Los Angeles Rams: Staff predictions vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Los Angeles Rams’ season has been flipped on its head as the team looks to avoid its first losing record since the end of the 2016 season.

The Los Angeles Rams have never had a losing record while Sean McVay has been the head coach. That is 38 games under McVay’s belt without ever having more losses than wins on the season.

Los Angeles is in danger of that being the case after Sunday as they hit the road to take on the Atlanta Falcons after losing three games in a row.

Luckily for LA, Atlanta has been dreadful this season with an awful defense and bad coaching. However, with Jared Goff‘s poor play and the weapons that Atlanta still possesses, this is still a dangerous game.

Here is how the LA Sports Hub staff sees it going down.

Ahmad Akkaoui (3-5): 28-14, Los Angeles Rams

The Rams have been struggling a lot lately. They’ve lost three straight weeks in a row to teams they could easily beat. It’s disappointing, but they’ve made some changes to the defense and on the offensive line that should give them better chances of winning the rest of the season.

The Falcons are struggling even more and have only won one game. This one should be redemption for the Rams away from home.

Jamaal Artis (7-3): 27-17, Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are in trouble they’ve let a 3-0 start go down the drain and find themselves 3-3 and desperate for a win. Luckily for them, they get the Atlanta Falcons, who are 1-5.

The Rams go to Atlanta and will look to get back on the winning track. They’ll need their porous offensive line to get back on track and Jared Goff needs to hold onto the ball.

The Rams acquired cornerback Jalen Ramsey from the Jacksonville Jaguars after trading cornerback Marcus Peters. There is hope he will play and help stop Matt Ryan who has one interception in his last three games while throwing 7 touchdowns.

Hil Lopez (6-6): 35-32, Atlanta Falcons

The Rams take on the Falcons in an important NFC matchup for week 7. They are looking to right the ship after dropping a third consecutive game 20-7 against their division foe the 49ers.

Jared Goff looks to rebound after passing for a career-low 78 yards as he was sacked and under pressure constantly from the 49ers pass rush. Additionally, the Rams are looking to get running back Todd Gurley back from injury and may even get cornerback Jaylen Ramsey on the field as he was traded to them earlier in the week.

On the other hand, the Falcons are 1-5 and are on a 4 game losing streak. Their defense has been nothing but dreadful forcing QB Matt Ryan to consistently should the offensive load. He has thrown for 300+ yards in all 6 games this year and would certainly be in the MVP conversation if the Falcons had won a couple more games earlier in the year.

Tight end Austin Hooper has been a bright spot as he has had consistent production throughout the year and Julio Jones has been Julio Jones this year.

Both defenses have been dreadful this year, forcing enormous pressure on both offenses. However, if I had to choose who to trust between Matt Ryan and Jared Goff, I would have to go with Matt Ryan. He has been the more consistent quarterback this year and is at home in this game.

Redan Lopez (6-6): 31-30, Atlanta Falcons

This game is going to be a high scoring one. Both teams are bad defensively. Although the Rams attempted to address their defense by acquiring defensive back Jalen Ramsey from Jacksonville, it did not address their inability to run the ball. Todd Gurley is still limited, and Darell Henderson Jr. is still unproven.

The Falcons are not bad running the ball, but they choose to be pass-happy. If I had to choose between Matt Ryan and Jared Goff in throwing the football, I’m going to go with Matt Ryan who has Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Austin Hooper.

It will be fun to watch, but the Falcons will pull the game out and put the Rams on the edge as they will go under .500 for the first time in a long time.

Jason Reed (5-7): 35-30, Los Angeles Rams

Isn’t it really hard to imagine the Los Angeles Rams losing four games in a row? That is not the entire basis for my selection, but teams with a head coach as good as Sean McVay don’t just lose four games in a row.

And heck, while Jared Goff was really bad in two of the three losses, he was not all that terrible against Seattle and the narrative would have been different if Greg Zuerlein made the game-winning field goal.

That is not an excuse for Goff as we all know he needs the running game to lean on to do this thing under center. Luckily for him, Todd Gurley is set to play (albeit he will be limited) and the Rams are coming up against a defense that allows 117.7 rushing yards per game.

That will be the difference in this game. Los Angeles will finally be able to run the ball like last year and it will open everything up for Goff. I still worry about the defense but have the Rams edging out a barn-burner.