NFL Football
2012-09-16 - Washington Redskins at St Louis Rams
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NFL Week 2
Sunday 16 September 2012 - Kick Off 4:05pm ET
9:05pm (British Time)
Preview
The Washington Redskins (1-0) will feel very relevant this week after causing one of the surprises of Week 1 by going into the Louisiana Superdome and hammering the New Orleans Saints. They will want to back that up with another win against a Conference rival as they visit the St Louis Rams (0-1).
You don't want to have an over-reaction to one performance, but the debut of Robert Griffin III was special last week as he pretty much had the perfect game. It looks like he won't have Pierre Garcon to throw to this week, but that might not be a big issue for him against this St Louis Rams Defense.
RG3 was well protected for the most part and his scrambling ability means he can move out of the pocket and has shown that he is capable of transferring his ability from college to the pro ranks by throwing effectively on the run. St Louis gave up huge yards through the air against Detroit last week, even though they did pick the ball off 3 times. Much of that was down to the familiarity that Jeff Fisher had with the Detroit Offense, and that won't be the case this week.
While RG3 rightly received the attention, Alfred Morris was another rookie that made his debut last week for the Redskins and he should be able to move the ball effectively on the ground for a second week in a row. That should slow down the pass rush and also leave his Quarter Back in short and manageable situations to move the chains in this one.
Sam Bradford was sacked 4 times last week and it figures to be another tough week for the former Number 1 Pick in the Draft. He was efficient when he got the ball out of his hands for a high completion rate, but he didn't manage to get over 200 yards through the air and he might have another tough time getting time in the pocket against this Washington pass rush.
The Offensive Line suffered another injury with Scott Wells going down and that means the Rams have to get Steven Jackson going on the ground if they are to avoid leaving Bradford for the pass rush to take aim at.
However, Jackson struggled to find holes last week against Detroit and potentially has a tougher test against the Redskins on that front after they limited New Orleans to 3.2 yards per carry last week.
Head to Head
Washington won 17-10 here last season to cover the spread, although the last 6 games between the two have been split 3-3.
In that time, it is the Rams that are leading the way 4-2 against the spread.
Prediction
I am going to back the Washington Redskins to move to 2-0 and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, they do seem to have the favourable match-up on both sides of the ball in this one and I think RG3 makes more plays than Sam Bradford.
Second, how many times have we seen a player punish a team that has passed up on him in the Draft? Even though RG3 is really happy in Washington, do you think he might want to showcase to the home fans why they got so many Draft Picks for him in the first place?
Third, St Louis did push Detroit all the way last week, but I think their 'inside knowledge' helped them there and that won't be the case this week.
The Pick :
St Louis Rams 13-20 Washington Redskins
