NFL Picks 12/8 – Buffalo Bills @ LA Rams

NFL Picks 12/8 – Buffalo Bills @ LA Rams

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Buffalo Bills (10-2) visit the Los Angeles Rams (6-6) on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium. The teams last met two years ago with Buffalo picking up a 31-10 win in Los Angeles. Buffalo has won three in a row against the Rams and five of the last six in the series dating back to the 2004 season when the Rams played in St. Louis. Buffalo has also won four straight road games against the Rams franchise. The Rams last win at home against Buffalo was a 45-27 victory on Nov. 27, 1983. Buffalo is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 49.5.

Buffalo enters Sunday’s game red hot after hammering the San Francisco 49ers 35-10 at home on Sunday Night Football last week. It was their seventh straight win. MVP frontrunner Josh Allen put together another masterful performance as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to score a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving. In total, Allen completed 13 of 17 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed three times for 18 yards and a touchdown, and caught a seven-yard touchdown pass after Amari Cooper pitched the ball back to Allen who went in for the score. 

Buffalo also got a strong performance from running back James Cook who rushed 14 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. He scored on a 65-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. It was his second 100-yard rushing game of the season. Backup running back Ray Davis rushed for 63 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown for a run-heavy Bills offense playing in snowy conditions. 

Los Angeles gutted out a 21-14 win at New Orleans last week. Running back Kyren Williams rushed for a season-high 104 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown for the Rams. Matthew Stafford passed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns which led to the win. Stafford completed 14 of 24 passes for 183 yards and two scores. It was the second-fewest pass attempts of the season for Stafford. 

GAME STORYLINES: BUFFALO

After being selected No. 7 overall in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, quarterback Josh Allen has developed into a franchise quarterback and one of the best players in the NFL. He’s become the Bills best signal caller since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly was under center from 1986-1996. Allen has led Buffalo to a franchise-record five consecutive AFC East titles after last week’s win over the 49ers. The previous record was four which was accomplished by the Jim Kelly-led Bills from 1988-1991.

There was some questions abοut whether the 28-year-old Josh Allen could maintain his elite level of play after Buffalo let go of their top two wideouts in temperamental star Stefon Diggs and the speedy Gabe Davis. But Allen has been better than ever in 2024 as he is the favorite to win the 2024 MVP. Allen has thrown for 2,691 yards with 20 touchdowns to 5 interceptions while completing 64.6 percent of his passes through 12 games on the season. He’s also rushed for 334 yards and 6 touchdowns. Allen’s lack of turnovers is a big key to his success as he was notorious for being a turnover machine prior to this season.

NFL Picks 12/8 – Buffalo Bills @ LA Rams

Buffalo boasts a young and deep group of skill position players in running backs James Cook (703 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdown, 195 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown in 11 games) and Ray Davis (342 rushing yards, 153 receiving yards, 4 total touchdowns in 12 games), wide receivers Khalil Shakir (team-leading 629 yards, 2 touchdowns) and rookie Keon Coleman (417 yards, 3 touchdowns in 9 games), and tight end Dalton Kincaid (356 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns in 10 games). All five players are 25-years-old and under which may bode well for the future. 

The Bills have one of the better defenses in the NFL. They lead the NFL in turnover ratio (+17) and rank among the top 10 in pass defense and points allowed. The defense is anchored by a pair of star defensive ends in Greg Rousseau (41 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles in 12 games) and A.J. Epenesa (26 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles in 12 games) along with safeties Taylor Rapp (62 tackles, 2 interceptions, 6 passes defended, 1 forced fumble in 11 games) and Damar Hamlin (70 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defended in 12 games).

GAME STORYLINES: LOS ANGELES RAMS

In March 2021, the Los Angeles Rams surprised the NFL world by trading their 26-year-old starting quarterback Jared Goff — who they selected No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL draft — to the Detroit Lions in exchange for talented 33-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft. Goff had guided the Rams to four straight winning seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in the 2018-19 season which made the trade puzzling to some. The prolific Stafford had put up excellent numbers in Detroit for 12 seasons but only made three postseason appearances and never won a postseason game. 

The addition of Matthew Stafford for the 2021 season payed immediate dividends as the Rams finished 11-6 and went on to win the Super Bowl as the No. 4 seed. It was the Rams second Super Bowl victory in franchise history but first in Los Angeles as the 1999 Super Bowl champion Rams played in St. Louis. Stafford tied his career-high with 41 touchdowns in his debut season with the Rams. 

Unfortunately, the Rams have not come close to duplicating the success of the 2021 season as injuries to Stafford and other key players dropped them to 5-12 in 2022. They got off to a poor start last season and needed a last-season rally — they won 7 of their last 8 games — to finish 10-7 and secure the No. 6 seed. They went on to lose 24-23 at the Jared Goff-led Detroit Lions in the Wild Card round. The Rams got off to another poor start (1-4) this season as their star wideout duo of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua (set NFL rookie records with 105 catches and 1,486 yards last season and caught 12 touchdowns) both began the year with injuries which caused them to miss multiple weeks. The Rams have now won 5 of their last 7 games and sit just one game out of first place in the NFC West at 6-6.

NFL Picks 12/8 – Buffalo Bills @ LA Rams

The 36-year-old Matthew Stafford continues to play at a high level in year 16. He’s thrown for 2,983 yards with 17 touchdowns to 7 interceptions while completing 66% of his passes through 12 games. The return of wide receivers Cooper Kupp (58 catches for 565 yards, 5 touchdowns in 8 games) and second-year phenom Puka Nacua (42 catches for 546 yards, 2 touchdowns in 7 games) to full health has been critical to Stafford’s and the Rams success of late. Stafford has a 14:3 TD:INT ratio over the last 6 games with Kupp and Nacua on the field. He had a 3:4 TD:INT through the first 6 games of the season when both players missed time with injuries.

Running back Kyren Williams (926 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns, 145 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns in 12 games) and veteran wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (28 catches for 433 yards, team-leading 7 receiving touchdowns in 12 games) have been unsung members of the Rams offense. The 24-year-old, Notre Dame product Williams has been the Rams workhorse running back for a second straight season and will increase his production for a third straight season. The 30-year-old Robinson did a great job picking up the slack when Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua missed time. He’ll set career high in yards, touchdown catches and yards per catch this year. 

THE PICK: BILLS (-3.5)

Buffalo is one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now while the Rams have been up-and-down and seemed to have feasted on a lot of average teams. I think Josh Allen and the Bills will continue their winning ways on Sunday in Los Angeles…Bills 34, Rams 23