Matthew Stafford’s not-so-normal debut, Jalen Ramsey’s ‘Star’ showcases Rams’ teammates and more: The Pile
Jourdan Rodrigue
https://theathletic.com/2822102/2021/09/13/matthew-staffords-not-so-normal-debut-jalen-ramseys-star-showcases-rams-teammates-and-more-the-pile/
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — No, it wasn’t symbolic that new Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford went out to the center of the field at SoFi Stadium pregame for the coin toss, as the team’s lone captain in his Los Angeles debut (or so said head coach Sean McVay). No, it wasn’t symbolic that Stafford wore the same “smiley” sweater issued to him for an ESPN cover shoot over the summer during his postgame interview (he said his wife, Kelly, told him to wear it).
Even his second pass of Sunday night’s 34-14 win over the Bears — a 67-yard touchdown bomb downfield to second-year receiver Van Jefferson — wasn’t symbolic of a new air-yards era (although, it may have felt that way for the thousands of fans present for the first time since the stadium opened and the many more who were watching the broadcast at home).
No, Stafford indicated, in pleasant “deferral” mode when up at the podium postgame as he usually is, even after his standout performance. No, that’s just football. Normal stuff.
“Once the ball is snapped it’s football,” Stafford said postgame. “There’s new plays in a new stadium, throwing to guys in a different uniform. But I’m happy where I’m at and I’m pleased with how it went tonight.”
One thing was made completely clear by McVay in the spring, after he pushed to trade for Stafford and send former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff to Detroit in exchange: A world without explosive passing plays, after nearly two years spent sputtering a small-ball attack downfield, was “not the world (he) wanted to live in”. In Stafford-world, thanks to a blend of newly designed concepts (Cooper Kupp’s 56-yard score, for example, was the product of a few people — receivers and quarterback included — putting their heads together in camp) and McVay’s own scheme, a lack of explosive air-yards plays will certainly not be a topic of discussion. Stafford averaged 16.05 yards per attempt against the Bears.
“It was exactly what we wanted,” McVay said, “and it was from a bunch of different guys.”
Just football, though. Ho, hum. Just 321 yards and three touchdowns on 20 completed passes (and 26 attempts), that’s all.
“(It was) just a play action on the first one to Van (Jefferson),” Stafford said of the first two explosive passes. “He did a great job of getting behind the defense. Our guys up front did a great job on that one. I had all day. And I was able to shoot that one down to the field to him. He did a great job getting up and scoring which is always fun.
“And then the second one to Cooper, that was a great call by Sean (McVay). Perfect coverage for the play. Our guys up front again gave me a bunch of time. It takes time for guys to get down the field. Cooper did a great job, again, just getting behind the defense and I was able to get it out there to a decent spot for him.”
Even star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, from whom praise is a coveted thing around the Rams’ locker room, said that Stafford’s debut should “go down in history” (he’s right, by the way — Stafford’s 156.1 rating is the highest of any quarterback making his debut with a new team in history).
“Just the way he played,” said Ramsey. “His swag, like … I’m not all into the stats all the time, but his stats were probably crazy, too.”
No, no, Stafford just wants us to think that’s normal. Sure, the Rams struggled some in the red zone, which hearkened back to the woes of 2020. Sure, they didn’t run the ball much until the game was over and they needed to play the clock out and will certainly need to find a balance there. Sure, their defense will want a few conversions back on its longer drives allowed.
Overall, though, Stafford’s night was not normal, no matter how much he defers. His third-down touchdown pass to Robert Woods in the fourth quarter, for example, was anything but. Stafford stood, patient as the play broke down around him in the red zone, flicking his eyes through one read, two … before firing an arm-angled dart to Woods in the back of the end zone, which Woods caught and tip-toed it in-bounds for the score. So perhaps it’s more of a steadiness within the extraordinary that Stafford possesses as a quality. We don’t know just yet — it’s just one game, and it’s football, after all.
But maybe — maybe — these throws he makes, these coverages he perplexes and fools, even the goofy high-step he did downfield to celebrate with Jefferson following his touchdown catch — will start to feel “normal”.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Welcome back to The Pile. Let’s start poking around.
Kenny Young and David Long Jr. climbing
It seemed fitting that two up-and-comers with a lot to prove in emerging roles combined on the Rams’ game-opening defensive takeaway.
After a gouging explosive run play, the Rams were pushed back into their own red zone and risked giving up a touchdown. But inside linebacker Kenny Young tipped an Andy Dalton pass, and cornerback David Long Jr. slid under it in the end zone for the interception.
Young has emerged as the Rams’ lead inside linebacker, and is often the “one” when they move to the 5-1 fronts that they frequently use. Sunday night, he also recovered a Dalton fumble.
“He did a great job,” McVay said. “Going back to last year, I thought he really picked up where he left off. He’s had a great training camp, and done a great job of demonstrating the versatility he has both being able to defend the run, but also making timely plays in pass coverage.”
Long entered the spring with a spotlight on him, following the departure of veteran cornerback Troy Hill in free agency. With Ramsey often playing inside (in the “Star”) position, Long has been asked to step up on the outside and as quarterbacks avoid Ramsey, the expectation is that he’ll be targeted more frequently. Long did exit the game with cramps (he was fine postgame) and rookie Robert Rochell broke up a fourth-down pass as his replacement, but prior to his exit Long had put together a nice outing that included the interception and two pass breakups.
The ‘Star’ was out
If you’ve followed the coverage in this space, you know all about the “Star” on the Rams’ defense: Ramsey’s expanded role, in which he plays all over the field including in the slot, as a hybrid outside linebacker and, of course as an outside cornerback when needed as well.
Ramsey had nine tackles Sunday, trailing only starting safety Jordan Fuller and Young (11 and 10, respectively), including two for a loss, and he broke up a pass as well on fourth down. His play of the game, perhaps, came late in the first quarter when he sniffed out a screen play out of what appeared to be a stacked or bunched concept, and dragged one blocking receiver along with him to make the stop on the other player. Lakers star LeBron James even tweeted about Ramsey after that one.
“I’m being put in positions that I’ve never been put in before, to make plays and do things for the team,” Ramsey said. “I was kind of just doing that.”
Run defense a worry?
The Rams allowed a 41-yard explosive run on their first defensive series and had trouble with Bears running back David Montgomery for most of the game after that. Montgomery eclipsed 100 rushing yards by the start of the fourth quarter and scored a touchdown.
The Rams, as we know, present light boxes as a defense (five- and six-man fronts) more often than not, and that invites the run. However, they play gap-and-a-half against the run, which when sound doesn’t allow for those chunk run plays above three or four yards at a time on average. This also helps their coverage put more of a helmet over the top of the field and allows defensive backs to play down, instead of overcommitting into the box and perhaps letting the ball get behind them. The latter part of the defensive plan was very effective for the Rams against Dalton and the Bears’ receivers, as he was only able to average 4.4 yards per play.
Again, this defense is built to allow the smaller bits and pieces because its goal is to contain the back-breaking explosive pass (ironically, something the Bears defense fell prey to on the other side). Yet there’s a fine line to walk, too, because they need to actually get off the field (the second of two Bears’ scoring drives was 16 plays and 81 yards long, including seven first downs). The Rams will need to be more effective in stopping the run because otherwise teams can keep them on the field longer and maintain clock control (especially if they have a lead). It was telling that, even while playing from a deficit, the Bears continued to run the ball.
Run-pass balance
I’m not going to get too nitpicky after the first game, but the Rams have not done much after this first game to establish what their rushing attack will be — or the balance it may or may not provide. This might not seem like a big deal (and of course, multiple explosive air-yards plays in the first half are certainly going to make things lopsided to the tune of only 13 throws and seven rushing attempts for 12 yards at the half, then 33 total plays on offense heading into the fourth quarter), but it’s something to keep track of because of the way that McVay’s passing attack has traditionally been predicated upon that establishment of the run, how that sets up the play-action and then can “sell” certain concepts out of that action. No, you don’t technically have to use the run to sell the play-action … but it helps, and this offense has previously certainly needed it.
“It’s hard to say, (but) I think in a lot of instances I’m more worried about being able to move the ball and score points,” McVay said. “You do want to be cognizant of that. I think the best offenses have the ability to do both. But I think it was more a result of minimal plays, but also being able to run some things that we felt was the smartest way to be able to move the football against a really tough defense. They did a good job of really being stout at the point of attack against some of the runs and were doing some things that really forced us to shift in the direction of throwing it (more) a bit early on.”
The explosive plays give us a hit of that sweet, sweet dopamine — and I’m the last person to get stuffy about a heavy passing attack — but remember, being too one-dimensional on offense is part of what did the Rams in down the stretch in 2019 and 2020. So continuing to build layers in every phase will be important. It’s a nitpick, but at their 25-play mark, they were (minus the 127 yards attained solely on two passing plays) averaging just 4.6 yards per play and about 1.9 yards per rush play.
• I didn’t mind the offensive line tonight, for the most part — but I also didn’t see a ton of ground work early on, obviously, because the Rams didn’t run the ball much through the first three quarters. One point of concern came off a sack of Stafford for a loss of nine yards, during which he may have been able to get the ball out of his hands for a positive play, but had no pocket to step into.
• Jefferson had a career-yards night, finishing with two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown on three targets (his other catch was a fourth-down conversion). The second-year receiver has been working a lot as an “X” receiver/detached from the core of the offense at times throughout camp, and his rapport with Stafford particularly on throws downfield was notable. Jefferson mentioned to me after a practice this week that he feels he has grown exponentially after getting thrown into things as a rookie in 2020, with no preseason and a fuller playbook to learn than many rookie receivers.
“I just want to prove it to myself, prove what I can do,” Jefferson said postgame. “I got a lot more work to do, but this is a good start, I’m far from finished. … I wouldn’t call (my touchdown) an ‘arrival’ moment, I would just say that I just have to keep putting in the body of work. I haven’t arrived yet; I really haven’t done anything. I just have to keep going, keep pushing and just keep being me.”
• Aaron Donald got plenty of pressure throughout the game (and just missed on a couple of plays, too), but didn’t notch his first sack until the fourth quarter.
• I love some of the wrinkles the Rams are putting in their secondary, which I mentioned above. This includes an expanded role for Darious Williams, who moved around some in correlation with wherever Ramsey was on the field — but one play I’m wanting to follow up on was the Ramsey stop out of the “bunch”/stacked formation on fourth down. It appeared on that play that, while Ramsey had moved to the outside, Fuller was disguised as the nickel player. Could that have helped persuade Dalton to throw to the outside, thinking the two players would switch? I have a hard time believing that any quarterback would throw toward Ramsey on purpose, but throw his way Dalton did. The Rams’ defensive backs are all very, very smart and very versatile, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plan expands … and of course, how it all continues to orbit around Ramsey himself.
“A lot of guys are asked to do different roles this year, bigger roles this year,” Ramsey said.
• Don’t forget about tight end Tyler Higbee, who was one of the recipients of a Stafford explosive play (37 yards). Higbee was utilized often in the passing game (something Stafford has historically appreciated from his tight ends) and caught five passes on six targets for 68 yards (third-most among Rams’ receivers).
• Hello, Justin Hollins. The Rams outside linebacker was everywhere on Sunday night, perhaps with veteran outside linebacker Leonard Floyd occupying more attention. Hollins has developed into a starting role and actually tied for the fourth-most tackles with eight. Hollins also had a sack that forced a fumble.
• New running back addition Sony Michel didn’t enter the game until late in the fourth quarter, and only had one rushing attempt for two yards. I would assume that will not be the case moving forward for Michel, who was traded to the Rams about three weeks ago.
• One of McVay’s favorite plays of the game was a third-and-10 catch by Woods that picked up 19 yards. It’s notable that this play came directly after a no-gain run on second down — if you’ve been keeping track with coverage here through the spring and summer, you know that Stafford actually throws to his more difficult reads following a negative or non-gain play, or an interception. Woods did a great job of securing the catch, and then Stafford hit Kupp on the very next play, a 56-yard touchdown that the Rams had actually designed and practiced throughout camp. On it, Kupp gets sort of launched through the “garbage chute” (by way of some clever design and excellent route-running) and over to a coverage gap on the other side, which the Rams know comes from a certain look the Bears show.
• A couple things the Rams will have to hammer out logistically speaking: The traffic getting into and out of the stadium was absolutely insane, even for people (such as media) who arrived four hours early. I’m not totally sure what the solution is, here, but it was almost an hour and a half from the Prairie/Manchester intersection to the press box (about a mile of distance, all-told). If that’s a problem for early people, it’s certainly going to be one for later arrivals. Another item: On crucial third and fourth downs, the Rams’ defensive players often motioned emphatically to the crowd to get loud and force offensive miscommunication. That’s something that, they hope, will be built-in as they continue to build their fan base … especially when, a play later, the louder cheers came after rookie quarterback Justin Fields’ first NFL touchdown.
• Putting Kupp on punt return — which McVay adamantly said he would not do — says more to me about rookie receiver Tutu Atwell’s readiness than the Rams’ desire to actually put Kupp at punt return. Rookie running back Jake Funk returned kickoffs.
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Agamemnon
