As a veteran mentor to his position group, Hoecht spoke at length about up-and-coming contributors like Jared Verse and Byron Young. I want to point out that 24 of the Rams sacks in 2024 come from players in their first or second NFL season. According to league research, that’s 11 more players than any other team this year. In fact, the Rams’ defensive rookies are tied for first in the NFL in tackles, sacks, quarterback hits and forced fumbles, while they also rank second in interceptions.

Here are a few final tidbits from my notebook that you might find useful while watching on Saturday.

Verse missed four tackles in the first game against Murray and the Cardinals, but has only been charged with a total of five missed tackles in the last six games.

NFL Pro had an interesting look at defensive captain Quentin Lake, who is one of only four defensive backs to have played 100 percent of his team’s snaps this season. Lake has allowed -10.7 expected points added (EPA) on target despite having no interceptions this season (or in his career). If he gets a Saturday, come back to this place to celebrate, okay?

Last week, the Cardinals’ defense surrendered a season-high 243 yards rushing to the Panthers, including 152 to Chuba Hubbard, who secured the game-winning carry of 21 yards in overtime to beat them.

Arizona and Los Angeles have been reported for the fewest penalties in the NFL this season (82), but the Cardinals were called for 11 violations that cost them 82 yards in their last loss.

The Rams are trying to win a fifth straight game for the first time since the end of their 2021 Super Bowl regular season.

With each of the last three games between these division foes having been decided by at least three possessions, the question is, will they follow suit on Saturday or will they instead come to the point?

According to Next Gen Stats, Matthew Stafford has a passer rating of 54.8 under pressure this season. That’s concerning and a metric that needs to rise to its mean for the Rams to get where they want to go. Hopefully both the cramped conditions at SoFi Stadium (highs of 65 degrees and no precipitation predicted) and the return of Tyler Higbee will help in that regard. I’m aiming for a more even spread of targets in Week 17 as Demarcus Robinson (zero catches for two goals in the last two games) and Cooper Kupp (three catches for six goals in the last two games) also return to normal.

According to NFL Research, Kyren Williams needs 157 yards rushing to become the third Ram with at least 1,400 yards rushing and 15 scrimmage touchdowns in a single season. Eric Dickerson (1983) and Steven Jackson (2006) are the others.