Overview
This game was supposed to feature Super Bowl Contenders; instead, the 3-7 Rams are making an appearance and will be without their starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is dinged up and in concussion protocol, again.
The NFL world was salivating over this matchup when the schedules were released. Potential Super Bowl combatants likely fighting for the top spot in their respective divisions.
Sadly, the Rams followed their Super Bowl victory with an-all time stinker at 3-7 straight up. The Chiefs, meanwhile, are 8-2 and lead the AFC West as we head deeper into the second half of the season.
These teams haven’t met in quite some time, but their last showdown was epic. During the Monday Night Football broadcast on November 19, 2018, the Chiefs and Rams played one of the most exciting games in MNF history.
It featured six lead changes, four in the fourth quarter alone, with a final of 54-51 in favor of the Rams. KC became the first team in NFL history to score 50 points and lose.
Rams Continue To Disappoint
First to worst is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the Los Angeles Rams.
They put together a historic run to the Super Bowl in 2021, with Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr. chewing up defenses along the way. But they are in the middle of one of the worst Super Bowl hangovers we’ve seen.
The Rams’ offense has been the main culprit of their current 3-7 record. After blowing teams out left and right in 2021, the current Rams’ offense ranks 29th in scoring and dead last in yards per play.
LA enters Week 12 on a four-game losing streak and 1-6 in the last seven weeks.
Things got so bad in Week 12 that Andy Dalton looked like a young Drew Brees for the Saints on Sunday.
The Rams let Big Red go 21-for-25 with 260 yards and three touchdowns. We’d say it was vintage Dalton, but he was never that good. The Rams, it would appear, are just that bad.
Backup QB Taysom Hill ran for 52 yards while the Saints’ average offense tore up the defending champs.
Meanwhile, Stafford had 159 yards passing, and Cam Akers ran 14 times for a mere 61 yards. It was the third game in a row that Stafford failed to go over 200 yards passing. LA lost all three of those games.
It might not matter, however, as Stafford was knocked out of Sunday’s game after a brutal sack for loss.
He was replaced by Bryce Perkins, who went 5-for-10 with 64 yards and added 34 yards on the ground. Backup QB John Wolford was inactive and remains questionable for Week 12.
With Cooper Kupp likely out for the season, it’s hard to expect the Rams to turn things around all of a sudden.
Chiefs Surging Towards the Playoffs
Unlike the Rams, the 2022 Chiefs are as good as advertised and enter on a four-game winning streak and 6 wins in their last 7 games.
In that span, the Chiefs have beaten fellow Super Bowl hopefuls the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs also have wins against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals and two against the LA Chargers.
In their latest victory, The Chiefs came from behind against the Chargers to win 30-27 in Week 11.
The Chiefs went down 20-13 before halftime and had a lot to think about on that walk to the locker room. Whatever they discussed there worked, and they outscored LA 17-7 in the second half.
The combination of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce came through in the clutch – again. The pair combined for 115 yards and three touchdowns. RB Isiah Pacheco chipped in 107 yards, but Kelce was the only touchdown scorer for KC.
Thanks to Mahomes’ reliance on his tight end, Kelce leads the NFL with 11 touchdown catches, Overall, he has 855 yards and 69 catches.
Mahomes, meanwhile, leads the league in passing yards (3,265), and touchdowns (28) and ranks 2nd in QBR (78.4) in what is an MVP season in the making.
Rams vs Chiefs Prediction
Sadly, it’s unlikely that the Rams and Chiefs play another “all-time great” game when they meet up on Sunday.
The Rams were a mess before the loss of Kupp and Stafford; now they are an offense without threats. This should be an easy straight-up win for the Chiefs as they head into Week 13 at 9-2.
