Buffalo (0-0) at LA Rams (0-0)
When: Thursday, September 8th 2022
Where: SoFi Stadium,
Inglewood, CA
Time: 8:20 ET | TV: NBC
Opening Odds: Los Angeles -1/52
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The first game of the 2022 NFL season is upon us and it’s a good one. The defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams will host the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night to kickoff Week 1 action. There are a lot of home underdogs this week and the Rams are one of them despite winning Super Bowl 56 at home in SoFi Stadium. L.A. opened as 1-point favorites way back in the beginning of the summer, but a lot of money has been coming in on the Bills for not only this game, but many futures as well. Buffalo is now a 2.5-point favorite as of Tuesday afternoon with a total of 52.
This will be the first Kickoff Game for both teams and defending Super Bowl champions are 19-3 straight up in Week 1 since 2000 including winning the last four. Both teams have high expectations including the Bills, who lost a heart-breaking overtime game at Kansas City in the playoffs last season. Josh Allen and the offense never got to touch the ball in the overtime, as Kansas City went right down the field to win it. This is the first meeting since Week 3 of the 2020 season when the Bills won 35-32 at home despite blowing a 28-3 third-quarter lead. Allen threw the winning 3-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left and finished with 311 yards and four touchdowns. Jared Goff was the L.A. QB back then. Current Rams’ running back Darrell Henderson rushed for 114 yards and a TD on 20 carries.
The Bills come into 2022 as the Super Bowl betting favorites, while Allen is the favorite to win the MVP Award. Allen passed for 4,407 yards and 36 touchdowns against 15 interceptions while also rushing for six scores. The Bills offense averaged 29.8 points per game in 2021 behind Allen a nice group of receivers. The team will start the season without Pro Bowl cornerback Tre’Davious White, who is on the PUP list after tearing his ACL in the second half of last season. No. 3 wideout Isaiah McKenzie is questionable with an undisclosed injury. Von Miller will debut with the Bills after helping the Rams win the Super Bowl. In 2021, Buffalo won 11 games by more than one possession, while dropping all five games decided by eight or less. The Bills are 9-4-2 ATS in their last 15 games as road underdogs.
The Rams have been known to get off to good starts ever since Sean McVay took over as head coach. They are a perfect 5-0 SU and ATS in Week 1 games under McVay, but will have their hands full on Thursday. The two main losses in the offseason were of course Miller, who we mentioned above, and receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who tore his ACL in the Super Bowl but could re-sign later in the year when healthy. The one thing the Rams needed to get over the hump was a capable quarterback and they found one in Matt Stafford. The former Lion threw for 4,886 yards and 41 TDs, both third in the NFL. He also had 14 scoring strikes and zero interceptions in the fourth quarter of games, including playoffs. Cooper Kupp led the entire NFL with 1,947 receiving yards to go with 16 receiving touchdowns.
This could very well be a Super Bowl 57 preview come February. Both teams are loaded and are expected to have big seasons. There’s a lot of money on the Bills in this game despite being on the road. The Rams are still basically the same team that won the Super Bowl and if I can get points with this team, I’ll take it. Remember, defending Super Bowl champs are 19-3 in this Kickoff Game and the Rams have won five opening games in a row.
Pick: Rams +2.5
