Weekly roster review: Who played? And who played well
On the Sunday Night Football national stage, the Los Angeles Rams got their shot at a defining win over a top-rated NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Ahead of them was a path to the 2024 playoffs, but it was not to be as Philly road-graded over L.A. for a 37-20 victory at SoFi Stadium.
It was never going to be easy, Philadelphia came in with six wins in a row and a Top 5 offense and defense. The Rams would need to sustain a mistake-free game and they did come out firing on their opening drive, matriculating into the red zone on only four plays. But the 2024 tendency to shoot themselves in the foot was lying in wait and not only did a lost fumble scuttle the maiden drive, it started a reversion to the inconsistent play of games past.
Here’s how the weekly snap counts shook out. Who played? And who played well.
Quarterback
Can’t put the onus on Matthew Stafford (64, 100%). He offered a strong effort in the face of a poor game by the offensive line.
Running back
How important is the run game? In the Rams five wins, they averaged a strong 27 carries, in the four close losses it was still pretty good at 23, and in the two blowouts it was down to 19.
One of the worst games for Kyren Williams (58, 91%). He runs hard and squirts through tight lanes, but with another two fumbles and some poor pass blocking reps the question has to be asked, “Would other backs be held accountable?” Is Blake Corum (6, 9%) an answer? Who knows, we’ve never seen him get a lather up. One thing for sure, Ronnie Rivers (16 ST) will block his ass off as a situational player.
Rams RB Kyren Williams’ fumbling problems is more than just a this year issue.
He’s fumbled 8x over the last two years. Was also something he dealt with at Notre Dame. Had 8 fumbles over his last two years in college.
It could improve, but has to become a focal point.
— Blaine Grisak (@bgrisakTST) November 26, 2024
Wide receiver
No news here. Cooper Kupp (61, 95%) and Puka Nacua (51, 80%) combined for 67% of targets and 71% of catches. While Nacua made a couple of circus catches, he also dropped three. Tough? Yes, but hitting him in the hands. Demarcus Robinson (51, 80%) was on par for his usual snaps/production. Both Tutu Atwell (17, 27%) and Tyler Johnson (13, 20%) doubled their workloads from last week. Atwell had three catches in the fourth quarter and a big fourth down conversion,
Tight end
L.A. decided to shelve the two-tight end set in this game, even as a showpiece, preferring to go with three wide outs without exception.
With only three total passing targets to this unit, it’s hard to understand why the Rams don’t go with the best blocker, Hunter Long (13, 20%). Not claiming that he’s a long-term answer, but both Davis Allen (31, 48%) and Colby Parkinson (19, 30%) were beaten regularly in 1on1 matchups.
Offensive line
In the TV pregame, NBC reported that Matthew Stafford said the Rams would use silent counts. Too often, the Eagles defensive front simply got off the snap quicker and used enough blitzes to throw off the Rams pass game. The Rams have almost completely moved away from controlling the flow of the game as they used to, mixing in hurry up formations with variable snap counts.
Warren McClendon (64, 100%) returned to earth this week and struggled. As it has been all season, particularly since his return. Steve Avila (54, 100%) is too often beaten right off the snap and allowing disruption. Whether it’s the knee injury or sophomore slump, he needs some strength/conditioning work this off-season.
At the other guard spot, Kevin Dotson (64, 100%) played well. Considering his opponents, I would add Beaux Limmer (54, 100%) into that category as well. Alaric Jackson (64, 100%) was beat twice outside with one sack, when he was late reacting to outside speed.
Special teams
There is obviously a different plan this seson for punter Ethan Evans (12), to angle his kicks towards sideline and concentrate on hang time. While his net yardage is way down, so are return yards. Alex Ward (7) was on target. With another missed field goal, Josh Karty (3) did nothing but encourage the locals to grab their pitch forks and torches.
Defensive tackle
A tough outing against a top-end offensive line that was exacerbated by a substantial size differential. Philly’s starting five went 365, 332, 303, 325, and 363, while the six interior players that saw action for L.A. went 325, 297, 300, 291, 297, and 290.
Bobby Brown (35, 48%) and Neville Gallimore (19, 26%), the two Rams over 300 lb. were continuously handled 1on1 and nearly invisible. Their efforts, or lack, are magnified because the two offer very little pass rush. Gallimore was back after missing two games.
Sledding was tough for Kobie Turner (52, 71%) and Tyler Davis (35, 48%). They combined for 10 tackles. Although it’s hard to say any of the interior played well when you give up that kind of rushing yardage, with 45 total Eagle carries, there were plenty of plays to be made. Braden Fiske (32, 44%) had one sack, a couple of pressures, and a four tackles (two for loss) for loss. Jonah Williams (5, 7%) mopped up.
Edge
Kind of funny not lavishing praise on this unit after a game, but the Eagles only threw 19 times and Jalen Hurts really did a fine job of navigating inside and out of the pocket. Byron Young (63, 86%) was kept in check, he had a couple of early pressures, but looked gassed later in the game. Nice effort from Michael Hoecht (44, 60%), he had six tackles, all around the line of scrimmage, and took on offensive linemen in the interior. So too for Jared Verse (57, 78%), while he didn’t get home for any sacks, he was disruptive off the edge and collected seven tackles.
Jared Verse sending a massage on 1st play
that he can move you back, hands inside, presses LT
also, note the head butt on initial strike — old school pic.twitter.com/BJNEezRnUb
— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 25, 2024
Off-ball linebacker
While it is obvious with opposing runners and underneath passes going for good gains that this unit leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not a new problem, going all the way through OTAs, training camp and trade deadline with a linebacker room composed of all undrafted free agents is a choice.
For three straight games, Omar Speights (56, 77%) has had a steep rise in reps to go along with a steep learning curve. Certainly more aggressive than Troy Reeder, but better? Maybe incrementally. Christian Rozeboom (55, 75%) has been the defense’s biggest surprise, relentlessly pursuing and making plays.
Safety
This unit is a bigger question mark than the cornerbacks. The Rams have a glut of safeties who are position versatile, but lack top end draft pedigree, athletic profile, and read/react traits of the position.
Quentin Lake (73, 100%) can do a little bit of everything, he hasn’t missed a snap all year and is second on the team in tackles. But he lacks the athleticism and traits to be a game-changer and build a defense around. Kam Curl (73, 100%) had his best season in 2023, has been solid over his career and is on a team-friendly contract. His best work is done closer to the line of scrimmage where he can play downhill and blitz. The Rams seldom use him this way.
Kam Kinchens (37, 51%) snaps are staying consistent, but some of his pursuit angles are not and take him out of plays. With Speights and Rozeboom both seeing more time on the field, reps for Jaylen McCollough (12, 16%) are dropping.
Cornerback
There’s no other way to put it, Darious Williams (73, 100%) got beaten like a drum by AJ Brown. Four catches and a drop for almost 100 yards. Snaps for Cobie Durant (43, 59%), were down again and primarily from the slot with Ahkello Witherspoon (38, 52%) in the rotation. With the Eagles running the football so effectively, both had relatively quiet days in pass coverage. There were some missed tackles amongst this group and even more heinous, some very poor efforts to get involved in the action.
Strangely enough, ‘Spoon was off the field on Brown’s short touchdown catch, it was safety Quentin Lake playing man coverage from the slot. Josh Wallace (1, 1%) must have snuck in for a play while I was sizing up my linguica omelet for a prime bite.
Active, but did not play
QB Jimmy Garoppolo, OL Joseph Noteboom, and OL Joshua Jackson
Inactive
QB Stetson Bennett, RB Cody Schrader, T Rob Havenstein, CB Charles Woods, E Brennan Jackson, and DT Desjuan Johnson
Bigger, stronger, faster
Plain and simple, Philadelphia out-classed the Rams in all phases. The Rams offensive game plan appeared solid, it was execution that doused the gunpowder. No real insights on the defense either, the main culprits are well-known, tackling, or rather those missed and a lack of mass on the interior defensive line. Across-the-board, the Eagles had too big of an advantage in the trenches and speed in the playmakers.
L.A. hung on awhile, but the path to victory was just too narrow and eventually the better team ground them down.
The Rams are exactly what they appear to be, semi-talented team with a penchant for making mistakes at the worst possible time. After the last bad loss, Sean McVay said that “everything was on the table” and that’s true, because there’s just not that much left in the cupboard. League parity could possibly keep the Rams in the playoff hunt, but that’s a double-edged sword, unless they can clean up the mistakes, they could be just as easily out of contention in two weeks.
