The LA Rams showed a dominance on defence as they destroyed NFC West rivals Arizona Cardinals 34-11 in the wild card round to setup a trip across the country to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tom Brady and his offence were slow to start their wild card game before running out to a 31-0 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles. It looked like a convincing victory in the end but it came against a team who end the season 0-7 versus playoff teams.
Like many of last weekend’s matches, this is a rematch of a game from the regular season. Although it was all the way back in week 3, the Rams were 34-24 winners at home.
Since then, their defence has tightened up and they have added Odell Beckham Jr to their roster. Meanwhile, the defending Super Bowl champions have lost Antonio Brown.
The Bucs also picked up a couple of key injuries in their victory over the Eagles. Center Ryan Jensen is Questionable to facethe Rams, as are Tristan Wirfs, Ronald Jones II, Sean Murphy-Bunting. They are already without Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin and Richard Sherman.
I do believe the injuries are going to be a huge factor in this game, and given how well the Rams played last weekend I cannot go against them. Admittedly, I am not a Matthew Stafford fan but the former Lion has lots of excellent receivers to aim for, and two running backs getting the job done on the ground.
Pick: LA Rams +3
