Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants: Prediction, Odds, Depth Charts (12/31/23)
Contents
Winners of five of their past six games, the Los Angeles Rams are coming into a visit with the New York Giants on Sunday (12/31/23) as one of the NFL’s hottest teams. With the stakes high, this should be an interesting one, so get Rams vs. Giants odds, picks and predictions below as our best bet is Rams -6.5.
Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants Prediction
For the first time since the end of the 2021 season, the Los Angeles Rams look like the star-studded team that earned their first Super Bowl ring. Matthew Stafford is healthy and playing as well as any quarterback in the league. He is throwing to arguably the best arsenal of weapons he’s had since coming over to L.A. Most importantly, the Rams have followed up a 3-6 start to the season by going 5-1 in their past six games, and now sit squarely in the NFC’s sixth seed, with a playoff berth a near-certainty with a win this week.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ turnaround came up just a bit short. Brian Daboll’s squad started the year 2-8, but a three-game winning streak had them with some hope in a relatively weak NFC. After a pair of losses, the G-Men are officially eliminated from the postseason, but stuck with too many wins to truly “tank.” It’s all about playing for pride at this point, and earning a spot on next year’s team. Quarterback Tommy DeVito has been benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor. Taylor finished the Christmas Day loss to the Eagles. The Giants continue to dseek answers at quarterback in the wake of Daniel Jones’ disastrous contract.
The Rams need to come away from this game with a win to secure a winning record ahead of a likely – but not definite – road loss. They’ll wrap up the regular season by visiting the 49ers. Even sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card could have tremendous upside for this team. They won a championship just two years ago, and will likely be paired with a much-less veteran squad in the first round and even beyond.
The top of the NFC looks vulnerable, and it’s hard to think of a contender who would want to play Sean McVay’s team right now.
The Giants technically have nothing to play for, but they’re never going to just roll over in front of their home crowd. The issue is that even their best performance isn’t enough to run with this Rams team, who should be able to annihilate their defense in an absolute must-win ballgame. L.A. has scored at least 30 points in four of their past five games, and the one outlier was a 28-point outing. New York’s defense, ranked 25th by EPA, won’t be enough to slow them down, and the Giants offense, 31st-best by the same metric, can’t exploit the Rams’ defensive frailties.
Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants Prediction: Rams -6.5
Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants Best Odds
The Rams are favored by just under a touchdown with a spread of -6.5, or -295 on the moneyline, even on the road. Meanwhile, the Giants are +240 to pull off the upset at home, and the total is set at 42 with -110 odds on both sides.
Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants Key Injuries
The Giants continue to have a tenuous quarterback situation, and star D-lineman Dexter Lawrence has also been banged up, while tackle Rob Havenstein is the most significant injury concern for a relatively healthy Rams team.
Los Angeles Rams vs. New York Giants Key Matchups
The Rams will look to throw the ball all over the field even against a solid Giants pass defense, while the Giants will try to control the ball at home by running the ball against a vulnerable LA defense.
Los Angeles Rams Air Offense vs. New York Giants Pass Defense
It may not really be shown by traditional metrics, but Stafford has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s fourth in PFF’s passing grade, and has the lowest turnover-worthy play rate of any qualifying quarterback, with just nine such instances compared to 33 big-time throws from 487 attempts. He’s also throwing to one of the highest-graded receivers in the league, rookie sensation Puka Nacua, who is marching toward the rookie receiving yardage record, and of course 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp.
Pass defense has been a relative strength for the Giants this year. EPA and DVOA both agree that they’re simply below average, rather than just a hair above the league celllar as their other units are according to those metrics. That success has been largely driven by the coverage unit, highlighted by safety Xavier McKinney, although D-linemen Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux have both had nice seasons so far.
New York Giants Run Game vs. Los Angeles Rams Ground Defense
The Giants’ O-line may rank 30th in PFF’s run blocking grade and similarly low by adjusted line yards. But Saquon Barkley continues to be productive. He’s up to 877 rushing yards despite missing a couple of games, and has been fairly efficient given the circumstances as he’s averaging 4 yards per carry.
The Rams’ run defense is just a touch below average, which makes it a bit better than was expected of them coming into the season. Most recently, they held Alvin Kamara to 19 yards on nine carries in an impressive overall effort against the Saints. Aaron Donald is of course still the anchor of this unit, but linebacker Ernest Jones has been a standout performer this season with a PFF run-stopping grade of 87.4.
Los Angeles Rams Depth Chart
QB: Matthew Stafford
RB1: Kyren Williams
RB2: Ronnie Rivers
LWR: Tutu Atwell
RWR: Puka Nacua
SWR: Cooper Kupp
TE1: Tyler Higbee
New York Giants Depth Chart
QB: Tommy DeVito
RB1: Saquon Barkley
RB2: Matt Breida
LWR: Jalin Hyatt
RWR: Darius Slayton
SWR: Wan’Dale Robinson
TE1: Darren Waller