These St. Louis Rams
The Rams have already arrived in London, and The Patriots will join them after a Thursday night flight across the pond. This is actually the second road trip of over 6,000 miles (Seattle) this season. Thankfully, the toughest road trips of the season will be over after this week. Next week is a bye week, and after that The Patriots won't have to leave East Coast or reset their watches again. New England will play 5 of 8 at home in the second half, with trips to New York, Miami, and Jacksonville. A win before the bye would be like scoring a TD before halftime, and The Pats would be sitting pretty at 5-3, entering a much easier phase of the schedule.
This game presents unique challenges because of the travel, the neutral field, and the injured players that will want to rest all through the bye week. The chances of seeing Steve Gregory, Brandon Bolden, and Tracy White on a plane to London is slim, and I approve of being cautious with them. Still, Sam Bradford must be licking his lips when looking at Tavon Wilson.
OFFENSIVELY
The Rams are a fairly balanced, but underperforming Offense. Their All-Pro RB, Stephen Jackson has been average at best, sporting a 3.8 ypc mark. Bradford was showing some promise when Danny Amendola was healthy (returned to practice Wednesday in London), but overall his stats are also average at best. He's completing 59.8% of his passes with 7 TDs and 6 INTs. Part of the problem has been the left side of the Offensive line, as there have been injuries and transition all season, and thus far, Bradford has been sacked 21 times.
Bradford has had shaky line play in front of him, and he's been lacking a dynamic receiver all year. 7 targets have at least 10 catches on the year. Its hard to know what to expect from this group, because they are all no-names, but that might actually make them more dangerous. The Patriots DBs will be tested in London, and they'll be tested by a constant rotation of targets, so it might be hard to get a feel for what the receivers are doing. Bradford's best chance of beating The Patriots is through the air, and I expect The Rams to use lots of spread formations with 3 or more WRs to force Belichick to answer with sub packages.
The Patriots hope to have Patrick Chung healthy again to add depth in the backfield. Last week, after Ras-I Dowling left with injury, Nate Ebner took some snaps in the "money" slot, and I think I speak for all of New England when I say that we want to avoid that if possible. A healthy Pat Chung means that McCourty can move back to CB as well. The Rams will load the field with quick WRs, and so The Patriots are going to need all the depth they can get back there.
The one major weakness of The Rams attack is their dismal 34.1% 3rd down conversion rate. The unit has a hard time sustaining drives, and everyone's stats have suffered. Bradford has tried to press too hard on some of his INTs, and Stephen Jackson isn't getting as many carries as he'd like (14 att. per game). This is an Offense that can be explosive, but only if they can move the chains. The main focus for The Patriots Defense is to force 3rd and longs, and get off the field. Chandler Jones should do well to attacking the left side of the line, and a big game from him is needed to quell the deep passing-attack.
DEFENSIVELY
The heart and soul of The Rams Defense is James Laurinaitis, who plays every Defensive snap, and some on Special Teams. Laurinaitis is a classic vacuum-tackling middle LB, much like Jerod Mayo. He's a solid, even-keeled presence on a Defense that has kept the team in games. Laurinaitis has 69 tackles through 7 games.
If there is a weakness on this Rams team, its on the back end with Safeties Craig Dahl, and Quintin Mikell. However, The Rams have compensated for their DBs with a fearsome pass-rush. Through 7 games, The Rams have 21 sacks, and 7 from Robert Quinn, 4 from Howie Long's son Chris Long, and another 3 from LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar. Even Rookie, Michael Brockers has a sack this year. Offensive line play will be huge against The Rams because the strength of their Defense is in the front-7.
Nevertheless, there are some playmakers on the back end as well. New head coach Jeff Fisher is reunited with former-Titan, but still scrappy CB, Cortland Finnegan (3 INTs). Also, The Rams drafted day-1 starter Janoris Jenkins #39 overall in this year's draft. So far, Jenkins has 36 tackles, 7 passes defended, and 1 INT. He intercepted a pass in his NFL debut, and notched 4 passes defended in a game against Arizona.
Still, The Rams have had some bumps along the road with their DBs. First of all, The Rams have allowed 11 first downs by penalty (mostly by P.I./Holding/Illegal Contact). Also, opponents are completing 66.3% of their passes against The Rams, and they have yet to face a passing Offense as good as New England this season (only GB is close). Somehow, despite allowing a lot completions, The Rams are still holding opponents to a 37.4% conversion rate on 3rd downs.
The key for The Patriots is to avoid 3rd and long situations because The Rams pass rush is too talented. If The Rams are able to pin their ears back, Brady will have a long day in London. Its not like The Rams have had any super-prolific games with a lot of sacks, they've just been consistently getting pressure when opportunities arise. The Patriots need to do their best to avoid these situations, but also they should try to slow down the rushers by testing them with screens, play-actions, and draw plays.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Those European fans love to watch NFL kickers do their magic. Sometimes the crowd cheers loudest for deep punts or long field goals because these guys can really boot it. Rams Kicker Greg Zuerlein has been very accurate this year, going 17/20 on the year. He's 5/7 from 50+ as well. People are starting to call him "Legatron" because Megatron is totally Madden cursed. Also, The Rams have had solid punting from Johnny Hekker. He's only had 3 touchbacks in 30 punts while pinning the opponent inside the 20 yard line 10 times. The Rams haven't done much damage in the return game without Danny Amendola, but Janoris Jenkins is a balls-y punt returner that's only had 1 fair catch thus far. Perhaps his risk-taking will catch up with him in London.
This game presents unique challenges because of the travel, the neutral field, and the injured players that will want to rest all through the bye week. The chances of seeing Steve Gregory, Brandon Bolden, and Tracy White on a plane to London is slim, and I approve of being cautious with them. Still, Sam Bradford must be licking his lips when looking at Tavon Wilson.
OFFENSIVELY
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| Sam Bradford has been under pressure all year. (21 sacks) |
Bradford has had shaky line play in front of him, and he's been lacking a dynamic receiver all year. 7 targets have at least 10 catches on the year. Its hard to know what to expect from this group, because they are all no-names, but that might actually make them more dangerous. The Patriots DBs will be tested in London, and they'll be tested by a constant rotation of targets, so it might be hard to get a feel for what the receivers are doing. Bradford's best chance of beating The Patriots is through the air, and I expect The Rams to use lots of spread formations with 3 or more WRs to force Belichick to answer with sub packages.
The Patriots hope to have Patrick Chung healthy again to add depth in the backfield. Last week, after Ras-I Dowling left with injury, Nate Ebner took some snaps in the "money" slot, and I think I speak for all of New England when I say that we want to avoid that if possible. A healthy Pat Chung means that McCourty can move back to CB as well. The Rams will load the field with quick WRs, and so The Patriots are going to need all the depth they can get back there.
The one major weakness of The Rams attack is their dismal 34.1% 3rd down conversion rate. The unit has a hard time sustaining drives, and everyone's stats have suffered. Bradford has tried to press too hard on some of his INTs, and Stephen Jackson isn't getting as many carries as he'd like (14 att. per game). This is an Offense that can be explosive, but only if they can move the chains. The main focus for The Patriots Defense is to force 3rd and longs, and get off the field. Chandler Jones should do well to attacking the left side of the line, and a big game from him is needed to quell the deep passing-attack.
DEFENSIVELY
The heart and soul of The Rams Defense is James Laurinaitis, who plays every Defensive snap, and some on Special Teams. Laurinaitis is a classic vacuum-tackling middle LB, much like Jerod Mayo. He's a solid, even-keeled presence on a Defense that has kept the team in games. Laurinaitis has 69 tackles through 7 games.
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| 7.0 sack through 7 games, pretty impressive Robert Quinn |
Nevertheless, there are some playmakers on the back end as well. New head coach Jeff Fisher is reunited with former-Titan, but still scrappy CB, Cortland Finnegan (3 INTs). Also, The Rams drafted day-1 starter Janoris Jenkins #39 overall in this year's draft. So far, Jenkins has 36 tackles, 7 passes defended, and 1 INT. He intercepted a pass in his NFL debut, and notched 4 passes defended in a game against Arizona.
Still, The Rams have had some bumps along the road with their DBs. First of all, The Rams have allowed 11 first downs by penalty (mostly by P.I./Holding/Illegal Contact). Also, opponents are completing 66.3% of their passes against The Rams, and they have yet to face a passing Offense as good as New England this season (only GB is close). Somehow, despite allowing a lot completions, The Rams are still holding opponents to a 37.4% conversion rate on 3rd downs.
The key for The Patriots is to avoid 3rd and long situations because The Rams pass rush is too talented. If The Rams are able to pin their ears back, Brady will have a long day in London. Its not like The Rams have had any super-prolific games with a lot of sacks, they've just been consistently getting pressure when opportunities arise. The Patriots need to do their best to avoid these situations, but also they should try to slow down the rushers by testing them with screens, play-actions, and draw plays.
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| The Rams have a solid kicking game |
Those European fans love to watch NFL kickers do their magic. Sometimes the crowd cheers loudest for deep punts or long field goals because these guys can really boot it. Rams Kicker Greg Zuerlein has been very accurate this year, going 17/20 on the year. He's 5/7 from 50+ as well. People are starting to call him "Legatron" because Megatron is totally Madden cursed. Also, The Rams have had solid punting from Johnny Hekker. He's only had 3 touchbacks in 30 punts while pinning the opponent inside the 20 yard line 10 times. The Rams haven't done much damage in the return game without Danny Amendola, but Janoris Jenkins is a balls-y punt returner that's only had 1 fair catch thus far. Perhaps his risk-taking will catch up with him in London.
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