If you’re looking for a reason why the Rams extended head coach Jeff Fisher’s contract, you wouldn’t have found it during the first 30 minutes of Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
New England scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game when LeGarrette Blount went 43 yards for a score on fourth down, they turned an interception into another touchdown on a short field and their defense shut down the Rams for the entire half. The score is 17-0 in their favor as a result.
The interception was by cornerback Malcolm Butler on a pass from Jared Goff that tight end Lance Kendricks should have caught. That’s been the case on several incompletions for Goff, who is 4-of-11 for 27 yards overall, and the Patriots have confused the rookie with some blitzes that neither he nor the offensive line seemed to expect. Cornerback Logan Ryan had the only sack, but the 25 total yards for the Rams speaks to how little Los Angeles has going for it when the ball is in their possession.
Blount has run 11 times for 70 yards and Tom Brady completed 17-of-22 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown to Chris Hogan that extended the New England lead in the second quarter of the game. It hasn’t been the most explosive effort outside of Blount’s touchdown, but nearly 22 minutes with the ball speaks to how well the Patriots offense has fared without tight end Rob Gronkowski so far this Sunday.