Raiders vs. Rams Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 2 Odds, Prediction
It’s a short trip to Los Angeles for the Raiders for their Week 2 preseason tussle with the Rams.
NFL Preseason Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Just think not ALL that long ago there were no NFL teams in Las Vegas or Los Angeles – and of course the Raiders once were in LA, too.
The head coaches are a bit similar here in that both are very well-respected offensive minds in the Raiders’ Josh McDaniels and Rams’ Sean McVay and both were once considered wunderkinds. McDaniels had all his success as the offensive coordinator in New England, while McVay won a Super Bowl with the Rams two seasons ago. Neither of these teams will be winning Super Bowl 58, which is held in Vegas.
The teams also played at the spectacular SoFi Stadium in Week 14 last year, and the Rams were 17-16 upset winners. That was actually a pretty memorable Thursday night game because the star was LA quarterback Baker Mayfield. He had been signed off the street essentially only 48 hours or so before kickoff. The ex-Heisman winner didn’t start but came on in relief and led two scoring drives in the final three minutes, capped by the winning 23-yard TD pas with 10 seconds left (and the winning PAT). Mayfield is with Tampa Bay now, and then-Raiders QB Derek Carr (terrible in the game) is now in New Orleans.
The Rams are 6-0 ATS in the past six meetings.
Las Vegas Raiders
Second-year coach Josh McDaniels is trying to build a winning culture in Vegas. So while he didn’t play really any regulars in a 34-7 home stomping of San Francisco in Week 1, McDaniels likely will here – although sometimes when teams have joint practices all week like these do, then that suffices as game time for starters. New starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo is coming off fairly serious surgery so he might not play. Top wideouts Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow and rookie tight end Michael Mayer, three of their key offensive players, have all been sidelined recently with injuries. Running back Josh Jacobs, the NFL’s rushing champion last year, is holding out for a new deal even though the Raiders can’t give him one as they slapped the franchise tag on him. Young backs Zamir White and Sincere McCormick have showed some good signs, so Jacobs is really just potentially just harming his career. Fourth-round rookie QB Aidan O’Connell completed 15 of 18 pass attempts for 141 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers in the win over the Niners as he tries to win the No. 2 job. O’Connell likely will play plenty again. McDaniels, meanwhile, is 7-6 in his preseason head coaching career.
Los Angeles Rams
When you see coaches not playing starters at all in the preseason, blame Rams coach Sean McVay because he really seemed to have started that idea years ago, and that’s a big part of his 7-12 exhibition mark after a 34-17 home loss to the in-stadium co-tenant LA Chargers on Saturday. Stetson Bennett, the two-time defending national championship starting QB at Georgia, was a bright spot in completing 17 of 29 for 191 yards and a TD. The fourth-round pick is battling Brett Rypien (3-for-6, 11 yards) for the No. 2 job. Rookie WR Puka Nacua has been impressive in camp and had three catches for 32 yards and a TD. LA’s star wideout and former Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp is hurt and likely won’t even take part in joint practices this week, much less play Saturday.
LV
LAR