The Miami Dolphins will host the Los Angeles Rams in an inter-conference bout on Sunday afternoon from Hard Rock Stadium. Looking very dangerous, the Rams have won three of the last four games crowned by a win over the Bears on Monday night. It’s Tua Tagovailoa’s time to shine as he makes his first career start for Miami. The dolphins play with confidence and easily won the Jets before enjoying their bye week. These enemies last met in 2016 in a game that Miami won 14-10. Will the Rams’ stifling defense lead to a decisive road win?
(Line movements, weather and injury reports are from Sunday morning)
Line movements:
Very little has moved in terms of line in this competition this week. That game opened as the Rams as a 3.5 point favorite. Los Angeles is still a 3.5 point favorite of the competition on most sports betting, although you might catch them at -3 if you look closely. When betting on this ATS competition, the Rams will receive 59% of the bets that give the points.
The over / under has also decreased slightly in this competition. After opening at 47, the total has dropped to 45 or 45.5 points depending on the sports betting. Fifty-one percent of grand total bets in this competition believe that bet falls short of the grand total on Tua Tagovailoa’s first NFL career start.
Game weather: Temperatures at the start are expected to be in the mid-80s, with a real feeling until the mid-90s. The sky is mostly cloudy with a chance of tossing a coin with showers around the corner. That percentage falls in the 30 to 40 percent range by 2 p.m. ET, so it could be a temporary shower. Winds are projected approximately eight miles per hour from the east-northeast, with gusts of wind reaching up to 12 miles per hour.
Rams Pummel Bears, Eye First Place
The Los Angeles Rams are looking for first place in the very competitive NFC West. You can climb to first place with one win and one loss from Seahawks. The Rams continued their stellar defensive game last week with a convincing 24-10 home win over the Bears to cover the 6.5 point spread. LA has covered in two of its last three games.
Jared Goff continues to thrive, having played 69.7% of his passes against a good bear defense last week. The 26-year-old QB has exceeded 300 yards twice this season and accumulated 1790 yards along with a ratio of 12: 4 TD to INT. Darrell Henderson Jr. continues to see the majority of the broadcasts and has amassed 411 rushing yards this season.
5-2 ????
Win 60 seconds of week 7! pic.twitter.com/9zHrFx5jCv
– Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 27, 2020
LA has four receivers over 200 meters led by Cooper Kupp. The 27-year-old WR made six catches against the bears and received up to 417 yards. The Rams offensive hasn’t scored many points in the last four games but has been very efficient, finishing 10th overall with an average of 385 yards per game. Close ends Gerald Everett (illness) and Tyler Higbee (hand) are in question.
Los Angeles defenses are among the best in the NFL and they continue to neutralize their opposition. There are no shortcomings as the passport defense is in fifth place while the express defense is in seventh place. The Rams occupy 18th place overall with an average of 25.1 points in the season. They keep opponents at 17.7 points, good for second place in the NFL.
Los Angeles Rams Injury Report:
OUT: G. Chandler Brewer, S. Terrell Burgess, S. Jordan Fuller, LB Travin Howard, LB Justin Lawler, LB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Questionable: TE Tyler Higbee, OL Joe Noteboom
Dolphins Blank Jets Before saying goodbye, Tagovailoa begins
The Miami Dolphins enter this rested. They enjoyed their goodbye last week after beating the 49ers 43-17, followed by a 24-0 win over the Jets to easily cover the 10 points they gave away in their last move. Miami ranks second in the AFC East largely due to its excellent defense.
The Dolphins made a surprise announcement last week that Tua Tagovailoa would be the starter instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick, who started all six games. Fitzpatrick played well and was surprised at the change, but he wasn’t the team’s first choice. Tagovailoa was Miami’s first round of voting this year (fifth overall) and has completed two of his two NFL pass attempts against the Jets. The main question regarding the Alabama South Paw was whether his hip was completely healthy after an injury at the end of the season last November.
We look back on our victory over the Jets.
Don’t miss Dolphins Today, presented by @popularbank! pic.twitter.com/nnkaRzAlQK
– Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) October 22, 2020
Myles Gaskin has a season high of 91 yards against the Jets. The young RB has not yet exceeded 100 yards in any game this season, hitting 340 yards total with an average of 4.1 yards per attempt. DeVante Parker is questionable for this one with a groin injury. Parker has had fewer than 70 receiving yards in all but one game this season. The 27 year old WR leads the way with 364 meters. Tight end Mike Gesicki was great and got 281 yards. The dolphin offense was more effective than the run, but that could change if Tagovailoa starts now.
Miami’s defense has been their greatest strength this season. They kept the 49ers down to just 17 points a few weeks ago, finishing 17th against the pass and 19th against the barrel. The dolphins averaged 26.7 points, good for 12th place in the NFL. They keep opponents at 18.8 points and thus occupy third place overall.
Miami Dolphins Injury Report:
OUT: LB Vince Biegel, DT Davon Godchaux, WR Allen Hurns, T Austin Jackson, DE Jonathan Ledbetter, CB Jamal Perry, WR Albert Wilson
Questionable: S Bobby McCain, TE Adam Shaheen
