Why the Los Angeles Rams are Legit Super Bowl Contenders
Last night on Week 14’s edition of Thursday Night Football, the Los Angeles Rams put a whooping to the New England Patriots, beating them by a final score of 24-3. Los Angeles’s defense was suffocating, and their running game was unstoppable. Rookie running back Cam Akers was a beast on the ground, running for a career high 171 yards.
The most rushing yards by a Rams rookie since @JeromeBettis36 in 1993. @thereal_cam3‘s best runs from his 171-yard performance! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/u0tf006IBJ
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 11, 2020
And even though the Patriots haven not been their typical selves this season, the Rams were still dominant. That is something not many teams are able to accomplish against a Bill Belichick led team. The Rams and Sean McVay definitely weren’t able to do that in Super Bowl LIII.
So with the Rams now sitting at 9-4 atop the NFC West, they have a 99% chance to make the postseason. And with that being said, teams should be ready: the Rams are reading to make some noise. Los Angeles has a tough defense, a good running game, a smart head coach, and plenty of receiving options to beat any team in the league.
As it currently stands, the Rams are allowing the fewest yards per game at 285.8 yards. And on the offensive side, they rank fifth in the league in yards per game at 389.4 yards. That makes them the only NFL team to rank in the top five of both categories.
It is also worth mentioning that most of the stats were accumulated before the emergence of the aforementioned Akers. The rookie from Florida State had his career best game last night, and with his lack of usage over the first half of the season, his fresh legs are ready to get some run.
Cam Akers commanded an 81% snap share, a 12% target share, dominated the RB opportunities (32 of 35 total RB opportunities). Cam has arrived. pic.twitter.com/bsuoKgbrqt
— Ned (@DiddlyDynasty) December 11, 2020
The Rams do have competition in some of the other NFC teams, but Los Angeles is definitely going to be a hard team for any of those said contenders to beat when the games start to really matter.
Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Leonard Floyd, etcetera. Los Angeles has a ton of firepower that not many teams can match.
Yes, you can make the argument that their quarterback Jared Goff is not capable of leading a team to a Super Bowl, but he has before. And with his added experience, and a healthy Cooper Kupp, he might be better than ever before.
Besides, they don’t even have to use Goff’s arm to win games. With this strong of a defense and a running game that includes Akers, Darrell Henderson, and Malcolm Brown, they could dominate time of possession. And even when they do give their opponent a chance to get the ball, their defense could get them to punt in three little snaps. So watch out NFL, the Rams are good: good enough to make it to the big game.
– Jarrod Ribaudo (@jarrod_ribaudo)
Featured image courtesy of Twitter / @AspireSports_