t wasn’t a thing of beauty, but the Los Angeles Rams chalked up a road win this Sunday past, knocking off the Baltimore Ravens 17-3 at the birds M&T Bank Stadium, just off the Patasco River Basin. L.A. sputtered in the first half, the offense scoring just three points and the defense allowing 100 yards rushing. The Rams adjusted on both sides of the ball in the last half to secure the victory.
There were both good and not-so-good individual performances. Here what the snap count chart can show us.
Players, their snap count, and play time percentage are in bold.
Quarterback
Matthew Stafford (53, 100%) is on a track to have one of the best seasons of his long career. He has adapted well to the Rams offense doing so much more work from under the center. Yes, living with his occasional inaccuracy can be infuriating, but comes with the territory. I just wish his 66% completion rate would be inside the red zone as well as between the 20’s.
Running back
Other than Kyren Williams (40, 75%) stellar sideline catch, it was an unremarkable day for him and Blake Corum (12, 23%). The cause was a combination of the Ravens holding a huge advantage in time of possession and their defensive line dominating between the tackles. If you add his and Blake Corum’s numbers together, 18 carries for 73 yards sounds pretty good, but each had a 12 yard run off the edge to skew those numbers a bit.
Wide receiver
The big news is that Puka Nacua (27, 51%) tweaked an ankle and was limited to a pair of catches. He’s doubtful for this Sunday.WR#2 Davante Adams (42, 79%) struggled with his hands, again. Jordan Whittington (49, 92%) got the extra reps, but didn’t add any extra production. It appeared the Rams wanted to get Konata Mumpfield ) going early, but didn’t/couldn’t extend it throughout the game.
Tight end
It was good to see Tyler Higbee (35, 66%) contribute, he’s gotten creaky and has lost a step, but the Rams clearly haven’t been able to replace him. Even after all these years. Davis Allen (21, 40%) had a couple of short targets, reeling one in and ropping another he should have caught in tight coverage. Terrance Ferguson (17, 32%) got in some work and a lot of it was tight end grunt work, blocking on the edge. That’s a positive sight. His jet sweep looked clunky, TFerg is athletic, but those kinds of plays need to go to quicker, light-footed receivers.
Offensive line
Pass blocking appeared to be much improved, Stafford appeared to consistently have plenty of time. The five starters all played 53 snaps, 100%. LT Alaric Jackson stacked another solid game, as did RG Kevin Dotson, both are playing well. LG Steve Avila returned to the fold and looked closer to his old self. RT Warren McClendon started a second straight game, his plus efforts may start a controversy when Rob Havenstein returns from injury.
Special teams
Thankfully, blocking on field goals and extra points was improved, but now Josh Karty seems to be battling the sophomore jinx. The one thing I noticed, on the FG he knuckle-balled through, was that his stroke looked contorted. I surmise that his new knuckle ball kickoff stoke has bled over onto his FG and XP leg swing action.
Defensive line
L.A. has almost completely gotten away from the 3-4 base with five players across the front. Thus, a big offensive line running power concepts (pulls, leads, anduo) is going to give Rams relatively small front problems. It appeared that Kobie Turner (53, 68%), Poona Ford (37, 47%), and Tyler Davis (37, 47%) improved as the game wore on, but might have been that Baltimore’s 2nd half attack moved away away from what was successful in the 1st. Great to see Larrell Murchison (9, 12%) sub in and log a sack. Ty Hamilton (12, 15%) got his most work since Week 1.
Edge
While Jared Verse (67, 86%) deservedly gets the lion’s share of attention with his pass rushing prowess and play strength, Byron Young (64, 82%) continues to provide a stellar return on his Round 3 investment. Between the two on Sunday, 14 tackles, three sacks, and nine QB hits. Josaiah Stewart (23, 29%) is still in learning mode, but consistently getting 21-25 defensive snaps per game. Nick Hampton (10, 13%) saw some action, as well.
Off-ball linebacker
I would hate to fight Nate Landman (65, 83%), he can really throw that straight right. He had his second fumble-forcing punch out that L.A. converted into a big turnover. He logged an extraordinary 17 tackles. Troy Reeder (30, 38%) started at linebacker and the earth did not break loose and careen into the abyss of deep space, he actually had a solid game. The biggest takeaway was the play of Shaun Dolac (35, 45%), the stage was not too big for him and showed he’s ready for a bigger role. He played just like his college film, pursuing the ball relentlessly and deserves
Safety
Other than Quentin Lake (78, 100%), who had a plus outing, it was a quiet Sunday afternoon for this group. Kamren Curl (73, 94%) appeared to be nicked early, but quickly returned. Kamren Kinchens (46, 59%) had his smallest workload of the season, While Jaylen McCullough’s (22, 28%) reps were down from the last game, he was at his average. Josh Wallace snuck in one snap.
Cornerback
The Ravens game plan was pound the run game and throw short depending on yards after catch. They stuck to it pretty well and as such, the Rams corners did not have a particularly notable day, good or bad. Darious Williams (53, 68%) had a pair of nice pass breakups and four tackles. Both Cobie Durant (49, 63%) and Emmanuel Forbes (48, 62%) were in the background.
Yes, the Rams are struggling with some inconsistency in all three phases, offense, defense, and special teams, but a 17-3 victory in a cross-country road game is a solid win.
This offense is “so close” to becoming a juggernaut. Scoring is up this year even with all the red zone mis-steps. Explosive plays are up as well. Matthew Stafford is not only off to his best start in three years, he’s protecting the ball very well. In theory, the run game should improve as the offensive line gets healthy and continuity can be realized.
Defensively at this point of the season, there are no better moves to improve the defensive secondary than Staff and his offensive cohorts to hit on all cylinders. Put teams off of their game plan and allow the Rams defensive strength, the pass rush, to dictate the game.
Special teams, particularly the placekicking, is another thing all together. L.A. will have to have blocking options in place when opponents use those “BOSS’ fronts to block kicks. These ”big on one side” formations are standard on many defenses create pass blocking disruptions and well-coached special teams are using them to get after kicks. If Josh Karty is struggling with separating his kickoff stroke from his scoring, maybe the Rams should consider going back to Ethan Evans for kickoffs. PAT’s and FG’s are too important to mess with at this stage of the game.
Overall, with all the self-inflicted wounds, 4-2 is a good place to be. Parity is the NFL rule thus far and the bye week’s only a fortnight away. For this Sunday, get across the pond, take care of business in a winnable game, and get home for two weeks to concentrate on working out the early season kinks.
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