49ers Rams Odds
Posted by Steve Janus - Google+
This Sunday the St Louis Rams will host the San Francisco 49ers just three weeks after these two teams finished in a draw (24-24) at San Francisco back in Week 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 EST at the Edward Jones Dome and will be televised locally on FOX. Oddsmakers currently have the 49ers listed as a 7-point road favorite with the total posted at 40 points.
Why San Francisco Will Cover:
The 49ers have put together back-to-back convincing wins over the Bears and Saints. They first embarrassed Chicago at home on Monday Night Football 32-7 and this past weekend they outplayed the Saints on the road in a 31-21 victory. San Francisco easily covered the spread in both of those games and are now a solid 7-4 ATS this season.
San Francisco was already considered one of the elite teams in the NFC, but they have looked even stronger since they moved Colin Kaepernick into the starting quarterback role. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has not said whether it will be Kaepernick or Alex Smith who will start this week, but all signs point to Kaepernick remaining the starter from here on.
This may seem like a lot of points to lay on the 49ers on the road given how much they struggled against the Rams in that crazy game back on Nov. 11, but I don’t think there’s any doubt they are capable of winning this game by double-digits. San Francisco looked like they were caught off-guard in that game. They trailed 14-0 at the end of the first quarter but would outscore St Louis 24-10 over the final 45 minutes.
This is a statement game for the 49ers. They are going to want to send the Rams a message after they nearly upset them on their home turf. That game seemed to light a fire under the entire team as they have picked up their play on both sides of the ball. This is also a team that seems to be rallying behind Kaepernick. I believe they feel that he gives them the better chance to win the Super Bowl and they want to play hard to make sure he keeps the starting job.
Why St Louis Will Cover:
The Rams have made a lot of progress in the first year under head coach Jeff Fischer. While they are all but eliminated from the playoffs at 4-6-1, I expect this team to continue to fight and lay everything on the line over the final five weeks of the season. St Louis may have surprised the 49ers in that first meeting, but regardless of the fact they gained a lot of confidence by hanging in their with what many consider to be the class of the NFC West.
The one thing the Rams have been able to do is play their best football against their division rivals. With last week’s 31-17 win at Arizona they improved to 3-0-1 inside the division. I think most people understand why the 49ers are favored by a touchdown, but the Rams will more than likely take it personal. This team doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, they too will be out to make a statement.
The key to this game for St Louis is whether or not they can get a similar performance out of veteran running back Steven Jackson, who rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 29 attempts against the 49ers. It was arguably Jackson’s most impressive game this season and he has had some good success against San Francisco throughout his career. If he is able to pick up those tough yards, it will keep some of the pressure off of quarterback Sam Bradford, who also had an impressive showing in that first meetings.
St Louis is 5-0-1 ATS i their last six home games vs a team with a winning home record and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 vs the NFC West. The other key here is that the 49ers don’t always seem to show up against teams who haven’t been playing well. San Francisco is 0-4 ATS in their last four games vs a team with a losing record.
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