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The Los Angeles Rams have been a letdown following up last year’s Super Bowl run. What was once the NFL’s second-highest scoring offense has dropped to 12th. Eliminated from playoff contention, the Rams must decide what path is best for them to return to the big stage.
Quarterback Jared Goff has taken a step back since signing a four-year, $134 million dollar extension earlier this year, but he isn’t the only core player to regress. Running back Todd Gurley has been much less productive as a runner and receiver out of the backfield since in 2019. But the force behind these players dropping off might be out of their control.
Offseason Needs
According to Football Outsiders, Los Angeles had the best run blocking offense and sixth-best pass blocking offense in the NFL last season. But this year they’ve dropped to the middle of the pack (15th) when it comes to run blocking.
When Todd Gurley has less room to operate it puts more pressure on Jared Goff to create, so both are affected when they don’t have a truly elite offensive line. A good portion of this year’s starting offensive line — LG Austin Corbett, C Austin Blythe, and RG David Edwards — have little experience as starters, so maybe reps are the key to improvement. The Rams need to figure out whether the players up front simply need to be more battle tested or replaced altogether.
2020 opponents
The 2019 NFL season is coming to a close and while the playoffs are just arriving, it’s time to start looking ahead to 2020. We won’t know the full regular season schedule until April, but even with the 2019 season not finished, we know each team’s list of opponents. The NFL has a formula they use to determine opponents, with divisions and conferences rotating each year.
The Rams face their divisional opponents a total of six times. The NFC West faces the AFC West, which adds four more opponents. The NFC West faces the NFC West, which adds four more opponents. The final two opponents are the teams that finish in the same standing position in the NFC North and NFC South.
Home: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Chicago Bears
Away: Washington, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals