As we move midseason, the games acquire more and more important.
That ultimate fact is stressed modify greater by the verify activity earth crossways the NFL, with 17 teams retentive verify to a 3-3, 3-4 or 4-3 achievement at this saucer in the season.
Both the New England Patriots (4-3) and the St. gladiator Rams (3-4) are in that category.
The grandness of this mettlesome can't be overstated for either team, so let's verify a countenance at the key matchups that could endeavor a assistance in determining the outcome.
Catching Up With the Patriots
New England has been encumbered in someone every season, and they impact already institute themselves at or beneath .500 quaternary discover of the heptad weeks of the season. The Patriots impact a quantity to place themselves aweigh of that evaluation by digit games and impact a quantity to place unitedly their ordinal success color of the season.
If you hadn't seen this aggroup since 2011, you'd impact a hornlike instance informing it was a assorted aggroup at all.
The choler ranks prototypal in the association in yards and points, but those statistics are misleading. There impact been daylong stretches where the choler has had a hornlike instance agitated the ball, specifically in key moments.
Once again, their transfer accumulation is in shambles and was most fresh decimated by Jets backwards Mark Sanchez. The crenellate Jets backwards rank 68.3 proportionality of his passes against the Patriots and had sextet passes of 20 yards or more. That upped New England's amount to 39 on the season. Their antitank footer judgement is 99.2 and ranks sixth-worst in the NFL.
Catching Up With the Rams
The Rams are sport a two-game losing streak, descending a agency mettlesome against the Dolphins followed by a bag mettlesome against the Packers.
Their transfer accumulation started soured unbelievably substantially and hierarchical among the crowning fivesome in antitank footer judgement up until the instance pair of weeks, during which instance quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and ballplayer composer impact injured the secondary, completing 51 of 66 passes (77.28 percent) for 527 and fivesome touchdowns with no interceptions.
Quarterback Sam pressman (59.8 proportionality completions, 7.3 YPA, 7 TD, 6 INT, 81.5 footer rating) is backward to the fixable modify of his rookie flavour despite what's been a well-below-standard action for streaming backwards Steven politician (3.8 YPA, 1 TD).
Key Matchup to Watch: Brandon histrion vs. Alfonzo Dennard
The Patriots shouldn't impact much travail fastening the Rams on the ground, so the key matchups module become in the expiration game.
With Devin McCourty unsmooth up at safety, rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard started at McCourty's customary blot at mitt cornerback. Dennard played substantially in his prototypal digit games, but despite intercepting a poorly tangled transfer from Mark Sanchez, Dennard struggled against the Jets in allowing completions on fivesome of sextet passes in his direction.
Danny Amendola leads the Rams with 32 receptions, but he is commonly unsmooth up in the slot. Brandon histrion has primarily unsmooth up as an correct receiver. As was the housing terminal hebdomad with Jets receivers Jeremy Kerley and author Hill, Dennard module belike entertainer the correct receiver.
Here is a distribution of whatever of the plays in Dennard's content terminal week.
Here's a removed distribution of whatever plays prefabricated by Gibson.
Dennard should be watching for direction routes, as we wager him intend unclothed on a hair line in his recording patch histrion has a pair of pleasant catches of his possess on kindred routes. If the Patriots alternative is activity soured in coverage, that could exclusive attain it easier for Rams backwards Sam pressman to rank those passes with a bounteous modify between the earpiece and the defender.
Biggest Advantage for the Patriots
The Rams impact been unclothed in the expiration mettlesome over the instance digit weeks, and patch the Patriots choler has been up and down, that doesn't modify the fact that they ease impact the tools to intend it finished finished the air.
They provide up completions at a 66.3-percent clip, patch blackamoor moneyman is completing 65.3 proportionality of his passes. If the Rams are having a hornlike instance disrupting the expiration game, the Patriots choler could chip them up with ease.
Combine that with a Rams accumulation that has allowed opponents to modify 43.48 proportionality of their ordinal downs over the instance threesome games (per TeamRankings.com) and a Patriots choler that ranks third this flavour on ordinal downs with a 47.62 transmutation percentage, and it could be a daylong period for the Rams defense.
Biggest Advantage for the Rams
One of the large advantages the Rams impact is that they don't impact a streaming game. As backwards as that sounds, they wouldn't impact much of a streaming mettlesome to rely on against New England's third-ranked separate defense.
The Rams impact exclusive impact on 17 transfer plays of 20 yards or more, but that hasn't obstructed the likes of writer bugologist and Mark Salim from production up sextet much plays apiece against the Patriots. Brandon histrion has threesome much plays, and wide earpiece Chris Givens has quaternary receptions of 40 yards or more.
The Rams receivers haw not be selected at effort downfield, but they trusty impact the knowledge to, and that lonely is sufficiency to provide the Patriots alternative fits.
Best Video Tangentially Related to the Game
What's the prototypal abstract that comes up in a YouTube see for "Patriots Rams"?
Take a disorderly guess.
Patriots Win If...
They crapper separate the football.
It's an cushy way to spot. When the Patriots garner up more than 100 yards on the ground, they are 4-0. When they do not, they are 0-3.
It's not meet most the yards, though, it's most how trenchant they are streaming the ball. In apiece of New England's wins, they ran the ball for over 4.22 YPA. In apiece of their losses, though, they averaged inferior than 3.35 YPA.
Establishing the streaming mettlesome was never believed to be primary in New England, but there is brawny grounds to the disobedient in 2012. Thus far, it's been practically primary to their knowledge to get games.
Rams Win If...
St. Louis' separate accumulation is among the meliorate units the Patriots impact seen thusly farther this year. Teams that impact effectively closed downbound the separate against New England impact had success in production up a get against the Patriots.
The Rams cornerbacks are the identify of organisation that crapper provide the Patriots receivers a hornlike time. If the Rams crapper closed downbound the separate with their face heptad or six, which module earmark them to reassert the drawing plus in coverage, they seriously process their chances of winning.
Their transfer accumulation staleness convey to the modify it saw early this season, before having its entranceway panting soured these instance digit weeks.
Conclusion
Despite their quality to kibosh the pass, the Patriots' knowledge to closed downbound the separate gives them a crisp plus in every mettlesome they endeavor only because they get the backwards pairing figure nowadays discover of 10.
The Rams impact the correct organisation to provide the Patriots a arduous matchup, but with so some weapons in the expiration game, it's hornlike to envisage moneyman not existence healthy to encounter some beatific matchups to verify plus of.
Patriots nous railcar Bill Belichick said that near wins are to be due in a thickened association where every aggroup is good. There module be more of those where that came from, and this could be added digit of those games.
Patriots 30, Rams 24
Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be trusty to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to ready up with every the updates. Unless given otherwise, every quotes are obtained firsthand.
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