St. Louis at Las Vegas

This game ought to be telling. Both of these teams looked forward to this season with renewed hopes of things heading in a better direction. Week one showed Oakland to be in pretty much the same place we have seen them for several years - at the short end of a lopsided score, this one 38-13. The Rams came up short vs. Arizona, but there was more to be hopeful for. Despite the mistakes by Sam Bradford, he was able to move the chains and get the ball in the endzone. For a rookie making his first NFL start, he did just fine. The final five games of last season saw the Rams’ offense generate no more than 15 first downs. But with Bradford under center, despite the three turnovers, they generated 20. The defense played very well, holding Arizona out of the end zone all but twice even though they had a few short fields. The Raiders never show up for the poor teams. They are good for a couple of crazy surprises each year (they beat Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati last year), but they don't get it done vs. weaker teams. They lost to Cleveland, Washington and Kansas City in 2009, teams that combined for 11 total wins. They are just 16-38-1 ATS playing a team with a losing record. I believe the Rams to be the better team in this game and I'm on them with the points. I also like the UNDER here. Neither of these offenses is spectacular right now and both need defense to win. Both teams put up 13 points in their opener and both are still getting used to new quarterbacks. The last eight times the Raiders ahve played a team with a losing record, the UNDER has hit seven times. Under Tom Cable, the Raiders are 13-5 UNDER after a loss. The Rams have played to a 15-6 mark to the UNDER in their last 21 played on grass. I like St. Louis and the UNDER in this one.