The Los Angeles Rams are scheduled to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon in Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season.
The Bucs were listed as a 2.5-point choice last week. But now they are a favorite ranging from 2.5-3 points on the betting boards at DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and PointsBet. It will be a battle between the past two Super Bowl champions.
Let’s take a look at our Rams vs. Bucs odds, as well as a prediction.
NFL Odds: Point Spread, Moneyline, Total
Here are Rams vs. Bucs odds from around the sports betting marketplace.
NFL · Sun (11/6) @ 4:25pm ET
| LA Rams | at | TB Buccaneers |
| Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida | ||
Rams-Bucs: Battle of Past Two Super Bowl Champions
The Rams beat the Bucs twice last year en route to the title, highlighted by a 30-27 win at Tampa in the divisional round of the postseason as a 2.5-point underdog. In that game, Bucs QB Tom Brady engineered a rally from a 27-3 second-half deficit to tie the score (the biggest comeback in a league game all season) before LA prevailed at the gun on a 30-yard field goal.
In Week 3 of the regular season, LA won at home 34-24 in a pick-em game with QB Matthew Stafford throwing four TD passes. In 2022, he’s totaled seven.
This year, both teams are slumping badly and have the two worst rushing attacks in football, with TB averaging 3.0 a carry and LA 3.3. They are among six playoff teams from last year with losing records.
The Rams (3-4 straight up/2-5 against the spread) have dropped three of their past four, with the sole win coming against a Carolina team that just fired its head coach and was going with a third-string quarterback making his first start this season.
The Bucs have been even worse (3-5 SU/2-6 ATS), losing five of their past six games, including a 21-3 defeat in Carolina two weeks ago as a 13-point favorite.
Potentially adding to the Rams’ misery is that their most potent offensive weapon, WR Cooper Kupp — who led league receivers in catches, yards, and TDs last season — injured an ankle in the waning moments of last week’s 31-14 home loss to San Francisco. But head coach Sean McVay said he expects Kupp will be ready to play Sunday.
In last year’s playoff meeting, Kupp had a season-high 183 yards.
Last week, the Rams got back fleet WR Van Jefferson and center Brian Allen, but still got walloped.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is off an extended rest after losing at home vs. Baltimore last Thursday, 27-22, and should be getting back some players dealing with nagging injuries. But teams off such a break this season are 6-8 ATS the next week (5-9 SU). Last year, those numbers were 19-15 ATS/20-14 SU.
As for LA’s travel situation, this will be the team’s lone excursion to the East Coast this season. Overall the past two seasons, teams out West traveling east across three time zones have gone 20-7 ATS/21-6 SU. In 2021, the Rams’ mark was 2-2 ATS/4-0 SU.
Bet TNF at BetMGM: Use promo code TODAY for a $1,000 risk-free bet
Rams vs. Bucs NFL Prediction
With both teams leaning heavily on the pass, it’s an advantage for Tampa Bay — especially if Kupp isn’t at full speed and carrying his usual workload.
The Bucs not only are third on defense with 25 sacks this season but fifth in yielding only 6.4 yards a throw. The Rams, meanwhile, have only 15 sacks in one less game and are giving up 7.5 yards a pass.
On offense, Brady has had better protection from his line than Stafford from his, with Brady getting sacked only 13 times compared with Stafford’s 24 in one less game. Plus, Brady has been able to air it out more, with 26 pass plays of 20-plus yards. Stafford has 17.
The bad news for TB, though, is the loss of standout LB Shaq Barrett with a torn Achilles.
Anyway, the Bucs seem more desperate and maybe now that Brady’s personal issues are more or less in the rearview mirror, he’ll be able to focus better on meshing with his talented, yet injury-prone receiving corps.
Prediction: Bucs 24, Rams 17
Also read: TNF player props and TD scorer bets | Super Bowl 2022 odds
About the Author
