Four biggest issues the Rams need to improve on during bye،
After the Los Angeles Rams’ third straight loss Sunday afternoon at Green Bay, coach Sean McVay used the word “humiliating” to describe the games for the second week in a row.
“Humility is a word,” receiver Cooper Kupp said. “It’s shit, it would be nice too… It’s a tough place and like I said, we have so many good football players, so many competent people on the sidelines.
“And when things don’t work, it’s a feeling of frustration because, like I said, no one can push the button and change that. It’s all of us together. Being able to collectively be a little bit better .”
Los Angeles enters the bye week at 3-6 and in third place in the NFC West. Here are four things the Rams need to put in place after the bye if they want a chance in the playoffs:
Get healthy
The Rams were without quarterback Matthew Stafford (right thumb), right tackle Rob Havenstein (calf), running back Kyren Williams (ankle) and linebacker Ernest Jones (knee) against the Packers. McVay seemed optimistic Monday that Stafford would be available after the bye and said the Rams expect Williams to return from injured reserve in Week 12, the first week he is eligible to return.
“We’re talking about a lot of big names that have been big contributors for us that we haven’t had,” McVay said. “These guys are very, very important cogs in the whole thing.”
However, if Stafford is unable to play in Week 11, the Rams will have a new backup quarterback, as they signed Carson Wentz and released Brett Rypien.
McVay said Monday the Rams were exploring options, although he hoped Stafford would be back and they wouldn’t have to worry about the position. Still, given that 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett is on the reserve/non-football illness list, it was important for the Rams to sign a backup quarterback.
McVay also noted that the bye “comes at a good time” for many of the Rams’ young players, who have played in three preseason games and nine regular-season games, which equates to most college football seasons.
“Resting them, resetting them, giving us a chance to step back, address a lot of the specific, nuanced things that you’re asking gives me excitement and encouragement about how we can attack this back half of the team. year and see what happens,” McVay said.
Involve Cooper Kupp in the offense
In his last three games, Kupp has eight catches for 98 yards and no touchdowns. In his first two games of the season returning from a hamstring, he had games of 118 yards and 148 yards. Kupp caught 29 percent of his targets Sunday with Rypien at quarterback, which was his worst in a game with five or more targets.
McVay said Monday that he believes Kupp’s drop in production has to do with Stafford’s lack of time due to a thumb injury and that the last three games “are more of a byproduct of other situations that don’t are not exclusive to him playing well or anything like that.”
“You look closely, we haven’t had Matthew in six quarters,” McVay said. “SO [on Sunday he] makes a big catch on third down and long, then grabs a breaker. He had two catches, but the production we had offensively was so minimal it’s hard to talk about.
“You watch the Dallas game and the Pittsburgh game and in a lot of situations they’re double-teaming him in some of those known passing situations. Very similar to what started happening even at the end of ’21, If he draws attention, it opens up opportunities for other people.”
Play complementary football
The Rams have struggled to play complementary football for most of the season, and that’s something McVay, Stafford and defensive tackle Aaron Donald have all pointed out.
This was never more evident than against the Packers, when the Rams began the second half by ending two Packers drives by forcing and recovering a fumble. Los Angeles didn’t score any of these takeaways, scoring once and missing a 49-yard field goal to end the next drive.
“If our defense can play [as well as it has]to get some of those turnovers, we need to be able to capitalize on that,” McVay said.
The Rams have scored 13 points off turnovers this season, the fewest in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Three of those four scores (and 10 of those 13 points) came in the same game: Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Score more points
It’s simple, but the Rams offense hasn’t scored enough for most of the season. The Rams are averaging 19.8 points per game, which ranks them tied for 20th in the NFL. They have scored more than 20 points once in their last five games, and that was at home against the 1-8 Cardinals. The Rams are 1-4 in this stretch.
The Rams’ young defense, which exceeded expectations, kept them in games during a tough stretch of the schedule, including losses to the Philadelphia Eagles 8-2, Pittsburgh Steelers 5-3, Cincinnati Bengals 5-3 and 5-3 from San Francisco. Francisco 49ers.
“[On Sunday]“I thought our defense kept us in this game,” McVay said. We can’t expect to win games if we don’t play better offensively. We all know that. Our players know that. It’s very clear.”
