minutes. Sounds like plan. All right.
So as far as those key additions defensively for the Rams going into 2021, let me tell you about them. Glad you asked. They didn't add anybody via free agency or the trade market. It was just Stafford and Jackson that they added only two offensive guys.
They weren't too particularly aggressive in the draft offensively. They got five guys overall. In my mind, I don't know how much of an immediate impact these guys make. They might be some good depth ads now, but we could potentially write this as off as not one of the best Rams draft classes in their history.
I don't want to say it's bad by any means, but I also think that they could have done a lot better and you might look back in one, two, three, four years. And some of these guys are absolutely non-existent. You don't even know their name. So why waste capital if it's like that?
But let me tell you about them. Enough of my nonsense. They picked up Ernest Jones, linebacker out of South Carolina, Bobby Brown, the third defensive tackle out of Texas A&M, Robert Rochelle, defensive back out of Central, Arkansas, Ernest Brown, the fourth, not to be confused with Ernest Jones or Ernest Brown, the third, second or first defensive end out of Northwestern. Hey, our guy right just on over across the street here and Chris Garrett, linebacker at Concordia, St.
Paul, shout out Concordia. Huge, huge pick up there for the young man. Obviously, I don't know what he'll do for the Rams, but that's absolutely huge coming from a small school like that. That's all they picked up.
Five guys, obviously two defensive linemen and then the one defensive back and then he gets your two linebackers. So got a little bit of depth, but let me tell you about this 2020 defense because I'm pretty excited to watch him once again. But before I do, let me tell you a little bit about the 2020 numbers because unlike the offense, I think these numbers are going to stay pretty dog on the same. If not, improve a little bit with new DC where he more is stepping in.
I love him. I loved him in Atlanta as a matter of fact, as weird as that is to sound. I mean, you know, I, I, I, I just say that he was, he was top notch in Atlanta. I thought obviously they blew a lot of leads, but I think he's a very solid coach, more defensive minded and obviously very deserving of this DC spot.
So they allowed opponents to on average either rushing or passing. They allowed him 4.7 yards per play. Opponent completion percentage was at 62.36 percent. Opponent's converted in the on third down at a 35.74% clip and opponents converted in the red zone at a 59.62% clip.
I think the red zone stays about the same. Might improve just a little bit, maybe like 56 or 57, nothing crazy. I do think that third down conversion percentage stays right about there. I love them to keep it below sub 40% on third down opponent, third down conversion.
But as far as this unit looks, I think it's going to be a lot of the same, my friends. Let me tell you a little bit about this 2021 defense. Defensive line absolutely stacked. Torel Lewis only one and only Aaron Donald Sebastian, Joseph Day and Leonard Floyd rounding it out.
The old Chicago bear, Leonard Floyd got picked up one year deal and then signed an extension with the Rams. They obviously have enough faith in him, even though he wasn't the most dominant pass rusher, he still turned out 10 and a half sacks. So hey, good for you, Leonard. Way to sign the deal behind them rounding out.
The front seven, Micah Kaiser and Kenny Young projected for starters. Obviously have a little extra depth behind them now. And then the secondary, one of the most dominant ones in the league, you know the name Jalen Ramsey on the left side of him in the slot David Long Jr. And then on the opposite side of those two gentlemen, Darius Williams.
Then he got the deep safeties, the deep back guys, Taylor Rapp and Jordan Fuller. Both of those guys should have pretty successful season. So here I love this secondary man. I think that they are going to absolutely dominate many of the quarterbacks that they face.
They have a very tough schedule, but I think that the secondary is really going to help them with that schedule and not to mention this defensive line and the pressure that they can generate. I said it already. There is only one Aaron Donald and it doesn't matter if you triple team him, quadruple team and fuck, you can put all five alignment on Aaron Donald and he's still going to hit your quarterback. It doesn't matter.
No. So I think they have plenty of success in that department as well. And like I said, I'm pretty confident in Raheem Morris to drop some schemes, have some stuff in place that makes this Rams defense look absolutely terrific. Once again, there's my thoughts.
What are you feeling for the 2021 Rams defense part? Yeah. I mean, I echo a lot of what you're saying here. I think I could see it going back just a tiny bit.
And that doesn't, I don't want to sound like I'm talking shit about this defense because I think they are going to be one of, if not among the conversation of best defensive units here. The losses that they had, you know, John Johnson, some of these safeties, I'm not, like I said, I don't want to sound like I'm concerned about them. I just think they lost a little bit of depth, lost a little bit of firepower. So I think they're sealing went down just a pinch in my eyes at the very least.
But nonetheless, I think it's going to be a really solid unit, man. You know, having said all that about the safeties, Aaron Donald and Floy's these guys are going to make havoc for every quarterback. So it's going to make those safeties look pretty damn solid regardless. So kind of like I'm saying, I think they're sealing just went down just a tiny little pinch and they lost a tiny bit, a little bit of depth here.
I kind of, I'm a little less optimistic on Roomie Morris than you are. Like I said, I don't want to sound like I'm talking shit. I know you're just very, I'm just very, I'm just very, I'm just sick about him. You got to answer Aaron Donald and all those other skates.
Like I said, I don't want to sound like I'm talking shit. I'm just a pinch lower than you are. I know I can totally understand that. I mean, with how good they've been, especially in some of the luck statistics that are tracked on some of the stats that we utilize, they have been so dog-aunt lucky over the course of the last five seasons for credit a lot.
But I think it continues and I think we see dominance both sides of all here. Wrapping up the defense for your kind folks are joining us on episode number 107. Once again, well within the top 11, actually in the top five, this defense front seven fifth ranked unit in the NFL, more than deserving. I think they can get into the top three, if not number one overall secondary fifth ranked unit in the league per SFA.
Again, I think that they can easily crack the top three here this year. And last but not least, their head coach, Sean McVay comes in ranked as the fifth head coach in the NFL. And that is one hell of a segue to talk about this coaching staff. Don't you just a little bit ago and I'll tell you some more reasons why in the betting preview on some of the side bets, but I love Sean McVay for coach of the year.
I think he finally has a quarterback that is going to make his offensive scheme look absolutely brilliant. No shade on Jared golf, but it obviously just wasn't working out anymore. Pal and you were sent out of town for a reason. I would say that shade.
Yeah, it's a little bit of shade. I apologize, but you know, I believe Stafford definitely elevates that and McVay is going to use him to a tee. Yeah, a little bit of concerns with the running game, but I think that is once again going to be handled by McVay. No problem.
He has helped by Kevin O'Connell coming back for his second year. We'll definitely like to see some improvements on the offensive side of all from him coordinating and then already talked about him. DC Rahim Morris. I'm pretty high on Rahim Morris.
I liked what I saw from him out of Atlanta. Obviously, the defensive minded coach, they played rather well defensively from time to time once he took over after all Dan Campbell. I think Dan Quinn, I apologize. Dan Quinn hit the I was going to say Dan Quinn and Campbell came out.
Dan Quinn hit the old bricks, but either way, that's neither here nor there. Dan Quinn is now in Dallas as their DC and Rahim Morris is here. So there you go. That's kind of how I'm feeling.
I think that they have another successful year and I really think that Sean McVay shows out and gets these guys into a deep playoff run. No question. I can't echo too much else on that. I am.
Yeah, I think this number five ranking for Sean McVay is going to be top three, if not one or two come next year. And hey, they might have this might be another scenario where Kevin O'Connell doesn't have to do too much, but because he's associated with Sean McVay, he's going to get himself another nice little coaching draft next year because of how awesome this offense looks. Definitely a nice little prediction. They're my friend.
Definitely a nice prediction. All right. Well, there it is. We talked about the offense, the defense and the entire coaching staff.
So if you missed any of it, sorry, we ain't going back now because that does it for the first segment, but it's going to be there all the way to and through the entire LA Rams season. However, time to keep this show number 107, Stephen down the tracks with the second segment of the day. We're diving into the schedule now, ladies and gentlemen, and we're breaking it all the way down, analyzing every bit of it. Once again, if you have been watching these and you see me breaking them down week by week, we'll not be breaking them down week by week on the schedule portion.
We'll do that in the betting preview. That way we can just give you everything all at once shot. But that all being said, let's talk a little bit about our predictions for the LA Rams. Now, first things first, one key thing to note, I do suppose is that they're by week is in week 11, just so you are aware of your kind of to keep it out of that or anything as a fantasy player as an NFL better, some teams to avoid on their by week stuff like that week 11 for the Rams.
But as far as their predictions go, obviously they have the NFC West, you know that they got the six games in their division. Their main eight non division games against the AFC South and the NFC North, then there are three remaining outside of that, you know, three now, not just two this year, we got 17 full games. They got the Ravens, the Giants and the Bucks. We'll kick things off up at the top, as we always do in FC West.
Partner, I'm going to tell you what, I first looked at the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and thought, yeah, that should be two dubs, no problem. And then I forgot that the 49ers swept the Rams last year. So I just think that defense knows a lot. I think that about the Rams.
I think that's going to be a very defensive game in both of them. And I think we see a split. So I got one and one there. I see one in one with the Seahawks too.
They're always just so back and forth. But in my mind, they're going to need to get both. So early in the season, week five is a pick on. We'll talk about it.
Week 15 Seahawks again. I think both are going to mean a lot. So I'll say two and oh against the Seahawks and then the Cardinals. I don't think the Cardinals are going to have enough defensive fire power to keep up with this offense.
It's going to be some shootouts with the Rams will ultimately edge him out in both. So I'm going five and one for the Rams in the NFC West one way or another. Maybe not my prediction, but five and one in the NFC West. OK, I will also say five and one.
I am also giving them a split against the Niners. These teams kind of like you mentioned, they just know each other so damn well. The coaching staff know each other so damn well. McBain, Shanahan are friends.
His team, these matchups are always going to be tight. Both games should be very, very tight. I'm going to go with a nice clean sweep of both the Cardinals and the Seahawks. Rams took two out of three, including a playoff match against the Seahawks.
Held that offense of the Seahawks to 20 points or less. The one game they lost, the Rams lost 20 to nine. So they do that again, which I think they can. You're telling me this Rams offense just needs to find a way to put up 21 points.
I'm going to take the Rams in that case every single time. So I would take a sweep there. And then I won't add too much on the Cardinals. You said exactly what I would have said that defense should hold the Cardinals just enough and that Cardinals defense doesn't have enough.
So give me five and one pretty confidently. I would say. All right. So same page in the division.
Hi, should we hug it out again? Maybe. What the hell? Right.
Here we go on the same page to start things off. Let's go to the AFC South. I don't think they have any problem in the AFC South whatsoever. I think the Colts match up could be a little interesting.
It is week two in Lucas Oil Stadium. So it could get a little tricky there. But I think ultimately because they won't have Carson wins, that's what I'm banking on is they're not going to have Carson wins until week four, week five. I imagine.
So I'm going to give them a clean sweep of the AFC South for no. Yeah, I don't think anything flub up can happen outside of that. Yeah, I give him a clean sweep for no in the AFC South. Yeah, I will go right there with you as well.
If it was in Tennessee for that game against the Titans, I might sign with the Titans, but it isn't LA. And then, you know, again, once again, if that Colts game was later in the season, maybe, but I will go a clean sweep. I don't think they'll have any problems with the Jaguars and I know they ain't going to have any problems in Houston. So give me four and I was well.
All right. So same page again on to the NFC North. Ha. All right.
Week one against my bears. If they start the Red Rifle, that's all but a fuck. That's a Rams one or no question. Lions winner, bikes.
I'll give them the win there too, for sure. Green Bay thinking of my pick, the image that keeps forming in my head is Jalen Ramsey slamming his hands and stomping his feet in the Lambo in the middle of the end zone because Tay and number 12 made him and that defense look so stupid in the red zone. I know where you're going as a homer and I think they get it, but just because I don't want to peek at that overconfident. And I think the Packers figure out a way to edge it out.
That bad boy is in Lambo week 12. Off their by that's my biggest. Off their by is the biggest concern though, but it is also one of the hardest games on their schedule in terms of coverability and in terms of just seriality and ability. So.
Oh goodness gracious. I'm going to go for no. OK. You convinced me.
You're going for it. OK. The AI mean, like I've said, it is especially this matchup, it is going to be impossible for me to be unbiased. I could see the Rams taking this one and then, you know, me being me, I'll say the Packers get their lick back in the playoffs, but yeah.
Or maybe I'll say one way or one way or another. Maybe I'll say three and one. I'm low on the Vikings, but that one's in Minnesota. Or, you know, because kind of one of my thoughts here is that I think this offense is going to be fantastic.
I don't think it's going to be a better offense. Even week one that was last year, I think it's going to take a minute for it to be all systems go full potential. So I don't want to, like you said, if any Delta is week one, I have no if you know, thought in mind that the Bears can win that game. I do think the Bears defense can have some success though with that, you know, coming into week one here, but maybe I'll say one way or another three in one, even though in the back of my head, I'm saying it's the Packers.
Yeah. I mean, I'm if you own the four and open, I kind of think the one to and you know, I think that week one game could be maybe your God last game. Yeah. Not though.
It'll be the opposite classic classic though bears week one on prime time football. It's always like a 10 to 7. Yeah. Yeah.
It never goes above two touchdowns for crying out loud. So if it's any time, nothing. I don't. Yeah.
I don't know. Good. I don't know. So per mags, three and one, me if he on the four and oh, I leaning for no.
Maybe three and one remaining three outside of that Ravens giants bucks. Easy one. Not going to have any problem with the NFC each giant. Now take that one easy.
The Ravens is going to be interesting. That one is late season week 17 in M&T Bank Stadium. Stadium. That's in Baltimore.
If you didn't know, that's another hard one. That's one of the hardest games for them to cover. They're getting three points on the road there. So I think that they can get the job done.
But to close out the season, I don't know. They might want to get the win over the 49ers more than they want. Yeah. More than they want the Ravens because they could very well lose the away game to the 49ers and we can eat that 49ers win to have a solid playoff run.
So I'll say two and one one way or the other. Either they lose to the Bucks or the Ravens. I don't know which one is going to be more of a defensive matchup. Yeah.
I think the Bucks is going to be more of that defensive matchup. And I think the Ravens is going to be that shootout where it just kind of coin flip the last second field goal one way or another. I think they go two and one in the remaining three. Yeah.
These ones are tough for me. That Ravens game, I really just don't know what to expect. That is such an interesting matchup that we just haven't seen. That Ravens offensive style against this Rams defense.
I really don't know what to expect. So in that Bucks game in week three, kind of like I said, I think the Rams can come out a little bit slower than what they will be by the end of the season. And the Rams actually beat the Bucks in week 11 last year, 27, 24. Maybe the Bucks want their leg back.
But I'm leaning two and one. But I'm going to go ahead and say one and two just because I gave them so many other wins on the schedule. And like you said, they might want that week 18 game more than they need in week 17. So I will say one and two out of those three here.
All right. So let me what the wind coming against the Giants goofed me up there. So let me make sure nine and three is 12 and 13 and four. All right.
So if you are with me and even then I could see them definitely going three and one in the NFC North. So even then if you're with me 15 and two potentially 14 and three yikes. If you're with mags, 13 and four straight up, no questions. We'll keep them in that three and one category in the NFC North.
So that both of those, all of those numbers go over their current ten and an half set wind total. So we got a lot to talk about once again. I don't think it's too lofty for these Rams to expect that. But we'll obviously have plenty to talk about here once we get into the betting preview.
So final things to wrap up these schedule breakdown before we do get into the full betting preview, just some final thoughts as far as the rest and prep inequality that we always like to share with you guys. The guys over at SFA break this down. Excellent. It's one of the key trends and stats that we use from them going into 2021.
The Rams play two opponents that have over a week to prepare for them and they play two opponents that have less than a week to prepare for them. So obviously negated. Nothing crazy to worry about there. Very, very solid in the disadvantage advantage department when it comes to rest.
They only play one team where they're on a disadvantage and then they play three teams when they're on a rest advantage. So it looks good for them in that department. Only play one game that's on a short week and on the road and then they only play one game that is off a road Sunday night or Monday night football game. So across the board, they look to be prime.
They look to be able to get those high wind and have a very, very successful winning season. Maybe only have anywhere from two to four losses. That only helps their case there as well. Last but certainly not least, everything.
No, actually out of all that, we covered everything we really needed to cover because we'll cover everything out in the betting preview here. So that does it full schedule breakdown. There's our predictions. If you're with Max, you're thinking 13 and four, you're with me, maybe a little bit higher, 15 and two, 14 and three, somewhere in that ballpark.
But let's see how they're going to do betting wise here and shift gears. This is a daily sports show. We're not just analysts at the end of the day. We're handicappers.
That's what we do. We know sports betting analysts, my friends. So all that being said, let's get into what we really know about the entire betting preview for the Los Angeles Rams into 2021. But before we dive into 2021, we got to talk a little bit about 2020.
Now, I think these numbers are going to improve once again because of the improvements of the offensive line or the offense in general. So don't be too much into these, but I think that you're going to need to definitely have them in the back of your mind when it comes to this upcoming season because they are trends for a reason. In 2020, they were favored by an average of 3.6 points in 2021. It's come down just a little bit down to 3.2.
They're favored in 13 games this year and only dogs in three and have one pick them against the Seahawks in week five. Now, as far as 2020 goes, they had an ATS record of nine and seven with a 10 and six straight up record, six and five ATS as a favorite and three and two ATS as a dog at home in the brand new sofai stadium, five and three ATS with a six and two record as a home favorite. They were four and three against the number and one and O against the number as a home dog on the road, four and four straight up and ATS record as a road dog. They were two and two.
So obviously as a road favorite, they were also two and two against the number. Nothing crazy to look at there. I think we see some improvements on both sides of the ball or one that both sides of both sides of split rather home and away. You know, it does concern me a little bit that away they were 500 in both categories with there being no fans.
But I think that you have to kind of attribute a lot of that to Jared. Right. So I'm going to turn the headlights looks that I mentioned earlier on the road. That all being said, let's go to the game totals here.
The over under stats and trends for the 2020 LA Rams. They had an average line of 46.8 and that is ticked up one tenth of a decimal point to 46.9 average game total in 2021. But back to 2020, they were an under team. They were four and 12 over under overall.
They were eight and O to the under at home, four and four over under on the road. They were 11 and one to the under as a favorite and five and one to the over as a dog. Those favorites and underdog splits do include playoffs, but I just wanted to show you because it does back up even more trends. I don't know why they weren't over team as an underdog and why they were an under team as a favorite.
Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Maybe in those dog spots, those were those shoot out spots. The books obviously priced up right as a dog. They needed to stick in maybe those plus three plus two and a half kind of spreads those shoot outs.
Maybe that's what did them for as a dog. Obviously, as a favorite, there weren't many spreads you saw that Jared golf was able to cover as a spirit as a favorite. As a favorite, some of those big ones, especially so maybe those were some of the lower scoring games. They were just kind of back and forth defense.
Maybe something to think about with them as a favorite when it's that disparaging, even though with some of the adjustments they have made. I mean, 11 and one to the under as a favorite, five and one to the over as a dog. Definitely something you got to think about there. Yeah, one thing I take away, you know, take it as you will.
Looks like they're in, you know, match up might have played into it, but their defense at home was fucking phenomenal last year. So especially if you had in some fans, you're not that the LA Rams fan base over in LA is as big as some of these other fan bases, but with a little bit of crowd noise, that offense or that defense at home might be even scarier this year. Absolutely. I definitely agree with you.
And then last but certainly not least, you love a teaser. I love a teaser. I hope you love a teaser too. Sitting on your couch on Sunday mornings watching maybe the fantasy show, maybe watching NFL, building one of them bad boys together.
Well, not too bad of a look if you want to take care of Rams. Six and seven point teasers. They were 11 and five and 12 and five. So unless you get them through some real key numbers, be careful there.
But 10 point teasers, 13 and two. So as I always like to say, if you're doing those 10 point teasers, you need an extra leg to get it up to plus money. The Rams are definitely one of those teams for you to take a look at. So there you go.
There you have it. All of the 2020 ATS over under and teaser trends from the 2020 LA Rams. Let's get back into the present in 2021 enough of the past because we are a forward looking show here and we provide value. We don't always look in the past.
So time to get back into the future 2021. What lies ahead for the LA Rams weekly betting schedule? Well, I'm so glad you asked because again, I am here to tell you all about that. Now we skipped over.
Skipped over to the schedule. Go week by week here. Tell you the spread some that might potentially be jumping out of me as I'm talking about him and then kick it over to my partner. Let him tell you guys a little bit of some of the value he's finding there as well.
So the Rams playing in so-fi stadium against my bears in week one, they are laying seven points right now. And if Andy Dalton starts, I can see that ticking up to 10. In week two, they're getting a point and a half in Lucas Oil Stadium against the Colts. Up to minus three for the Rams.
Up to minus three for the Rams. All right. So it has now flipped week three. And some of these lines may have moved.
This was obviously at the time of publication a few weeks back about a month or so, maybe a month and a half. So then they play in week three, the Buccaneers. They come in lane a point that is also in so-fi stadium. Then in week four, they play the Cardinals and they are getting four and a half points on that one as well.
Are they're giving four and a half points. And then in week five, they are a virtual pick them. It is a in Seattle. Sorry.
Hold on one second. I apologize. Some Mike Chex. Sorry.
I might have been. Yeah, definitely knocked out headphones. But that's all right, Bob. All right.
We're back in business. Here we go. We'll get that positive. That was minus one, week five.
All right. So then in week six, they play the Giants. They're laying three and a half points against them. That is an away game.
Then in week seven, they get Detroit coming home. They are laying 12 points there. Then in week eight, they're laying eight and a half to Houston. So obviously those are the two big ones.
I would say definitely take them because I don't think those teams have a shot in L. But then week nine, they are laying five and a half against Tennessee. That one is played in so-fi stadium. Week 10, they're laying three points against the 49ers.
That's the first meeting of the season and that one is played in San Francisco. And then obviously they have their buy in week 11 already told you about that and come out of the buy to play the Packers. They're laying one point on the road in Lambo and then they're laying nine and a half points in week 13 against the Jags. Week 14, lay in two and a half against the Cardinals.
Week 15, lay in four points against the Seahawks. In week 16, they are giving two and a half points to the Vikings on the road and then getting three points in week 17 against the Ravens on the road once again. I already told you that. They told you to.
They close out their season. Week 18, laying three points against the 49ers. So overall, I think they're going to have plenty of success covering these small ones. I like to see how that one flipped against the Colts.