Despite loss, LA Rams Cam Akers proving he’s back from Achilles injury

The LA Rams defense offered little resistance to the surgical passing precision of LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. He completed 21 of 28 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Well, the Rams’ defense didn’t offer much resistance to the Chargers’ rushing attack either, as the LA Chargers ran 31 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense may not have done its part, but the LA Rams offense has learned that they can run. Well, LA Rams RB Cam Akers specifically. After putting up 118 yards and three touchdowns on 23 rushing attempts, the LA Rams featured running back showed up in spectacular fashion, putting up 123 yards on just 19 carries for an average YPC of 6.5 yards.

With his Week 17 performance factored in, Akers has now rushed 167 times for 682 yards and seven touchdowns. That sets a new career high for the rusher, who appears to have returned to his former pre-Achilles Tendon injury self.  And he is now just 163 yards shy of matching the 2021 season totals of the LA Rams’ former veteran rusher, Sony Michel.

The Rams continue to flash bright spots in an otherwise dark and dismal season. But this team is not the team that the Rams organization had hoped would be competing on Week 17. 14 of those players, plus many more, sat this one out.  The Rams sent a patchwork roster to meet an AFC playoff-bound team, and the Rams very much appeared to be the patchwork team that it is.

The loss keeps the Rams within reach of a Top-5 draft pick in each round. To attain that, a Rams loss combined with a win by either the Arizona Cardinals or the Indianapolis Colts will give the Rams Top-5 picks on Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, both in Round 2 and in Round 3.

Are we grasping at straws in this one? Perhaps. But this was never going to be about a successful end to the season. Too many NFL teams have too many players who have been on their respective teams all season for these LA Rams to win out in four of the last five games scheduled.  As of now, the LA Rams can win three of the last five games remaining.

Stay tuned . . .