Sunday – NFC Divisional Round
Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(Line: TB -2.5, O/U 48)
Los Angeles Rams
Among the relevant trends here, the Rams are 36-33-2 against the spread (ATS) over the last three-plus seasons. That’s minus-$30 from a straight $110 bet. For this period, Los Angeles posted encouraging ATS marks when playing on the road (19-17, $30), representing the betting underdog (7-5, $150) and facing NFC competition (30-22-1, $580). The 2021 ATS numbers are subpar, with the Rams going 9-9 overall (minus-$90), 4-5 on the road (minus-$150) and 1-2 when kicking off in the Eastern Time Zone (minus-$120). Los Angeles owned top-10 rankings in three major offensive categories this season – fifth in passing offense (273.1 yards per game), seventh in scoring offense (27.1 ppg) and ninth in total offense (372.1 yards). The Rams defense also had top-three rankings with sacks (50) and interceptions (19).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs are 35-32-3 against the spread (ATS) over the last three-plus seasons. That’s minus-$20 from a straight $110 bet. For that period, Tampa Bay endured mixed ATS results when playing at home (17-15-2, $50), facing winning clubs (16-14-1, $60) … but also taking on NFC competition (25-26-1, minus-$360). The ATS numbers for 2021 are markedly better, at 10-8 overall ($120), 10-8 as the betting favorite ($120) and 7-2 playing at home ($480). For the 2021-22 campaign, Tampa Bay ranked either first or second in passing offense (307.6 yards per game), scoring offense (30.1 ppg) and total offense (405.9 yards).
Total Trends
For the season, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay are 9-8-1 and 9-9 with the Over, respectively, for a combined 18-17-1 track record (minus-$70). In other trends, the Over is 14-1 from the last 15 times the Rams were underdogs ($1290). The Over has a 2-8-1 record when chronicling the previous 11 times in which Los Angeles carried a road winning streak of two or more games (minus-$680). On the flip side, Tampa Bay has eclipsed the Over in 14 of its last 16 games ($1180), when serving as moneyline favorites of less than -300. (Sunday’s line is currently -150.) Also, the Under is 0-5 in the last five Rams-Bucs battles (minus-$550).