Tag: rams power rankings

NFL power rankings: Rams are lowest-ranked team left ahead of divisional round

The Rams are No. 8 in the power rankings this week, but there are only eight teams left in the postseason.

Good news: The Los Angeles Rams have climbed into the top 10 of this week’s power rankings from Touchdown Wire.

Bad news: They’re the lowest-ranked playoff team remaining.

With the final eight set ahead of the divisional round, the Rams sit in the basement of those squads, sitting one spot behind the Cleveland Browns, who upset the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. Mark Schofield came away impressed with the way the Rams shut down the Seahawks and bottled up the likes of DK Metcalf and Russell Wilson, but he questions whether they can do it again against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

The big spark from that unit came from the Pick-Six turned in by cornerback Darious Williams, when he perfectly read a smoke-screen intended for D.K. Metcalf, jumped it by fighting through the block attempt by Freddie Swain, and stepped in front of the throw from Russell Wilson for six points the other way. Jalen Ramsey was his usual stellar self, including a leaping deflection of a downfield throw to prevent a big play.

Now the question becomes, can that defense replicate that performance against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers?

Here’s how the top eight shakes out following wild-card weekend.

8. Rams
7. Browns
6. Ravens
5. Buccaneers
4. Saints
3. Bills
2. Packers
1. Chiefs

The Rams’ next opponent, the Green Bay Packers, come in at No. 2, and deservedly so. They went 13-3 in the regular season and are coming off a first-round bye, fresh and rested ahead of Saturday’s game against the Rams. They led the NFL in scoring and have the likely MVP leading them at quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, along with three other first-team All-Pros.

The Rams boast a dominant defense, but they haven’t run into an offense this good all year.

NFL power rankings: Rams move up slightly after crushing Cardinals

The Rams remain a top 10 team heading into Week 14.

For the third time this year, the Rams avoided losing back-to-back games. After falling to the 49ers in Week 12, L.A. bounced back on Sunday against the Cardinals with a statement win over the Cardinals, beating their division rivals 38-28 on the road.

The win helped the Rams take back the lead in the NFC West thanks to Seattle’s loss, but it didn’t do much to improve their standing in this week’s NFL power rankings. At Touchdown Wire, the Rams remain a top-10 team, but just barely.

They moved up one spot from No. 9 to 8 after beating the Cardinals. They’re one spot ahead of the slipping Seahawks, and one position behind the Colts.

After last week’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay challenged his quarterback. In his postgame comments McVay was clear that he expected Jared Goff to perform better, and to take care of the football.

It seems those comments had their desired effect.

Goff was a much more efficient and effective quarterback during Sunday’s game, a critical NFC West meeting with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Rams looked much more like the team they were at the start of the season than the one we saw crumble under pressure against the Dolphins and 49ers, which is a great sign. But now they face another test against the Patriots, who may not seem like a major threat at 6-6 but remain a hurdle thanks to Bill Belichick’s coaching.

New England is coming off a 45-0 win over the Chargers in Week 13 and Belichick would love nothing more than to sweep both L.A. teams at SoFi Stadium in a span of five days.

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Rams jump into top 10 of NFL power rankings after beating Seahawks

The Seahawks were sent plummeting out of the top 5, down to No. 13.

The Los Angeles Rams haven’t won more than two games in a row at any point this season, but they’ve done a nice job bouncing back from losses, doing so three times in the first 10 weeks. After losing to the Dolphins in Week 8, the Rams rebounded by beating the Seahawks on Sunday to avoid back-to-back losses.

That win has them once again on the rise in this week’s power rankings, jumping inside the top 10 of many lists across the web. In Touchdown Wire’s rankings, the Rams rose from No. 11 to No. 8 after beating Seattle.

In doing so, they simultaneously sent the Seahawks plummeting from No. 5 to 13. Here’s what Mark Schofield wrote about the Rams heading into Week 11 after admitting he was wrong to call them “pretenders.”

To my credit, the Rams defense was indeed a big part of the Rams’ win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. That defense intercepted Russell Wilson twice, Ramsey and the rest of the secondary held D.K. Metcalf to just two receptions and 28 yards, and the Seahawks offense struggled generally.

But the Rams’ offense was good too. Now, part of this might have been due to the Seattle defense and their struggles, but this was a good day from Goff and McVay. Goff completed 27 of 37 passes for 302 yards, no touchdowns and perhaps most importantly no interceptions. Malcolm Brown chipped in with a pair of rushing touchdowns, and the Rams came away with a win to pull themselves into a three-way tie at 6-3 atop the division.

The Rams face yet another difficult test next week when they take on the Buccaneers, a road matchup with a team that boasts a 7-3 record. L.A.’s defense has dominated all year, but this Tampa Bay offense features a ton of talent, led by Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette – and not to mention, a guy named Tom Brady.

If the Rams can beat Tampa Bay, it will put them on the map as one of the very best teams in the NFC, right there with the Saints and Packers.

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Rams stay put in NFL power rankings following Week 9 bye

The Rams didn’t move in this week’s power rankings after their bye.

Without even playing a game, the Los Angeles Rams improved their playoff chances during their Week 9 bye. The Seahawks, Cardinals and 49ers all lost while the Rams were off, bringing Los Angeles to within one game of the NFC West lead.

Where they didn’t improve, however, is in this week’s power rankings. Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire kept the Rams right where they were before the bye, slotting them in at No. 11.

That’s one spot ahead of the Raiders and one spot behind the Colts, while only two places behind the 6-3 Buccaneers. Here’s part of what Schofield wrote about the Rams.

The question facing the 5-3 Rams as they look to the second half of their season is this: Can Sean McVay learn from the lessons of the past?

If you think back to 2018, that version of the Rams offense was taking the football world by storm. McVay was viewed as a football genius, and Goff was miles removed from the player some considered a bust the year prior. But in the later half of that season, teams like the Lions and the Eagles and the Bears and ultimately the Patriots figured out how to play against that offense. Ignore all the eye candy, play quarters coverage and force Goff to work through reads.

The Rams will take on the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, their first game out of the bye. Seattle is coming off a 44-34 loss to the Bills, dropping Pete Carroll’s group from No. 3 in the power rankings down to No. 5. The Cardinals lost to Miami and consequently fell from No. 10 to 14.

The Rams may have benefitted from the week off and actually gained ground in the division, but they have to handle their business in the final eight weeks if they’re to make the playoffs.

 

 

NFL power rankings: Rams fall out of top 10 after loss to Dolphins

Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins has dropped the Rams out of the top 10 of this week’s power rankings.

When you lose to a 3-3 team the way the Los Angeles Rams did on Sunday, you’re bound to come under some heat. You’re also almost certain to fall not only in the standings, but also in weekly power rankings across the internet.

At Touchdown Wire, Mark Schofield dinged the Rams for their sloppy 28-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 8, dropping them outside the top 10 of this week’s rankings. However, they didn’t experience a precipitous fall.

The Rams only slid from No. 9 to 11, just behind the 10th-ranked Cardinals and one spot ahead of the 5-2 Saints.

If there ever was a “let down” game in the NFL, this one fit the bill from the Los Angeles Rams. Fresh off a big win on Monday Night Football over the Chicago Bears, the Rams had to travel cross-country – on the weekend we turned our clocks back nonetheless – to take on the Miami Dolphins. A team making a change at quarterback and coming off a bye week.

It did not end well for them.

Schofield points out that Brian Flores may have given everyone “the recipe for stopping Sean McVay and Jared Goff,” criticizing Goff’s performance that included two interceptions and two lost fumbles.

Like many have suggested, Schofield ponders that maybe the Dolphins are better than everyone expected, given their 4-3 record. This might look like an ugly loss now for the Rams, but if the season progresses and Miami makes a run at the AFC East, perhaps it’ll be viewed in a different light.

Not that that should be an excuse for losing a game in which you outgained your opponent by 326 yards, of course.

Rams stay put in latest power rankings despite crushing Washington

The Rams are still in the top 10, but they didn’t move up despite a 30-10 win in Week 5.

Another week, another win for the Los Angeles Rams, who moved to 4-1 on the year Sunday with a victory over the Washington Football Team. It was a commanding 30-10 win on the road, limiting Washington to only 108 total yards of offense.

Yet, despite the dominant victory, the Rams didn’t move in this week’s power rankings. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar has been high on the Rams since their first two wins of the season, but he couldn’t find a way to move them up from the No. 7 spot this week.

Here’s what he wrote about them after their win over Washington, specifically on the greatness of Aaron Donald and his four sacks.

Consider (once again) the preposterous excellence of Aaron Donald, which was all the way on display (once again) in the Rams’ 30-10 win over the Washington Football Substance. In that game, Donald put up four sacks, which, along with his four-sack performance against the 49ers in Week 7 of the 2018 season, makes him the fifth player since 2000 to have two four-sack games. The others? Joey Porter, Justin Houston, Chandler Jones, and Cameron Wake.

Those guys are or were all designated edge-rushers. Donald is a defensive tackle from Planet Quarterback Death who lines up all over the formation, is the primary focus of every opposing offensive line, and still can’t be stopped.

Don’t take this for granted, kids. We are watching all-time greatness at its peak.

The Rams are really hitting their stride defensively, even if their last two opponents were the Giants and Washington. They allowed just five catches for 27 yards to Washington’s wideouts on Sunday and sacked the quarterback eight times.

On offense, Los Angeles bounced back from a poor performance in Week 4 by totaling 429 yards and 30 points in inclement weather. If they can keep up this level of play against the 49ers, Bears and Dolphins in the next three weeks, they could head into their mid-season bye at 7-1.

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Rams soar into top 5 of Week 2 power rankings after crushing Eagles

The Rams have quickly climbed power rankings after starting 2-0.

After an offseason of being doubted and questioned, the Los Angeles Rams have quickly flipped the script in the first two weeks of the season. With a perfect 2-0 record, a top-10 offense and defense, and a head coach who’s humming with his play calls, the Rams look like one of the best teams in the NFL.

Their hot start has vaulted them toward the top of the league in most power rankings after starting the season around the middle of the pack. Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire released his latest power rankings with Week 2 wrapped up and he put the Rams all the way in the top five.

They jumped from No. 8 to 5 after an 18-point win over the Eagles, putting them in the company of the Packers, Chiefs, Seahawks and Ravens.

Here’s what Farrar wrote about the Rams’ strong start.

The Rams’ offensive turnaround through the first two weeks of the season is pretty remarkable, given the extent to which the rest of the league appeared to figure Sean McVay out and turn Jared Goff into a pumpkin as a result. Last season, even Goff’s beloved play-action passes weren’t paying dividends, as he threw four touchdowns and five picks out of play-action after posting 16 touchdowns to two picks with play-action the year before.

The Rams always had the talent to be a contender, with Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Jared Goff, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Andrew Whitworth sitting atop the roster. That talent is shining through early in the year with all six of those players performing like some of the best at their respective positions.

If that can continue – and if the Rams can get even average play out of spots like inside linebacker, guard and center – Los Angeles will be a team no one wants to face down the stretch.

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Rams slotted at No. 13 in DVOA-based power rankings

The Rams are ranked higher in these DVOA-based power rankings.

Power rankings across the internet this offseason have been down on the Rams. Los Angeles has been consistently slotted in the bottom half of the NFL, receiving little praise from analysts leading up to the regular season.

Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire took a different approach for his latest power rankings, however. He slotted teams from No. 1 to 32 based on Football Outsiders’ widely used DVOA metric, which measures a team’s performance on every single play compared to league-average based on specific situations.

In Farrar’s DVOA-based power rankings, the Rams came in at No. 13 with a projected 3.2% DVOA and average wins of 8.4.

Who knows what the Rams are these days? They could be the 13-3 squad that made it to Super Bowl LIII at the end of the 2018 season, or they could be the 2019 team that finished 9-7, out of the playoffs. FO thinks the 2020 Rams will be more like the 2019 Rams, and I find it difficult to disagree. Teams that drop from an offensive DVOA of over 20% to under 5% in a one-season stretch don’t tend to revert to their best form, and Jared Goff’s obvious limitations could put a pin in that. FO has the Rams projected with a total DVOA of 3.2%, and an Average Wins total of 8.4.

Expectations have undoubtedly been set lower for the Rams entering the regular season after the team went 9-7 in 2019, missing the playoffs for the first time under Sean McVay. But its wouldn’t be surprising to see them return to the postseason despite having the 20th-best Super Bowl odds in the league.

With McVay, Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Jared Goff still in the mix, the Rams have the talent to make a playoff push, even in a highly competitive NFC West.

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NFL Week 15 power rankings: Rams stay put after statement win

The Rams didn’t move up after crushing the Seahawks.

Despite winning their last two games, the Los Angeles Rams haven’t moved in the NFC standings. They remain on the outside looking in, sitting seventh in the conference behind the Seahawks and Vikings in the wild-card race.

Their wins were both impressive, too, blowing out the Cardinals 34-7 and beating the Seahawks 28-12 to snap their five-game winning streak.

As big of a statement as Sunday’s victory was, the Rams didn’t move up in Doug Farrar’s power rankings for Touchdown Wire. They remain 13th, directly behind the Steelers at No. 12 and the 11th-ranked Titans. They’re also one spot ahead of the Bears and two in front of the 6-7 Raiders.

Here’s what Farrar wrote about the Rams and how they’ve improved in the last two weeks.

Over the past couple weeks, Rams head coach Sean McVay has made a couple effective adjustments to his offense. The Rams are running more inside zone, and they’ve increased the tempo from snap to snap. That second adjustment really tore the Seahawks’ defense apart on Sunday night, as McVay’s team beat their NFC West foe, 28-12, in a game that preserved possible postseason relevance for a squad that looked out of it a few weeks back — especially after a 45-6 beatdown at the hands of the Ravens in Week 12. In this game, the Rams had 15 first downs by halftime, and Seattle head coach Pete Carroll admitted after the fact that his defense had trouble calling plays and getting set at McVay’s breakneck tempo. The Rams have the Cowboys’ sieve-like defense up next, and then a real test when they head to San Francisco in Week 16. But for now, it appears that McVay has figured out a few things about his offense that will work beyond his base formations and concepts for the first time since late last season. There’s no better time than now for that to happen.

The Rams have found a groove on offense and the defense has continued to play well since adding Jalen Ramsey. It’s a roster that’s talented enough to beat anyone in the NFL, even if the Rams do only have two wins against teams above .500.

They have two real tests up next against the Cowboys in Dallas and the 49ers on the road before closing out the season at home against the Cardinals. They likely need to win two of the three in order to make the playoffs, otherwise they’ll be watching the postseason from home.

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