TNF betting report: Rams seeing lopsided action

Week 4 of the NFL season gets underway on Thursday when the Minnesota Vikings travel to take on the Los Angeles Rams. Will Bernanke, the lead analyst at CG Analytics in Las Vegas, offered a report on how bettors are approaching the game leading up to kickoff.

Minnesota at Los Angeles

Open: LAR -6.5 (point spead) / 49 (O/U)

Current: LAR -7 (point spread) / 48.5 (O/U)

After taking a big step forward under new head coach Sean McVay last season, Los Angeles already looks poised to shatter their 11-win clip from 2017. It's been smooth sailing so far for the Rams, who improved to 3-0 on the season last Sunday with a 35-23 win over the Chargers - the team's third consecutive double-digit victory.

Los Angeles is officially a public darling, shooting up as the front-runner to win the Super Bowl. Per Bernanke, nothing substantial has come in on the Rams since they were pegged the favorites aside from some three-figure bets at 5/1.

"Everyone who grabbed the Rams before the season is standing pat; others are coming in with smaller-sized bets on the futures," he told theScore on Thursday.

Looking to hand the Rams their first loss of the season are the Minnesota Vikings, who don't inspire much confidence after their showing last weekend. The Vikings were embarrassed at home by the Buffalo Bills and rookie quarterback Josh Allen, who ripped off 27 unanswered points to start the game and never looked back, cashing in as 16.5-point underdogs.

CG Technology listed the Thursday night game as a 3-point edge for the home side when it made the 2018 look-ahead lines. Parlay the Rams' early-season surge with the Minnesota loss fresh in the minds of the public, and perhaps there's a reason for not only the bigger number, but the handle on the game as well.

"Right now, it's all Rams money. Eighty percent of the dollars on the point spread is on Los Angeles," said Bernanke, who added the moneyline was slightly tilted toward Minnesota.

"It's early, but right now the ideal result would be a Rams win and a Vikings cover."

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