NFL bettors have another quick turnaround this week, as Thursday Night Football makes its triumphant return. A pair of playoff contenders are set to meet in a pivotal cross-conference showdown as the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams. While the NFL odds are in favor of the home team, we have seen expert NFL picks action on both sides throughout the week.
This betting preview contains the NFL odds, key betting trends, prop bets, and best NFL picks for Patriots vs Rams on Thursday Night Football.
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[sc name=”newsletter” ]NFL Odds, NFL Picks, and NFL Props | Patriots vs Rams
Patriots vs Rams Game Info
New England Patriots (6-6, 2-4 Away) at Los Angeles Rams (8-4, 3-2 Home)
Date: Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020
Time: 8:20 p.m. EST
Venue: SoFi Stadium – Inglewood, CA
Coverage: FOX, NFL Network
Attendance: No fans will be allowed to attend.
Patriots vs Rams NFL Odds + NFL Picks
Opening Lines: Rams -6.5; O/U 45
Moneyline: NE: (+205) | LAR: (-245)
Spread: NE: +5.5 (-110) | LAR: -5.5 (-110)
Total: 45.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
All odds courtesy of MyBookie Sportsbook
Patriots vs Rams Overview
No NFL picks expert can deny that what Bill Belichick has done with the current New England roster is very impressive. Last week’s 45-0 demolition of the Chargers in the same SoFi Stadium that will be the site of Thursday night’s game kept the Patriots alive in the AFC playoff chase. The offense looks different in New England this year than it has in years past. A multi-faceted rushing attack combines the various skillsets of Cam Newton, Damien Harris, and James White. Defensively, Belichick developed a perfect game plan to stop the Rams in the Super Bowl two years ago. It wouldn’t be shocking to see another strong effort from a unit that has continually outperformed their adjusted metrics this season.
The Rams have sort of taken on the feel of a bi-polar team in recent weeks. After looking phenomenal in a Monday night win over the Buccaneers, L.A. laid a major egg against the 49ers as NFL picks favorites the following week. Now coming off a solid road win over the Cardinals, Sean McVay will look to have more solutions when it comes to solving the Patriots defense than he did in Super Bowl LIII. Cam Akers has been gaining traction in the Rams backfield, an encouraging sign given the recent inefficiency of Darrell Henderson. Teams have been able to run the ball against New England all season and establishing the ground game early Thursday night will be critical in reducing the burden on Jared Goff.
Patriots vs Rams Betting Trends
- Patriots 2020 Betting Trends: 6-6 ATS; 4-8 to the Over
- Rams 2020 Betting Trends: 7-5 ATS; 4-8 to the Over
- The Patriots are 6-0 straight up and 5-1 ATS in their last six head-to-head meetings against the Rams.
- The Patriots are 10-1 straight up in their last 11 Thursday night games.
- The Rams are 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight December games.
Patriots vs Rams Stats
- New England has averaged 22.8 points per game (PPG) this season (No. 23 in the NFL)
- New England has surrendered 21.2 PPG this season (Tied for No. 6 in the NFL)
- Los Angeles has averaged 25.1 PPG this season (No. 17 in the NFL)
- Los Angeles has surrendered 20.2 PPG this season (No. 5 in the NFL)
Monkey Knife Fight NFL Props
Monkey Knife Fight is a DFS site unlike DraftKings or FanDuel. Instead, the contests feature props to play, with varying multipliers for each contest. Unlike the aforementioned sites, you are only competing with yourself when making NFL picks on MKF, and you do not need to worry about annoying salary caps.
Monkey Knife Fight has several great NFL props for both the Thursday Night Football game and the entire Week 14 slate. Here is a fun one that I like for the Patriots vs Rams game.
One of the reasons I like this NFL props contest is that all four matchups are essentially linked to two primary handicaps I have for the game. While the Patriots’ focal point on offense is running the football, the Rams run defense is among the bets in the NFL. Cam Newton will have to throw for New England to move the ball and he’s getting a 100-yard start in this matchup against Jared Goff. We’ll take the underdog.
Given the fact that I envision some struggles for the Patriots’ ground game, this leads me to lean in favor of Cam Akers in his NFL props matchup against Damien Harris. I also like James White to play an integral role as a target for Newton out of the backfield. Finally, given that Robert Woods is likely to face off with star corner Stephon Gilmore for most of the evening, I’ll take Cooper Kupp in their receiving yards matchup.
Picking all four player matchups correctly would win you a whopping 10x your buy-in.
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Patriots vs Rams NFL Picks and NFL Odds
Both the spread and total NFL picks lines for this Thursday night affair have been bet in all directions since the lines opened. The Patriots unsurprisingly took substantial money Sunday night into Monday before buy back on the Rams eventually led the line to settle somewhere in between the opening 6.5 and the low point of Rams -4.5. The total has also bounced back and forth between the opening line of 45 and the current 44.5.
Both teams are in sore need of a victory when it comes to their respective postseason pushes. The Patriots are in must-win mode for essentially the remainder of the 2020 season, while the Rams are looking to inch ever-closer to securing an NFC West division title. On paper, the Rams are the more talented team on both sides of the ball. But Los Angeles’ recent zig-zag performances from week to week combined with Bill Belichick’s presence on the opposing sideline has led me to throw the “on paper” NFL picks handicap out the window for this one.
I’m itching to support an Under play, but I have been brutal at picking totals recently. Because of this, I’ll opt for the road underdog Patriots as my NFL picks play for this game. Betting against Belichick is never appealing. Betting against Belichick in playoff mode is next to impossible. New England is very much a live dog in this matchup and having more than a field goal in my pocket in terms of the spread will suffice.
Pick: Patriots +5.5 (-110 at MyBookie Sportsbook)
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