College Football Best Bets of the Week: Week 9
Walter Waddell
The Week 8 Thursday night showdown features a battle of the NFC with the Vikings set to face the Rams in LA. It’s a #RevengeGame for Kevin O’Connell, who spent two seasons under Sean McVay as the offensive coordinator, calling plays for the 2021-2022 Super Bowl squad.
Through 40 regular season games, O’Connell has the highest win percentage (62.5%) in Vikings history by a head coach, currently the odds-on favorite for Coach of the Year. At 5-1, Minnesota has been nearly perfect this year, suffering the first loss in heartbreaking fashion last week after taking a one-point lead with less than three minutes left, defeated 31-29 to Detroit. O’Connell’s offense and the transformation of Sam Darnold have been the talk of the team, but they’ve been even stronger on the other side of the ball, currently first overall in DVOA on defense (-30.4%), ranked No. 1 against the pass (-31.1%) and the rush (-28.7%).
Even with Cooper Kupp set to return, the Rams could be in for a long day in what looks to be a lost season needing to make up significant ground for any hopes of a playoff berth. The offense may improve with Kupp, but the defense has been the larger concern, ranked bottom five in DVOA as a unit (9.8%, 28th) and one of only seven teams allowing over 360 yards per game (364.3).
Let’s check out my favorite same-game parlay for this game.
Minnesota Vikings @ Los Angeles Rams
(Vikings -2.5, O/U 48.5, FanDuel Sportsbook)
Sam Darnold 150 Passing & Rushing Yards
- Over 180 passing yards in every game, averaging 228.3 yards through the air and 16.7 yards on the ground for a combined 245 yards of total offense.
- Season-high 39 rushing yards in Week 7, throwing for 259-plus yards in two out of the last three games.
- The Rams are 28th in DVOA on defense (9.8%), and 24th against the pass (14.5%), allowing the 12th-most passing yards (227) and sixth-most passing touchdowns (1.7) to opposing signal callers.
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