After last week’s collapse in the fourth quarter, the Rams needed to go back to the drawing board. The loss of Puka Nacua for a few months could prove costly for LA if they did not have Cooper Kupp to bail them out. On Sunday, they had a chance to right the ship with a quick trip to the desert to face the Cardinals.
The problem, however, was that no one told the Rams that this was the Arizona Cardinals.
In quite possibly one of the most lopsided jaw dropping endings to a game in Week Two, the Arizona Cardinals (yes, those Arizona Cardinals) came, saw and conquered the once mighty Los Angeles Rams and not only picking up their first win of the year but also dropping the dismal Rams to 0-2 with a 41-10 beatdown.
Kyler Murray led a potent offense that realizes they were so close to beating the Buffalo Bills last week that they didn’t want to leave any doubt in anyone’s mind heading into Week Two. Murray finished with 17/21 passing for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns to highlight a fantastic home opener for the Cards.
James Conner was a beast on the ground as he racked up 122 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, while as expected and predicted, Marvin Harrison, Jr. showed up and stepped up in his home debut after being silenced in Buffalo. He finished with 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 4 catches.
As for the Rams, they looked beyond discombobulated as not only did they lose Cooper Kupp early in the game, but they failed to utilize their extra weapons through the air.
If Sean McVay was the answer during their Super Bowl run, he is definitely NOT the answer right now. The Rams now find themselves winless after two weeks, hurting in the wide receiving corps, and on top of that, they have yet to figure out anything in their ground game or their defense. The team as a whole is missing the leadership of Aaron Donald on the defensive side of the ball, and now they have lost their top two receivers, potentially for a good duration of time.
The Rams were one of those teams that were picked early to make a legitimate push for the postseason. But if the preseason was any proof (Stetson Bennett’s performance in Dallas for example), they are in some serious trouble. And this is not saying anything negative about McVay’s coaching style, but obviously, his old formula is clearly not working in this new age style of the NFL.
For the Rams, their numbers were beyond mediocre for a team that went to the playoffs last season. Matthew Stafford finished with 216 yards on 19/27 passing with zero interceptions but zero touchdowns to go with that statline. On the ground, Kyren Williams and rookie Blake Corum finished with a combined 53 yards and a touchdown, which is not going to win many football games in the NFL. After the loss of Kupp, Demarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell, Tyler Johnson and Jordan Whittington did their best to try to keep the Rams in the game.
However, this game was ugly for the Rams from start to finish. The team as a whole looks lost with #99 to keep them focused. The young guys are not responding very well to Stafford as discussed in training camp. If this team is going to win games, they will need to start ASAP if they want ANY chance to even think about the postseason following Thanksgiving.
But the road does not get any easier as they welcome in the 49ers, a team that has had their number over the years followed by a trip to Soldier Field to face the rejuvenated Bears and a return home to face the Loveless Green Bay Packers.
In this day and age, a team has to be complete from the leaders to the fresh faces. The fact that the Rams have relied on their two prime targets the last two weeks only to see them go down with injury should be a sign for them to shake things up. As for the defense, they need to realize that AD is gone, he is happily retired and there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that he’ll return to the line. This means that the next AD needs to step up now because the Niners just got embarrassed by Sam Darnold and the Vikings. That means that they will be doubly motivated to rip off some heads when they play the Rams next Sunday.