Refreshed Rams brace for Panthers' visit

Sep 21, 2017 - 7:48 PM THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams returned to work after their bye week in decent shape relative to the top teams in the NFC West.

With the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals both losing last Sunday, the Rams (3-4) sit 1 1/2 games behind the Seahawks (4-2-1) and a half-game behind the Cardinals (3-4-1).

Having beaten both teams already, the Rams currently have a tiebreaker advantage over each. And with four winnable games looming, the time is now for Los Angeles to make its move.

That begins this week against the visiting Carolina Panthers at 4:05 p.m. ET (FOX).

"This thing just becomes one at a time now, it really does," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "November is an important month to make a move if you're going to have a chance to plan in January, but you can't look ahead. You can't look ahead to December. You just got to focus on each opponent."

For the Rams, that means eliminating the penalties they keep committing, playing with more balance on offense and getting running back Todd Gurley going.

All three issues hurt them during their three-game losing streak, and addressing them will determine whether they will stick around the race for the long haul or fade as they have in years past.

As for the Panthers (2-5), Fisher said records sometimes can be deceiving. He believes Carolina's 30-20 win over the Cardinals last week is a better indication of the Panthers' ability.

"We got a challenge," Fisher said. "This is a good football team. It's hard to look at the tape and see that they only won two games, but it's a good football team. We get a sense for watching them match up against Arizona, because we know Arizona very well, and it's a dominating game. It was a great effort by them, and a much needed win for them."

As luck would have it for the Rams, they face the Panthers and quarterback Cam Newton immediately after he complained to the league -- and talked to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about -- officials not calling protecting him against illegal hits as they would some other QBs in the league.

If there is a game in which officials will look more carefully after Newton, this is it.

Fisher sees both sides of the argument.

"They're doing the best they can to officiate the game," Fisher said. "Cam's a great player, he's a physical player. I know he understands the difference between being hit in the pocket as a passer and pulling the ball down and running as a runner, because he does run the football quite a bit, I mean, he's a big man. When you go into a pile or go into the line of scrimmage on a called run, where the quarterback's purpose is to run the football, then there's going to be some contact.

"But those aren't the things, I don't think, Cam was complaining about. I think he overreacted to the low hit from (Cardinals defensive end) Calais (Campbell), which, I've heard different things, should have been called, should not have been called. Not that Calais did it on purpose, you just can't have people on the knees of any quarterback, for that matter. Calais found himself unblocked, stumbled and went in, so I can see Cam's frustration on that. Across the league, it happens all the time.

"The league's priority, from a safety standpoint, starts at the quarterback position. I've done a lot of work, through the (competition) committee over the years, protecting the quarterback -- there's going to be things that just aren't called. At the same time, there are hits on quarterbacks that are legal that are called fouls. The league's doing the best they can to protect them."

How that affects the Rams will be an interesting subplot to their first game back after a bye week.

--Whether he admits it or not, Rams quarterback Case Keenum understands the ominous shadow cast over him by rookie Jared Goff, the top overall pick in last April's draft and the future face of the franchise.

But until further notice -- and that can come at any time -- Keenum is the starting quarterback. Everything else is just noise he tries to keep out.

"It hasn't changed, nothing's changed. I'm playing this week and I'm taking it a week at a time," Keenum said. "That's what I've been doing. For me, I don't pay attention to anything outside this building. No offense to you (media) guys, and what you do, but I don't pay attention to all that.

"What matters to me is the opinions of the 53 guys in the locker room and the coaches in that room. I'm going to go out to do the best I can and prepare to put this team in the best possible situation to win games."

That said, Keenum understands he can't have more four-interception games such as the one he endured two weeks ago in a loss to the New York Giants.

And he has a plan to help make sure he avoids that kind of game.

"There's some plays down the field that I can check it down and live to see another day," Keenum said. "Being smart when to choose when to take those shots and when to be smart about those shots. We can't put ourselves in that situation, and when the defense is playing that well, we can't have that many turnovers and win a ballgame."

--Alec Ogletree is making a seamless transition from outside linebacker to the inside. The position switch isn't just a physical challenge but also a mental one, as he is in charge of calling the Rams' defensive plays after getting instructions from the sideline.

Ogletree is excelling in both areas.

"This is his first year as our starting 'Mike,' and he's taken it by the horns, and he's running with it," Fisher said. "He's running the show. He's the guy in the room right now. He came out with his football pants on today. This thing is important to him, and it's also important to him that everybody does everything right. From a leadership standpoint and an ability standpoint, I think he's off to a great start."