Broncos Face A Tough Primetime Test Against A Team Built To Punish Mistakes

The Los Angeles Rams, coming off a recent bounce-back victory, face off against the Denver Broncos in their first road game of the season, with analysts questioning whether the Broncos can stop the Rams' dominance.

The Rams head into Sunday Night Football as the road team, but the betting market still sees them as the side with more upside in Week 3.

Los Angeles has already had one trip away from home this season, though that opener in Australia was a disaster in a 27-7 loss. Since then, the Rams have looked much more like themselves, rolling past the Giants 28-6 in primetime. Denver, meanwhile, started with a 31-10 loss in Kansas City before getting back on track with a 20-13 win over Jacksonville last week.

This matchup also comes with a one-sided recent history. The Rams have won all five meetings against the Broncos, including a 51-14 blowout on Christmas Day in 2022.

Oddsmakers haven’t budged on the spread since opening, but the total has come down from 45.5 to 44.5, with the over now getting a slight edge.

In SI Betting’s Road to 272 Bets column, Iain MacMillan made the case for Los Angeles to keep that streak alive. He pointed to the Rams’ performance on Monday night as evidence they remain one of the NFL’s elite teams, while expressing doubt that Denver can get back to its 2025 form. He noted that the Broncos sit 13th in Net Yards per Play at 0.0, but are only 25th in EPA per play and 21st in success rate.

MacMillan also framed the Rams’ roster as a clear step above Denver’s, and said he’s willing to discount Los Angeles’ rough start overseas. With Aaron Donald back in Week 2 and expected to settle in even more, his view is that the Rams will make life difficult for the Broncos in Denver.

The Broncos are favored by just -2.5 again in primetime after beating Jacksonville as -2.5 favorites last week, but the Rams are still the team drawing the sharper confidence here.

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