from Stu Jackson: https://www.therams.com/news/five-things-to-watch-for-as-the-rams-return-from-their-week-8-bye-2025

Will 12/13 personnel remain prevalent?

As Adam Grosbard of Southern California News Group noted, McVay’s postgame answer about the tight ends’ usage against the Jaguars struck a different tone compared to the previous six weeks, when that was primarily matchup-driven. And with how much success the Rams were having primarily operating the passing game through Nacua and wide receiver Davante Adams, it made sense that not a lot needed to be asked of the tight ends during that span.

Of course, matchups and available personnel played a part in that decision versus Jacksonville. The absence of Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd and Nacua, whose role often asks him to do many of the same things that are asked of tight ends in this offense, along with all four of Los Angeles’ tight ends being healthy, can’t be ignored. But McVay indicated this could be something that is here to stay for the rest of the season.

“I think you just mentioned it,” McVay said after the Rams’ Week 7 win over the Jaguars. “When we’ve got four legitimate NFL tight ends and you got them all up and active, let’s take advantage of that. Let’s be able to do some different things where we’re not just in 11 personnel all the time. We have got guys that are functional, on the line of scrimmage, they can make plays in the pass game, so I think we’re just continuing to learn. As the season goes, you might have an idea of what you think you’re going to be but it’s about utilizing all the personnel that you do have, and I think this is an exciting thing for us to be able to build on. We’ll have some time to be able to look at it. Obviously, it’s always predicated on the opponent, but it always starts with us and I want to make sure that I do a better job and then really us collectively of taking advantage of the depth that we have at some of these different positions, so they can make you a little more difficult to defend.”

Los Angeles Rams PR@TheLARamsPR
Matthew Stafford completed 13-of-19 pass attempts against the blitz for 97 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Rams’ win over the Jaguars. His 5 TDs against the blitz are tied for the most in a game by a quarterback in the NGS era (since 2016), according to @NextGenStats
.

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
The Rams placed Tutu Atwell on injured reserve. Tough loss in some ways that are hard to see, but he’s key to their spacing and efficient when he gets the ball.

We’ll get some clarity on this come Wednesday.

Jim Youngblood 53@53_jim70721

Just guessing … McCreary to slot and Lake to dime LBer in place of McCullough.

McCreary, could play perimeter CB, taking reps from CD, EF, DW.

Could also play slot and Lake plays safety and either Curl or Kinchens get benched.

Or McCreay slot, Lake S, Curl dime LB

With this set of DBs, McCreary, Lake, Curl McCullough they can do lots of combos.

I am curious to see …could go 7 DBs with 2 safeties as LBers

…

The McCreary signing gives LA one of the better young Nickels in the NFL & allows Lake to play as the Dime.

The Rams run Dime on almost a third of their snaps, 10 more points than the second-place Giants.

Also gives them a hybrid CB that can play inside or out for depth.
— https://t.co/YonSsWoqDe pic.twitter.com/ldH5Ld2Gty

— Cody Alexander (@The_Coach_A) October 27, 2025

from Nate Atkins: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6754415/2025/10/27/roger-mccreary-titans-rams-trade-news-nfl/

McCreary made sense as a player in a contract year on a Titans team that had already fired its coach. He brings a good mix of experience with 38 starts, prime skills at age 25 with 7.5 yards per coverage snap allowed in his career, and versatility to play inside and out. He could free a budding star in Quentin Lake to move around and disguise his role just a little more in Chris Shula’s defense.

Ideally, the Rams would have added a slightly more physical cornerback than one who is 5 feet 11 and 190 pounds. Bigger outside receivers have given them some trouble, as Emmanuel Forbes Jr. and Cobie Durant are built more for speed. But Williams has leveled up his play in that area in recent weeks, and the team still hopes to get Witherspoon back later this season. McCreary’s ability to play inside in nickel and dime packages adds to his long-term value this season if Witherspoon does take back his role.

The Rams were in a spot where they wanted to be aggressive to win, with Matthew Stafford playing at an MVP level at age 37, but needed to protect their top draft capital next year, which includes two first-round picks, to chase a quarterback of the future. Swapping Day 3 picks for a cornerback in a contract year became that fit.

Brock Vierra@BrockVierra
Per Sean McVay: Darious Williams has a shoulder issue that he suffered in the second half against the Jaguars.

It’s unknown if he’ll play this week but the expectation is that he should be back next week at the latest.

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
Sean McVay said the Rams needed some depth in the DB room on the whole, and new CB Roger McCreary answers that in a couple ways.

He mentioned letting Quentin Lake “wear a bunch of different hats.”

On McCreary: “He can play inside or outside… I like him for his versatility.”

Ian Rapoport@RapSheet
CB Roger McCreary is being traded to the #Rams, some real help for one of the NFL’s top defenses.

Mike Clay@MikeClayNFL
Quentin Lake has manned the slot for the Rams, which was McCreary’s job in Tennessee. The Rams been rotating 3 guys (Durant, Williams, Forbes) on the boundary.

Rams Bros.@RamsBrothers
CB Roger McCreary is on his way to Los Angeles. Think he’s going to add value almost immediately. Only 25 years old and has 38 starts in his 4 year career with Tennessee.

Jim Youngblood 53@53_jim70721
He *can* play perimeter CB, But has been mostly a slot. Cannot imagine Lake losing reps as slot CB. The safeties have been good, Curl and Kinchens — if Lake played more S, one of those guys sit.

*maybe* Lake moves to dime LBer in place of McCullough some?

from der wiki

Roger McCreary
Born February 10, 2000 (age 25)
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg)

The Tennessee Titans selected McCreary in the second round (35th overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.[15] He was the fifth cornerback selected.

He started all 17 games in his rookie season, finishing with 84 total tackles, one interception, and eight passes defensed.[16] McCreary also helped force a notable turnover on Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers, by jumping out of bounds to tip a pass mid-air by Justin Herbert, which was received by Joshua Kalu for an assisted interception.[17][18]

McCreary moved into the starting nickelback position for the 2023 season. He played in 15 games with 11 starts, recording 86 tackles, two sacks, six passes defensed, one interception, and a forced fumble.[19]

During the 2024 season, McCreary appeared in 15 games, recording 50 tackles, a pass deflection, three pressures, and a sack.[20]

5 interesting stats that define the Rams’ 5-2 start to the 2025 season: All-around defensive success, Matthew Stafford’s big plays

Wyatt Miller

https://www.therams.com/news/5-interesting-stats-that-define-the-rams-5-2-start-to-2025-season-all-around-defensive-excellence-third-downs-matthew-stafford-big-plays

The Rams’ 5-2 start has been fueled by consistency and impact plays on both sides of the ball. Matthew Stafford has successfully attacked downfield more than he has in recent years and the defense has aggressively pursued ball-carriers and quarterbacks without risking explosives.

Here are five interesting stats that have defined the Rams’ strong start to the season.

Stafford leads the league in big time throws with 19 after having just 23 all of last season, according to Pro Football Focus

A big time throw is defined as, “A pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.” That pretty much describes what Stafford does on a weekly basis, especially when it matters most. And the stats back that up, as he’s registered at least one big time throw in every game this season.

Stafford has been one of the best passers in football through seven weeks. His 17 touchdown passes lead the league, while his 1,866 yards and 109.3 passer rating rank third and fourth, respectively. In his 17th pro season, Stafford’s 17-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio would be the best of his career, and 17.2% of his passes have gone for at least 15 yards (maybe 17 is his lucky number).

The Rams lead the league in defensive expected points added (EPA) with -68.4, according to Next Gen Stats

This means the Rams’ defensive playmaking has kept 68.4 expected points off the scoreboard compared to what the average defense would have achieved. That’s largely a product of their 10 takeaways (tied for fifth in the league) and timely stops that have kept opponents out of the end zone. They are also the only team that has yet to allow a run of 20 or more yards.

As a result, the Rams’ 16.7 points per game allowed ranks second in the NFL. Only the Texans (14.7) have allowed fewer points per game so far this season.

The Rams’ 7.7 third-and-longs (seven-plus yards) forced per game and 8.2 average yards to the marker on third downs both lead the league, via nflverse data

Head coach Sean McVay always says the Rams need to “earn the right” to rush the passer, and they have done just that with stout defense on early downs. Rams opponents have averaged a league-low 4.3 yards per play on first and second downs, putting them in third-and-long situations consistently and giving the defensive line opportunities to rush the passer in true pass sets. No play-action, no gadgets, just dropping back to throw downfield because everyone knows they have to.

L.A. has forced the second-most third downs per game (14.3) and ranks fourth in the NFL in opponent third down conversion rate at just 34%.

Despite missing nearly two whole games, Puka Nacua ranks first in the NFL in reception EPA (45.5), according to Next Gen Stats

Nacua’s 2025 performance has been second to none in terms of adding expected point value to an offense. Whenever the Rams need a big play, they turn to Nacua, and those 45.5 expected points added to the Rams’ offense don’t even include the 5.0 that he’s added on the ground this season, which are also the most among receivers.

Even Jaxson Smith-Njigba, whose accumulated over 200 more yards than Nacua for the Seahawks, hasn’t produced as much EPA as Nacua. That’s likely because Nacau’s caught a higher percentage of his targets, many of which have come at critical junctures.

He also ranks top 10 in the NFL in receptions (54, second), receiving yards (616, third), yards per route run (3.5, second), first downs (33, second), yards after catch (244, third), contested catches (eight, tied-fifth), catch rate (83.1%, fourth) and catch rate over expected (13.4%, eighth) among qualified receivers, according to Next Gen Stats and PFF.

The Rams’ 50 big plays (10-plus-yard rushes or 20-plus-yard passes) lead the league, via nflverse data

The Rams have 20 big runs (11th) and 30 big passes (first) through seven weeks. Last season, the Rams produced 88 big plays all year, tying for 25th in the league.

A split backfield between running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum has given the run game more juice, and wide receiver Davante Adams has opened up the passing game to take advantage of more downfield shots.

Zooey wrote:

Atlanta and San Francisco lost.

I’ll take it.

KyTheRamsGuy@kytheramsguy
The #Falcons currently own the 12th overall pick with matchups against the #Patriots and #Colts ahead.

Texans and Falcons both win.

And in recent years anyway the Rams are always better coming out of a bye. The improvement this time won’t be as dramatic cause they’re already purty good, but it could be a good enough difference to matter.

…

Albert Breer@AlbertBreer
Atlanta’s the hardest team in the NFL to get a read on.

Zooey wrote:

49ers very seriously on the ropes.

McCaffrey is limited with another calf injury. 8 carries for 25 yards.

Zooey wrote:

And Atlanta down 24-3 to the Dolphins.

Now 31-3.

Atlanta apparently realized how unfair it was to give the Rams a less valuable 2026 first rounder, and are making up for it.

…

wv wrote:

A lunk-head view by Greg Olson.

After he started going, I couldn’t bear to watch. Does anyone respond to him. Like, with facts?