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After recording three-straight wins since the bye, the Los Angeles Rams have a chance to officially secure a winning record for the first time this season in Week 10, when they take on the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.
They have momentum at their back, a light, by 2024's standards, injury report with just four starters either questionable or out for the game, and a struggling opponent in the Dolphins, who have turned from AFC East favorites to legitimate challengers for the top pick in the NFL draft due to a potent combination of injuries and ineffectiveness.
Playing in front of a prime-time audience for the second time in three weeks, the Rams have a chance to not only prove they are legit in front of a massive audience but also take the top spot in the NFC West along the way, assuming Sunday shakes out in their favor. Will it be easy? Nope, even as they struggle, the Dolphins are still one of the better teams in the NFL when everything is firing on all cylinders, but that hasn't happened much in 2024, which is why the Rams should be favored to secure the win on Monday Night Football.
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1. Matthew Stafford throws for under 250 yards
Matthew Stafford has been the Rams' MVP through the first nine weeks of the 2024 NFL season.
Despite being tasked with throwing to a different supporting cast seemingly weekly, with 11 different offensive linemen blocking for him up front, Stafford has kept the Rams in almost every game he's appeared in so far this season, with the lone exception being in Week 2, where the Cardinals ate LA's lunch in a brutal effort.
As the season has progressed, the Rams have slowly figured things out, with Beaux Limmer looking like a legitimate NFL center, Logan Bruss playing serviceably as a backup, and the trio of Demarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell, and Tyler Johnson each turning signature games through the first two months of the 2024 NFL season.
And yet, in Week 10, it's hard to imagine the Rams turning in an incredible passing effort in their trip to Miami, as they're going up against a Dolphins team that ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards allowed.
Now granted, there have been teams who have successfully thrown the ball against the Dolphins' defense, with the Seattle Seahawks putting up 270 yards in Week 3, the Buffalo Bills throwing for 231 yards in Week 9, and the Cardinals surpassing the 300-yard mark in Week 8. With that being said, the Dolphins' secondary is near full strength, and Jalen Ramsey will be motivated to show out against his former team in their first showdown since his trade in 2023.
If the Rams are going to put up major production in Week 10, they're going to have to pick their spots to attack Anthony Weaver's defense deep, instead of trying to win the game with 40-50 passing attempts. Fortunately, Stafford is an absolute pro, so if he can only take what the Dolphins give him, he should still be able to effectively navigate the Rams' offense down the field.
2. Kyren Williams forces Sean McVay to call his number
So, if the Rams aren't going to put up 350 passing yards in Week 10, how will they move the ball against a Dolphins team that still has plenty of star power? Well, by giving the ball to Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Ronnie Rivers… but mostly Kyren Williams, who has been a certified bell cow despite drafting the Michigan product in the third round.
Starting off the season as more of an afterthought than a focal point, maybe because of the team's lack of consistency in the trenches, Williams has become a much more featured player for the Rams as of late, averaging 21.8 rushing attempts from Week 3-9 versus just 15 in Weeks 1-2.
While the running won't be easy for the Rams in Week 10 per se, as the Dolphins do rank 13th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed, their front seven is somewhat banged up, with Zach Sieler and Emmanuel Ogbah both questionable for the game and Bradley Chubb officially out for Monday Night Football. With the Dolphins allowed 4.4 yards per rush in 2024, which is .7 yards more than Williams is averaging on 161 rushing attempts, this might be a deceptively good game for Williams, as he should be able to keep the Rams moving the ball down the field between choice passing attempts by Stafford.
If there was ever a game for the Rams to really lean into the play-action game, using a strong run game to set up big passing opportunities down the field, this would be it.
3. The Rams' defense gives Tua Tagovailoa fits in a winning effort
On paper, the Dolphins should feel pretty good about their abilities to move the ball against the Rams, as they have one of the better passing offenses in the NFL when Tua Tagovailoa is on the field and can back that up with impressive efforts on the ground, turning in at least 60 yards on an average of 12.3 attempts per game over the past three weeks after three ineffective efforts from Week 3-5.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the Rams' defense has been much better over the past two weeks than they were over the first seven, with their young core really putting things together in an impressive way.
Sure, opposing teams can still gain yards against the Rams, with the Raiders and the Seahawks both recording at least 300 total yards against LA during their post-bye win streak. But the team has allowed 20 or fewer points in each of the past three games, which is a stark contrast from their first five games of the season, which saw Chris Shula's unit surrendering an average of 27.8. Factor in impressive individual play by Cobie Durant, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Omar Speights, and the Rams are getting hot at the right time, and they know it.
The Dolphins' offense, by contrast, hasn't looked “right” even after Tagovailoa's return, with the star passer having failed to throw for more than 240 yards since his return in Week 8 and in all but one of his appearances so far this season. While Dolphins fans likely expect Monday Night Football to be a certified tune-up game, where Tagovailoa can hopefully get things right against a below-average passing defense, don't be surprised if the Rams pull out another big effort and try to defeat Miami in Week 10, instead of just trying to prevent them from winning.
