Three-game skid puts Rams in odd spot

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams didn’t win a game in November.

That puts a team that was regarded as a Super Bowl favorite coming into the month in the same company with New Orleans, which has been dealing with injuries at quarterback, and Detroit, which is in a total rebuild.

To be fair to the Lions, they at least managed a tie among their three games this month, while the Rams went 0-3 after losing 36-28 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

“We have guys that are way too good for us to be losing games like this and losing games in a row,” Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey said Sunday. “We just got to get it right. We got to play better. Everything has to be better, because we’re too good to be losing games like this. But we’re not playing like we’re that good right now.”

The fall is despite bringing in the likes of outside linebacker Von Miller and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is just the second three-game losing streak for Los Angeles since Sean McVay became head coach in 2017.

The Rams (7-4) dropped three straight in Weeks 4 to 6 of the 2019 season, McVay’s lone campaign that did not reach the postseason, but tight end Tyler Higbee said there is no panic.

“It’s about going back to work, find out what we need to do to fix it and attacking it that way,” Higbee said Monday. “Putting your head back down and going back to work, and see how we fix some of these mistakes that we’re making, and do what we need to do to get back in the win column.”

There are plenty of problems to choose from, be it the glut of turnovers from quarterback Matthew Stafford, including throwing a pick-6 for the third straight game, breakdowns in pass protection, an ineffective ground game or struggles stopping the run.

The Rams’ strong start gave them some margin for error to work through these issues, as they currently hold the first wild card in the NFC, and a home game against Jacksonville (2-9) this Sunday should be the perfect opportunity to get back on track.

McVay said it is important to find a balance between honestly assessing what is going wrong and keeping confidence up.

“You want to just continue to fight your way out of this rut, and we’re going to go right back to our process. We’re going to look inwardly. … And I think we’ve got the right kind of guys to be able to fight out of this thing the right way,” McVay said.

One of the most glaring concerns for the Rams has been ball security. Two lost fumbles and an interception led to 16 points for the Packers. Stafford has thrown five interceptions and lost a fumble over the three-game skid, accounting for nearly half of the Rams’ 14 total giveaways this season during the losing streak.

Stafford has also been sacked nine times in the past three games. He was dropped just seven times through his first eight games with the Rams.