5 Keys to Victory: Rams can’t underrate Panthers

The Los Angeles Rams will be going for their seventh consecutive win on Sunday when they take on the Carolina Panthers. This should be a game that the Rams are able to take care of business in and move on to next week’s divisional game against the Arizona Cardinals. However, this is also a classic trap-style game. They’ve been inconsistent with most of their wins coming against bad teams. With that said, they also snuck up on the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. The Rams have done a good job playing their game this season and not adjusting their level to their opponent. In an early-window game on the East Coast, they’ll need to do the same on Sunday. Here are this week’s keys to victory.

1. Take away underneath throws

Bryce Young has struggled at times this season and that’s usually when defenses force him to go through his progressions. When Young isn’t pressured, he ranks 30th in EPA per dropback, but under pressure he’s 18th. That doesn’t mean that the Rams shouldn’t pressure Young, but they need to muddy the picture for him on the backend and take away the immediate throws.

This season, Young has been very good on short throws via PFF, completing 82 percent of his passes. However, on intermediate routes, Young’s accuracy drops to 52 percent. If the Rams can get Young to target the middle of the field while still leaving a roof over the secondary and taking away the underneath passes, they should get him to target tighter windows.

2. Help Emmanuel Forbes with Tet McMillan

Much has been said about the resurgence of cornerback Emmanuel Forbes this season. With that said, Forbes will have a new test on Sunday to show just how much he’s improved. Forbes has consistently struggled against a certain type of wide receiver. It’s always been the big, physical wide receiver that has given Forbes issues simply because of the disparity in size. That’s been the case this season as well. Forbes struggled against Elic Ayomanor earlier this year against the Tennessee Titans and AJ Brown has always given him issues.

Ahkello Witherspoon has been back at practice this week and should have a chance to play. That’s the player that the Rams will want to put on Tet McMillan who has the size advantage on Forbes at 6’4, 212 pounds. The rookie wide receiver has had an underrated season with 783 yards and five touchdowns. McMillan has only converted 3-of-12 contested catch opportunities, but he’s very good at finding ways to get open.

3. Attack Panthers secondary

The Panthers defense could be in rough shape on Sunday. Cornerback Jaycee Horn hasn’t practiced this week due to a concussion while safety Tre’Von Moehrig is suspended for an incident last week against the San Francisco 49ers. Christian Rozeboom could miss the game as well, adding more problems at linebacker. At first glance, the Rams should be able to do what they want against this Panthers secondary.

Coming into this game, the Panthers are the worst team at defending tight ends, giving up over two yards per route. Their 799 yards allowed to tight ends is the second-most in the NFL. This is a secondary that’s allowing the ninth-most yards per pass and eighth-most EPA per pass. Overall, they defend play action well, so this is a game that the Rams should be able to drop back and allow Matthew Stafford to attack the weak links on the back end of the defense.

4. Protect Matthew Stafford from interior

From a pass rush standpoint, the Panthers rank 30th in quarterback pressure rate. However, a lot of that is because they struggle to generate pressure from the edges. Nic Scourton leads the Panthers’ edge rushers in pressures with 23 which is 20 fewer than Byron Young. With that said, the Panthers do have the ability to blow up a game plan from the interior. Derrick Brown is one of the more underrated players in the NFL because he plays for the Panthers. He’s especially a force in the run game, but he does have the ability to get after the quarterback. Last week, Brown had five pressures against the San Francisco 49ers.

If there is a weak spot on the Rams offensive line, it’s on the interior. Coleman Shelton can get overpowered while Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson both have their moments in pass protection. Brown could especially be a problem for Shelton, who struggled against power-based players.

5. Play four quarters

The best thing that the Rams can do in this game is take an early lead and gain control of this game in the first half. However, they need to play four quarters. Earlier this season, the Panthers were down 26-3 to the Arizona Cardinals and brought it back to within one score. They were down 17-0 to the Miami Dolphins before winning that game. In their wins against the Cowboys and Falcons, they trailed going into the fourth quarter. This Panthers team can be put away early, but they are more than capable of climbing back in games.

There is one instance this season in which the Rams have allowed a team back into a game after taking an early lead. The Panthers aren’t the Philadelphia Eagles and if the Rams are able to continue at their current level, this game shouldn’t be close.