The well-rested Los Angeles Rams get a blessing from the football gods in the form of a head-to-head meeting with the struggling New York Jets. Los Angeles hasn’t taken the field since over a week ago in their Thursday night drubbing of the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Jets continue their pitiful 2020 campaign (or tank-fest) after getting rolled in a 40-3 loss on the road to the Seattle Seahawks.
These Jets aren’t flying
It’s hard to imagine Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence being excited about potentially being drafted by the Jets with the No. 1 overall pick in 2021. Granted, the mere possibility of playing in the NFL is good enough for most young quarterbacks due to it symbolizing the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Let us also remember Andrew Luck had the same feelings when he went to Indianapolis. Now, he’s beat to hell and retired at 31 years old.
Trevor better think about this one.
As for the Jets, they’ll continue their winless season on the road against the Rams on Sunday. One man that isn’t thinking about tanking is quarterback Sam Darnold. Why in the world would he want to hand away his starting job to the guy with the flowing, long blonde hair?
This is as good of a time as any for him to show the Jets they’re making a mistake by even considering pushing him aside. They did invest a No. 3 overall pick in him in 2018. So there has to be a little “should we or should we not” trepidation happening in the front office right now.
Unfortunately for Darnold, however, he’ll be staring across from a man that eats quarterbacks for breakfast. Aaron Donald is a defensive nightmare even for the best offensive lines, and the Jets aren’t even close to qualifying in that category. Darnold has to get the ball out quick and hope his lackluster receiving corps can somehow find separation against the best pass defense in football. It doesn’t help matters that wideout Jamison Crowder is questionable for the game with a calf injury.
One thing is certain: Goff can’t depend on his 21st-ranked rushing offense.
It would help if the Jets could somehow generate turnovers on defense, but then again, they’re working with the second-worst passing defense in all of football. They need something akin to a Mel Gibson movie war speech to speak life into them at this point.
Don’t get cute, Los Angeles
The Rams have been too up-and-down this season to be taken seriously as contenders. One week they’re blowing out a good football team, and the next, they’re either losing or barely eking out the New York Giants. There’s still too much Jekyll-and-Hyde to the team.
The monster clearly came out in last Thursday’s beating of the New England Patriots.
Even though Tom Brady wasn’t on the field, there was probably still some built-up resentment from that Super Bowl LIII loss. We’ll see if they can maintain that same energy in Sunday’s home visit from the Jets.
There’s no reason to get too crazy with quarterback Jared Goff in this game. I know it can be tempting when seeing how bad the Jets’ secondary has looked on paper. Just stick to running the football with Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson. The opportunities to push the ball downfield will come, but it’s also important the Rams do whatever they can to establish a little balance on offense. As bad as the Jets have been defensively, the strength of their unit is actually at the front. But that doesn’t mean the Rams need to abandon the run game altogether and just settle for taking shots. They need to show some discipline in this game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Rams have been lights out on the backend with former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey turning back the clock to his dominant days in Jacksonville. The combination of a lockdown defensive backfield with Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd up front is absolutely terrifying for any offense. They’ll be looking to make this a long and painful day for Darnold.
It’s worth noting Rams receiver Robert Woods has missed some time this week at practice with a thigh injury. He’s officially listed as questionable for the game.