After a Week 10 loss to the Miami Dolphins, the Los Angeles Rams turn their focus to their Week 11 opponents, the New England Patriots, in a big must-win situation for the Rams.
The Rams took a step back in their divisional race after their loss, with both the San Fransisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals walking away victorious. They not only fell 1.5 games back out of first place but also fell under the .500 mark again and fell further back in the Wild Card chase.
The Rams were riding the wave of a three-game winning streak before last week's loss but have an opportunity to right the ship once more by taking on a struggling Patriots team. The Patriots head into Week 11 ranked 27th overall among all NFL teams, and the Rams sit at 21st, taking a three-position step back.
The Patriots walked away victorious last week as well, in a 19-3 win over the Chicago Bears. The key for the Rams to be successful this week is to put up numbers other than field goals, which is all they saw last week. Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 293 yards last week, but the offense could not get anything going in the red zone.
Looking past Sunday on the schedule for the Rams, the opponents get more difficult. The Rams will run into two division-leading teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills, after this week, which may pose to be difficult for the Rams given those teams' offensive numbers this season.
The Rams will look to execute better while in the red zone against the Patriots while also finding openings for the rushing game. The Rams' rushing yards against the Dolphins was 70, a considerable step back from how they had been playing during the win streak. The Rams were averaging 96.6 rushing yards during the streak.
Offensively, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua did what those two players were expected to do, and that was find openings and give Stafford wide-open lanes for him to deliver. Between the two, they had 178 receiving yards; 98 for Nacua, and 80 for Kupp.
Week 11 is a crucial week for the Rams in order to get that momentum back that they lost.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as Why Sunday is Must-Win for Rams.