Rams get the squeeze by Miami

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – They say that numbers don’t lie. Well, numbers can be deceptive. The Los Angeles Rams had better numbers than the Miami Dolphins in their Monday Night Football game played at SoFi Stadium and still came up short in the win column. 

That’s because the Rams played one of their worst-disciplined games all season. There were turnovers. Quarterback Matthew Stafford found himself on his backside more than a couple of times for sacks. 

And for the better part of the game, the offensive unit of the Rams just couldn’t get itself together. 

“It was just negative plays at the wrong times,” Stafford said after the game. “Whether it’s a turnover, a sack, an inefficient play on first down or whatever it was. We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in that kind of strike zone area, 30-yard line-ish area. That was probably the difference in the game and not coming up with touchdowns.”  

The Rams had more first downs (20-15), called more offensive plays (68-53), held the ball longer (30:12 to 29:48),  threw the baller better (293 to 207), and outgained the Dolphins in total yards (327-238). Looks can be deceiving.

The result of this dominance for the Rams was five field goals in a 23-15 home loss to the visitors from Miami. Rams head coach Sean McVay admitted that he was vexed by the production of his offense.        

“Frustration. I think just like everybody else because there are opportunities for us to be able to execute,” McVay said. “I do have belief in these guys. Here’s the thing, and you know this we’re all in this thing together. We’ve got to be able to look at it and we’ve got to consistently figure out what’s the best way to put our guys in the right kinds of spots. And trying to be able to figure out some sort of semblance of an identity. Whatever I say is going to be an excuse. Frustration is the answer to your original question, and we have to be better.”

The Rams’ offense was kept out of the endzone against Miami. As a unit, the Rams’ offense played in fragments and could not sustain the drives it had been used to doing all season, which had McVay searching for answers.  

“I want to be able to look at the tape, but there were a lot of things that were not in alignment with what we’re looking for,” McVay said. “That’s why you hear us talk about the importance of the continuity. [I] got a lot of respect for that defense. They did a nice job but there were too many things that it just seemed like we were off and never gave ourselves a chance.”  

The Rams may come away from this game with better overall statistics, but the reality of it all is that they lost the ballgame. That three-game win streak they had been riding on is now a thing of the past. The Rams offense sputtered and puttered in the first half. And then it was time to put together a sustained drive in the second half, it was much of the same. 

Miami’s defense had a big hand in the way the Rams played. To keep Stafford and his crew out of the endzone takes a pretty good defense to pull that off. The Dolphins were flying around the ball all night and for the most part kept the Rams wideout trio of Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson in check.  

“I think our defense really galvanized the whole team and I think it’s very difficult to keep that offense out of the end zone,” Miami head coach Mike McDaniel said. “I think it might’ve been like the second time Matt Stafford with the Rams had not had a touchdown, or they hadn’t scored a touchdown offensively. It’s difficult to do. I think that the jump off point was third downs.”