The St. Louis Rams rallied to win their season opener, while the Atlanta Falcons lost a tough opener at New Orleans.

The Rams now try to make it a 2-0 start, while the Falcons will try to avoid going 0-2, when the former division rivals hook up at the Georgia Dome Sunday afternoon (1 pm ET, Fox).

As of early this week Atlanta, which hasn’t lost two games in a row (in the regular season) since December of 2009, was favored by seven points over St. Louis, which hasn't won its first two games since 2001.

The past five meetings all played OVER the total, while the Rams 12-3 ATS past 15 games as underdog.



View St Louis vs Atlanta Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Bettors who were going with the Falcons in this one found them listed as 7-point favorites on the betting line at Sportsbook. Totals bettors have seen that number set earlier in the week at 47.5 for Monday.

Power Rankings / Prediction:
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Falcons rated this week at No. 24 and the Rams sitting at No. 17. It may or may not play a role in OddsShark score prediction models that turned out a 26-17 result in favor of the Rams this week.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Atlanta's No. 24-ranked offense (17 PPG) against a Rams defense that ranks No. 17 at 24 PPG. The Falcons passing attack has averaged 279 yards per game, less than the Rams give up through the air (304 YPG on average).



Last time out for St. Louis, they were a 27-24 Sportsbook as they battled the Cardinals at home. The Rams failed to cover in the match as a 3.5-point favorite, while 51 combined points moved the game OVER for totals bettors. St. Louis won its last game, 27-24 over Arizona on Sunday, behind a 141-yard receiving performance from Jared Cook at Edward Jones Dome.

Atlanta lost its last outing, a 23-17 result against the Saints on September 8. The Falcons failed to cover in that game as a 3.5-point underdog, while the 40 combined points took the game UNDER the total. In their last game, Atlanta's aerial attack generated 304 yards but it was the Saints coming away with a 23-17 victory over Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.


St. Louis Rams Trends:
When playing in September are 4-6
When playing on turf are 6-4
After being outgained are 6-3-1
When playing outside the division are 3-7

Atlanta Falcons Trends:
When playing in September are 7-3
When playing on turf are 6-4
After being outgained are 7-3
When playing outside the division are 9-1

A few Rams at Falcons trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 8 of St. Louis's last 9 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of St. Louis's last 19 games on the road
St. Louis is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Atlanta's last 9 games when playing at home against St. Louis
Atlanta is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games at home
Atlanta is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing St. Louis


Next up:
St. Louis at Dallas, Sunday, September 22
Atlanta at Miami, Sunday, September 22