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Jeremy Perry
Rams vs. Buccaneers Point Spread: NFL Week 9 Odds, Prediction
The Los Angeles Rams look nothing like the Super Bowl champions we saw last season. They have lost three of four and they are currently third in the NFC West after getting hammered by the San Francisco 49ers this past weekend – on their home field, no less.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who faced the Rams in the NFC divisional round in last January’s playoffs, are even worse than the Rams. They are 3-5 and have lost three straight games, falling to the Steelers, Panthers and Ravens. Can they bounce back and regroup, or will this season continue to slide away from them?
Tampa Bay is a 3-point favourite to win on the NFL odds, with a total of 42.5.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Rams are just 2-5 ATS in their last seven games. They haven’t been reliable for bettors at all of late. The under has been profitable, though, as it’s cashed in four straight after they lost by more than 14 points.
The Buccaneers are 2-6 ATS in their past eight games, so it’s not as if they’ve been great to bettors either. They are 1-3 straight up at home this season but 0-4 against the spread. Playing at home hasn’t served as much of an advantage.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams were smothered by the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Los Angeles mustered under 300 yards and quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for only 187 yards. As a team, the Rams didn’t amass 60 rushing yards as their offensive line was dominated by Nick Bosa and the rest of the Niners’ defensive line.
The question for this team is how do they turn this offence around? The main issue is the offensive line but there aren’t evident, mid-season fixes for these types of things. Stafford has been sacked 24 times in seven games and as you can imagine, that offensive line isn’t opening up many holes for the ground game. That could be a problem against the Bucs on Sunday, who have the league’s sixth-ranked defence and are third in sacks with 25.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers scored 10 first-quarter points against the Baltimore Ravens last Thursday night but then fell flat in a 27-22 loss at home. They didn’t score a point in either the second or third quarters, again raising concerns about their offence.
The Buccaneers’ offence continues to disappear and it’s unclear why. Many want to blame Tom Brady but he’s second in the league in passing yards and has nine touchdowns to just one interception. He ranks 17th in QBR, so that tells a different story, but it’s still mostly been the peripheral parts that have been inconsistent. They finished last Thursday’s game going touchdown-field goal-field goal. Maybe that little bit of momentum – along with 10 days off to prepare – can help them get back on track.
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