5 Rams were limited in practice today, including Steve Avila and Braden Fiske. Davante Adams and Rob Havenstein were also held out with soreness but should be fine https://t.co/17zf62WUu9

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) September 25, 2025

Nate Atkins, Rams Mailbag: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6655703/2025/09/24/rams-mailbag-loss-eagles/?source=emp_shared_article

As disappointing as the finish at Philly was, my first thought was, “I hope the Rams play them again.” Throughout the game, it looked like the Rams had moved closer to the Eagles since the playoff loss. What do you think? — James S.

My takeaway is that the Rams should be encouraged that their talent level matched so closely with an Eagles team that has won 19 of 20 games. However, that reality shouldn’t keep them from seeking improvements just because lesser teams won’t expose the same problems.

The encouraging part is that three pillars of the Rams’ operation — McVay, Matthew Stafford and Adams — did not have their best games, and they almost won. But it was encouraging to see the run game take off as consistently as it did, with a great new balance between Kyren Williams as a volume runner and Blake Corum as a change-of-pace back when defenses are tired of defending those downhill, stretch-zone attacks.

And more encouraging than that was the defense’s effort against Saquon Barkley, who managed just 55 yards on 22 touches after piling up the two best rushing games of his career on the Rams last season. That’s where Poona Ford and Nate Landman made a real difference.

Two specific matchups that are out of favor for the Rams against the Eagles: their interior offensive line against first-round picks Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, and their hodgepodge cornerback room against star receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Those matchups told the story of the second half, in addition to the Rams going into too much of a shell offensively as the crowd began to roar.

The interior line’s health should be better if these two play again this season — and I think they will, as the road to the Super Bowl goes through Philadelphia for now. The secondary is more complicated, but we’ll get to that soon.

Can you ask McVay about his red zone play calling? Why is he going for a long ball on third-and-1 or a run on third-and-long? — Andy M.

After Sunday’s loss, McVay was asked broadly if he had any regrets in how he coached the game. He brought up one you mentioned: the deep shot to Adams on third-and-1 early in the fourth quarter, from the Eagles’ 46-yard line with a 26-21 lead.

I understood McVay’s goal. The Eagles stacked eight players in the box, so a play-action deep ball with two of the best at throwing and catching it made sense. Philadelphia’s single-high safety didn’t track with Adams as he ran a deep post route, which left him to beat Quinyon Mitchell to a spot. But the plan to have a motioning Nacua help in pass protection with tight end Colby Parkinson, who was fighting through a sprained AC joint in his shoulder, was not good enough against Jalyx Hunt.

Stafford released the ball right as Adams cut out of his initial break, but he just didn’t get enough air under the throw for the distance Adams was covering. This is one of the third-down “physical” misses Stafford alluded to after the game.

It’s not a coincidence that the very next call, on fourth-and-1, was McVay’s most conservative yet. It was a run by Williams up the middle. But this was an even worse matchup to hunt, with fourth guard option Beaux Limmer trying to block Davis, who blew up the play.

It goes to show the reactionary, fluctuating nature of calling plays in a sport with a 40-second play clock. McVay was calling a more conservative game because it wasn’t Stafford’s most consistent throwing day, the interior pressure was strong and the Rams’ run game gashed Philadelphia for 160 yards on 5.2 per carry. But those runs worked by getting to the edges and away from Davis and Carter.

If the deep ball works, the Rams win, and we’re talking about the boldness to take that shot right as the game was getting tight. But the design, as well as the execution, was just off, and it led to a poor follow-up play call.

Those are the thin margins of this sport.

Is it even possible to fix a secondary midseason? It feels like the front office ignored that weakness this offseason because the defensive line was so strong. — George K.

Healthy and reliable outside cornerbacks don’t make it to free agency much in the spring, and the ones left on the market by the time games begin are there for a reason. That’s where the trade market is the most reliable way to get a real difference-maker, but teams aren’t looking to offload good players who aren’t a problem until closer to the deadline in November.

This is a reality of the roster build. The Rams are spending the most in the league on their offense and the second least on defense. They’ve had one first-round pick since 2016 and used it on a pass rusher in Jared Verse last year.

What it means is that what you do spend has to really hit. It stings to lose Ahkello Witherspoon, who was a major find in 2023 and whom they were able to get back for the veteran minimum this year. It shifts the spotlight to Darious Williams, the one real investment they have made, now in the second year of a three-year, $22.5 million contract. He was benched for Emmanuel Forbes Jr. to start the year and stepped back in after the Witherspoon injury, but he was just their third outside option on Sunday behind Forbes and Cobie Durant.

I think the Rams need to give Stephon Gilmore a serious look. Having covered Gilmore in Indianapolis, I’m confident that part of the reason he’s available is that he isn’t just willing to play for the veteran minimum. And he is 35 now. But he’s aged differently than other cornerbacks, thanks to a unique physical skill set, veteran savvy and lack of an injury history. He allowed just 6.3 yards per target with the Minnesota Vikings last season, per Sports Info Solutions, which is his lowest full-season number since 2018.

Is there anything the coaching staff can do to encourage Stafford to throw to someone other than Nacua or Adams? — Tim D.

Through three games, Nacua and Adams rank second and seventh, respectively, in the league in targets. The New Orleans Saints are the only other team with two in the top 20.

Some of this is Stafford’s nature. He is the ultimate WR1 elevator, which helped lead to Cooper Kupp’s triple-crown season in 2021. When I covered Stafford in Detroit, he would pepper Marvin Jones and Golden Tate for more than 100 targets in a season, often to the chagrin of first-round tight end Eric Ebron. But that did start to even out once the Lions drafted Kenny Golladay in 2017.

On the Rams, Nacua and Adams are playing at least 75 percent of the snaps, whereas the next-highest pass catcher is Tyler Higbee at 63 percent. Stafford has long favored wide receivers over tight ends, and the next-highest receiver in playing time is Jordan Whittington at 55 percent.

Nacua and Adams bring a much higher pedigree than those other options. Adams is a three-time first-team All-Pro. Nacua has played 31 career games and is averaging more than 90 yards per outing. And so when that’s working to the level it is to start this season, it just creates more chemistry and trust between those players and Stafford, making it harder for other players to cut into the pie.

The coaching staff is leaning into this by varying the usage between 11 and 12 personnel, as well as by rotating who that third receiver is between Whittington and Tutu Atwell, who is commanding 41 percent of the snaps. Stafford has worked well in the past with pass-catching running backs. But that’s not Kyren Williams’ game.

Stafford is running much of the scheme his team has set up for him, which is built on his tendencies as well as his new reality as a 37-year-old with a degenerative back issue to protect. That’s why we’re seeing an uptick in two-tight end sets and play action, which demands tight ends to block.

Until second-round rookie Terrance Ferguson is on the field — and I sense that is about blocking readiness and mastery of the playbook, which are huge challenges for rookies — I wouldn’t expect a high target share to go the tight ends’ way now that Higbee is 32 with some injuries that have taken a toll.

Why Rams’ Sean McVay is taking a what’s-old-is-new-again approach with offense

Ted Nguyen

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6652775/2025/09/23/film-review-rams-mcvay-browns-chargers-defense/?source=emp_shared_article

After three weeks, we are beginning to see how teams want to fashion themselves schematically.

The Rams offense made drastic changes when the team traded for Matthew Stafford, but it’s back to the system Jared Goff ran in Los Angeles.

Under coordinator Kevin Patullo, the Eagles offense has been maddeningly conservative, but it might be turning over a new leaf.

Why the Rams offense is going old-school, and has the Eagles offense figured things out?

The Rams ultimately lost a heartbreaking game against the Eagles in which they had a double-digit lead and had two kicks blocked, but the silver lining is that their offense looks like an elite unit with room to get even better. When Stafford got traded to the Rams in 2021, Sean McVay started to shift from the under-center, compressed formations, run-heavy offense that he ran with Goff. The offense became more spread out, used shotgun and pistol more, and passed at a higher rate because it had Stafford. The offense started to shift back last season to McVay’s original approach, going under center on 45 percent of plays, which ranked second only to the Detroit Lions.

So far, this season, they’ve shifted even more in that direction, going under center on 65 percent of snaps. Part of the reason for this shift is in direct response to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who has influenced the league’s 2-high meta. The trend of keeping two safeties deep to stop explosives left them vulnerable upfront, so McVay countered with more under-center, gap-scheme runs and using more play action when throwing. That shift worked exactly as intended against Fangio’s defense. The Rams had the second-highest success rate that any offense has had against Fangio’s Eagles defense (54.8 percent) and ran for the third-most yards against them as well.’

Kyren Williams has a TD!

LARvsPHI on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/LGRf6BFsRq

— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025

In the second half, the Eagles got into base personnel and lined up in their 6-1 front to stop the run. The Rams still moved the ball efficiently, but didn’t execute in the red zone. Some of the blame should go to McVay’s lack of aggressiveness in the second half, but it is encouraging to see the Rams dominate the line of scrimmage in this fashion.

Offensively, the Eagles finally opened up the playbook and put the ball into Jalen Hurts’ hands. The Rams’ starting corners both weigh 180 pounds, and A.J. Brown weighs nearly 230 pounds. Their adjustment was simple: Have Brown physically dominate the Rams’ corners. Hurts’ early down pass rate (59 percent) and average air yards per attempt (8.6) against the Rams were the highest they’ve been all season.

A.J. BROWN IS TOO STRONG

LARvsPHI on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/5o9dqObR6Q

— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025

“Me, personally, I truly believe we’ve got so many good players on this team and at times you can feel like we’re being conservative and I don’t think it should be like that. … Let your killers do their thing and play fast and play aggressive,” Brown said after the game.

The Eagles did a much better job of blocking some of the Rams’ blitzes and simulated pressures after replacing tackle Matt Pryor, who was filling in for Lane Johnson, with Fred Johnson in the second half. Maybe Patullo was overly cautious in his first two games as coordinator, trying not to unravel a championship offense, but his approach was clearly holding back the Eagles. In basketball, sometimes, a shooter needs to see the ball go through the hoop a few times before catching a rhythm. Hopefully for Patullo, he just needed to see a pass-happy approach have success and he’ll be more comfortable mixing it up now.

This was a rare game in which I felt better about the prospects of both teams afterward.

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR
The Rams defense has recorded 12.0 sacks this season, tied with the Broncos for the most in the NFL. It’s the most sacks for the Rams through three games of a season since 2015 (13) and the third-most through three games in the last 30 years (14 in 1998).

Daniel Jones has looked really good in the first three weeks and has the Colts sitting at 3-0. Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford each talked about Jones' turnaround and they shared similar thoughts entering Sunday's game. https://t.co/EDXw127Ag8

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) September 24, 2025

SleeperNFL@SleeperNFL
Puka Nacua among league WRs through Week 3:

🔹35 targets (1st)
🔹29 receptions (1st)
🔹111 YDS/G (1st)
🐏24.5 FP/G (1st)

Tied for most targets so far this season? Chris Olave

Jim Youngblood 53@53_jim70721
In 2025 Rams shown they can stop the run.
Also, in 2025, they do 3rd and long well

Colts run well …
Colts, IMO, don’t do 3rd and long well.

Rams IOL (with injuries) not match for Colts IDL

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR
According to @PFF after Week 3, the Rams rank:

⚫️1st in overall grade (85.9)
⚫️2nd in passing grade (89.9)
⚫️2nd in run blocking grade (71.7)
⚫️2nd in tackling grade (73.1)
⚫️3rd in offensive grade (79.9)
⚫️4th in defensive grade (79.3)
⚫️4th in coverage grade (76.8)
⚫️6th in receiving grade (77.0)
⚫️6th in run defense grade (75.2)
⚫️T-8th in rushing grade (74.0)

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR
Among rookie outside linebackers/EDGE defenders, Rams’ Josaiah Stewart currently ranks third in overall defensive grade and sixth in pass rush grade (min 20% snaps played), according to
@PFF
.

Quentin Lake has been dominant in zone coverage out of the nickel this year.

He is going to get a massive payday this off-season. pic.twitter.com/m2dTad44j4

— Ethan Young (@EthanYoungFB) September 22, 2025

Karty’s knuckleball is taking the league by storm right now… 🤫 pic.twitter.com/T1BJMGh0rL

— RamsNation (@LARamsey46) September 22, 2025

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR
Safety Quentin Lake currently leads the NFL in pass breakups (5) and ranks tied for fourth in incompletions against as the primary defender (11), according to TruMedia.

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
This was just the Rams’ second loss after leading by at least 19 points since 1984. One of the worst losses of the Sean McVay era.

roberto clemente@rclemente2121
today, stafford on 3rd down:
1 of 7 for 8 yards, 1 sack, 1st down

…

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2025/09/22/rams-pff-grades-beaux-limmer-justin-dedich/86292476007/?taid=68d16f0ee04ccb000171641d&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Part of the reason for the Rams’ struggles was the pass protection, which was lacking throughout the contest. In fact, Pro Football Focus even gave Rams offensive linemen Justin Dedich (35 pass-blocking snaps) and Beaux Limmer (five pass-blocking snaps) their worst possible grade, a 0.0.

Wyatt Miller@wymill07
Another squib by Karty causes a bobble on the return and pins the Eagles inside the 15. They have now started every single drive off a Rams score at or inside the 20.

***

ME: if you don’t know about the Rams new (and very successful) kickoff strategy, I describe it here: https://theramshuddle.com/topic/rams-kickoffs/