Winner Of Rams-Saints Should Be NFC Super Bowl Favorite, Odds Favor Los Angeles Over New Orleans

When the New Orleans Saints (6-1) host the Los Angeles Rams (8-0) Sunday afternoon, it’ll be the most important game on the Week 9 schedule. In a battle of the NFC’s top two teams, the winner should be recognized as the favorite to represent the conference in Super Bowl LIII.

As the league’s only undefeated team, Los Angeles has better Super Bowl odds than all 31 other teams. New Orleans isn’t far behind the Rams, and a victory over the current No.1 seed would put them in the driver’s seat to earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

The Saints opened the week as slight home favorites, but the betting odds have since shifted in favor of the visiting Rams. New Orleans is now a 1.5-point underdog, according to OddsShark.

There’s no doubt that the Rams have been the best team in football through the first half of the season. While they’ve taken care of business against bad teams like the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles has beaten playoff contenders like the L.A. Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. The Rams’ best road win came against the Seattle Seahawks.

Since being upset at home by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season opener, the Saints have been as good as anyone. They enter Week 9 with three straight quality wins. New Orleans dominated the first-place Washington Redskins at home. Before winning handily in Minnesota last week, they went on the road to defeat the Baltimore Ravens and their league-leading defense.

Both Drew Brees and Todd Gurley find themselves in the MVP race. Brees has the best passer rating of any full-time starting quarterback, and Gurley is the runaway NFL rushing leader.

The total for Sunday’s game is 59.5. New Orleans and Los Angeles have the NFC’s two best offenses with both teams scoring at least 33 points per game. Defensively, the Rams rank eighth in yards allowed per game. The Saints have the best run defense in football.

Technically, Los Angeles would still be in first place atop the NFC standings with a loss because they’ve played one more game than New Orleans. The Rams face a difficult upcoming schedule, making Sunday’s contest even more important. After visiting the Saints, L.A. will host the Seahawks and play the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City before going on their bye.

New Orleans will likely be favored in every game until Week 15 when their schedule gets more difficult. They’ll end the season with two games against the Carolina Panthers and a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The matchups with Carolina could determine the NFC South winner.

The Saints are one game ahead of the Panthers in the division. The Rams have a 3.5-game lead in the NFC West.

L.A. defeated New Orleans 26-20 last year. The Rams went on to lose on Wild-Card Weekend, and the Saints' season ended in the divisional playoffs.