Rams devastating loss leads to questions about upcoming game with rival 49ers

Turf Show Times takes a look at possible answers before L.A. takes on second straight divisional rival

In an interesting turn of events, Week 2 of the Los Angeles Rams season opened and closed in the hands of rookie running back Blake Corum. In between those two touches, the Arizona Cardinals administered a whipping on both the L.A. offense and defense en route to a 41-10 drubbing that wasn’t that close.

Where did the Rams go wrong?

Are the Rams that bad? Injuries already taking a toll? Did they have the bad luck of running into a special performance? On this Sunday, it was all three.

Arizona came out fired up and aggressive, while the Rams seemed a bit lethargic and out of sync. While there’s no debate that Cardinal QB Kyler Murray is a gifted player, it’s also just as clear that his career has been up-and-down. As such, his fortunes can change dramatically from week-to-week. The NFL game is quarterback-driven and the Cards Kyler Murray was “perfect” on Sunday, achieving the highest possible NFL QB rating, 158.3, a rare occurrence.

On defense, maybe Kyler Murray played over his head, okay, but the Cardinals power run game, or rather how the Rans handled it, is what should cause concern going forward. Offensively, you’re not gong to win many games if you go 2 of 11 on 3rd downs and are unwilling/unable to run the ball in key short yardage situations.

The Rams defense showed many of the same weak spots as Week 1 and to be realistic, those of last season as well. Most importantly, they missed far too many tackles. As well as Murray played, he broke the game open early with “off-platform” plays where he jitterbugged around or slipped off arm tackles. Other reminders of last year are a penchant to give up explosive plays, the pass rush can disappear at times, and their lack of size/strength on the interior can be exploited, Add into that the growing pains this young of group will have to endure.

Offensively, as good as I thought the Rams schemed around their weak points in Week 1, they failed in Arizona. It was basically the same game plan, short, quick passing and barely a semblance of a ground attack, but the Cardinals crowded the line of scrimmage and choked off the L.A. one-read, pitch/catch game. In the first half, the Rams had six drives and on each first play, ran the ball up the middle on 4 of 6. Cardinals safety Budda Baker came flying in, regularly blowing things up and putting the offense in a hole. L.A. never used play action to try and keep Baker and his stunting/shifting mates honest.

Trying to answer the biggest questions going into Week 3

Offense

#1) Can this week’s offensive line grouping of Alaric Jackson, Logan Bruss, Beaux Limmer, Kevin Dotson, and Rob Havenstein expand the time to throw and comfort zone for Matthew Stafford?

Context: The key to open both the run and pass game. Versus Arizona, the whole group seemed a half-step slow and out of sync on run blocking. Through the air, expect Week 3 opponent, the San Francisco 49ers to follow suit with the Cardinals and Lions, using an aggressive defensive front with stunts, blitzes, and sims from various angles and positions. Both the Cards and Lions also gave the Rams fits by spreading out the defensive end/edge wide to the 9T.

Answer: The return of starting left tackle Jackson has to be considered an upgrade, albeit tempered by losing starting guard Jonah Jackson. This is a huge step for Bruss, he could be on the cusp of coming full circle after an inauspicious first three seasons. Limmer now has two games under his belt, he has shown he can block, now he must face the challenge of getting the blocking calls/rotations down pat. Hopefully Hav knocked off the rust and L.A. can get the downhill run game going behind him and Dotson.

#2) Who steps up at wide receiver?

Context: With WR#1 Cooper Kupp and WR#2 Puka Nacua on the Injured Reserve List (IR), this unit went from a team strength in training camp to a question mark in the blink of an eye.. It’s a good group “hands wise” but the offense has become too compressed and has fallen into a horizontal rut, it needs a vertical presence.

Answer: This is a no-brainer, Tutu Atwell. The Rams simply have to find a way to incorporate his speed into a stagnant offense. He’s willing to go over the middle on deep crossing routes, can help create some space underneath with clear outs, and must be accounted for on jet sweeps and reverses out of motion.

Defense

#3) Can the defensive line and linebackers stop the run, or at least slow it down?

Context: The biggest Rams interior player, Bobby Brown, hasn’t got off to a good start. Until he starts forcing opposing offensive lines to use some double teams to move him off the ball, the front line and linebackers will struggle. Both Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske are relatively smaller players with short arms, so taking on bigger, longer blockers is not in their best interest. Sure, both Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom leave a lot to be desired as tacklers, but no linebackers are going to be successful when the opposing linemen get free rein to the second level.

Answer: The Rams need to get their smaller, quicker players on the move. Consider late shifts in the defensive interior formations, maybe be more aggressive shooting gaps, making the blockers reach lessens their size advantage. It is more volatile, but the head-to head combat is not working so far. The linebackers need to be more proactive on run fits and make better decisions on stepping up into gaps and not the pile ups. Upgrading the tackling is a bit more complex, but getting under control, not reaching, and putting pads on runner are time-tested teaching methods.

#4) Can the Rams rely on their pass coverage?

Context: If you take into consideration that the Rams have already let opposing receivers get behind the defense seven times with four going for scores in the first two games, it seems like an easy no. L.A. brought in two free agents, Tre White and Darious Williams to upgrade coverage, but Williams has a stint on the IR and White has struggled after coming back from injury.

Answer: For this upcoming week against the 49ers, coverage might not be so dire. The ‘Niners, as do the Detroit Lions, like to work the center of the field in their pass attack and the Rams have done a good job of covering inside-out in the first two weeks

It’s only one game, right?

That what we fans always say when our team endures an ass-whipping. Better Rams teams have laid eggs before, so there’s truth embedded there. But the way the whipping was administered needs to be approached with critical thinking.

In Week 2, the Arizona Cardinals followed, almost to a T, the aggressive defensive blueprint scribed by the Detroit Lions in Week 1. Until the Rams can configure a way to stop the bleeding on the offensive line, every opponent is going take similar actions and the L.A. offense will struggle.

The Rams future hinges on the defensive line as well. In both the waning moments of the Detroit game and the Arizona game in its entirety, the power run game gave L.A. fits. Now, they face the dreaded 49ers and their run-based offense.

The answers have to come from inside the Rams building. As for personnel, there may some reprieve as players come off the IR, but it’s pretty much what you see is what you get, there just aren’t many moves on the roster to upgrade the status quo. Pickings won’t be much better on the free agent list or opposing practice squads.

The poorly played game could be the harbinger of a injury-riddled season like 2022 or mirror last year’s slow start until the ship is righted, So in fact, it was more than just one game.