The Denver Broncos opened the season by proving exactly why they’re the reigning Super Bowl champions. Now with the conclusion of Thursday Night Football NFL betting fans can turn their attention to an equally entertaining event: Monday Night Football. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins are set to play the first game come Monday, but after their contest has concluded the Rams and 49ers will be taking the stage.
This will be the first year since 1994 that the Rams will play in the Greater Los Angeles Area. After finally deciding to part ways with St. Louis the Rams will return to the city they’ve called home for 50 out of their franchise’s 79 years. A bigger headline however, is the fact that the Rams only won 7 games last season, and 6 the year before. Ever since the Rams entered the Jeff Fisher era in 2011 they’ve failed to win more than 7 games in a season. It’s been a long time since the NFL betting odds have favored the Rams, and even a longer time since they’ve favored Jeff Fisher – who’s colloquially referred to as Mr. 7-9. But if you ask Eagles fans, they have harsher things to say about the man coaching the Rams’ Monday night opponent, Chip Kelly.
Kelly will be serving his first year as the 49ers head coach. To say that Kelly’s eager to get the days he spent in Philadelphia behind him would be an understatement. Chip Kelly spent three season with the Eagles, posting a 10-6 record in the first two. However, it was the third season that would brew a deep hatred for Kelly amongst Philadelphia fans. Kelly acted as de facto general manager and made some terrible moves that consisted of cutting or trading the Eagles best talent and bringing in entirely new players. The result was a season that saw the Eagles go 7-9 and decide to part ways with their now hated head coach.
Kelly left Philadelphia a mess but he isn’t coming into a much better situation in San Francisco. Jim Harbaugh was arguably one of the best 49ers coaches of recent time, but he had a falling out with the upper echelons of San Fran’s organization. Since they couldn’t see eye-to-eye Harbaugh decided to depart for Michigan and Jed York, the 49ers owner, decided to bring in someone he could control, but who might not have been the best fit for the job. That man was Jim Tomsula and his happy-go-lucky attitude – which included social media breaks for the players during meetings and easier practices – resulted in one of the worst offenses in 49ers history, averaging only 14.8 points per game. Tomsula’s failure was predicted by many of the 49ers assisting coaches who refused to serve under his staff and parted ways with the organization following York’s decision. The fans reaction was so severe that they paid to have banners flown over the Stadium demanding York’s accountability. Ultimately Tomsula was fired and Kelly was brought in to help lead San Francisco amidst both offensive issues and Kaepernick’s protest of the anthem. Kelly will get his first chance to prove himself come Monday, let’s check the odds across the best betting websites to see what they think of the former Eagle’s chances.
Week 1 Monday September 12th
Rams -2 ½ (-115) 43 (-110) -145
49ers +2 ½ (-105) 43 (-110) +125
Blaine Gabbert will be the starting quarterback for San Francisco after taking over for Kaepernick whom got benched mid-2015. Gabbert finished the 2015 season with a 86.2 quarterback rating, which is slightly lower than Case Keenum’s, the Rams’ starting quarterback, 87.7 rating. The NFL betting odds favor the Rams in their 2016 debut, but it’s hard to pick a clear favorite when two mediocre teams go at it. Either way fans can still tune in for some late night football action come Monday.
