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The Los Angeles Rams finished the first half of their schedule with a 5-2 record. Following the bye week, the Rams will enter the second half of their season, which will be much more difficult than the first half. The real season starts on Sunday as the Rams play five of their six division games over the next 10 weeks. This is a team that will have a lot to prove over the next two months. They will need to show that they are true contenders in the NFC. Here are five predictions for the second half of the season.
This almost didn’t seem possible heading into the season, with many predicting that the Rams defense would finish inside the bottom-10 or below average at best. Before the season, I did a ‘half-baked’ takes piece in which I wrote about things that I sort of believed and were at least within the realm of possibility. In that piece, I said that the Rams defense would finish closer to the top-10 than the bottom-10. Well, here we are eight weeks into the NFL season and I’m going to solidify that prediction a little more. This Rams defense is going to finish the season inside the top-10.
As it stands, the Rams defense ranks second in the NFL in EPA per play behind only the Houston Texans. They are also second in defense DVOA behind the Detroit Lions. This Rams defense has been outstanding this year. While they will have some more difficult opponents in the second half of the year, this is a group that knows what its identity is and they should be able to continue building on that as the season progresses. There may be a drop-off, but they shouldn’t fall outside the top-10.
Matthew Stafford is currently tied for the NFL lead in touchdown passes with Patrick Mahomes. However, Mahomes has played one more game than Stafford. Nearly one-third of Stafford’s passing touchdowns have come in one game. With that said, he’s also thrown multiple touchdown passes in five out of seven games this season. Removing the game against the Baltimore Ravens, Stafford is still averaging two touchdown passes per game with a touchdown rate of 5.6 percent. Even if Stafford sees some regression over the next 10 games, 20 touchdown passes is still possible, and he could eclipse that.
Again, the schedule for the Rams does get more difficult, but the Rams play pass defenses ranked 27th, 26th, and 20th over the second half of the season. They also play defenses that have allowed the 6th, 12th, 15th, and 16th-most touchdown passes per game. Stafford seemed to find some chemistry with Davante Adams in the red zone before the bye week which will only help both of their touchdown numbers.
If the playoffs were to start this week,...
