Rams ready for 49ers sequel

Woodland Hills, CA (News 4 Us Online) – Since their Week 5 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Rams have played impressively on both sides of the ball. 

On the defensive side, the Rams have not allowed more than 10 points to be scored in each of those contests, holding Baltimore to three points and limiting Jacksonville to seven. 

From the offensive perspective, quarterback Matthew Stafford has been on sort of a hot streak. Stafford leads the NFL in passes thrown (21) after throwing for nine scores ( five against Jacksonville) against the Rams’ last two opponents. Now comes the time when the rubber meets the road. 

Stafford and the Rams gear up to play the 49ers again in a Week 10 matchup that has first-place implications in the standings of the NFC West. 

The last time the two teams played, Stafford another one of his exceptional performances, throwing for 389 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and a passer rating of 111.0. That was the good side of the Rams play that day against their chief divisional opponent. 

After falling behind early by two touchdowns, Stafford and the Rams rallied to tie the game, only to lose in overtime, courtesy of a 41-yard field goal by San Francisco placekicker Eddy Pineiro. 

The thing that stings most about that loss for the Rams were the missed opportunities they had and the miscues that the team eventually could not overcome. There was a goal-line fumble, a failed fourth-down call in the red zone, and kicks that were either blocked or missed. All of these forgettable mishaps were huge contributing factors in the Rams’ 26-23 overtime loss. 

Although it was early in the season, that defeat made for a quiet locker room afterward and left Rams head coach Sean McVay pinning the loss on his shoulders. 

“Ultimately, it’s my responsibility. We weren’t ready to go,” McVay said at that time. “There were a lot of guys that gave us chances. But I’m really disappointed while also excited about being able to use this as an opportunity to be able to respond. Right now, it doesn’t feel good.”  

Wide receiver Puka Nacua, who caught 10 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, remembers what the atmosphere of the locker room felt like after the game.  

“I guess like a disappointed feeling,” Nacua said during a post-practice press conference in Woodland Hills. “There are losses you come out and you’re like, ‘Wow, we got out schemed.’ It was a lack of execution on our part. The moments that we had to win and take advantage of the game and take momentum, we didn’t execute.”

Rams edge rusher Jared Verse said the team was able to pick up some pointers from that painful defeat. 

“We learned a little bit about our weaknesses and our strengths,” Verse said. “We learned how to turn our weaknesses into our strengths and obviously, you want to strengthen your strengths. We learned we have to be in this aspect, we have to be better in that aspect. They were successful in this area, they weren’t in this area so let’s keep it like that. Let’s fix this.”

One of the things the Rams defense have to fix is not allowing San Francisco quarterback Mac Jones to put on another aerial show and limit their pass-catching running backs from breaking loose on quick throws out of the backfield.  

In the two team’s first go-round, Jones completed 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Jones connected with eight different receivers in his team’s win. Many of the passes that Jones completed were quick passes.  

That’s the one area the Rams defense can improve, Verse said. 

“Getting the rid of the quick passes,” Verse said. “Especially against the 49ers, they were able to get little quick passes in, their quick throw game in, everything like that. That’s kind of where they thrive. If we’re able to get rid of that, it’s going to be a good game.”

Featured Image Caption: Inglewood, CA – Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tutu Atwell (5) comes down with the catch against San Francisco 49ers defensive back Malik Mustapha (6) during a Week 5 matchup between the two teams. The 49ers defeated the Rams 26-23 at SoFi Stadium. Photo credit: Mark Hammond / News 4 Us Online