By Robbie Williams

Thursday, Dec. 10 at 8:20 PM ET

NFL NETWORK

SPREAD: Rams, -5.5

The Los Angeles Rams just took control of the NFC West in Week 13 with a big win over their division rival, the Arizona Cardinals, and they will seek to maintain control in Week 14 in their matchup with the New England Patriots, who remain in the hunt for the wild card despite having a disappointing season so far. The Seattle Seahawks are tied with the Rams in the standings and the Rams will need to keep up with them until their second meeting in Week 16, which in all likelihood will be the game that decides the NFC West; meanwhile, the New England Patriots should never be counted out, as they are only two games behind the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts with four games left in the regular season. The Dolphins have a tough schedule going forward with matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and the Buffalo Bills. If the Patriots can pull off the upset against the Rams this week, they’d give themselves a chance to flip the script against the Dolphins in their matchup Week 15.

New England Patriots

The Patriots have won four of their last five games and blew out the Los Angeles Chargers in an impressive 45-0 victory in Week 13, in which they had two interceptions on top of forcing four punts and they stopped the Chargers on fourth down four times. They also avoided giving up any turnovers and only had three penalties for fifteen yards all game. The Patriots are proving once again that Bill Belichick has a system for doing all the little things right that give his team a chance to win every week, and that we should never doubt their ability to bounce back from a tough start.

Patriots Offense

Cam Newton may not be throwing the ball very well this season, with a passer rating of 78.4, but he is running the ball well, averaging 4.1 yards per carry on 106 attempts for 435 yards and 11 touchdowns. Damien Harris has done well also in the nine games he’s played this season, averaging 5.1 yards per carry on 125 attempts for 641 yards while losing only one fumble. Those two and their running prowess, charging behind a solid offensive line, are the bread and butter of this offense. When the Patriots run well, they keep Cam’s interceptions to a minimum and give themselves the ability to control the game clock and avoid giving up good field position to their opponent, which allows their defense and special teams to pick up the slack of their offense that ranks 22nd in total points scored but has the second-most rushing yards in the NFL. Belichick knows his teams’ strengths and he’s playing them well with old-school football.
Patriots Defense

The Patriots defense ranks seventh in total points allowed and has forced a respectable 18 turnovers on the season with four fumbles and fourteen interceptions. That is in stark contrast to their being ranked twenty-second in total yards allowed. Because of their conservative offensive strategy and averaging 47.3 yards per punt (2nd best in the NFL), the Patriots often pin their opponents deep in their own territory and force them to drive the length of the field, allowing the defense some extra space to slow their opponent down and force turnovers and field goals rather than give up touchdowns. The Patriots Defense is led by veteran safety Adrian Phillips, with 84 tackles so far this season, as well as third-year cornerback J.C. Jackson who is ranked second in the NFL with seven interceptions.

LA Rams

The Rams have been one of the most inconsistent teams this season. While they enter this game leading the NFC West at 8-4, they have the Seattle Seahawks closely trailing at 8-4 as well. With every team in that division still fighting for playoff spots, the Rams cannot afford to play down to their opponents anymore. While the Patriots have not been great all year, they certainly provide an obstacle for this Rams team that cannot be overlooked.

Rams Offense

Jared Goff threw for four interceptions in two weeks leading into last week’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. Goff cleaned it up against a talented Cardinals’ secondary, throwing for 351 yards and a touchdown while completing 78.7 percent of his passes, and most importantly, throwing no interceptions; he’ll need to keep it up against an even tougher matchup with the Patriots, but he won’t be able to do so without the help of Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson. Together, Akers and Henderson had 121 rushing yards for two touchdowns, with Akers handling the bulk of the carries and running the ball 72 yards on 21 carries, while Henderson only had three carries, but managed to pull off a nice 38 touchdown yard run to pad the score towards the end of the game. However, while the Rams had success on the ground against the Cardinals, the Patriots are a much tougher test that will require a more consistent performance from the backfield in order to keep the pressure off Goff.

Rams Defense

The Rams have allowed the third-fewest rushing yards in the NFL this season and they’ll need to keep it up to beat the Patriots who boast the second-most rushing yards in the league. The Rams also allow the fewest passing yards in the NFL, but that won’t help them much against the Patriots who don’t care much for passing the ball anyways, that is unless the Rams’ offense can score enough to force Cam Newton to throw more. The only other top rushing team the Rams have faced this season is the Arizona Cardinals, and the Rams were able to hold them to under a hundred yards rushing in Week 13; however, Cam Newton is a different sort of rushing quarterback than Kyler Murray. Cam tends to scramble up the middle rather than running outside and he is much bigger than Murray as well, so it will be interesting to see how the Rams adjust to the Patriots’ inside run style.

The Prediction

The Patriots are going to pull out the upset in this matchup because of their ability to generate turnovers, especially in the passing game which is the staple of the Rams’ offensive strategy. Also, the Patriots will be able to control the game script by chewing up the clock with their running game, limiting turnovers on offense, and avoiding penalties. The Patriots are hitting their stride late in the season, as they always do, and Jared Goff isn’t going to be able to avoid turning the ball over against such a tough secondary without Akers and Henderson having great games.

AJ’S PREDICTION: Patriots 17 - 13

CADE’S PREDICTION: Patriots 24 - 21

ROBBIE’S PREDICTION: Patriots 21 - 17

ZACHARY’S PREDICTION: Rams 27 - 24

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Rams 27 - 22

Robbie is a sports writer for La Tonique Media.