The Los Angeles Rams are entering the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the NFC, capping off a miraculous turnaround in the regular season after a subpar start.
The Rams are slated to face the Detroit Lions during the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend next week, pitting quarterback Matthew Stafford against his former team.
As the playoffs near, where does Los Angeles land in odds to win a Super Bowl?
Sporting News released a set of NFL playoff power rankings complete with current betting odds for finishing the season with a victory in the Super Bowl, and the Rams came in at No. 6 on the list out of 14 teams.
The Rams enter the list one spot ahead of their round one opponent in the Lions, although Detroit has +2000 odds to win the Super Bowl, ahead of L.A.’s mark of +5000.
News broke on Sunday night that the Rams and Lions would square off on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” next week with hopes of extending their season, and kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. PT.
The opportunity happens to be in Detroit, which is fun for me on a personal level.
I know it’s going to be rocking there. Haven’t had a playoff game there about 30 years or whatever it is.
So it’ll be a great atmosphere. It’ll be a tough task for us, but definitely excited.”
In Week 16, the Lions clinched the NFC North, winning the division for the first time since 1993.
Stafford played in three playoff games during his 12 seasons in Detroit, all losses.
And though Stafford acknowledged there “will be a lot of stuff beforehand,” he added that a “football game is a football game once the ball is snapped.”
“It will be fun to see some of the people that I haven’t seen in a while, that I know are still around the building,” Stafford said.
“And obviously it’ll be a different scenario and won’t be wearing their colors.
But still, appreciate so many of the people there that gave me my start in this league and took care of me for 12 years, too.”
Quarterback Jared Goff will also be facing his former team next Sunday. The Rams traded up to draft Goff at No. 1 in 2016 and he took them to Super Bowl LIII.
Rams coach Sean McVay said that while “all those narratives are fun,” the game will be “about the Lions vs. the Rams.”
“They’ve done a great job earning a home playoff game, winning their division,” McVay said. “They’re excellent in all three phases.
And like I said, I’m really excited about Matthew leading us.
He’s done a great job this year. Proud of this football team and let’s see if we can put together our best game plan, put together a great week of preparation and then let’s see if we can go put it together for all four quarters, let it all hang out and see what the hell happens.”
