Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs LA Rams Picks, Predictions and Odds for Sunday Night Football

• The Rams are 7-point home favorites over the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football
• Tampa Bay is 8-2 ATS after a loss since the start of last season
• See my Lions vs Eagles predictions and picks below, plus the latest odds for Sunday Night Football

It’s a battle of NFC division leaders on Sunday Night Football as the Buccaneers (6-4, 4-2 away) visit the Rams (8-2, 4-1 home). LA is tied atop the conference with the Eagles entering the week, and online sportsbooks expect their strong play to continue per the latest SNF odds. The Rams have been pegged as touchdown favorites in this matchup, a spread I feel is a little rich given the quality of their opponent.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 pm ET from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, with NBC providing the broadcast coverage.

Here are my Buccaneers vs Rams picks and predictions, as well as the latest betting odds.

Buccaneers vs Rams Picks and Predictions

LA certainly looks the part of a Super Bowl odds contender lately, stringing together five straight wins. Before we get too excited about the winning streak it’s important to note the quality of competition. Only two of those teams occupy a playoff position (San Francisco and Seattle), and the 49ers were decimated by injury in their matchup.

The win over the Seahawks last week could have easily been a loss, as the LA offense was stuck in the mud for most of the game. Despite forcing four turnovers, the Rams mustered only 21 points and had to sweat out a missed game-winning field goal attempt at the end of regulation.

Tampa Bay’s defense is nowhere near as talented as Seattle’s, but they can certainly give NFL MVP odds contender Matthew Stafford and co. some trouble. The Buccaneers rank 8th in pass defense DVOA and 7th in rush defense DVOA. Throw out what happened against the Bills in Week 11, as Stafford simply doesn’t have the ability to improv and create explosives like Josh Allen.

Stafford is a statue in the pocket and relies heavily on play action to open up the vertical passing game. Vita Vea and the Bucs D are excellent at slowing down enemy rushing attacks, however, and will try to make Stafford as one-dimensional as possible in this contest.

Also working against the Rams in this matchup is their injury bill. Both Davante Adams and Puka Nacua will play, but will do so at less than 100 percent. Nacua is seemingly always nursing some kind of injury, and has seen a major reduction in snaps this season with LA leaning into its heavy personnel.

Sean McVay’s obsession with 13-personnel has taken the league by storm, as defenses have been matching it the wrong way. Most teams have been sticking to base against the scheme, which makes them vulnerable versus the pass. The Bucs won’t do that, as they’ll match down and distance instead, just like the Seahawks did last week. Stafford threw for only 130 yards versus Seattle, while LA produced a season-low 249 yards.

On the other side of the ball, the Rams are near the top of most defensive metrics, but I actually think the unit is overrated. Seattle put up over 400 yards of offense on them last week, while Mac Jones threw for 319 yards and 3 scores the week before.

TB Buccaneers Offensive Stats

Baker Mayfield is commanding an offense that averages 25+ points per game, and ranks top-11 in EPA/play and EPA/rush. Mayfield has the third-lowest interception rate in the NFL, and got back to scrambling last week versus Buffalo. He put up 39 rushing yards and a score, and will need to be elusive on Sunday night against a very strong Rams pass rush.

The Bucs skill position group is still missing Bucky Irvin, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but that didn’t stop them from putting up 32 points and 202 rushing yards against Buffalo. Sean Tucker looked extremely explosive both as a runner and a receiver, and he could be the key to Tampa Bay moving the chains consistently.

This game should be priced closer to LA -4.5 to -5, so I’ll gladly take the extra value on the Bucs as underdogs. Before making any Sunday Night Football wager, be sure to consult the best football betting apps, as Underdog is currently hanging a +7.5 on Tampa Bay.

TB Buccaneers vs LA Rams Odds

Underdog is where I’ll be placing my Bucs bet, but if you like the other side, visit BetMGM, which is offering LA -6.5. Total-wise, the consensus number is 49.5, while you can get +300 odds on Baker and Co. to pull off the upset at FanDuel.

Odds as of Nov. 22. New customers can claim the BetMGM promo code and get a bonus to bet on SNF.

Per the NFL public betting percentages, backing the Bucs off a loss has been a very profitable strategy over the last two seasons. Since the start of 2024, Tampa Bay is 8-2 ATS in their next game following a loss.