St. Louis Rams at Detroit Lions
Sunday, 10/10/10, 1:00 PM EDT, TV: FOX
Opening Point Spread: Detroit -3
Current Betting Line: Detroit -3
Opening Total: 42
Current Total: 42.5
St. Louis is searching to win three straight games for the first time in four years taking on the Lions after going 1-15 last season. “If we continue on the track we’re on and we continue to improve each week, I think we can definitely compete for this division,” rookie quarterback Sam Bradford said. Both of the Rams previous wins have come at Edward Jones Dome and will now look to win on the road after benefiting from playing three of their first four games in St. Louis. After being outscored 701-280 in the second half over their their last 50 games, the squad outscored the Redskins and Seahawks by a 26-3 margin over the last two weeks. St. Louis is 3-1 ATS as an underdog this season and the total is 1-3 O/U in those games.
The Rams must protect Bradford in hopes of pulling off a victory, especially facing an opponent that has collected 13 sacks and 11 of those coming from defensive linemen. “I think their front is very good,” Bradford stated. “But they cause a lot of problems with what they do up front.” Turnovers is also going to be a key in this contest with the Rams racking up 10 takeaways in the first four games with no less than two in any of those contests. On the flip side, the Lions have turned the ball over 11 times with four fumbles lost and seven interceptions. St. Louis has been plagued by penalties at times this season, as they have 27 infractions for 272 yards, which is the 10th-most in the league.
Detroit is 0-4 on the season and has played three of its first four games on the road, but the team is enthusiastic entering this important contest. “Obviously, our record is 0-4, but I felt like we played good enough to be at least 3-1 at this point,” linebacker Julian Peterson said. The Lions went 2-14 last season and have dropped games by five, three and two points this year. Though the Lions met the Rams last year at Ford Field, many players say they haven’t watched much film of that contest due to the amount of chances on both sides of the ball for both teams. “They have a lot of the same personnel as last year. What they are is very consistent,” said head coach Jim Schwartz. The team is 1-0 ATS at home this season, but 5-12 ATS at Ford Field over the last three years.
The Lions are currently under the direction of backup quarterback Shaun Hill after second-year starter Matthew Stafford went down with a shoulder injury. Since Hill took over in Week 2, Detroit is sixth in the NFL in offense with 401.3 yards per game. “When we’re rolling, I think we’re one of the best offenses in the league,” running back Jahvid Best said. “We’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with either penalties or mistakes.” A young team is hoping to turn things around for a franchise that has gone 3-41 over the last 44 games, the worst 44-game stretch in NFL history.
Bettors will definitely make note of the Rams 4-0 ATS record in their last four games as a road underdog of 0.5-3.0 points, while the Lions are 16-36-1 in their last 53 games as a favorite. Maddux Sports is on a 76% NFL Picks run and has 5 winners lined up for Sunday. Get this weeks point spread winners on our NFL football picks page of the site.
