2025 NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)

East

(6) BYU - (2) Alabama

(4) Arizona - (1) Duke

Duke came in as the #1 team in the land with the #1 NBA prospect (Cooper Flagg) and looked poised to do some damage. But they're not invincible, when the chips are down they rely a little too much on Flagg and the ACC was truly horrendous this year, so as good as they are, Duke is no guarantee to take it all. I didn't much care for Arizona this season, but they've got some veterans who should keep them in the game. Duke breezed through the last two rounds by building big leads and suffocating their opponents. If Arizona can keep pace with them early, they can hang with them late. But I think Duke is the better team and should advance. 

BYU was one of my darlings coming in, I just like the way they play and they're an unassuming batch of fellows, so when they get hot from the field or get their pressing defense going, I think they drive teams in shell shock. I like Alabama, I thought one of the best squads all season long. But outside of Ole Miss (still alive, by the way), they haven't played anyone quite like BYU. Alabama is the better team and should navigate this minefield, but I think BYU has a great shot at an upset here. 

Can BYU then go on to beat Duke? Again, if they can keep pace on the scoreboard, then yeah they absolutely can. Gotta go with Duke out of this bracket (but BYU is tantalizing). 

West

(4) Maryland - (1) Florida

(10) Arkansas - (3) Texas Tech

Florida is on a killer streak right now but I never really bought into them this season, was puzzled that so many thought of the Gators as the fave. The fact that they struggled mightily against a feisty but overmatched UConn side confirmed my thoughts that Florida is bit on the overhyped side. Maryland has had a nice season and seems to be most dangerous (and paradoxically most in danger) at the buzzer. If Florida comes out shooting well, they may roll right over the Terps, but if not, Maryland can absolutely steal this game. 

Arkansas! Not a gimmick, they are for real. Forget about their disappointing SEC play this year, this team is deep, loaded with veterans and prospects and their two-headed monster (Boogie Fland, DJ Wagner) give them plenty of attack. Make no mistake: Arkansas is the best of the four remaining teams in this bracket and playing their best basketball of the season.

I'll take Arkansas to win their next two games and book passage to the Final 4. 

South

(6) Mississippi - (2) Michigan State

(5) Michigan - (1) Auburn

Michigan State is nice but they flounder around instead of just finishing teams off and Ole Miss might be just the pesky foe they fear most. I do think the Spartans are better but will the play better on this night? Not sure. 

I think Auburn is the best team in the country. I think Michigan has trouble scoring in their half court set. I think this one is all Auburn.

And I'll take Auburn to finish the other side, too. 

Midwest

(3) Kentucky - (2) Tennessee

(4) Purdue - (1) Houston

Kentucky has already beaten the Vols twice this season and history shows that typically the 2-time winner wins the 3rd match, as well. The Vols are nice but they get a little hyper against the Wildcats, if they can shoot well and keep their pacing, they probably are the better team. But I'll go ahead and take the Wildcats to keep moving on. They're playing their best basketball right now and while this is a ragtag kinda squad, they've been strong against UT for a while now. 

Houston is the one flying under the radar.  All they do is win. I think they'll dispatch Purdue without much trouble and I think they'll grind down whichever SEC opponent they get on the other side. 

Informal ranking of the remaining teams:

1-4 - Auburn, Houston, Duke, Arkansas

5-8 - Alabama, BYU, Kentucky, Tennessee, 

9-12 - Florida, Michigan State, Mississippi, Maryland

13-16 - Texas Tech, Michigan, Arizona, Purdue

2025 Champions League (Round of 16) (2nd leg)

Barcelona 3-1 (agg 6-1) Benfica

Yeah, Benfica just didn't have it.  Barca was aggressive, they got goals and kept the backline tight. Barcelona is looking good but Benfica perhaps didn't give much push back. 

Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 (agg 0-5) Bayern Munich 

Jeez, kinda felt sorry for Leverkusen on this day. Last year, Leverkusen broke through, bested Bayern and generally had a monster season. But that does not seem to be holding up and the Bundesliga is back to normal with Bayern dominating all over again. Here, Leverkusen just couldn't get anything done. Bayern's looking good, but again, playing such a familiar opponent doesn't really suggest how they'll do going forward.

Inter Milan 2-1 (agg 4-1) Feyenoord

(Didn't watch)

Liverpool 0-1 (PKs) (agg 1-2 on PKs) Paris St. Germaine

Fun game, tight game. PSG scored early and made it hold up through a long OT and PK's. My gut is PSG is the most dangerous team right now. 

Lille 1-2 (agg 2-3) Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund was the better team but, man, it didn't really feel like it through most of these two legs. Dortmund is playing better in European competition than in Germany but they still feel rickety to me and getting the quarterfinals should probably be seen as a real triumph for this squad. 

Arsenal 2-2 (agg 9-3) PSV Eindhoven

(Didn't watch) Looks like a fun one, but I never got around to it. 

Aston Villa 3-0 (agg 6-1) Club Brugge

(Didn't watch) Brugge was so overmatched in the first leg that I never felt the need to watch the second. Looks like I didn't miss much.  

Atletico Madrid 1-0 (PKs) (agg 1-2 on PKs) Real Madrid

Fun game! Atletico scored early, looked like they were primed to really put it on Real, but Real stayed tough and the PKs were a real nailbiter. Real is looking pretty good, kinda feel like they (or PSG) vanquished the most worthy opponent. 

Quarterfinals

Arsenal - Real Madrid (two good teams both playing well; guess I'll take Real)

Bayern Munich - Inter Milan (Bayern is feeling it, but with that continue against an Italian side? Inter is riding high off a drubbing, will that serve them well against Bayern? I'll take Bayern)

Barcelona - Borussia Dortmund (Barca is rounding into shape, Dortmund feels like they've been getting lucky draws; I'll take Barca)

Paris-St. Germaine - Aston Villa (I think PSG is the best team and even though Villa has their offense rolling right now, I gotta stick with PSG)

2025 Champions League (Round of 16) (1st leg)

Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa

Brugge came into this tourney looking like the #16 seed and when Villa scored in the first few minutes, felt like it was gonna be a long day for Brugge. But they got the equalizer pretty soon after and hung tough until a really unfortunate own goal doomed them. A late PK just finished it and Villa looks set to move on.  

Dortmund 1-1 Lille

Dortmund took the lead before halftime, felt like they were going to close it out. But, no. Lille got the equalizer fairly late, setting themselves up for a grudge match in the 2nd leg.

PSV 1-7 Arsenal

(Didn't watch this one, scoreline would suggest Arsenal is gonna move on)

Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Man, close match, even match, but Real snaked a late goal to steal the victoy. Not over yet, Atletico will be a tough out in the return match. 

Feyenord 0-2 Inter Milan

Feyenord played hard but Inter was the better team and should be ready to close out in the 2nd leg. 

Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen

Munich scored early, added a PK and Leverkusen was just out of this match right away. Great victory for Munich, they're clearly in the driver's seat heading back to Leverkusen (who finally put the stomp on Munich last season), who have a seriously uphill climb ahead of them. 

PSG 0-1 Liverpool

(Didn't watch this one--though I'm eager to catch the 2nd leg. Still anyone's ball game)

Benfica 0-1 Barcelona

Bad beat for Benfica. They got an early red card on Barca (just missed out on a PK) and generally played better from beginning to end. But one bad giveaway in the backfield (yipes! What a shitty pass!), and a brilliant strike and the game got away from them completely. Benfica played hard, feels like they'll be bringing it in the 2nd leg, but, man, one mistake was all it took to get them beat in this match.

2024-25 NFL Playoffs (Conclusion)

(Well I got pretty lazy in January, gonna have to go back and remember all this)

Division Round

Texans 14-23 Chiefs

Another ho-hum Chiefs performance but they got the late TD (as usual) to seal it. The Texans hung with the Chiefs and had their chances to steal it. 

Commanders 45-31 Lions

Whoa! This was the upside down game: the Lions just kept turning the ball over and the Commanders kept making them pay. That said, it was actually still a game in the 4th quarter but the Lions were just spent. The Commanders are a nice story and the Lions had been so dominant all season long that it felt like this would be a fairly easy game for the Lions, but they just could not get out of their own way on this day. Great W for the Commanders!

Rams 22-28 Eagles

Weird game. The Eagles had 3 long TD runs (a 78-yarder and 62-yarder for Saquon and a 43-yarder for QB Hurts) but otherwise the Rams played superior defense and really put it on the Eagles to get stops late in the game. The Rams drove into the red zone but couldn't stop the clock and their opportunities just dried up late. The Eagles were the better team, they made the plays, they scored the points, but the Rams played their asses off and were a handful of plays away from stealing this. 

Ravens 25-27 Bills

The story of the game was the Raven turnovers in the 1st half and then the Bills just holding on for dear life down the stretch. One could argue that the Ravens were better or that this was the proper outcome but I'll take a different tack: the Ravens and the Bills were basically the exact same team this season, their offenses were virtually identical and the defenses were similar enough, too. So when one looks at how the Bills were unable (again) to get past the Chiefs, I would suggest that is exactly what the Ravens would've done, too.  At any rate, both teams are totally capable of beating the Chiefs--and both did during the regular season!--but the Bills faltered and I think the Ravens would have, too.  

Conference Championships

Commanders 23-55 Eagles

The Commanders just kept turning it over and the Eagles just kept putting up points. (I had family stuff going on this day, was in and out of this game--but the Eagles had more points every time I checked back!) Apparently the familiarity of divisional rivals helped the veteran squad rather than the upstart squad this time around. The Eagles were a weird team this season: everyone was down about how last season ended, they had some nice W's but never seemed as good as the Lions or Vikings, got overshadowed in their division by the emergence of Jayden Daniels and even though RB Barkley had a great season, it felt like all the behind-the-scenes talk was of how everyone hated the coach. So even though the Eagles were good from beginning to end this season, they were never anyone's focus--and what attention they did get was mostly disappointing. Well, they were the tops in the NFC this season and even though they were right there all along, somewhow no one saw it coming. 

Bills 29-32 Chiefs

Okay, I'm a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan and, yeah, I'm pretty salty about losing to the Chiefs every god damn year. But, man, as a general sports fan: I don't like these Chiefs, I don't like the way they win. I'm not a hater, I admire athletic greatness and great teams: I didn't hate on the Brady-Belichick Pats or the KD Warriors or the Saban Crimson Tide or the Yankees back in the 1990s or the run the Astros had, I don't hate on Bayern Munich for winning the Bundesliga every year. I'm all for the best teams being the best. I'm not saying they suck, I fully acknowledge that Mahomes is one of the all time greats. And if the Chiefs just destroyaed everyone by 3 TD's every week, I'd be cool with them. Or if they were crafty veterans that figured out different ways to beat people, I'd be cool with them.  My complaint about the Chiefs is that they get lucky. They need 2-3 calls from the refs every week that no other team in the league gets in order to win. Yeah, I said it: they win by special dispensation over and over again. They are a good team, they have a solid pass rush and a great QB and that keeps them in games; but its the love from the refs that get them over the top every time. And I'm fucking tired of it! Again, I don't hate on winners, but I get inured to the ridiculously lucky. And that's who the Chiefs are. We'll see if their lucks holds out.

Super Bowl

Chiefs 22-40 Eagles

Most folks thought this was a boring game but, man, the league has demanded that this is the only way the Chiefs lose, so the Eagles had to run up the score to even have a chance, so unless you're a Chiefs fan--the game HAD to be boring! And for my part....I loved every second of it! Word is that when the Eagles were up 40-6 in the 4th quarter, QB Hurts was begging to keep runing it up and I completely agree. Let the stomping continue! Indeed, the Chiefs scored 16 points after that and Mahomes was able to pull together some reasonable stats after arguably his worst performance as a pro, so the scoreline actually doesn't even suggest how bad a thrashing this was. The Eagles did everything they wanted on offense until they just stopped wanting anything by the 4th quarter and on defense they kept Mahomes so bottled up for 3 quarters, that the Chiefs had flat out nothing for most all of the game. 

If the Chiefs had won by this scoreline I'd tip my cap to them but that was never going to happen; if the Chiefs had honestly engineered a solid W, I'd tip my cap to the them, but the Eagles were too good for that. But if the Chiefs had won this game the same way they acheived most all of their W's this season, man, I might've just stopped watching football for a while. Dead serious! I like all the sports and if the NFL wants to turn it into a shit league, I'll just move on to something else. But that didn't happen, the under-the-radar Eagles crushed the barely-getting-by Chiefs and frankly that's what should have happened. (And I'm currently confident that the Bills and Ravens and others will de-throne the Chiefs for real next year--the key is to stomp the shit out of them!)

2024-25 NCAA Football (The Bowls)

The playoff:

1st Round

Indiana 17-27 Notre Dame (It took Indiana forever to get any offense going. Notre Dame cruised)

SMU 10-38 Penn State (SMU, as in the ACC final against Clemson, did absolutely nothing in the 1st half and were ground up quick)

Clemson 24-38 Texas (Clemson put up a good fight but just didn't have enough to beat Texas)

Tennessee 17-42 Ohio State (Yeah, the score is accurate, this was a pummeling)

Quarterfinals

Penn State 31-14 Boise State (Like SMU, Boise State just couldn't move the ball on the Nittany Lion D)

Texas 39-31 (OT) Arizona State (Crazy game! Felt lik Texas had the game wrapped up early, but the Longhorns kinda sucked all through the 4th quarter, ASU got hot, made plays and tied the game up--and it felt like they were going to steal it, but the Longhorns came to their senses, made some plays of their own and moved on)

Ohio State 41-21 Oregon (A straight-up Buckeye thrashing; the score was 31-0 almost instantly and the game felt over early; Oregon had a good drive before the half and again after halftime, but that was pretty much it)

Notre Dame 23-10 Georgia (Notre Dame forced a fumble right before halftime deep in UGA territory and were able to convert a TD before the half; then the ran back the 2nd half kickoff for a TD and that 14 point burst was the difference in the otherwise even contest)

Semifinals

Notre Dame 27-24 Penn State (Felt bad for the Penn State QB, who threw a late pick to set up the winning FG, tough to go out like that in what was otherwise an even contest)

Ohio State 28-14 Texas (OSU induced a late scoop-and-score just as the Longhorns were about to tie the game up; so on the one hand the game was much tighter than the score suggests and yet....I never thought Texas was gonna win, so....I dunno...about right, I guess)

Championship

Ohio State 34-23 Notre Dame (Notre Dame scored a TD on their opening drive but the QB endured some serious abuse to make it happen, so even though the Irish got off to a good start, you knew they were gonna have trouble keeping it up. And then the Irish defense didn't show up at all and it was 31-7 at the half. OSU's attack faltered in the 2nd half and Notre Dame had some nice moments, but it wasn't enough and the Buckeyes comfortably cruised to the title)

Some are saying that what the Buckeyes went through to win was unprecedented but I would point back to the run the Buckeyes had in 2015: destroyed Wisconsin in the Big 10 final (with a 2nd string QB), handily beat mighty Alabama (with a 3rd string QB!), and smooshed Oregon like a bug in the championship. I thought that was an even more amazing run because I had long considered the Buckeyes out of it before that improbable run. This time, I thought the Buckeyes were the 2nd best team and were able to knock out Oregon (the best team) early on, so as impressive as this run was, it wasn't shocking at all--the way 2015 was. Congrats to the Buckeyes, another great run from one of the all time great programs. 

The other bowls  (*):

Ones I got right: 21

South Alabama 30-23 Western Michigan

Memphis 42-37 West Virginia

Western Kentucky 17-27 James Madison

Cal 13-24 UNLV

Ohio 30-27 Jacksonville State

Tulane 8-33 Florida

Coastal Carolina 15-44 UT-San Antonio

Northern Illinois 28-20 Fresno State

South Florida 41-39 San Jose State

Rutgers 41-44 Kansas State

Oklahoma 20-21 Navy

Texas Tech 26-39 Arkansas

Syracuse 52-35 Washington State

East Carolina 26-21 North Carolina State

Brigham Young 36-14 Colorado

Louisiana Tech 6-27Army

Iowa 24-27 Missouri

Louisville 35-34 Washington 

Baylor 31-44 Louisiana State

Duke 20-52 Mississippi

North Texas 28-30 Texas State

Ones I got wrong: 14

Georgia Southern 26-31 Sam Houston

Pittsburgh 46-48 Toledo

Arkansas State 38-31 Bowling Green

Georgia Tech 27-35 Vanderbilt

Southern California 35-31 Texas A&M

Connecticut 27-14 North Carolina

Boston College 15-20 Nebraska

Louisiana 3-34 Texas Christian

Iowa State 42-41 Miami

Miami (OH) 43-17 Colorado State

Alabama 13-19 Michigan

South Carolina 17-21 Illinois

Minnesota 24-10 Virginia Tech

Buffalo 26-7 Liberty

(*) I just pick winners, no spreads. 

2024-25 NFL Playoffs (Division Round)

Chargers 12-32 Texans

Well, I thought the Chargers had turned a corner, thought Coach Harbaugh brought a new mindset, thought QB Herbert was ready to level up, thought the Chargers were ready to make a move. Nope. Same ol' Chargers. They flat out sucked. The Texan pass rush was effective and the secondary had some moments but really it was the Chargers sucking that produced the score line. Are the Texans ready to move on?

Steelers 14-28 Ravens

Yawn. Every year the Steelers bluster their way to 7th seed in the AFC and then they get blown up in the playoffs because they're not actually any good. This year was no exception. Didn't even think the Ravens played all that well--they didn't have to! 

Broncos 7-31 Bills

The Broncos had a good year: 2nd year of the Coach Payton regime, rookie QB, frisky defense, took a nice step forward this season. And when they opened up with a bomb for a TD, their 7-0 lead had a real edge to it. And then....nothing happened. The Bills were pretty great at home this year and it was only a matter of time before they pounced on the Broncos. 

Packers 10-22 Eagles

Ugh! The Packers really sucked, the blame will go to QB Love--and he did suck!--but frankly I thought the whole team sucked. As bad as they played, the game was still winnable in the 4th quarter--so how bad were the Eagles (well, not quite as bad as the Packers). This was not even a fun game to watch.

Commanders 23-20 Bucs

THIS, this was the game this weekend! Back and forth but I really thought the Bucs were on their way, but a clumsy 4th quarter fumble upended their brilliant defensive stand just minutes earlier. Giving the Commanders a second crack at the red zone late in the game was too much to overcome. Everyone loves QB Daniels now, and he's been ballin' all season long, but I still thought the Bucs should've won this game.

Vikings 9-27 Rams

Yawn! QB Darnold had such a nice season...until the last 2 weeks, when suddenly he turned tentative, held the ball too long, took too many sacks and single-handedly stalled the Vikings offense. The Rams were nice and they knew that Darnold was wobbly, but this was not as massive a win as the score implies--it was just that the Vikings were that bad. 

Division Round:

Texans @ Chiefs (-9) (o/u 41.5)

Are the Texans ready to beat the #1 seed? They might be able to move the ball on the Chiefs and their D-line will be getting after Mahomes, so if they can force turnovers and break an occasional big play, they can hang. The Chiefs haven't exactly been plowing opponents lately, they have been winning late all season long, snatching W's in the final minutes and I expect that to continue. The Texans have a good pass rush, Mahomes won't have an easy time of it. But Mahomes is still the best and I fully expect a typical 4th quarter recovery after a slog of a game. Chiefs 20-13 (Texans and the under)

Commanders @ Lions (-8.5) (55.5)

Everyone is big on the Commanders at the moment, been a while since Washington football has mattered in January and Daniels is giving them some hope. That said, the Commander defense is not good and the Lions offense is arguably the best in the league. I like Daniels as much as the next guy, but I don't see this game particularly competitive. I think the Lions are rested and ready, they've had a bunch of injuries on defense but I don't think that stings them this week (although it'll hamper them in the coming weeks). I like the Lions to score steadily (though perhaps they pull off the gas in the 4th quarter) and get enough stops on defense to rather easily win this game. Lions 34-17 (Lions and the under)

Rams @ Eagles (-6.5) (42.5)

The Rams have veteran savvy, a good coach, a good QB and enough youth to keep the intensity high; but they have a so-so offensive line and so-so defensive line and I don't see them getting turnovers, so even at their best, I just don't think they're better than a final 8 squad. As for the Eagles, they've got arguably the best O-line in the league, a great RB in his prime, excellent WR's and a pass catching TE, and a QB I've always kinda loved....so why isn't this offense better? Some say it is the scheme, which would suggest that now is the time to pull the governors off and go full throttle, we'll see if they do that. So while at first I suggest that the Rams aren't good enough and the Eagles are better, let me flip it now and suggest that if the Eagles don't bring their best game, then the savvy Rams might hang around and steal it. I dunno, man, could go either way, I mean, the Eagles should win but maybe they won't (meh, I'll take 'em anyway). Eagles 20-16 (Rams and the under).

Ravens (-1.5) @ Bills (51.5)

And we come to the game of the week. The two best teams in the AFC (sorry, Chiefs), the two best QBs in the game right now (sorry, Chiefs), two crazed fan bases that have been denied too long (f yourself, Chiefs!), should be a barn burner, right? Uh....I kinda don't think so. I think this game will end up being a blowout. Here's the thing: if RB Henry gets off on the Bills defense, then the game is over; if he doesn't, then I think the Raven offense completely sputters and the Bills win big. Derrick Henry is the key: if he's on, the Ravens will win easily, if not, then I say the Bills win easily. Could go either way but what I'm suggesting is that the 4th quarter of this game will be a dud. Either way, the tongues will be wagging on Monday morning, and either Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen will be taking all the blame. So, even though this is the game everyone is waiting for, I think it might be over--one way or the other--by halftime. (Is now an awkward time to point out that I am a life long Buffalo Bills fan?) I'm going Bills 27-16 (Bills and the under--but if you wanna bet on the Ravens, just flip the score, but either way, I think the Under in this game is the lock of the week, I just can't see both of these teams scoring a ton)

2024-25 NFL Playoffs (Wild Card)

Chargers (-3) @ Texans (o/u (41.5)

I like the way the Chargers are playing lately, they're getting stronger and more reliable on both sides of the ball. The Texans, on the other hand, haven't gotten better at anything all season long. The Texans are a nice team in a terrible division, I think they are the weakest squad in the AFC playoffs. Gotta go with the Chargers, 27-14 (Chargers and the under).

Steelers @ Ravens (-9.5) (44.5)

The Steelers make the playoffs year after year no matter how terrible that offense is--I just don't know how they do it! They haven't won in the playoffs in eons, but really haven't deserved to be a post-season team in eons more. The Ravens have kinda flipped: after being a defensive stalwart with a mediocre offense for years, they are now a dominant attacking squad with a so-so defense. Can the Steelers stop the Ravens running game? I don't see it happening. Can the Steelers score enough to keep this competitive in the 4th quarter? I don't see that happening, either. Ravens 31-10 (Ravens and the under)

Broncos @ Bills (-8.5) (47.5)

The Broncos have been up and down, but I think they're a pretty good squad with a stingy defense and a plucky rookie QB. I don't think they're as good as the Bills, though, who have the ability to pile up points as well as anyone in the league. I like the Broncos to hang into the 3rd quarter. but the slightest mistake will bury them. The Bills will score and the Broncos won't keep up. Bills 31-21 (Bills and the over)

Packers @ Eagles (-5) (45.5)

This is the game I find the most difficult to project. If the Eagles bring their A game, they can roll up the Packers with a quickness; but if they don't, the Packers could hang and be a real danger late in the game. The Packers are young but they had a good playoff win last year and overcame a potentially crippling QB injury this season while surviving one of the toughest divisions I've seen in ages. The Eagles at their best are the better team but anything short of their best makes this a rather even match. I think the Eagles hold off a late rally and get the W. Eagles 27-24 (Eagles and the over)

Commanders @ Bucs (-3) (50.5)

I kept expecting the Commanders to fall off at some point because they had a maddening quality: they won games they should've lost and lost games they should've won. A young team with a good rookie QB can get on a roll or mature faster than expected, but the Commanders have ups and downs that are more like a veteran squad--that I don't understand at all! The Bucs have been much maligned but I think they've been a pretty good squad all year long, with some good W's and playing a tougher schedule than I think anyone noticed. I think the Bucs are the better team and should probably finish this game off; but the Commanders are unpredictable, wouldn't be shocked if they blew up and won this game. I think the Bucs get an early lead, control the game, hold off a late rally. Bucs 26-20 (Bucs and the under)

Vikings @ Rams (-2.5) (47.5)

Man, the Vikings missed the #1 seed by a wisp and just like that, they've not even a favorite in the playoffs. The Vikings just piled up W's all season long, with a strong defense and an excellent passing game. The Rams have a savvy QB that can get it done when the time comes, but I just don't think the Rams defense is good enough to hang. This should be a fun back and forth kinda game but I think the Vikings are the better team and will have more points by game's end. Vikings 34-31 (Vikings and the over)