Seattle Seahawks vs. L.A. Rams – Week 14 NFL Betting Analysis
Seattle Seahawks (10-2 7-5 ATS) at L.A. Rams (7-5 8-4 ATS)
The Seattle Seahawks head to La La Land to take on the Rams where they are a slight 1-point road favorite in this NFC West showdown with a total of 48.
Little hard to believe with how each team has done in the last several games but the public has backed the Rams, as they opened as a two-point underdog and as of Thursday are a 1-point dog.
In the first game between these teams in Seattle in the first half of the season, the Seahawks nipped the Rams beating them 30-29.
Seattle is coming off a big 37-30 win over the Minnesota Vikings and the Rams laid a 34-7 beat-down on the Arizona Cardinals in their last game.
The Seahawks have reeled off five straight wins and with the San Francisco 49ers loss in their last game, Seattle is now tied with them. However, they beat them in San Fran already and host them in the season finale, so they are in the driver’s seat for the division title.
The Rams are coming off a blowout win after getting blown out in their previous game. Sitting at 7-5 L.A. is one game back of the Minnesota Vikings for the 6th playoff spot in the NFC. L.A. really needs this game, but they face a hot Seahawks team and they have not beaten a team that currently has a winning record since their 2nd game of the season. On top of that, they are only 3-3 at home while Seattle is 6-0 on the road.
The Rams covered the spread in their one-point loss to the Seahawks on the road earlier this season and they are 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games facing them.
MVP?
It looks as if the MVP is a two-horse race between Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Baltimore Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson. Wilson has played great all season, but he may have slipped down in the race in his last few games. While he has played well he has not passed for over 240 yards in his last three games and in that span, he has thrown four TD and three INT.
Wilson did not have to have a big game in the last one in the win over the Vikings (240 yards 2 TD 1 INT), as the team rushed for 226 yards. Chris Carson rushed for 102 yards and Rashaad Penny rushed for 74 yards and each averaged at least 4.4 yards per carry.
Seattle’s rushing offense ranks 3rd in the league averaging 143.7 rushing yards per game.
In the 30-29 win over the Rams earlier this season Wilson was huge passing for 268 yards with four TD and no picks and Carson rushed for 118 yards.
The Rams only gave up 198 total yards in their last game against the Cardinals and this season their pass defense ranks 10th in the league and their run defense ranks 13th.
Dominating Game
In the Rams blowout win over the Cardinals in their last game they racked up 549 yards and their defense killed it.
Jared Goff passed for 424 yards with two TD and no INT, Robert Woods had a big game with 172 receiving yards, and Tyler Higbee chimed in with 107 receiving yards. Goff only ranks 27th in the league in QBR and he has to play well in this game. He had 395 passing yards with a TD and a pick in the loss to Seattle this season.
Rams’ head coach Sean McVay recently said that he was not being an idiot giving Todd Gurley a bigger workload as of late. In the two wins in the last three games for L.A. he has rushed for at least 95 yards and in the one loss in that span, he only rushed for 22 yards.
Gurley will get his touches in this game and must play better than he did in the first matchup with the Seahawks when he rushed for 51 yards and only averaged 3.4 yards per carry.
On the season the Seahawks rank a solid 8th in the league in run defense but only 29th in pass defense.
Our Prediction
The road team has covered the spread in four of the last five games between these NFC rivals. I look for that trend to continue in this game. L.A. will keep it close but the Seahawks will have a good ground game and that will be the big difference-maker. The Seahawks and Rams will battle it out in a close contest but Seattle will get the win and cover putting a big hurt on the Rams’ playoff hopes.
PICK: Seahawks -1