Turnovers and Run Defense Doom Los Angeles Rams in Week 5

The Los Angeles Rams can’t afford to have costly turnovers if they expect to be playoff contenders in 2016.

Winning games in the NFL is a tough proposition for every team, and it becomes harder when you lose the turnover battle as the Los Angeles Rams did on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The Rams suffered three turnovers leading to a 30-19 loss, their second on the season and first in Los Angeles.

While turnovers were one of the reasons for defeat, the run defense was also a big culprit. Normally, a bright spot for the Rams in recent years, the defense allowed 193 yards on 27 carries. The 7.1 yards per carry is a season worst for Los Angeles and the 193 yards given up was the most since 2013.

The Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers also had the same recipe as the Rams gave up 170 yards on the ground and had two turnovers.

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Simply stated, Los Angeles isn’t going to win many games when they suffer from multiple turnovers, and the defense allows the opposing team to run at will. The Rams’ defense is counted on to be the stalwart, so if they are not performing at a high level, it usually shows up in the loss column.

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As bad as the run defense was, Case Keenum wasn’t much better for the Rams at quarterback. While he was 21 of 31 for 271 yards, his two interceptions proved costly. The first, a poorly thrown out route, came with the game tied at 16-16, while the other was a poorly thrown ball that was intercepted by Nickell Robey-Coleman and returned for the go-ahead touchdown.

Los Angeles counts on Keenum to manage the game and provide very few mistakes. One begs to ask, if the team losses to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, and Keenum has another turnover-riddled game, do the Rams finally make the switch to Jared Goff?

If the Rams hope to stay in contention, they will need better play from their defense and their quarterback. Hopefully, both play better against the Lions.

If they don’t, big changes may be in store for the Rams and Keenum.