Picks and odds from experts for every NFL game in Week 16: Cowboys vs. Dolphins, 49ers vs. Ravens, and more.
The Saints (7-7) will travel to face the Rams (7-7) on “Thursday Night Football” (8:15 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video) to start Week 16 of the 2023 NFL season. It will be a matchup between two starting passers with a lot of experience.
Now that the Rams can’t win the NFC West, they need to focus upon the wild card. The Saints also want to stay in the race for the NFC South title. Both Matthew Stafford or Derek Carr are playing well, and all of their key players will be fine.
Here’s how to bet on the TNF game between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Los Angeles and New Orleans are both trying to get into the playoffs as NFC wild cards, so this game is very important before the last two weeks.
Most people think the Rams will win at home, so the Saints are a little more than the required three-point road outsiders all week.
After losing to the Ravens in overtime in Week 14, the Rams bounced back by beating the Commanders at home to cover in Week 15.
Having Sean McVay’s help, Matthew Stafford was tearing up every defense and running Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua through holes every time.
Kyren Williams’ running has also been a big part of the offense’s success, making it easier to throw the ball.
The high number for a Thursday match demonstrates that both teams’ offenses are getting better and their defenses are having more problems.
This game will be tough for Carr, who will have to rely on his two best players, Alvin Kamara while Chris Olave. Olave is just getting back from hurting his hip.
Dennis Allen might lose to McVay as a coach chess match, but his defensive-minded Saints can make a few key stops to keep the game from going over.
The Los Angeles Rams are the favorite to beat the New Orleans Saints in one of Sean McVay’s most important regular-season games yet.
The New York Times says that if the Rams lose with New Orleans, their chances of making the playoffs will drop from 48% to 9%. These are big playoff effects.
The odds are stacked against the Rams, and most experts also think Los Angeles will win. Tallysight says that 93% of experts think the Rams will win with Thursday night.
The line for the over/under is 46 points, and 56% of people are betting on it. It is thought that the Rams will cover the spread 73% of the time this season.
In the four games preceding them, the Rams have triumphed over the spread four times. Since their bye week in Week 10, they are 4-1 straight-up.
In their last five games, they only didn’t cover the spread once, when they defeat the Seahawks 17-16 as 1.5-point favorites.
The Rams and the Saints both have a 7-7 record, but Los Angeles has been playing much better lately.
With that and the fact which the Rams are playing at home, it’s clear why both the oddsmakers and the experts think they will win.
Overall, there have been eight contests this week where neither team are either in a playoff spot or only one game away from one. Both are realistic looks ahead to the Super Bowl.
On paper, the two best games are probably the one in Miami on Sunday between the Dolphins and the Cowboys and the one in San Francisco on Monday between the 49ers and the Ravens.
The game between Dallas and Miami might be the most interesting because both squads have a lot to prove.
It’s time for Dallas to show that it can win football games and score points outside of AT&T Stadium.
People have been saying for two years that Miami can’t beat teams that are good enough to make the playoffs.
This week, three teams are double-digit favorites. The Buffalo Bills, who are currently on a roll, are huge road favorites with the Los Angeles Chargers, who just beat Las Vegas by 63 points.
The Kansas City Chiefs are heavy favorites over the Oakland Raiders as they try to win their seventh straight AFC West title.
The Philadelphia Eagles are also heavy favorites, even though they have been having a rough patch lately. They have a bigger than 10-point lead over Tommy DeVito as well as the New York Giants.