Only 1 of 6 experts at SI pick Rams to beat Lions

SI has both the Rams and Lions in their top-5 power rankings

In two games since they swapped Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff, the Rams and Lions have split the series. The Rams beat the Lions in 2021, when Detroit was still at the beginning of their rebuild. But the Lions got their revenge in last year’s wild card round, getting a narrow 24-23 victory at home. When the two sides meet again on Sunday Night Football, it’s really anyone’s guess who will win the rubber match but so far it seems the experts are guessing with the Lions and not the Rams.

Sports Illustrated posted their Week 1 picks and five out of their six experts went with the Detroit Lions getting the win over the Los Angeles Rams. The one exception picking the Rams was Conor Orr.

It seems like a negative, but keep in mind that SI also has the Rams higher in their power rankings than just about any other publication: The Rams are 5th in SI’s first power rankings of the 2024 season.

If we reorganize our thinking on the Rams’ defense from “unit trying to recover from the loss of Aaron Donald” to “collection of very exciting, young players,” it feels less irresponsible to have them ranked in the top five of our early power rankings. Like the Packers, I love how their receiver room is organized. One through four, the Rams might have the strongest room in the NFL. The absence of a true “alpha” is more than mitigated by four really strong wideouts who understand the offense and are willing to block and get themselves on the same page as their heady quarterback.

The only reason that 5/6 pick the Rams to lose is because the Lions are second in SI’s first power rankings of the year.

Essentially, this SNF rematch is boiled down to being arguably the best game of the first weekend and evenly matched on both sides. These writers are picking a really good team at home, whereas maybe the Rams would be the favorites if this game was in L.A. or Brazil.