Winners & Losers: Tre White gives Jameson Williams his NFL breakout game

Rams fall (again) to their former QB Jared Goff and the Lions

Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams again find themselves leaving Ford Field on the losing side of a battle against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions. While the Rams battled injuries to Puka Nacua, the secondary, and the offensive line, LA fought to keep the score close before the dam broke in overtime. The Rams fell to the Lions 20-26.

The Lions received the ball after regulation and ran the ball down the Rams’ throat. Detroit attempted only a single pass as they marched down the field 60 yards and punched the ball into the end zone behind David Montgomery.

While there were reasons to be encouraged with LA’s performance in light of the immense adversity they faced, the season will start with a painful loss.

Who stood out on an individual level? Let’s take a look at who played well and who contributed to the losing effort.

Winners

Cooper Kupp, WR

Welcome to the NFL, Terrion Arnold. The first round rookie was given a tough assignment in Kupp, and the result was two pass interference penalties in the end zone that set up Rams touchdowns.

Kupp finished with 21 targets (!), 14 receptions, 110 receiving yards, and a touchdown. He also added two rushing attempts for another 10 yards.

It was clear after Puka Nacua left the game that Kupp was the focal point of the offense, and this performance was reminiscent of his 2021 triple crown campaign.

John Johnson, DB

There might not have been a more significant momentum shifting play for the Rams in this game than John Johnson colliding with Amon-Ra St. Brown and intercepting Goff with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter while Los Angeles was trailing 13-17. Johnson took over a starting role in the second half of last season in place of Russ Yeast, and it seems he’ll have a significant role in 2024.

Tyler Johnson, WR

One of the key plays on offense was Tyler Johnson’s 63-yard catch and run. Johnson was filling in for Nacua mostly, and he finished this game with seven targets, five catches, and 79 yards.

Johnson stopped on a dime after a short throw from Stafford, and his long run helped ignite what had been a sleepy Rams offense up to that point.

Josh Karty, K

Now that the Lions are seemingly perennial contenders, there may be no tougher place to play than Ford Field. The rowdy environment didn’t seem to phase rookie kicker Josh Karty, who nailed both of his field goal opportunities. His longest came from 41 yards out and he also converted two extra point attempts.

Losers

Tre White, CB

With Darious Williams on injured reserve for the first four games and Cobie Durant hobbled with a hamstring injury, the Rams should be glad to have a veteran like Tre White to hold things together at corner.

Still, White looked like a player coming off of Achilles and ACL injuries over the last few seasons. Jameson Williams had his career breakout on primetime with five receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. He also added a rush for 13 yards. A lot of those yards came at White’s expense, including Williams’ 52-yard touchdown. White still might be chasing Williams and you could barely see the corner on the screen when the broadcast cut to the receiver.

AJ Arcuri, LT

You can’t blame a single player for the struggles of the offensive line. Alaric Jackson (suspension) and Rob Havenstein (ankle) weren’t going to play from the jump—Joe Noteboom and Warren McClendon filled in for those players, respectively. Noteboom was the first lineman to fall in game with an ankle injury, and AJ Arcuri came in as his replacement. Arcuri was someone who didn’t even make the roster in the team’s final cutdown and was elevated from the practice squad for this game. That’s not a good sign for the offense, and out of fairness that’s a tough assignment for Arcuri.

LG Steve Avila also left the game with a knee injury. Jonah Jackson slid over from center and rookie Beaux Limmer came in at center. There were seemingly a fair amount of miscommunications and missed assignments early on, but the group settled in some late into the contest.

Blake Corum, RB

Corum certainly didn’t touch the football, and I don’t think he played a single offensive snap. Ronnie Rivers took two handoffs for 16 yards and seemed to be the first up to spell Kyren Williams.

The rookie is talented enough and should be on the field. Does the team have concerns about his ability to hold up in pass protection? Could we see Corum with a larger workload in the near future?