Titans vs. Rams: NFL Week 9 betting odds, preview, and pick
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire)
November 2nd, 2021
Football fans are in for a treat this Sunday night as the Tennessee Titans visit the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. The Titans currently stand alone as the winningest team in the AFC, while the Rams are tied with the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers as the winningest team in the NFC.
The first player in the SB era to have 800+ rec yards and 9+ rec TD in his team's first 7 games of a season?@CooperKupp's been SCARY good. 👻 #RamsHouse
— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2021
📺: #LARvsHOU -- Sunday 1pm ET on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/sgVllljKLP
Let’s dive into this highly-anticipated showdown and see which side bettors should be landing on here.
Tennessee Titans (6-2) at Los Angeles Rams (7-1), 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
The already-rich Rams get richer
The red-hot Rams made a puzzling move last week when they traded second-leading tackler Kenny Young to the Denver Broncos last week in what appeared to be a salary dump. But the gambit makes sense in hindsight, as they followed it up with the acquisition of eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller.
Another great is coming to LA.
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 1, 2021
Let's get after it, @VonMiller. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GKgTnTUQ4X
Pairing Miller with Aaron Donald and the rest of the tenacious Rams pass rush that currently paces the NFL in sacks (25) will give the rest of the league nightmares. It all starts on Sunday against Tennessee, which has allowed the fifth-most sacks in football (24) through Week 8.
L.A.’s offense is nothing to overlook either. Wide-out Cooper Kupp – the current league leader in both receiving yards (924) and touchdowns (10) – has blossomed into a superstar in quarterback Matt Stafford’s first year under center outside of Detroit.
Can the Titans be toppled without Henry?
The Titans have won four in a row and six of their last seven, but they’ll be hard-pressed to find the win column this week without star running back Derrick Henry.
The NFL’s leading rusher (937 yards, 10 touchdowns) suffered a foot injury that will require surgery in his club’s Week 8 win over the division-rival Colts. Henry is outpacing the league by a wide margin in carries (219 to 137 from runner-up Joe Mixon), so his absence will require a drastic change in head coach Mike Vrabel’s weekly gameplan.
From NFL Now: #Titans RB Derrick Henry will have foot surgery tomorrow morning and be out 6-10 weeks. Six would be quite fast, eight is more likely. Either way, Tennessee expects Henry back this season. pic.twitter.com/UzoJqNlcFF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 1, 2021
The Titans will either roll with journeyman Jeremy McNichols or 36-year-old stalwart Adrian Peterson as their primary running back in Week 9. The former has 246 yards over 56 career rush attempts in parts of five seasons with four different clubs, while the latter remained unsigned to this point for a reason.
Titans vs. Rams injury report
| Tennessee Titans | Los Angeles Rams |
|---|
Derrick Henry: Out (foot) | Matt Stafford: Questionable (back) |
Julio Jones: Questionable (hamstring) | Robert Woods: Questionable (foot) |
Nate Davis: Questionable (concussion) | Von Miller: Questionable (ankle) |
Jeffery Simmons: Questionable (ankle) | Sebastian Joseph-Day: Questionable (chest) |
Bud Dupree: Questionable (knee) |
Titans and Rams betting trends
- The Titans are 4-0 ATS in their last four games as an underdog
- The Rams are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games following an ATS loss
- The Over is 10-1 in the Titans’ last 11 road games
- The Under is 13-3 in the Rams’ last 16 games as a home favorite
The verdict
Henry is perhaps the one running back that impacts the point spread in an NFL game, since Tennessee’s offense sinks or swims depending on his production. Ryan Tannehill is not the type of quarterback that can carry a team on his back, so lay the points with the Rams.
Score prediction: Rams 31, Titans 20