Saints vs. Rams: Betting odds and plays for Week 16 Thursday Night Football game

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (7-7)

AT LOS ANGELES RAMS (7-7)

TV: Prime Video, 8:15 p.m.

Odds: L.A. Rams by 4.5; O/U: 46.5

After last week's joke of a Thursday night game — I'm happy to tell you I didn't watch one second of the Raiders' 63-21 win over the Chargers — we have a serious matchup between two NFC teams battling for a wild-card spot. It's 7-7 vs. 7-7, with the current NFC 7 seed Rams hosting the current NFC 9 seed the Saints, who are tied atop their division but the Buccaneers currently hold the tiebreaker.

With so much on the line, we should get a close game. Or not. The Rams feel like the right side to me for several reasons. For starters, they've been hot since going into the bye week at 3-6. They won three in a row to get to .500, lost at Baltimore and then bounced back last week with a win over the Commanders. The loss to the Ravens was their most impressive game, as they took the current 1 seed in the AFC seed to overtime and lost on a fluky punt-return touchdown. 

Sean McVay has this team playing its best football at the right time, and there's a big coaching advantage with him against New Orleans' Dennis Allen. The Saints have been one of the worst teams against the spread at 4-9-1; the Rams are 8-5-1.

You shouldn't make too much about last week's big win over the offensive-line challenged Giants. New Orleans has been a disappointment for most of the season, with Derek Carr struggling to find any rhythm in his first year there. Matthew Stafford is the opposite, as he can probably throw pinpoint passes to receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua blindfolded.

A big reason for the Rams' resurgence has been running back Kyren Williams, who returned in Week 12 after being out with an ankle injury. In the last four games, he's averaged 22 carries for 124 yards. 

Look for the Rams' offense to get the job done again and improve their playoff positioning.

The pick: L.A. Rams

The prop: Kyren Williams over rushing yards (89.5), -114. 

More on Williams: He's averaging 5.1 yards per carry this season, and in the last three games had 27, 25 and 21 carries. The Saints allow the ninth most rushing yards at 126.4 per game. 

By Joe Manniello

joe.manniello@newsday.com@joe_manniello

Joe Manniello, an editor on the sports copy desk, has written the NFL picks column since 2015. Manniello joined Newsday in 2004. He graduated from St. John's.