Karen Williams’ fluorescent green cleats could be seen from space.
But it was the feet inside those shoes that set the tone on Sunday. Rams win 19-9 Over the New York Jets.
In this final stretch before the NFL playoffs, when the weather turns as bitter as it did at MetLife Stadium, it’s important for teams to be able to run the football. Williams did it for him. The rams122 yards in 23 carries at a solid average of 5.3 yards a pop.
“It’s a security blanket,” Rams right tackle Rob Hevinstein said. “There are a lot of good rush fronts out there in the league, but to be able to run the ball and dictate how we want to play the offense because we can run the ball, that’s something that just It doesn’t show up in the game. It’s something we work hard on during the week.
The numbers weren’t splashy. Highlights were few and far between. But for the Rams, traveling across the country for a 10 a.m. body-clock kickoff, with temperatures in the teens, this workmanlike win was a resounding statement: This team is capable of doing some damage in the playoffs.
23 carries is a full plate — the Rams had just 50 offensive plays — but it was fewer than Williams’ previous two games, when he had 29 and 29.
Read more: Tyler Higbee is the hero in the Rams’ win over the Jets in their first game since January.
“Not exactly 29,” coach Sean McVay said, “so he’s fresh.”
As fresh as the opportunities presented to the team. With the Rams’ win at Carolina, and Arizona’s loss, the once-surging Cardinals are out of the playoff picture. They play the Rams at Couch Stadium on Saturday night, and are projected to be less strong with running back James Connor dealing with an apparent knee injury that sidelined him for the second half on Sunday.
So the NFC West race comes down to the Rams and Seattle, who play in the season finale in Los Angeles. Having already won in Seattle, the Rams have the upper hand at this point.
Meanwhile, the Jets are a mess, not news to the thousands of angry fans pouring out of MetLife in the second half.
They have fired their coach and general manager, and appear to have turned the decision-making over to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had five fourth downs against the Rams.
According to ESPN, the Jets are the first team in 25 years to not punt in a game and still be held to fewer than 10 points.
What’s more, every one of their offensive linemen was flagged for a penalty, and six of them were because the Jets had to replace their injured left tackle. Dutifully, full-in Max Mitchell checked the box with a false start just before the two-minute warning.
And to think the game started with such promise for the home team, the Jets put together their first 99-yard scoring drive in eight years on their opening possession.
The Rams then tightened the screws and surrendered just one field goal. That’s not to say it was a primitive defensive performance, though, as it still needs to improve to increase its chances of surviving the postseason.
In many respects, it was a strange game that — thanks to all the running — moved with the speed of time-lapse photography. The Rams were already in the fourth quarter while some teams were still waiting for the second half to start.
The game went so quickly, in fact, that the NFL had to pump the brakes with commercials. The league doesn’t like commercial kickoffs going to commercial, yet the Rams had to do it three times to fill the three-hour window.
The Jets had the ball for the final 6 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half, then — because they received the kickoff to start the second half — held it for the first 10 minutes of the third quarter.
“I was like, ‘I haven’t played football in 30 minutes,'” Hevinstein said. “It wasn’t a game to get out there. You’re not going to get hot anytime soon.”
It was definitely felt by the visitors.
“We were cornered against that heater on the sideline, that’s all you can do,” Rams guard Kevin Dotson said. “We’re not used to it. It was like 12 degrees, 13, and it seemed like it was getting even colder at the end. I’m from Louisiana, so I’m skinny. That cold is different.
“As an offensive lineman they tell you, ‘Don’t wear a sleeve.’ I have to wear a sleeve. If I don’t wear a sleeve, I’m not going to be the same person and I just get hard enough where they can’t say, ‘Oh, that’s soft.’
The strong performance on the ground was a testament not only to Williams, but also to a strong Rams offensive line that has recently been assembled with the goal of getting healthy (enough) to work in lockstep with the starters. .
As for those bright green shoes Williams was wearing? They were the Nike Vapor Edge Kobe “Grinch” cleats, a tribute to one of his all-time favorite athletes.
The Grinch makes sense. For the Jets, it undoubtedly ruined Christmas.
This story was originally published by Los Angeles Times.
