It has been almost two weeks since the Los Angeles Rams last played a game as they had a bye in Week 8, but when they last played they were defeated by the New York Giants 17-10 in London as quarterback Case Keenum threw four interceptions.
The loss was the third straight for Los Angeles as they fell to 3-4 on the season going into their bye.
Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has elected to stick with Keenum though, as rookie Jared Goff is not yet ready to be the starter despite taking reps with the first team offense in practice last week.
The Rams defense will have their hands full with the reigning NFL MVP, quarterback Cam Newton.
Newton led the Panthers to a 15-1 record last season but were defeated by the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. They are off to a slow start this season as they currently sit at 2-5.
Newton has completed just 57 percent of his passes this season for 1,508 yards and eight touchdowns while throwing six interceptions. Newton’s rushing numbers are also down this season as he dealt with a concussion earlier in the season. He has just 38 rushing attempting on the season for 191 yards on the season.
The Rams secondary may be bolstered by the return of their top corner Trumaine Johnson. He has missed the last two games with an ankle injury.
He will likely be covering the Panthers top receiver, Kelvin Benjamin. After missing all of last season with a knee injury Benjamin has 57 catches for 467 yards with four touchdowns on the season.
Rams running back Todd Gurley will look to get back on track coming out of the bye week. Gurley ranks second to last amongst qualified runners in yards per carry at 3.0 as he has rushed for 403 yards on 134 attempts while scoring three touchdowns. He has found some success in the passing game though as he already has matched his catch total from last season at 21 for 168 receiving yards.
Fisher recently said that they need to run the football better, so look for Gurley to get fed early and often Sunday.
Sunday’s game at the Coliseum will be at 1:05 p.m. PST and will be televised on FOX.
