Sunday, September 27th
Los Angeles Rams @ Denver Broncos, 8:20 PM ET
Could this be a potential Super Bowl LXI preview? The Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos both lost in the conference championship games last year, and both teams got better in the offseason. The Rams added two new cornerbacks in Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, traded for Myles Garrett, and also convinced Aaron Donald to come out of retirement.
Garrett is on IR, though, so he won’t suit up for this one, and it’s not likely that Donald is at 100 percent of his powers in Week 3. The Rams got blown out by San Francisco in Week 1 but should be able to take care of business on Monday Night Football against the Giants.
Both Los Angeles and Denver got blown out in Week 1, actually. The Broncos responded nicely, beating the Jaguars at home. The Bo Nix-led Broncos are now 15-3 at home, which is quite the record. Denver is nearly unbeatable in front of the Mile High crowd, and a huge part of that is the team not only having the league’s best pass rush, but also the altitude coming into play.
I worry about the Rams offense in this one, as QB Matthew Stafford isn’t mobile, so he likely won’t be able to escape the pocket when pressure arrives.
And seeing as Denver can get pressure against just about anyone, Los Angeles could be in trouble. This should be a close game either, way, though, as both teams are supremely talented and extremely well-coached, so this could ultimately come down to which team makes that extra play late in the game.
As of now, I am leaning Denver. We’ve seen the late-game magic time and time again, and with the team sporting a .833 at home in the Nix era, winning comes easy for the Broncos here. Give me Denver by a field goal.
Prediction: Broncos win 23-20
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