{"id":24860,"date":"2012-09-08T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2012-09-08T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=24860"},"modified":"2012-09-07T19:58:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-08T00:58:22","slug":"nfl-week-1-predictions-st-louis-rams-vs-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/nfl-week-1-predictions-st-louis-rams-vs-detroit-lions-24860\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 1 Predictions: St. Louis Rams vs. Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Louis Rams at Detroit Lions
\nSunday, 9\/9\/12, 1:00 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX
\nOpening Point Spread:\u00a0 Detroit -9
\nCurrent Betting Line:\u00a0 Detroit -7.5
\nOpening Total:\u00a0 46.5
\nCurrent Total:\u00a0 46
\nOdds Courtesy of Bookmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Detroit Lions are looking to build off last year’s run into the playoffs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St. Louis is set to begin the Jeff Fisher era after compiling a terrible 15-65 record over the last five seasons, as he returns to the NFL after taking a one-year absence from the sidelines after spending more than a decade with the Tennessee Titans.\u00a0 \u201cI think we\u2019re in a good spot right now,\u201d commented Fisher this week.\u00a0 \u201cI think this is a team that\u2019s going to be fun to watch.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly a rebuilding year, with 17 rookies and 15 free agent additions on the 53-man roster.\u00a0 St. Louis is 3-6 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points the last two years, with the \u201cunder\u201d going 8-2 in that situation.<\/p>\n

The Rams offense can only go up after a horrific 2011 campaign, finishing last in the league in scoring just 12.1 points per game.\u00a0 St. Louis will certainly look to get the ball into the hands of star running back Steven Jackson, who has reached the 1,000-yard mark in seven consecutive seasons.\u00a0 Winning this game on the ground is the team\u2019s best opportunity, considering its opponent doesn\u2019t have much of an attack in that regard.<\/p>\n

Detroit has really turned things around under head coach Jim Schwartz, who will be facing his mentor on the other sideline, as he spent 10 seasons under Fisher as a defensive assistant, linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s meaningful for him,\u201d commented Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch.\u00a0 The Lions are coming off their first appearance in the NFL playoffs since the 1999 campaign, suffering a 45-28 setback to the New Orleans Saints on the road.\u00a0 Detroit is 11-5 ATS at home the last two seasons, while the \u201cover\u201d is 9-7 in those contests.<\/p>\n

The Lions have one of the more explosive offenses in the league, with wide receiver Calvin Johnson and quarterback Matthew Stafford.\u00a0 Detroit will rely heavily on this duo due to lacking any sort of a rushing attack, averaging just 92.5 yards per game on the ground last year.\u00a0 On the other side of the ball, the defense will look to get after Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who was sacked 9.3 percent of the time he dropped back to pass last year.<\/p>\n

Sports bettors will likely back the Rams due to their ability to run the football, while the Lions are just 4-4 ATS as favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on a winning season and let the NFL handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash.\u00a0 Long term packages are available now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Louis Rams at Detroit Lions Sunday, 9\/9\/12, 1:00 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX Opening Point Spread:\u00a0 Detroit -9 Current Betting Line:\u00a0 Detroit -7.5 Opening Total:\u00a0 46.5 Current Total:\u00a0 46 Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker St. Louis is set to begin the Jeff Fisher era after compiling a terrible 15-65 record over the last five seasons, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,132],"tags":[2753,542,6978,624,616,623,863,363],"class_list":["post-24860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nfl-handicapping","tag-calvin-johnson","tag-detroit-lions","tag-jeff-fisher","tag-jim-schwartz","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-sam-bradford","tag-st-louis-rams","tag-steven-jackson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24860"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24862,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24860\/revisions\/24862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}