NFL
By: George Lopez
The Los Angeles Rams travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in a week 2 matchup. Both teams are looking to bounce back as the Cardinals are coming off a 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills while the Rams lost a thrilling game to the Detroit 26-20 in overtime.
The Rams offense struggled in the redzone, scoring 2 touchdowns on 5 trips inside the Lions 20-yard line. In the first half, the Rams turned over the ball on downs inside the 20, and quarterback Matthew Stafford threw his only interception in the endzone at the end of the first half. The Rams will look to improve on their redzone success rate against the Cardinals.
Matthew Stafford led the Rams offense, completing 34-49 passes for 317 yards and 1 touchdown. Stafford was able to spread the ball around, completing passes to 6 different receivers. Leading the way was Cooper Kupp, who hauled in 14 receptions for 110 yards and 1 touchdown. During the game, the Ram’s offense suffered a loss as Puka Nacua went down with a knee injury. Nacua suffered a sprained PCL and will miss at least the next 4 games as he was placed on IR.
Kupp and Stafford have had a great chemistry since Stafford first joined the Rams. Kupp will be Stafford’s first option in the passing game. With Nacua out, look for the Cardinals secondary, to roll over the top safety coverage to bracket Kupp. WR’s Demarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell, and rookie Jordan Whittington will have the opportunity to be a significant factor in the Rams’ passing attack. Look for TE Colby Parkinson to have a bigger role in the Rams’ offensive attack against the Cardinals.
Under Head Coach Sean McVay, the Rams’ offense is more dangerous when they have a balanced attack. In their matchup against the Lions, the Rams offense attempted 49 passes compared to 23 rushing attempts. Kyren Williams led the Rams rushing attack, accounting for 50 yards on 18 carries and 1 touchdown. In the Rams’ rushing game, the big surprise was the absence of Blake Corum, who did not have one snap in the backfield. Look for the Rams to establish their running game early against the Cardinals and look for Corum to get carries in this game.
The Rams were hit by injuries on their offense. Outside of losing Nacua, the Rams also placed offensive linemen Joe Noteboom and Steve Avila on IR. With Noteboom and Avila both out, the Rams signed Ty Nsekhe, who is expected to start at left tackle. Jonah Jackson is expected to move to left guard and Beaux Limmer is slated to start at center. Right guard Kevin Dotson has been limited at practice this week dealing with a foot injury, but Coach McVay expects Dotson to play. Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein is listed as questionable as he deals with a foot injury. If he is not able to play, look for Warren McClendon, Jr. to start in his place.
In their week one loss to Buffalo, quarterback Kyler Murray completed 21-31 passes for 162 yards and 1 touchdown. Murray also accounted for 57 rushing yards. The Bills were able to put pressure on Murray, sacking him 4 times. In his matchups against the Rams, the defense has been able to put pressure on Murray. With defensive coordinator Chris Shula running a similar scheme to Raheem Morris, look for the Rams to bring pressure on Murray. Defensive linemen Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner will look to pressure Murray up the middle while edge rushers Byron Young and Jared Verse will look to contain Murray inside the pocket while bringing outside pressure.
RB James Conner is the primary back in the Cardinals running game. Conner cannot only get outside the tackles, but he also has the running style to run between the tackles. The Rams defensive lineman will look to get off their blocks and close the inside running lanes while the outside linebackers will look to maintain run containment discipline and take away the running lanes outside the tackles.
While the Rams are dealing with injuries with key players on the offensive line of the ball, the team has adopted a next-man-up mentality. Look for the Rams to bounce back against the Cardinals and earn their first win of the season.
Rams. 27
