Can Rams Enter The Playoff Picture With a Win on Sunday?
We've Included Our Browns vs Rams Prediction For Sunday's NFL Matchup
The Cleveland Browns might be 7-4, but things are starting to trend downward recently.
The Browns have won three of their last four NFL games. But they’re without starting quarterback Deshaun Watson for the rest of the year. Plus, after last week’s loss, the Browns learned that star defensive end Myles Garrett will likely miss a couple of games, if not more, due to a shoulder injury.
There was no structural damage to Garrett’s shoulder. Therefore, he’ll likely be back sooner than later. Still, he could very well miss this game against the Los Angeles Rams.
While the Browns are starting to fall flat, the Rams are picking it up. Los Angeles has added back-to-back wins and is now one game away from getting back to .500.
Matthew Stafford looks healthy at quarterback, and the Rams just activated Kyren Williams off the injured list last weekend. Meanwhile, Cooper Kupp played last weekend, although he’s dealing with an ankle injury. So, things are certainly coming together for the Rams.
Can the Rams make it three straight on Sunday?
Oddsmakers think so. The Rams are -3.5 at home, with the total sitting at 39.5.
We’ll give you our Browns vs Rams prediction below.
Browns vs Rams 
Day/Time:
Location: SoFi Stadium
Streaming: FOX
Browns vs Rams Prediction & Trends
The Cleveland Browns are 7-4 against the spread this year. However, the Browns’ latest game against the Broncos was a loss. The Browns were one-point underdogs and lost to the Broncos on the road, 29-12.
Meanwhile, the total has hit the Over and Under five teams each in 11 games. One game was a push earlier in the season against the 49ers.
Conversely, the Rams have gone 5-5-1 against the spread but have hit the Under in seven of 11 games. The Rams were expected to have a poor defense coming into the NFL season. However, the defenses have come up huge in Rams games this season.
Since 2007, the Rams and Browns have only played four games. The Rams have won each of the last three, with the last one coming on September 22, 2019. The Rams escaped the Browns, 20-13, as 4-point favorites.
Myles Garrett Got Good News
The star defensive lineman, Myles Garrett, feared the worst earlier this weekend after hurting his shoulder against the Broncos.
However, there’s no structural damage for Garrett. He escaped a serious injury. While there’s still the potential for Garrett to play on Sunday, it still seems unlikely with the amount of pain he was in during the game against the Broncos last weekend.
Garrett explained that he’s played through some bad injuries during his career and will do it again if he has to. But he sidestepped any confirmation of playing. Instead, he said he’ll do what’s best for the team and for himself.
Garrett is tied for second in the NFL with 13 sacks. He would be missed if he were sidelined for any amount of time.
Playoffs? We’re Talking About The Playoffs?
The Rams were 3-6 nine games into the season. But with two wins against the Seahawks and Cardinals, Los Angeles is back in the race for a playoff spot.
They can thank the Seahawks and Vikings for losing back-to-back weeks. That certainly helped the Rams’ case in the NFL playoff hunt.
Los Angeles is currently ninth in the NFC with a 5-6 record. But with a win and other things going their way, the Rams could be inside the playoff hunt after this week.
Cleveland’s Offense Looks Bad
The Browns watched their starting quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, get knocked out of last week’s game against the Broncos after he failed concussion protocol. P.J. Walker came in and made it even harder for the Browns in their loss to Denver.
However, with Thompson-Robinson still in concussion protocol, the Browns have to think about who will play quarterback if he’s unable to go.
With Deshaun Watson already out for the season, the Browns are in a pickle at quarterback. They can play Walker, who didn’t look very good last week, or they can try and play veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, who just recently signed in free agency last week.
Judging by how Thompson-Robinson looked, it’s likely that the Browns will need to find someone else to play quarterback.
The Rams have struggled defensively in the secondary. They’re also not great at tackling. But it’s hard to rely on a third or fourth-string quarterback against a Rams offense that added 37 points in an explosive win against the Cardinals last week.
The Rams returned Kyren Williams from the injured reserve, and he earned over 200 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams in his first game back. He’s a massive upgrade at running back. The Rams had Darrell Henderson Jr. and Royce Freeman sharing carries while Williams recovered from his injury.
The Browns could play this game without Garrett, who is still at the top of the board in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year odds. That wouldn’t help their case at all when looking at the NFL team stats when Garrett isn’t on the field.
Therefore, our Browns vs Rams prediction is that the Rams will win this game. Therefore, our NFL picks against the spread include the Rams at -3.5 on Sunday.
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