The Patriots have defeated the Jets, got three turnovers, and made a clutch defensive play to end the game. All is right in the world and it is time to turn the page. This upcoming week, the team will be celebrating their 15 year anniversary victory over the (formerly known as) St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. There will be plenty of pageantry, but the team will be sure not to lose focus on the game in front of them. The only player on the roster from that victory is the GOAT himself, TB12. Talk about a throwback for the 39 year old who was only in his second year when he watched Adam Vinatieri kick the game winning field goal. Those teams now are both long gone and this is a new game, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be nice to watch highlights from the Super Bowl while Tom Terrific and BB thrash the Rams of today.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Los Angeles Rams, aka, “Jeff Fisher’s 7-9ers”
Week 13 at Los Angeles Rams
Sunday December 4
1 pm EST, FOX
Low 40’s, 5% chance of rain, 10 mph winds
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Opponent/Patriots Stats:
L.A. Rams: 4-7
Notable Games: After being blanked by the 49ers in Week 1, the Rams squeaked out a win in Week 2 against the Seahawks who were still trying to piece things together earlier this season. Then, the following week the Rams won their only shootout of the season against the Buccaneers, 37-32. The Rams were also participants in the infamously lame 6-9 game versus the Jets, which they won.
Common Opponents:
- Arizona Cardinals (Both teams won)
- Miami Dolphins (Pats won, Rams lost)
- Buffalo Bills (Pats split the series, Rams lost)
- Seattle Seahawks (Pats lost, Rams won)
- New York Jets (Both teams won)
- San Fransisco 49ers (Pats won, Rams lost)
History: The most notable history between the two teams is in 2001, when a scrappy, blue collar Patriots team led by the Ex-Browns coach and a 6th round QB played “The Greatest Show on Turf.” The first time the two teams met, the Rams got the better of the Patriots, but the close contest gave the team it needed to make the Super Bowl run and, eventually, defeat the Kurt Warner led Rams in the Super Bowl. Since then, the Patriots have won the last 3 contests, the most recent being a 45-7 shellacking in 2012 at Wembley Stadium.
Notable Players
Jared Goff QB (in 2 games as starter): 37/63 (58.7%), 348 yds, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 1 fumble
Todd Gurley RB: 200 carries, 641 yds, 3.2 avg, 4 TDs, 2 fumbles, 30 catches, 241 yds
Kenny Britt WR: 54 catches, 788 yds, 14.6 avg, 47 long, 4 TDs, 1 fumble
Tavon Austin WR/PR: 44 catches, 401 yds, 9.1 avg, 43 long, 3 TDs, 1 fumble, 9 yd avg PR, 47 long
Aaron Donald DL: 35 tackles, 6 sacks,
Injury Alerts
Patriots
Tom Brady obviously played this last week but was clearly gutting through some pain. He was seen hobbling at times favoring his injured knee. There have been reports of swelling from the shot he took against Seattle in his thigh that spread down to his knee. Brady said he feels better this week than last so hopefully his pocket movement isn’t hindered this week.
Matthew Slater, the stud Special Teams ace for the team is still dealing with a left foot injury from the 49ers game. He didn’t travel to NY last weekend so Devin McCourty filled in for the team breakdown at the end of the game. This injury is being kept close to the vest so a time frame to return is hard to find. Look for him on the injury report today
Rob Gronkowski was active against NY but was removed from the game with a back injury, being deemed questionable, and then later, out. Gronk has a history with back injuries dating back to his college days at Arizona. The team will probably be overly cautious with him from this point forward but anything is possible.
Martellus Bennett appeared to aggravate his ankle injury against the Jets but wasn’t off the field for long. He returned to the game gutting it out as the only active TE healthy enough to play. It might just be an issue of managing the injury during the week so he’s ready to go for the game.
**We saw Chris Hogan return from injury to play last week against NYJ.
Rams
**The Rams are pretty healthy all things considered (but they suck so it all evens out)
Tim Barnes, their center, was dealing with a foot injury for the week but was active against the Saints.
Todd Gurley didn’t practice the entire week due to an illness and still played this weekend. Gurley will not be kept off the field this week either.
Ethan Westbrooks was dealing with a thigh injury during the past week but the D-Lineman was active for the contest against the Saints.
Key Matchups:
Patriots:
vs. WR1: 18th—– vs. Logan Ryan vs. Kenny Britt
vs. WR2: 12th—– Malcolm Butler vs. Tavon Austin
vs. other WR: 14th—– Justin Coleman vs. Bradley Marquez
vs. RB: 25th—– Pat Chung vs. Todd Gurley
Rams:
vs. WR1: 10th—– Julian Edelman vs. Truman Johnson
vs. WR2: 25th —– Malcolm Mitchell vs. Lamarcus Joyner
vs. TE: 10th —– Martellus Bennett vs. Maurice Alexander
vs. RB: 6th —– Dion Lewis vs. T.J. McDonald
What’s at stake?
We all know what the deal is. The Patriots have a rather soft schedule to close out the year while the other top AFC contenders, the Raiders, Chiefs, and Broncos, have a bit of a tougher go. It’s important for teams to win the easy ones so they have wiggle room with the harder ones. As it stands now, New England has the #1 seed in the AFC. A win here, despite being out of conference, would help keep them afloat in the race for a bye week. And to be completely honest, playing at Oakland in the playoffs scares the bejeezus out of me.
Early thoughts:
Going to go rapid fire for this:
-The less points scored in a game, the more likely the Rams are to win. If TB12 and the offense can put up points, Goff will really struggle to keep up.
-Todd Gurley is fast. He won’t break through a brick wall, but will beat you to the corner. If Goff sees Elandon Roberts on Gurley at any point you can bet that’ll be a matchup they exploit.
-Good tackling by the Pats defense is important here. The Rams have a bunch of quick slippery weapons who could pick up a quick extra 10 yards with one missed tackle or even take it all the way.
-The Rams most dangerous group is definitely their D-Line. That is where the ball is most likely to get turned over by NE so keeping a clean pocket will be a big key here
I’m going to be AT this game for my yearly Pats Pilgrimage, following Mike’s at San Fransisco. I’m currently at a 6-1 record for Patriots games so consider this one personal for me.