The Los Angeles Rams take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6 following 10 days of rest and a disappointing loss to the San Francisco 49ers. After 10 days, we’ll finally get to see how this Rams team responds to that adversity. This game has gotten easier than it seemed at the beginning of the season with the Ravens sitting at 1-4. At the same time, the Rams tend to like to make things more interesting than they need to be. Following their mini-bye, the question will be whether the Rams have learned
from their past mistakes and can begin to rattle off some wins. Here are this week’s keys to victory.
Contain Derrick Henry
Over the past month, the Los Angeles Rams have played quite the gauntlet of running backs. They’ve faced Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, and Christian McCaffrey all in succession. Barkley’s 27.8 percent success rate against the Rams is his lowest of the season. Taylor’s success rate of 35.3 percent against the Rams was also his lowest of the season. McCaffrey had a season-low of 2.6 yards per carry against the Rams defense. Now, the Rams will take on Derrick Henry.
Following a season in which Henry nearly had 2,000 yards rushing, the Ravens’ running back is having a down season. He’s averaged less than two yards per carry in two of the Ravens’ six games. Henry has been contacted behind the line of scrimmage at the 4th-highest rate among running backs. Additionally, he’s rushed for 50 or fewer yards in each of his last four games. That’s the longest such drought in his career. It feels as if Henry may be due for a big game, but the Rams need to ensure that it doesn’t come against them.
Attack Ravens Cornerbacks
If there has been one way to exploit the Ravens defense this season, it has been at cornerback and in the secondary. As a defense, the Ravens are allowing the fifth-most EPA per pass and ninth-most yards per pass. This is a defense that isn’t getting pressure on the quarterback. Last week, CJ Stroud had his best game of the season, throwing for 244 yards and four touchdowns against the Ravens defense. Marlon Humphrey and Jaire Alexander have allowed a combined 20 receptions for 332 yards and two touchdowns while only recording a single pass defended.
The good news for the Rams is that Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP-level. It’s very possible that he could be in for another big game. While the Rams typically struggle against man coverage, they’ve done well against it in 2025. The Ravens have used man coverage on 38.9 percent of opponent dropbacks which is the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. Against man coverage, Stafford is 40-59 for 501 yards with 6 TDs and 0 INTs with a 127.9 passer rating. The addition of Davante Adams has helped with that as he has 124 yards receiving against man coverage. However, Nacua has improved in this area as well. his 4.19 yards per route against man ranks second in the NFL.
Don’t play passive on defense
Against Mac Jones and the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams defense played the most passive that it has this season. It was as if they had underrated Jones and the 49ers offense and expected a Shanahan offense to simply not take what was available. The Rams defense can’t make the same mistake in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens.
It is likely that the Ravens will be without Lamar Jackson as he manages a hamstring injury. That will leave them with Cooper Rush at quarterback. While Jones is a much better quarterback than Rush and Shanahan a better offensive mind than Todd Monken, they still can’t be underrated. The Rams need to come out with an aggressive game plan and play at the level that they’re capable of for 60 minutes. Rush is a quarterback who can be forced into mistakes, and the Rams need to capitalize on them.
Tackle in the Secondary and Avoid Explosives
Last week, the Rams secondary had 12 missed tackles, led by Jaylen McCollough with four. Emmanuel Forbes had a missed tackle as did Kam Kinchens and Kam Curl. Since Week 3, Forbes has the third-highest missed tackle rate at 42.9 percent. The Ravens will likely try to test Forbes and the Rams defensive backs when it comes to tackling Henry. Additionally, Zay Flowers has the sixth-most yards after the catch this season.
This is a Ravens offense that thrives on creating explosive plays. With Rush under center against the Texans, the Ravens offense created just three explosive plays which was their second-fewest in a game going back to 2016. In Weeks 1-4, they were creating an explosive play at a rate of 20.5 percent which led the NFL. The Rams can’t allow Henry to break off big runs or Flowers to get loose after the catch.
Play a Clean Game
This is a game that the Rams should be able to win comfortably. The issue is that this could’ve been said last week as well. This could have been said at halftime in Week 3, and it took a second-half surge for it to happen against the Tennessee Titans.
The Ravens have only created two turnovers on defense all season. In what may be a rainy game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the offense needs to protect the football. With 10 days of rest, this needs to be a game in which the Rams come out focused and play their first complete game of the season.
