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https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/11/27/nfl-rams-players-improve-2018-season/
5 Rams players who must step up in the final 5 games
By: Cameron DaSilva
The Los Angeles Rams have entered the final stretch before the postseason, facing a fairly easy five-game finish to the year. They’ll play the Lions on Sunday before taking on the Bears in Chicago the following week. A Sunday night showdown with the Eagles at home comes in Week 14, followed by the Cardinals and 49ers in the final two weeks.
The Rams have all but locked up a playoff berth and the NFC West, but they can’t get complacent in the last five weeks. They need to continue playing at a high level and have some of their other players step up in a big way.
These five come to mind in that regard with all of them needing to play well down the stretch.
CB Marcus Peters
Aqib Talib is set to return soon, possibly as early as Sunday against the Lions, which should help everyone in the secondary. Peters stands to benefit the most from Talib’s return, taking pressure off him to be the No. 1 cornerback and cover the top receiver on the opposing team. Peters has had an up-and-down season in 2018 with most of the downs coming since Week 3 when Talib went down.
If Peters can get back to the way he was playing in the first two games, the Rams will be in great shape moving forward. Both he and Talib were nearly impossible to pass against, providing lockdown coverage on the outside. Even if Peters doesn’t get to that level of play, he simply has to be better than he was in recent weeks.
LB Mark Barron
Barron took a while to get on the field this year after recovering from an Achilles injury suffered last season, but he still doesn’t look like the same player he once was. He’s PFF’s 75th-ranked linebacker with a grade of 44.8, missing tackles on a weekly basis. He also hasn’t provided much in the way of coverage, either, which should be his forte as a former safety.
The Rams won’t bench Barron or go back to Ramik Wilson, who actually played relatively well as a starter earlier this season. They’ll ride it out with the veteran linebacker and hope he turns it around in the final five weeks. It may not be the best approach, but the Rams don’t exactly have many better options.
NT Ndamukong Suh
It’s not that Suh has been bad this season, but in the past six weeks, he just hasn’t had a huge impact. Yes, he was great against the Seahawks with nine tackles, three quarterback hits and a half-sack, but excluding that game, he has nine tackles, two quarterback hits, no sacks and no tackles for loss in his last six starts.
Suh hasn’t recorded a tackle for loss since Week 5, which is also the last time he’s had a full sack. The Rams’ defense has been gashed on the ground and while you can’t pin that on one player, Suh is supposed to be that anchor in the middle making stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. He simply hasn’t done that enough in the past six games. He’s PFF’s 27th-ranks interior defender this season.
WR Josh Reynolds
Reynolds played 98 percent of the snaps against Kansas City in Week 11 and had a terrific game, but it was a small sample size. While the Rams don’t need him to be Cooper Kupp or post 80 yards per game, he does have to be a reliable target for Jared Goff. He can’t drop passes or make mental errors that young players sometimes do.
Goff has shown plenty of confidence in the second-year receiver, targeting him eight times in the Rams’ biggest game of the season. Having Reynolds as a red zone weapon and a guy who can prevent teams from doubling Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods is valuable, which is why he needs to continue playing at a high, starting-caliber level.
S Lamarcus Joyner
Joyner isn’t having a terrible season, but he’s far from the player he was last year. As PFF’s 32nd-ranked safety in 2018, Joyner has been weak in run support and had his lapses in coverage. He’s taken poor angles on ball carries and allowed big gains by missing tackles, but hopefully last week’s win over the Chiefs is a sign of things to come.
He had seven tackles, two passes defensed and a game-sealing interception, showing flashes of how he played last season. The play of L.A.’s secondary as a whole has been shaky, but having that dynamic centerfielder in the middle makes a huge difference. That’s what Joyner has to be for the Rams down the stretch, taking away those big plays downfield.
5 Rams players who must step up in the final 5 games
By: Cameron DaSilva
The Los Angeles Rams have entered the final stretch before the postseason, facing a fairly easy five-game finish to the year. They’ll play the Lions on Sunday before taking on the Bears in Chicago the following week. A Sunday night showdown with the Eagles at home comes in Week 14, followed by the Cardinals and 49ers in the final two weeks.
The Rams have all but locked up a playoff berth and the NFC West, but they can’t get complacent in the last five weeks. They need to continue playing at a high level and have some of their other players step up in a big way.
These five come to mind in that regard with all of them needing to play well down the stretch.
CB Marcus Peters
Aqib Talib is set to return soon, possibly as early as Sunday against the Lions, which should help everyone in the secondary. Peters stands to benefit the most from Talib’s return, taking pressure off him to be the No. 1 cornerback and cover the top receiver on the opposing team. Peters has had an up-and-down season in 2018 with most of the downs coming since Week 3 when Talib went down.
If Peters can get back to the way he was playing in the first two games, the Rams will be in great shape moving forward. Both he and Talib were nearly impossible to pass against, providing lockdown coverage on the outside. Even if Peters doesn’t get to that level of play, he simply has to be better than he was in recent weeks.
LB Mark Barron
Barron took a while to get on the field this year after recovering from an Achilles injury suffered last season, but he still doesn’t look like the same player he once was. He’s PFF’s 75th-ranked linebacker with a grade of 44.8, missing tackles on a weekly basis. He also hasn’t provided much in the way of coverage, either, which should be his forte as a former safety.
The Rams won’t bench Barron or go back to Ramik Wilson, who actually played relatively well as a starter earlier this season. They’ll ride it out with the veteran linebacker and hope he turns it around in the final five weeks. It may not be the best approach, but the Rams don’t exactly have many better options.
NT Ndamukong Suh
It’s not that Suh has been bad this season, but in the past six weeks, he just hasn’t had a huge impact. Yes, he was great against the Seahawks with nine tackles, three quarterback hits and a half-sack, but excluding that game, he has nine tackles, two quarterback hits, no sacks and no tackles for loss in his last six starts.
Suh hasn’t recorded a tackle for loss since Week 5, which is also the last time he’s had a full sack. The Rams’ defense has been gashed on the ground and while you can’t pin that on one player, Suh is supposed to be that anchor in the middle making stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. He simply hasn’t done that enough in the past six games. He’s PFF’s 27th-ranks interior defender this season.
WR Josh Reynolds
Reynolds played 98 percent of the snaps against Kansas City in Week 11 and had a terrific game, but it was a small sample size. While the Rams don’t need him to be Cooper Kupp or post 80 yards per game, he does have to be a reliable target for Jared Goff. He can’t drop passes or make mental errors that young players sometimes do.
Goff has shown plenty of confidence in the second-year receiver, targeting him eight times in the Rams’ biggest game of the season. Having Reynolds as a red zone weapon and a guy who can prevent teams from doubling Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods is valuable, which is why he needs to continue playing at a high, starting-caliber level.
S Lamarcus Joyner
Joyner isn’t having a terrible season, but he’s far from the player he was last year. As PFF’s 32nd-ranked safety in 2018, Joyner has been weak in run support and had his lapses in coverage. He’s taken poor angles on ball carries and allowed big gains by missing tackles, but hopefully last week’s win over the Chiefs is a sign of things to come.
He had seven tackles, two passes defensed and a game-sealing interception, showing flashes of how he played last season. The play of L.A.’s secondary as a whole has been shaky, but having that dynamic centerfielder in the middle makes a huge difference. That’s what Joyner has to be for the Rams down the stretch, taking away those big plays downfield.
