The Los Angeles Rams (11-5) will host the Atlanta Falcons (10-6) on Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the second NFL Wild Card game of the day.
The Rams possess the number one scoring offense as they led the league with 29.9 points per game this season. There is a historical advantage that appears to go along with that as the last eight teams that led the league in scoring made it to the divisional round or further in the playoffs.
The Rams, winners of the NFC West, will be hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2003 and it will mark the first playoff game for them in Los Angeles since 1985.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff will be facing the Falcons for just the second time in his career as he played against them last season and the result was not good as the whole team was struggling under former coach Jeff Fisher. In that outing, he passed for 262 yards, no touchdowns and was picked twice.
For the Falcons to win they will have to find a way to take away the Rams most valuable weapon and in this case, that is none other than running back Todd Gurley.
The Falcons linebackers will have a rough day going against a running back that led the league with 13 rushing touchdowns and ranked second in rushing yards with 1,305 and rushing yards per game with an average of 4.2.
The Rams defense, anchored by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, will also have a tough challenge dealing with quarterback Matt Ryan and his two big, physical receivers in Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu; as well with the talented Taylor Gabriel in the slot.
The difference makers for the Falcons in this game though may be running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who combined for 1,493 rushing yards this season. The Falcons will try to run early and run often to exploit the advantage of playing against the Rams 28th ranked defense against the run.
That may be enough for the Falcons to pull the upset as they have the more experienced quarterback, the better receivers, a solid defense and are playing a Rams team that has failed to be dominant at home; where they stumbled to a 4-4 record thanks to wins over teams that lacked at least capable quarterbacks.
