Los Angeles Rams offense has turned into a total mystery
The reigning Lombardi Trophy winners have split their first four games. And the Los Angeles Rams are having their issues on one side of the football.
It began with a 21-point loss at home to the talented Buffalo Bills. And the last time the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams took the field, the team was limited to three field goals in a humbling 24-9 Monday night loss to the rival San Francisco 49ers.
Los Angeles Rams struggling to find their footing early in 2022
Sean McVay’s Rams? Struggling on the offensive side of the ball? What has happened to the team that seemed to make all the key plays during the 2021 playoffs? What a difference less than a year makes.
In the four-game sweep of the Cardinals, Buccaneers, 49ers, and Bengals, McVay’s club scored a combined 107 points – 20 or more in each contest – and the Rams’ offensive unit reached the end zone 11 times. Quarterback Matthew Stafford hit on exactly 70 percent of his passes for 1,188 yards and three times as many touchdown passes as interceptions (3) – two of those picks in the Super Bowl win over Cincinnati. And Stafford was sacked only seven times in the four victories.
But this year’s 2-2 start has been shockingly erratic and fairly disappointing. Injuries along the offensive front, the lack of another wide receiving threat opposite Cooper Kupp, and Stafford’s penchant for mistakes have combined to see this offense limited to only seven TDs.
The Rams have turned over the ball nine times (7 by Stafford) and have surrendered 16 sacks – seven each in the losses to the Bills and Niners. McVay’s club has scored a combined 51 points in their two wins and a mere 19 points in a pair of setbacks.
On Sunday, the Rams host the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a club that has allowed the seventh-fewest total yards and third-fewest points in the league. It’s a team that has racked up 15 sacks in four games. And the Cowboys have limited each of their four opponents to fewer than 20 points. So can the defending Super Bowl champions get back on track against this formidable defense?