Since 2004, it has been a tradition for the reigning Super Bowl champions to start the season at home. The only exceptions came in 2013, when the Baltimore Ravens had to play on the road due to a scheduling conflict with the Orioles, and in 2019, when the NFL chose to celebrate its 100th season with a Bears-Packers game instead of one. against New British Patriot.
At the time, the Super Bowl champions were leading 14-3 in their Week 1 game. If we go back to 2000, that number rises to 18-3. Basically, the Super Bowl hangover didn’t play a big part in the early part of the season. However, with the Rams taking on the most beloved game at this year’s Super Bowl, the Buffalo Bills, tonight, many have diverged from the defensive champions. Hell, even Vegas lists the Bills as a 2.5-point favorite on the road. So are the Bills much better? I have always been told that home advantage gives you 3 points in odds, so does this mean the Rams would be 5.5 points weaker if they were at Buffalo? That cannot be true. The Rams are still remarkably good. However, there is one factor that leads many bettors to believe that the Bills hold a big advantage: Von Miller.
This is stupid. Von Miller was great, sure, and a notable part of last year’s Rams’ Super Bowl, but should we really believe that Miller holds the Rams defensive secret that the Bills need to win? Breaking news, the Rams did not change their defensive coordinators. Any and all movies the Bills needed to prepare for this game are available.
Yes, having a vet like Miller around to help explain the intricacies of defense to some of the Bills’ younger players will help prepare the team, but don’t pretend Miller is in control. keep the Rams’ secret and have revealed everything they do with the Bills’ coaching this Employee. Buffalo is a multi-billion dollar organization with many scouts, video teams, and data analysts. Any information they might want regarding Miller’s former team, they may have had months before they signed Miller in freelance agency.
Glad we figured that out. The biggest factors to look out for in this match will be the Stefon Diggs-Jalen Ramsey matchup and whether the Josh Allen-Gabe Davis link will be left over from the AFC Group Stage match against the captains. are not. If Davis is anything like him in that playoff, the Rams will raise a glass. That said, I don’t trust Davis after just one great game. This is a guy who scored more than five goals just three times last season and never had more than five hits in a game. Then the knockout went on, he caught eight catches, 201 yards and four points, and suddenly everyone lost their minds.
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I understand that Davis has been on an uptrend in the goal division towards the end of last season (scoring eight, seven, three and 14 in his last four games), but let’s be real for a second. He had 14 goals in that Week 18 game against a weak Jets and scored just three visits. That happened two weeks before he glowed. At the very least, it’s a moment of contradiction and against a defensive team as talented as the Rams, they will take advantage of every possible advantage. While I would expect most of the defensive focus to be on Diggs, Davis will definitely be in the Rams’ sights. Everyone knows the Bills are a passing-heavy team, so the Rams are probably prepared to stop the air attack and will try to squeeze the game into the hands of Devin Singletary, James Cook and Zack Moss soon. I don’t trust any of those people.
On the other side of the ball, the question remains: “Can the Bills stop Cooper Kupp?” Honestly, I wouldn’t trust them. In 2021, the Bills have only faced an elite broad receiver twice last season: Week 5 in Kansas City & Week 14 in Tampa Bay (three times if you include the play-off loss to KC) ). In those games, the Bills struggled to stop the opponent’s top expansions. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin combined for 16 receptions, 196 metres, and one encounter in Week 14. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce combined for 13 receptions, 120 metres, and one touchdown in Week 4, which was This isn’t so terrible, but the Chiefs did struggle early last season. In the knockout round, Hill was successful with 11, 150 and a number of points. I understand that the game is a shootout and it is difficult to defend when the teams are in the zone, but there is no long enough track record of the Bills being able to defend against elite receivers and Kupp being arguably the best in the league.
Just because Kupp will probably have a good match doesn’t mean the Rams are guaranteed to win. However, in matches where Kupp had 12 or more goals last season, the Rams won 6-3 and scored less than 20 points once. They scored 30 or more goals in those four games. Even for a powerful attack like the Bills, 30 points is hard to beat.
All this said, I don’t pick the Rams to win. You might think that with all I said, but rather, it’s all about showing how the Rams can win. I don’t feel comfortable picking sides in this matchup. I wouldn’t touch this game with its 39-and-a-half-foot pole if I was betting this weekend. Amazingly, however, according to ESPN’s Pick ‘Em figures, more than 60% of people chose the Bills to win and win. That’s a high number for a showdown between two talented teams like we’re seeing. That rubs me the wrong way. I’m not saying anyone picking Bills is stupid or wrong, but in my opinion that should be much stricter.
