St. Louis Rams vs. Washington Redskins: Breaking Down St. Louis' Game Plan

The St. Louis Rams (5-7) will travel to the East Coast to take on the struggling Washington Redskins (3-9), and this article will break down St. Louis' game plan. 

The Rams are coming off of a monstrous 52-0 victory over the Oakland Raiders. It was the largest margin of victory by a team in 2014.

The 52 points is the third-most points scored by a team in a single game this year—Green Bay holds the No. 1 and No. 2 spots with 55- and 53-point performances, respectively. 

Such a thorough beating over an opponent, regardless of how inept the Raiders are perceived to be, is surely a momentum booster for this Rams team. However, St. Louis has yet to win two consecutive games this season, so nothing is guaranteed. 

Washington is struggling with a miserable 3-9 record and gave up 49 points in its latest loss to the Indianapolis Colts. That's a very troubling sign, considering the Rams offense is coming off a 45-point performance. 

The Redskins will have Colt McCoy under center, and it's still too early to tell if that's a good or bad thing for St. Louis.

McCoy appeared in two of Washington's three wins this season. He's coming off the bad loss to Indianapolis, but McCoy still played well, with over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Washington has been more competitive with him under center, but no one's sure if that'll continue.  

Regardless of McCoy's play or Washington's reputation as a dysfunctional organization, the Rams cannot take this game lightly. In fact, while the Rams are generally viewed as a more competitive football team, the Redskins actually outrank St. Louis in every general category on both sides of the ball:

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Despite the statistics and rankings, this is still a very winnable game for St. Louis.

The Rams are on the road, which is certainly an obstacle, and McCoy has made the offense a bit more competent, but a loss for St. Louis would be considered a major disappointment. Defeating Oakland in a big way only to lose to a weak team like Washington the following game would be a disaster. 

If the Rams want to avoid an embarrassing upset and produce their first win streak of the season, here's what needs to happen. 

Destroy Colt McCoy 

Getting after the quarterback is the primary ingredient when it comes to successful Rams football. When the defensive line is on, it energizes the entire team. 

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McCoy was sacked six times against the Colts and still posted a 66 percent completion rate and 113.1 rating. However, the harassment in the backfield was more debilitating than the numbers indicate. 

The Redskins only made three trips to the red zone all game and walked away with just one touchdown. The rest of the scores came from 16 yards out or more.

The Indianapolis defense and its pass rush kept McCoy out of the red zone, but the unit gave up three big passing touchdowns from 16, 21 and 42 yards, and that skewed the stats. 

The Rams don't give up big passing plays quite as easily. They allow a respectable 7.5 yards per attempt and have allowed just five passes of 40 or more yards in 12 games, while the Colts have allowed 10. 

The Rams have a better all-around defense than the Colts, so the deep ball will not bail out McCoy as it did this past week. When McCoy gets sacked by St. Louis, he'll have a much harder time making up for those yards. 

If the Rams can get in the quarterback's face all game, the result will be ugly for Washington. 

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Spark the Aerial Attack

Normally, running the football is a great thing for an offense. It eats up the clock, keeps the chains moving and prevents the offense from becoming one-dimensional. But that's not the case this week. 

The Rams shouldn't abandon the run completely by any means, but sparking the aerial attack is critical against Washington. 

The Colts put up 49 points against Washington while running the ball just 21 times total. Dan Herron and Trent Richardson had just eight carries apiece, yet Indianapolis was able to overwhelm the Washington defense by simply passing the football. 

Additionally, while the Redskins pass defense ranks a respectable 15th in the NFL (241.2 yards per game), Washington has also allowed 26 passing touchdowns (third most in the NFL). 

It's true: The Rams don't have Andrew Luck at quarterback, but they do have a reliable veteran in Shaun Hill. He won't have a five-touchdown performance like Luck, but he's capable of moving the ball downfield in increments and keeping the offense rolling. 

Until Washington proves it can stop the pass, the Rams need to stick with the aerial attack and pick apart the Redskins secondary. 

Keep the Turnovers Coming

Let's be realistic. It wasn't just the high-octane offensive play that helped St. Louis defeat Oakland. The offense caught a break after the defense forced a season-high five turnovers, and that's what turned the game into a blowout. 

That's a trend that must continue against the Redskins. In all five of St. Louis' wins this season, the Rams either tied or won the turnover battle. 

McCoy has coughed up just one interception in three games, so the picks won't come easy like they did against the rookie Derek Carr.

However, as we saw during Peyton Manning's two-pick performance against the Rams, even veterans can make mistakes in the face of proper game-planning and aggressive secondary play. 

Washington is a very underwhelming football team. If the Rams win the turnover battle, that's not something the Redskins can overcome. 

Steven Gerwel is the longest-tenured Rams Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and serves as the Rams' game-day correspondent. You can find more of Gerwel's work by visiting his writer profile or by following him on Twitter.