What an incredible story NFL bettors get to watch play out in the Wild Card Round under the lights of Sunday Night Football when Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams are matched up against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions with a trip to the division round on the line. I won’t bore you with the backdrop storylines surrounding this epic tilt. Head over to ESPN or each teams respective sites at NFL.com to take it all in. My lone concern here is cashing a SNF Same Game Parlay in at Caesars Sportsbook, so let’s jump into the blood and guts of the matchup and see if we can do exactly just that – SLAM YOUR MAN!!

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Linemakers initially opened this 3/6 NFC wild card matchup up with the homebased Lions laying 3-points and the O/U lined 51.5. Apparently, Caesars linemakers couldn’t have lined the tilt any better with both the side and total yet to deviate from the opening offerings. Even with the visiting Lions taking in 68 percent of the bets and 70+ percent of the money, the number to beat has remained -3 in favor of the home team. Also going Dan Campbell’s direction is the juice with Detroit forcing wild card bettors to lay heavier -115 juice to back his troops. The side isn’t the only offering taking in one-way traffic with however everybody and their mother seemingly on the over that’s seen it take in a whopping 76 percent of the action and eye-popping 93 percent of the handle. Even so, the impost is yet to move an inch from the 51.5-point opener!

Of the top-four home seeds playing this weekend, Detroit is the only one not taking in a majority of the bets and money. I think there’s good reason for it. Detroit has prided itself on being an extreme running team with it looking to the ground an average of 29.4 times per game (#7) which equated to running the pigskin nearly 44 percent of the time (#11). When David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are able to keep the Lions ahead of the sticks, Detroit’s offense is fluid, efficient, and an absolute joy to watch. Though LA sports the No. 12 ranked run defense, the duo should still be able to move the ball on the ground against Aaron Donald and Co. But will the game script allow the home team to utilize the run the way it would like with Matthew Stafford and the Rams passing attack likely fully able to slice and dice its beatable secondary (#27) all game long? The Lions secondary has been a mess all year, and I highly doubt it all of a sudden figures it out against one of the league’s premiere passing attacks. Throw the Rams QB1 being highly motivated to show well in the venue he played in a high majority of his career into the mix, and I fully expect Detroit being forced into catchup mode all but demanding it play against the customary norm and look to the air more than it would like peppering Amon-Ra St. Brown with targets.

With that the case, just how big a loss will Sam LaPorta be? Though currently listed questionable to play, initial injury reports said it’d be at least a week or two until he was fully recovered from the ugly knee hyperextension suffered in last week’s triumph over the Vikings. It’s crazy to say considering he’s a rookie, but LaPorta played huge roles for this offense over the course of the regular season; especially on third down and in the red zone. He proved to be Jared Goff’s security blanket and I foresee him being extremely missed in this contest. Even if he pushes to give it a go, the rookie won’t be his normal self. With him likely to be out of the mix, where will the Lions look in those crucial game situations? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if someone else stepped up in his stead as prideful this roster is, but it will still be darn near close to impossible to match his productivity.

Sean McVay owns a huge coaching advantage heading into this matchup in that he’s been there before with pieces of his current roster. He’s also got a Super Bowl title to his credit. The same can’t be said of Dan Campbell. The latter’s maverick ways will cost his team in this spot with the defense simply unable to contend with the likes of Kyren Williams, Cooper Kupp, and Puka Nacua. With that, look for Stafford to win his first playoff game in Ford Field. In a brutal twist of fate, it won’t be as a member of the Detroit Lions.

Rams +135

Over 51

Matthew Stafford 350+ Passing Yards

Jared Goff Over 0.5 Interceptions

Bet $100 to Win $2600 on this SNF Same Game Parlay at Caesars Sportsbook