Rams at Indianapolis Colts: Who has the edge?

RAMS (1-0) vs. COLTS (0-1)

When: Sunday, 10 a.m.

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

TV/Radio: Ch. 11, 710 AM, 93.1 FM, 1330 AM (Spanish)

Line: Rams by 3½

Notable injury designations: Rams: Everybody is listed as good to go, although NT Sebastian Joseph-Day (knee) missed all or part of practice until Friday. Colts: RT Braden Smith (foot) and CB Xavier Rhodes (calf) are out; WR Michael Pittman (ankle), WR Parris Campbell (abdomen), LG Quenton Nelson (foot, back), DE Kwity Paye (hamstring) and FS Julian Blackmon (back) are among those listed as questionable.

What’s at stake? The Rams try to confirm the statement they made when they thumped the Chicago Bears with big-play offense and defense last Sunday. This game is on the road and against, probably, a tougher opponent. A win is needed to keep up in the NFC West, where all four teams started 1-0 and are favored again.

Who’s better? The Rams. After the season-opening win, their odds of winning the Super Bowl shortened from 16-1 to 12-1 (at BetOnline), tied with the San Francisco 49ers for third favorites behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Colts were a playoff team in 2020 and could be stronger than their Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks suggested.

Matchup to watch: Rams DT Aaron Donald vs. LG Quenton Nelson. Donald has at least one sack against every team except the Colts, mainly because he has never faced them; he was just ending a holdout when the teams met in 2017. Nelson is a three-time All-Pro, drafted sixth overall out of Notre Dame.

Rams win if …: If quarterback Matthew Stafford gets the protection and open receivers he did in his NFC Offensive Player of the Week performance against the Bears. If Darrell Henderson, and maybe an increased role for Sony Michel, produce a good ground game against one of the toughest teams to run on last season. If the Rams force the Colts out of the ball-control offense that depends on running backs Jonathan Taylor (1,169 yards rushing last season) and Nyheim Hines (482 yards on 63 receptions).

Fantasy pick: We won’t break any new ground here. You can’t go wrong following Stafford’s hot hand this week vs. the Colts and next week vs. the Buccaneers, two teams he has had success against in the past.

Prediction: Rams 26, Colts 23. The Rams come off a 20-point win as eight-point favorites over the Bears and must correct a 2020 trend that saw them follow big wins with letdowns. They went 1-4, both on the scoreboard and against the point spread, the week after a game in which they beat the spread by 10 or more.