The Los Angeles Rams won their first home game following their return to the City of Angels and now they’ll try and win their final one. In between, however, there’s been plenty of bad play and the losses continue to mount. The Jared Goff era has started with a thud and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft needs to salvage a victory to avoid going winless. It would be a long offseason of comparisons to other rookie quarterbacks around the league if the Rams can’t squeeze a victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17.
Watch this regular season Week 17 matchup live on Sunday, January 1, 2017, at 4:25 p.m. ET at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arizona Cardinals -6
Los Angeles Rams +6
Over/Under 41
Odds Analysis
There are several games the Cardinals can look back on and wish they had a do-over. Their first meeting with the Rams is one of those. Arizona was a 10-point home favorite in that Week 4 matchup, but five turnovers and the loss of Carson Palmer helped in their downfall. The Rams won 17-13. The Cards opened this one as a 7.5-point favorite, and typical of a Week 17 contest, the line has moved significantly. It looks like there is sharp action on the home team with the line dropping 1.5 points since opening. With the total at 41, over bettors are feeling good with 80 percent of the wagers for the over.
Injury Report
Taylor Boggs – Arizona’s offensive line lost another player when Boggs was shut down following a shoulder injury sustained in Seattle. Boggs had moved into a starting role when several other players were lost to injury. Tackle D.J. Humphries is also out with a concussion, leaving some holes up front for the Rams defensive line to exploit.
Kenny Britt – The Rams have the weakest offense in the NFL and their ability to do anything could be hampered by a shoulder injury to their leading receiver. Britt was injured after making a catch that put him over 1,000 yards receiving for the season. His total is almost double that of the next closest player on the roster.
Matchup to Watch
Arizona’s defensive front wreaked havoc on Seattle for most of Saturday’s game, sacking Russell Wilson five times in the first half and limiting the Seahawks to just 94 yards. The play let up a bit in the last half, but the Cards had enough to hold on. And besides, you couldn’t expect them to play that well the entire game, could you?
The Cardinals finished with six sacks for the game, increasing their season total to 41, which represents the second-highest total in the league. Now they face a Rams team that struggles to protect its quarterback. The Rams have yielded 42 sacks this season and have surrendered at least three in each of the last five games. The 49ers, and their league-worst defense, harassed Goff most of the afternoon and sacked the rookie four times while limiting L.A. to just 177 total yards. If the Rams couldn’t produce against the Niners defense, do they have much of a chance against the Cardinals?
Free ATS Pick
When the punter is the most exciting player on the team, you have some problems. And boy do the Rams have some problems. It isn’t anything new, the club has stunk offensively all season. But with a chance to show a glimpse of improvement against the weak San Francisco defense, the Rams once again did very little. They managed just 177 yards of offense against a team that entered the game allowing an average of 425. The Rams did manage to score three touchdowns, but each drive came on a short field and the final two started inside the Niners 30-yard line following turnovers.
Goff may be the answer, but the start to his career has looked painfully agonizing. It’s not completely his fault, though. The line has labored all season and Goff has taken plenty of hits. Todd Gurley looks nowhere near the threat he was last season, and the team has few play makers on the outside. Somehow the Rams went to the desert in Week 4 and posted a 17-13 win as a 10-point dog. I don’t think that happens this time around.
NFL Odds: Cardinals 27, Rams 16
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