Dolphins vs. Rams preview: An insider look at LA’s turnaround, Kyren Williams, and 2024 expectations

The Miami Dolphins return to primetime tonight as they visit the Los Angeles Rams in a Week 10 Monday Night Football contest.

The Dolphins enter the game desperately in need of a win, reaching the mid-way point of the season with a 2-6 record and a fading chance of the postseason.

Can they spark a second-half run with a win over the Rams? Who are the Rams? Miami has not faced Los Angeles since 2020.

They are 12-2 all-time against the Rams and they have won the last five meetings, but the Rams of 2020 are not the Rams of 2024.

Who are these Rams? To get an idea, I turned to Turf Show Times , SB Nations Rams team site, and staff writer Evan Craig for a closer look.

You can check out my answers to Craigs questions on the Dolphins here .

The catalyst for the Rams turnaround this season has been simple and that is seeing its top offensive playmakers return from injury.

This comes while Matthew Stafford hasnt exactly played super well, despite him throwing 4 touchdowns against the Vikings to hand them their first loss and tossing the game-winning TD to Demarcus Robinson in overtime last week during the teams three-game winning streak.

Having Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back in the lineup is key for Stafford as theyre his security blankets in the offense.

Also, it helps that Kyren Williams picked up right where he left off in 2023, as the unit performs so much better with him around, as I will get to below.

Even with Kupp and Nacua back, Sean McVay will be sure to maintain balance on offense, so feeding Kyren Williams the ball will not be an issue.

Remember, Williams came out of nowhere last season once ex-running back Cam Akers proved he was not the answer.

Williams is the engine that keeps this offense going, not the passing game.

The offense saw what happened when he missed time last season and the entire unit suffered as a result.

McVay struggled to find balance with his star running back out of the lineup and it was part of the reason LA slumped to a 3-6 to begin the 23 campaign.

Once Williams returned, so did the balance and that was how they were able to turn it around so quickly.

Rams fans are also incredibly fortunate that even with the nagging injury bug plaguing the team, Kyren has (thankfully) stayed healthy through the first eight games.

The defensive rankings are slightly skewed due to the Rams having a 31-point loss to the Cardinals early in the year which jacked up all their stats.

Since then, the young unit led by first-year DC Chris Shula has begun to round into form.

In October, LA led the league in scoring defense, opponent third-down conversion rate, held offenses to 307 yards per game (seventh in the league) and allowed just 104 rushing yards a game (eighth).

They were spectacular last month, but all anyone can talk about when discussing this unit is how much they miss Aaron Donald.

The pass rush spearheaded by first-rounder Jared Verse is also proving itself very dangerous.

Heading into the year, the D-line was expected to be the Rams biggest weakness minus AD, yet it is quickly turning into one of its strengths.

While the defense has shown drastic improvement, the secondary is very iffy.

The team traded cornerback Tre White at the deadline and was already a tad thin at that spot.

Miami has the speed and playmakers to exploit LAs CBs, so I anticipate mismatches there.

I mentioned Demarcus Robinson earlier and hes been a solid contributor all season long.

Robinson is the forgotten man in the offense due to Kupps and Pukas presence, yet he is the teams second-leading receiver behind Tutu Atwell and leads LA with 5 touchdown receptions.

Sure, injuries to the Rams top two wideouts helped boost his numbers, but he comes up with a key play here and hes been a nice veteran addition to help out Stafford.

On defense, Ill go with last weeks game MVP, rookie safety Kamren Kinchens.

The former Miami star had a pair of interceptions in the red zone to change the tide of the game against Seattle, including a 103-yard pick-six.

His breakout game should boost his playing time in the lineup and its well-deserved as Kinchens was a proven playmaker and ballhawk going back to his college days.

The NFC West is such a strange division this season with everyone surprisingly off to similar records to start.

My expectations for the Rams are to capitalize on their hot streak much like last year and keep riding it for as long as possible.

Im unsure whether a playoff spot is actually in the cards for LA following their sluggish start.

Unlike last season, the conference appears to have several more teams vying for spots, particularly in the North.

Itll be a tough race and I can see only one team from the NFC West making it to the postseason.

The 49ers will likely take back the division as theyre getting somewhat healthier, so while a division title is probably unlikely to happen for the Rams, they can still make SFs lives miserable by putting the squeeze on them down the stretch..

This article has been shared from the original article on thephinsider, here is the link to the original article.