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LA Rams 24, New England 3
Well, the Patriots recovered from a 2-5 start to the season, recovered to enter this game at 6-6, coming off an incredibly impressive, dominant road win against the Chargers, only to put up a terrible performance in this game against the Rams, right when they needed to show that they were for real.
The Rams defense put on a clinic, arguably performing more impressively in this game than the Patriots defense did in the Super Bowl two seasons ago, when these two teams met in the biggest game.
Cam Newton was harassed all day by the Rams, and his stats betrayed his struggles. He completed 9 of 16 passes for 119 yards, with one interception. He was sacked six times, and the Rams were able to hit him 10 times, making it a very rough day for Newton. N’Keal Harry led New England receivers with just three receptions for 49 yards. Damien Harris ran for 50 yards on 11 carries. Again, it just was not a very good day for the Patriots offense. And the defense did not fare that much better, either.
As for the Rams, Jared Goff did not exactly set records left and right, either. Yet, he had an effective game, completing 16 of 25 passes for 137 yards, for one touchdown and one INT. Tyler Higbee was his favorite target, but only had two receptions for 34 yards. It was not a very good day for receivers. No, the focus was on the running game. Goff ran for a touchdown, but LA’s true power on offense in this game. Running back Cam Akers was very impressive evening, pounding out 171 yards on 29 carries. It seemed that the Patriots defense simply had no answers against the Rams running attack in this game. The Rams held a narrow edge with time of possession, and the two teams both committed one turnover. But the Rams did more with their opportunity, as Kenny Young’s INT of Newton turned into a pick six that gave the Rams a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. With how good the Rams defense performed on this night, that effectively put the game out of reach.
The Rams produced 318 total yards of offense, most of it coming with the running game and Akers. By contrast, New England only had 220 yards of total offense. The Rams picked up 17 first downs, to just 10 for the Pats.
Indeed, an incredibly impressive performance for the Rams, who get a little bit of revenge for the embarrassing Super Bowl loss, when the explosive Rams offense were held to just a field goal all day, by far their lowest total that season. This was the lowest point total by a Patriots team since early in the 2016 season, over four years ago. That is a testament to the Rams defensive effort in this game, and you could see their enthusiasm and energy throughout this night.
With the win, the Rams improve to 9-4, and for now, they move to sole possession of first place in the NFC West for the first time all season, at least temporarily. It depends on what the Seahawks do (or don’t do) this week. The Rams next will host the 0-12 Jets, and then will meet the Seahawks in Seattle in a couple of weeks in a game that seems likely to decide who will win the NFC West. It should be noted that the Seahawks are playing the Jets next weekend, and so they are likely to beat the Jets. The Rams will finish their season with a home game against their NFC West division rivals, the Cardinals.
As for the Patriots, this loss drops them down to 6-7. This is the first time since 2002 that the Patriots lost as many as seven games in one season. They will next travel to Miami to play the Dolphins, then host the AFC East leading Buffalo Bills, before closing their season out against the Jets, who still might be winless by that point.
My pick: Accurate
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