NFL Week 8 Betting: New England Patriots at St. Louis Rams Pick and Prediction
On Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots will take on the St. Louis Rams. In what was supposed to be a home game for the Rams, has turned into a game at Wembley Stadium in London. The Rams come into the game losers of two straight games, and are 3-4 overall. New England picked up a win over the New York Jets on Sunday, and lead the AFC East with a 4-3 record.
The St. Louis Rams started the season winning three of their first five, and all three of their home games. After a tight loss in Miami, and then a home loss to the Packers, the Rams are desperate to find a win. St. Louis has been solid on the defensive end, but have difficulty scoring touchdowns. Sam Bradford, in his third year as the quarterback has thrown for 1,590 yards and 7 touchdowns. Steven Jackson has struggled to get into the end zone as well, as he picked up his first rushing touchdown in week 7. The Rams receiver Danny Amendola is questionable for the game after missing the last two games. Amendola is tied with Brandon Gibson, with two touchdown receptions. St. Louis will come home after the game against the Patriots, and then take their bye week. Following that, the Rams play at San Francisco.
For the Patriots, they hold a 1/2 game lead over Miami and a full game over the Bills and Jets. New England is one of the top offensive teams, as they rank both fifth in rushing offense and passing offense. The Patriots are led by Steven Ridley in the run game. The running back has rushed for nearly 600 yards and 4 touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski is the touchdown leader for New England, with five. The Patriots have not been a very good passing defense team, as they are allowing 29 yards per game, which is 29th in all of the NFL. New England will head into their bye week following the trip home from London.
Odds and Sports Betting Line
- New England Patriots -7
- St. Louis Rams +7
Free Prediction and Pick
This game may be closer than many people expect. Look for this game to stay within a possession for much of the game. In the end, it will be tough for the Rams to keep up with the Patriots for the entire 60 minutes. We are going to say Tom Brady and the Patriots pull away at the end with a win.
Prediction: New England Patriots 28-20
Interesting line – as the New England Patriots are a 7 point favorite in this game. The Rams have been pretty good against the spread, winning 5 of 7. New England hasn’t been as good, especially lately. Look for this line to be about right, but in the end, the Patriots cover by just a point.
Pick: New England Patriots -7
NFL Week 7 Betting: Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans
Sunday afternoon obviously features some great games, and some great betting options for all of the games on the board. The game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans at 1:00pm EST immediately caught my eye though. This is a game between two 5-1 teams who are both coming off of some interesting games. For the Ravens, they held on in a close game that they nearly gave away to the Dallas Cowboys when the Boys’ missed a game winning field goal, while the Texans were absolutely lit up by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on prime time last weekend when Rodgers threw for six touchdowns. Now the two teams meet in Houston, and the crowd is going to be hoping to get rid of that awful taste in their mouth after the Packers’ game. It won’t be easy against the Ravens this week though, who are consistently one of the stronger teams in the NFL.
The Ravens suffered two brutal losses last week in their win against the Cowboys. The first of the two star losses was linebacker Ray Lewis, who many know and many love, while the other was cornerback Lardarius Webb. Both are out for the year, as Lewis tore his tricep, and Webb tore his ACL. Now, the team is likely to get Terrell Suggs back from injury so that helps out a bit, but they are going to need to get everything out of their offense that they possibly can on Sunday in order to get a big road win in Houston against a fired up Texans team. Expect the Texans to get a heavy dose of Ray Rice on Sunday, and for Joe Flacco to work it down field into the open spots if he gets a chance.
The Texans are going to be ready for this game, I have no doubt about that. Arian Foster had two touchdowns last week, but couldn’t get anything going to help his Yards Per Carry average, and I think that he’ll be in for a massive day against this Ravens defense. Expect Matt Schaub to air it out a little bit, but only to really open up the field for Foster to potentially have a huge day. The Texans want redemption after that brutal home loss last week, and they are going to try to take out their frustrations on this bruised and battered Ravens defense.
Odds and Sports Betting Line
- Baltimore Ravens: +7
- Houston Texans: -7
Free Prediction and Pick
Interesting line here, as I’m curious what the line would have been if Lewis and Webb hadn’t gone down with their injuries for the Ravens. Getting Suggs back this week will be big for the Ravens, but it won’t be enough for them to be able to get a road win. The thing is, this Ravens team is incredibly well coached and still has a very strong offense as well, meaning that I don’t think they will get blown out of this one. Expect Foster to put up huge numbers, which will be great for Texans fans as well as Fantasy Football players, but for it to be around a four point win for the home team here.
Pick: Baltimore Ravens +7
NFL Week 7 Betting: Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts
On Sunday, two teams who came into the 2012-2013 season after having high draft picks are going to meet in an interesting one. While not many people’s eyes may be caught by a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts, I think that this game could be a great betting option. The two teams are going to meet in Indianapolis, which has been a tough place for teams to play at times over the past few years. Obviously times are a whole lot different now with Peyton Manning gone, but in comes rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, who has played very well this season. This is a match-up between two rookie quarterbacks as well, with the Browns starting their 29 year old rookie in Brandon Weeden in this game. Let’s not also forget the fact that the Browns are starting a rookie running back as well in Trent Richardson, and a rookie wide receiver in Josh Gordon, but all three have looked strong at times this season. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm EST for this one.
The Browns need to focus on getting that ball to Richardson early and often. He’s shown that, when healthy, he has the potential to be an incredible talent in this league. The Colts defense hasn’t been stellar this season, and if they can get Richardson to get all over that defense early it could make Weeden’s life a whole lot easier throughout the game. The Browns defense started off the season strong, but have taken a few steps back while playing against some strong offenses in the NFL. The Browns are really going to need to work to their strengths on offense, and work the run and pass game off of each other.
The Colts have seemed to just get the ball in Luck’s hands consistently, and just let him toss it around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The team will be without running back Donald Brown as well, which means that Vick Ballard is entered in as the starter in this game. Ballard is going to need to find the holes to help out Luck, and also be able to catch some passes out of the back field also. There is some major talent on this Colts offense, and the player I’ll really have my eye on is going to be Reggie Wayne. Wayne has had some ridiculously good games this year, so we’ll have to see if he and Luck can get it going in this one.
Odds and Sports Betting Line
- Cleveland Browns: +1
- Indianapolis Colts: -1
Free Prediction and Pick
This game being right around a pick is about what I expected for it. Both sides feature some rookie options across the field, and both have been up and down this year. The Colts get a slight edge for being on their home field here, and the Browns are actually coming off of their first win of the season. I think that the Colts offense is going to be able to do enough to win this game. I really don’t think defense will factor in all that much on Sunday, and that this game could potentially be high scoring. I’m going with the Colts to win it by a field goal.
Pick: Indianapolis Colts -1