LA Rams game day primer: Rams must beat Belichick on TNF

Will Goff exorcise his past Pats defense demons?

The LA Rams had better roll out all the stops for this one. The New England Patriots shut down not only quarterback Jared Goff but the entire LA Rams offense. While there was a general consensus that the absence of WR Cooper Kupp, a lingering malaise of a banged-up running back Todd Gurley

The Rams hold the upper hand on defense, but the New England Patriots are very stingy when allowing points. The Rams defense is the second-ranked defense in the NFL as far as yards allowed, while the Patriots are ranked 12th. But the Rams are the fifth-ranked defense in the NFL, while the Patriots are ranked seventh.  The Patriots are balanced on defense, which means that the Rams should be able to move the chains on them in this one.

Another running quarterback?

The Patriots are most certainly not the crisp precision passes of the Brady-era. Instead, this is a gutsy football team where everyone understands that their play directly impacts the outcome. So the Patriots will not hesitate to run the ball until the defense stops them. Then, QB Cam Newton has plenty of options in receivers, with up to seven players catching over 100 yards so far this season.

No key receiver means that the Rams will need to use Jalen Ramsey in more of a wild card role in this one. The Patriots love to target either RB Rex Burkhead or WR N’Keal Harry in the endzone. But the Patriots tend to go with the ground game to score, as they have 19 rushing touchdowns to just eight passing touchdowns. The difference? Cam Newton has rushed for 11 touchdowns so far this season.

If you followed the Patriots thrashing of the LA Chargers by a score of 45-0, you know that the Patriots have an incredibly effective special teams group that can and will change the momentum and outcome of the game if the Rams fail to play hard in all three phases of the game.