Rams at Chargers

This game had so much potential when the schedule first came out. A battle for Los Angeles between two teams with playoff aspirations? Where do I sign up!

Of course, we know what has happened since then. The Rams have been decimated by injuries, losing Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford, and Allen Robinson for the year. They’ve gone just 5-10 this season, putting them on pace for one of the worst seasons in history for a defending Super Bowl champ. The worst full-season record for any defending champ is 6-10 for the 1999 Denver Broncos, who had to replace Hall of Famer John Elway at quarterback. The Rams brought back basically their entire roster from last year, so this season can only be described as a disaster.

At one point, things weren’t looking great for the Chargers either. They were just 5-5 after losing to the Chiefs in Week 11, but they’ve bounced back by winning four of their past five games. They managed to clinch a postseason spot with their win over the Colts on Monday Night Football, so it will be interesting to see how the team approaches the final two weeks. The Chargers have no chance of winning the division, so they could theoretically rest some players with nothing to play for.

The Rams obviously don’t have much to play for either, but they have no incentive to tank after trading away all their draft picks. Additionally, Baker Mayfield has plenty to prove as the team’s new quarterback. He engineered a game-winning 98-yard touchdown drive in his first game with the team, which came just two days after being claimed off waivers. He was unable to build off that performance the following week, but the Rams rolled up a ridiculous 51 points against a stout Broncos defense in Week 16.

The Rams got plenty of help in that contest – Denver turned it over four times, including a pick-six – but it was still an encouraging showing for the former No. 1 overall pick. He completed 24 of 28 passes for 230 yards and two scores, which served as a reminder of how good he was during his rookie year. With an offensive guru at head coach in Sean McVay, perhaps Mayfield can rewrite his narrative over the final few weeks of the year.

The early betting activity clearly favors the Rams. The lookahead line on this game was Chargers -8.0, and it got to Chargers -8.5 on Christmas. Since then, it’s been all Rams, pushing the current number to just 6.5. I’m not sure how much value is left with the Rams at that number, but they appear to be the correct side in this showdown.