It's Miller time! Week 9 brings quarterback Ryan Tannehill and a question mark of an offense to Inglewood as the Titans take on the Rams under the primetime lights on Sunday Night Football.
The Rams defense surely understands the seriousness of losing an offense-altering player of Henry's caliber and replacing him with a sure-fire Hall of Famer in Peterson. Now with this understanding, Rams Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris has a new toy to play with in Super Bowl 50 MVP linebacker in Von Miller. The huge news broke early this week before the trade deadline that the Rams bolstered the linebacker position with the addition of Miller. The linebacker went to sleep 4-4 and woke up 7-1, and you can tell he is loving it. Von was sent to L.A. with the price tag of a 2nd and 3rd round pick sent to the Denver Broncos and defensive tackle Aaron Donald hasn't been seen without an ear to ear smile since. He acknowledges what Von can do for this defense from here and beyond. It'll surely be a sight to behold as Miller runs out of the tunnel in Inglewood on Sunday Night.
This game and storyline is a stage that SoFi Stadium was built for. It's an interconference game between two franchises that once competed in Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIV. A game that has gone down as the Rams one and only Super Bowl win. Titans' All-Pro running back Eddie George played in that Super Bowl and that's the glaring difference between then and now. The Titans' All-Universe running back Derrick Henry will be out for this game to begin his 6-10 week stint on the injured reserve due to a foot injury. It's a blow to the NFL as a brand to have such a talent like Henry out, let alone the Tennessee Titans. In Henry's spot will be veteran back and 2010 NFL All-Decade Team player Adrian Peterson, who was a free agent just a week ago.
Miller's first job as a Ram will be to stifle an Adrian Peterson run attack and make life uncomfortable for Tannehill as he seeks lifelines in his star receivers in A.J. Brown and Julio Jones. Brown and Jones prove to be a huge test week in and week out but cornerback Jalen Ramsey will look to lurk on both receivers as he continues his slot corner usage that has him on traveling to both sides of the field constantly. Los Angeles' second corner Darious Williams is also set to return from IR after healing up a sprained ankle suffered against the Seahawks in week 5. His return is noteworthy as him simply being on the field is added support in defending the passing game. Another notable loss on the Rams defensive side of the ball is starting nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day being sent to the IR to take on surgery for an injured pectoral muscle. SJD has three sacks and 38 total tackles on the season.
Ryan Tannehill's success is reliant on a solid running game. Tannehill's recent success in Tennessee is really all owed to Henry's success in breaking off big run plays. Henry goes down as the league's leading rusher and yet Tannehill is still having a rather pedestrian 2021 at the halfway point. His stat-line: 2002 yards and 10 touchdowns with an accompanying 7 interceptions. Look for the QB to make plays with his legs as he known to do. This will be a 60 minute grueling battle for this Titans offense and I don't envision it working out too well as Titans running backs not named Derrick Henry have 49 yards total on the season.
On the other side of the ball is Rams QB Matthew Stafford, who has been a revelation for this offense since his first snap taken. Staff is putting up frontrunning MVP-like numbers with 22 touchdown passes against just 4 interceptions. Stafford also can make this his first career win against the Titans as he is 0-3 going into this matchup.
This well-oiled machine of an offense is beating defenses every way you can think of. The main way is by way of Cooper Kupp. Kupp continues to dominate as he is having an Offensive Player of the Year so far. Kupp's last two months have been ridiculously productive and he has 63 receptions for 924 yards and 10 touchdowns to show for it. As well as 14.7 yards per catch. Coop has more yards than Titans receivers Brown and Jones combined. He's a production god and look for his success to be continued as the Rams win this game 34-21 to usher in the Von Miller era and start a vicious slate of opponents into the November and December months.
| Tennessee Titans 2021 Leaders | |
| Ryan Tannehill | 172/262, 2002 yds, 10 TDs |
|---|---|
| A.J. Brown | 35 rec, 509 yds, 3 TDs |
| Derrick Henry | 219 rush, 937 yds, 10 TDs |
| Los Angeles Rams 2021 Leaders | |
| Matthew Stafford | 188/273, 2477 yds, 22 TDs |
| Cooper Kupp | 63 rec, 924 yds, 10 TDs |
| Darrell Henderson | 110 rush, 507 yds, 5 TDs |
| Full 2021 Leaders | |
Thank you for this!! I was already hyped for Von, but now even more stoked to watch him and AD work alongside each other. What happened to Williams to put him on IR?
ReplyDeleteAlso cant wait to see fratthew mattford get his first win against this team w the help of da opom. Capitalize God when ya talkin about him tbh.
8-1 bby lfg
Williams suffered an ankle injury against the Seahawks in week 5. I updated that info in regards to his injury. Thank you so much for reading!
Delete