The Los Angeles Rams have hit a mid-season slump. Since acquiring Von Miller via a trade, they are 0-3 with losses to the Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, none of which were particularly close games.
The additions of Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. are certainly not to blame for the losses. However, the two have not infused energy into their sides of the ball the way it was thought they would. The defense has been especially bad with the Rams giving up 28, 31, and 36 points, respectively, although a number of those points can be attributed to the offense with Matthew Stafford throwing a pick-six in each game as well as a number of other turnovers deep in his own territory.
Despite that, Miller is not worried about the ceiling of the defense or the Rams as a whole. In fact, he is still eyeing the Lombardi Trophy and sees it heading back to L.A. this season, via Miller on Instagram:
Miller reiterated his confidence in the Rams in a more formal setting, saying that the team’s pass rush is not one to be forgotten, according to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I still got all the money on this Rams rush,” Miller said. “I’m really excited to see what we do in the future. We’ve got six games left (in the regular season).”
The Rams do have six games remaining to get back on track before the postseason. While they haven’t clinched their spot just yet, it looks pretty likely that they’ll wind up in the playoffs as one of the three wild card teams.
In that six-game stretch, they’ll play four teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. After an easier game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13, they’ll head to Phoenix and face the Arizona Cardinals in a game that could help decide the NFC West.
After that, they get their final “easy” game of the season at home against the Seattle Seahawks. From there, they play at the Minnesota Vikings, at the Baltimore Ravens and at home against the 49ers once again.
Sean McVay defends Matthew Stafford
The defense has not looked great during the Rams’ three-game losing streak, but neither has Stafford. Even still, McVay defended Stafford when asked about the comparisons between him and Jared Goff, seemingly getting offended at the question that linked the two together.
