The Los Angeles Rams will have an opportunity on Sunday to hit 12 wins for the second time with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. Despite sitting at 11-5, this may be the worst that fans have felt about this Rams team all season. They are coming off of back-to-back losses, including one against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. The Rams need a reset and the doctor could not have prescribed a game against the Arizona Cardinals at a better time. This will be a great opportunity to find some form before the playoffs. Here are this week’s keys to victory.
1. Get back to the basics
The Rams simply need to get back to the basics heading into the playoffs. For the most part, the last five weeks haven’t been good. While they have wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions, the three losses simply haven’t been good enough. The Rams went from being one of the best run defenses in the NFL to once again giving up the explosive play. They went from a team that rarely turned the ball over to one that has a negative turnover margin over the last three games.
When the Rams have needed a ‘get right’ game during the Sean McVay era, the Arizona Cardinals have always been there to provide that. After losing back-to-back games in Weeks 14 and 15 in 2018, the Rams played the Cardinals in a Week 16 matchup. The Rams won that game 31-9, which sparked winning four straight games before the Super Bowl. In 2020, the Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers to drop to 7-4. They beat the Cardinals the following week and again in Week 17 with John Wolford before winning a playoff game. During the Super Bowl season, the Rams had the infamous “No Win November”. They did beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was a win against the 10-2 Cardinals that got them back on track. In 2023, after failing to score more than 20 points for more than a month, the Rams beat the Cardinals 37-14. The offense would score 30 points in three of the next four games.
2. Play a clean game
Before the playoffs, the Rams need to be able to play a clean game. Again, they turned the ball over three times last week against the Panthers which was the second time in five weeks that they’ve done so. Over the last five weeks, the Rams have had special teams gaffes and made too many mistakes on defense. Simply put, the Rams need to be able to feel good about how they’re playing before the postseason.
This kind of goes back to the previous point, but getting back to the basics and playing a clean game on Sunday is important. The defense needs to stop the run and do a better job tackling. Offensively, the Rams need to not turn the ball over and take advantage of opportunities. From a special teams perspective, they need to do their jobs. It sounds simple, but it’s very important before the postseason starts.
3. Stay healthy
There may not be anything more important than staying healthy on Sunday against the Cardinals. For the first time since 2021, the Rams will be playing their starters in Week 18. During the finale over the last two years, Sean McVay has rested his starters. The Rams were hurt in 2022 and then they played for the division title in 2021. It’s very possible that the Rams won’t have anything to play for on Sunday. Despite that, McVay has said that he plans to play the starts.
If the Rams are playing Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, and Puka Nacua, they need to stay healthy. It’s understandable that McVay wants his guys to play better going into the postseason. At the same time, they don’t stand a chance if any of those three or other starters take a freak hit and end up hurt. A win and playing well are both important. However, nothing is more important than coming out of this game healthy.
4. Get out to an early lead
The Rams didn’t earn the right to rest in Week 18 as they need to play better heading into the postseason. However, it gets interesting if the Rams jump out to a 31-10 lead early in the second half as they did in Week 14. This is a Cardinals team that would want nothing more than to play spoiler in Week 18 and give the Rams a more difficult matchup in the playoffs. At the same time, the Cardinals have also lost its last eight games.
If the Rams can jump out to an early two-score lead, they can immediately put out any belief that the Cardinals may have in this game. The Rams may be playing their starters to begin the game, but with a big lead after playing well, they could certainly rest in the second half if needed to avoid any injuries.
5. Find consistent pressure with defensive line
Last week, the Rams actually pressured Kirk Cousins and lot and it almost resulted in a few turnovers. Cousins was pressured on 11 of his 20 dropbacks which was the third-highest rate in the NFL. With that said, it was the first time since the Cardinals game in Week 14 that the defense had a pressure rate over 40 percent.
For this Rams defense to be at its best, they need to get after the quarterback. Too often this season, the pass rush has disappeared in important moments or for long stretches. Coming into the season, the Rams should have had a top-five pass rush. They currently rank seventh in quarterback pressure rate on the season. The Cardinals have allowed the eighth-highest pressure rate this season. This should be a good opportunity to gain some momentum heading into the playoffs.
