The Patriots were dominant -- dominant -- for the first time all season last week when they smothered the Bears in a 19-3 victory in Chicago. Now 3-7, New England now has the chance to win two straight games for the first time all season.
That won't be easy though, even if the visiting Rams are 4-5 on the season and 1-3 in road games. With Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua at receiver and Kyren Williams in the backfield behind veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Rams still pose a serious offensive threat under Sean McVay.
Team Rankings
Offensive yards/game
Patriots 271.1, 32nd
Rams 328.7, 17th
Points/game
Patriots 16.0, 31st
Rams 20.6, 20th
Rushing yards/game
Patriots 114.3, 22nd
Rams 94.1, 26th
Passing yards/game
Patriots 156.8, 32nd
Rams 234.6, 8th
3rd down percentage
Patriots 34.56%, 26th
Rams 34.58%, 25th
Red zone percentage
Patriots 48.2%, 27th
Rams 46.9%, 30th
Defensive yards allowed/game
Patriots 339.5, 19th
Rams 347.1, 22nd
Rushing yards allowed/game
Patriots 130.5, 23rd
Rams 127.6, 19th
Passing yards allowed/game
Patriots 209.0, 16th
Rams 219.6, 22nd
Third down defense percentage
Patriots 41.3%, 22nd
Rams 37.3%, 14th
Red Zone defense percentage
Patriots 55.9%, 15th
Rams 51.6%, 12th
Points allowed/game
Patriots 22.0, 12th
Rams 24.1, 22nd
Pats Chat Podcast Predictions
Michael Hurley's Prediction: Rams 24, Patriots 20
I think you're talking the narrow cover for the Patriots, a decent game. I think the Rams, while not being great, should be better than the Patriots. That said, this week is a game that could be won. You watched the Rams on Monday night; there's something off about them. We're just accustomed to seeing Matthew Stafford as the trigger man for Sean McVay, and it looking a certain way. And we see Cooper Kupp out there. The pieces are still there but it's just not coalescing the way we're used to. So I'm picking the Rams in this game, but it's not quite like we would have thought in August. It's just ... something is off about that Rams team. So you take in the depression of Monday night's loss, and the short week, and the travel across the country, I would not rule the Patriots out of this game by any means.
Doug Kyed's Predictions: Rams 20, Patriots 17
I would like the Patriots to prove it to me one more week before I'm going to start predicting the Patriots to win football games. The defense showed enough against the Bears to think maybe they can limit the Rams to two touchdowns and two field goals. And the Patriots' red zone offense was really bad last week. That's something Jerod Mayo's talked about. And I'd like to see that they could be better before I'm predicting them to score three touchdowns. I do think that this is a game where the Patriots would really benefit from a takeaway. They could certainly use a game without a bad turnover by Drake Maye -- which, as good as he's been, we have seen some bad turnovers from him. For the Rams, offensive line is seemingly a pretty big issue. I don't think the Patriots are going to get nine sacks this week, because Matthew Stafford isn't going to sack himself as often as Caleb Williams did. But I do think that last week the Patriots finally figured out how to marry coverage and pressure to deliver some pressure, and I'm very curious to see if that can happen two weeks in a row now.