Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams suffered their first loss of the season in Week 3, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles 33-26. It’s a game that the Rams probably should have won after leading 26-7 in the third quarter and then having an opportunity at a game-winning field goal on the final play. This is arguably one of the more disappointing losses under head coach Sean McVay. Here are this week’s takeaways.
For the entire first half, it looked as if Rams head coach Sean McVay had put defensive coordinator Vic Fangio through a blender. While Matthew Stafford threw an interception to start the game, that was the only bad play for the offense for the first 30 minutes. Throughout the entire first half, the Rams offense couldn’t be stopped. They were running the ball well and Davante Adams picked up where he left off last week. The Rams scored five times in the first half. That’s a huge testament to the game plan that McVay had coming into the game.
During the first half, it seemed as if McVay had sat on the Eagles loss all offseason and was ready for this matchup. He seemed determined not to allow that to happen again. This was an offense that punted one time during this game. They didn’t finish how they wanted, but during the first half, the Eagles had no answers.
For the entire first half and much of the fourth quarter, the Rams defense looked like the real deal. Coming into the game, they ranked second in defense EPA per play and DVOA. After allowing a touchdown on the opening drive following the interception, they forced four consecutive three-and-outs. The pass rush was getting to Jalen Hurts and they were shutting down Saquon Barkley. In the first half, Barkley had nine carries for 14 yards.
To start the second half, Jared Verse forced a fumble and the offense was able to score a touchdown. To put it simply, the defense looked dominant. Despite a poor third quarter, they got a fourth down stop in the fourth. There were a lot of things to like about this group, but after taking a big lead, it seemed as if they couldn’t make a play when they needed one. In the second half, they allowed three conversions of 3rd-and-10.
The Rams seemed to find something last week when they got both Blake Corum and Kyren Williams running together in the fourth quarter. That continued into this game. In the first half, Williams had 11 carries for 56 yards while Corum had six carries for 40 yards. The touchdown from Adams came off of a play-action fake to Corum.
When all was said and done, Williams finished with 20 carries to nine from Corum. However, that’s much closer to the split that would be nice to see going forward. Corum added an...
