Los Angeles Rams not quite ready for Hollywood
A wait of more than two decades is over as the NFL is returning to Los Angeles. The Rams are back, but with Case Keenum as their quarterback, and that hardly seems worth the wait.
A quarterback competition — it’s not a controversy yet — between Keenum and top draft pick Jared Goff is serving as the so-called sensational storyline from Rams training camp. Obviously, it’s not something a Hollywood screenwriter would dream up. It’s a boring theme for what has been a lame team.
But new relationships spark excitement, and right now the Rams are fooling L.A. fans into believing they have a promising young quarterback, a premier coach and a potential playoff team. And if you buy that, a hot date is waiting for you on FarmersOnly.com.
As always, time will separate fact from pulp fiction.
“Everything I’m reading out of L.A. is positive,” VegasInsider.com handicapper Micah Roberts said, “but I don’t know if it’s honest and what to believe.”
The preseason is rarely the time to find truths. A lot of what we see this month will be deceiving and dishonest.
Remember two years ago, when the Dallas Cowboys appeared to be the league’s worst team in August before rolling to a 12-4 record?
Remember when Green Bay played Indianapolis in the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday … well, that never happened.
“Obviously, goofy things are going to happen, and injuries are going to happen,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said.
A year ago, the Packers were Super Bowl favorites before top wide receiver Jordy Nelson was lost to a knee injury in the preseason. The best news for the Packers is they left Canton, Ohio, this week with no injuries, because something goofy went down and there was no game.
Finally, the NFL returned to action Thursday with six games. There are five more games Friday. The most anticipated game of the week arrives Saturday, when the Rams host the Cowboys before a crowd of around 90,000 at the Coliseum.
Keenum is set to start at quarterback for the Rams. Goff, the No. 1 pick from California, is opening the preseason as the No. 2. Goff eventually will win the job or have it handed to him anyway, but the truth is that trying to follow a rookie quarterback to the playoffs is a proven way to get lost.
But again, this is August, and the Rams are 5-point favorites — after the line opened at 3 — for sensible reasons. There is a quarterback competition in L.A., and a quarterback quandary with the Cowboys, who need to keep Tony Romo healthy. Behind him are rookie Dak Prescott and Jameill Showers, and those are not quality backups.
Dallas coach Jason Garrett is 6-14-1 against the spread in the preseason and not a whole lot better in the regular season. The Cowboys, 1-11 last season with quarterbacks not named Romo, want to get in and out of L.A. with no injuries.
“Garrett does not give a (bleep) about the preseason,” Roberts said. “Even when Romo was healthy, he was not playing preseason games.”
Jeff Fisher has a cool mustache, yet he has coached the Rams for four seasons with no playoff appearances to show for it. Fortunately, he’s not in St. Louis anymore, and he’s essentially getting a fresh start with a new franchise quarterback.
“I’m not generally inclined to spot more than a field goal in these games, but I’ll take a chance doing so here,” said Las Vegas handicapper and radio host Dave Cokin, who bet the Rams minus-3½. “Dallas already has QB issues. Romo will play very little, if at all, in this game. I like the Rams QB situation, at least from an August standpoint, quite a bit more.
“The other big deal here is that it’s the first game in the new digs for the Rams, and I expect they would like to get a little positive momentum in place, especially with the high-profile Cowboys as the opponent.”
Oddsmakers deal in reality, however, and the Rams’ regular-season win total of 7½ (Under minus-155) accurately portrays a team that should struggle to finish .500.
In other words, don’t believe the hype. A Hollywood ending is highly unlikely.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247