Behind enemy lines for Titans’ Week 9 matchup against Rams
The Tennessee Titans will have one of their toughest matchups of the 2021 season yet when they take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.”
The Rams are tied for the best record in the NFC West and conference at 7-1 and are winners of their last four games.
Los Angeles has seen a big improvement in their passing game after trading for Matthew Stafford during the offseason, replacing former No. 1 overall pick, Jared Goff.
The Rams have seen their passing attack go from the No. 14 unit in 2020 to No. 4 in 2021, and Stafford is playing at a MVP level, ranking top five in passing yards (2nd), yards per attempt (3rd), yards per game (3rd), touchdowns (2nd), QBR (1st), and passer rating (4th).
Ahead of this game, an already strong Rams defense that featured Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey got even stronger with the trade deadline addition of star pass-rusher Von Miller, although it remains to be seen if he’ll play.
In order to get more information on the Titans’ Week 9 opponent, we sat down with Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire and asked him five questions about the team he covers. Here are our questions and his responses.
What was the Rams' pass-rush off the edge like before adding Von Miller?
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DaSilva: It was already pretty good. Leonard Floyd has had an excellent second season with the Rams and despite losing Justin Hollins on the other side, Terrell Lewis and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo have done a great job replacing him. Miller just adds another weapon on this front seven, making it difficult for any offensive lines to double and triple Donald or Floyd. The pass rush is only going to get better now with Miller in the mix because it gives the Rams bookend edge rushers around Donald.
Explain what Matthew Stafford brings to the table that Jared Goff didn't.
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DaSilva: How much time do you have? I’m only kidding, but the difference has been dramatic. The most notable aspect has been Stafford’s success on third-and-long. That was a situation where the Rams often went into give-up mode because Goff simply didn’t have the field vision or aggressive mentality to hit receivers for 10- or 15-yard gains on third-and-long. Stafford has also been far better under pressure and off-script, which was an area where Goff really struggled the last two years.
Other than Donald, Miller and Ramsey, name a defender the Titans should be worried about.
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DaSilva: I already mentioned Floyd so I won’t bring him back up, but Greg Gaines is a player to watch at nose tackle. He’ll be filling in for Sebastian Joseph-Day again, who is out indefinitely with a pec injury. Gaines was a stud last week in his starting role, recording six pressures and three run stops. He’s a stockier nose tackle but he can certainly move and rush the passer, as evidenced last week. Joseph-Day is a big loss, but Gaines is plenty capable of being a starter in this defense.
Is the addition of Stafford the only reason Cooper Kupp is going off this season?
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DaSilva: He’s a big reason for it, but definitely not the only reason. Kupp is running a wider array of routes that stretch the field deep, much more often than he did last season. It helps that Stafford is aggressive and throws a better ball than Kupp did in L.A., but Kupp deserves plenty of credit for getting even better as a route runner and improving after the catch, too. He’s making things happen on his own pretty frequently.
Give us a prediction and final score for Sunday.
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DaSilva: I think the Rams keep things rolling this week and make it five wins a row. The Titans are still a threat even without Henry, but I think the Rams offense is what really sets them apart from Tennessee. I don’t think Ryan Tannehill will be able to keep up with Stafford and the Rams, especially knowing Los Angeles’ pass rushers will be pinning their ears back and rushing the passer without much threat of a running game. Rams 31, Titans 20.
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