Five Key Areas the Rams Must Improve

Which areas should the Rams make it a point of emphasis to improve during the bye week?

The Los Angeles Rams are 7-3 and hold the fifth seed in the NFC playoff picture, which means they'd be going on the road in the Wild Card round the way things shape up currently.

The Rams have dropped the last two games ahead of their bye week, meaning they have critical adjustments to be made for the back half of the regular season.

Here are five key areas the Rams must improve:

1. Run Defense

The Rams' run defense has been their Achilles heel in each of their blowout losses this season. The Cardinals ran for 216 yards in Week 4 and the 49ers ran for 156 yards last week. In both of these contests, the Rams' opposition rushed the ball 40 or more times and there wasn't much fight from the L.A. defensive front in stopping the ground attack. Cleaning up this part of the defense should be a priority over the bye week. Whether that means you bring down another safety into the box to help with run support or change personnel groupings to assist in this area, something needs to change, because the Rams' current configuration to stop the run isn’t working.

2. Interior Offensive Line

The Rams' offensive line played relatively clean over the first two months. Since then, struggles have begun to mount. Specifically, at the guard and center position. This was an area many had thought the Rams would address in the offseason, presumably drafting a replacement. In recent contests, the push from the interior has negatively impacted quarterback Matthew Stafford and his ability to step up in the pocket and distribute passes. An alternative? Go back to using more play-action. When using play-action, defensive lineman have to respect the run before they can get into their pass-rush, which in theory would help the offensive line. Also, on play-action passes, you can move the pocket accordingly. Moving the launch point can assist in pass protection, which has been a sizeable flaw the last two weeks.

3. Slow Offensive Starts

The Rams rank seventh in points per game through the first 10 weeks of the season, but their slow starts have been daunting until they get things jumpstarted. The Rams have scored more than three points in the first quarter of games just once over the last six weeks. This is an area that teams generally are at their best as the first 15-20 plays are scripted during practice throughout the week. The L.A. offense has plenty of firepower, which is why it's so puzzling to see such slow starts. In the cases of their three losses, the start in which they began the game really has set a tone for how things played out the rest of the way.

4. Clean Up The Turnovers

Stafford has thrown four interceptions over the last two games (one was off the hands of Tyler Higbee). To start the season, Stafford had supplanted himself atop the early-season MVP race. However, the miscues from Stafford have piled up in games against the Titans and 49ers. Taking care of the football is always rule No. 1 for coaches and I'm sure this will be a point of emphasis during the bye week to clean things up. In five of the last seven games, Stafford has thrown an interception.

5. Special Teams Deficiencies

The Rams have seen onside kicks recovered and fake punts converted this season. Those are plays in which the odds are against the opposing team but yet, they've been converted against the Rams at a high rate. Another special teams aspect that the Rams need more from is their kick and punt returners. Following kickoffs, the Rams are having to go the distance of the field more times than not. Their returners aren't providing the team with adequate field position, which is applying additional pressure to the offense. The Rams have gone through multiple return men due to injuries but this is a critical area to nail down. Look for Odell Beckham Jr. to presumably get a shot as the team's return man following the bye.

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Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick and Ram Digest on Twitter @NickCothrel & @RamDigestSI for more Rams coverage.