It’s a classic Week 18 NFL odds battle between Sam Darnold and Carson Wentz as a pair of playoff-bound NFC West teams wrap up the regular season with the San Francisco 49ers sitting as a 4-point favorite vs. the visiting Rams, who are content sitting every important starter. 

The 49ers have the No.1 seed in the NFC locked up but with the bye looming, Kyle Shanahan is giving many of his key starters some early snaps which is why the 49ers to cover the first half has become a very popular bet for a wild Week 18 slate.

I break down the Week 18 NFL odds and offer my free NFL picks for Rams at 49ers on Sunday, January 7. 

Rams vs 49ers odds

Rams vs 49ers predictions

It’s a play…

It was a wild Week 2 in the National Football League as we saw plenty of upsets, plenty of long-scoring plays, and nearly 4,000 people knocked out of the $1 million Circa Survivor pool after the 1:00 p.m. batch of games. The point-spread picks fared slightly better, but only just. 

This week, there are just two spreads bigger than a touchdown, with seven of the remaining 14 games sitting at a field goal or less. 

If you’re looking to pad the lead or get back into the race for your season-long office pool, I give you my NFL picks against the spread for Week 3. 

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Millie Chandarana has come a long way since that rather unfortunate day when she had a trial for the boys’ school team. “I was eight years old and I scored a goal from the halfway line … but into the wrong net,” she says, laughing. “Afterwards my teacher told me I was good enough to join the local girls’ team but not the boys’ team just yet.”

Chandarana did not let that mishap deter her. Only a few months later she had convinced the coach for the boys’ team at school that she was good enough to play with them. The rest, as they say, is history and she now plays for UPC Tavagnacco in Italy.

The midfielder is one of few British Asian women – or men – who has made it to the top in football but she…

The Foxes’ struggles for consistency in an injury-hit season for Jamie Vardy have seen them refamiliarising themselves with mid-table surroundings. Brendan Rodgers’s unfortunate assessment of his main forward’s prognosis (“It’s just when he’s striking the ball there is an issue”) suggests a run-in where Kelechi Iheanacho, Patson Daka and Harvey Barnes must weigh in more and improve on their combined tally of 10 league goals. Palace may be only one place better off having played two more games, but they were merciless in beating Arsenal, are unbeaten in seven and look like a side peering up rather than down. Stuart Goodwin

Sunday 2pm

Venue King Power Stadium

Last season Leicest…

There was a moment, a simple enquiry, when I realised that my daughter had successfully been indoctrinated. A journey round the M25 to a match in north London had been halted prematurely, as the car’s engine lost all power, and we spluttered to a halt on the hard shoulder. As my uncle got out to investigate the cause, and with the rest of the Saturday afternoon traffic thundering past at terrifying speed, I hurriedly scooped her out of the car and over the relative safety of the crash barrier.

Stood among the overgrown grass and clutching her favourite teddy, she beckoned me down to her level so she could make herself heard over the passing vehicles and asked a question that made my heart skip with parental affection. “Daddy, are we stil…

The “gold games” are Kyrie Irving’s description of the NBA Finals, and he’ll be playing in the league’s championship series for a fourth time. We like Irving’s chances to make a major impact from the jump on Thursday. Here are our picks for today. NBA Finals Game 1Dallas enters as the underdog to the Celtics in Game 1 and the series, but the Mavericks don’t do blowout defeats. And it’s even less likely on this stage. Only one laugher this postseason – Game 1 at Oklahoma City in the semifinals, 117-95 – could meet lopsided standards. At 6.5-point underdogs, the favorite might be getting too much love after a nearly two-week layoff. The players everyone expects to play to their All-NBA reputations on Thursday night are Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and Luka Doncic of t…

Studies have shown that negative news garners more of the public’s attention than positive news, so with that knowledge, I propose an alternative to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Basketball Hall of Fame has the prestige, but it doesn’t generate as much conversation as Twitter ramblings from Zion Williamson’s paramour. A few thousand leagues beneath the high-octane, incredible skill and execution on display this season was a moldy crust of galaxy-brained decision-makers and hoopers playing like straight cheeks. During the All-Star break, we outlined some of the worst. By the end of the year, the NBA’s dregs sank to the bottom and separated themselves from the pack. Their moments should be memorialized in a pro basketball rogues gallery. Place it in some dilapidated f…

Traditional headbands are gross and lame. It’s a minimal loop of terrycloth designed specifically just to keep a disgusting bodily fluid from dripping into your eyes, so honestly it’s a wonder that something so guaranteed to be completely radioactive at the end of games ever gained even a modicum of acceptance as a fashion accessory in the NBA. But thankfully, the next innovation in sweatband technology is here. It’s like a regular headband, but, uh, it’s a lot bigger. It’s technically a hachimaki, but people are calling it the “ninja headband.” credits: Al Bello | source: Getty Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen knows what I’m talking about, and so does Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday (as seen in the top photo), who’s maybe become the most enthusiastic adopter of the ninja…

Some people are fans of the Washington Redskins. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Washington Redskins. This 2016 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. And buy Drew’s new book here. Your team: Washington Redskins. Your 2015 record: 9-7. Christ. A winning record. I’m gonna puke. Keep in mind that those nine wins all came against losing teams. If they had played winning teams? 0-16. That’s right. You’re fucking winless, as far as I’m concerned. Eat shit and die. I refuse to acknowledge any of this team’s mild successes given that, in the past year alone: •The head coach let RG3 play behind a 12-string line during the preseason and summarily got him concussed… •But not before the team tried to hid…

Some people are fans of the Minnesota Vikings. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Minnesota Vikings. This 2013 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the 2013 NFL previews so far right here. Your team: Minnesota Vikings Your 2012 record: 10-6. FULL DISCLOSURE: The Vikings are my favorite team. But trust me: I hate them. I hate them so very, very much. There’s nothing I hate more, or more intimately, than the things I love the most. Your coach: Leslie Frazier. Adrian Peterson ran the ball 348 times last season after having his knee blown apart. Frankly, I HOPE the fucker was on PEDs, because if he isn’t mainlining stem cells from panda fetuses, his lower body will liquefy by Week 2. The Vikings’ offensive coordinator is Bill Musgra…