It’s almost time for the NFL season to get underway! Two more weeks of preseason, two more weeks of tweaking things behind the scenes, preparing for the 9th of September, when the LA Rams host the Buffalo Bills to kick off the 2022-23 NFL season, the wait is almost over! But with that opening fixture just around the corner, what can we expect from both of the teams involved? Who takes the first win of the season? That is exactly what we’re hoping to find out today!
First up we’ll take a look at the hosts, the LA Rams. What will they be looking to bring to the table? It goes without saying that, as the hosts of the opening fixture of the season, they’ll be looking to reward their fans with a win to set them off on the right foot, but do they have what it takes to get past Buffalo? Both teams had pretty good 2021-22 seasons, both making the playoffs after good regular seasons, Buffalo going 11-6 and the Rams going 12-5. Buffalo unfortunately only made it to the Divisional playoffs, whereas the Rams of course went on to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy!
Have the Rams got what it takes to go back to back? To do so they’ll need to kick straight into top gear in this game, so let’s take a look at what they’ve done since winning the Superbowl back in February. It’s worth noting that, given it’s their first home game of the season, they will likely be hanging a banner to show off their 2022 Super Bowl success, so you would have to assume the atmosphere in the SoFi Stadium will be absolutely electric. Not only that but home-field advantage is a real thing.
The Rams ended up losing a few important players like Von Miller, Andrew Whitworth, and Robert Woods. But on the other side of the coin, Cooper Kupp signed a new 3-year deal so he will likely be the main target for Stafford who will still be the starting quarterback, but there’s also Robert Woods and Van Jefferson who can add a different element to the Rams attack, something that the Bills and everyone else will have to look out for.
But what do the Bills have to do to get past the Rams? The Bills have gone from a team that couldn’t get to the playoffs between 2000-2016 to become a regular feature, led by new star quarterback Josh Allen. Allen is one of the more interesting players in the entire NFL this season and the actual favorite to be named MVP this season, but even if you ignore his talent, the Bills are actually a pretty solid team from back to front.
Statistically, the Bills’ defense is one of the more formidable in the league. They were the top-ranked last season in points and top-ranked in yards allowed and after some pretty solid work in the draft over the last 2 years, they’re looking to be much better moving forward, one can only imagine what the likes of Kaiir Elam, who is the FOURTH straight defensive player that the Bills have used with their first-round pick after Gregory Rousseau in the 2021 draft, can bring to this already outstanding defense.
Other changes to the Bills that Sean McDermott will be hoping can add another dimension to the team for this season include former Rams guard Rodger Saffold, running back James Cook, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, and tight end O.J Howard showing that the Bills have strengthened all over the field and honestly could be a real problem for the reigning champions.
Time to take a look at what the experts are thinking before game week one, we’ll take a look at odds for the first game of the season (Bills @ Rams), and we’ll take a look at some odds for a few of the “bigger” games of the opening week as well as checking out who the favorites are to win it all and some individual honors this season.
First up, odds on the Bills/Rams game! So, looking at the Moneyline first up, you’ve actually got the Bills as favorites for this game at around 20/27, so if you’re looking to make the most of caesars sportsbook NY offers to get your season off to a good start, there’s your first potential bet. Then there’s the Buccaneers at the Cowboys, the Moneyline on this one is a little closer, the Buccaneers are the favorites at 4/5 with the Cowboys close second at 21/20.
Up next, Raiders at the Chargers, the AFC West is looking pretty competitive this year, so who do the bookies favor here? Well at a mere 20/37 it seems they’re calling this one a gimmie for the Chargers with the Raiders coming in at 33/20. Time to look at the odds on who will take it all this season! The favorites, quite relevant to this piece actually, are the Bills at 6/1, the experts clearly think they’ve done enough to push on and go all the way this season, and the Rams are 4th favorites at 10/1. Another team we’ve also mentioned here, the Buccaneers are currently in 2nd place at 7/1.
It seems the reason the Bills are the favorites to take home the trophy at the end of the season, is mainly down to Josh Allen. Given the Bills quarterback is currently 13/2 favorite to take home this season’s MVP award! With Patrick Mahomes, the KC Chiefs quarterback coming in a close second, if you want to put a bit on him you’ll be looking at getting 15/2, very tight at the top! If you wanted to get spicy with it and put an Allen to win MVP and Buffalo to win the Super Bowl as a parlay, you’d be looking at some tidy 45/1 odds on that!
So, the first game of the season. Have Buffalo done enough to take their season a step further? Or have the Rams got what it takes to go back to back? Both teams have shuffled things up a little bit. But for me, personally, I think home-field advantage and the whole hanging of the banner thing at the SoFi will play a massive part in this game and, given it’s the VERY FIRST game of the season, I think the Rams will be taking this one. I think if this game was game 4 or 5 it might be the other way around, however.
Let’s get a discussion going, how have you guys been enjoying pre-season so far? Who does YOUR team play in the opening game week? Will your team make the playoffs? If they make it there, do you think they have what it takes to take home the glory? If not, who do you think wins the Superbowl? Outside of all that, given the season starts very soon, is there anybody you wish your team would trade away OR trade for? Let us know, and get in touch! We would love to hear your opinions on how you think this season will go!
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