The Rams opened plenty of eyes with their upset win over Seattle in the opener, scoring a bunch of points against the stingiest defense in the NFL.
Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
St. Louis unleashed perhaps the best group of defensive linemen since the days of the Fearsome Foursome, not allowing Russell Wilson to get comfortable. Washington’s Kirk Cousins isn’t the most mobile quarterback in the NFL and he could be running for safety on Sunday.
ODDS
St. Louis opened as a 3-point favorite on the road with a total of 41.5. The Rams were a road favorite just once last season, knocking off the Redskins 24-0 to cover the 2.5-point spread.
KEY INJURIES
Trumaine Johnson – Left the game in the first half with a diagnosed concussion and will have to be cleared through the league’s protocol to play on Sunday. The Rams only have three other cornerbacks on the active roster so they’ll be watching the wire.
DeSean Jackson – Injured his hamstring and is shelved for three to four weeks. Washington’s big-play threat is out of the lineup, leaving Rashad Ross to pick up some of the slack.
Chris Culliver – Will serve a one-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Bashaud Breeland’s suspension is over and he’ll likely slide into Culliver’s spot on the corner.
KEY MISMATCH
The Rams pass rush could be absolutely terrifying this season. They were all over Russell Wilson, who is one of the NFL’s most mobile quarterbacks, in last week’s upset of the Seahawks. Wilson was hit time after time, taking six sacks and being knocked down nine other times. Tackle Aaron Donald had three tackles for loss and two sacks, while end Robert Quinn also collected two sacks. Along with Chris Long and Michael Brockers, the group could easily lead the NFL in quarterback sacks.
KEY STAT
6 – The Rams chased Wilson down all afternoon last week, sacking the Seattle quarterback six times. St. Louis has a defensive front that could lead the NFL in sacks this year, but could have a difficult time getting to Cousins, who has been sacked once or not at all in nine of his 14 career games.
BETTING ANGLE
Jay Gruden is the favorite to be the first head coach fired in 2015 and the Redskins didn’t really show much to make his job more secure. Washington led the visiting Dolphins 10-0 after 28 minutes Sunday, outgaining Miami by better than 11 to 1. But the Redskins being the Redskins still found a way to lose. Of course you can’t blame Gruden for the loss of five potential starters before the season even began, and several others going down in Week 1, including play-making receiver Jackson and starting safety Duke Ihenacho. Still Gruden got too conservative as the Skins failed to build on their lead and never scored again despite having possession for 37:54 in the game. The Redskins aren’t projected to contend for a playoff spot and with Gruden on the hot seat, it only makes sense for Washington to pull out all the stops in an effort to grab a few upset wins.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Rams’ offensive explosion last week came as a huge surprise, especially considering the first team unit did very little in the preseason, and they were going against the Seahawks vaunted group. If St. Louis can get that kind of production to go along with a dominant defensive front line, the Rams could be a force in the NFC. Don’t bet on it though. Washington did a nice job slowing down Miami and just couldn’t muster enough offense. Watch for the depleted Redskins to pull out all the stops against the Rams. Cousins has the ability to get rid of the ball quickly and that will be a help against the Rams. Washington can’t afford to go 0-2 – with both games at home – and the Skins pull off the upset.
Washington 20, St. Louis 16
The NFL lines for this Sunday contest were first released by BookMaker and the Rams were positioned as 3-point favorites with a total of 41.5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
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