Rams vs. 49ers Point Spread: NFL Week 18 Odds, Prediction
With both teams already locked into playoff spots, you can expect the starters to rest and the B teams to do most of the heavy lifting when the San Francisco 49ers host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18. The 49ers enter the final week of the regular season with a 12-4 record and they have already secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The 9-7 Rams clinched a playoff spot last week and they enter Sunday on a three-game winning streak.
San Francisco is a 4.0-point favourite to win on the NFL odds, with the total sitting at 41.0.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
This NFC West battle has been massively lopsided in recent years, with the 49ers going 9-1 straight up and 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games against the Rams. San Francisco is riding a four-game win streak over L.A., including a 30-23 Week 2 victory at SoFi Stadium this season.
The Rams come into this game 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS in their last five games against NFC opponents. After starting the season 3-6 SU and 4-4-1 ATS, L.A. is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS over their last seven games. They’ve split the Over/Under evenly at 8-8 this season, although their surging offence has helped them hit the Over in five of their last six games.
The Niners are just 2-2 SU and 0-4 ATS in their last four home games, but that could be a blip in the radar as they are 17-3 SU and 14-6 ATS in their last 20 home dates. This team has ended the season on a dominant run, going 7-1 SU and 5-3 ATS across their last eight games. San Francisco has hit the Over in four of their last six games overall and six of their last seven against NFC West opponents.
Los Angeles Rams
After a terrible start to the season, the red-hot Rams’ offence has carried L.A. to a wild card spot, with the team averaging 31.1 points per game over the last six games. Don’t expect that dominance this week, however, as head coach Sean McVay plans to rest quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kyren Williams, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, defensive tackle Aaron Donald and linebacker Ernest Jones. Veteran QB Carson Wentz will take start his first game as a member of the Rams. Wentz has not thrown a pass in an NFL game since Jan. 1, 2023 when he was with Washington.
One L.A. star who will play this week is rookie receiver Puka Nacua, who has a chance to make history. Nacua’s 1,445 receiving yards on the season is 29 yards short of breaking the all-time NFL record for receiving yards by a rookie. He also has 101 receptions on the year, which is three short of matching Jaylen Waddle’s rookie record set in 2021. Keep in mind, Nacua will likely be pulled from the game as soon as he records four receptions and 29 receiving yards.
San Francisco 49ers
The Niners are no different than any other playoff-bound NFL team and as such they will keep their starters out of the lineup this week. Quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey will both be held out. Purdy, who just earned his first career Pro Bowl selection, may have played some snaps if he was still in the MVP race, but Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has that locked up. McCaffrey is actually listed as out with a mild calf strain, although the injury wouldn’t keep him out of a playoff game.
Sam Darnold will take over QB duties for San Francisco this week. It’s a big opportunity for Darnold as this will essentially serve as an audition to other NFL teams for the soon-to-be free agent signal caller. Darnold saw a bit of action two weeks ago against Baltimore and had some good moments and some bad ones. For the season, he has completed 12 of 20 pass attempts for 108 yards with a touchdown and an interception.