Pressure Mahomes
The most important thing the Rams must do to win this game is applied pressure on Patrick Mahomes. For any quarterback, especially young ones, they hate when guys are always in their face.
The Chiefs have done an excellent job in protecting their prized possession in Mahomes. They’ve allowed just 17 sacks this season, which is the 5th least in the NFL.
Another four-touchdown game by the @Chiefs signal-caller.@PatrickMahomes5's Week 8 highlights! #DENvsKC #ChiefsKingdom https://t.co/lm979WDN0S
— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2018
These are the types of plays he’ll make when he is given time in the pocket to survey the field.
In Week 10 though, they showed their offensive line could take advantage of, allowing five sacks against the Cardinals. The Rams have a more dominant pass rush than the Cardinals.
With Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and now Dante Fowler, the Rams possess arguably the most dangerous pass rush in the NFL.
Through 10 games, the Rams have 26 sacks (10th most in the NFL), with 12.5 of those coming from Donald alone. Donald is showing the world why he is the most dominant defensive player in the league.
This Chiefs offense is more dangerous when they have time to let things develop. The Rams will need to make the Chiefs make decisions quicker, forcing Mahomes into uncomfortable situations.
This season, on average, Mahomes has 2.85 seconds to throw (8th most time in NFL). Donald and company will need to ruin the Chiefs plans of giving Mahomes plenty of time to throw.
If the Rams hope to conquer the Chiefs, they must continue dominating up front and get to Mahomes as often as possible.