A 2-4 team walking into Las Vegas as the favorite is the kind of line that makes a person read it twice. The Los Angeles Rams have lost two straight and three of their last four, and the sportsbooks still favor them over the Raiders Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
Las Vegas (3-3) has a fair case for feeling disrespected. They have scored 162 points and allowed 162 through six games, which beats the Rams' minus-3 point differential, and two of the three losses in their current skid came by three points apiece.
The books still favor the Rams, and the Raiders open as underdogs for the sixth straight week, one week after they opened as home underdogs to the Bills.
Raiders vs. Rams opening odds for Week 7
BetMGM has the Rams as 4.5-point favorites, with Los Angeles at -220 on the money line and
the Raiders at +180. The over-under sits at 47.5 points, six fewer than the total for last week's shootout with the Bills.
FanDuel opened the Rams at 5.5 points, so the number has started drifting toward Las Vegas. Bettors who follow the Raiders have good reason to like that trend, since the Raiders are 5-1 against the spread this season. The only miss came in the 45-17 loss in New England, and they have covered in all three home games.
The Rams are limping into Allegiant Stadium
The Rams' injury reportexplains a big part of their slide. Davante Adams is expected to miss six to 10 weeks with a ruptured hamstring, defensive lineman Kobie Turner is headed to injured reserve, and Myles Garrett is still on IR after knee surgery following the season opener. Sean McVay said Monday that the Rams won't open Garrett's return window this week.
Kicker Blake Grupe also went on injured reserve after hurting his knee on a kickoff in Sunday's 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and cornerback Trent McDuffie missed that game with a groin injury. Matthew Stafford, now 38, will have to lean even harder on Puka Nacua with Adams out.
"These are adverse moments and we've got to be able to push through and do hard things," McVay said during Monday's news conference, "and that's exactly what this situation entails."
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders open as home underdogs to 2-4 Rams despite strong 5-1 ATS mark
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