Perspective outlook as Los Angeles Rams head into bye at 5-3

The Los Angeles Rams went to London and got the win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8, 24-10. Now at 5-3, the Rams head into the bye with a chance to rest and gear up for a challenging second half schedule.

Here’s how things look as the Rams head home to LA.

Injuries

The concussion for WR Brandin Cooks is a worrisome one given his history with them as it was his fourth in the last two years since Super Bowl LII. Other than that, the Rams seemingly came out without any other injuries. With the bye week, we’ll have to see how things look but the injury report should be pretty clean heading into Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If LB Clay Matthews’ broken jaw has healed up (and there’s a suggestion that might be the case) and RB Malcolm Brown’s ankle is good, the Rams might be fortunate enough to have a blank report.

Performance Issues

I’m not sure there’s much to really deal with here other than the sheer inconsistency of the 2019 Rams.

Is it worth knocking the run blocking on a day where the running backs nearly went for 100 yards? Perhaps, but we’ve seen worse performances. And given the personnel turnover on the interior since Week 2, I think it’s fair to buy into an upward overall progression with a David Edwards-Brian Allen-Austin Blythe grouping getting settled in.

Is it fair to dig into QB Jared Goff’s decision-making with some very, very questionable throws on a day where he threw for 372 yards, two touchdowns and (somehow...) no interception? Maybe. Again though, we’ve seen worse.

Is it worth nitpicking things on the defensive side when they held an opponent to two scores in a game and 0 points in the second half? I suppose. There were some issues with the pass rush and coverage in the middle of the field, but Bengals QB Andy Dalton had just 180 passing yards when the Bengals got the ball back with under 10 minutes to go. That he racked up another 149 yards in their final two possessions of the game was more of a garbage time-type situation than indicative of the secondary’s performance on the day.

I’m not sure there’s much from yesterday’s game to apply to the second half schedule with any sincerity.

Standings

Three divisions in the AFC are led by five-win teams right now. The NFC West is just stellar this year. It is what it is. We’ll see if the San Francisco 49ers or Seattle Seahawks slip up in the weeks ahead, but the Rams have work to do to stay in the divisional fight.

The Green Bay Packers got a huge win last night on Sunday Night Football over the Kansas City Chiefs who had to battle without QB Pat Mahomes. That kept them out of the fray of the teams between three wins and six where the playoff fight will be fought. And at some point soon (next week?), we can start cutting out the three win teams from the competition.