Rams Still Favored to Win NFC West Despite Trailing Undefeated 49ers

• The Los Angeles Rams were smoked 55-40 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
• The San Francisco 49ers are 3-0 while the Seattle Seahawks are 3-1.
• Jared Goff’s performance was concerning, but this should serve as a wake up call

While the Los Angeles Rams are now 3-1, they haven’t looked anything like the team that went 13-3 last season.

They took an embarrassing loss on the chin on Sunday when they gave up 55 points in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although they were able to put up 40 of their own, Jared Goff threw multiple interceptions and the secondary was picked apart by Jameis Winston all afternoon.

With the San Francisco 49ers sitting at 3-0 after their bye week in the division, the Rams will have a legitimate challenger to their NFC West crown, although they are still the odds-on favorite to win the division.

Odds to Win NFC West

*Odds taken 09/30/19 .

Rams Out of Sync

There’s no question that the Buccaneers might be one of the most unpredictable teams in the NFL. A week after blowing an 18-point, second-half lead at home to the New York Giants, the Bucs came out and flattened the Rams. Tampa Bay was anywhere between a nine to 11 point underdog ahead of the game.

There were so many red flags with the Rams that it’s hard to know where to start. They had four turnovers, 13 penalties for 106 yards and gave up 464 yards of offense to Jameis Winston and the Bucs. It’s hard to believe.

Of greater concern is the play of quarterback Jared Goff, who has really fallen off since the halfway point of last season. He has just 13 touchdown passes along with 14 interceptions over his last 12 games played. If he’s not better than this, the Rams are not going to be very good.

49ers, Seahawks are Playoff Contenders

While we don’t know a ton about the San Francisco 49ers just yet, they are 3-0 and have looked pretty good.

They appear to have a stellar defense and a competent offense with Jimmy Garoppolo healthy. As for the Seattle Seahawks, they’re a healthy 3-1 after a comfortable road win at Arizona this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl3x_4BWbB8

However, I’m hesitant to jump on either of those bandwagons as the two of the Seahawks and 49ers wins have each come against Pittsburgh and Arizona, who are both winless. These teams haven’t been fully tested against strong competition just yet.

It’s One Bad Week For The Rams

There’s no question that something isn’t quite right with Goff but let’s not go overboard just yet.

The defense is going to play better than they showed and history shows us that Goff won’t be turning it over three times a game.

Remember, he’s had bad games before as he threw four picks against the Chicago Bears last year and two against the Seahawks.

The Rams do have competition in the NFC West but I’m not going to write them off after one bad week. They still hold decent wins at Carolina and at Cleveland, and they’re closer to that team than the one that got blown out on Sunday.

I still think they’re the best bet in terms of the NFL Divisional odds to win the West.