Matthew Stafford, Rams look to get back to .500 in visit to rebuilding Patriots

Los Angeles Rams (4-5) at New England (3-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX

BetMGM NFL odds: Rams by 5.

Against the spread: Rams 3-6; Patriots 4-5-1.

Series record: Patriots lead 9-6.

Last meeting: Rams beat Patriots 24-3 in Inglewood, Calif. on Dec. 10, 2020.

Last week: Rams lost to Miami 23-15; Patriots beat Chicago 19-3.

Rams offense: overall (17), rush (26), pass (8), scoring (20).

Rams defense: overall (22), rush (19), pass (22), scoring (22).

Patriots offense: overall (32), rush (22), pass (32), scoring (31).

Patriots defense: overall (19), rush (23), pass (16), scoring (T-13).

Turnover differential: Rams plus-2; Patriots minus-4.

Rams player to watch

OLB Byron Young has a sack in three straight games for the first time as an NFL player. Young finished with four tackles, two tackles for loss, two hurries, and one takedown of Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa. The pairing of Young, who is in his second season, and rookie Jared Verse is quickly emerging as one of the more dangerous pass rush combinations in the game.

Patriots player to watch

QB Drake Maye is averaging 9.3 yards per rush with 233 yards on 25 attempts. The highest single-season rushing average for an NFL quarterback is 8.5 by Michael Vick in 2006 (123 attempts for 1,039 yards with Atlanta).

Key matchup

Rams offensive line vs. Patriots defensive line. The Patriots are coming off a nine-sack performance in last week’s win at Chicago, in which the defensive front seven accounted for seven sacks. It will look to attack a Los Angeles offensive line that has been dealing with injury issues.

Key injuries

The Rams will be hoping RT Rob Havenstein can return after sitting out against the Dolphins because of an ankle injury. Joe Noteboom, who started in his absence and struggled badly, is also dealing with an ankle injury. Warren McClendon Jr. would be in line to play if Havenstein and Noteboom cannot. … Patriots DE Deatrich Wise, who had two sacks last week, is dealing with a foot issue. S Kyle Dugger started the week limited with an ankle injury that has kept him out the past three games.

Series notes

The Rams ended a six-game losing streak to the Patriots when the teams last met during the 2020 pandemic season. … New England holds a 2-0 record in the postseason, emerging triumphant in the Super Bowl following the 2001 and 2018 seasons.

Stats and stuff

The Rams failed to score a touchdown in three possessions into the red zone in the loss to the Dolphins. They are now 6 for 18 (33.3%) in their five losses, which is all the more frustrating because four of those defeats have been one-possession outcomes. … TE Davis Allen had five receptions for 34 yards, both season highs, having seemingly supplanted Colby Parkinson as the top option at the position. Allen had been targeted five times and made one catch for 5 yards in five previous games. … Verse has five tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks over his past three games. He had his first career strip-sack against Tagovailoa. … Los Angeles is allowing 5.7 yards per play, which is on pace to be its worst defense since 2018 (6.0). … Matthew Stafford is tied with Eli Manning (366) for the 10th-most touchdown passes. … The Rams had held five straight opponents under 33.3% on third down, but the Dolphins were able to convert at 46.2% efficiency (6 of 13). That included giving up a third-and-6 late in the fourth quarter on a drive where Miami kicked a field goal to go up by two scores. … The Patriots are 2-0 against the Rams in Gillette Stadium. … TE Hunter Henry leads the team with 40 catches for 428 yards. … Wise has five sacks this season and needs 2 1/2 to tie his career high of 7 1/2 that he set in 2022. … CB Marcus Jones is first in the NFL with a 15.6-yard punt return average. The previous Patriots player to lead the NFL in punt return average was Gunner Olszewski in 2020 with a 17.3-yard average. … LB Christian Elliss has a team-leading eight special teams tackles. If he reaches 10, it will mark the seventh consecutive season that the Patriots have had a player reach at least 10 special teams tackles. … ST/S Brendan Schooler has seven special teams tackles. With three more, he will have reached 10 in each of his first three NFL seasons. He is also coming off getting his first career sack last week vs. Chicago.

Fantasy tip

Maye, along with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, are the only two quarterbacks this season with a run of at least 15 yards in four consecutive starts. Chances of that streak continuing for Maye look decent against a Rams defense that is allowing 127.6 rushing yards per game thus far.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL