The last time the Rams played in the Super Bowl, they resided in St. Louis and were upset 20-17 by the New England Patriots as 14-point favorites in their second appearance over a three-year stretch.
Seventeen years later, the Rams are finally back in the big game after returning to Los Angeles and will be trying to pull off the upset this time around as 2.5-point underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
This marks only the second time this year that the Rams are underdogs, with the first taking place on the road in the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints. Los Angeles won that rematch with New Orleans 26-23 in overtime following a 45-35 regular-season defeat in the Superdome as a two-point road favorite in Week 9.
Outside of that upset victory versus the Saints, the Rams had not performed well as underdogs dating back to 2016, going 2-12 straight up and 2-11-1 against the point spread in their previous 14 games in that role. It is worth noting that Los Angeles opened as a one-point favorite at most books for Super Bowl 53 before the public showed strong support of New England to move the line.
The Patriots lost Super Bowl 52 to the Philadelphia Eagles 41-33 last year as 4.5-point favorites on the NFL betting lines but have otherwise gone 37-8 SU in their other recent 45 games in that role. They have also won the past five meetings with the Rams going back to their previous Super Bowl matchup, covering the spread in four of them.
In addition, New England is riding a 9-3 ATS run in its last 12 postseason games en route to making four Super Bowl appearances in five years, including their third in a row this year. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is 2-1 SU and ATS in its three playoff games after the 2004 season.
Bettors looking for another possible angle to back the underdogs on the Super Bowl odds should recall that the Spygate scandal actually started with the Patriots reportedly videotaping their opponent’s walkthrough practice prior to the last playoff meeting in Super Bowl 36. As a franchise, the Rams could use that as motivation despite moving cities since then.
