How the Rams can beat the Bengals in Super Bowl…
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(Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
This has been the biggest matchup question all week: Will Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris have Jalen Ramsey do what he usually does — play a number of positions without following a specific receiver around the field — or will he put Ramsey on Ja’Marr Chase from the word “go” and see how it works out?
Ramsey, never one to shy away from a challenge, would love for it to happen.
“It’s me now, it’s me, keep it real,” Ramsey told Michael Irvin of the NFL Network this week. “Of course, that’s what I’m asking for. That’s what I want. Whoever you think their best man is, put me on him. Let me help the team win this game. That’s what it’s all about. There are different areas where we might have to do something different because it might put the team in a better position to win. So, wherever the game may take us, it will take us and we are going to do what we’ve got to do from there. But you’re going to get to see that matchup, you’re going to have the opportunity to see it, and I’m going to be ready for it.”
It would be the smartest possible way to go for the Rams. Another way would be to have Ramsey line up against Tee Higgins, the Bengals’ No. 2 receiver, and bracket Chase, their No. 1 guy, with two other defenders. There are a couple problems with that. Ramsey is by far the team’s best outside cornerback, and even if you put more than one guy on Chase, when it’s time for Joe Burrow to hit Chase on a deep boundary fade, it really doesn’t matter. And if you blitz to Chase’s side, leaving Burrow one-on-one with a cornerback who can’t handle it, these things will happen.
What the Rams need in this game is what cornerback L’Jarius Sneed gave them on this interception in the AFC Championship game — a cornerback who can mirror and match Chase all over the field from a press alignment, and get the ball when it comes his way.
Ramsey has the size, speed, and match ability to go with Chase all over the field as few other cornerbacks do, and the Rams should avail themselves of that as much as they possibly can.
