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St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins: Week 2 Predictions

The St. Louis Rams [1-0] are heading east to take on the Washington Redskins [0-1] this Sunday. Does the Turf Show Times’ staff think the Rams will go 2-0 for the first time since 2001?

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams shocked a lot of folks last weekend when they beat the Seattle Seahawks at the Edward Jones Dome.  They didn’t shock a lot of the Turf Show Times staff though.

This week, twelve staff writers are taking a shot at prognosticating their Week 2 matchup against the Washington Redskins.  Here’s how they see it panning out:

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Sean Wilkinson [@Papa_Lurch]

There are a lot of reasons why I want to say the Rams will level the Redskins this weekend. They just beat the 2x reigning NFC champion, they will likely get Tre Mason back, and there's the fact that the Redskins - well they're the Redsinks. The offense looked good even with shoddy OL play, Nick Foles played like a boss, and Tavon was lightning in a bottle. I could keep going, but I'm sure you get my point.

The only thing that would keep me from predicting a Rams blowout win is injury. The Rams will be without Eugene Sims, Darren Bates, and Chase Reynolds - 3 players who are instrumental to their respective units. With the Steelers and Packers coming in weeks 3 and 4, I think that this could have the potential to be a trap game for a team with a less experienced coach. But Jeff Fisher is veteran in the NFL and will keep his guys focused.

Prediction: Rams win big, 27 - 10

Eddie P [@iAmEddieP_]

2-0, #GoRams.

Just like that.

The main fault the Rams defense has is giving up the occasional big play. Washington's DeSean Jackson will be out, so it should be too hard to contain them.

Offensively, the Rams will have a similar game as last week. Washington doesn't boast the elite defense Seattle does, but they do blitz a lot. From what we saw last Sunday, Cig calls a good game. Expect some quick throws to thwart the heavy pressure.

Prediction: Rams win 24 - 10

Nathan Kearns [@nkearns12]

After Week 1, I think we should all take away a handful of positives: (a) The defensive line can and will make up for a lot of inefficiencies at the second- and third-levels of the defense, (b) the offensive line isn't nearly as bad as anticipated, and (c) Cignetti is not Schottenheimer, and Foles is not Bradford. Piggy-backing off those three takeaways, there are three reasons why the Rams "should" handle the Redskins with relative ease.

First, the Washington offensive line would be in the running for worst in the league, if Trent Williams (LT) weren't manning the blindside. In Week 1, four of their five starting offensive linemen, graded out negatively in some aspect of blocking; with their interior three (i.e. the ones that will attempt to stop Aaron Donald) struggling mightily against Miami.

Second, despite decent numbers, on paper (four sacks), the Redskins were pretty ineffective against the Dolphins' below-average offensive line. To support that claim, Ryan Tannehill was only "under pressure" on 32.4% of his dropbacks on Sunday. That could mean easy picking for Nick Foles, who was under constant duress last week from the Seahawks multifaceted and extremely talented pass rushers.

Lastly, the Cignetti/Foles dynamic will likely be the key between a handful of wins and losses this year. In years past, the Rams and their starting quarterback would attempt to milk a lead (if they had one), or take the conservative approach to digging themselves out of a deficit. In this "new era" of offensive coordinator and quarterback seems much more intent on holding AND extending leads, and certainly seem more willing to go for the "big splash," instead of grinding the opposing defense to sleep. That showed at several key points in the game, including the overtime throw to Stedman Bailey, with Richard Sherman draped on his back and a safety baring down. The old St. Louis Rams might have played overtime safe, particularly after starting at midfield. This team didn't, and it helped seal the win.

If the Rams want to convince the world that their victory over the Seattle Seahawks wasn't fluky, they'll need to continue those three "positives" against the Washington Redskins.

Prediction: Rams win 24 - 17 (mostly garbage time points)

sergey606 [@thatSergey]

I'll be the bummer in the bunch. Last year when I picked the Rams to win, they did the opposite about 90% of the time.

We've seen this before: Fisher's teams ball-out versus good teams and fall flat versus bad ones. I'm guessing the Washington Team of Football (WTF) will sneak-up on the over confident Rams. Offense line gets challenged by the WTF defensive line, stuffing the run with Tre and Benny. All the fans start itching to see what Gurley can bring. Foles doesn't have time to throw very often and when he does, he misses - just one of "those" games. Even without DJax in the line-up the WTF offense moves the ball with ease after Morris establishes the run game - has a career high rush yards.

Prediction: Rams 28, Washington Team of Football players 30

GoRamsGo

Must first kick off by saying that this team outperformed my expectations in week one. The offense looked very good, which is great to see considering Quick and Gurley were out, and I see both contributing in big ways this season.

As for the Redskins, it's 2-0. I don't see Washington winning, and if they do, I'll be hugely disappointed.

The Rams held Russel Wilson to only 250 yards on 41 attempts all while keeping Marshawn Lynch in check. We are also all over Wilson from start to finish and accumulated six sacks. I don't see any scenario that has the Redskins out-doing the Seahawks offensively because Kirk Cousins, especially without DeSean Jackson, is just far inferior to Wilson.

Getting Tre Mason back will provide a huge boost to the offense as well, almost an underrated boost. Benny Cunningham played well, but Mason is undeniably better, and the fact that Pead won't have to touch the field will help out. Overall, as well as things went last week, I could only see them going well this week.

A 2-0 start would be great, and it'll be something to build a healthy amount of confidence around and hopefully make the strides to become a playoff team this season.

Prediction:  Rams win 31 - 10

Mike Dietrich [@dvond]

The Rams have a few things going against them this week. The 1st one is under Jeff Fisher, this team has usually followed up big emotional wins with a huge letdown which is a characteristic of a young team; which this one continues to be. The 2nd issue is teams after playing the Seahawks win less than 33% of their next week's game. But never fear, Positive Mike sees this team buck both of these trends against the surprising Washington defense. Playing a lower scoring game on the road and playing close to the vest, I think they eek out a close road win 16-13.

Prediction:  Rams win 16 - 13

northwestRAMSfan [@troilus22]

The Rams found themselves pulling out yet another surprise upset in the Jeff Fisher era with their week 1 win over the two time defending NFC Champions. There was something very different about this game than the beatdown of the Colts in 2013, or the upsets of the Broncos and Seahawks last year. Each of those big upsets had a the Rams on the plus side of some low percentage plays. A team can't rely on a misdirection punt return and fake punt, or a strip sack scoop and score in every game for success. No this game against the Seahawks saw the Rams survive being on the wrong side of similar low percentage plays. Yes the Rams had a big punt return TD in week 1, but it evened out a similar play by the Seahawks. The Rams managed to win in spite of a fumbled snap, Isaiah Pead sighting, and a strip sack scoop and score.

Heading into week 2 its possible the Rams will see the return on Tre Mason, which at the very least should eliminate any more Isaiah Pead sightings. Benny Cunningham did a fantastic job in week 1, but Mason offers a little more in the running game. The Redskins offense is going to have to rely heavily on the production of Alfred Morris. After limiting "Beast Mode" to 73 yards on 18 carries, the Rams defense is hoping for similar run stuffing in week 2. If you eliminate the rushes of Russell Wilson the Seahawks had 93 yards on 24 carries as a team, roughly a 3.9 yard per carry average. If the defense isn't worried about an athletic quarterbacks ability to stretch the defense horizontally, it should make it easier to fill those running lanes and contain Morris. If the defense and limit the running game the Redskins options are fairly limited on the outside with the absence of DeSean Jackson. To make a long story short, Rams jump out to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2001.


Prediction:  Rams win 24 - 10

Douglas M [@thenovelroad]

I think Rams fans are taking this game far too lightly. Remember now, the last few times - excluding the Dec7th game in 2014 - these teams played tough, and it got downright ugly (See: Cortland Finnegan drawing a personal foul from a Redskins receiver). What's more, while the Washington offense may be struggling - and without Desean Jackson for a while - they may just decide to run Alfred Morris all day, then sprinkle in s few pass to Pierre Garcon, who has had some good games against the Rams. It's also a road game for the Rams, which hasn't been a strong suit. Yes, their offense line is struggling, but keep an eye on TE Jordan Reed.

Do I think the St. Louis Rams win this one? Yes, but the Washington defense is going to keep this one close. In fact, there's a very real chance the Rams' defense/ST could outscore their offense in this one. I can easily see a few INTs and fumble recoveries in this one for the Rams. The Redskins special teams could be in for a long day too. Tavon Austin may hit it big on a punt return in this one. The Rams have to get their ground game going to have outright control of this game.

Stat lines:

Rams sacks: 4

Redskins sacks:2


INTs - Rams:3
Redskins:1

Offensive player to watch for the Rams: TE Jared Cook
Offensive player to watch for the Redskins: Alfred Morris

Prediction:  Rams win 20 -  9

RamBuck [@lannyosu]

I decided not to hand-write mine this week, as I need to get a new fountain pen...

After watching the coach's film of last week's loss to WAS, it looked like the Rams' inexperienced OL was, overall, not that bad in pass protection but really struggled to sustain blocks and create multiple cutback lanes in the run game. Tre Mason appeared to be shaking off some rust as well, so perhaps my expectations for immediate "ground and pound" success were exceedingly premature. We should know by now that the Rams' offense takes its time getting started.

The Rams' MO is pretty much run the ball from a variety of looks to set up the play action deep ball, which I have no problem doing as long as the Rams control the clock. So far, the Rams are woefully behind the curve in time of possession, averaging less than 24 minutes a game (31st in the NFL). This will be completely unacceptable against a quick striking and dangerous Steelers offense. The Rams will need to come out on top of the time of possession battle to take this one away, and play "bend but don't break" defense as Big Ben, Bell and Brown (the Triple B's) always find a way to move the chains.

I'm hoping this is a close one, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Rams find themselves in a bit of a hole at the half unless the Rams' defense can get after Big Ben early.

Prediction:  Steelers win 35 - 24

3k [@3k_]


Prediction:  Rams win 20 - 9

Brandon Bate [@NoPlanB_]

This game could certainly be a trap game; one where when it’s all over you’re wondering "what the hell just happened?"

It could also end up like the Rams vs. Cardinals game from Oct. 2012.  You remember that one, right?  The Rams had 9 sacks, and Kevin Kolb’s helmet was knocked off more times than the Cardinals’ scored.

And that’s how I see this one panning out.  I’ll go ahead and predict four turnovers for the Rams:  two strip/sack/fumble recoveries, and two interceptions.

Prediction:  Rams win 24 - 9

Misone [@MightyOrMisone]


Rams will harass on overmatched Kirk Cousins. The offensive line of the Redskins will be no match for the Rams’ defense line. Cousins will likely taste dirt 5-7 times and throw two interceptions. On offense, the Rams will have some decent success running the ball and cut loose some of their backs. Foles will have another solid outing, finishing with 250 yards, 63% completion percentage, and two touchdowns. This one shouldn’t be close as the Redskins are overmatched from top to bottom. It will be interesting to see how the Rams’ young tackles hold up against their pass rush. My guess is that this will be a great test for them both.

Prediction:  Rams win 30 - 6

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Out of twelve predictions made, eleven TST staff members see the Rams keeping the undefeated season alive.  To be fair, Sergey asked me to write his prediction in sarcastic font, so I think it’s fair to assume that the entire team here thinks the Rams win on Sunday.  You know when Mike’s picking them to win, despite his stat-dropping, that things are looking up.