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Los Angeles Rams vs. Green Bay Packers

Saturday, January 16, 2021 – 04:35 PM EST at Lambeau Field

The fast-casual industry has been an incredible growth vehicle for seemingly every type of menu item, from pizza and burgers to tacos, seafood, and Mediterranean. Now one brand wants to leverage the fast-casual model to take a more niche item to the American masses: crepes. Sweet Paris Crȇperie.

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The Rams found a way in the Wild Card series against the Seattle Seahawks, having to play Jared Goff at quarterback with an injured thumb in a rivalry playoff game. That was fun and an ever better win for the Rams. The away team was still able to score 30 points in a game where they really didn’t have a reliable quarterback. Jared Goff now has a week to prepare and heal up. It’s about to get real.

The Rams have one of the best defenses in football and will go up against one of the best offenses in football. Los Angeles has been led by Jared Goff who has thrown 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this year. The Rams got a surprising contribution from Cam Akers last week against the Seahawks as he ran 28 times for 131 yards on the ground.

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Los Angeles can absolutely win in the trenches, which is something to note when doing NFL betting. They’ve got an offensive line that has performed well, especially in the run game, which was evident against the Seahawks. The pass blocking hasn’t been perfect but, against the Packers pass rush that also hasn’t been terrific, the Rams should be just fine in that area.

L.A. has got playmakers like Cooper Kupp back on the field (though he got injured against Seattle), who made some solid plays for the squad last week as well, hauling in four of nine targets for 78 yards, with one catch over Jamal Adams. This team will need to be more efficient on offense when passing the football, but with all the uncertainty leading into this game, it was expected for it to lag.

The Packers, on the other hand, won’t have a lagging offense and haven’t really fallen short all season outside of one game against the Buccaneers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Packers has thrown for 48 touchdowns on the season and just five interceptions. 18 of those touchdowns went to Davante Adams, who tied for second in the NFL with 115 receptions and was obviously first in touchdowns for wideouts with 18.

The Packers passing game has been brilliant this season but it’s been helped largely due to the offensive line standing their ground. This will be their toughest task of the season going up against the Rams front seven and dominant coverage. Green Bay has had trouble tackling this season and have missed plenty of tackles on defense. On top of that, the defense hasn’t been able to get as many stops as you’d like.

The Rams are the most balanced team in the NFL. They’ve got injuries and uncertainty but Jalen Ramsey lining up against Adams should keep things mellow. The Packers are getting too many points from betting sites, even at home.

NFL Pick: Rams +7 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills

Saturday, January 16, 2021 - 08:15 PM EST at Bills Stadium

Both the Ravens and Bills got the job done in the Wild Card series and will now face each other in what should be an awesome AFC Divisional Playoffs game. The Bills slid by the Colts, winning 27-24 with a big defensive stand to conclude the game while the Ravens defeated the Titans 20-13 with their big defensive stops. Both teams have the makings of solid defenses but really good offenses. These two teams are comparable which makes this game so much more intriguing.

The Bills used to be a run-first offense but changed their approach this season and let quarterback Josh Allen throw and become more of a pocket passer. Allen responded with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his best season since joining the league. Buffalo finished the regular season 13-3 and won the AFC East for the first time in what seemed like forever.

There were so many weapons added on this offense including Stefon Diggs, who became Josh Allen’s favorite target and hauled in 127 receptions for 1535 yards and eight touchdowns. The Bills have been solid offensively but defensively, they’ve had their issues. Game after game, this team is allowing big chunk plays on the ground and have the worst rushing defense in the league when it comes down to it. The one thing the Ravens are good at is running the football, so keep that in mind when looking at the NFL odds. That’ll turn some heads.

The Bills have a solid pass rush and a secondary that plays well but, again, the rushing defense could become a big problem in this game. The Ravens pride themselves on the ground and Lamar Jackson, quarterback of the Ravens, proved how valuable his legs are in the win against the Titans last week.

Jackson scored 26 touchdowns passing and 19 more on the ground but against the Titans, he threw for just 179 yards and an interception. Thankfully, on the ground, Jackson ran 16 times for 136 yards and a touchdown, although he was sacked five times in that game. The Ravens offensive line should have a field day against the Bills and help create space not only for Jackson but for the running backs of the Ravens as well.

The Ravens have been just as bad tackling compared to the Bills and have a pass rush that hasn’t been effective all season, but the reality is, the Ravens are peaking at the right time and came back against the Titans after a poor start and down double digits.

I like how the Ravens defense has played in this second half of the season and believe the offense has an advantage on the ground that they’ll be able to exploit. If you want to get risky, you can parlay both the Rams and Ravens on the moneyline and get a big payday with your NFL picks.

NFL Pick:Ravens +2.5 (-110) at BetOnline

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.

The fast-casual industry has been an incredible growth vehicle for seemingly every type of menu item, from pizza and burgers to tacos, seafood, and Mediterranean. Now one brand wants to leverage the fast-casual model to take a more niche item to the American masses: crepes.

Sweet Paris Crȇperie & Café has grown to 11 units selling sweet and savory crepes, along with a variety of café-style offerings like waffles, omelets, paninis, and espresso drinks. And the Texas-based brand is franchising the concept with the aim of growing across the U.S. and even internationally.

Husband-and-wife cofounders Ivan and Allison Chavez opened the first Sweet Paris location in Houston’s Rice Village in 2012. The pair, who’d spent time in Paris and fallen in love with the street-food experience of crepe carts, couldn’t find a proper equivalent in Houston.

“The most popular crepe offering in Houston at the time was this one-man-band crepe cart … and we would go on the weekends and see people stand in the line for 45 minutes to an hour, waiting for these crepes to be made one by one off of the crepe griddle,” says Allison Chavez. “And we thought, obviously this is a product that people are willing to wait for. Is there a way we could make it quicker, fresh, but also in this very nice experience—not having to wait on the side of the street for 45 minutes?”

A Williams-Sonoma griddle and stacks of failed crepes later, the Chavezes had landed on a recipe they thought they could turn into a viable product. The business school alums spent a year developing the concept, and once it was ready, found a landlord willing to give them a chance on a space close to Rice University.

Beyond offering a unique product, Chavez says, the Sweet Paris space was designed to re-create the European bistro experience, complete with open kitchens, Venetian plaster, and chandeliers. “The music was important; the lighting was important,” she says. “We really focused on all those things, and even the colors.” The visual appeal was perfectly timed, as Sweet Paris opened just as Instagram and other social media became serious marketing tools for brands.

Sweet Paris boasts restaurants that are designed to imitate a European bistro experience.

The restaurant was a success from day one, with lines out the door. With no restaurant experience between them, the Chavezes enlisted an experienced restaurant manager to help tweak the operations, update the kitchen, and integrate technology. They got wait times down from 30 minutes to 5 and began to think about how they might scale Sweet Paris into a multiunit concept.

The second location opened in a West Houston development, and Chavez says that while the store was bigger and more expensive, it helped the founders understand Sweet Paris’s identify and expansion strategy for the future.

“We learned from that second store that where we need to be is lifestyle centers, which kind of dictated the continued growth of Sweet Paris in the sense that we recognize that Sweet Paris cannot be on every street corner and in random strip centers or lost on the side of freeways,” she says. “It needs to be in a place that has complementary retailers and dining options.”

Sweet Paris was eight units strong and firing on all cylinders by the time COVID-19 arrived. But the pandemic hasn’t forced the kind of revolutionary changes that many other concepts have undergone, nor has it significantly altered the model going forward. Chavez says Sweet Paris added online ordering and curbside service early on, and partnered with third-party delivery services. It also incorporated a mobile POS so seated customers wouldn’t have to return to the line for additional purchases.

But Sweet Paris’s super power may have been its patios, which it’s included in all locations. Once dine-in restrictions lifted, the brand was able to rely on al fresco dining to support its business. By October, sales had returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Chavez says Sweet Paris doesn’t feel the need to transform into an off-premises-oriented concept because that’s not what it was ever intended to be. Prior to COVID, she says, takeout business was only around 2 percent of sales.

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“Our concept was meant for people to enjoy in-store,” she says. “That's not to say people didn't take some of their food out, but it wasn't a big part of our business, nor one that we focused on very much because we believe that our food is best served on the spot.”

Sweet Paris opened three locations during the pandemic, and now has a presence in Austin, San Antonio, and College Station, Texas, as well as one store in Mexico. Chavez says the company is targeting areas like Southern California, South Florida, and Las Vegas for potential growth.

“We feel like having a very diverse population is important because it makes people more adventurous about their food, and they're more interested in our food,” she says. “I think if you asked my husband even two years into this, he would have said he sees Sweet Paris in Dubai, Tokyo, and Shanghai.”

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To learn more about Sweet Paris, stream the Fast Forward podcast conversation at the top of the page.