The weather remains mostly calm as we head towards the winter months. But, there will be some conditions in Buffalo today that could affect the passing game with both rain and wind in the forecast. The Bills host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Highmark Stadium.
Two of the three teams with the best record in the National Football Conference meet today in Los Angeles when the Rams host the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams have perhaps been the best team in football since their stumble out of the gate for the 2024 season.
Sean McVay’s team, beset by injuries and in their initial games after the retirement of one of the best defensive linemen in history, Aaron Donald, won only one of their first five games in 2024. Then, became the first team in NFL history to earn a division title after such a rocky start. They won nine of their final dozen regular season games last season to edge the Seattle Seahawks for the title by virtue of a tiebreaker, and then trounced the Minnesota Vikings to open their playoffs.
The next week, after their Wild Card victory, they gave the eventual Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles their toughest challenge before surrendering a six-point loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
This year, again opening the season with a series of injuries, the Rams dropped two of their first five games but haven’t lost since. Today, they host the Seattle Seahawks, the team they edged for a playoff spot last year and who come into SoFi Stadium today with a record equal to the Rams, seven wins and two losses.
The Seahawks success, under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, is gained from both sides of the ball. They have a rock-solid defense that has limited opponents to 22 or less points in every game but one this season, and an offense that is triggered by the undeniable skills of quarterback Sam Darnold.
The Seahawks got Darnold because the team that he led to 14 wins last season wanted to move on with their second-year signal caller. Darnold was slated to be a backup to rookie J.J. McCarthy last year in Minnesota, but the Vikings first round draft choice suffered an injury in the preseason that allowed Darnold a chance to start.
He took full advantage.
Darnold was the third overall draft selection of the New York Jets in 2018, and like so many quarterbacks before and after his time with the Jets, he failed in the Big Apple. He spent uneventful time in Carolina and as a backup for one season to Brock Purdy in San Francisco. Then the Minnesota Vikings opportunity came to be, and the seven-year veteran took full advantage.
It is not often that a team gives up on a player that just led their team to the second most wins in franchise history, but the Vikings were not in a position to pay Darnold what he earned by his 2024 play. The Seahawks, who had lost their starting quarterback, Geno Smith, to the Las Vegas Raiders, won the lottery with Darnold.
It appears that his great 2024 season was no fluke, as he is matching his team leadership and performance on the field this year with his new team.
So, we’ve got two of the best meeting in Los Angeles today in search of securing sole possession of first place in the NFC West. While I respect both squads, I just can’t see the Rams surrendering first place on their home field. The Rams are one of our five money rated plays today.
As for the public, their three favorite plays of the day begin with the San Francisco 49ers (-3½) over the Arizona Cardinals in a game Purdy will return to the Niners backfield. The next two most popular plays by the betting public are the Los Angeles Chargers (-3) over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers (-7½) over the New York Giants.
The Qoxhi Week 11 plays are now posted on this site, and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour before the 10 a.m. kickoffs, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.