worldwide ramsDoug Nelson Overview: Seven points favor the Los Angeles Rams in this game after a somewhat underwhelming win against the New York Giants last Sunday at So-Fi Stadium. A win is a win, and the Rams defense played well despite their offense seemed a little off. However, they will be looking to ride the ship against a Washington Football Team, believe it or not, is a contender (at least for now) in the weakest division in football, The NFC East. Coaching: This game does provide an interesting contrast in the matchup of the Head Coaches, with the offensive wizard of Sean McVay matching wits with Washington's Ron Rivera, a highly-respected defensive mastermind. You can certainly argue this one either way, but Sean McVay has been on a roll in 2020, with the possible exception of the Giants game. He also has more flexibility by having a more talented roster. EDGE: Rams Rams Offense vs. Washington Defense: The Football Team has some talent on defense, mostly if their second overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft rookie defensive end Chase Young plays, battling a groin injury. Young did practice on Thursday and Friday and appears more likely than not to play. If he does, it will set up a fascinating matchup between Young and the oldest lineman in the league; Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth. Whitworth seems to discover a fountain of youth and is playing well as any offensive tackle in the league, making for an exciting battle. When Washington's defensive line is at full strength, it can be a challenge. Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan has been quiet since a week one sack-fest against the Philadelphia Eagles in which the Football Team got to Carson Wentz eight times, but he's a heady veteran who is always a threat to disrupt the opposing offense. The Rams may want to get back to running the football and rolling out quarterback Jared Goff to counter the pass rush, things we saw a little less of in last week's win over the Giants. The Rams will have rookie running back Cam Akers back for the first time since he suffered a rib injury against the Eagles. So far, Rams Coach Sean McVay has gone with the hot hand getting most of the touches at running back. That has translated into grinder Malcolm Brown being the feature back against the Dallas Cowboys and Giants, with the more-explosive Darrell Henderson having big games against the Eagles and the Buffalo Bills. Akers was getting into the action against Philly before being injured. Will this be his week to play the role of Rams "bell-cow" back? It wouldn't be a big shock. The Rams may look for tight end Tyler Higbee in the passing game. He'll probably get matched up with Washington's safety Landon Collins, a battle that, on paper at least, favors the Rams. In general, Washington's secondary is not "all that," so they need to generate a steady pass rush. If they can't do that, the Rams talented and deep receiving corps could have a big day. EDGE: Rams The Rams may look for tight end Tyler Higbee in the passing game. He'll probably get matched up with Washington's safety Landon Collins, a battle that, on paper at least, favors the Rams. In general, Washington's secondary is not "all that," so they need to generate a steady pass rush. If they can't do that, the Rams talented and deep receiving corps could have a big day. EDGE: Rams Football Team Offense vs. Rams Defense: The Football Team has made a quarterback change this week, replacing former Ohio State star Dwayne Haskins with Kyle Allen, who head coach Ron Rivera used as his starter last season with the Panthers. Allen has less raw talent than Haskins, but he knows the offense, is relatively mobile, and has a strong, if not accurate, arm. The word out of Washington is that Rivera feels that Allen gives the team the best chance to win over the short term, and with the division up for grabs, they decided to go into "win now" mode. Allen threw 17 touchdowns, and 16 picks last season, and you can never be sure exactly what you will get when he takes the field. Former starter Alex Smith, still working his way back from a gruesome leg injury that many thought would end his career, will be the backup. The Redskins have one big-time weapon in wide-receiver Terry McLaurin, who has three times as many receiving yards as any other Washington player. Look for Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey to lock in on McLaurin for much of the day. If Ramsey can justify his big contract and reputation as an actual "lockdown" corner, you have to like the Rams chances on this side of the ball. The Rams expected to unveil rookie linebacker Terrell Lewis in this game, although it's uncertain how many snaps he will see in his NFL debut. The Rams need to find someone to apply some pressure from the edge consistently, which is supposed to be Lewis's calling card. The Los Angeles outside linebacking crew was better last week against the Giants in applying some pressure, but they need someone to do it every week, whether it's Lewis or Samson Ebukam or Leonard Floyd. Of course, you can't talk about the Rams defense without mentioning the best defensive player in the game, Aaron Donald. No doubt, the Football Team has something cooked up for Donald. But in the immortal words of Mike Tyson, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." Nobody is better at punching offenses in the face than AD. The Football Team has not performed well in the running game, but Los Angeles will need to keep an eye on rookie running back Antonio Gibson. Don't be surprised if they try to use Gibson as a receiver. The Rams may be without inside linebacker Micah Kiser, the teams leading tackler and a key element in the team's run defense in particular. Cornerback Troy Hill's status is "questionable' for this game. Hill's good news is that Washington's receiving corps doesn't seem to have much depth after McLaurin. EDGE: Rams Special Teams: This area remains a concern for the Rams after being a strength for the last few years. Sam Sloman has not been statistically terrible, but the low trajectory on some of his field-goal attempts still makes many Rams fans nervous. There are also worries about his ability to make long field goals.
We're still not completely sold on Cooper Kupp as a punt returner either. That's partly because of concerns about losing one of our best receivers due to injury on punt returns, but he hasn't done anything special as a returner so far either. Johnny Hekker remains the best punter on planet earth, but this is still a general area of concern. We keep having nightmares about games—or even the season-coming down to a 55-yard field goal attempt by Sloman. He's no Greg Zuerlein, in our opinion. We hope he proves us wrong. EDGE: Football Team Final Prediction: The Rams should win this game. They are favored by roughly a touchdown, down from 9 points before the Football Team announced the quarterback change. But this is the NFL, and while Washington may not be a Super Bowl contender, they do have some talent on the defensive line. There could also be some concerns about the Rams looking ahead to San Francisco next week. Hopefully, they learned something from last week's battle with the Giants. Rams 27 Football Team 17
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