Los Angeles Rams vs Indianapolis Colts Prediction, Pick and Preview, September 19 (9/19): NFL Week 2

Los Angeles Rams vs Indianapolis Colts Prediction, Pick and Preview, September 19 (9/19): NFL Week 2

  • Ajay
  • Ajay
  • Sep 17, 2021, 2:19:13 AM

Credit: photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

 
Odds
Time 1:00 p.m. EST
Rams money line -192
Rams spread -3.5
Colts money line +165
Colts spread 3.5 
Over / under 48.5

 

2020 season stats
  Rams Colts
Record 1-0 0-1
Road / home record 0-0 0-1
Points per game 34.0 16.0
Points allowed per game 14.0 28.0
Pass yard per game 312 223
Rush yards per game 74 113
Total yards per game 386 336
Total yards allowed per game 322 381
Turnover ratio +2 0

 

Preview

The Los Angeles Rams are on the road in their second game of the season as they travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the Colts who are coming off of a humbling week 1 loss to the Seahawks.  It's the second home game in a row for the Colts who will need a better showing this week if they're to keep pace in the division.  Luckily for them, the Texans are the only team in their division to open the season with a win.  The Rams' victory was enough to lift them to the top spot in the NFC West, the only NFC division where all teams went 4-0 in week 1.  This will be a tough test for the Colts.

Offensive matchup

Matthew Stafford seemed to slot seamlessly into the Rams offense and in week 1 against the Bears he picked apart their defense mainly through star-wideout Cooper Kupp with whom he connected on a broken coverage in the Bears defense for a 57-yard TD.  Kupp ended with 108 yards and 1 TD from 7 catches on 10 targets. Stafford also seemed to link well with sophomore receiver Van Jefferson who ended with 80 yards of his own and the tight end Tyler Higbee.  The Rams running game was quiet.  Darrell Henderson was their leading rusher with 70 yards of 16 carries and he also added another 17 yards through the air from one reception.  It still remains to be seen how the Rams will utilize their backfield options since they're without two-thirds of their backfield trio - with Akers out for the season and Brown now in Miami - from 2020.  Former Patriot rusher Sony Michel didn't play much of a part in the offense in week 1.

The Colts with Carson Wentz couldn't get their offense into gear against the Seahawks only managing to put 16 points on the board in week 1.  Statistically, Wentz was efficient completing 25 5of 38 passing attempts for 2 TDs and ran 4 times for another 33 yards.  However, he was sacked 3 times and his longest completion was 24 yards.  The 2020 second-round pick Jonathan Taylor has emerged as not just the team's leading rusher, but their main offensive weapon altogether.  Taylor led the team in carries and had the second-most targets behind secondary running back Nyheim Hines.  Taylor ended with 56 yards off 17 carries - only 3.3 yards per carry - and 60 yards off 6 receptions.  The wide playmakers Zach Pascal, Michael Pittman and Jack Doyle failed to make an impact in the game and the team is still without their number one receiver T.Y. Hilton who is out after undergoing neck surgery. 

Defensive matchup

Jalen Ramsey was his usual self keeping Allen Robinson II quiet for the majority of the game against the Bears.  Contrarily, the Rams' other defensive juggernaut Aaron Donald was kept quiet by the Bears' offensive line ending with 1 tackle and 1 sack each and two assisted tackles.  Despite losing their Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley in the offseason after he accepted the Head Coaching job at the Chargers, the Rams still started off the season in an impressive fashion defensively.  The loss of Michael Brockers at defensive end was also a huge one on the field as well as in the locker room, but the Rams have been able to hit the ground running in 2021.

The Colts' secondary seemed to struggle at times during the Week 1 game against Seattle.  On two occasions they were gashed by the combination of Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett, both times resulting in TDs.  They also failed to contain Chris Carson whose 16 carries resulted in 91 yards at an average of 5.7 yards per carry.  the defensive line did manage to get pressure on Wilson at times with DeForest Buckner ending with one sack as well as corner Kenny Moore.  Safety Khari Wilis had 0.5 sacks and also led the team with 6 tackles.  Darius Leonard added 5 tackles but is now carrying an ankle-related injury designation.  It's not yet known if that is just a precautionary measure.  He did carry one before the start of the season but ended up playing the entire game against the Seahawks.  Leonard will definitely be needed if the Colts defense is to contain Matt Stafford and the Rams' offense.

Prediction

The Colts still seem to be trying to sort themselves out on both sides of the ball.  They did get a few drives going against Seattle that showed some promise but in the end, it amounted to only 16 points against a team with a rebuilding defense.  The Rams are more of a finished product defensively and they haven't seemed to have lost a step since bringing in Stafford for Goff.  LA just has too much for an insipid Colts team.

PICK: Rams (-192)

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