December 12, 2018
A terrific Sunday night matchup in Week 15 with playoff ramifications all over the place as the Los Angeles Rams, the favorites to win Super Bowl LIII on the NFL gambling odds, host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. So without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Eagles vs Rams odds.
By “need,” this game means much more to Philadelphia, which is fighting just to make the postseason again. The Rams already have clinched the NFC West and are going to be no worse than the conference’s No. 2 seed. They could lose this game and still be No. 1, depending on how they and New Orleans close the regular season.
Almost exactly 53 weeks ago, the Eagles visited the Rams and showed they were clear NFC favorites (temporarily) by winning a 43-35 shootout. The bad news, though, was Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz tearing his ACL late in the third quarter while scrambling into the end zone for a touchdown – which was nullified by penalty. Wentz finished that drive and threw a TD pass, but his day and season were finished after that. Might have been the best thing to happen to the Eagles because backup QB Nick Foles led the franchise to its first Super Bowl title.
The Eagles vs Rams odds have Los Angeles as a 9-point favorite, but Philadelphia is our against the spread pick. The total is 53.5.
If the Eagles have any shot of defending their Super Bowl title in the postseason, they have to win out and get plenty of help. Their playoff chances would have been around 50 percent had they won Sunday at the Dallas Cowboys. However, it is now in low single digits following a 29-23 overtime loss. The Eagles never possessed the ball in OT.
There are multiple reasons why the Eagles have slumped to 6-7, but probably the biggest is a secondary that has been among the NFL’s worst – partly because it’s ravaged by injury. Philadelphia allowed Dallas, a run-first team, to throw for 434 yards and gain 576 total. The only reason the game was close? Three Cowboys turnovers. Expect Philly to play with desperation here.
The Rams didn’t have a good Sunday in Week 14. In an early-afternoon start, they saw the Saints rally from a 14-3 halftime deficit to win 28-14 in Tampa Bay. Then in the prime-time game, the Rams looked like a fish out of water in the cold temperatures in Chicago as the Bears defense shut down that high-powered Los Angeles offense in a 15-6 victory. Now the Rams and Saints are back tied atop the NFC but with New Orleans holding the tiebreaker.
Jared Goff had the worst game of his young career in the loss to the Bears, completing just 45.5 percent of his passes for 180 yards and four interceptions. Goff, a California native, seemed flustered by the weather. In addition, MVP candidate Todd Gurley was a complete non-factor with 28 yards on 11 carries. A good defense can still beat a good offense even though most of the rules these days in the NFL hugely favor the offenses.
The NFL gambling odds opened with the spread as low as Rams -8.5 on the NFL gambling lines. The total for these Eagles vs Rams odds has dropped from 54.