Turf Show Times
The Rams beat the Patriots in Week 11. Rookie Beaux Limmer took command at center
The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New England Patriots, 28-22, in Week 11. The win improved them to 5-5 on the season, and while the win wasn’t perfect, it was much needed. Matthew Stafford had a strong performance, while some questions have been asked about rookie kicker Joshua Karty. Here is this week’s stock up, stock down.
The Rams took somewhat of a risk when they took Beaux Limmer out of the lineup in favor of free-agent signing Jonah Jackson. While it was a move that needed to happen, replacing Jackson with Limmer this week also needed to happen. Injuries certainly have played a role, but the Rams have not gotten what they needed out of Jackson. However, they needed to see him and Avila together to make a fair evaluation. They got that last week against the Dolphins.
Limmer continues to impress as someone who was drafted in the sixth round. He gave up a single pressure against the Patriots and has given the Rams’ offense stability and someone they can rely on at the center position.
Joshua Karty is going to have good games, OK games, and bad games. He didn’t necessarily have a bad game against the Patriots. However, his missed 26-yard field goal wasn’t great, and the lack of confidence the coaching staff had in him certainly affected the decision to punt on the final drive from the 35-yard line.
Unless Karty’s level completely nosedives, the Rams are likely going to stick with him for the rest of the season. With that said, there may be questions about whether he can be the long-term answer at kicker within the organization. He needs to bounce back and show some consistency over the second half of the season.
There was a lot of talk about how Matthew Stafford was struggling in the red zone over the first half of the season. Stafford wasn’t faultless by any means, but there was context for those struggles. He now has 10 touchdown passes in the red zone this season, which is the same number as Jared Goff. Stafford’s touchdowns to Puka Nacua and Colby Parkinson were two of the better throws that you’ll see in that area of the field.
In fact, Nacua’s 12-yard touchdown catch had a completion probability of just 13.4 percent. That was the most improbable completion in Week 11 and the sixth-most improbable catch all season. For the Rams to be better in the red zone, that starts with Stafford. The Rams quarterback was dialed in on Sunday.
One can only hope that the Rams address the cornerback position this offseason and do more than just put a band-aid on the position. They took the band-aid approach this year, and at times it has cost them....
