In Week 9 the Los Angeles Rams took on the Carolina Panthers at home & came away with a 13-10 loss. The Rams have now lost 4 straight after starting 3-1. The Rams fall to 3-5 after their loss on Sunday & are still third in the NFC West.
Positives:
- 5 sacks by the defense. The Rams defensive line came to play on Sunday sacking Cam Newton 5 times. Of course the Rams were led by Aaron Donald who had 2 sacks, Mark Barron had 1, Eugene Sims had 1, & Cam Thomas also had 1. The Rams were able to create pressure all game on Newton.
- Stopping the Carolina rushing offense. The Rams were able to stop the high power rushing attack of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The Panthers finished the game with a total of 59 yards on 25 carries & were unable to get it into the end zone on the ground. The Rams did a good job making the Panthers one dimensional but the Rams offense was unable to capitalize on that.
Negatives:
- Case Keenum. Yet again Case Keenum has another poor game & a turnover. Keenum finished the game throwing for 296 yards, 1 touchdown, & 1 interception. Keenum has only 2 games this season where he hasn’t thrown an interception (Week 2 against Seattle, Week 4 against Arizona). So far this year Keenum has 2,004 yards, 9 touchdowns, & 11 interceptions. The question is “Is Goff worse than this?” Me personally I don’t think he is but as a Rams fan i don’t want to see Goff thrown out there under Jeff Fisher if we can prevent it.
- Lack of a running game. Another thing that’s been common this year is Todd Gurley was unable to get going. Gurley has still been unable to get 100 yards in a game. Gurley also has a horrid 3.1 yards per carry this season which is 40th out of 40th RBs that are eligible to be ranked. I know people are saying he may not be as good as we thought but I don’t think that’s the case at all. Gurley is still one of the most talented backs in the NFL but with terrible blocking & a struggling passing game you’re going to get the results he’s gotten so far. Hopefully we can get Gurley more carries after having only 12 on Sunday against the Panthers.
- Poor pass protection. The Rams all year have struggled blocking in both the running & passing game. The Rams allowed 4 sacks on Sunday & have given up 20 sacks on the year which is the 10th most in the NFL. They’ve also been unable to create running lanes for Todd Gurley. The biggest problem I see is Greg Robinson at left tackle. If it were me I’d think about moving him to guard.
Moving Forward:
The 3-5 Los Angeles Rams will be traveling to East Rutherford to take on the 3-6 New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.The Jets are coming off a 27-23 loss against the Miami Dolphins. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been struggling mightily this season throwing for 1,983, 8 touchdowns, & 13 interceptions. I say the Rams end their losing streak on Sunday & win 20-13.
