Panthers game is not must-win for Rams - it’s cannot lose

The Los Angeles Rams enter Week 6 with a key inflection point in their season. At 2-3, LA can get back to .500 heading into their bye week. With a number of injuries on the offensive line, secondary, and receiving corps, the week of rest is seemingly coming at just the right time.

A win against the Carolina Panthers would set the Rams up for a massive Week 8 game against their biggest rival - the San Francisco 49ers.

But Los Angeles cannot look past the Panthers, despite their 1-4 record on the new season.

This is a Carolina team that has nothing to lose - and they’ll want to come out of the gate strong for their new head coach, Steve Wilks.

We’ve seen a number of teams respond positively to a change at head coach in the middle of the season, but many times these moves don’t give much of a boost to already bad teams.

It doesn’t make a difference for the Rams. This isn’t a must win for them - it’s a cannot lose.

Los Angeles could find themselves dead in the water if they drop to 2-4 on the year. Reinforcements such as Brian Allen and Van Jefferson may come too late to salvage the season, and a losing record would make it tough to draw Odell Beckham, Jr. back into the fold.

Sean McVay’s team should play in this game like they have everything to lose - because they do.

Perhaps it starts with making changes just for the sake of being different.

For example, inserting center Matt Skura and guard Oday Aboushi into the starting line up might not make the Rams much better, but they can’t perform worse than what we’ve seen from Jeremiah Kolone and Bobby Evans in recent weeks.

Maybe it’s time to divvy up Allen Robinson’s playing time between the younger receivers. The LA offense is desperate for a spark and the team should be considering all possible options.

Kenneth Arthur and JB Scott discuss the high stakes and more on this installment of Turf Show Times: The Podcast, which is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Will we see another costly mistake from the offense or special teams again this week, and does the offense have the fire power to overcome any point they potentially give away.

While the Panthers offense has been even more putrid than LA’s, their defense is still good enough to keep the score close.

The Rams cannot afford to let Carolina hang around in this game, but even more so they cannot afford to drop to 2-4 on the season.

The stakes are high entering this Week 6 showdown - can Los Angeles come out on top?

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