Monday Night Football Preview
Rams at Buccaneers -4.5 I Over/Under 48
Week 11 of Monday Night Football brings a matchup with the Rams traveling to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. This is a unique matchup as both teams are more than adequate on offense, but both teams are good on defense as well. It’s going to be great to see how this one plays out. All spread and salary information is taken from DraftKings.
HOW THE RAMS WIN
The Rams have been solid on defense this season, but their offense has struggled on more than a few occasions. Jared Goff has been inconsistent at best and needs to play better if the Rams want to make a run this year. The Bucs are more than capable of making games difficult for opposing quarterbacks with their pass rush. The Rams have one of the best pass defenses in the league and will have their hands full with the Bucs receivers.
HOW THE BUCS WIN
The Bucs offense needs to be smart with the football and not force anything. The Rams have one of the best secondaries in the league and can shut down any team in the league. Brady can’t force anything and take his shots when he gets them. Defensively they need to get after Goff; he’s shown in multiple games this year he doesn’t handle pressure well.
QUARTERBACK
Jared Goff ($9,800)
After failing to take advantage of an excellent matchup last week against the Seahawks, Jared Goff is up against a much tougher unit with the Bucs. The Bucs are allowing 245 yards a game and have given up 17 touchdowns on the year. Goff has five multi-touchdown games on the year but also has two games without throwing any. He’s going to have to be smart with the football as the Bucs can bring the heat with the pass rush.
Tom Brady ($11,000)
Even with Tom Brady at the helm, this Bucs offense will have to be as close to perfect as possible in the passing game. The Rams are allowing 221 yards per game and have surrendered a league-best only nine touchdowns. Brady has returned to form this year, having thrown 23 touchdowns and just seven interceptions thus far. He’s got his work cut out for him this week, but he always has a chance to put together a good outing.
RUNNING BACKS
Darrell Henderson ($5,800), Malcolm Brown ($5,400), Cam Akers ($2,800)
This backfield is just as confusing now as it was back in week two. Brown and Henderson continue to see the most action, but Akers is still in the mix. It’s not worth trying to guess who will have the hot hand in this one as the Bucs are stout against the run and allow just 54.7 rushing yards per game. Combined, the Rams running backs have only one game with over 100 rushing yards.
Ronald Jones ($8,800), Leonard Fournette ($4,400)
The Fournette signing doesn’t seem to be panning out at this point. Since week six, 52 rushing yards is his high watermark, and he hasn’t found the end zone. Ronald Jones meanwhile awoke from his slumber last week going for 192 yards on the ground, including a 98-yard scamper. The Rams allow 78 rushing yards per game and have given up only four rushing scores on the year. Looking at the snap counts over the last three games, the Bucs appear to be going with a hot-hand approach. Jones is doing more with his touches than Fournette at this point and would be the better play.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Cooper Kupp ($9,200), Robert Woods ($8,200), Josh Reynolds ($6,800)
This is one of the better receiving corps in the league; unfortunately, they’re tied to the production of Jared Goff. Kupp is the target hog out of this group with 27 targets in his last two games, while Reynolds has seen an uptick in production the past two weeks with 19 targets. The odd man out, for now, is Woods with only 14 targets the previous two games. The Bucs allow 148 yards per game to opposing receivers and have given up nine touchdowns on the year. Kupp has a leg up on the other two and once again has the potential to lead the team in targets.
Mike Evans ($9,000), Chris Godwin ($8,400), Antonio Brown ($7,800)
There simply aren’t enough balls to go around for this trio to stay happy. Antonio Brown saw an increase in targets last week, while Evans saw double-digit targets. It was nice to see Evans get 11 targets as he has become touchdown dependent this year. Godwin is playing with a surgically repaired finger, but it doesn’t seem to be hindering him for the moment. Any one of these guys can go off in any matchup, but it may be tough this week. The Rams allow a stingy 126 yards to opposing receivers and have given up just four touchdowns on the year. There is a lot of talent in this receiving group; trying to pick which one will go off against this secondary is no easy task.
TIGHT END
Tyler Higbee ($4,800)
Higbee is starting to come to life here in the home stretch as he has over 50 yards in two of the last three games. The Bucs have been tight end friendly this year, allowing 493 yards and six scores on the year. Higbee is in play this week with this matchup.
Rob Gronkowski ($6,200)
It appears Gronk has returned to form. He was back in the end zone last week and gets a neutral matchup this week against the Rams. The Rams have given up 458 yards and four scores to the position on the year. Brady may look to Gronk in this one if the Rams stifle the passing game on the outside.
PICK
Bucs -4.5 I Under 48
LINEUP
- Antonio Brown- Captain
- Ronald Jones
- Leonard Fournette
- Cooper Kupp
- Jared Goff
- Tyler Higbee
