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Heading into the Week 8 bye, the 3-4 Los Angeles Rams have squandered a surprising early start and then some. Now below .500 for the first time since the Week 1 loss, the Rams are mired in a (minor) media firestorm surrounding their rookie franchise backup QB who they drafted #1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
With a week off, Jeff Fisher will get to toy with the accessed media, one of his favorite pastimes and something he excels at.
In the interim, here’s the major power rankings from around the national media:
| Average ranking (# of rankings) | 24.71 (7) |
| Average change from last week | -3.00 |
| Highest ranking (source) | 20th (NFL.com) |
| Lowest ranking (source) | 27th (ESPN) |
| Biggest positive change (source) | -1 (ESPN) |
| Biggest negative change (source) | -5 (Yahoo!) |
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SB Nation: 25th (23rd last week)
The "case for Case" is starting to run thin as the Rams have lost three straight, with Keenum throwing an interception on the Rams' final drive each time. With a bye this week, will the Rams have made any changes when we see them against Carolina in Week 9?
"I'm staying with Case." That was the word from Jeff Fisher coming off a shaky performance from his quarterback, who tossed four interceptions (though, not all were his fault). That included two in the Giants' end zone. On the final pick, Keenum appeared to be throwing a 50-50 ball for Brian Quick, but the Rams wideout stopped as if he was running a hitch. No bueno. Oh, wait. This happened in England. (Not sure what the Brits say in that situation. Drat?) The calls for Jared Goff have already started. Maybe fellow rookie Carson Wentz's mediocre showing Sunday will help keep those calls muted. Doubt it, though.
CBS Sports: 25th (22nd)
They have to go to Jared Goff. What's the point of playing Case Keenum?
Yahoo! Sports: 25th (20th)
I buy Charles Robinson’s explanation on why the Rams won’t start Jared Goff now. As he wrote, “If there are some significant cracks found in Goff’s game, someone is losing their job.” So we’ll continue to wait. We forget that real people make these decisions, and self-preservation is going to be more important to them than what’s best for the franchise in the long term.
Pro Football Talk: 25th (22nd)
This could be the formula for 7-9.
FOX Sports: 26th (22nd)
Jeff Fisher continues to be stubborn with his quarterbacks, declaring that he’s sticking with Case Keenum over Jared Goff. Keenum threw four ugly interceptions against the Giants in London and continues to hurt the Rams with debilitating turnovers late in games. And until they find a threat at quarterback, Todd Gurley is going to continue to face nine-man boxes. It’s a disastrous situation for the offense.