Spread: Opened Seattle -12.5; now Seattle -16
Total: Opened 38.5; now 38.5
PickCenter public consensus pick: 60 percent Seattle
Public perception: The public is all over the Seahawks (and the pick percentage was even higher at lower numbers) as they have everything to play for. Meanwhile, the Rams just lost their head coach, have a short week and also have to travel.
EDITOR'S PICKS
Wiseguys' view: Early sharps also jumped on Seattle -12.5 at the Westgate (and at -13 to -14 at other books) but they've backed away as the line steamed over two touchdowns. They now will be more likely to grab the Rams as huge underdogs.
Dave Tuley's take: I have no problem with this being a double-digit line -- in fact, the NFL Vegas Rankings that we're a part of here at ESPN have the Seahawks rated 10 points better than the Rams on a neutral field. With Seattle's formidable home-field advantage it's reasonable to have this line around -13.5 or -14, but every half-point it climbs over two touchdowns gets more and more ridiculous.
Granted, the Rams are in disarray, and the short week doesn't help under the circumstances. That said, the coaches and players have the game plan that helped them beat these same Seahawks 9-3 back in Week 2, so they can lean on that. Besides, the Seahawks have had two other games this month where they struggled to score (losing 38-10 and 14-5). They shouldn't be laying this many points to anyone.
The usually reliable double-digit unders are only 3-5 ATS this season, but I expect them to rally late to get to .500 -- starting with this game.
Pick: Los Angeles +16
Rufus Peabody: While Los Angleles finally(!) fired its perennially mediocre coach, Jeff Fisher, the move comes at an odd time, since the team has only a few days to prepare to face Seattle. Luckily, both the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator remain the same, and I assume they were the ones doing most of the game planning anyway. While the Rams are a very bad team, their ugly loss to Atlanta last week was a bit misleading. In reality, they only played about 13 points worse "fundamentally", and were hurt by a minus-5 turnover differential. For a team as unpredictable from week to week as Seattle, a spread of 16 points is too high.
Pick: Los Angeles +16
Massey-Peabody line: Seattle -12.6
Erin Rynning: A myriad of issues seemingly make this game a tricky proposition. Certainly the Seahawks should bounce back like they've done so often after a poor performance. Their 38-10 loss definitely qualifies as poor, especially QB
Russell Wilson and his five interceptions. However, the tax is high as well with the Seahawks favored by over two touchdowns. Maybe the larger question is whether or not the Rams show up this week after being outscored 117-45 over the last three weeks. Firing a head coach on the short week is almost inconceivable in the NFL and it's blurry as to how the team will compete in this match-up. Of course, it's difficult to envision a Rams offense led by
Jared Goffsuddenly waking up, but the defense -- and perhaps a motivated front seven -- has created many issues in the past for the Seahawks.
Pick: Pass
Prop bets
John Parolin
17.5 completions by Jared Goff (O/U -110)
Understatement alert: Goff hasn't had the easiest rookie year. He sat for 10 weeks before his first start in Week 11, a four-point loss to the Dolphins, and then lost his next three games by an average of 24 points. After his running back called his offense a "middle school" unit, Goff's head coach was fired on Monday. The team named his replacement approximately 77 hours before the team kicks off against the Seahawks, the NFL's best scoring defense for each of the last four years. Other than that, everything's going fine.
All that aside, just how low is 17.5 as a total? There have been 208 games in the NFL this year (416 "team" games). In 81 percent of those games, teams have managed to throw at least 18 completions. Don't get caught up in the 38 points
Aaron Rodgers hung on Seattle last week -- the Seahawks defense is obviously an effective unit. But in pure completions allowed per game, the Seahawks rank 11th with 21.5 per game. Considering there's a prop on "Will the Rams EVER have the lead?", it's not unreasonable to assume Goff will need to throw a LOT. It won't be pretty, and it likely won't be effective, but he's averaged 18.8 completions in his four starts this season. It should be enough.
The play: Over
22.5 completions by Russell Wilson (O/U -110)
While there's a very likely outcome for the visitors (and an overmatched quarterback), the home quarterback has a pretty wide range of outcomes. Fresh off a five-interception performance against the Packers in Week 14, Wilson is back at home against the Rams. Wilson's home and away splits are pronounced. He's completed over two-thirds of his passes at home for an extra yard per attempt compared to his road numbers.
Does a more effective overall game equate to a high volume of completions? The Rams defense allows a 66.1 completion percentage on the road, right around Wilson's at 66.8 at home. Using 66 percent as the benchmark, Wilson needs 35 pass attempts to reach 23 completions. He's done that in seven of 13 games this season, including both of his last two efforts. Also, he may get a bump from the defense he's playing, as Los Angeles has allowed an average of 27.0 completions per game on the road -- a total exceeded only by the woeful Falcons secondary (28.6).
The play: Over
SPONSORED HEADLINES
Recommended by