NFL: 5 anomalies from the 2018 season, 5 Week 5 picks

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 30: A.J. Green #18 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates the game winning touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Rams (-7) vs. Seahawks | Over/Under: 50.5

Sunday, 4:25 pm EST / CenturyLink Field – Seattle, WA

PICK: RAMS (-7)

This one didn’t involve a lot of number crunching or analysis.

The Rams are an unstoppable force. It doesn’t even matter who they’re playing.

Excluding Week 16 of last season (when starters were resting) the Rams are 13-6 against the spread under Sean McVay. Through Week 4 of the 2018 season, they’re 4-0 against the spread, and their average margin of victory has been just under 20 points. The Rams’ offense is second overall in passing yards and seventh in rushing, making them easily the most balanced team in either conference.

Even with All-Pro cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib sidelined by injuries, the Rams’ defense still ranks top-five league-wide in opponent rushing yards, opponent passing yards and turnover margin. They’re one of the least penalized teams in the NFL, are good on special teams, have one of the best head coaches in the game in McVay and best defensive coordinators in Wade Phillips.

The Seahawks are 2-2, with their two wins coming against Dallas and Arizona. They have the 24th ranked scoring offense in the NFL and are 28th in total offense. Their defense has looked like Swiss cheese to this point and things got worse last week when Earl Thomas’ season was ended by a broken leg. As he was being carted off the field in an air cast, Thomas shot a middle finger towards the Seahawks as he was being carted off the field, presumably out of frustration with the Seahawks being unwilling to budge on his contract situation.

There have been rumblings about tensions and conflict in the Seahawks’ locker room for the past two seasons several players, not just in Seattle but around the league, have been vocal with their support of Thomas during his holdout. This situation probably doesn’t help things.

I’ll be taking the Rams to cover on a weekly basis for the rest of this season or until they give me a reason not to. If I have another pick involving Seattle this season, it’s pretty safe to assume I’ll be picking against them.

Seven points almost sound too good to be true. That’s the only thing I don’t like about this game.

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