During his time leading the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers has never been an underdog as big as his team is on the opening NFL betting lines. The line hit the board at BookMaker.eu with the Los Angeles Rams as a 9.5-point favorite for the Week 8 showdown between NFC heavyweights. The Rams have been the most dominant team in the NFL this season, extending their winning streak to seven games with a thrashing of division rival San Francisco last week, covering the line as an 8-point favorite. The Rams have been favored by at least 6.5-points in every game this season and own a 4-3 ATS record.
Watch this Week 8 regular season matchup live on Sunday, October 28, 2018, at 4:25 p.m. ET at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Green Bay Packers +9.5
Los Angeles Rams -9.5
Over/Under 56
The Packers are coming off their bye and they certainly could use all the time they can get to prepare for the best team in the league. Getting healthy was a main point of emphasis and the Pack is hopeful to have some of its weapons on the offensive side of the football back in place. The break came at a good time with tackles Bryan Bulaga and Jason Spriggs getting in playing shape. Also, Rodgers and the offense would benefit greatly from the return of receivers Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison.
The biggest health issue is that of Rodgers, who could be playing without the knee brace he’s been sporting since getting injured in the season opener. Rodgers would like to shelve the brace and will if the team’s medical personnel give him the OK. It’s not like the contraption has been a distraction. We saw Rodgers pull another Houdini his last time out, leading the Packers to a come from behind victory over the Niners by throwing for 425 yards.
While Rodgers has been saddled with the bulky brace, it hasn’t affected his ability to throw the football. He threw 46 passes against San Francisco, the fifth game in a row he’s attempted at least 40 passes. That’s something that has never happened before with AR’s longest streak of consecutive 40-plus pass attempt games at three. A lot of that had to do with his team playing from behind and Rodgers isn’t afraid to launch the ball downfield. Also, the running game hasn’t been a huge factor.
And if the Packers are going to keep up with the Rams, they will need to throw the ball – a lot. That makes taking the over on Rodgers’ passing attempts on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu a winning play. As good as the Rams are defensively, they have been susceptible to the passing game. Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins all had success in the yardage department, and we can put Rodgers up on this list, which makes him a near lock to exceed his total.
Look for Todd Gurley to carry the load when the Rams have the football. Gurley didn’t have his most productive day against the Niners, but he sat most of the final quarter with the outcome well in hand, relinquishing duties to Malcolm Brown to rest up for this showdown. Still, Gurley amassed 63 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns while catching four balls for 23 yards and another score. He took over as the NFL’s rushing leader and his 11 touchdowns give him a big edge in that department.
Gurley makes scoring touchdowns look easy. He’s rushed for seven scores in the last three games, a number that would tie James Conner for the second-most in the league. Gurley also has three touchdown receptions and is a good bet to score the games first points on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu.
Packers at Rams Live Betting
It’s probably not a good idea to give Rodgers any added motivation and oddsmakers may have done that by pegging the Packers as 9.5-point dogs on the opening NFL betting line. That’s a lot of points to be giving one of the best quarterbacks of all-time, and a guy who has proven to be the comeback king. If picking the Bears apart on shaky knee in the opener wasn’t enough, there was AR’s last outing when he led the Pack to 10 points in the final two minutes to take down the Niners. The Packers are never out of a game and they’ve been good coming off a bye with a 7-2 SU and 6-2-1 ATS record since 2009. If the Packers fall behind early, better odds will be available on the live betting platform at BookMaker.eu.
NFL Betting Odds
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