The Rams lost to Arizona at home on Sunday with a final score of 37-20. This brings their record down to 3-1, as they currently sit at 2nd in the NFC West. The Rams have a short week this week, as they’ll travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks on Thursday night football. In a tough loss, there’s a lot to be talked about, so today I’ll be breaking down the good, the bad, and the meh.

Good

Offensive line

The Offensive line performed well against a tough front and didn’t give up a sack. They also were able to open up holes for the run game and helped Henderson get 6.4 Y/A. The O-Line was a bright spot in today’s game, despite the penalties they drew. So far this season, they’ve gone up against some great defensive linemen and only given up 3 sacks.

Run game

Darrell Henderson was able to get it going against a weak Arizona run defense and averaged 6.4 y/a. This is the best I’ve seen the run game all year, and the Rams will have to keep running the ball against a Seahawks team who’ve allowed the most rush yards per game this year.

Robert Woods and Van Jefferson

Both pass-catchers showed up on Sunday and combined for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jefferson led the team in receiving and is looking like he’s the Rams’ new WR2. With Cooper Kupp neutralized, it opened up more opportunities for Woods that he took advantage of. This was a bounce-back game from him, and I’d expect his usage to go up if teams continue to focus on Kupp.

Bad

Defense

Raheem Morris’ defense hasn’t exactly impressed over the first 4 weeks. They’ve given up roughly 400 yards and 25 points per game, both in the bottom half of the league. They allowed lots of big plays and weren’t able to contain Murray and the rest of the team on the outside. The struggle to contain mobile QBs will be a problem in the NFC West, as all the other teams have one on their roster.

Matthew Stafford

Matthew Stafford finally came back down to earth as he struggled to lead the Rams offense. He looked off rhythm all game and underthrew a couple of balls. The West Coast offense requires the team to be in rhythm and have good timing, so it makes sense that they didn’t have much to work with. The offense will have to pick it up, as their next game against Seattle will likely be a shootout too.

Sean McVay

McVay had never lost to the Cardinals since being hired in 2017, and his first loss was a tough one. His many decisions to punt or go for a field goal while they were still playing from behind could have been the difference in this game. 

Meh

Pass defense

Out of the whole team on Sunday, the pass defense was the most inconsistent. They didn’t allow a 100-yard receiver but did allow 268 yards total to 7 different receivers. Jalen Ramsey was all over the field again, and on the season has a 54.6 passer rating in coverage allowed, the best in his career so far. On the other hand, David Long was picked on all game, and allowed the Cardinals to get some big plays.

Overall, this was a tough team loss with no 1 person or group to blame. The offense wasn’t able to capitalize when it mattered, and the defense gave up some big plays. As the Rams travel to Seattle on a short week, they’ll face another prolific offense and battle for control of the NFC West.