Thursday Night Football is back. After a week off due to the delay of the Cowboys-Ravens game, we've got an interesting battle on tap in Week 14. The 8-4 , fresh off a big victory over the division rival and still in po se sion of the top spot in the NFC West, are set to host the , who at 6-6 are suddenly back on the fringes of the playoff race.In any Patriots-Rams game, we get the pleasure of being treated to some of the best coaching matchups in football. On one side of the ball, it's Bill Belichick against Sean McVay. On the other, it's Josh McDaniels against Brandon Staley, who is having a fantastic debut season as the Rams' defensive coordinator.In the interest of not delaying things too much, let's break things down.How to watchDate:Thursday, Dec. 10|Time:8:20 p.m. ETLocation:SoFI Stadium (Inglewood, CA)TV:FOX/NFL|Stream:fuboTV()Follow:When the Patriots have the ballThere's not much to this Patriots offense right now. There's a power running component based around (and , now that he's back from his latest injury) and a zone-read-based running component based around Cam Newton ... and that's about it. The pa sing game is completely off the rails, with Newton completing 21 of 37 pa ses for 153 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and four sacks in the last two weeks combined. And that was against the Cardinals and defenses, each of which is far inferior to the one the Pats are about to face on Thursday night.TeamCardinalsChargersRamsYds/Play11th14th1stYds/Gm1892Pts/Drive17222Pts/Game14275Score %17243TO %22287Pa s DVOA12294Run DVOA14299Total DVOA12265Given the deterioration of the pa sing attack and the Patriots' lack of high-level perimeter receiving Steve Spurrier Jersey weapons, the role plays in this defensive game-plan will be an interesting thing to watch out for. The Rams have been moving Ramsey around the formation a bit more often this year than in years past, and if, say, were healthy, we might see Ramsey track him all over the formation, even into the slot. Might he do the same with ? Does Meyers merit that treatment, or are the Rams better off using Ramsey as a che s piece and letting or one of the other DBs take a shot at Meyers every so often?And can the Patriots find a way to involve any non-Meyers pa s-catcher in their attack? , last week's touchdown aside, has scarcely done anything since early in the season. went off against the a few weeks ago but hasn't done much else. might be the team's next most dangerous pa s-catcher after Meyers, but A. he's a running back; and B. he hasn't shown the same dynamism this season as in years past. White hasn't topped 65 yards receiving in any game Jake Tonges Jersey this season, and only 13 of his 37 catches (35 percent vs. a career average of 46 percent prior to this year) have resulted in first downs.The Rams have the league's ninth-best rush defense DVOA, but they actually rank just 19th in Adjusted Line Yards allowed per carry, per Football Outsiders. That indicates that when offenses are in position where they can run (i.e. if they're in the lead or the game is close), they can actually find some succe s. It's just that the Rams have more often than not been able to put teams in disadvantageous positions because their defense has performed so well overall. (It helps that the Rams are practically begging teams to run the ball by aligning with light boxes, then coming down and stopping the run pretty well anyway.)It also helps that they have game-wreckers along the defensive front. remains the best defensive player in football, an absolute menace who can beat offensive linemen with power or speed, inside or outside, from the interior or on the edge. would get a lot Jake Moody Jersey more recognition if he didn't play on the same defensive line as Donald, and he, too, is capable of wrecking things for an offense. The Rams don't have as high-quality edge pre sure as other top defenses, but they make up for it by confusing offensive lines and quarterbacks with how versatile they can be up front.It will presumably be tough sledding, but if the Pats can manage to win the battle between their offensive line and the Rams' guys up front, that's likely their best chance to win the game. A heavy dose of Harris up the middle and Newton on the perimeter is the recipe they need.When the Rams have the ballThe last time these two teams played, Bill Belichick and company thoroughly dominated Sean McVay. Using a game-plan adopted nearly wholesale from the by former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia (then the coach of the ) and later utilized by Vic Fangio (then the ' defensive coordinator), the Patriots completely shut down the Rams' wide zone running game (18 carries for 62 yards), which in turn undermined LA's play-action-based pa sing attack. finished 19 of 38 for 239 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and was sacked four times as the Rams finished the game with just three points.It took the Rams the better part of the next season to figure out the best ways to attack that style of defense, but they have found some counters that work. Changing personnel groupings, formations, alignments, and occasionally blocking schemes has allowed them to find some degree of succe s against those 6-1 fronts that gave them so much trouble in 2018 and the first half of 2019. But one strategy being somewhat neutralized doesn't mean that all hope of stopping this offense is lost. In fact, you only have to look to what another former Patriots a sistant ( coach Brian Flores) to get some new ideas.For example:The Dolphins sent a blitz after Jared Goff on 51 percent of his shotgun snaps, a rate that far exceeds their normal blitz share. Why'd they do that? Well, because the Rams pa s the ball 89 percent of the time they're in shotgun, per PFF and Tru Media. The Dolphins knew that when the Rams went to the gun, it was almost certain to be a pa s. So they sent large numbers after the quarterback and forced him to make quick decisions. It did not go well for L.A.Goff is not an anticipation thrower. More often than not he needs to see the man pop open before getting rid of the ball. So, making him work quickly on plays not nece sarily designed to get the ball out that quickly is always a pretty good strategy. Getting pre sure on him at all is always the best way to muck up any hope of the Rams' succe s. Of the 45 quarterbacks with at least 500 dropbacks since 2016, Goff's 60.8 pa ser rating under pre sure ranks 35th, per PFF and Tru Media. Adrian Amos Jersey The operative question is le s whether or not Belichick will have a new plan of attack designed to throw McVay (and Goff) off his game than whether the pre-planned counters McVay presumably has in store will actually neutralize whatever Belichick's plan is. Last time around, the Pats forced the Rams to fight left-handed, and they simply couldn't do it, so they lost. If the Rams are not only prepared to fight left-handed but actively planning to do so, that changes the dynamic quite a bit. One would hope they've learned a lot since the last meeting, and will have a better game-plan this time around.Still, executing it might be more difficult than it would appear at first glance. The Patriots have allowed only one of their last four opponents to top 17 points, and they just shut out and the Chargers. Their pa s rush comes and goes, but in and J.C. Jackson, they have two of the very best corners in the league, and players who are extremely well-suited to covering (Gilmore) and (Jackson and/or , both of whom were listed as questionable for the game).One thing to watch out for will be how the Patriots react to all the "fluff" that is baked into the Rams' offense. LA sends guys in motion more than almost any other team, and uses a ton of misdirection action designed to occupy defenders so they don't have to be blocked. The Patriots flat-out ignored all that stuff in the Super Bowl, and the Dolphins did the same when they demolished the Rams a few weeks back. Will they continue to let that stuff go by and focus on getting either the running back or the quarterback? And if so, are Keena Turner Jersey the Rams willing to make jet sweeps a much bigger part of their run game than usual?With coaches this smart, the tactical battles on the sideline and almost superior to the ones on the field. I can't wait.Prediction: Rams 23, Patriots 17