The Detroit Lions (4-8) go up against the St. Louis Rams (4-8) at Edward Jones Dome this week. The NFL’s fifth-leading rusher, Todd Gurley (835 yards, 6 TDs), will be on display in this contest. It will begin Sunday, Dec 13 at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX.
St. Louis was blown out by the Cardinals 27-3 last week. Aaron Donald led the St. Louis defense in the loss, totaling five tackles and one sack. Detroit came up short as well, getting beat by the Packers 27-23. Isa Abdul-Quddus led the Detroit defense, totaling nine tackles.
St. Louis is favored by a small two-point margin in its matchup against the Lions. Oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 41 points.
Heading into Week 14 of league action, the Rams are 4-8 Straight Up (SU) and 4-7-1 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last five games, the Rams have records of 0-5 SU and 0-4-1 ATS. The Rams stand to fare well this week when they face off against Detroit’s offense, which averages a paltry 16.4 points per road game. St. Louis has a suffocating pass defense, allowing only 10.0 yards per pass. One of the keys to the game will be if the Rams can take advantage of the turnover-prone Lions, who rank 26th in the league in turnovers with 1.8 per game.
Moving to the road team, the Lions have 4-8 SU and ATS records this season. In the previous five games, Detroit has a record of 3-2 for both SU and ATS. Over the course of the season, Detroit has averaged 76.8 yards rushing, but over the last five weeks, they’ve exceeded that pace with 88.8 yards. Shifting to the other side of the ball, the Detroit defense could excel if they take advantage of favorable matchups. The defensive backs for the Lions will be looking to shut down the weak passing attack of the Rams, which ranks last in the league with an average of 178 passing yards per game. The Lions need to capitalize on forced fumbles against the often careless Rams, who are one of the worst teams in the league in fumbles lost with 0.8 per game. The Rams defense seems to get off to a poor start. The Lions can take an early advantage against St. Louis and its average of 6.2 first-quarter points allowed. Don’t be surprised to see lots of calls against the Rams when they take the field. St. Louis is among the most penalized teams in the league, receiving an average of eight penalties per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Det, ATS Winner – Det, O/U – Over
Notes
St. Louis is 0-4-1 ATS in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 8 games.
St. Louis is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 5 games at home.
St. Louis is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing Detroit.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 5 games when playing Detroit.
St. Louis is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Detroit.
Detroit is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing St. Louis.
Detroit is 3-3 SU this season, when leading at the half. St. Louis is 3-2 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Detroit is 2-4 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle this season, and 1-3 SU when losing the turnover battle.
St. Louis is only 1-4 SU this season when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game. The Detroit defense is averaging 3.2 sacks over its last five games.
St. Louis is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its ninth-ranked rushing attack will face the 18th-ranked run defense of Detroit, while its 23rd-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 31st-ranked run game of the Lions.
