Rams and Jets find themselves in similar situations — strong defenses with struggling starting quarterbacks and young backups aching to play

The NFL is a copycat league, and in many ways — good and bad — the Rams and New York Jets are essentially photocopies of each other.

Both have three wins and defensive head coaches. Both are built around their big-money defensive lines, each stocked with a trio of first-round picks, and, theoretically, want to run the ball — although the Rams are lightning-quick to bail out on that.

Most notably, each team has a scrappy, journeyman starting quarterback who can’t help but glance over his shoulder at the younger player behind him. Jets fans want to see backup quarterback Bryce Petty play, just the way Rams fans are clamoring for No. 1 pick Jared Goff.

For the moment, the Rams are sticking with Case Keenum as the starting quarterback, even though they’ve lost four in a row and have strayed far from building the offense around running back Todd Gurley. Goff is left to watch from the sideline in a baseball cap, occasionally retiring to the bench to study his digital tablet.

Rams coaches know that once they put him in the game, the clock starts on them. They presumably have a certain grace period to get him up to speed and start winning, with the heat already turned up on Jeff Fisher, only the third NFL coach in modern NFL history to be brought back for a fifth season after four consecutive losing ones.

Keenum has 11 interceptions, second only to the 13 of Jets starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is trying to hold off Petty, a fourth-round pick in 2015. The Jets play host to the Rams on Sunday, and the quarterback question is the elephant lurking in both locker rooms.

“Case and I were together in Houston for a little bit,” said Fitzpatrick, a seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2005. “He wasn’t a high draft pick and he works his tail off. He hasn’t had an easy path to get where he is… It’s not easy, but you’ve just got to block out the noise.”

Keenum had his strongest performance of the season almost a month ago at Detroit, a game the Rams lost, but the L.A. offense has sputtered the past two games, generating one touchdown in each and wasting a pair of defensive gems. In last Sunday’s game against Carolina at the Coliseum, Rams fans booed and chanted, “We want Goff!”

Rams quarterback Case Keenum (17) and quarterback Jared Goff (16) walk to the field before a game against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 6.

(Ryan Kang / Associated Press)

Fitzpatrick can commiserate. He had two interceptions in Sunday’s 27-23 loss to Miami, and suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee when Dolphins defensive lineman Jordan Phillips rolled up on the quarterback’s leg. He briefly left the game, and Petty made his first appearance, completing a pair of passes before Fitzpatrick returned.

Around the league, seven rookie quarterbacks have played this season, and five of them have started, among them No. 2 pick Carson Wentz in Philadelphia, the offensive centerpiece of that franchise, and fourth-rounder Dak Prescott in Dallas, who has done enough to supplant the recovering Tony Romo for good (even though the Cowboys haven’t made that move officially).

For all their similarities, there’s one major difference between the Jets and Rams. The Jets are at the bottom on the AFC East, and New England looks to be running away with the division at 7-1. Some Jets are already talking about playing for pride. Meanwhile, the NFC West is a mush pot of mediocrity, with the 3-5 Rams in third place behind Seattle (5-2-1) and Arizona (3-4-1).

That could either be a flicker of hope for the Rams. Or, if they stay on their current path, merely drag out their agonizing downward spiral.

Close calls

The NFL is still trying to figure out the reasons for its sagging TV ratings, but the league can rule out an abundance of blowouts. So far, games have been closer than ever.

The average margin of victory through nine weeks is 9.68. There has never been a complete season in which that number is less than 10. There have been 99 games that have been within one score at some point during the fourth quarter — including every game played by Detroit, Washington and the New York Giants. Also, 71 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. That’s a record.

sam.farmer@latimes.com