Rams close to turning the corner

Oct 19, 2017 - 12:34 AM THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams are stepping into uncharted territory relative to their recent past.

A strong start has pushed them to 4-2 for the first time in 11 years, and as they prepare to "host" the Arizona Cardinals in London on Sunday, the goal is to stay on that positive path in order to march toward their first winning season since 2003.

There are compelling reasons to believe they can do exactly that. What had been a strong defense the last two seasons is now beginning to round into form after making the adjustment from Gregg Williams' 4-3 defense to the 3-4 scheme new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips uses.

A spectacular special-teams unit that features Johnny Hekker, one of the best punters in the NFL, sure-footed kicker Greg Zuerlein and Pharoh Cooper, who leads the league in kickoff returns, is beginning to make a near weekly impact in the win column.

Last week against the Jaguars, special teams accounted for 14 points on Cooper's 103-yard kickoff return and Malcolm Brown running Cory Littleton's blocked punt eight yards for a touchdown.

And an offense that's struggled for the better part of a decade has shown signs it can be counted on with second-year quarterback Jared Goff, running back Todd Gurley II and a bevy of new receiving targets led by Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Sammy Watkins and young tight end Gerald Everett.

But for the Rams to take that next step, Goff and the offense need to find more consistency after struggling the last 10 quarters to put extended drives together and cross the opposing goal line.

That the Rams are 2-1 over those three games in question bodes well for them moving forward - they are showing signs of being able to compensate for struggles in one area by being strong in others - there is no doubt they need their offense to return to the form of the first three weeks when the Rams led the NFL with a 35.5 scoring average.

One obvious area the Rams can point to is being more efficient on third down, a situation that sabotaged the offense last Sunday with a 4-for-13 conversion rate.

More than anything, the Rams have to figure out a way to be more efficient in that area.

"It's huge because - that's what I was so surprised about is because, we were efficient early on, we were just poor on third downs," said Rams head coach Sean McVay. "And credit to them, they made the plays, but I think one of the things that we've done a good job of offensively throughout the year - we're one of the top teams in third down, because we get to those (third down and) two (yards to gain) to (third down and) five (yards to gain) and it's been a really high percentage that we're converting.

"We get stopped on the third-and-1 for two weeks in a row now on one of our first third downs of the game. You look at the third-and-1, Seattle stops us and that really hasn't been typical of what we've done. And then we end up having a drop on one of our better receivers who's got great aggressive hands on a third-and-2. We get stopped later on where they hold the ball and they shouldn't have when there wasn't a substitution, you're trying to get a 12-men-on-the-field penalty. So there was a lot of things where I thought, it does help you because the more plays you get, the more rhythm you can get in. What was tough is, there's still a very big valuable benefit in - you've got to convert on third downs to get those plays off, but I thought it helped. We had four conversions on third down which isn't nearly good enough when you've got 13 cracks at it, but all four of those were huge and came at critical times that all led to points for us."

Goff said it's also a matter of him being sharper than he was against the Jaguars. Although it's also a fine line not forcing the issue and turning the ball over, too.

"I think I made a couple bad decisions there and made a couple bad throws. For the most part, I was happy I didn't turn the ball over. I think against a good defense like that and a team that you know they are waiting for you to do that if anything," Goff said. "Their defense is so good and the fact that I was able to come out with no turnovers I was happy with and ultimately happy we got the win more than anything. Just try to manage the ball there and try to hold on to the ball as long as we could there at the end and the way the clock was running and the way we were blocking up front. I was able to finish that game for us."

SERIES HISTORY: 77th regular-season meeting. Cardinals lead series, 38-36-2. The Rams undoubtedly remember the last meeting as the Cardinals waltzed into the Coliseum last year and destroyed the Rams 44-6 on New Year's Day to end their dreadful 4-12 season.

--Wide receiver Sammy Watkins is still trying to get acclimated to the Rams' offense after coming over in a trade late in training camp, and he and Jared Goff still don't seem like they're on the same page all the time. Through five games, Watkins has 15 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but has been noticeably quiet over the last two weeks with just two catches for 28 yards.

Rams head coach Sean McVay says it's a team-wide situation and not exclusive to Watkins and Goff.

"It's the same thing we've talked about with the run game, it takes all 11, well so does the pass," McVay said. "It isn't exclusive to just the quarterback and receiver. You've got to protect, everybody's got to distribute the field accordingly. There's some opportunities that we've had to get the ball in Sammy's hands and unfortunately these last couple weeks we haven't capitalized on it. But, when we only have 11 completions, that's never going to be good enough to be able to try to play at the level offensively that we want.

"But again, we've kind of adjusted based on the way that the game flowed -- didn't throw it as many times as you've seen, but we're interested in trying to win games. There were some opportunities that, when you go back and you look at it, if everybody's executing, everybody's on the screws, we get some plays to him that maybe change the discussion that we're having. But that's why football is the greatest team sport there is, because there's some plays that the receiver and quarterback are always responsible for making, but it isn't exclusive to just those guys when it comes to the pass game."

--Quarterback Jared Goff has shown considerable improvement while completing 111 passes for 1,484 yards with eight touchdowns and only three interceptions. But as he showed Sunday against the Jaguars by throwing for just 124 yards on 11 completions, he still remains a work in progress.

"I think you just want to see consistency and playing each play as its own entity," Rams head coach Sean McVay said about Goff. "There were a couple times where he'll be the first to tell you on some of them - whether it be in our play-action game or some of the third downs, where he's got to make better decisions with the football, or go where the coverage dictates based on his progression. But again, what I will say is something that you can't coach and that's really impressive is, no matter what happens throughout the course of the game, he remains even keel. I thought that third down-and-6 where he hangs in there, great protection, gets it to (wide receiver Cooper) Kupp was one of his best plays of the game. Made a handful of good throws against a good defense, but then there was a lot of plays that we feel like, with the standards we have in terms of how we want to execute in the pass game -- that he can be better and that we all can be better on."

NOTES: OLB Mark Barron did not practice Wednesday with a thumb injury. ... S Cody Davis, did not practice Wednesday with a thigh injury. ... OLB Connor Barwin, C John Sullivan and LT Andrew Whitworth did not practice Wednesday for non-injury related reasons. ... S Lamarcus Joyner practiced Wednesday and is expected to start on Sunday after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Cooper) Kupp was one of his best plays of the game. Made a handful of good throws against a good defense, but then there was a lot of plays that we feel like, with the standards we have in terms of how we want to execute in the pass game -- that he can be better and that we all can be better on."

NOTES: OLB Mark Barron did not practice Wednesday with a thumb injury. ... S Cody Davis, did not practice Wednesday with a thigh injury. ... OLB Connor Barwin, C John Sullivan and LT Andrew Whitworth did not practice Wednesday for non-injury related reasons. ... S Lamarcus Joyner practiced Wednesday and is expected to start on Sunday after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury.