The St. Louis Rams don’t want to miss the opportunity of making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, which explains why they’ve benched Nick Foles and made Case Keenum their starting quarterback, at least for now.
Foles, traded from the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, has been a disappointment through nine games, in which the Rams have gone 4-5. After a pretty good start individually for Foles, he didn’t catch on to the momentum picked up once Todd Gurley started running all over opponents. Over the last five games, in which the Rams have gone 2-3, Foles is completing just 51.7% of his passes, with only two touchdowns and five interceptions.
Keenum hasn’t played much at all since getting into the NFL. He was a fall back option for the Texans during their falling apart season in 2013, losing all 8 games in which he started. He actually was on the winning side of two games for the Texans last season, but in general, there’s not much to go on regarding his NFL accomplishments to suggest he’s going to be better or worse for the Rams while Foles tries to win his job again.
Overall Keenum has completed 55.2% of his passes, throwing 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Better than Foles? Maybe the big problem is the Rams’ play calling. Jeff Fisher knows how to build a team, but maybe his sideline decisions aren’t the best in the world, and by him we mean his coordinators as well. Play calling like in the loss to the Bears, which means giving up on the running game too early and abandoning their best option to get yards. Maybe Keenum will change the dynamics and balance, but probably not.