NFL Season 2022-23 kicks off with an absolute blockbuster on Thursday Night Football, with the Super Bowl LVI Champion Los Angeles Rams, playing host to the Buffalo Bills, a team that many experts are predicting to raise the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
The team at Before You Bet are chomping at the bit for the season to start, and to get the season off to a winning start. Bring it on.
Also, remember to check out our NFL Tips page to stay up to date with all of our best bets for each and every week of the 2022-23 season!
Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams Preview & Betting Tips
SoFi Stadium, Friday 10:20am AEST
Wow, what a game to kick off the NFL season. Two teams that figure to have Super Bowl aspirations go toe to toe on the same night the Rams will have their Super Bowl LVI banners unveiled.
Each side has injuries to several replacement level players that won’t make a great deal of difference to the handicap; however, each team is also missing a key starter on opposites sides of the ball. The Rams will be missing WR2 Van Jefferson due to a knee injury, with the wideout expected to return next week. The Bills are without their stud cornerback Tre’Davious White, who suffered a torn ACL late last season. He is expected to miss the first 4 weeks of season 2022/23. The loss of White is harder for the Bills to cover, with the Rams signing former Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson in the off season. He figures to be targeted heavily, with the Bills undoubtedly giving the safety help to whoever marks up on Cooper Kupp.
Not a noted rivalry, these two teams haven’t met since 2020, and as such their history has no bearing on the handicap of this encounter. The Bills did win the last match 35-32 at home, when Jared Goff was still the Rams’ signal caller.
Reigning Super Bowl champions have gone a combined 38-16-1 in week 1 games in the Super Bowl era, with the last team to have lost in this situation being the 2017 Patriots. It’s an interesting statistic, however not altogether a statistic that you should be basing a bet on.
To the two sides, I have the Bills rated as the best team in the NFL coming into the new season. I’m not alone, with the bookies and several NFL content creators feeling the same. I have the Bills rated a 2.5-point better team than the Rams. In my opinion, home field advantage is essentially 0 in this game, based on LA teams traditionally being overrun by opposing fans in the stands, and also that it’s week 1. Because of this, the Bills have had all off season to prepare for this game, and won’t be suffering any travel or preparation issues. So, my number for the game is Bills -2.5, which is exactly what the market says. If this ever gets to Rams +3, it’s an immediate bet for me, but for now we will just have to concentrate on the total.
I’m backing the over in this matchup for a few reasons. Both teams have tremendous offenses capable of putting 30+ points on their oppositions. I’m also wary of the Bills’ ability to stop the Rams from scoring, and in particular stopping the Rams through the air. They have no clear CB1 without White, and despite his tenacious play in pre-season, rookie Kaiir Elam isn’t yet ready to shut down a Cooper Kupp or Allen Robinson. If the Rams can score, the Bills will follow suit, and this could be a cracking first up game in LA. My prediction is a Bills 30-27 victory, and one hell of a start to the season.
Alternate Bet: Rams +3 (if it gets to $1.91 anywhere)
Prop Bet: Allen Robinson over 66.5 yards receiving - $1.93 @ Palmerbet
Over 51.5 points
$1.91 (2 Units)
