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NFL St Louis Rams

Defensive Front Is Key To St. Louis Rams Win Over Oakland Raiders

By @RoKnowsDFS

st. louis rams defense

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The last time that the St. Louis Rams squared off against the Oakland Raiders was 2010, when the Raiders won 16-14 in a close battle. This was back when Steven Jackson was still a premier RB in the NFL and Sam Bradford was on his way to winning the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Times have definitely changed since then. The Rams’ QB situation is now full of uncertainty regarding the future, and their defense has undergone vast improvements. The unit will ultimately be the key to avenging the team’s last loss to the Raiders.

Some may argue that an offensive player like Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Jared Cook or Stedman Bailey would be the key to victory in this game. However, QB Shaun Hill spreads the ball around, and it’s a pure guessing game as to which receiver will be the statistical leader. As a matter of fact, the Rams have not had a back-t0-back weekly receiving leader this season, so there’s really no reason to think that trend will cease this Sunday.

On the other side of the ball, St. Louis’ defense has picked up its play in a major way lately. This includes holding Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos‘ super-explosive offense to a season-low seven points. The Rams’ defense has improved so much that their Pro Football Focus grades that used to be all negative now boast a 12.1 grade in run defense and 7.8 grade in pass rushing.

The improved defense will need to play a major role against rookie QB Derek Carr since he has played fairly well this year and has taken care of the ball better than most rookies. Currently, he’s only been sacked 12 times and has been responsible for 11 turnovers. He’s not the easiest QB to exploit, but it can still be accomplished, especially when the Raiders’ pass blocking grade is -10.3. This gives the Rams a big advantage when it comes to disrupting Carr’s ability to make the proper reads on pass plays.

If the Raiders intend to try and run the ball to hopefully open things up for Carr, they should deploy a different plan since their run blocking grade is ranked 30th in the league with an awful -45.9. Once again, Oakland’s deficiencies at blocking plays right into the hands of the strength of the St. Louis defense.

This is meant as no disrespect to the Rams’ offense, but Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce in their prime won’t be walking through their tunnel on Sunday. The offense is at best decent with lots of potential two or three years from now, so if the Rams intend to beat the Raiders this Sunday, it will be up to their defensive front to constantly create three-and-out situations and give their inconsistent offense as many chances as possible to score.

Roje Smith is a Fantasy Sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoKnowsDFS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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