Tag: rams patriots

NFL power rankings: Rams approach top 5 after crushing Patriots

The Rams are on the rise once again after securing their second straight win.

Don’t look now, but the Los Angeles Rams have emerged as one of the best teams in the NFL after ripping off two dominant wins against the Cardinals and Patriots. In the second half of the season alone, they’ve beaten the Seahawks, Buccaneers, Cardinals and Patriots, with their only loss coming to the 49ers, a three-point defeat.

With the defense rolling and the offense taking better care of the football, the Rams have risen the ranks of NFL power rankings everywhere. At Touchdown Wire, they’re not quite in the top five, but they’re approaching that elite group.

After beating New England, the Rams rose from No. 8 to No. 6, only one spot behind the Saints.

Thursday night Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams reminded me of that fact, as McVay found countless ways in the run game to create extra gaps, outflank the New England Patriots defense, and pour on the rushing yards en route to a 24-3 win over New England. It was a masterful performance.

That bodes well for the Rams down the stretch. If they can remain as capable on the ground as they were on Thursday night, it sets up all the play-action designs that McVay loves to run with Jared Goff. When you combine an effective offense with what Brandon Staley has built on defense, you just might have the most dangerous team in the NFC.

The Rams trail only the Saints and Packers in the NFC, sitting one game behind both teams. Overtaking them for the No. 1 seed will be extremely difficult, requiring both teams to lose to an NFC opponent down the stretch, with L.A. simultaneously needing to win out.

It’s not impossible, but securing that coveted top seed and lone first-round bye will be a tall order. At the very least, the Rams could tie the Saints this weekend with a win over the Jets and a New Orleans loss to the Chiefs.

A loss to the Panthers by Green Bay would also be extremely helpful for L.A., pulling it into a tie with the Packers and Saints entering the final two weeks.

Two Rams named to PFF’s Team of the Week for Week 14

Aaron Donald and Kenny Young really shined in Week 14 against the Patriots.

The story of Week 14 for the Los Angeles Rams was the play of their defense. They held the Patriots to just three points, shutting them out in the second half en route to one of the best defensive performances ever against Bill Belichick.

Two players were at the forefront of that effort, with Kenny Young and Aaron Donald dominating defensively for L.A. Young had a pick-six and a sack on Cam Newton, while Donald recorded 1.5 sacks and two QB hits.

Both players were recognized by Pro Football Focus on the site’s Team of the Week, earning spots on the squad for Week 14. Donald was selected as the top interior defender, with Young being named to the team next to Deion Jones at linebacker.

Young led the team with eight tackles, which were also a season-high. He had been lacking big plays for the Rams all year, but he broke out in a big way against New England – which boasts a run-heavy defense that puts a lot of strain on linebackers.

Donald continues to play at a remarkably high level, recording another seven pressures, his fourth game with at least seven pressures this season. The Patriots had no answer for Donald, despite having Joe Thuney at guard.

The Rams defense should be able to keep up its stellar play in Week 15 with the 0-13 Jets coming to town.

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Rams Week 14 report card: Grading every position vs. Patriots

The Rams graded out well against the Patriots in their 24-3 win.

The Rams knocked off the Patriots in dominant fashion on Thursday night, crushing New England 24-3 at home. The defense held the Patriots to their worst offensive performance ever under Bill Belichick, based on one advanced metric, completely stymying Cam Newton.

L.A.’s offense didn’t put together its best game, but Cam Akers helped carry the load with 171 yards rushing. It’s just the 11th time since 2010 that the Rams won a game with more rushing yards than passing, which is an indication of how this contest went.

Here’s how we graded every position group from the Rams’ Week 14 win as they enter the final three weeks.

Watch: Gerald Everett was mic’d up for Rams vs. Patriots

Gerald Everett was mic’d up for Cam Akers’ 171-yard performance and the two motivated each other on the field.

Gerald Everett didn’t have a big game for the Rams on Thursday night against the Patriots, but neither did any of L.A.’s other pass-catchers. Jared Goff threw for just 137 yards and one touchdown, doing very little through the air.

That’s because Cam Akers was running like a mad man, rushing for 171 yards on 29 carries. It was a breakout performance for the rookie running back, getting plenty of help from his friends both up front and outside.

Akers credited the Rams offensive line, wide receivers and tight ends for his performance, saying they did an excellent job opening up running lanes for him.

Everett was mic’d up for the game and he could be heard talking to Akers, letting him know what he was going to do on a specific play blocking-wise. Check out the video below.

Rams held Patriots to worst offensive game ever under Belichick, according to this stat

The Rams defense played remarkably well against the Patriots in Week 14.

For as much attention as the Rams offense has gotten in the last three-plus years, it’s been their defense that has stolen the show this season. Led by first-year coordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams defense has been one of the best units in the NFL.

They’ve allowed the fewest total yards, fewest passing yards and third-fewest rushing yards, ranking first in the NFL in yards and points allowed per drive. The Patriots got a healthy serving of L.A.’s defense on Thursday night as the Rams completely shut down Cam Newton and New England’s offense, winning 24-3.

The scoreboard obviously shows this was a dominant defensive performance by the Rams, but the analytics tell an even better story. Mike Sando of The Athletic tweeted that the Patriots’ offensive EPA (expected points added) on Thursday night was -27.5.

That makes this the worst offensive performance ever by the Patriots in 374 games under Bill Belichick – including the postseason.

EPA essentially measures the difference between the expected points at the start of a play and the expected points added at the end. It’s a way to find out how much each play impacts a game and the effectiveness of the offense (or defense).

The Patriots offense gifted seven points to the Rams with a pick-six, mustered only 220 yards on 58 plays and went 0-for-4 in the red zone by coming away with just three points in those four trips.

The Patriots only had the ball for three and a half fewer minutes than the Rams, but they could do very little to move downfield against Los Angeles. The Rams were in complete control from start to finish, largely thanks to an outstanding performance by the defense.

Rams Week 14 snap counts: Major changes on offense

The Rams made huge changes on offense against the Patriots, relying heavily on their tight ends.

The last time the Rams faced the Patriots, they were primarily a three-receiver team. They used 11 personnel the majority of the time in Super Bowl LIII, putting three receivers, one tight end and one running back on the field for most of the game.

That changed dramatically on Thursday night in their rematch against the Patriots with Sean McVay throwing Bill Belichick a curveball. For what seems like the first time in McVay’s tenure, both Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett received more playing time than all of the Rams’ wide receivers.

L.A. utilized a ton of 12 personnel and even lined up Everett at fullback at times, mixing things up on offense compared to what they’ve been doing for much of the last few years. On defense, there weren’t as many significant changes made, but the Rams did play with heavier boxes and fewer sub-packages than they typically do.

We analyzed the snap counts on offense and defense below, examining trends and strategies by the Rams from Week 14.

11 eye-popping stats from Rams’ Week 14 win vs. Patriots

Aaron Donald is well on his way to making history, while Cam Akers nearly made some himself Thursday night.

After beating the Cardinals handily in Week 13, the Rams returned home for a meeting with the Patriots on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium. And for the second game in a row, they won in convincing fashion, crushing the Patriots 24-3.

It was a memorable night for the Rams, getting some semblance of redemption against the team that beat them in Super Bowl LIII. It doesn’t make up for that loss, but at least they snapped a six-game losing streak to New England.

Here are 11 crazy stats that came out of this Week 14 win, including some historical significance for Aaron Donald and Cam Akers.

Cooper Kupp explains why he ‘felt a little guilty’ about scoring his TD

Cooper Kupp’s 2-yard touchdown capped off a 16-play drive for the Rams, putting LA up 24-3.

Thursday wasn’t a big night for the Rams’ wide receivers or Jared Goff. No player had more than 34 yards receiving, with Goff only throwing for 137 yards on 25 attempts. Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods each caught five passes, with Kupp gaining 33 yards and Woods 32.

They may not have made many big plays, but it was Kupp’s 2-yard touchdown that helped seal the win for the Rams by putting them up 24-3 at the end of the third quarter.

It capped off the best drive of the night for L.A., a 16-play, 90-yard possession that took 9:42 off the clock. They had only thrown the ball three times on the drive prior to Kupp’s touchdown catch, with Woods gaining 13 yards and Josh Reynolds picking up a 6-yard reception.

Most of the work was done by Cam Akers on the ground, which is why Kupp felt bad for sneaking in right at the end for the touchdown.

“It felt good. I felt a little bad,” he explained on NFL Network after the game. “Rob and Josh and Cam really took the ball all the way down the field. I think it was 16-, 17-play drive so I felt a little guilty just hopping in there at the end for the touchdown. Just kudos to those guys, to the offensive line and the way Cam was running the ball. Obviously it felt great to get in, but I felt a little bad about it.”

Kupp has no reason to feel bad, especially considering how difficult a touchdown grab it was to make. Goff hit him with a perfect pass near the boundary, and Kupp dragged both feet to complete the catch for six points.

It was Kupp’s first touchdown since Week 4, so you can bet it felt great to finally get back into the end zone. But he couldn’t help but feel guilty for being the one to score after Akers did most of the work to get the Rams down there.

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Sean McVay: Beating Patriots ‘doesn’t get back the hurt and the scars’ from Super Bowl loss

Sean McVay is glad the Rams beat the Patriots, but he doesn’t see it as redemption for the Super Bowl.

No Rams fan, player or coach will soon forget the feeling that overcame them after Super Bowl LIII, a 13-3 loss to the Patriots. Sean McVay certainly hasn’t and even as good as it felt to beat New England on Thursday night, this win won’t make up for the loss two seasons ago.

McVay was asked after the game whether there was any sense of redemption for the Rams, with this being the first time they’ve faced the Patriots since the Super Bowl. He obviously thought about that game, but he didn’t let it affect his game plan or approach entering this pivotal Week 14 matchup.

Coming out of the win, he doesn’t feel any differently about that crushing defeat, either.

“It’s something that you think about because it was the last time that we played them being a cross-conference opponent and so, it was a big game,” he said after the 24-3 win. “That’s always going to be a part of the coaching trajectory for me and a night that you’ve got to be able to learn from. As far as how that affected our plans going into this game, it really didn’t at all. We’re a totally different team. I mean, you see we’re doing a lot of different things. What is consistent, is that you’ve got great coaches and a really tough football team on the opposing sideline and I think we’d like to say the same thing for our group, a lot of really good football players.

“It was important because it was our ninth win, but as far as any sort of redemption, I do think what my Coach Martz said is true. It doesn’t get back the hurt and the scars of that night, I can promise you that.”

Even if McVay goes on to win six Super Bowls, he’ll most likely still think about his first trip to the big game. It was an excellent learning experience for the second-year coach, and something he’ll take with him as he navigates his career in the NFL.

A regular-season win over the Patriots won’t make up for that, but at least it gives the Rams a better shot at reaching the Super Bowl again this year.

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Listen: Sean McVay fires up Rams, hands out game balls after huge win vs. Patriots

Sean McVay handed out game balls to Cam Akers and Kenny Young after the Rams’ Week 14 win.

Sean McVay made it clear throughout the week that he and the Rams were not going to overlook the Patriots despite their 6-6 record and sputtering offense. And based on the way L.A. played Thursday night, that was very clear.

The Rams crushed the Patriots 24-3 at SoFi Stadium, earning their ninth win of the season. And after the victory, McVay was understandably fired up in the locker room. The Rams didn’t share a video of his postgame speech to the players, but they did post an audio clip.

He handed out game balls to a pair of players and sent the team home for their mini-bye week.

Have a listen.

It’s no surprise that Kenny Young and Cam Akers got game balls from McVay. Akers rushed for 171 yards, while Young had a pick-six and a sack on Cam Newton.

“First game ball, picking off a screen, going to the crib, great block by Jalen (Ramsey). Great job, Kenny!” McVay yelled.

“Talk about a physical game. offensive line set the line of scrimmage. Tight ends, wide receivers. Went for 170-plus on the ground. Give it up for Cam Akers,” he continued.

They’re deserving of praise from the coach and fans everywhere because their performances helped lift the Rams to victory in Week 14.