Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams will have an opportunity on Sunday to hit 12 wins for the second time with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. Despite sitting at 11-5, this may be the worst that fans have felt about this Rams team all season. They are coming off of back-to-back losses, including one against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. The Rams need a reset and the doctor could not have prescribed a game against the Arizona Cardinals at a better time. This will be a great opportunity to find some form before the playoffs. Here are this week’s keys to victory.
The Rams simply need to get back to the basics heading into the playoffs. For the most part, the last five weeks haven’t been good. While they have wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions, the three losses simply haven’t been good enough. The Rams went from being one of the best run defenses in the NFL to once again giving up the explosive play. They went from a team that rarely turned the ball over to one that has a negative turnover margin over the last three games.
When the Rams have needed a ‘get right’ game during the Sean McVay era, the Arizona Cardinals have always been there to provide that. After losing back-to-back games in Weeks 14 and 15 in 2018, the Rams played the Cardinals in a Week 16 matchup. The Rams won that game 31-9, which sparked winning four straight games before the Super Bowl. In 2020, the Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers to drop to 7-4. They beat the Cardinals the following week and again in Week 17 with John Wolford before winning a playoff game. During the Super Bowl season, the Rams had the infamous “No Win November”. They did beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was a win against the 10-2 Cardinals that got them back on track. In 2023, after failing to score more than 20 points for more than a month, the Rams beat the Cardinals 37-14. The offense would score 30 points in three of the next four games.
Before the playoffs, the Rams need to be able to play a clean game. Again, they turned the ball over three times last week against the Panthers which was the second time in five weeks that they’ve done so. Over the last five weeks, the Rams have had special teams gaffes and made too many mistakes on defense. Simply put, the Rams need to be able to feel good about how they’re playing before the postseason.
This kind of goes back to the previous point, but getting back to the basics and playing a clean game on Sunday is important. The defense needs to stop the run and do a better job tackling. Offensively, the Rams need to not turn the ball over and take advantage of opportunities. From a special teams perspective, they...
