Sunday, September 19 sees Sean McVay’s L.A. Rams facing the Indianapolis Colts. The Rams will be looking for another win after their demolition of the Bears on SNF last week.
It’ll be the second time in a week that the Colts have faced an NFC West team and they’ll be looking to improve on a disappointing season opener.
The Rams come into the game as 3.5-point favorites, which could be value if Matt Stafford performs like he did in Week 1. Check out our NFL picks and predictions for the Los Angeles Rams vs. Indianapolis Colts.
Rams vs Colts odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The total line has seen no movement yet, staying at 47.5 since opening, but the Rams have shortened from 4-point favorites at opening to 3.5 point favorites today.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full NFL odds before placing your bets.
Rams vs Colts picks
Picks made on 9/16/2021 at 10:20 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Rams vs Colts game info
• Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
• Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
• Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FOX
Rams at Colts betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NFL weather info.
Key injuries
Rams: Cam Akers RB (Out).
Colts: Parris Campbell WR (Out), Braden Smith T (Out), TY Hilton WR (Out), Xavier Rhodes CB (Out).
Find our latest NFL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 5-0 in Rams’ last five vs. a team with a losing record. Find more NFL betting trends for Rams vs. Colts.
Rams vs Colts predictions
Rams -3.5 (-110)
We saw the Rams on primetime last week and they looked really impressive as they took down the Bears. With all NFC West teams winning and looking very good, it’s hard to look beyond the division being the best in football.
The new Rams partnership between Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford looks like a marriage made in heaven. McVay is still one of the greatest offensive minds in football and Stafford offers him so much more than Jared Goff could. Full disclosure, I’m a Stafford believer and given that McVay helped Jared Goff lead this team to a Super Bowl, the rest of the league needs to be very worried.
Stafford looked reborn last week, dancing and celebrating in ways we’d not seen in Detroit in years. He had the highest-rated QB grade via play-action last week, per PFF, and already looks like a great fit in McVay’s offense.
Their Week 2 opponents are the Colts, who lost 28-16 at home to another NFC West team, the Seattle Seahawks. It’s easy to make snap judgments after one week, but with the Colts we really need to give them time because this is still a team with a strong defense, good coaching and some talent on the offensive side of the ball too.
Carson Wentz is the main story in Indianapolis, and it was a promising start for him with his new team. He only went 25/38 for 251 yards and 2 TDs but, crucially, he had 0 interceptions and looked calmer, and less like he was a gunslinger.
Seattle came out of Indy with a 12-point victory and, given what we saw from the Rams in week one, and what we know of their team in terms of coaching and that incredible defense, it’s hard to see the Rams not covering this one.
Under 47.5 (-105)
The Colts defense didn’t dominate in Week 1, but we know about the quality that they possess. Darius Leonard continues to be their lynchpin and he made five tackles on Sunday, but DeForest Buckner, Bobby Okereke and Kharli Willis also performed well.
That strong defense, combined with their own QB Carson Wentz facing that famous Rams defense, really pushes me to take the Under here.
Jalen Ramsey was immense last week, leading the Rams with seven tackles and performing so well that his odds for DPOY shortened afterward.
The most impressive thing about the Rams defense is that they have so many different ways to hurt you, beyond just the excellence of Aaron Donald. They’re far stronger than the Seahawks, and given the problems that they caused the Colts last weekend, you can see it happening again.
Cooper Kupp Over 65.5 Receiving Yards (-120)
If there was one player who looked even better than anticipated when the Rams faced the Bears, it was Cooper Kupp. Kupp has always been a great possession receiver, with Jared Goff relying on the former Eastern Washington wideout heavily. He looked even better with Matthew Stafford throwing him passes, and the 2017 third-round pick put up 108 yards on seven receptions with a touchdown.
Kupp has always been perhaps underrated in NFL circles, but that won’t happen this year. He’s already got great chemistry with Stafford, with the two reportedly being friends and breakfasting together each day. His 56-yard TD on Sunday was also impressive, the 11.3 yards of separation he had from Eddie Jackson was the most separation on a competition of 40+ yards in the past three years.
His yardage total for the game against the Colts stands at 65.5 yards. We have to respect the Colts secondary, but that total seems low given what we saw last week. Take the Over here.
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