Patriots-Rams Week 13 Predictions
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots were hit with a big blow on Thursday, as tight end Rob Gronkowski will undergo back surgery on Friday and miss the rest of the season.
It shouldn't matter too much in Sunday's game against the 4-7 Los Angeles Rams, who are coming off a 49-21 thumping by the New Orleans Saints. The Patriots are favored by 13 points heading into Sunday's tilt, as they look to win their third straight.
Here's how the CBS Boston Sports team sees Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium playing out:
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV Sports
The Patriots are in workmanlike mode as they hit the month of December. The Pats disappointed down the stretch last year after a 10-0 start. The team knows how important it is to secure home field advantage.
The Rams are a physically tough team to play against, but the Patriots are coming off of one of those types of games this past week against the Jets. The defense should play better at home and the offense (especially the interior line) needs to get back in high gear. That'll be harder to do without Gronkowski, but they should be able to do it this weekend.
Patriots 41, Rams 21
Levan Reid, WBZ-TV Sports
History alone forces me to pick the Pats in this game. Forget the fact that New England is a better team with better players and a better coach. Put aside the fact that Jared Goff is a rookie quarterback and he's just getting his feet wet in the league. Also, let's not forget that, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has no idea of the Patriots personnel.
Tom Brady has a chance to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history and on the same afternoon, the organization is honoring the 2001 championship team. They might as well have Tom come out at half time and unveil a statue of himself.
This is great theater and TB12 is not going to miss the opportunity. I forecast that following this game, Brady will get AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Patriots 34, Rams 13
Mike "Sarge" Riley, 98.5 The Sports Hub/WBZ NewsRadio 1030
As I said last week against the Jets, you cannot overlook any game here on out, especially without Rob Gronkowski for the remainder of the season. With an opponent like the Rams (4-7), the consensus is the Patriots (9-2) should win in a blowout. But the Patriots were expected to blowout both the Jets and 49ers in their last two games. Last week, as I predicted, it was a dogfight and the Pats didn't cover. They did cover in San Francisco, but did it feel like a blowout? Didn't think so.
A big advantage for New England is this game is at 1pm, and the Rams have to travel cross country with a rookie quarterback. The Rams will hang around in the first half, but the Pats pull away and get their tenth win of the season.
Patriots 27, Rams 19
Adam Kaufman, 98.5 The Sports Hub/WBZ NewsRadio 1030
The Patriots are banged up and the loss of Rob Gronkowski is substantial, but that fact's going to hurt them a lot more in future weeks than Sunday against the Rams and their NFL-worst offense. Between the 2001 Super Bowl champs being in attendance and the Pats trending up - at least marginally - on defense, this meeting with LA is coming at the perfect time.
It's a good opportunity to start to experiment with the playbook as it concerns Life After Gronk and see just how well Martellus Bennett can fully slide into that role. And, if all goes well, it'll be a short day for the ailing Tom Brady and a garbage-time cameo for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Patriots 31, Rams 13
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Rams game on 98.5 The Sports Hub -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins at 10am with full reaction and analysis following the game. Tune in to Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV at 11:30am and Patriots 5th Quarter after the game over on myTV38.
