Thursday Night Football: Bills Come Out With Something to Prove
Bills versus Rams, 8:20 ET
Football is here, my friends. College football is great, but I personally love professional sports more. There is obviously more effort at the collegiate level, but for whatever reason (probably that I grew up watching it and the coverage is there for every team) I love it more. Now it is back and we start the march for teams to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. It starts with a game between two teams that might just play the last game of the season against each other.
The Bills are my team this year. I think they are going to go on a tour this season of just trying to kick the crap out of everyone after last year's heartbreak. They seem to have the same arch that the Chiefs did when they won Super Bowl. (Chiefs lost to the Patriots without touching the ball in overtime. Next season they took the Super Bowl.) Josh Allen and his team of playmakers have a challenge going against one of, if not the, best defenses in all of football. I think the key to this game is actually Devin Singletary. My guess is that the Rams will dare the Bills to run on them rather than let Josh Allen sling the ball around the field. If Singletary ends up with 75+ yards and a touchdown, I think the Bills will win this game.
On the Rams side, the biggest question mark here is Matthew Stafford. There were rumors of his injury and originally I thought he might miss this game, but looks like that won't be an issue. I also thought that Aaron Donald would miss this game because of the helmet-swinging fiasco, but again, doesn't seem to be an issue. Will there be a Super Bowl hangover? Maybe, but that might not necessarily come in the first game of the year. Five of the last six Super Bowl winners that opened the next season's first game also won that opener. This also is true of seven of the last 10 instances. While this isn't a reason to bet it, it does at least show that the first game isn't where the swoon comes. Being at home might make a difference for many teams, but the fans of Los Angeles are notorious for not really caring about the team, so the home-field advantage, even on opening night, coming off of a Super Bowl, may not be enough to make a difference.
So we have a great offense (Bills) facing a great defense (Rams). Against a strong defense (Bills) and a strong offense (Rams). We really can't ask for much more, but how do we bet it? Me personally, I am taking the Bills. I think they are the better team, the more motivated and hungry team. This is a more important statement game for them. They felt like they could've won the Super Bowl last year, and this game is their chance to "prove it" against the previous year's champs. Bills -3.
Additionally, I have a few props. We did great with these last year so let's see how we can do here this year. I think the first score for both teams will be a field goal. I just am not sure which team will do it first, so I need to take them both. At the numbers offered, this could be really bad or good, but only one can win, both can certainly lose. The Home line is +370, and Away is +500.
As far as first touchdown scorers - we were up roughly 43u last season on those plays alone - there are a couple of ways to look here. That's not a typo either. A $100 bettor, that blindly played my first touchdown scorer props and nothing else was up about $4,300. Last year, if the opponent scored first on the Bills, it was a running back. That makes me think Cam Akers is a safe choice here but I'd prefer him as the Rams first scorer at +450. Against the Rams, the opponent's first touchdown scorer was a running back in eight of 17 regular season games. I'll take Singletary to be the first touchdown scorer for the game at +1100 and for the Bills at +550.
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