The Los Angeles Rams are still reeling from an inexcusable loss to the 49ers to kick off Week 5. L.A. controls its own destiny as an NFC contender moving forward, and must take care of business against the Ravens Sunday in a must-win for the Rams.
Baltimore has performed like one of the NFL’s worst teams in the first month of the season. Well, okay, the defense has been the primary contributor to that. The Ravens have given up 177 points in five games, or an average of 35.4 points per game, and have allowed at least 37 points in their four losses. For any of you math nerds keeping track at home, that’s really, really bad.
Don’t exactly need a statistician to figure out that this is clearly not the Ravens of yesteryear.
Head coach John Harbaugh said after the Ravens’ 34-point loss to the Texans over the weekend that he is sticking with defensive coordinator Zach Orr. Sure, Baltimore was without defensive stalwarts like Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, Roquan Smith and Nnamdi Madubuike. However, you have to put up more of a fight than that.
Not even Edgar Allan Poe could write a horror story to compete with the scariness of the Ravens’ pitiful defense. Baltimore set an NFL record for fewest points allowed during the regular season back in 2000. At its current pace, this year’s team might make history for the most points allowed.
On top of that, Baltimore might be without two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who’s been battling a hamstring injury. Harbaugh started Cooper Rush versus Houston to disastrous results, as the veteran threw three interceptions. Snoop Dogg (*checks notes*) sorry, Snoop Huntley could be considered as an option under center if Lamar can’t go against the Rams.
Regardless of who the Ravens start at quarterback in Week 6, Los Angeles cannot afford to drop back-to-back winnable games.
The Rams blew the Niners game, plain and simple. They failed to take care of business, and that could eventually come back to haunt them later in the season when it comes down to deciding tiebreakers. Baltimore is in such a rough state that they should not be allowed to get it going whatsoever.
Plus, the upcoming schedule does L.A. zero favors. After a trip to the East Coast, the Rams travel to London to face a better-than-expected Jaguars squad. Then, following the Saints game coming out of the bye, Sean McVay’s team has the 49ers, Seahawks and Buccaneers, all teams fighting for a playoff spot. Entering the bye at 4-2 builds a slight cushion, yet sitting at .500 coming out of it would almost be a death sentence for this team.
If the Rams can win over the weekend, they won’t have to worry much about it. But if they don’t, a once-promising season is likely over by Thanksgiving.
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