GAME OF THE YEAR
Matt Ruhle's reign mercifully came to an end after going 11-27 in nearly 2 1/2 years and Steve Wilks takes over on an interim basis. Wilks is a former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, but more importantly a new coach has proven to be a good betting proposition in his first game as the players rally around him and want to impress the new guy along with the feeling that things have to get better. Los Angeles clearly is experiencing a Super Bowl hangover and has looked no better than an average team this season. The defense has not created a turnover in three games, the offensive line is a mess and Matthew Stafford continues to be under duress and was sacked five times in Sunday's loss against Dallas plus he lost two fumbles and threw an interception. The Rams are #26 in total yards while averaging only 16.0 points. The oft-injured Christian McCaffrey had 104 yards of offense for Carolina against San Francisco amid trade rumors. Baker Mayfield is dealing with a high-ankle sprain, which would give PJ Walker the start if the struggling Mayfield can't play and that could be another thing in the Panthers' favor. Carolina is 7-2 ATS its past nine games after a double-digit home loss and Los Angeles is 3-9 ATS its past 12 versus teams with losing records and 1-6 ATS its past seven games overall. The Rams have gone UNDER four of their five games this season and the Panthers have stayed UNDER three of their past four. The Panthers are 7-2 UNDER after allowing at least 30 points their previous game and the Rams have stayed UNDER 20 of 27 home games and they are 20-8-1 UNDER in October. Take the Panthers ATS as my NFL ATS GAME OF THE YEAR Max Play and the UNDER as a Max Play.
