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What to Watch For: Rams vs. Redskins/ Wagoner
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14302/w2w4-st-louis-rams-17
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins kick off Week 14 on Sunday at FedEx Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on Fox regional coverage.
Here are three things to watch from the Rams' perspective:
1. Keep it simple: Winning the turnover battle is an unavoidable formula for winning games in the NFL. Yes, it's simple and obvious but it's also as close as you can find to a predictor in figuring out wins and losses in a given week. The Rams have been a perfect example of that this season. In games where they have committed zero turnovers, they are 3-0 and they haven't lost a game in which they've been on the positive side of the turnover ledger. Conversely, they've lost any time they've been on the negative side. Games where they've broken even have been a coin toss. The Redskins don't give it away as much as last week's opponent, the Oakland Raiders, but they are pretty generous. They are 27th in the league in turnover margin at minus-7 and their 22 giveaways are 24th in the league. The Rams, meanwhile, have 21 takeaways, which is the eighth most in the league.
2. Pass rush production: The population of sack city has increased tremendously over the past seven or so weeks. After setting a league record for futility in that statistic the first six weeks, the Rams have become the pass rushing team that had set out to be at the beginning of the year. Since Week 7, the Rams have 27 sacks, which is the second most in the league in that time frame. End Robert Quinn is up to nine on the season and coming off a three-sack effort last week while defensive tackle Aaron Donald is leading all rookies in sacks with six of his own. The Redskins have yielded 39 sacks this season, the second most in the NFL. This is a dangerous mix for Washington heading into this week.
3. Penalty prone: Both teams enter this matchup among the most penalized teams in the league. That should be no surprise to fans of either team as they've likely grown annoyed by the persistent flags. Washington is 28th in the league in penalties with 93 while the Rams aren't far behind at 90. And both teams aren't just getting penalties but they're getting costly ones. The Rams' 851 penalty yards is second most in the league and Washington's 828 are fourth most. So don't be surprised if this game takes a while. The team that can control itself best will be doing itself a great service in improving its chances for a win.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14302/w2w4-st-louis-rams-17
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins kick off Week 14 on Sunday at FedEx Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on Fox regional coverage.
Here are three things to watch from the Rams' perspective:
1. Keep it simple: Winning the turnover battle is an unavoidable formula for winning games in the NFL. Yes, it's simple and obvious but it's also as close as you can find to a predictor in figuring out wins and losses in a given week. The Rams have been a perfect example of that this season. In games where they have committed zero turnovers, they are 3-0 and they haven't lost a game in which they've been on the positive side of the turnover ledger. Conversely, they've lost any time they've been on the negative side. Games where they've broken even have been a coin toss. The Redskins don't give it away as much as last week's opponent, the Oakland Raiders, but they are pretty generous. They are 27th in the league in turnover margin at minus-7 and their 22 giveaways are 24th in the league. The Rams, meanwhile, have 21 takeaways, which is the eighth most in the league.
2. Pass rush production: The population of sack city has increased tremendously over the past seven or so weeks. After setting a league record for futility in that statistic the first six weeks, the Rams have become the pass rushing team that had set out to be at the beginning of the year. Since Week 7, the Rams have 27 sacks, which is the second most in the league in that time frame. End Robert Quinn is up to nine on the season and coming off a three-sack effort last week while defensive tackle Aaron Donald is leading all rookies in sacks with six of his own. The Redskins have yielded 39 sacks this season, the second most in the NFL. This is a dangerous mix for Washington heading into this week.
3. Penalty prone: Both teams enter this matchup among the most penalized teams in the league. That should be no surprise to fans of either team as they've likely grown annoyed by the persistent flags. Washington is 28th in the league in penalties with 93 while the Rams aren't far behind at 90. And both teams aren't just getting penalties but they're getting costly ones. The Rams' 851 penalty yards is second most in the league and Washington's 828 are fourth most. So don't be surprised if this game takes a while. The team that can control itself best will be doing itself a great service in improving its chances for a win.