LA Rams vs. New Orleans Saints Betting Analysis & Predictions

Date/Time: Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 1PM EST

Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

TV: Fox

Point Spread: LAR +3/NO -3 (Bovada – Do you live bet games? If so, you seriously need to check out their platform! No clicking around as everything is on one page and it loads FAST! No waiting for bets to get approved or process! They’ll give you a 50% bonus and they give you rebates on ALL your bets! Even if they win!)

Over/Under Total: 39

The Los Angeles Rams take on the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday in an NFC week 11 battle. It’s a sad state of affairs for both teams, especially the defending Super Bowl champion Rams, sitting at 4-6 after a 27-17 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. It was their fifth loss in 6 games. Things are even worse off for the Saints, sitting at 3-7 after an ugly 20-10 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. They are now looking hard for answers after losing their fourth out of five games. Who can come out ahead on Sunday in New Orleans?

Who is More Likely to Produce?

There is no overstating the Rams’ terrible season up to this point. You’d have to figure Matthew Stafford gets back in there after a concussion kept him out last week. Even with him having ragged form, he’ll get more out of the offense. It’s just that the offense for the Rams has become whatever they can get out of Cooper Kupp. And some weeks, that might be a lot, but it’s seldom going to be enough. The rest of the offense is just a faceless cast of ineffective contributors who, other than maybe TE Tyler Higbee, can’t really be counted on for much. That goes for both the run game and any supporting pass-catchers they thought would deliver this season.

Again, with Stafford not looking his usual self and an overall lack of support, it’s going to be tough. It’s made all the more of a dim prospect when one sees how far this O-line has stepped back. But there is still a lot of talent and juice on that defense. Despite the other side of the ball leaving them to wilt in the wind, they’ve held firm for the most part. And with the ground game being a big part of the Saints’ approach, maybe having a good run-stop will pay off for the Rams this week. Against a Saints defense that has been making less and less of an impact over the course of the season, maybe Stafford can help the Rams start a little surge this week.

Good Spot for the Saints?

They get this one at home, and it’s a time of the season where it will be their 6th home spot in eight games, and they need to make it count against a Rams’ team coming off a losing stretch where they had four of five games at home. The prospects of Kamara running against this Rams’ defense might seem daunting, but he’s not really a between-the-tackles runner and could still have success against a Rams’ defense that has been respectable without really eliciting fear. Quarterback play is a sore spot, and after this latest run, you wonder if they try something different at quarterback. Andy Dalton isn’t really working out, despite the occasional spark here and there. Could we see more of Taysom Hill or, more likely, a return for Jameis Winston? It would be a little stubborn to soldier on like this after a couple of weeks where the Saints looked to be stuck in the mud, and as of press time, Dennis Allen acknowledged as much by publicly saying a QB change is being mulled.

A home New Orleans defense, however, might match up well against a Rams’ offense that has been laboring—with or without Stafford. The New Orleans defense has been compromised by injuries, making them a shadow of what they were last season, especially against the run. The Rams, however, can’t generate anything resembling a decent running game, so they might not be on the hook for that this week. All but a few times, they’ve kept aerial games in check, and we’ll see if they start fading in that area, too, due to their injuries. Make no mistake, this “D” isn’t meant to stand up to the better offenses they face, but the Rams are far from that this season.

More Picks: Get the money with Loot’s Det/NYG top bet for their 11/20/22 game

Similarities Abound

We’re looking at two teams where the expectations might have been different this season, but their finishing spot might not be all that dissimilar. Their offenses are plagued by poor play up front, in addition to suffering quarterback play. With Kupp and Kamara, accompanied by what has been a bunch of riff-raff this season, each offense has been reduced to essentially one weapon. Their defenses have been the best part of their team and aren’t even that good when compared to last season, just better than their respective offenses. With Stafford coming back this week (presumably) and the Saints strongly entertaining a change at QB, it won’t be a new look this week for either team, but maybe recent memories of each offense languishing will be a bit less relevant. The point is that once you chop up all the strengths and weaknesses and how they play off each other, it’s hard not to emerge with the takeaway that this should be a well-contested game where any sure-headed take is likely misguided.

Lay the Points

Not that the Saints are anything to write home about, but they’re more who they’re supposed to be and have maybe landed on week 11 with less of a thud than the wayward Rams, despite being a tad worse in a W-L sense. One can hang their hat on the Rams’ formula—that maybe Kupp has a big game, someone else steps up, and the “D” does their thing. Fair enough. But in week 11, we need to have wrapped our heads around reality, and one of those things is an expectation of the Rams that is on the optimistic side of things isn’t likely to be rewarded. That also applies to the Saints, but I’d suspect a little surge at home on offense if they go back to what should be a fresher Winston. I’ll take the Saints.

Loot’s Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the New Orleans Saints minus 3 points.

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