Deciding Factors: St. Louis Rams vs. New York Jets

November 11, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during overtime at Candlestick Park. The against the San Francisco 49ers tied the St. Louis Rams 24-24. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

As the Rams look to build on their spirited performance at Candlestick Park, here are a few notable factors that could cause the Jets to crash land in St. Louis:

1. Continue the offensive progression

By no means are the Rams close to what they strive to be on offense, but averaging 17.9 points per  is a heck of a lot better than the touchdown and two safeties they averaged a year ago. (11.1) Fresh off his bye week, Sam Bradford showcased what he can do when he has time in the pocket as he finished with two scores, no interceptions and another clutch drive late, only to have it wiped away twice by penalties. Second-year pro Lance Kendricks is finally providing dividends and Brian Quick has checked out of witness protection after scoring his first touchdown on a 36-yard catch and run.

Let’s not forget a warm welcome back to the swiss army knife, Danny Amendola.  Bradford connected with Amendola on 11 out of 12 targets on his first game back from injury. The offense will also look to welcome back speedster Chris Givens as he and fellow rookie sat out last week’s game for violating team rules.

As important as it is to continue the progression of the offense through Bradford, the Rams should ride on the coat tail of Steven Jackson after a breakout performance against the 49ers vaunted defense. After gaining 101 yards on 29 carries against the NFL’s 7th ranked defense, Jackson, Daryl Richardson and even Isaiah Pead  should feast on the Jets rush defense who is giving up 145 yards a game.

2. Sack Sanchez

The Rams young and talented defensive line sacked Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick for a combined five times after netting zero in the debacle against the Patriots in London. It is imperative that Chris Long and company harass Mark Sanchez until the final blow of the whistle. Robert Quinn is tied for 7th among the NFL sack leaders with 8.5 sacks. He is proving he is the team best pure pass rusher.

According to ProFootballFocus, Sanchez has ranked at the bottom or near the bottom when he’s under duress. In 2010, Sanchez’ accuracy percentage under pressure was 49.1 percent resulting in 36th out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks, 2011 it was 49 percent resulting in 34th out of 36 qualifying quarterback, and last season he again came in last with a percentage of 49.2 out of 34 qualifying quarterbacks.

3. Turnover Time Vault

Through the early portion of the season, St. Louis sat atop of the leader-board as one of the league’s leaders in takeaways by having multiple interception games.

Over the past 5 games, the Rams have gone on a dry spell by forcing a whopping total of zero interceptions.

Zilch.

Not to mention only two forced fumbles through the first half of the season. Terrorizing Sanchez will hopefully cause a few arid throws. Cortland Finnegan, Janoris Jenkins and the rest of the Rams’ secondary should have the upper-hand against a depleted and diminutive Jets’ receiving core.

4. Gang on Green

Even though the Jets are ranked in the middle of the pack, 16th in rushing, the Jets are still known as “ground and pound team.” The Rams’ rushing defense has been stopping opposing teams at the point of attack in recent weeks. The pocket Hercules, Frank Gore, was practically bottled up if you take his late 20 yard run. The return of rookie mammoth DT Michael Brockers, has been a force in his own right after coming back from injury notching 2.5 sack.

Stalwart middle linebacker James Laurinaitis is 4th in the NFL with 81 tackles. His running mate Jo-Lonn Dunbar has been a good acquisition thus far.

5. Tebow Time?

The Jets are stuck on trying to prove that trading up to the number 5 overall pick in the 2009 draft to select Sanchize, wasn’t a mistake. I can’t help but to think the Jets will deploy Tim Tebow more than we think. Colin Kaepernick slashed the Rams repeatedly on long 3rd downs. Tebow isn’t as nearly as quick or shifty, but he is just as strong of an  inside runner, like Kaepernick who is used in goal line situations. It remains to be seen what the Jets will do at the quarterback position, but Sanchez nor Tebow looks to be involved in the future.