Los Angeles Rams vs Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys appear on their way to the playoffs and the Rams are long shots to earn a wild card, but you wouldn’t know it by each team’s recent form. Dallas has lost four of five and seven of 10, while LA has won its last two games by a margin of 62-19.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Don’t be surprised if LA is a favorite by kickoff. Bettors have been eager to back the Rams and fade the Cowboys, moving this line from an opener of Dallas -3 to a pick’em by Monday night. The Rams have covered five of their last six as road chalk.

Los Angeles News & Notes

Don’t write off the Rams just yet. Since suffering a humiliating 45-6 loss at home to the Ravens on Monday Night Football in Week 12, Los Angeles has responded by outscoring opponents 62-19 in its last two games. On Sunday, the Rams jumped out to a 21-3 first-half lead and coasted to a 28-12 win over the Seahawks, keeping MVP hopeful Russell Wilson out of the end zone and allowing just 16 first downs.

“I’ve really been impressed with this team’s mental toughness, their ability to stick together,” Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters afterward. “We’ll see if we can keep this thing rolling.”

For LA to keep its faint playoff hopes alive, the Rams will want to keep giving the ball to Todd Gurley. The 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year has seen fewer touches since suffering a knee injury late in the 2018 campaign, but McVay and the Rams have featured him more recently — and it’s paying dividends.

Gurley had 113 total yards on 27 touches in the victory over Seattle and used a devastating stiff arm on a fourth-quarter touchdown run as the Rams won for the third straight game in which he touched the ball at least 20 times. A greater impetus on the ground game may also help explain how LA has gone UNDER in seven of its last eight games.

Dallas News & Notes

The NFL’s top-ranked offense has looked anything but over the past three weeks, averaging 16 points per game in losses to the Patriots, Bills and Bears. Part of the slump could be explained by facing a trio of elite defenses, but Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott wasn’t hiding his concerns after last Thursday’s loss to the Bears.

“I can’t put a finger on it. We have the skill level, we have the players, we have the chemistry … but we’re not playing as a team,” he told reporters.

Kicker Brett Maher was the first casualty of the Cowboys’ recent woes, getting cut on Monday — minutes after visiting a children’s hospital in the Dallas area. Maher, who had missed 10 kicks in 13 games this season, will be replaced by Kai Forbath, who was already cut loose this year by the Patriots and is suiting up for his fifth team in nine years.

Betting Pick: Rams pick’em

LA is finally playing with a lot of confidence again, and home field is no advantage for the Cowboys when things aren’t going well.