Add The New York Post on Google All eyes will be on the NFC West this upcoming season.
The Rams enter the season having made the splashiest offseason moves of any team in the NFL with the addition of two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and getting Aaron Donald out of retirement.
But the division is as loaded with contenders as the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks and 49ers are all expected to be in the mix and challenged Los Angeles, which has the lowest championship odds.
On paper, the Rams look like a super team. They have the reigning MVP at quarterback with Matt Stafford playing the best football of his career. The aforementioned defense was already top five in the NFL last season and head coach Sean McVay is a proven winner.
Football isn’t played on paper, though, and in some ways it feels like the Rams have a bigger target on their backs than the two teams who played for the Lombardi trophy last season.
Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams looks on prior to a preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Getty Images The Rams are 27th in Warren Sharp’s strength of schedule rankings — meaning their schedule is the sixth-toughest based on projected win totals — in large part because they have to face two great teams in division twice a season.
Los Angeles should dispatch the Cardinals with ease as Arizona is projected to be the worst team in the NFL, but its other four division games should be hotly contested.
Last season, the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers all split the regular season games they played against each other and most of the games were close.
In the playoffs, the Rams and Seahawks came down to the wire a third time in the NFC Championship game.
Given how good each team looks before things officially kick off, I expect this season to play out similarly with each team having a chance to pull out a win in a one-score game.
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I’m skeptical that the Rams will be able to live up to the hype when facing the teams that have seen them the most.
Caesars has the Rams’ division win total at 3.5 with the Over juiced to -220 odds and the Under listed at +170.
Fading the Rams this season is a tough task, but I’m willing to bet on the two other really good teams in their division can win one of those coin flip matchups and keep the Rams Under four wins in the NFC West.
The Pick: Rams Under 3.5 division wins (+170, Caesars)
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
