What we know for sure is that some team out of the National Football Conference is going to have an opportunity to win Super Bowl LVI on February 6th at SoFi Stadium. What is a more compelling question is who that team will be?
Two prime prospects meet on Sunday at Lambeau Field when the Green Bay Packers host the Los Angeles Rams. The Packers have lost three games this year and own a matching point spread record of 8-3, while winning all four of their home games both straight up and against the point spread.
The Rams play out of the talented NFC West Division, a grouping of four teams that surprisingly have better road records than home marks. The Rams are 3-2 on their home field, while winning five of six on the road. The other NFC West squads included the Arizona Cardinals, who are 3-2 at home and 6-0 on the road, San Francisco 49ers, 1-4 at home and 4-1 on the road and Seattle Seahawks, 1-4 at home and 2-3 on the road.
While the Packers and Rams are both legitimate Super Bowl contenders, with the Rams looking to be the second in history and second in consecutive years to host the Super Bowl on their field, they are both coming off losing efforts. The Packers were upset in Minnesota last Sunday while the Rams dropped a second straight game two weeks ago in San Francisco before having their bye week.
The Rams, in fact, are looking for their first win since they beat the Houston Texans on Halloween in Houston. Before losing to San Francisco on Monday night two weeks ago, the Rams were handed a Sunday night home defeat by the Tennessee Titans.
The biggest difference between the Rams and Packers this week is that while both hold solid chances for playoff berths, Green Bay currently owns a more than two game bulge in their division race while being the only team in the NFC North Division with a winning record. The Rams, conversely, are not atop their division race and their three loss season leaves them more than a game behind AFC West leading Arizona.
In other words, the Rams need this week’s game more than the Packers.
Are they good enough to get it?
They better be, because Los Angeles has plowed everything into this season as their year to win it all on their home field. Their off-season trade that brought Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles included sending their starting quarterback, Jared Goff, and three high draft choices to Detroit. A few weeks ago, they sent away two more future building draft choices to the Denver Broncos to acquire Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller.
Stafford is familiar with Lambeau Field; he played one game every year of his dozen seasons in the NFL as a member of the Lions. Now he shows up with a much better team around him and is poised to gain revenge for a lifetime mark of 3-9 on the Packers home field which includes a losing point spread record of 5-7.
This should be a much better trip to Green Bay for Stafford than most of his years with the Lions. In those games, Stafford was routinely overmatched, on Sunday, it is an even match on talent and the Rams get a huge edge based on need and the likelihood of ending their two game losing streak.
Qoxhi Picks: Los Angeles Rams (pk) over Green Bay Packers