Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Football Team features two teams whose seasons seem to be trending in opposite directions. After winning three of their first four games, the Rams have a great opportunity to continue their hot start as touchdown favorites. Washington is still searching for an identity, particularly on offense where a quarterback change was made in advance of this week’s game. Needless to say, the level of intrigue is high in advance of this Week 6 NFL matchup. The NFL odds favor the Rams, but the expert NFL picks have primarily backed Washington for this game.
This betting preview will give you the lowdown on the NFL odds, betting trends, and best NFL picks for the Week 5 Rams vs Washington matchup on Sunday afternoon.
NFL Picks, NFL Odds, and NFL Props | Rams vs Washington
Rams vs Washington Game Info
Los Angeles Rams (3-1, 1-1 Away) vs. Washington Football Team (1-3, 1-1 Home)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020
Time: 1 p.m. EST
Venue: FedEx Field — Landover, MD
Coverage: FOX
Attendance: No in-person attendance allowed
Rams vs Washington NFL Odds
All odds taken from MyBookie Sportsbook
Opening Lines: LAR -9.5; O/U 46
Moneyline: LAR: (-360) | WAS: (+300)
Spread: LAR: -7.5 (-105) | WAS: +7.5 (-115)
Total: 46.5 – Over: (-105) | Under: (-115)
Rams vs Washington Overview
The first quarter of the 2020 season proved to be a resurgent four games for the Rams’ offense. After poor offensive line play and the absence of a running game left LA very one-dimensional last season, Sean McVay seems to have things back in working order. Both Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown have been efficient when called upon this season. With an entire offense no longer riding on his shoulders, Jared Goff has played much better. After a rather sluggish showing last week, the Rams will look for better offensive numbers to be on the winning side of both the game and the NFL odds.
Defensively, the Rams might not be the most cohesive unit in the NFL, but they have the star power to wreck an opposing team’s drive at any time. After his run-in with Golden Tate last week, Jalen Ramsey will have the assignment of slowing down Terry McLaurin. At least he knows Aaron Donald should be able to achieve consistent penetration against Washington’s less than stellar offensive line.
Of course, the big change for Washington this week is at the quarterback position. Ron Rivera had seen enough of Dwayne Haskins in the first four weeks. He not only benched him but dropped him to third on the depth chart, behind both veteran Alex Smith and Sunday’s starter, Kyle Allen. Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner had Allen as their quarterback in Carolina last season prior to Rivera being ousted from the job, so there is a level of familiarity there. How much Washington’s offense benefits from the change remains to be seen.
Defensively, there is hope that Chase Young will be ready to go by Sunday. The rookie No. 2 overall pick practiced on Thursday for the first time since injuring his groin in Week 3. Given the vast number of weapons in the Rams’ offense, Washington will gladly welcome him back as they try to mount pressure on Goff and cover the NFL odds as a touchdown underdog.
Rams vs Washington Betting Trends
- Rams 2020 Betting Trends: 2-2 ATS; 2-2 to the Over
- Washington 2020 Betting Trends: 2-2 ATS; 3-1 to the Over
- Washington is 3-2 straight up and ATS in their last five head-to-head meetings against the Rams.
- The outright winner has also covered the spread in each of the last six head-to-head meetings between the Rams and Washington.
- The Under has cashed in 8 of the last 12 head-to-head meetings between the Rams and Washington.
Rams vs Washington Stats
- Los Angeles has averaged 26.5 points per game (PPG) this season (Tied for No. 14 in the NFL)
- Los Angeles has surrendered 20.0 PPG this season (Tied for No. 6 in the NFL)
- Washington has averaged 19.8 PPG this season (No. 30 in the NFL)
- Washington has surrendered 28.0 PPG this season (No. 22 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 on MKF, and you do not need to worry about annoying salary caps.
Monkey Knife Fight has several great NFL props for the entire Week 5 slate. Here is one of my favorites for the Rams vs. Washington game.
If the Rams are able to run the football, scoring points doesn’t necessarily ensure that Jared Goff will exceed the 270.5 passing yards threshold. I see a sneaky lower-than-you’d-expect yardage total coming for the Rams signal-caller on Sunday. As the NFL odds suggest, I do expect Washington to be playing from behind in this game. This leads me to believe Kyle Allen will surpass 230.5 yards passing on the game as Washington will be forced to throw often. Given the dink and dunk approach that Ron Rivera and Allen took in Carolina last year, look for the Football Team to get the screen game going with Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic. Finally, given his tough matchup against corner Jalen Ramsey, I think Terry McLaurin will finish just shy of 75 yards receiving on the day.
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Rams vs Washington NFL Picks and NFL Odds
Despite glaring holes on the offensive line and a question mark in terms of the level of quarterback play, they will get from week to week, Washington still has everything to play for. At 1-3, they are but a half-game out of first place in the NFC East heading into Week 5. The Rams are an excellent football team, but should you back them to cover the full touchdown number?
With sharp action driving the line on this game down a full 2 points, the home underdog is clearly the smart play. What’s interesting is that every time buyback has come on the Rams to stretch the line back out to 7.5, Washington has taken more sharp money and the line has fallen back to an even 7. This slight half-point move around the key number is even more influential than a larger line move across numbers.
The fact that the Rams have to travel east across three time zones also cannot be overlooked. One other fascinating trend to note for this matchup: The Under has hit in 9 of Washington’s last 10 games against NFC West opponents.
Picks: Washington +7.5; Total Under 46.5 (Both -115 at MyBookie Sportsbook)
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