Another extended NFL week has come and gone, and now we get a perfect Thursday night matchup. Thursday Night Football will host a game with significant playoff implications in the weeks ahead as the New England Patriots travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams. The Rams took over the NFC West’s lead after they beat their division rival Arizona Cardinals 38-28 last week. The Patriots won for the fourth time in five weeks after obliterating the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 to keep their playoff chances intact. Since Super Bowl LIII, these two teams will meet for the first time when the Patriots halted the 2018 Rams’ high-powered offense to win 13-3 in one of the more “boring” Super Bowls in recent memory. New England’s defense seems to have regained their confidence coming off that annihilation of rookie of the year candidate Justin Herbert. The 45-point margin was the biggest win by an underdog in over a decade. New England has been pounding the football on the ground their past 2 games, recording 275 yards rushing and four TDs while having just 195 passing yards between both games. DraftKings is offering you a chance to win big this week with up to a $1,000 deposit bonus for new users.

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Thursday Night Football Match-Up

New England Patriots at Los Angeles Rams

Spread: LAR -5, NE +5

Moneyline: LAR -240, NE +205

Total: 44.5

This is a game between one team that should be running the football a LOT if they want to succeed and one who loves to throw the ball all over the field. Cam Newton has shown that he can be his most productive when running the football and mixing in some passes with play-action. I fully expect New England to commit to the running game early, but they may have to start throwing it late should they get down in this game. They cannot count on the Rams to have as many special teams blunders as their LA counterparts did last week, which will probably lend to a closer score than 45-0. Curiously enough, the underdogs have covered the spread in each of the Patriots’ last eight games, so look for them to keep this one a close contest.

On the other side, the Rams defense has been one of the best in the league this year, continuously shutting down opponents’ offenses and dominating up front. Aaron Donald is once again in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year and absolutely shoves pretty much any offensive lineman he gets to work on. As a result of this ferocious defense, eight of the Rams’ last nine games as favorites have gone under the total projection, except for their most recent outing against Arizona.

I expect this to be a very close game that is slower moving and will feature two teams that don’t have the most dynamic offenses but will want to move the ball in many different ways. It may come down to a last-second field goal,  but I like the Rams to win while the Patriots cover the spread in a low scoring affair.

Prediction: NE +5, LAR ML -240, Under 44.5

Player Props To Consider

1. Cam Newton Anytime TD -112 – Newton has scored at least one TD in four of his last five road games.
2. Cooper Kupp Anytime TD +150 – Kupp has scored a TD in six of his last seven December games.
3. Cam Akers Anytime TD -106 – Akers has scored a TD in each of the Rams’ last three games.
4. James White Anytime TD +375 – White has scored a TD in six of his last nine regular-season road games at night.
5. Cam Newton O185.5 Pass Yds +100 – Newton has recorded 193+ passing yards in 11 of his last 13 road games.
6. Jared Goff O270.5 Pass Yds +122 – Goff has recorded 302+ passing yards in four of the Rams’ last five games.
7. Tyler Higbee O27.5 Rec Yds -112 – Higbee has recorded 40+ rec yds in four of his last five night games.
8. Josh Reynolds O33.5 Rec Yds +108 – Reynolds has recorded 40+ rec yds in six of the Rams’ last seven games as favorites.
9. Robert Woods O60.5 Rec Yds -112 – Woods has recorded 80+ rec yds in four of the Rams’ last five games.
10. Damiere Byrd O37.5 Rec Yds -112 – Byrd has recorded 65+ rec yds in each of the Patriots’ last three prime-time road games.

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