The big articles on the Chiefs game

Rams can’t fall further, so now they find out who they’ll really be

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/3942770/2022/11/27/rams-chiefs-week-12-sean-mcvay/

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In offensive group meetings this week, Rams head coach Sean McVay asked his players, “what did you want to do when you grew up?”

Most of them answered instantly: “Play professional football.” McVay’s point was understood. Even in the worst losing streak of his tenure, the worst in some of these players’ careers, the worst-after-Super Bowl season so far by any team in NFL history, he didn’t want players to forget that they’d once dreamed of being where they are.

“It’s tough, the way the season has been going. It’s hard. Guys want to win,” receiver Van Jefferson told The Athletic postgame. “(But) you get to go out here and play, something that you love to do. So why not just go out there and just play and be free? Every guy in this locker room wanted to be a professional football player. Coach McVay said, ‘Why don’t you guys just go out there and play, then? Have fun.’ It just brought me back. I was in the eighth grade. What did I want to do? Play professional football.

“No matter what … keep playing.”

The Rams are currently without their starting quarterback, their top two receivers (No. 2 Allen Robinson has a stress fracture in his navicular bone and will have season-ending surgery next week), their top run-stuffing defensive tackle, and are playing a bunch of fifth- and sixth-string offensive linemen — many of whom weren’t even on the roster in September or October. The team doesn’t know whether franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has a neck injury and is in the concussion protocol, will be back this year.

And yet there they were, hanging with the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs at halftime. A game that some expected to feature the home team resting starters by the third quarter instead was 13-3 when it began. The Rams weren’t moving the ball altogether efficiently through the air in the first and second quarters, no — but it seemed like they didn’t expect to, instead calling a game that intended to try to sustain drives and play keep-away from MVP-frontrunner Patrick Mahomes while also protecting their inexperienced backup quarterback, Bryce Perkins, from erring in low-probability throwing situations minus Cooper Kupp and Robinson and behind their 11th offensive line iteration in 11 games.

There are no moral victories, but this group — led by Perkins, a motley crew of offensive linemen and receivers, and a defense that has finally decided it will go down swinging — tried to punch its way out of a four-game slide in the most hostile of Kansas City environments Sunday. They lost, sure. They’re doing a lot of that these days.

And sure, some of the punches were those blind, flailing swings. The Rams gave up a hot-knife-meets-butter touchdown to tight end Travis Kelce, with cornerback Jalen Ramsey the nearest defender on the play. Perkins threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, two drive-breakers after promising red zone stands and even an end zone interception by safety Nick Scott (the Rams’ second defensive takeaway in eight games). A missed tackle on a third-and-4 could have been a momentum-altering stop on the Chiefs’ first drive of the third quarter, but instead it set up a 71-yard drive. Even McVay sustained an injury in a year of catastrophic injuries when undrafted free agent tight end Roger Carter, in his first game active, popped him in the face with his shoulder pad while jogging onto the field. McVay’s cheek was swollen and discolored postgame, but he doesn’t think his jaw is broken.

“I took a good shot, Roger ran right into me,” McVay said postgame. “It was a good shot. I was thinking, ‘have a little awareness running by me, oh my gosh.’ It’s really not that big of a deal, it (probably) looked worse when you end up replaying it.”

Par for the course for this embattled team.

But for anyone who went into this thing with a clear-headed understanding of the stakes (essentially none) and the expectations (low) and a big-picture mindset, there were bright spots that the Rams desperately needed to see. Their special teams unit forced its first takeaway of the year when second-year receiver Ben Skowronek spooked the returner and helped force a muffed punt that was recovered by second-year cornerback Robert Rochell. Punter Riley Dixon converted a fourth down on a fake punt pass to receiver Jacob Harris, which was the latter’s first NFL reception.

“Every team is going to get our best shot, no matter what,” said core special teamer Christian Rozeboom. “Putting the guys on the field that are bought-in, especially on special teams — you have to have guys that are bought in to doing their very small part.”

The Rams’ lone touchdown drive showed some of their mettle, too. Perkins made two fourth-and-short plays, including a pass to second-year receiver Tutu Atwell on fourth-and-2 in which Perkins, his protection collapsing, threw out-of-structure and on the move for the conversion. Perkins’ first NFL touchdown was also on fourth-and-2 on the drive, to Jefferson. On the play, Skowronek’s route concept pulled away a defender (Jefferson praised him for this postgame) and rookie running back Kyren Williams picked up a nasty pressure to get Perkins the time to make the throw in the pocket.

“If I’m on the football field, and I shy away from contact, take me off the field,” Williams said. “You shouldn’t be on the field if you’re not willing to give it all for your team.”

And the defense — no, it wasn’t perfect. Defensive backs got beat on a couple key throws (and in tight coverage, by the way). The Chiefs had five plays (all pass plays) of 20-plus yards, about on par with their NFL-high average of 5.5 such plays per game. The Rams have also essentially re-set their pass rush after losing defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson to a meniscus tear and cutting outside linebacker Justin Hollins last week.

Yet there was something there, a pissiness and a swagger aimed toward holding the wall against Mahomes and company’s notoriously productive red zone offense. The Chiefs entered Week 12 scoring touchdowns when in the red zone at a 72 percent rate, third-best in the NFL. They do it in all manner of baffling, mind-bending ways; an NFL team knows when planning against this offense and this quarterback that they are going to pile up some serious yardage. Sunday, the Rams held the Chiefs to 1-of-6 in the red zone with an interception, including a stop after a sudden change when Perkins threw a pick. That’s a pretty significant statement from a group that, for the past two weeks against backup and journeymen quarterbacks, all but sky-wrote that they were handing it in for the year.

“The defense did an amazing job being able to get red-area stops,” said McVay. “Proud there. The guys just did a great job. Outstanding ability to make them snap it one more time, relentless pursuit to the football. I thought we were cleaner in our execution on the communication from the front to the back, on all three levels of the defense. There’s gonna be some things that we want back. But I think that was something that you can absolutely build on. That was more in alignment of what we expect from those guys against an excellent offense. … That’s a group that has a lot of pride.”

There was an intriguing speed-power combination at work between star defensive lineman Aaron Donald and undrafted free agent defensive lineman Michael Hoecht, against both the run and the pass. There was certain energy that the Rams will now explore with Hoecht and defensive lineman Marquise Copeland, two guys who weren’t in the defensive rotation when the year began. The energy was similar to that from the offense when it stared down the goal line on fourth-and-2 and the roaring mass of red behind the end zone, and scored — with a bunch of players who weren’t in the offensive rotation when the year began.

The Rams are going to part ways with many of the players on this roster in the coming months (some via free agency, others not), but some of them will stick because it’s right about now that the coaching staff and front office is looking to see if they can.

“That (evaluation) is definitely something that you want to be mindful of,” said McVay, “and really as a result of the amount of injuries, it’s got to occur. You don’t really have a choice. Guys are going to get some opportunities … and you’re getting good evaluations. That’s the only way you can look at it.”

McVay’s question to his players this week was, “what did you want to do when you grow up?” He, and they, will ask it of themselves now, too — just in a slightly different way.

They’re about to do some more growing up. And they’re about to find out who they will become because of it.