10 takeaways from Rams dominant win over Jaguars

The Los Angeles Rams headed to Wembley Stadium in Week 7 to play the Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite being without Puka Nacua, it was the Rams’ most dominant victory of the season, winning 35-7. The Rams dominated from start to finish as quarterback Matthew Stafford threw five touchdown passes. They will now head into the bye week sitting at 5-2. Here are this week’s 10 takeaways.

1. Rams finally start fast

The Rams have had a tendency of starting slow this season. Following last week, they averaged just 3.3 first quarter points per game. Despite playing in a different country at 6:30 a.m. PT and getting off the plane just over 24 hours earlier, the Rams had their best start of the season. This is a team that hadn’t scored a touchdown on its opening drive since Week 3. In this game, they had touchdowns on three of their opening four drives.

For much of the season, the Rams have seemed almost sluggish at the start of the games. In a game in which that would have been understandable, it was the exact opposite. The Rams came out and took control of this game early. Before the Jaguars had a chance to blink, it was 14-0. This was arguably the Rams’ best start and, again, it came in a different country in a game being played at 6:30 a.m. PT without their best offensive player.

2. Sean McVay got deep in his bag

Some of the best performances from Sean McVay have come when he’s been short-handed. In 2021, the Rams were without four key starters due to COVID restrictions against the Arizona Cardinals. McVay deployed jumbo packages with six offensive linemen. Without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp last year against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams leaned into 12 personnel in an eventual win.

From 2021-24, the Rams used 13 personnel on six plays total. Against the Jaguars, the Rams ran 13 personnel on 38.7 percent of their snaps. Three of the Rams’ touchdowns came out of 13 personnel. Coming into the game, it was expected that the Rams may lean into 12 personnel more given the lack of depth at wide receiver. However, nobody expected to see 13 personnel. It’s a reminder of just how great an offensive mind that McVay has. The Rams were able to take a personnel grouping that they never use and make it a focal point of their offense.

3. No Puka. No problem.

Coming into the game, there were some questions on who would replace Puka Nacua in the offense. At times, Matthew Stafford has been criticized for locking onto certain receivers. Still, shouldn’t getting the ball to your best player be a good thing? On Sunday, Stafford distributed the ball around the offense well. He completed passes to ten different wide receivers. It was the first time since Nick Foles in 2015 that a Rams quarterback has accomplished that feat.

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