Rams vs. Green Bay Packers: Betting odds, lines and picks against the spread

For a Rams team that desperately needed a pick-me-up, an unlikely source provided exactly that. Baker Mayfield, claimed on waivers two days before Thursday’s game against the Raiders, led an eight-play, 98-yard drive to come away with a 17-16 win to snap a six-game losing streak.

When the Rams signed Mayfield, some bloggers had their Spidey senses tingling, as Sean McVay is a pretty good coach to work with high-round picks that have talent, but maybe haven’t had the best situations. Jared Goff went from completely lost in 2016 to a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018. Matthew Stafford won a Super Bowl last season. Baker has shown flashes throughout his career, but this may be a spot for him to experience a career rebirth.

Rams at Green Bay Packers (-7, 39.5)

Will that translate this week? Well, Mayfield has had more time to dig into the playbook, but he also profiles as a guy that may be better when he can just go out there and let his instincts take over rather than overthinking it. He was 22 of 35 for 230 yards with two exceptional drives and a lot of ugly play in between. He was sacked four times and the Rams managed just 4.6 yards per play against one of the league’s worst defenses.

On the positive side, the Rams shut down a Raiders offense that had been humming along. Davante Adams only had 71 yards on three catches and one of them was a ridiculous one-handed grab. The Raiders had all of 67 yards of offense in the second half. It was a huge effort from a Rams defense that had remained steady against the run, but had issues against the pass.

Neither one of these teams is having the season that was expected, but the Packers tend to play a lot of close games. They’ve fallen on the wrong side of a few and the right side of a few, but winning by margin seems like a tall ask. They won by nine last week for their second win of the season by more than a field goal, but got badly outgained and largely won by virtue of being +3 in turnover margin. It was Green Bay’s first game this season with more than three takeaways.

The Rams should keep this close on a very cold night at Lambeau Field.

Pick: Rams +7