As the NFL heads into week 8 of its regular season, the New
England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams boarded planes and headed across the
Atlantic Ocean for the unusual destination of this week's matchup, London, England.
This is the second time in the last 4 years the Patriots have played at the
world famous Wembley Stadium, home of the English National Football (aka
Soccer) Team. This week the Patriots have understandably had a much different
schedule than normal. On Friday the team the team held a public practice in
London’s Hyde Park. One player who was missing from that practice was TE Aaron
Hernandez who had a setback in his recovery from a high ankle sprain earlier in
the week and did not make the trip to London. With the bye week coming after
Sunday’s game I think it was the right choice not to play Hernandez since only
rest will help him at this point. Another player who desperately needs the
upcoming bye week is TE Rob Gronkowski. Although Gronk has not missed any games
this season due to injury, he has been dealing with a hip injury that has
severely diminished his production on the field. This team needs the rest badly
as numerous players besides Gronk have played through injury thus far and I
think a week of rest will help them tremendously when they play the Bills in
week 10 and for the rest of the season.
But before we look ahead to the bye week and the games
beyond that, the Patriots need to take care of business Sunday against the Rams.
The Rams, who hold a 3-4 record, have a new coach in Jeff Fisher this season
and he has quickly transformed this team from a perennial last place team into
a tough competitor. The Rams defense ranks 9th in the NFL in yards
allowed per game with 324.4/game. They have recorded 21 sacks and 8
interceptions this year and have several impact players on the defensive side
of the ball. On the defensive line, Chris Long and Robert Quinn have 4 sacks
and 7 sacks respectively and should make things tough for Tom Brady on Sunday.
Cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who has 3 interceptions and 7 passes knocked
down, should prove to be one of Wes Welker’s toughest challenges of the season.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Rams are in the middle of the pack
ranking 24th in passing yards per game and 16th in
rushing yards per game. QB Sam Bradford has had a decent season so far,
throwing for 1592 yards, 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. At running back,
Steven Jackson has had a sub-par season so far compared to previous seasons
where he has led the NFL in rushing. In 7 games this year he has gained 380
yards on the ground and has scored only 1 TD. WR Danny Amendola, the Rams top
wideout is questionable this week with a broken collarbone. Amendola has missed
the last 2 games for the Rams but is still the top WR in terms of receiving with 32
receptions for 395 yards.
The Patriots head to London with a 4-3 record and are in 1st
place in the mediocre AFC East. The Pats offense, despite their recent struggles,
ranks 1st in the NFL in scoring at 31 points a game and 1st
in offensive yards at 436.1 yards per game. Tom Brady, who has caught some heat
the last few weeks for his inconsistent performance on the field, ranks 2nd
in the NFL with 2,104 yards passing, only 5 yards behind Eli Manning.
Brady also ranks 8th in the NFL with 12 passing TDs and 6th
in passer rating with a 96.9 rating. Wes Welker leads the NFL with 688 yards receiving
and 2nd with 54 receptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots have
struggled mightily, especially the last 2 games where they have blown
consecutive double digit 4th quarter leads to sub-par offenses. The
defense ranks 29th in passing yards allowed with 290 yards allowed
per game and 19th in points allowed with an average of 23.3 points
against per game. The defense has been very good against the run so far in 2012
as they rank 8th in rushing yards against as they allow only an
average of 86 yards per game. They have also forced 18 turnovers thus far in
2012, good enough for 2nd in the NFL. That one statistic is the main
reason why this team is currently in 1st place in the AFC East. They
have given up a ridiculous amount of yardage but somehow come up
with huge turnovers when they need them the most. It seems as if it’s a weekly occurrence
and without these turnovers by the defense who knows where this team would be
right now.
As for this game against the Rams, I think the Patriots will
have success on both sides of the ball. The Rams have relied heavily on the running
game, and they will again on Sunday especially if Amendola cannot play. The Pats defense has been very good
against the run in 2012 and if they force the Rams the throw more than they
would like, the Pats will be able to take advantage of a poor Rams offensive
line who has allowed Bradford to be sacked 21 times in 2012. On the offensive
side of the ball I think we will see a huge game from Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd struggled the last few games with drops but with Finnegan covering Welker
today, I think Lloyd will be Brady’s primary target at wide receiver. I also
think we will see a lot of Rob Gronkowski today since Aaron Hernandez is out
with injury. This will definitely not be an easy game but I expect the Patriots
to come out and play a much smarter and tougher game, especially after being
embarrassed the last 2 weeks after giving up consecutive big 4th quarter leads. The
Patriots have been known in the past to just wear teams down throughout the game and when they have a chance to close out the game they never seemed to come up short. I think today we will see the old-school Patriots in terms of discipline and execution and I think they come out on top and enter the bye week riding high on a 2 game winning streak.
Prediction:
Patriots 34 – Rams 20
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