Tag: rams week 15

Sunday’s game between the Rams and Jets didn’t come down to two plays. Games in the NFL are rarely decided by such a small sample of plays. However, the Rams had a golden opportunity to win the game against New York late in the fourth quarter after a 34-yard punt return by Nsimba Webster.

From the Jets’ 37-yard line, the Rams were faced with third-and-4 with about four minutes left in the game, trailing 23-20. Jared Goff dropped back and took a shot deep to rookie running back Cam Akers, but he overthrew his target and the ball landed out of bounds.

It was a questionable call, needing only 4 yards to pick up the first, but Goff never really looked anywhere else after getting the snap, locking in on Akers running the wheel route.

Then on fourth-and-4, the Rams opted to go for it with an empty backfield. Again, Goff dropped back and took a shot deep down the field, this time targeting Gerald Everett in man coverage. The ball was on target, but safety Marcus Maye made a spectacular play to break it up and prevent a potential touchdown to Everett.

Again, a questionable call given the circumstances, but it was just inches from being a long completion at the biggest moment in the game. It just wasn’t meant to be for L.A., with May making the play of the day.

After the game, Sean McVay explained what happened on those two plays. He stopped short of blaming Goff for the two incompletions, but he did subtly say he’d have liked to see the quarterback go through his progressions on third down.

And then on fourth, if Everett was covered, McVay said Goff had Cooper Kupp underneath for an easier completion at the sticks.

“Yeah, we felt like we were going to be able to get an opportunity,” McVay said. “Really on the third down, we had some looks that we felt like we had a good isolation, but clearly, we have to be able to progress there. And then on the fourth down, had Gerald Everett in a man-to-man situation, and then Cooper on an underneath route, where, if we didn’t love that, kind of a little high-low. Ultimately, we didn’t make those plays, but we got the coverage and the looks that we were looking for there.”

Goff echoed much of what McVay said, but he did admit he wishes he would’ve given Akers a better chance to make a play on the ball rather than throwing it out of bounds.

Like McVay suggested, the Rams got the looks they wanted, the passes just fell incomplete due to an inaccurate throw and a great play from the safety.

“Yeah, the first one to Cam, I would have liked to give him a little bit more of a chance there or maybe progress through the play. Didn’t love where I put it,” Goff said. “The second one, yeah I got everything we wanted, threw a ball out there and Maye made a good play. I mean, he made a great defensive play and we weren’t able to convert on it.”

It’s hard to blame the Rams for going for it there, considering it would’ve been a 54-yard attempt by Matt Gay to tie the game, but the decision to throw it deep instead of trying to pick up 4 yards with two runs will be questioned by many.

The Rams had plenty of other chances to win the game, but these two plays will stick in the minds of fans and players for a little while.

[vertical-gallery id=642867]

In the last five weeks, the Los Angeles Rams have won four games against teams that were .500 or better. They knocked off the Seahawks, Bucs and Cardinals before blowing out the Patriots in Week 14.

Their only loss since the Week 9 bye came against the 4-6 49ers, who stunned the Rams with a 23-20 victory on Nov. 29. Los Angeles will face another sub-.500 team on Sunday, but this one isn’t nearly as likely to upset the Rams.

The 0-13 New York Jets will visit SoFi Stadium in Week 15 as the Rams host what’s been a historically bad team led by Adam Gase. The Jets were just crushed by the Seahawks, 40-3, two weeks after getting blown out by the Dolphins, 20-3.

After being so many quality teams, it might be easy for the Rams to overlook the winless Jets. But Sean McVay isn’t worried about that happening. He knows his players and coaches will be motivated and ready to go come Sunday afternoon, even with such an easy opponent on the schedule.

“I do trust the maturity of this football team,” McVay said last week. “I mean, you look at it, the Raiders are a really good team. Shoot, I’ve seen them in a couple of prime-time games, they beat the Saints, they go to the wire-to-wire with the Chiefs and they’re a Hail Mary away from losing to (the Jets). Even when you flip on the tape, the way that the Jets played the Patriots about a month ago on Monday Night Football, this is a team that – sometimes you throw records out the door, the tape is where the truth really is revealed. There’s a lot of different ways that games are won or lost in this league. I don’t worry about our football team’s maturity to handle getting ready to ultimately try to clinch a playoff spot by winning that game. But, stay on track to give ourselves a chance to compete for trying to win a division.”

Unlike the Jets, the Rams are coming off a mini-bye after playing against the Patriots on Thursday night. They’ll have four extra days of rest to get healthy for this Week 15 matchup, and will be at home waiting for the Jets to travel across the country.

The Jets may not have anything to lose, but the Rams also have a lot to gain by beating New York on Sunday – which should have McVay’s squad fired up to continue its winning ways in the second half of the season.

“I do think it’ll be good, and it comes at a good time for us to have a couple days of rest and then get ready to go attack our 10^th win against the Jets, who I know have played really good football in terms of competing and being in games. I know that we won’t take them lightly, that’s for dang sure,” McVay said.

[vertical-gallery id=642618]